Page 66 of Montana Mystery

He was standing in the wreckage of the living room, sweeping up dirt and glass.

“Okay, I’m ready.”

One more look around the place showed that he was more troubled than he was letting on.

“Noah, I’m okay.”

“I know. But if you’d walked into the middle of this?”

It wasn’t something I wanted to dwell on. I took the broom from him. “Come on. I still have more than enough stops without wallowing.”

He caught my arm and pulled me back to him. His eyes were serious as he looked down at me. “You’re allowed to be upset about this.”

I avoided his gaze, looking straight through him instead. “What good does it do?”

“I know a thing or two about pushing down feelings.” There was a gentle smile in his tone, but it wasn’t funny.

“They’re just things, Noah.”

“They’re not. This was your home. The place that you were safe.”

That last word lodged in my chest, and I looked up at him again. He was my safety now. We’d said as much, but to say that out loud here? It felt like a statement deeper than I was ready for. A declaration.

Instead, I leaned into him and let him hold me. “Thank you.”

These moments of silence and rest sometimes happened, and every time they did, I treasured them. Just the two of us, existing where nothing else had a place.

It was beautiful.

I didn’t want to, but I pulled back. “Time to go get my brother?”

Noah nodded.

We took separate entrances into the hospital. For now, we had to keep up the charade that we weren’t together and hadn’t known each other the night that Noah had “bought” me. If they were still watching—and we had no proof that they weren’t—then it was necessary.

Brandon looked so much better in person. His bruises and bite marks were still garish, but it was a far cry from the warmed-up death he’d looked like when I’d first gotten the call.

“Thank fuck,” he said. “Can we please get out of here?”

“Yeah, in a couple of minutes.”

“What are we waiting for?”

Like it was his cue, Noah walked in. It wasn’t a secret from Brandon that I’d been staying at Resting Warrior. He’d recognized I wasn’t at home when I called him each day, so I’d told him the truth. Not that Noah and I were together, but that I was up there in case anything happened.

Brandon’s face fell. Clearly, he hadn’t been expecting another visit from any of the Resting Warrior guys. “I know I owe you for the money you lent us. Coming to collect?”

I expected Noah to bristle. To get angry. But he didn’t. He simply smirked. “No. We’re here to jailbreak you, get you some clothes, and then head up north.”

My brother looked at me. “I’m not going up there.”

“Yes, you are.”

“I’d rather just go back to our apartment. Please?”

It was hard to resist that please. Small, broken, and the little brother that I’d long since thought I’d lost. “I wish I could let you,” I said. “But I just came from there. I haven’t been able to clean it all the way up, and it’s not ready for anyone to live in.”

“Aside from that.” Noah’s voice was gentle but firm. “Just because it’s quiet doesn’t mean they won’t come back. They know where the apartment is, and it’s the first place that they’ll look. It’s an unnecessary risk while you’re still healing.”

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