Colorado Skies

Chapter 10 {Gunpowder & Lead}

1 Hour Later

"I just got off the phone with Blake, Riley isn't at his house or the bar." Brooke informed us. Brooke, Parker, Reese, and I had left the wedding and gone back to Blake and Brooke's house. "What about the gun store?" Parker asked. "He's not at Fishermen's." "Garrison's a small town, he couldn't have gotten far." I got up from where I was sitting and went to sit next to Reese. "You know what I am sick of you protecting your asshole boyfriend. Tell me where he lives Reese." "I'm not telling you Brynlee, because I can tell you want to kill him too!" "Okay well when he gets home, if he hasn't already he's probably gonna be dead because I'm sure Riley figured out where he lives if we can't find him." "Fine! He lives in the trailer park." "I'm going out there." Parker said. "No, Trevor probably wants you dead that's a bad idea. I'll go, I just needs someone's keys, my truck has the trailer on it and I'm not bringing a horse with me to chase after my dumb ass boyfriend." "He's my nephew, I'll go after him." "Brooke, you have a 4 year old daughter, who needs her mother and as far as I'm concerned Trevor is dangerous, and I won't let Lilah grow up without her mom." Brooke sighed because she knew I was right. "Alright, take my car." She threw me the keys to her Ford Bronco.

By the time I had gotten to the trailer park the rain was coming down hard. I slowly drove past each house looking for Riley's truck. Near the end where the dirt road came to a turn around was a dark blue trailer with scrap metal and car engines in the yard. Riley's truck was parked in front of it. I parked the Bronco behind his dodge. I carefully walked through the mud, making sure I didn't slip. Riley sat on the porch, a rifle in his hands. "Brynlee?" He asked as I got closer to him. "What the hell are you doing here?" "I could ask you the same question." "I'm protecting my sister." "You can't protect your sister if your sitting in a 6 by 8 cell!" "Brynlee, if you came here to protect Trevor, I suggest you leave." "I didn't come here to protect Trevor. I could care less if that asshole was 6 feet under. I came here to protect you." "I don't need protecting." "Clearly you do, because you are being a fucking idiot." "Brynlee, your not gonna change my mind." "You really wanna go to jail don't you?" "I won't get caught." "Really? I'll be the first person to call the cops." "I'm not leaving Brynlee. So go ahead call the cops." I sighed. "Riley give me the damn rifle." "Brynlee, please leave, I don't want you to get hurt." "I don't want you to get hurt Riley!" My hair was soaked from the water, and my mascara was running, which was kind of for the better because you couldn't tell between the tears rolling down my face and the rain water. "Riley please give me the rifle, and we can leave and call the cops." "I'm not leaving Brynlee!" "If I walk away and get in that car and you aren't with me, I promise you I'm not coming back. I will walk out of your life and not walk back in. If you say you want a future with me, well you better decide now if that's true because this is my breaking point." I could see tears brimming his eyes. I nodded swallowing my breath. "I guess you made your choice. We're done." I went to get into the car but a pair of headlights cut clear through the rain. I turned my head to look at Riley who was now stood up and loading the gun. "Oh shit! Riley put the rifle down!" I looked back at the car and noticed it wasn't Trevor getting out of it. It was a small figure who also happened to be holding a gun.

"Marie?" I asked when I saw the figure get closer. Marie was Mary's daughter, that's how I knew her. She was 2 years older than me though. "Brynlee what the hell are you and Riley doing here?" "I'm here to kill the bastard that lives here, she's here to try and stop me." "Good, I'm here to kill him too. You can help me." "What, does everyone in this town have a reason to wanna kill this guy." "He beat my sister half to death, so yeah I have a reason." "Yeah, and he's my deadbeat dad who shows up every couple years and gets my mom hooked on drugs. He's the reason we just lost our house, so I'd say I have a reason too." "Good, I'll let you two figure this out because when the cops show up I don't wanna be here. I'll see you in another life Riley." I got into Brooke's car and the last thing I saw before I backed out was Riley's face in my headlights.

I parked in front of Blake and Brooke's house. I had been gone for at least an hour since the time on my phone now read 1:22. Blake's truck was parked in the driveway which meant he was home and he gave up on looking for Riley. I walked through the front door and Brooke was sitting at the kitchen table with Reese and Blake, a cup of coffee in her hands. I figured Parker had gone home by now. "Your soaking wet, let me get you a towel." Blake went over to the downstairs bathroom and returned with a dark blue towel. I wrapped it around myself. "Did you find Riley?" I nodded. "Where is he?" "He's at Trevor's trailer, with his daughter. They both want to kill him." "Oh my God." Brooke mumbled under her breath. "Riley has a gun. A 30:30 rifle to be exact, and he won't leave." As if on cue the door opened and Riley walked through. I dropped the towel to the ground and ran over to give him a hug. He dropped the rifle to the floor and wrapped his arms around me holding me tight. "You didn't do it, right?" "I didn't do it." "Oh thank God." I held onto him tighter. I didn't fully want to believe him, but I had to at least for now.

After we both took a shower and got changed into dry clothes, we went to bed together in the guest room. I was in Riley's arms but I couldn't sleep. "Riley?" "Hmm?" "Are you awake?" "Trying not to be, why?" "I wanna talk." "Can it wait till the morning." I sighed. "How about you just listen." I felt him nod against my back. "If you don't stop doing stupid shit, like you did tonight, I will leave you." "Well then I'll stop doing stupid shit." "Promise?" "I promise, because you are worth it." I turned around so that I was facing Riley. "Thank you." "Of course."