Page 52 of Trigger Happy

“You’re not even gonna try to justify it?” he says, jaw working.

“I’m not going to say something that I don’t mean. That feels like an insult to your pain.”

I might not know what it’s like to lose someone, but I know that when you’re going through something dark, the last thing you want is someone else’s sunshine. There’s nothing worse than a You got this! in the middle of an emotional tornado.

He peers at me, eyes scorching my cheek. “You really don’t know why they were at his apartment?”

I force myself to shake my head. “All they told me is that they had a job down there. They crossed paths with Walker, and there was a complication, apparently. That’s all I know. They didn’t mean for it to happen. I do know they feel horrible about everything, but they also realize feelings fix nothing.”

He’s quiet as I continue bandaging him up. All I get is watchful silence. I don’t look at him, but I feel his gaze burrowing beneath my skin. I think for the first time, he actually believes me.

He doesn’t say a word until I’ve finished. “You know, I used to have a thing for you.”

I almost fumble the antiseptic. “What?”

That doesn’t make me feel better.

He laughs, but there’s no humor in the crinkles of his eyes. “Yeah. You were off-limits, which made me curious. I started scrolling Onyx’s home feed, finding out what jobs you were on and crossing paths with you on purpose. You need a better username, by the way. KillerHeelz? I hope that was ironic. Anyway, you always showed up so prepared, and I thought I could learn a thing or two from you, but then…”

A packed silence punctuates the end of his sentence, a dangling what-if? He doesn’t add anything. We simply stare at each other. It feels more intimate than anything else he’s done, and my shoulders loosen when he pulls away first. I take that as bonding session over.

“Maybe we were destined to be, like, star-crossed enemies or something,” I say, putting the medical tape back in my first aid kit, so I don’t have to see his expression.

The pine trees rustle, filling the quiet air.

“I don’t save my enemies from wild moose,” he murmurs.

I smile down at the strip of medical tape, then look over my shoulder, just enough so he can see my lips turn up. “And I don’t use an entire strip of butterfly tape to patch up my enemies.”

“Well, then…” He stands, dusting off his hiking pants. “Guess that makes us not-enemies.”

“And here I thought you were going to say reluctant allies.” I click the first aid kit shut.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

“A woman can dream.”

We smile at each other for a beat, then he stretches out his arms, muscles popping with the motion. “How far away are we from the coordinates?”

I zoom in on my phone’s GPS until the map pixels blur. “It says we’re less than a mile out.”

“Better get moving, then.”

He starts leading the way, pulling out his knife to slash any tree branches in his way, making a clear path for me. It’s not an olive branch, but maybe an olive twig. There has always been our family rivalry wedged between us, but I’m tired of being dragged down by old grudges and buried secrets. I have better, more important things to do than revenge plot, like finish this job so I can deposit the payout into my down payment account.

We hike another grueling mile uphill, my feet aching, and I notice a sharp scent in the air getting stronger and stronger. I wrinkle my nose. It’s earthy. Salty, even?

Once I see where the trail spits us out, my jaw drops. “Holy shit.”

“The holiest of shits,” he says in awe.

“This shit was probably blessed with sacred water.”

“Yeah.” Lawton whistles. “This is not what I was expecting.”

27Sabrina

You don’t get views like this in Texas, that’s for damn sure,” Lawton says into the billowing steam of the hot spring.