Claiming the Enemy: Dustin: Porter Brothers Trilogy, #3 Read online

  Claiming the Enemy: Dustin

  Porter Brothers Trilogy, #3

  Jamie Begley

  Young Ink Press Publication

  YoungInkPress.com

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  Copyright © 2018 by Jamie Begley

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  Edited by C&D Editing &

  Hot Tree Editing &

  Diamond in the Rough Editing

  Cover Design by Cover Couture

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  All rights reserved.

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  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  This work of fiction is intended for mature audiences only. All sexually active characters portrayed in this ebook are eighteen years of age or older. Please do not buy if strong sexual situations, rape, violence, drugs, child abuse and explicit language offends you.

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  Connect with Jamie,

  [email protected]

  www.facebook.com/AuthorJamieBegley

  www.JamieBegley.net

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Epilogue

  Epilogue 2

  Prologue

  Jessie

  “Is it still alive?” Jessie squatted down beside the unmoving baby bird, reaching out with her fingertips to the delicate animal that must have fallen from its nest.

  “Of course it is, stupid.”

  Jessie jerked to her feet and punched her friend in the shoulder.

  “Ouch! What’d you do that for?”

  She jutted her chin out angrily at Dustin’s bewildered expression. “I told you not to call me stupid!”

  “Jeez, you could have just told me. You didn’t have to hit me!”

  “I don’t call you stupid when you ask me to help with your reading homework.”

  “That’s different.”

  “Why?”

  “It just is; that’s why!”

  “Hush, my pa will know I sneaked out of the house again. I’m not getting another whipping because of you.”

  Her friend’s face turned red. “Your pa whips you again, I’m gonna beat him up.” Dustin clenched his hands into fists as he pretended to punch the air.

  Jessie giggled. “You will?”

  “Yep, I told you that the last time he did. I’m not afraid of that old fart.”

  “You’re not big enough to beat him up.”

  “Greer and Tate are. They’ll do anything I tell them to.”

  She stared at him doubtfully. “How about we just be quiet and nobody has to beat him up?”

  Dustin’s angry expression faded. “Okay, I don’t want your pa mad at me anyway.”

  Jessie gave him a quick hug before dropping back to her knees, gently touching the wisps of the feathers. Startled, the bird lifted its weak head and began chirping for its momma.

  Raising her tear-filled eyes, she stared up at the tree, hoping the momma bird would swoop down and pick up its baby.

  “She ain’t gonna come for it. You touched it.”

  Jessie cupped the fragile bird in the palms of her hands and held it to her chest, feeling its trembling through her thin cotton T-shirt.

  “Whatcha doing?” he asked with interest.

  “I’m going to climb that tree and put it back in its nest.”

  “Why you going to do that? The mama won’t feed it. It smells like you now.”

  “Quit saying that! I can’t leave it to die.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I just can’t; that’s why.”

  “You’re going to break your neck,” he stated matter-of-factly.

  “You think so?” The tree was big, and she had never tried to climb one that large.

  “I know so.”

  “You could do it for me.” Giving him a pleading look, she held out the baby bird encouragingly. “Please, Dustin. I’ll be your best friend in the whole world.”

  He rolled his eyes at her. “Give it to me.”

  Jessie transferred the bird into his hands, watching as he took off his cap and put the bird inside before going to the tree.

  “If I break my neck, tell Ma I love her and Greer can have my favorite hat if the bird doesn’t poop in it.”

  “You’re not going to die.” Moving farther under the tree, she watched as he climbed, placing her hands on the trunk as if she were strong enough to hold it steady. “Be careful,” she whispered up at him.

  “Now you’re worried about me when I’m almost there?”

  “It didn’t look so tall when you were down here.”

  “You should see from here,” he snorted down at her.

  She watched as Dustin reached the tree branch with the nest. Jessie fearfully wanted to yell at him to be careful, but she didn’t want to startle him.

  Feeling her heart beating in her chest, she watched as he turned the cap over, depositing the bird inside the nest before letting the cap sail downward to her.

  Looking inside the cap, she saw why he hadn’t put it back on.

  When Dustin was safely back on the ground, she tried to hand it back to him.

  “I don’t want it. It has bird shit inside.”

  “I’ll wash it for you.” She stared adoringly at the boy who, even though he thought she was silly for saving the bird, had returned the baby to its nest. “I wish I could climb trees like you.”

