Ride Wild

  That just proves that your fight-or-flight instincts were working. She heard Caine’s words from the night before, and casually took a few steps back.

  “So you never saw the dog inside this truck?” he asked.

  “No. He’d gotten out by the time I heard the commotion.”

  “But how do you know he was ever in the truck, Miss Campbell? Isn’t it possible these men had come upon a stray?”

  She frowned. “No, because I heard them say—”

  He held up a hand. “With the distance between you and them that you described, and the volume of the barking, and the road noise around you, how can you be so certain about what these men said?”

  Why was he being combative with her? Almost accusatory, even. “I know what I heard, Sheriff. I was right at the fence. I could see and hear them pretty clearly.”

  He shifted his stance. “Yet you can’t describe the suspects’ hair or eye color, whether they had any identifying marks, or tell me the license plate number on the vehicle.”

  Anger stirred in her gut, and she braced her hands on her hips. “No, but—”

  “Would you be able to recognize these men in a line-up?” he asked.

  Her shoulders fell. “I don’t know.” Frustratingly, the answer was probably no.

  “How about the vehicle? Would you be able to identify it if you saw it?”

  She thought she had a better chance at that. “Probably. The old blue color with the white truck bed cap was distinctive enough, I think.”

  He flipped his notebook closed and stashed it in his pocket. “I think that’s all I need, Miss Campbell.” His tone was so dismissive she wanted to scream.

  “Sheriff, there’s a problem around here with these dogs. I volunteer at the animal shelter and I know for a fact how many abused dogs have been showing up with injuries consistent with dogfighting. Please, you have to help.”

  “An investigation is under way, ma’am. That’s why I’m here.” He handed her a card, then turned to the door. “If you remember anything else, let me know. And Miss Campbell?”

  She glanced up from the card in her hand.

  “Men involved in dogfighting can be dangerous. I’d be careful if I were you.”

  Chapter 19

  When was the last time Slider spent time with the boys like this? He’d picked up some sub sandwiches and drinks and brought the kids to Frederick’s farm park, a big sprawling green space on the outskirts of town that combined playgrounds and picnic areas with an operating farm. Visitors could walk through and see all the animals, and watch the farmhands feed and tend them. Sometimes they offered horseback rides or let the kids hold the baby chicks.

  Slider wasn’t sure he could name the last time Sam and Ben had been so happy alone with him. But they were. As they ran and climbed and made friends with new kids the way only kids could so easily do, they absolutely exuded happiness.

  And so much of that was because of Cora. It was clear that the boys adored her. But man, what if that wasn’t enough to make them okay with their dad dating her? The thought that they might not approve—or worse, might be hurt by it—twisted his gut up inside.

  Finally, they all got hungry, found a picnic table in the shade, and unpacked their lunch. The boys dove in like they’d never eaten before in their whole lives. And in truth, Slider was famished, too. Years of depression, grief, guilt, and shame had ravaged his body, but the past few months, he’d put on some weight again. His jeans no longer hung on him, and he had more energy than he remembered having in years.

  “So, I have something I need to talk to you guys about,” he said.

  They looked at him as they ate. “What is it, Dad?” Ben asked, not a care in the world despite the cast on his arm.

  For two days, Slider had run through a million lines in his head to open this conversation, and in that moment, not one of them came to him. “You guys like Cora, right?”

  “Yeah, we love her,” Ben said, peering up at him with that sweet little face. “Don’t you?”

  “Of course we like her, Dad,” Sam said, more appraising in his look. Like he was waiting for some kind of bad news. “What’s going on?”

  Slider wiped his hands on a napkin. “Well, it’s just, I wanted to talk to you guys, because . . . I like her, too.”

  Ben’s expression was totally blank. “Okay, good talk, Daddy.”

  Slider chuckled, but the smile slid back off his face when his older son’s eyes went wide with understanding.

  “Are you two, like, together?” Sam asked.

  “Would it be okay with you if we were?” he asked, his heart pounding harder in his chest each second they didn’t answer.

