Free Ridge Creek Reunited (Ridge Creek Duology) by C L Green Page A

to fall and unravel from the weight of the water and blood swelling its fibers. Snatching to catch the first loop as it falls, I unwind the bandage from around his chest, slowly and carefully, unsure where his bullet wound will be. Leaving me to it, Jake sighs heavily and leans forwards and places both hands flat against the tiles in front of him a s he continues to let the water spray down his back.
    Winding the bandage around him three times, the last two loops drop away of their own accord. I am now staring at what looks like a burned gash across his lat just forward of where his arm would naturally hang. There are half a dozen steri-strips hanging off it. Bloody is steadily oozing from the gash.
    “The strips have let go and it’s bleeding heavily,” I announce as I stare at the wound horrified at how the bullet has torn its way through skin leaving blackened edges from the heat of its travel.
    “I figured that. Rip off the ones that are there and I’ll give it a quick rinse under the water. There’s another First Aid kit in the bathroom cabinet. There should be more Steri-Strips in there and a some proper wound dressings. I didn’t have any back at the house.”
    “On it,” I mumble as I drag my eyes from the wound to turn and slide the screen door open.
    “Ari,” Jake announces as I step out of the shower, “I don’t yet know what choices you were given today, but I want you to know that I’m glad you made the decision to come back.”
    Pausing to look back at him, I sigh heavily. “So am I,” I murmur before I step out of the shower, slide the screen door shut and grab a towel to dry off before I start searching for the First Aid kit.

Chapter Six
    Stephen Bradford
     
    Six hours later, Arianna…
    Jake and I are sitting back at the bar in the communal room with Zane and Emma after everyone has finally managed to get a few hours of sleep.
    “You have to be fuckin’ shitting me,” Jake growls as he leans forward onto the bar. “You sure he’s not a bullshit artist?”
    “Well I can’t be sure…” I reply hesitantly as I roll our conversation through my head again. “But why would he go to so much effort if he wasn’t telling the truth?”
    “True,” Zane mutters from my left where he has been sitting quietly listening as I explained the events of my morning. “It looks to me like he’s put a lot of money and effort into this. Letting her walk away seems sincere.”
    “A better explanation on why that dipshit didn’t shoot straight enough to kill me,” Jake muses staring at the beer on the bar in front of him.
    “Gotta agree with that. I just thought they weren’t very good at what they were doing,” Emma adds from my right. “I thought they were fumbling about when in fact they were avoiding excessive force.”
    “I shot my own father,” I mumble as I face plant on the bar. “Who does that?”
    “In your defense you didn’t know he was your father at the time,” Emma says as she starts rubbing small , comforting circles between my shoulder blades.
    “Who points a fuckin’ gun at their own daughter? And who lets one of his goons whack her on the back of the fuckin’ head?” Jake snarls from above me as I hear the telltale sound of his bottle thumping back down onto the bar. “And shoots her fuckin’ boyfriend?”
    “In his defense he didn’t know you were my boyfriend,” I point out lifting my head from the bar to look at Jake again.
    “A guy with the resources your so called fuckin’ dad has at his fingertips should have had a better idea what the fuck was going on and realized you were fine where you were,” Jake snarls angrily again. “His dipshit friend could have killed you with that blow to head. That, no matter which way you look at it, is unacceptable.”
    “Aaargh,” I groan as I drop my face back to the bar. “This is like a ‘Who’s on First’ conversation.”
    “Arianna, don’t try to defend this mother fucker to me. He came to my home, shot me