Page 47 of Red Hunt

She bounced off of her seat, and I felt a lightness in my chest that bubbled up into laughter. It was ridiculous to feel so excited about a simple girls’ night out. But maybe it was the release of the pent-up pressure after the incident in the parking lot.

Or maybe it was the fluttery feeling in my chest whenever I thought of Belinda’s harebrained plan.

26

MAX

We arrived at The Oaktree just as the sun settled down. Even though I could feel the air cooling with the sun setting, the gravel still emanated the heat of the day. It had been a hot few couple of days although up at the lodge, it was a lot cooler. Probably the altitude, or the surrounding forest changing the microclimate up there. One look across the parking lot, and I knew we’d found our kind of bar. A hangout perfect for relaxing and throwing back a couple of beers and celebrating the brotherhood we were all proud to be a part of.

I looked around, and my eyes found Carter sitting slumped over in his truck. Must be hot as hell.

He looked defeated. Not his usual MO.

I stepped up to his truck with Goofy at my side, and he didn’t even recognize we were there. No situational awareness. Something was really off.

I knocked on the roof, and he straightened, stared at us as if he had no clue we were there.

Not right at all. “Hell, boss. What’s wrong?” I could hear the alarm in my voice. He was off. Was he in pain?

He looked at me as if I was the one off. “Why?”

But he couldn’t fool me. I just stared at him. And after a while, he nodded once, acknowledging something was going on. But what? He wasn’t in pain. I was confident nothing bad had happened work-wise during the last few hours. That left only one thing that could’ve caused him to be bent out of shape like that.

I shook my head and chuckled. “I’ll be damned. I never thought I’d see the day.”

Goofy looked from him to me and back and raised his eyebrows.

But I was sure of it. “Women trouble, Goof; Boss got women trouble.” I raised one eyebrow, daring Carter to veto my theory.

“One woman, to be precise, and she just gave me the boot.”

“And, so you sit here and feel sorry for yourself? Is that how we’re dealing with stuff now, Boss?” I grinned, my words challenging him. Because usually, it was the other way around. Usually, it was Carter being a hard ass, demanding we get our heads back in the game.

Catching him for once with his shorts down…was actually pretty satisfying.

“Where’s Peaches?” Carter asked and stepped out of the truck.

“Incoming,” Goofy said, then he suddenly turned and took off in a sprint across the parking lot.

Carter followed, but I hung back when I realized that no one other than Niki Michaels had exited the bar, and she was on her way to her car. Goofy had been curt this morning, skirting the line of being rude. After breakfast was over, Peaches and I had called him out on his unacceptable behavior. Did that make him reconsider the way he’d treated her? Was he apologizing for his rudeness earlier? I watched him intercept her and talk to her, but she just shooed him away as if he was an annoying fly bothering her.

That’s what you got for behaving like an ass earlier. The big, fat middle finger right in your face.

She got into her car and drove away with Goofy staring after her.

I closed the gap between me and Carter, who looked at me as if waiting for clarification. I just shrugged. Carter wouldn’t get any intel from me. This was Goofy’s business. And if I was to talk to anyone, it would be Goofy himself, and he wouldn’t like what I had to say.

“Let’s get inside. Grab a beer. I’m parched,” Carter said, finally realizing I wouldn’t or couldn’t comment on the situation. And I was right there following his lead.

We entered the bar behind Goofy. Not surprisingly, the inside matched the outside. And the guy behind the bar fit like a piece of the puzzle.

“I didn’t expect you to be back so soon, son…and bringing your friends. Niki just took off for the evening, you know. She was blazingly mad at you…just like old times.” He chuckled at Goofy, who grinned back.

“I didn’t even dare look her in the eyes, Bert. I swear,” Goofy said, deepening his grin.

The barkeeper grumbled and shook his head at the same time. “Same old, too-stupid-for-his-own-good boy.”

Carter turned to Goofy with a single raised brow.

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