  “Wait, like boyfriend and girlfriend?” Ben asked.

  “Yeah, Benji. Like boyfriend and girlfriend.” Slider looked from one of his mini-mes to the other. “No one will ever replace your mom,” he said. “Which Cora would never try to do, of course. But I . . . I miss having another grown-up in my life. And Cora . . .” He shrugged. “. . . I really like her.”

  Ben popped onto his knees on the bench beside Slider and threw his arms around his neck. The kid nearly beat him in the back of the head with the cast, but Slider didn’t mind, not one bit, especially when he said, “I don’t mind, Dad. I love Cora. And you should have a person.”

  Aw, hell. Those words. They just slayed him. Just laid him out flat. “Yeah,” he said, choking back emotion. Ben dropped onto his butt and dove back into his food like he hadn’t just mowed his old man over.

  Sam nodded. “Ben’s right. You should.” But even though he agreed, there was something in the boy’s tone that felt off. Not anger, and not even disapproval. Slider couldn’t put his finger on it. “Just, you know, keep the kissing to a minimum.”

  “Eww!” Ben said. “I’m eating here.”

  Chuckling again, Slider arched a brow at Sam. “Oh, yeah? Talk to me in five years, buddy.”

  “Gross, Dad,” Sam said, but there was no heat behind it.

  “So are you guys sure you’re okay with this?” When they reassured him again, he felt himself relax for the first time in days. “Good. Then any chance you want to help me with a surprise for Cora?”

  They were immediately on board with doing something for her, but Slider kept it a secret from them as they packed up, left the park, and drove across town. Fifteen minutes and a million questions from Ben later, Slider pulled into the parking lot of the animal shelter where Cora worked.

  “All right! Are we visiting Cora?” Ben asked.

  “Nope. Even better. This is where her surprise is.” He took them inside, where he’d come the day before to judge just how lovable a certain basset hound truly was. Cora hadn’t exaggerated. One look at that droopy face and a wet kiss on his hand, and Slider was a goner, too. Apparently, he was easy like that.

  After they checked in, a lady took them to a small visitation room, and a few minutes later, the door opened and Bosco lumbered in.

  “Guys, meet Bosco,” Slider said, crouching to pet the dog’s sagging face.

  “Oh, Dad,” Ben said, leaning down close. Bosco gave his cast a snuffling sniff and then licked his face, leaving a decent swipe of slobber behind. “Eww!” Ben laughed, falling immediately in love. “He’s awesome!”

  Sam sat all the way down, and Bosco sniffed him next. But because Sam hadn’t leaned down, Bosco took it upon himself to climb into Sam’s lap until Sam couldn’t help but give in and laugh. “You crazy old dog,” he said, almost giggling as that big tongue attacked again.

  Slider watched them interact with the dog and felt the rightness of this decision into his bones. He’d never been allowed to have a dog growing up, but he wanted the boys to share in both the responsibility and the unconditional love that came with taking care of one.

  And maybe, just maybe, Cora and Bosco would stay around for a long, long time . . . After everything, Slider almost couldn’t believe that thought had originated in his own brain, but it didn’t make it any less real . . .
or less terrifying . . .

  Slider sat next to Sam so he could pet Bosco, too. “This is the older dog that had Cora asking that question at dinner the other night.”

  “So he’d be Cora’s, but we’d get to spend time with him, too?” Sam asked.

  Nodding, Slider gave the old dog a scratch behind his ears. “Yeah. Would that be okay? She’s sorta fallen in love with him.”

  “Sure you can stand the competition?” Sam smirked.

  Slider nailed him with a stare. “Just for that, you get to clean up any accidents in the house for the next week.”

  Grinning, Sam smirked harder. But then he pressed his face to Bosco’s and closed his eyes. “If he could live with us, I would totally do that.” Sam’s expression grew more serious. “Cora should have a family, and Bosco could be that for her.”

  “You mean like when my teacher calls her cat her fur baby?” Ben asked, hugging Bosco next.

