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“I fell off my bike. It took thirty-two stitches to get me back together.” He puffed out his chest as if it were something to be proud of.
“Will I need stitches?” Nolan asked.
“You might. But if you do, you won’t need thirty of them. I’ll bandage it up for now to keep it clean and see what the doctor says when we get back. Deal?”
“Okay.”
Dakota gently applied the gauze and taped it around Nolan’s leg. “Now, let’s look at your hand, Ethan. Where does it hurt?”
Ethan kept as much distance as he could but allowed Dakota to check his injury. He was definitely more cautious. And the way he’d become so angry when she’d mistakenly called Ray his dad made her wonder.
She nodded at Dakota, gesturing to the side of the cave.
“Hold your arm against your chest, just like this, while Allie helps me find something in my pack,” he told Ethan. Stepping around the boy, he dropped his pack at Allie’s feet.
“Do you think Ray is the ‘bad man’ they’re scared of?” she whispered. “Jen definitely fit the mark of a woman in an abusive relationship.”
“I wondered that too. It would explain her skittishness. And why Ethan doesn’t want to go back.”
“Yeah, I mean, she was obviously worried about the boys, but she cowered when Ray put his arm around her earlier. If that is the case, no wonder Ethan was slow in trusting you to look at his arm.”
“Can’t blame the kid if that Ray is the bad guy they’re talking about.” Dakota’s jaw twitched, like he was clenching his teeth tight. He glanced over at the boys, a fierceness in his eyes that looked a lot like protectiveness.
He dug through his pack, keeping his voice low. “But we have to get out of this cave. Soon. The fire is heading right for us.”
“We need to convince Ethan it’s safe to leave.”
“Agreed.” Dakota went back to Ethan. “Let’s get that arm stabilized.” Scout wandered over to the guys and lay at Dakota’s feet while he wrapped Ethan’s arm in a makeshift sling with his bandana.
“Now that we have you two set, we need to get you back to the campground and probably a doctor.” Allie picked up Scout’s rope and stashed it away again.
“I don’t wanna see the bad man.” Nolan buried his face in Dakota’s neck.
“Hey, buddy. It’s okay.” Dakota touched the boy’s head. “I’m gonna keep you safe.”
“That’s right. Dakota was a cop before he was a firefighter.” Allie held Ethan’s backpack out to him. She helped lift the strap over his injured arm and settle it over his shoulders.
“A cop? Did you kill any bad guys?” Nolan asked with wide eyes.
“I saw a lot of bad guys as a cop, and we helped put them in prison so they couldn’t hurt other people. Allie and I will keep you safe too. Even if she wasn’t a police officer.” He winked.
“Are you sure? That man—the bad man—he has a gun.” Ethan looked up at Allie, widened his big blue eyes, and bit down on his lower lip.
“Which man?” Dakota asked.
Neither boy answered. They looked at each other. Ethan gave the slightest shake of his head to his brother. A plea to keep silent?
Allie kneeled by Ethan. “Dakota and I will protect you. But right now there’s a fire coming. This cave isn’t safe, so we need to get back to your mom, okay?”
Ethan studied Dakota standing there, holding his little brother close.
“All right.” He finally nodded. “We’ll go with you, but if that man comes?—”
“We’ll make sure you’re safe.” Dakota offered his hand.
Ethan shook it.
“I believe this belongs to you.” Allie held out what she’d found in the woods to Nolan.