Page 159 of Beneath the Mountain Sky
Earl Byers deserves whatever I do to him and then some.
I stalk toward the edge of the woods, cautiously keeping myself concealed in the heavier trees and backtracking a hundred yards or so to where the trail curves slightly.
If he’s where we think he might be, he won’t be able to see me cross it from back here.
Hopefully.
And if Connor and Liam are smart, they won’t come after me.
I trust them to keep Willow safe.
The only people on this planet—and certainly this mountain—that I would entrust that duty to.
They won’t let her into the line of fire, no matter how much she might want to rush after me, especially now that she remembers everything.
Good God…
It explains so much.
The memories of the pain she had in her abdomen, the vomiting, running away in a storm, carrying something she knew was important.
All of it fits into that puzzle so perfectly.
He was her reason.
Our son.
We were.
The family we should have been together this whole time.
My hand tightens on the axe as blood trickles down my left arm. I keep stalking through the woods and pause for a moment to listen for any movement before quickly darting across the trail.
Earl Byers…
He used to work at McBride Timber when Dad was still alive.
He had access to the old maps, likely explored this side of the mountain and the abandoned camp that was set up here.
He knew it would be secluded.
He knew he could bring Willow here and not be discovered.
Fuck.
For all I know, he and his wife were up here for years before she left, and no one knew about it?—
A twig snapping somewhere to my left makes me freeze, then I quickly dart behind a massive tree trunk.
I peer around the corner, searching for the source.
No sign of anyone.
But the hair on the back of my neck stands on end.
I shift around the tree and inch closer and closer to where I heard the sound.
Keeping low.
