A is for Aiden (Men of ALPHAbet Mountain)

“Whose clothes are these?” another voice said, and my heart dropped. They must have looked in the guest bedroom’s closet and saw the handful of items that Desiree hung up for herself and then the extra pairs of jeans, shirts, and T-shirts I had beside them.

“Mine,” Brett said. “And my sister’s. She comes to stay out here when she wants to get away from the city.”

“What city?” the leader of the group thundered.

“Knoxville,” Brett said. “She lives in Knoxville. Her name is Tracy.”

Brett was lying through his teeth, but it sounded good. There wasn’t any more talking for a bit as they continued to look through the place. It sounded like they were ransacking it, but Brett didn’t say anything or complain. It felt like hours that we were down there, but my internal clock told me it was only about twenty minutes. Eventually, they seemed to give up as the sounds slowed and there was hushed murmuring.

“Is there anyone else nearby here on the mountain we should know about?” the leader asked.

“No,” Brett said. “Mrs. Franklin is a ways up the mountain, but she’s eighty, and a bit senile.”

“We know,” another voice said.

There was quiet for a moment, and I silently worried for Mrs. Franklin, though from what I knew of her from Brett’s stories, she was too mean to be worried about a couple of goons.

“If you hear anything,” the leader said, “see anything, remember anything, you call this number. Your friend is in some deep shit, and the girl he is with is in even deeper shit, do you understand me?”

“Got it,” Brett said.

“Come on, let’s go,” the man said, and thundering footsteps went out and off the porch.

I listened carefully for the cars to drive away, but it was another half hour before the sound of the coffee table being moved and the latch of the door above us being opened happened. When the door opened, light poured in, and I had to squint to see the shadowy form of Brett above us.

“Come on, guys,” he said. “They’re long gone now.”

24

Desiree

Hiding in the cramped room was terrifying, but damn if it hadn’t worked. The men who were looking for me were fooled enough that they left and hadn’t returned. It had been hours, and there was no sign of them. My heart was just starting to calm down from the adrenaline, and I felt like I could just lie down and sleep for a year.

I was so tired. All this fear and running away and the complicated sexual tension between me and Aiden, it was too much. I was exhausted, all the time. No amount of coffee made me feel awake, and no amount of sleep helped me feel restful enough. Aiden had held me as we hid in the bunker while those men were here, but we still had barely spoken to one another since our fight. Everything was stressful, and I felt like I was at the end of my rope. I just needed a few hours where things were calm.

If only I could be so lucky.

One thing that Brett and Aiden had in common was a love of reading material. Unfortunately for me, the kind of reading material Brett was interested in and the kind Aiden was into were vastly different. Aiden had a little bit of everything from the classics and philosophy books to modern thrillers and mystery novels.

Brett, on the other hand, was wall-to-wall spy novels and fantasy epics. There were a few I remembered from college and a couple of others I had seen television commercials and internet ads for but never had any interest in. Now that I was stuck there, I figured I would either have to work an interest in them up or learn to like whatever sport was playing on his television.

Just as I settled on the couch with one of the fantasy novels in my hands, ready to try and disappear into something else for a while, Brett came running into the room. His eyes were wide, and immediately, Aiden hopped up off the couch. Both men moved the coffee table without a word.

“They’re back?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Brett said. “The cars are different, and there are only two of them, not three. It could be your friend’s dad. It could be the bad guys. Either way, you need to hide until I know.”

I nodded, frustrated and scared all at once. Aiden was already down in the hole when I got to the door. He held out his arms for me, and I hopped down, letting him catch me. I sat down, pulling myself against the wall as Brett shut the door above us and moved everything back into place. I was scared, but not as much as the first time. Something inside of me had changed. Although I had once been terrified, I was beginning to feel angry.