  Sam nodded. “Something like that.” He peered up at Slider. “I think we should get him for her.”

  Cora should have a family.

  Damn if the boy’s words didn’t hit Slider square in the chest—and unleash a strange longing inside Slider that was as scary as it was strong.

  An hour later, they’d completed all the paperwork and sprung Bosco from the joint, and Sam’s words were still pinballing around in Slider’s head. Still, he could barely contain himself with the excitement of surprising Cora. But first they had about a hundred things to buy at the pet store—something that thrilled the boys to no end. They didn’t see a single toy or treat in the whole place they weren’t entirely convinced Bosco had to have.

  Four hundred dollars later, Slider found himself glad he owned a pickup truck. While Ben climbed in the cab with Bosco, Slider and Sam loaded up the bags full of treats, toys, bowls, collars, and leashes, not to mention the giant dog bed and a fifty-pound bag of food.

  They’d even had a name tag engraved for him:

  Bosco T.L.B. Campbell

  Slider had had to explain that to the boys, but he hoped Cora got it right away.

  “Dad?” Sam asked when they’d loaded everything up.

  “Yeah, buddy?”

  “We just need to make sure we don’t mess anything up.” He ducked his chin. “You know, with Cora.”

  Guilt sloshed like acid in Slider’s gut. He hadn’t been responsible for Kim’s cancer, of course, but their marriage hadn’t been everything he’d thought it was, either. Which meant, somewhere along the way, Slider had messed up in that relationship, hadn’t he? But what was important was making his son know nothing like that could ever be his fault. He crouched down so he could meet Sam’s gaze eye to eye. “Why would you think anything would get messed up? Or that you’d have anything to do with it?”

  Sam gave him a troubled shrug, but nothing more.

  “Well, I’ll promise you this. If Cora and I didn’t work out, that could never be your fault. But I’m going to do everything I can not to mess up. Because I’d like Cora to stick around a long while.” Maybe . . . maybe even forever.

  Nodding, Sam said, “Okay.”

  “Look at me, son.” Sam’s brown eyes finally met his. “I want you to know that you can talk to me. I know I probably wasn’t here for you the way I should’ve been the past two years, but I’m here now. Anything you need. Anything you just need to get off your chest. You come to me. Always. Understood?”

  “Yeah, Dad.”

  Slider couldn’t stand the distance between them for one more second. He hauled Sam against him, the first hug they’d shared in so long it hurt. And, Jesus, when Sam hugged him back, it felt like Slider had been on a journey on foot over impassable mountains these past years, and now he was finally home.

  But Slider played it cool. “Now what do you say we go surprise Cora?”

  Smiling up at him, Sam nodded.

  And then they were on their way, and Slider wasn’t sure which of the males in his pickup was most excited to be going home.

  Rattled after Sheriff Davis’s visit, Cora had picked up Haven to go shopping with her, and they’d bought out the home departments in at least three stores with all kinds of things for Slider’s house. And even a few things for her own bedroom. Cora had appreciated the company, even though Haven immediately wanted to alert the entire club about Cora’s unexpected visitor.

  Cora had convinced her that it could wait until they were home, and now that they were again, Haven was giving her the look.

  “Wait,” Cora said, needing a minute before five badass bikers potentially filled Slider’s living room. “Before I do that—and I promise I will—I wanted to talk to you about some things first.”

  “Okay,” Haven said. Leaving all their shopping bags in the living room, they made their way to the family room and sank onto the comfy couch. “Is this about Slider?” she asked, a sly smile on her face.

  Cora chuckled. “In part. And, yes, we’re, uh, dating.”

  “Dating? Officially?” Haven’s bright blue eyes went wide.

  “Yeah,” Cora said, warm with the excitement of it. “Slider’s actually telling Sam and Ben today.” Which was why she hadn’t wanted to disturb him with the news of Davis’s visit. She suspected he wasn’t going to be happy with her waiting, but it wasn’t like Davis had done anything to her, or even threatened her. Though there was no denying how ominous his parting words had sounded.

