Page 43 of Red Hunt

The drive to Three Oaks wasn’t half bad, and since Peaches was driving with Goofy riding shotgun, it left me sitting in the back and drinking in the environment. I’d never thought rural areas or small-town living would be my thing, but boy, driving along the lake wedged in between mountains with all the lush greenery, even in the heat of summer, it really was something else. We left the lake and mountainous area behind us, and the landscape opened up a bit. I watched what I guessed was an eagle soar through the sky above us. There were cattle grazing on the side of the road. It looked idyllic. Did Milli live here her whole life? Doc hinted at something. But I couldn’t remember his exact words.

“Get off here. Over that hill, there’s Three Oaks,” Goofy said and ended my musings.

“Did you grow up here?” I asked.

Goofy chuckled. “Yep. My parents moved here when I was ten. My father was a doctor at the hospital in Whitebrook before he retired.”

“And your mom?”

He turned around and grinned. “Nurse. Typical workplace romance, I guess.”

His face changed, and I could get a glimpse of his frown before he turned back around. Sadly, I knew exactly what put that sad look on his face. Thinking about family and not thinking about your fallen brother was impossible. Especially since Goofy and his older brother Mike had been as close as brothers could be.

“Mom is so excited to finally meet the both of you,” Goofy said after a moment, back to his old happy self.

Meeting the mom. What about Milli’s mom? There wasn’t a sign of any other family in her apartment. Her grandpa had taken her in, so maybe her parents had died in some kind of accident?

We entered a middle-class neighborhood—cute houses, big gardens, and trees, a lot of trees, but wasn’t that a requirement if you lived someplace called Three Oaks?

As Peaches parked the truck in the driveway, the front door opened. Goofy leaped out of the car and swooped up his mom, a voluptuous blonde who was easily ten inches shorter than him, and swung her around.

Peaches and I followed, and I could hear her deep belly laughter. So that’s where Goofy got his happy genes from.

“Scottie, let me down, now,” she said.

Scottie. It always amazed me how someone with such a boisterous personality could’ve been named Scott. But Scottie sounded much more fitting. Though his earned nickname would always be the perfect match.

“Scottie, introduce me to your friends.”

She took a step toward me and ignoring my outstretched hand, she took me into her arms as if we were well acquainted and not meeting for the first time.

“You must be Max.” She squeezed, let me go, and caressed my cheek with the back of her hand. “Call me Cindy, or Mom. Scottie has told me so much about you.”

Then she turned to Peaches, squeezed him, and said, “And you’re Peaches, the smart one. Oh, the girls around here will have to watch out. It’s rarely you see such a smart man having scored in the looks department, as well.”

Goofy groaned, and I chuckled when Peaches’ cheeks became tinged with red.

“Mom, please. You don’t need to embarrass me within five minutes of meeting my teammates.”

Cindy chuckled. “That’s what you get for not coming home more often and not bringing your friends. Come in.”

She shooed us through the house and onto the back patio, where a giant table overflowing with all kinds of food made my mouth water.

A gray-haired, wiry man, dressed in a Hawaii-print shirt, unbuttoned to the navel, greeted us from an outdoor kitchen. “Hey, boys, I’m Jared. Nice to meet you.”

Goofy stepped toward his dad and gave him a hug. “Thanks for the invite. We’re all starving.”

And he was right. Even though I couldn’t even think of food after getting up, the run and the cold shower had brought me back from the dead, and my stomach was growling when the smell of fresh bacon hit my nose. Heaven.

We settled down, and Goofy ostentatiously stared first at the additional plate, then at his mom.

“Niki usually has breakfast with us after coming off the night shift.”

Jared, Goofy’s dad, planted a plate loaded with sizzling bacon and a pan with fried eggs down in the middle of the table and sat down. “That girl turned into an amazing ER doc.”

Jared’s voice was full of pride, but I could see Goofy’s mouth tighten slightly. He’d never mentioned someone called Niki, but it was clear Goofy was not amused by the prospect of meeting her. There was some kind of history there, and it wasn’t all hunky-dory.

Right at that moment, a car drove by, and a minute later, we could hear the door open. “Hello, I’m here.”

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