Page 195 of Five Mountain Daddies

“Jaxson!” Wyatt shouts. “Stop!”

I turn the corner as Wyatt barrels down through the trailer. I spot Jaxson just ahead of him. Kristi is sitting in a little booth, head in her hands, mumbling to herself. There’s a small TV on the counter near her, playing somesitcom.

She doesn’t even look up as he comes past, and I notice that her arm’s tied off. She must have just shot up as we came in here, and Jaxson probably didn’t have the chance to set himself up yet. I follow them into the back room, just as Wyattcurses.

There’s a large window out the back, wide open. Wyatt dives out through it, clearly following after Jaxson. I spot Jaxson running to the tree line, Wyatt following after him,shouting.

I turn back into the trailer. The room’s a mess, and the idea that anyone could possibly live in here repulses me beyond belief. I move back into the main room, where Kristi’s still passed out at thetable.

Gently, I take the rubber hose from around her arm. I take the needle from her arm and place it back on the table. She mumbles something and I lean her back against theseat.

There’s a bottle of water on the floor by her feet. I grab it, open the cap, and wait a few minutes. Her eyes start to flutter, like she’s coming back awake, so I throw the water in herface.

She sputters, eyes opening. “What,” she says, slowly, her voice thick. “Jax?”

“You helped him,” I saysoftly.

Kristi blinks at me, slowly coming to. “What?” she saysagain.

I slam my hands on the tabletop. “Atticus.”

She groans, rubbing her face. “The fuck is this,” she says. “Jax? How high amI?”

“You’re not high enough,” I say. I reach out, grab her hand, and smash it down onto thetable.

“Ow,” she says,dazed

I slam my fist down onto her handagain.

“Fuck!” she says, pulling it back. I can see some more of her comes back. “The fuck ishappening?”

“We know it was Jaxson,” I say to her. “And we know you’re with him. You helped kill Atticus, didn’t you? The guy you were supposed to bewith.”

She groans and shakes her head. “No, I didn’t wantto.”

I clench my jaw. “But youdid.”

“It wasn’t supposed to happen like that.” I can’t tell if she’s still high or what, but she looks more lucid. She’s not making eye contact, her gaze is directly on the floor, but her voice sounds more coherent. “Jax said nobody would gethurt.”

“But he did get hurt. Atticus got killed, and brutally. How, Kristi? How did you let ithappen?”

“I didn’t mean to.” She starts crying then, and I almost feel bad for her. At least until she keeps talking. “They started arguing. And Atticus wouldn’t give up the shit. It was crazy, they were yelling, and that’s when Jax just started stabbinghim.”

A shiver runs through hervisibly.

“What happened next?” I asksoftly.

“Jax stabs him, over and over, yelling like a fucking animal, and I just… I shot him. I freaked. I didn’t know what else todo.”

I lean back and stare at her. So that’s how it happened. Atticus really was robbed during a drug deal, but he was robbed and killed by the two people he probably felt closest to in the world. Jaxson stabbed him multiple times, and Kristi put him out of his misery with a gunshot to theface.

I groan and shake my head. “Why?” I askher.

“I didn’t know.” She sobs and leans forward, head in her hands. “Jaxson made me doit.”

I want to hit her. I want to hurt her so badly that it nearly pulls me apart. I’m not the kind of person to cause someone else pain just because I want to, and I don’t think Atticus would want me to, either. He was always a gentle person, despite the addiction. But this is his killer, the woman he was supposed to bewith.

“How long were you with Jaxson?” I ask her instead of kicking her facein.

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