Page 12 of Song Bird Hearts (Green River Hearts #4)

Valerie

“W here are we supposed to land?” I ask, though I’d like nothing more than to pretend I no longer exist after puking on Knox’s shoes.

I’ve been quiet since then. We haven’t addressed it or talked about it.

Every now and then, Knox just opens his door while in midflight to let some air in.

Every time he does it, I about die from shame again.

But my question is valid. Steele doesn’t have any airports. Not even small ones. I’m not sure where we can land this small thing down at without an airport. White Stag Pastures certainly doesn’t have a straight road long enough.

“The Sheriff has already shut down the highway temporarily for us,” Gilden answers when Knox doesn’t. “Luckily, it’s late so there shouldn’t be much traffic.”

Wow. Hank really is calling in the favors for me. Highways shut down and everything.

“So, we just land on the street?” I ask, concerned. Is that how it’s supposed to work?

“We need something smooth to land on and we need something long. We can’t just land this thing in a field, not unless you wanna crash,” Knox grumbles. “Street is the next best thing after runway.”

He’s talking to me at least. For now.

“Is it difficult to land?” I peer over at Knox, my face still aflame. I don’t know if I can ever look him in the eyes again.

“Oh, landin’s the hardest part, cher ,” Gilden says from the back. I hear Kevin give a happy grunt. He must be petting him. “Best hold on. It’ll be a bumpy ride.”

“Try not to puke on me again,” Knox grunts.

I shrink into my seat. “I’ll try,” I whisper, anxious that I could do that again.

As it turns out, we’re not just landing on any road.

We’re landing on the road, the biggest major road through the Green River Basin.

I don’t know what strings Hank had to pull to get the Sheriff to shut down the main highway, but I’m thankful for it.

I don’t know where we would have landed otherwise.

Knox expertly brings the small plane down and I clutch at the seat as the ground grows closer and closer. My mind plays different scenarios of us crashing, of me being taken out in some actual accident after everything, but the plane hits the ground and we manage to land safely.

Someone, probably Sheriff John or one of his deputies, flags us onto a driveway into Blue Moon Pastures. We’re directed into a large building where the columbine was clearly meant to be stored since the massive machine sits to the side of the barn.

Escaping the plane can’t come soon enough. Knox, to his credit, doesn’t address anything about me puking on his shoes, but he does glance down at his feet a few times with pure displeasure dripping from his expression. I wish the ground would swallow me up every time.

“Are we going to White Stag?” I ask as I tap my thigh for Kevin to follow. The large pig does so without complaint.

White Stag and Blue Moon Pastures share a small border between us. It would be easy enough to just hop on over there.

“Too obvious,” Gilden replies. “The first place anyone would look for you would be home.”

I frown. “But. . . I am home. Isn’t this all too obvious?”

“Yes, and no,” he answers but clamps his lips shut when the Sheriff comes pulling up and climbs from his patrol car.

“Welcome home, super star!” John says, a big grin on his face despite the exhaustion in his eyes. He immediately comes up and gives me a bear hug, something I notice Gilden and Knox watch carefully. “I’ve missed you!”

“I missed you, too, Sheriff,” I tease, grinning ear to ear despite the situation.

John scoffs. “Don’t call me Sheriff when I’m hugging you. It’s weird.”

I laugh and step back. John and I grew up together, getting into trouble as often as we were allowed to. Hell, it wasn’t just me stealing that tractor. John wasn’t too far behind. To think he’s the sheriff now, it makes me laugh. Steele really does take care of its own.

John’s eyes flick to Knox and Gilden who he nods to respectfully. “Care to share what exactly is goin’ on now that we’re all landed?”

I wince and glance at Knox. His expression tells me all I need to know.

Anything I tell John will only implicate him in the long run, and depending on what kind of shit happens, I don’t want him involved.

If he knew how much trouble I was in, he’d insist on helping, and I’d rather him safe than be caught in the crosshairs.

“When I know more, I’ll tell you,” I lie, squeezing his arm.

“But you’re okay though?” he asks, searching my eyes. His gaze flicks to Knox and Gilden.

“Yeah. I’m okay. I promise,” I reassure him. Another lie. It tastes like ash on my tongue.

He levels his gaze on Knox and Gilden. “Look at you, big time singer needin’ bodyguards now.” He shakes his head. “Things have certainly changed, ain’t they?”

“Yeah,” I agree. “They certainly have.”

“You two take care of our girl,” John tells Knox and Gilden. “She’s one of Steele’s greats.”

Gilden grins. “Oh, she’s in very good hands. Believe me, Tonton Loi .”

John blinks at Gilden and I don’t blame him.

While whatever he called him doesn’t sound disrespectful, it’s clearly teasing.

Everything Gilden does comes across as flirty, and I don’t know if it’s because he’s actually flirting or if it’s the accent.