  “Have my pa chase you with that belt of his, and you’ll learn real quick.”

  “You want me to ask Holt to beat him up when he does?”

  “Nah, Holt couldn’t fight his way out of a paper bag, much less beat my pa up,” he teased.

  She frowned. “I could ask my pa.”

  Dustin laughed. “Your father would help Pa try to catch me.”

  He would. Her father was just as mean as Dustin’s.

  “When I grow up, I’m going to marry a nice father, not like mine.”

  “I’m never getting married.”

  Her young heart trembled at his words. “Everybody gets married.”

  “I’m not. And neither is Tate or Greer.”

  She tried to think of something that would convince him to get married, drawing a blank until an idea ca
me to her.

  “Do you want to be like Clyde?”

  “Clyde Gibbs?” Dustin’s face paled at the mention of the old man who was so scary that no one would trick or treat at his house or sit next to him at church.

  Jessie nodded. “He’s not married. Pa said there isn’t a woman in town that would have him.”

  “A lot of girls are going to want me.”

  Despite his bragging, Jessie could tell that doubt was beginning to cloud his eyes.

  “I don’t know. You’re pretty scrawny, and your teeth are crooked. Girls don’t like boys with crooked teeth.”

  “I’m not scrawny.”

  Jessie noticed he didn’t argue about his crooked teeth.

  “And when you smile, you have a great big hole.” She stared at him in mock-pity. “I told you not to jerk it out.”

  “I had to! It was too loose. I didn’t want Pa to tie a string around it like he did the last time. Besides, I have a new one growing in.”

  Jessie watched as he opened his mouth wide, swirling his tongue in the hole.

  “It’s going to grow in crooked, too. Maybe if you don’t smile at any girls, they won’t notice.”

  “Ma said she’s going to make Pa get me braces.”

  “You know they’re going to call you metal face at school, right? I still wouldn’t smile at any girls at school until they come off. How long does it take to straighten teeth?”

  “Ma said a couple of years,” he said, his cheeks turning red in embarrassment. “Are you going to call me metal face?”

  “No, you’re my best friend.” Rolling her eyes at him, she moved past him to kneel at the base of the tree that the bird had fallen from.

  “Whatcha doing?” Dustin went to his knees to watch as she moved a rock that she had placed there to hide the hole in the trunk.

  Reaching inside, she took out the small package she had carefully wrapped the day before when her family had gone to the store and left her home alone.

  “What’s that?”

  Jessie carefully brushed a dead leaf off the plain brown wrapping paper she made out of the lunch bags her ma used to pack her pa’s lunch. “Your birthday present.”

  Giving Dustin the present, she watched expectantly as he tore the package open. She winced at remembering how fussy she had been when she wrapped it, wanting it to look perfect for him.

  Her stomach sank at the expression on his face when he unwrapped it.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a bracelet. Can’t you tell?”

  Dustin lifted the brown leather cord that had three beads tied to it. “Not really.”

  Jessie reached out, taking the bracelet from him. “Give me your hand.”

  He reluctantly held out his hand, and she tied the two ends together, trying to fight back her disappointment that Dustin didn’t like his present.

  “I had to do Holt’s chores for a week to get him to give me those beads.”

  “You got gypped.”

  “You don’t know what they are?”

  “Uh … should I?”

  “Yes, you’re the one that knows better than me. You’re the one with a great-grandmother that was a full-blooded Indian. Even Holt knew what they were when he found them while digging to plant Ma’s potatoes.”

  Dustin’s interest sharpened. He jerked his hand out of hers to raise the bracelet closer to his eyes. “You shitting me? You sure these aren’t off one of your ma’s necklaces?”

  “I’m sure. I was there when he found them. Both me and Asher tried to find more but didn’t. Holt only found the three. He didn’t want to give them up either. And Asher tried, but he hates picking the blackberries, and so does Holt. That’s how I talked him out of them.”

  “Tate found a couple of arrowheads, and Greer has one. Neither of them have any beads. They’re gonna shit their pants when I show them.”

  “Don’t tell them I gave them to you. Holt will be mad if he finds out I gave them to you.”

  “I won’t tell, I promise.”

  “You like it?”

  “Heck yeah! If you find more, I might marry you … when I get old like Clyde.”

  All the chores that Holt had asked her to do were worth seeing Dustin’s delight at one-upping his brothers.

  “You mean it?” she asked breathlessly, wanting to know if he meant it or was joking.

