Page 25 of Rust and Bloom

She locks eyes with me again. "Is that why we're here in Jackson?"

I shrug. "Cash just… threw all this stuff at me, ya know. The money, the cards, the truck, the name and number of the pilot. He told me to take ya somewhere."

She looks a little panicked. "Why? Is something happening back at the ranch right now?"

"I don't think so. But I don't know. Cash and I are not friends, nor are we partners. I just don't know."

She sucks in a long breath, holds it, then lets it out. "OK. Let's hear it. Tell me what happened.”

The weight pressing down on us right now—this is what they mean when they talk about the war between good and evil.

This exact moment.

When things that were fuzzy and unclear and easy to ignore suddenly snap into sharp focus and become crystal clear, and the consequences of having this knowledge, of knowing what you now know, make you responsible for it in a way that simply wasn't true before the revelation appeared and changed everything.

It's the whole difference between innocence and guilt.

"We, Badlands, were told by this Mike guy to go do a job. The other night when we were all at the table havin' dinner and I got called back to the clubhouse?"

She nods. Rememberin'.

"Mike said his people had a flat tire out in the middle of nowhere. And they did. He wanted Badlands to go out and fix it. So I sent Ratchet and Crow and sat down for dinner with you. Obviously, I got called out soon after and left. Tellin' you I'd be back."

"Yes. And you weren't gone long. Just long enough to ride there and back, was what I thought when you came home."

"Just long enough for that," I agree. Then I tell her about Crow. "He was having some kind of PTSD episode. Gun to his head, freakin' out. Threatenin' to off himself. He was trafficked by the cartel as a kid. Prison was his way out."

Savannah's hand goes to her heart. "That's terrible!"

"It is. And when they were fixin' that tire, he somehow realized that the truck had kids in the back."

The color drains from Savannah's face like someone pulled a plug, leaving her skin pale. Her lips part slightly, but no sound comes out.

"This whole deal with Brick, and Mike, and Badlands never had anything to do with oil, Savannah. I mean, maybe it is all about oil? But only in the sense that the oil is payin' for it. You get me? I'm tellin' you that Cash was right. Badlands does do kids. What Brick personally did or did not do, I have no idea. But we're part of that whole thing. They can't really do it without Badlands runnin' interference. We are protectin' the network. That's the job."

"You have to leave!" she declares. "You can't be a part of this!"

"I absolutely have to leave. Yes. Cash and I have a plan. It's best you don't know about it."

"Holy shit." Her eyes are wide and terrified.

"I'm tellin' you this now because Colt knows, Savannah. And he might say somethin' to you tonight. And if you start askin' them to come back, he's not gonna want to. And he's right. Destiny and Marigold can't come back to whatever this is. It needs to be handled first. I just want you to be prepared."

"Is Cash gonna bring Colt in on it?"

"No,” I say. And it comes out with confidence. "I don't really understand what Cash is doin'. It's paperwork stuff."

"So that's why he needed those documents?"

"I don't know what documents you're talkin' about. Like I said, he's got things under control. I'm just the help he needs to make it work."

She thinks about this for a moment, chewin' on her lips, eyes on the water rushin' past us down the river. Then she says, "What happened to the kids that night?"

"I've got no idea, Savannah. I'm not a part of this. You know that, right? I mean, obviously, I am a part of it, but⁠—"

Her fingertips press my lips, quietin' me. "There isn't a chance in hell that I would ever believe that you got involved with this by choice. You don't kill a few dozen people over loyalty and then sell your soul for money, Legion. That's not how this works."

The relief that hits me is so sudden and complete it nearly knocks the breath out of my chest.