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ing room with beanbags and futon beds. There was a machine to swipe a credit card and the brass sign above it read, “Pay what you think you owe or what you’d like to donate to keep this facility available 365 days a year.”
Brianna walked across the rickety front porch and took a seat on the far end, watching the rushing waters as they cascaded over a number of river rocks. On the other side of the river, an overgrowth of trees and brush led to one portion of the two hundred and ninety mile stretch known as The Appalachian Trail.
Her phone beeped and she acknowledged the low battery and the time. It was nearly noon. She leaned against the log home and took in the serenity of nature’s best—the green mountains, the tall whispering grass, and the uninhibited rapids. If she could only stay there for a little while.
Maybe it would be long enough to forget the recent past. Perhaps then she could recall the distant memories that once made her smile.
* * * *
Jax and Tyler met Flint on the Baldinis’ front porch. By the look on Flint’s face, Jax could guess the news he’d receive. Brianna had lived up to her name and his expectations.
She’d taken off.
Known for running away whenever things didn’t suit her, Brianna had been quite the little hellion as a teenager. Apparently, she hadn’t changed much. Then again, maybe she had a reason to run this time. Perhaps she’d always owned that right.
Stories had often circulated in their small community. Some said the Baldini women would forever live under a cloud of danger, a cloud their father had deliberately lured when he’d left them to fend for themselves and pursued outside interests in the drug trade.
What folks in those parts didn’t realize was what more than ninety-nine percent of the country failed to understand, too. The drug trade was quite prominent in the livestock industry and Alberto Baldini hadn’t gone outside the area for business. He’d started his lucrative career right there in the town’s backyard. It had been quite simple, really.
Local cops and DTF rummaged through rigs, but they seldom searched the cattle on those eighteen wheelers. Not too many drug task force agents wanted to stick their arm up a cow’s behind to retrieve evidence.
In those parts, the cattle business and the drug trade were often one and the same. No one knew that better than Alberto Baldini, except maybe his girls and area farmers, particularly those who were dubbed livestock dealers. Still, the Baldini sisters had lived in the shadows of constant reminders, listening to their neighbors’ suspicious whispers and dodging their questions whenever they could.
“Did you just want to meet here so you could give me one of those blank stares?” Flint interrupted his thoughts.
Tyler swung his gaze to Jax. “He’s right. You look as distant as you did back there when you started beating the shit out of that guy.” He rubbed his knuckles. “What were you thinking?”
“He was armed,” Jax said, certain of it.
“Is that a fact?” Tyler shook his head. “If I’d been armed in that situation? I would’ve drawn my weapon of choice.” Tyler paced in front of the porch. “That fella wasn’t carrying, Jax. If he’d had a gun, he would’ve used it about the time the heel of your boot met his jaw.”
“I’m not wrong.”
Flint snorted at that. “To hear you tell it, you seldom are.”
“Is she inside?” Jax didn’t know why he bothered asking.
“Nope,” Flint replied.
“Anyone here?”
“I just walked up from the barn. Thought I’d see if Nory might know where she is.”
“Don’t involve Nory.” A man approached from the side of the house.
Immediately on the defensive, Jax stepped in front of his brothers, which lasted all of maybe two seconds. “Well you don’t look like the man I’ve seen in the Baldini family pictures so who are you? New employee?”
The man slapped a pair of work gloves against his leg. He hesitated for a moment, but then reached his right arm forward. “I’m Kane Cartwell. I’m the girls’ cousin. Their mother Ann was my first cousin.”
Suspicious, Jax shook and introduced himself only after his brothers had done the same. “What brings you to Erwin, Mr. Cartwell?”
“Family.” He swiped his chin with the back of his hand. “Your turn. What brings you out this way today, fellas?”
“A woman,” Jax said without missing a beat.
“Uh-huh,” Kane muttered. “I thought so.” He glanced back at the house. “You boys thirsty?”
“I could drink something,” Tyler said.
