Page 48 of Mountain Boss

I listen to the faint sound of him whistling until he disappears from view.

I should’ve been more careful exiting Courtney’s cabin.

If anyone had seen me…

How would I have explained being in there?

I can’t.

So I also can’t let anyone see me hauling a mattress around. And I can’t explain her not having a mattress without exposing the fact that I was snooping.

I can’t even pretend she asked me for one because why would she have waited three nights?

No. No one can see me.

I step off the driveway into the woods.

Moving quickly, I stay behind the trees and make my way to the cabin closest to the Bunk House. It’s the one we use the least, only when the rest of the cabins are in use. There’s nothing wrong with it. It’s stocked the same as the rest. But why put guests so close to my guys if I don’t have to?

A creak alerts me to the front door of the Bunk House opening, and I take a quick stride forward so I’m covered by the corner ofthe guest cabin.

Totally not sketchy behavior.

I lower my feet carefully, keeping the sound of my steps quiet as I circle the back of the cabin.

There’s enough forest between the cabin and the Bunk House that I can move around the other side undetected until I make it back to the front door.

We changed the locks last year—one of the projects Marty actually finished—so now all the buildings have code locks rather than key locks.

It’s handy. Especially now.

I type in my personal code that gets me into every lock on the property.

0690

Because I’m a child.

The door opens with a faint sound, but I step through quickly and close it behind me.

That shitty feeling hasn’t left my chest. And as I look at the four unused mattresses, that feeling just gets worse.

Unused.

I think about how many mattresses have been sitting unused over the last three nights.

How Courtney saw them.

Knew they were there.

“Fuck.”

I rub my hand over my stomach.

“Fuck.” I say it a little louder.

Then I stride to the closest bed, grip the bare mattress, and start to pull it off the bed frame.

It has a mattress protector on it. One of the kinds that zips all the way around the full-size mattress like a giant pillowcase. The bedding is in the closet, put away to keep it from getting dusty.

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