  “Wow, Cora. He’s seemed so much better lately. I think you must really be making him happy.”

  She smiled, and butterflies whipped through her belly. “I think we’re doing that for each other. Assuming the boys don’t mind.”

  “Pfft.” Haven waved a hand. “They aren’t going to mind. I’d put money on them being thrilled. I know I am. Can you believe how much good we’ve found here? And when I think of how scared I was of the Ravens at first . . .” They both laughed.

  “It is hard to believe, isn’t it?” Cora mused. “And I guess that’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about.” Because she didn’t feel like she could embrace the future while she was still holding onto any part of the past. And it was time to end that. Now.

  Haven shifted closer, as if she sensed not all Cora’s news was good. “Something’s been going on with you, Cora. I’ve asked before and you’ve always played it off. Please tell me what it is.”

  Nodding, Cora took a deep breath. Haven wasn’t wrong. Cora hadn’t always done a perfect job at hiding how her father’s attack had left her feeling, especially in those earliest days when she vacillated between being a zombie and screaming awake with nightmares—both of which she played off as the stress of their flight, and then their kidnapping by the gang. And even after that, she’d found reason after reason to keep her pain to herself. “So, something happened before we left Georgia. And, I’m okay now, but I wanted you to know.”

  “Oh, God. Okay,” Haven said, taking her hand and shifting closer until they were sitting knee to knee.

  “You know that I always wanted to help you get out of there.” Silently, she said a little prayer that her best friend wouldn’t be mad for all she’d been holding back.

  “Of course,” Haven said. “We talked about it so many times. Made plans and discarded them. Dreamed of where we might go and what kinds of lives we might have when we got there.”

  “Yeah,” Cora said, her heart kicking up in her chest. “But there was a reason I was so set on finally trying to run when we did. Three nights before I slept over at your house so we’d be together to go, my . . . my dad . . .” Haven squeezed her hand harder, and Cora met her best friend’s troubled gaze. Just say it. Just be done with it. “He raped me, Haven.”

  The admission almost made Cora a little dizzy. It was as if she’d held on to the secret so long that it’d developed its own weight, and now she was finally lighter and free.

  “Oh, Cora. Oh, no. I’m so sorry,” Haven said, her blue eyes filling with tears. “That bastard. What happened? Can you talk about it?”


  So tired of holding on to this secret, especially from her best friend, Cora told her everything. She recounted every detail. Every memory. And answered every question. Like a purging of poison from her system that slowly but surely made her well again. “It was only that one time, but no way was I ever letting it happen again.”

  Haven pulled her into a hug, both of them crying, but Cora was done shedding tears over her past. She was all about her present and her future now.

  “God, I was so focused on my own problems that I didn’t see this,” Haven said. “I’m so sorry, Cora. What a terrible friend I’ve been.”

  “No. Stop that right now. I hid this from you on purpose, and I made up all kinds of reasons why it was a good idea. And you’re right. You did ask. I just . . . I wanted to be strong for you, to get us out of all the trouble we were in. And I felt like admitting what’d happened would mess everything up.”

  “You’re the strongest person I know,” Haven said. “Seriously, I never would’ve gotten away without you. Or found Dare, or this place. I just wish I could’ve been there for you the way you were for me.”

  “You don’t give yourself enough credit,” Cora said. “Maybe neither of us do. But it’s never too late, and I promise never to keep a secret from you again.” Now that she felt the relief of finally coming clean, it was hard to remember why it had ever felt so important to keep her secret in the first place. She should’ve known Haven would be nothing but supportive, but sometimes your brain was your own worst enemy.

  “Me too,” Haven said nodding. They both sagged against the couch, as if the conversation had drained them. “Do you think these Raven men have any idea what they’re getting into with the two of us?”

  Cora grinned, almost giddy at being unburdened by secrets after all these months. “No freaking idea at all.”

  They were laughing again when the front door opened a little while later, and there was a sudden commotion of voices and footsteps.