  Before he could answer, though, Jessie jumped in fright at the sound of her name being called throughout the thick woods. Scared, she started to take off toward her home but paused. Courageously, she stepped back toward Dustin, went on her tippy-toes, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Happy birthday!” Spinning around, she started running again, afraid her father would catch her with Dustin.

  “I’ll bring you a piece of my cake tomorrow!”

  Not even the fear of her father hearing could diminish the happiness of Dustin liking her gift.

  She was about to go over the rise of the hill when she saw Holt coming out from behind a tree. Her hand went to heart at the sight of her brother.

  “You find Jessie yet, Holt?” Her father’s shout came from farther away, but she could tell from the noise he was making that he was coming closer.

  Gasping, she looked down the hill to see that Dustin wasn’t out of sight. Her father would beat her for sneaking out to play with him after he had told her not to.

  “She’s not over here,” Holt yelled back before lowering his voice to a whisper that only she could hear. “Get home.”

  She ran, giving her brother a thankful glance before disappearing from his sight.

  It was going to be hard to sneak away tomorrow, especially now that Holt knew she was meeting Dustin. But it was a chance she would take. He was the only friend she had, being stuck on this mountain. She, Asher, and Holt weren’t allowed to go to school. Pa homeschooled them himself, not even trusting their ma to do it the way he wanted it done.

  Her ma was standing on the front porch when she got home, staring at her angrily.

  “Girl, you know you’re going to get a whipping when your pa gets home.”

  “I’m sorry. My bedroom was too hot, so I went to the hayloft and fell asleep.”

  “Sure you did.”

  Jessie saw her mother’s gaze lift to behind her. “She fell asleep—”

  Jessie felt the rush of air that had the hair on her arms standing at attention. She reflexively moved to stand behind her mother, wrapping her arms around her waist for protection. When her pa tried to jerk her away, Jessie held on tighter.

  “Stop it! It’s not her fault that Asher didn’t see her when he looked for her. Next time, look for yourself instead of getting one of the boys to climb that ladder.”

  Her father narrowed his eyes on her. “Next time, I will.”

  “Dinner’s done. You boys go inside and wash your hands.”

  When Asher passed their father, a hand came out, smacking him on the head.

  “Next time, check it better.”

  Jessie swallowed hard when Asher met her frightened stare.

  “I will, Pa.”

  Her brother went inside without another word, making her feel guilty. She consoled herself that she would make it up to him by doing the mounds of homework their father insisted they do every night.

  “Holt, before you go wash, go pull me a handful of green onions to go with the beans.”

  “I will,” Jessie offered. “I’ll be fast.”

  She was off the porch and moving toward the garden before her ma could protest.

  From then on, she would be the only one doing the gardening. If anyone was going to find another bead, it was going to be her. Maybe if she found more, Dustin would marry her sooner, because she had no intention of waiting for Dustin to get as old as Clyde. That dumb boy was going to realize how much he loved her, even if she had to find enough beads to make a necklace. For now, she could wait … until she was older, prettier, and her pa didn’t hate the Porters so much.

  “God, you better get busy.
I need a lot of help,” Jessie prayed as she plucked the green onions from the soil, thinking about how her pa had called her ugly as molasses and how much he loathed the Porters. “I don’t need a miracle. I need two.”

  “What’re you waiting for? Shoot before the little bastard gets away!”

  Dustin’s finger trembled on the trigger as the little fox scampered back into the dense woods beside the hen house. His father yelling at him didn’t make it any easier to pull the trigger, knowing if he missed, his father would be just as angry.

  He flinched when his father jumped off the porch to fire his own shotgun at the cub that had disappeared under thick brambles, making it impossible for him to get a clear shot.

  “Dammit!” His father angrily turned back to glare at him as the barking dog that had alerted them to what was going on took off after it.

  Shaking, Dustin recognized the fury on his father’s weathered face meant an impending whipping.

  “Why in the hell did you beg me for that shotgun if you’re too sissy to shoot it?” Yelling at him, his father strode across the yard.

  Dustin braced himself for the beating his father was about to give him.

  When he reached out his hand to jerk him off the porch, it was blocked by Tate, while Greer shoved Dustin behind them.

  “He was just scared with you yelling at him, Pa.” Tate’s voice didn’t calm their father. Neither did Greer’s, telling him to go inside the house and they would clean the mess that the litter of foxes had made in the hen house.