Page 49 of Recurve Ridge

Like me.

“Authorities accused Robe of murdering a superior officer and his aide, among other things. Miller backed his claim to innocence, the steadfast little shit. They both ended up out of the military, leaving quietly under their own steam when the required evidence didn’t come to light despite the power backing it. Otherwise, they’d be incarcerated—or dead.”

“He—” My voice caught on the first word. “Robe killed someone?”

Jon paused and looked back at me. “What did I just say, Mari?”

I thought back. “That he’s innocent?” Breath sucked into the void of my lungs.

“That he’s innocent.” Jon nodded once.

“So he didn’t do it.” I let my breath out.

“He did it.”

My breath stalled. “What?”

“He killed them both, Mari. They had a local girl on the floor of a tent, kept there for God knows how long. Half starved, naked, and filthy. His boss and his little groupie liked to traffic women. Robe lost his shit, as you do.” Jon resumed walking, his shoulders a tight line.

“As you do.”Conversation closed, then.I worked my screaming thighs hard to catch up to the mountain attached to my hand. “Jon… what happened to the girl?”

“I don’t know. None of us do. They carted Robe away and locked him up until Miller rode to the rescue and brought him back to home soil.”

“Which is why he has to hide. They both do.” I swallowed, tears pricking the corners of my eyes. “He has a sister. Any other family? Has he ever been back to… where does he call home?”

Jon paused midstep. “No.”

Robe’s life had been ripped away, and despite the injustice that would have crippled a weaker man, he made a home for those like him. Broken, unwanted.

A single tear cascaded down my cheek.

Jon twisted when my feet stayed planted where they were. My mouth opened a few times, but nothing came out.

“It’s all right, Mari.”

“It’s notall right. How can he be as strong as he is?”

Jon’s beard twitched. “Because he’s a stubborn asshole.”

“I thought the same earlier.” I hiccupped, my heart breaking.

A calloused thumb grazed my cheek, sweeping my sorrow aside. “And because he’s fierce, loyal to a fault, and wants to save the world like some comic-book-worthy superhero. He’ll protect you, Mari. We all will.”

“But you can’t go home.”

Jon stilled. “He is our home.”

For a while, the sound of our boots crunching through the underbrush and my short breaths filled the forest as I cried in silence for the horrors they’d suffered. I hadn’t even gotten to Will’s story, but something told me trauma filled his past too.

Robe collected people like himself. Jon was stubborn but had a gentle side. Miller was gruff but loyal.

Jon walked me through identifying a few edible barks, picked out wintergreen and stored some of that, too, and then showed me habitual nesting sites to source eggs. I followed in his footsteps, letting his love of the forest settle over the grief overflowing my heart for them all. But I learned more about Jon too.

How much he loved the forest, what he knew about the area around the house. Why he ran through the trees early in the morning. Why he stayed with Robe.

Why he didn’t leave.

“You loved her.” I didn’t bother phrasing it as a question. He hadn’t wanted to talk about it, but the ghost of his wife hovered in the back of his attentive gaze every time he looked at me.

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