A Hero's Secret

twenty four

..

A shudder racked Dray's body. Her nails pressed deep into her palms and Wells gripped her shoulders tight. They inched their way towards the living room and peered around the corner.

A flash of blonde hair caught the corner of Dry's eyes. It matched her own.

"Dray?" A worried voice from a figure in black rushed to her. "Are you okay?" Lucy took her baby sister's hands and pulled her into a hug.

Dray hugged back and easily relaxed into her hold. Nash, who stood behind Lucy, left and started canvasing the house, his gun an extension of his arm.

When Dray pulled back, she couldn't manage words and looked back at Wells. Instead of carrying the same confusion she wore on her face, he merely crossed his arms and the corners of his lips rose.

Lucy fussed with Dray's shirt, causing Dray to turn back around, and then squeezed her forearms before resting back on her hands. "I'm sorry." Tears lined her eyes.

"Lucy," Dray looked down at their hands, "sorry for what?" Dray landed on a million reasons for her to be sorry, but she wanted to hear it from Lucy.

"I'm sorry I left."

Dray's gaze flitted over her—her big sister. She smiled.

"And I'm sorry you got dragged into this—though I'm not sorry you two met," Lucy added quickly. "I like you two. I'm just sorry about this situation. It's so dangerous and an insane mess. You shouldn't be involved." Her hands had let go of Dray's and moved in a frenzy.

"Lucy?" Dray grabbed her arm. "It's okay." Possibly too easily, a panic lifted from her chest. The two sister met eyes and grinned.

"The house is clear." Nash entered the room. He slid his gun into the waistband of his jeans, pushing back his black jacket where Dray noticed an array of weapons. "We should get back to our place. It's safer." His demeanor calmed Dray, but not everyone in the room felt it.

Wells stepped in front of the women. "Safer from what?" He slowly walked forward. Veins raised from his arms locked over his chest. His stare towards Nash didn't falter.

"You know what." Nash cut the distance between them. They neared a head to head standoff.

Wells scoffed. "You mean you."

They stood close, both the same height, but Wells losing on muscle. Dray almost slid in the middle to push them apart, but Nash smiled.

"Not quite," he said, scratching the scruff on his chin, "but I suppose it's good you think that. Job well done on our part."

Dray let out a silent breath and combed her fingers through her hair. Wells stood rigid.

"We know the second Nash became Lead of the Neighborhood Watch that the sheriff and mayor were crooked. Well, we suspected before, but then got proof." Lucy walked over to Nash and weaved into his arms. "But we also knew if Nash declined without reason, they would know we knew. We played along to stay safe." The two tightened their embrace.

Dray waited for the story to continue, but Nash started to pull Lucy towards the door. "We need to leave."

She stood with her mouth slightly open. One hundred more questions lived at the tip of her tongue, but she swallowed them and gripped Wells' hand. "Let's go then." She smiled at him.

Nash's truck filled her entire driveway. The black color blended into the night sky, the shiny finish the only thing making it stick out.

The group hopped in and took off, despite Dray's few shoves to Wells' back. The drive to Lockton was smooth, just like she remembered, until the roads turned to gravel and twisted their way through the trees. Dray watched out the window, but only saw the outlines of a forest lit by the moon.

Lucy and Nash's house nestled a few miles deep into the woods that lined Lockton. Nash pulled up to a brick house and they all piled out and straight through the oversized pine front door.

Inside, Lucy more or less pushed the younger couple onto the couch, mumbling about making some ice cold drinks to take the edge off. Dray smiled.

They twiddled their thumbs while waiting. Nash helped Lucy, so that left Dray's gaze to wander the room. The clean home reflected bright and airy, like it came right out of a magazine. The couch sat directly in front of a fireplace covered in pillows. A mounted flat screen hovered above the mantle and suddenly Dray's favorite past time of a movie and a nap sounded like a perfect plan.

"Here." Lucy placed a tray of drinks on the coffee table. "Drink up. Relax." She grabbed one for herself and plopped down on the love seat adjacent to the couch. Nash followed suit and gulped half of his drink in one sip.

Wells leaned forward, but fell short of the drinks and instead clasped his hands together. His elbows rested on his knees. "So, what's the story?"

At his question, Dray snatched up a glass and took a big swig.

Lucy and Nash shared a look before she began a shortened version. "We moved to town a few years ago." She took a sip. "Nash was a cop in our old town. When we decided to move, he went directly to Lockton's police station to see if he could get a job. They interviewed him on the spot and because Sheriff Tieg was in town, he sat in. They all seemed to really like him." Lucy grabbed Nash's hand that rested on her leg.

"A few days later, they called me back in and I got the job. For the first couple years, it was normal, boring actually." Nash tighten his jaw. "About a year ago, Lucy and I met Sheriff Tieg at some barn on the edge of town. It was last minute, so I just brought Lucy, but at this point, we knew it probably wasn't good." He rested his head back. "When we walked in, the old leader of the Neighborhood Watch was beaten and strung up to the posts of the loft."

Dray choked softly on her drink, lowering it back to the table.

Lucy's eyelids fluttered shut and she dropped her head on Nash's shoulder. "He told us he wanted Nash to take over as leader, that he and Nash seemed to hold the same ideals. Whether he actually thought that or not, we weren't sure, but there were too many unknowns. We stayed quiet." She opened her eyes at the end, but struggled to look at anyone other than Nash.

"He called it justice." Nash scoffed. "I would have ran at him then and there if Lucy wasn't with." He shook his head. "I said yes and that was the end of the old leader."

"Dray," Lucy whispered, "do you understand how dangerous this is?" Tears threatened to bubble over and with a blink, they did.

Dray locked eyes with her sister and pressed into Wells' side. He pulled her close. They sat stiff, unable to relax.

"That is enough about us." Nash placed his empty glass on the table. "We need to focus on you two. Everyone knows you've been digging."

..

[EDITED OCTOBER 9, 2021]

Thank you so, so much for reading! 

This first draft is almost done! Let me know what you think!