Claiming the Enemy: Dustin (Porter Brothers Trilogy 3)

“Hang in there, Jessie. Help is on the way. I’m going to get you out of here as soon as I can. Come on, Peanut, wake up,” he croaked out as he tried to pull strands of her blood-soaked hair away from her eyes.

Whimpers came from her lips as she shook under the blanket.

Not knowing what else to do, he sat down, pulling her onto his lap and rocking her gently. He continued to croon to her the way he had when he held Logan when he was little.

“If your brothers come and see me holding you, how are you going to protect me if you’re not awake?” he coaxed.

“You remember when we were little and used to make mud balls and throw them at Holt and Asher and blame Tate and Greer? And remember when we were playing in my pa’s truck, and he was passed out in the barn, and it rolled backward off the mountain? I told him he had done it when he was drunk, and he believed it. We used to get in so much trouble.

“My ma knew I was sneaking out to play with you when Pa was gone, and she never told on me. She would get us a Reese’s Cup on the way home from work, and we would share it. I begged her to buy different candy, and she would always bring the same thing home. I asked her one time why. You want to know what she said?” His voice cracked as he stared down at the face he had loved since before he knew what love was. “She said we’d never have to fight over who got too much or not enough. There was a piece for each of us, and she was right.

“We never fought until I let our fathers come between us. I look back now, and you don’t know how much I regret how I acted after Duke died. I was an ass, but truthfully, there hasn’t been a Porter born who wasn’t one. You don’t know how many times I wished I could go back in time and play that day differently. Still, if I were only given a day to turn back, it would be this past Friday, and I would have been there when you needed me.”

Dustin was still rocking her when a flash in the sky showed that help was coming.

Tugging the blanket tighter around her, he reached inside the backpack and took out the walkie-talkie, hoping that Greer or Tate were finally in range.

“Greer? Tate?”

“Tate. You find Jessie?”

“Yes. Who’s with you?”

“Cash. Knox is on the way with the rescue squad. What kind of shape is she in?”

“Bad enough that you want to keep Holt and Asher away. They shouldn’t see her this way, not until she’s cleaned up. Jessie wouldn’t want them to see her like this.”

“Greer is driving them to the hospital. Told them that they could wait for her arrival. Rescue squad is going to send two EMTs down to her. Then we’ll life flight her the hell out.”

“The trees are going to cause some problems.”

“Don’t worry. You did the hard part. Let us handle the rest.”

“Okay. We’ll be waiting. Don’t take all night.”

Dustin saw Jessie struggling to get her arm out from underneath the blanket. With her hands, she blindly searched for her eyes as he set the two-way radio down.

Heart-wrenching mewls of pain tore his insides to shreds as she regained consciousness.

“Jessie, stop. You’re going to hurt yourself.” Holding her torn hands firmly, Dustin had never regretted his lack of medical knowledge more than he did now. He desperately wanted to ease her pain.

Not knowing what to do, he did the only thing he could. He talked.

“You were constantly getting me in trouble, talking me into shit that I knew was crazy as fuck. I just lucked out that Pa believed that story. I can hear you telling me ‘Let’s pretend we’re going to the store.’ When the truck rolled back, you were out of there as if lightning was on your ass.” Dustin stared down at Jessie as she quit fighting his hold, unable to hold back a choked laugh at the memory.

“The stupid one you talked me into was when you convinced me a wasp nest was a honeycomb. You brought a big mason jar and kept nagging at me until I climbed that branch. And what did you do? Took off running as if your pants were on fire, and I was the one getting stung. I looked like Frankenstein for a flipping month.”

Dustin shook his head at himself. “You were always able to convince me to do the stupidest things that no one in their right mind would do. The worst was when you were absolutely sure little green men were hiding in the woods and watching us. Getting me to sneak out the green paint that Pa had painted the chicken coop with and paint each other so the little green men would come out and talk to us.