Page 138 of The One With the Mountain Man

But he'd finally gone too far. I knew it was true because Nora of all people came tearing up the road. She didn't care about me or Scottie or Joanne or Mack. She might care about Marley if she could get something out of it. But no, my money was on Dad getting arrested.

"What did you do?" she shrieked as she climbed out of her minivan. "This is all your fault! It always is!" She came right at me but I still didn't move. I let her fists hit my chest as she screamed in my face until Eve pulled her off me.

"What the hell is this?" she said as she pushed Nora away.

"This piece of selfish garbage got Dad arrested!"

Not quite the truth, but not entirely wrong either.

"Huk, what is she talking about?"

I tracked Marley and the detectives walking back our way.

Nora did the explaining, like she always did. "Dad was just arrested for some bullshit kidnapping plot. Like Huk's girlfriend is worth all that trouble."

Eve's surprised gaze swung back to our sister. "What is actually wrong with you?" she hissed. "It isn't bullshit. It's very fucking real and terrifying."

Nora rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I saw the precious whisper-net messages rolling in. Obviously it's Sharon and her band of nerds blowing things out of proportion."

"Hey," Scottie growled. "They might be nerds but they're my nerds. No one gets to call them that but me. Why are you insulting my nerds?"

She rolled her eyes again. I was surprised they didn't stay in that position permanently. Then she put her hands in the air like jazz hands and mocked the hell out of us. "Oh, the big scary kidnappers."

Scottie's head exploded. He turned bright red and I was pretty sure steam came out his ears. "Big. Scary. Kidnappers? You mean the one who threatened to kill us today? The one who was so off his rocker it scared the shit out of us so we hid in a fucking mine shaft all afternoon? That kidnapper?"

Nora's face drained of color. "Wait...what?"

Scottie shook his head. "I already told the cops this, so why not? He came to the Lost Creek Cabin Rentals offices with a knife, rope, and a gun. He said that if we didn't give him Marley, he was going to kill us. That it was time for the, and I quote, 'Evil bitch to learn her place. I hope she sees everything get taken from her before she dies. I can't wait to watch her cry when she learns she's nothing.'"

I would have exploded if Marley didn't wrap her arms around my waist at that exact moment. I shook my head and sighed. "Leave Nora. You're the last person I want to see right now."

Her eyes darted to me, then Marley and back again. "Dad had nothing to do with this. You're just so petty, Huk. Ridiculous." Then she spun on her heel and tore back down the road.

"She's nice," Detective Martinez drawled. "We have everything we need so we'll be getting out of your hair. We'll be in contact."

Everything seemed to move in slow motion after that. Slow motion and underwater. I remembered hugging Scottie and telling him I was sorry for the trouble. I hugged Joanne and Mack too. At some point we wound up in Sharon's house. There were more questions and gossip and at some point Marley put me in my own damn truck and drove us home.

The fact that I was so far gone I couldn't even drive us home pissed me off. Maybe I was moving through some phases of grief or something. There'd definitely been some denial and bargaining over the course of the day. Anger was quickly taking over. I was pissed at myself, pissed at my father, pissed at every entitled asshole who thought they could demand things from other people. Pissed that Marley had to deal with any of it.

"Okay so this beast is both easier and harder to drive than mine."

"It's two-thousand pounds heavier than yours," I muttered as I let myself out of the passenger seat. I'd never sat in the passenger seat of my own truck before.

"Oh, it definitely drives like it commands the road. Is it wider than mine?" Her eyes pinged between the trucks.

"Yes." I waited at the top of the steps. I knew the door code but couldn't for the life of me move to actually punch in the numbers.

Marley eyed me before doing the honors. She eyed me as we moved to the kitchen. She eyed me as she pressed a glass of water into my palm.

I couldn't take the fucking eyeing. "What?"

"Are you okay?"

And now I was being the selfish asshole my sister accused me of being. I was wallowing in my own feelings while leaving Marley out to dry. I wrapped her up and rested my chin on her head. "I'm not okay. But I'm more worried about you."

Her hands came to my back. How was she keeping it together? Maybe it hadn't hit her yet.

"Are you in shock?"

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