Page 15 of Marked

Noah

Colorado. The state made famous by its beautiful landscape, plentiful ski resorts, and relaxing hot springs. That was where she called home. It was also not a six-day drive from Huntington, which meant she’d been stalling for some reason or another.

We’d driven through Denver an hour ago, with Lanie behind the wheel, headed west toward the Rocky Mountains looming in the distance. The closer we came to the base of the mountains, the faster her fingers drummed against the leather steering wheel.

Reaching over, I squeezed her knee. “It’ll be okay.”

“You say that now,” she scoffed. “But you have no idea the kind of crazy I’m about to throw you into. There’s more than one reason I left home and never looked back.”

Lanie’s childhood was a bit of a mystery. During a previous investigation, we learned her best friend disappeared when they were in high school. The discovery of her body in a mass grave, with other victims of human trafficking, became the driving force which led to Lanie’s career as a federal agent. Other than that, I knew both her parents and brother were still alive, but I didn’t have an inkling why she only spoke to them on rare occasions.

Alaina Biggs was a puzzle I was compelled to solve.

“Tell me why.”

“My family isn’t like most, Noah. They—” She paused.

“They what?”

Her shoulders drooped as she exhaled loudly. “Maybe it’s best if you see for yourself.”

Being thrust into a situation where I didn’t have all the information was unsettling. Without the control, the power that came with knowledge, there was no way for me to know where to draw the lines. And I was the type of man who needed those boundaries, otherwise I’d get lost in the gray. I’d been there once, after my sister was nearly killed, and I swore I’d never allow myself to be thrown off the deep end again.

Eventually, we turned off the main highway onto a bumpy-as-shit dirt road. Hell, I wasn’t even sure you could call it a road, seeing as it wasn’t even mapped out on the GPS. There was barely enough room for my SUV to pass between the trees lining either side, but Lanie maneuvered the vehicle through like a pro.

We’d gone approximately three miles into the woodsbefore the road widened enough that another car would have been able to pass us on the left. All the while, Lanie’s fidgeting increased the farther we drove. I abhorred watching her struggle with her emotions, but I also wasn’t sure if there was anything I could do or say to fix it. She wasn’t at the point yet where she fully trusted her heart or me.

Another mile or so in, the woods opened up, revealing a small town of sorts. At least that’s what it looked like, but again, it wasn’t on the map. Row after perfectly-straight row of identical houses were situated on the left side of the street, while the right side held numerous pole barns in various sizes. Beyond those were several greenhouses and a few fields which looked to have been recently plowed.

Lanie parked in front of the first house and turned my way. “I am so very sorry for whatever they put you through.”

Without giving me a chance to respond, she climbed out of the SUV. I followed and was immediately assaulted by the most horrendous odor. Slapping a hand over my mouth and nose, I joined her at the back of the vehicle and asked, “What the hell is that smell?”

“Shit,” Lanie answered with a wicked smirk on her beautiful face.

“Yeah, it smells like shit, but what is it?”

“Literally shit, Noah. More specifically, pig shit. It’s good fertilizer for the pot.” She chuckled, then grabbed her bag, motioning for me to follow, which I did without question.

Pot? What the fuck?

Stepping onto the porch of the little house, she knocked and once again I noticed her shoulders were slumped. I didn’t have time to question her reaction because when the door opened, my mind went blank. Not only was I hit in theface by a puff of marijuana smoke, I was completely mesmerized—or traumatized—by what I was seeing. One thing was for certain.

I’d landed in Hell.

Correction. I’d landed in pot-growing, pig-farming, live off the land…H.E.L.L.

Where the fuck had she brought me?

And why the fuck were these people naked?

“Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad.”

Oh boy.

“Alaina!” The woman—I now knew to be her mother—squealed, launching herself into Lanie’s arms. “What are you doing here?”

Her father leaned against the doorjamb, lifting a tightly rolled joint to his mouth to take another drag, eyeing me suspiciously.

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