Page 84 of Wildest Forever

Freezing, I eavesdrop to try and listen to the words that leave his mouth.

“It has to be a mole,” the words slip past his lips, and I find myself gasping.“They know too much, they know things that my dad spoke about that onlywewould know. I am telling you Riggs, there is a mole among us, and I will fucking smoke them out.”

Closing my mouth, I tiptoe back towards the stairs when his bedroom door flies open, and his eyes settle on me.

No words are said but I can see how tense he is.Shoulders raised a little higher, jaw wound tight, and eyes narrowed on mine that look slightly bloodshot.

“I was just coming to check to see if you were okay...” my voice is timid and I find myself shrinking back towards the stairs, fingers curled around the handrail.

I watch as he inhales heavily, breath shaky as his body trembles.

“I've been better,” he admits, and I watch as his head rolls forward, phone still in his hands as the other slips into the front pocket of his jeans. Slowly uncurling my fingers, I let them hover in front of me for just a moment.

“Wanna talk about it?” and his hand slips from his pocket, reaching around the back of his neck, rubbing the tension from the base of it.

“You must have already heard some of it?” his eyes burn with a flicker of rage, but I know it's not aimed at me.

“Only about smoking a mole out.” I whisper but he hears every word.

He sighs, turning his head to the side as he looks towards the stairwell.

I don't push him.

Just wait patiently to see if he spills the words.

“You remember the explosion?” he asks, and I nod.

How could I forget.

It was the first time I had met him; I was so bold and confident and damn I miss the girl I was back then.

Sadness blankets me for just a moment before he begins talking.

“The way it was orchestrated... my dad spoke about things in front of people who work for us, and the entrance they went for was where we think the Montana Pearl is, but of course, we don't know, even my dad didn't know. My grandfather took it and placed it somewhere safe... but yet, we were never told. We made peace with it, understood that he no doubt hid it for this very reason, but we've been attacked and I fear they'll just keep coming back. My job is to find the person who started it all, I know they're working with the suits, know that they will know the ins and outs of this ranch, hence why they went for the entrance at the base of the mountains.”

He shakes his head from side to side.

“What has Riggs said?” I ask, stepping closer to him and now crossing my arms across my chest.

“That I am being over the top.”

I lick my lips.

“Do you think you are?” and I hate that I am even asking him this, but I am just trying to get him to maybe rationalize his thoughts. A lot has happened over the last few months, he is bound to feel betrayed in some way.

His eyes cast to mine.

He shrugs a shoulder up.

“What do you want to do Pacey, what is the outcome with all of this...” dropping my arms, I push them into my back pockets, my eyes volleying between his.

“I just want to make sure our land is safe, that no one can take it from us, that no one can take our legacy,” his voice turns to a whisper and my heart throbs in my chest.

“Then how do we do that?” I ask.

“I need to end the want to buy the land, I need to make them realise that there is nothing here but land that means so much to so many of us.”

“They don't care about that though, they are just focused on the money and how much they can bring into whatever they want to build.”

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