Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101501 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 508(@200wpm)___ 406(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Logan kept his sights on Bear to make sure he stayed down, then watched with a grin as Max jumped into his line of sight and grabbed Bear by the throat, pinning him to the ground so he wouldn’t move.
With Bear out of commission, Logan dug through his pack for his phone and dialed Ty.
“You find them?”
“I found them. Bear is incapacitated.”
“Max find you?”
“How the fuck did . . . Tell me you didn’t leave Skylar alone to bring me my dog?” Logan growled, on the move toward Jake and Josh.
“Fuck no. I’ve been on the receiving end of one of your punches. I sent Jared in an ambulance to Jamie’s and he brought him over. Jared said the second he cleared the truck and smelled the blood he bolted like a greyhound. Keep your eyes out for Jared, he’s out there somewhere with an EMT kit.”
“What does Skylar know?”
“Nothing. I called Jamie and she’s kept her on the phone for the past hour.”
“Roger that. Gotta go.”
Logan double-timed it to Jake and Josh, but Jared got to them first. He was treating Bear while Max kept his teeth glued to his throat when he arrived. Jake already had a compression bandage tied around his shoulder and an IV dripping from a branch when Logan broke through the brush.
“Took you long enough.” Josh was cool and casual as he watched Jared treat Bear.
“Sorry, kid. I got held up kissing your sister.”
“That’s cool. It’s been an interesting night.”
Logan stopped and looked down at Chance Bear. He was awake but zoned out, ignoring everyone including the war dog drooling on his neck.
“You have the right to remain silent . . . Shit, I don’t know the rest.”
“Google it,” Jake grumbled opening his eyes. “I don’t want that fuck getting off on a technicality.” Logan didn’t need to google it; he’d copied it at Duke’s office, just in case this day came and stuck it in his wallet.
“Wicked shot by the way,” Jake continued. “How far do you think it was?”
“Far enough.”
“Saved us for sure,” Josh stated. “So you can forgive yourself now.”
Logan’s attention shot to the kid while he dug through his wallet. “What was that?”
“Forgive yourself. The Dalai Lama said we can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves. You’ve found a home. Someone to love. Killer brothers to hang out with, when you’re not kissing my sister. If you want to enjoy all of that, then you need to forgive yourself for what happened last year. Find absolution.”
Logan blinked. “Jesus Christ, it’s like listening to Coop speak.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
Logan stared at Josh until the ache in his chest eased. “No, kid. Highest compliment.”
“Cool! So are you gonna find your joy and forgive yourself or what?”
How he’d ended up in the one place he needed to be at the time he needed to be there, so he could meet the very people who would help him off the path he’d been traveling, was nothing short of divine intervention. In those months after his friends’ deaths, Logan had thought he’d been alone while traveling in circles. It was clear as day now that he’d never walked alone. He’d been directed to the one place where he could heal and find the absolution Josh talked about.
“Joy, kid. Found it with you three, and I plan to spend the rest of my fucking life enjoying the hell out of it.”
Epilogue
One week later . . .
WARMTH FILLED MY body as I slowly woke to the morning sun. I gasped and my traitorous hips moved against Logan’s hot mouth, causing my sore ribs and incision to growl at me.
“I’m still not speaking to you,” I whimpered, clawing the bedsheets to keep from moving. “You should have told me about my brothers.”
“Hush. Lie still and let me find my joy before you hurt yourself.”
A different kind of warmth spread through my veins. How could I argue with that?
_______________
Six months later . . .
“And then I told John, rumor has it your police chief doesn’t work out of the courthouse but out of this bar. He said I was nuts, so I hauled him down here to prove him wrong. It’s true, isn’t it? A gal over at the diner said after he caught some serial killer, he refused to take the job unless he could work out of this bar. She said he didn’t trust anyone else to keep an eye on the owner. That if they wanted him to wear the badge permanently, he would only do it sitting at the end of the bar.”
Jordan had been running her mouth again. Susie and John Little were an older couple passing though Ennis on their way to Yellowstone. Logan had become a bit of a curiosity for vacationers when they heard where his office was.