Mountain Rough

“This isn’t going to end well. You’re going to piss them off.” Mandy reached for my arm again.

“Good.” I evaded her grasp. “They deserve to be pissed off.”

MY BLOOD WAS BOILING when I pushed the doors open and walked into Town Hall. There were more people there than when I came for the permits, but I ignored them all and took the stairs that led to the mayor’s office. Before I could get to the top, I saw a familiar face. He appeared to be heading down the stairs, but he paused in his tracks when he saw me. Brandon Remington had some age on his face, but he still looked like a grown-up version of the sniveling kid I remembered. His eyes opened wide, but then his face turned to a smirk. It was the same smirk I hated in high school. The one that made me want to punch his head off his shoulders.

“Red…” He took a step onto the staircase and tilted his head. “I didn’t believe it when people said you were back. I thought it was impossible. You were too good for this town.”

“Yeah.” I glared at him, feeling my rage starting to take control. “I’m back all right. It seems that you’ve used your family’s money to buy your way into public office.”

“I’m just a civil servant.” He blinked and his smirk faded. “I’ve tried to make Blue Ridge better while you’ve been gone.”

“I’ve seen what you’ve been doing. You locked everything down so that your family was the only ones that could profit. You’ve choked out of all of the competition.” I took another step and resisted the urge to charge him. “You won’t get away with this.”

“Classic Red.” He shook his head and chuckled. “You think this is about money? You’re a fool. It’s about family.” He walked down a few steps until he was close enough for me to reach. “My family—that is all I care about.”

“Yeah, because your family profits while everyone else suffers.” I leaned forward. “Just ask the Thatchers. They were the first victims of your greed.”

“Victims—greed.” He gave the same sarcastic smirk. “You have no idea.”

“Red? Brandon?” I heard a voice behind me, one that I recognized instantly after hearing it again in the supermarket.

Susan walked towards the stairs with a look of shock and surprise on her face. It wasn’t the first time she had arrived when I was arguing with Brandon, seconds from turning his face into an unrecognizable blood splatter. It felt like high school again. I was close to losing my temper and going across the line I promised her I would never cross—then she arrived to set things straight. The difference was that I no longer bowed to her commands. I didn’t give a shit what she had to say. Brandon had taken things too far and I wasn’t about to let her interfere. I looked at Mandy, who seemed to be stuck in a permanent state of bewilderment as she witnessed the exchange.

“Susan, stay out of this.” I pointed at my childhood girlfriend and felt my blood boiling again. “This is between me and your husband.”

“So I guess you know…” Susan stopped and shook her head. “I’m sorry, Red. You left and Brandon was there for me.”

“I was a little confused to find out you married this piece of shit.” I pointed to Brandon. “Yeah, it stung a little bit, but that’s my fault. I’m the one that left. I’m the one that drove you into his arms—whatever. I’m here to talk about what this fucking asshole did to my father.”

“Your father?” Susan blinked in surprise. “Your father died, Red. That doesn’t have anything to do with Brandon.”

“Doesn’t it?” I turned my attention back to Brandon. “I find it rather convenient that he passed away after he filed a lawsuit to challenge the incorporation.”

“He did what?” Susan tilted her head and then looked at Brandon. “You never told me that, you told me it was about…”

“About what?” I took a step down the stairs. “What the fuck did you two do?”

“Nothing.” Susan suddenly regained her composure. “Brandon, we need to talk about this—at home.”

“I’m the mayor now.” Brandon walked down the stairs and put his hand on my shoulder. “I don’t have to cower in fear of this asshole anymore.”

I couldn’t hold back anymore. I spun around and my fist crashed into Brandon’s jaw. It was like a lifetime of pent up frustrations coming to life in one punch. Everyone in Town Hall immediately started to freak out. Brandon hit the stairs and rolled to the bottom. Susan ran to him and quickly knelt down, pulling his head into her lap. I stared at the scene for a moment and as more people came rushing over, the weight of what I had done started to hit me. I was motionless for a moment and then I felt someone tugging on my arm. I looked over to see Mandy. Her face instantly snapped me back to reality and I started moving towards the exit. We were in my truck with the ignition cranked before Sheriff Thompson’s car rolled up with the lights on.

“Fuck!” I snarled and slammed the truck into drive.

“I told you this was a bad idea.” Mandy pulled her seatbelt across her chest as we peeled out of the parking lot.

Chapter 13: Mandy

Some freaking vacation.

I could tell Red was going to lose his temper before he walked into Town Hall. I did my best to stop him, but it wasn’t enough. He was blinded by rage. We parked near the resort and watched from a distance as Sheriff Thompson arrived. He searched the resort and waited for an hour before he finally gave up. Once it got dark, we returned to the resort on foot. We couldn’t turn on the lights out of fear that someone would see us, but we did have shelter over our head. The mountain did give us some cover. If anyone got near the resort, we would hear them. I wasn’t sure what that would mean, but I was glad we seemed to have some sort of peace for the moment. The quietness was our camouflage.

“I guess this isn’t what you signed up for when you decided to take a vacation to the mountains.” Red tossed a blanket on the floor and poured a glass of whis

key.

“No, not at all.” I shook my head back and forth as I took a seat.