It’s a damn good accent. When Gilden winks at me, I decide it’s probably flirting.

The man would probably flirt with death before the reaper came to take him, I swear.

“Okay, well, let me know if there’s anything you need while you’re in town,” John tells me. “I’m sure you’d like to enjoy some peace and quiet, but I hope to see you at the Boot Skoot. Hank would probably be happy to host you.”

I smile at him, hoping it looks convincing enough. “Thanks, John. I’ll be in touch.”

I won’t be. Not until we figure out everything with the Foundation, but I don’t want him to know that. I also don’t want him to feel any sort of responsibility if something were to happen to me. It’s best to stay away from everyone for now, no matter who they are.

John gives me one more hug, murmurs, “Welcome home, Val,” in my ear, before releasing me and going back to his patrol car. He waves as he climbs in before he leaves us standing in the field at Blue Moon Pastures.

“What now?” I ask, looking over at Knox.

Almost on cue, a black car with no license plates pulls up. A man gets out, waves, and then hops into another car that pulls up and drives away as fast as it comes. I’m surprised by the fluidity of it all.

“Now we go into hiding,” Knox replies, his voice level. When he looks at me, my face flames. “You don’t get car sick, too. Do you?”

“No,” I answer after a long beat. “No, I don’t.”

“Good,” he grunts. “Get the pig in the car.”

“Kevin,” I correct him.

With his back to me as he climbs into the driver’s seat, he says, “I don’t care.”

“Don’t mind him, cher ,” Gilden encourages as he helps me lift Kevin into the backseat. “He’s always wound tighter than a gator trap. It’s part of his charm.”

“Is it?” I ask with raised brows.

“Some ladies are into that, no?” Gilden grins.

I shrug. “I guess it depends on the lady.”

Climbing into the backseat of the car, I settle in to watch the directions that Knox drives us.

We don’t leave the basin. Instead, we take the main road up toward the cattle allotment.

Just before we get to the end of the road, Knox pulls into a small driveway I don’t see until we’re actually on it.

The drive up into the Wyoming Mountains consists of a small single lane road that twists and turns and looks like we’ll roll down them at any moment if we have one little misstep.

It’s nerve-wracking, but I try not to look too stressed about it.

I’ve been up, down, and through these mountains my entire life.

This should be a cakewalk. Still, how far the road falls off on the edge should stress anyone out.

Not Knox though. That man is a steel trap for his emotions.

After thirty minutes of the slow crawl up into the mountains, the road opens up to reveal a decent sized cabin, probably used for hunting of some sort.

“Whose cabin is this?” I ask, frowning.

“It’s not listed under any name,” Knox replies.

I blink. “Well, okay then.”

It’s only then that I realize I have no clothing, only what I’m wearing. And this place is distinctly masculine. What am I gonna do about?—

As if he knew what I was starting to stress about, Gilden opens the trunk of the car and takes out one small duffel bag and a large one. At my look, he holds up the small one.

“Clothes and toiletries for you. May not be what you enjoy but they’re in your size at least.”

I breathe a sigh of relief. “Anything is fine. Thank you.”

Once inside the cabin, I realize there are literally no markers of life. While it’s decorated nicely with pictures of the mountains, there are no family photos or anything at all to tell me who’s cabin this might be. I’m starting to feel more and more like I’m in a spy movie.

Gilden sets the bags on the couch and claps his hands. “There are two rooms. You get the one on the right, cher .”

I nod gratefully. “So, what now?”

“I’m going to shower and change,” Knox says, reminding me that I’d puked on him only a few hours ago.

“I should probably check my social media,” I murmur. “But I destroyed my phone. Can I log in somewhere else?”

“GPS will ping you if you use it,” Knox says as he digs through the larger duffel bag and pulls out some clothes.

“Can I use a VPN?” I ask, frowning.

“No need,” Gilden says, holding up a phone. “I follow you. I can look at your profiles if you’d like to see if there’s been anything new.”

My eyes widen. “You follow me?”

He grins. “Since you had your first viral song, singin’ into the mic at the Boot Skoot, la grande flamme .”

Kevin waddles over to the couch and rubs against it. Knox scowls at the pig.

“That thing doesn’t sleep inside, does it?” he asks.

“He’ll sleep in my room. Don’t worry,” I reassure him.

He glances at me and shakes his head. “Whatever. Just make sure it doesn’t eat any of my stuff.”

“It has a name,” I remind him. “Just like you and I do.”

But Knox doesn’t respond. He disappears into the bathroom and closed the door with a reserved, final click.

“I don’t think I like Thing Two very much,” I tell Gilden.

Gilden just laughs. “He’ll grow on you. I can promise you that.”

I doubt it, but I don’t want to tell Gilden that. So, I just smile and nod, before grabbing the duffel bag for me and disappearing into my room.