Ben (The Sherwood)

“You don’t,” Heath said. “It’s too dangerous.”

AJ agreed with Heath. “Tell us about the compound, Disa. The habits of Elder Ron and the other members of the church and we’ll check on Merci.”

I scratched my chin. If that wasn’t the creepiest suggestion my brother had ever made I didn’t know what was. “I don’t know that I like this plan.”

“I don’t really care,” AJ informed me. “Do you want your woman checking on her sister?”

I glanced at Disa then at AJ. “No, I don’t but I don’t want my brothers getting arrested for trespassing either. I’ll go with you,” I offered. “Keep you out of trouble.” I had a much cooler head than these two.

Disa started loading bowls with my homemade chili. We watched her while we talked. I could tell she didn’t like that plan either.

AJ shot that down quickly. “No, you’ll stay here and watch over Disa. Heath and I can handle it.”

I gazed at Heath and I knew he could see my doubt. He walked across the room to me with just a hint of a limp. He handed Asia to me. His eyes were piercing when he gazed at me. This was the crazy that I saw that was frightening to me. “Ben, this kid of yours is all the reason you need to keep your ass at home.”

“Rachel is going to have a cow when she finds out,” I said to my brot

her.

“Rachel will never know,” he responded.

“Since when do you boys call your mother by her first name?” Disa asked us.

AJ put his arm around her shoulders. He was smirking. “Since we could talk,” he replied. Then to me, he said, “She’ll never know. We’ll tell Dad so somebody besides you knows when we go there.”

“So, you’re actually letting me in on the plan.”

Heath and AJ exchanged glances. “Nope,” AJ replied infuriating me. “Better you don’t know.” Then he walked to the table and sat down. Disa followed with bowls of food for him and Heath. She patted his shoulder before she walked away to get drinks for everyone.

“I like her,” AJ informed me.

I shook my head at him. “I’m glad I have your approval.”

I felt like I was missing something. A really, big something about my brothers, AJ and Heath. I shook my head and carried my daughter to the living room where I placed her in the swing. I turned the dial to on so that her seat began to swing and play music.

I watched her for a moment. She was content to gaze at the mobile twirling about over her head while the music entertained her too.

Then, satisfied that she was okay, I headed back to the dining room. My brothers were interrogating Disa about the compound. I sat beside her and listened to the questions they were asking and again I wondered about what they were going to do. This was a side to them that I had never seen.

Heath was ex-military, but AJ was an accountant. Hardly the militant type other than he appeared to be a bad ass. Maybe Heath’s crazy was rubbing off on AJ while they hung out in the woods.

“Where is her home?” Heath asked. He didn’t write anything down but then again, he always could remember everything easily.

She explained the layout of the compound. One road ran through the fenced in twenty-acre property. Barbed wire ran across the top of the ten-foot-high fence about three feet high. Elder Ron lived on an acre plot of land at the back of the compound where the other elders lived. The other members of the congregation owned anywhere from a quarter to half acre plot depending on their station with the congregation.

“For instance, my father was a financial genius,” Disa explained. “He made the elders money, so he was given a larger plot of land and revered by the congregation. That’s why he was so angry at me when I refused to marry Elder Ron.”

“Was you father an Elder?” AJ asked.

“No, but he was on track to become one until I left the compound. I ruined that for him when I betrayed him.”

AJ nodded but said nothing. I didn’t know how this helped him or Heath. I was concerned about what they were going to do. I didn’t want to see my brothers get into trouble. There was only so many things that Hawk, our sheriff could do to keep them out of jail. He had done his fair share of interfering over the years with these two.

“I’m worried about this, you guys,” I voiced my opinion for the second time.

AJ looked across the table at me. His expression was priceless. “Worried about what?” He asked. The innocent look he gave me reminded me of Rachel. He wasn’t any better at that than she was.

I glanced at Disa. She didn’t believe him any more than I did. “The less you know the better,” Heath said.