Ty and Zane both stood, coming out of their hiding spot. “What gave us away?” Zane asked.
“I saw you come over the rise,” Nick admitted, smirking. He waved his flashlight as they made their way toward them. “Did you hear?”
“Most of it,” Ty answered.
“Sounds like I was wrong, it really was an accident. Unless Mackie set the boats loose himself.”
“That means the murderer is stuck here just like we are,” Zane surmised.
Kelly nodded. “And probably really pissed about it.”
Nick glared and took the marijuana from him, shaking his head. Zane narrowed his eyes when Nick stuffed the blunt in his pocket. Kelly clapped a hand over his mouth, trying not to laugh.
“How’d you two get here so fucking fast?” Ty demanded. He swiped at Nick, smacking him in the arm. “And how do you go from full-fledge meltdown to out here investigating? Rambling about rogue waves and scaring the shit out of us! You had me all freaked out!”
“We rode,” Nick answered, gesturing toward the darkness up the coast. He let out a whistle, and there was a gentle nicker in response. Hooves stomped the wet ground.
Ty glanced around. “Rode what?”
“Horses. We went to the stables.”
“There are stables?” Zane asked, his mood lightening at the mere mention of it.
“Nope,” Ty said.
“Did you two walk through the Sleepy Hollow woods in the dark?” Kelly asked.
“Yes, and it was scary!” Ty shouted. “Why are there horses?”
Nick and Kelly both laughed. “Do you want one of our horses for the way back?” Nick asked.
“Yes,” Zane answered at the same time as Ty’s emphatic, “No!”
Nick flicked on his flashlight again, pointing it at the sound of clopping hooves. The two horses came closer, and Kelly moved toward them, talking to them in gentle tones. Both Nick and Kelly seemed comfortable and knowledgeable around the animals. One of them nudged Nick’s shoulder and he patted the horse’s neck, then took the reins.
“Here,” he said, handing them over to Zane. “They know the path, so their footing’s sound in the dark. You don’t even have to lead them.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m not getting on that thing,” Ty insisted. They watched Kelly mount, his movements natural and easy. Zane recognized a man who’d worked with horses a great deal. Kelly offered Nick his hand, and Nick pulled himself into the saddle behind him.
Zane glanced at Ty, smiling widely. He hefted himself into the saddle easily, making himself comfortable on the large horse. “Come on, doll, go for a ride with me.”
Ty glared at each of them, including the horses. “I hate you all,” he said before reaching for Zane’s hand.
Ty held tightly to his waist, refusing to release him even after the horse had settled into an easy trot. They came abreast of Kelly and Nick, the horses tossing their heads at each other. It was nearly impossible to see under the cover of the trees. Nick’s flashlight was the only light.
“What made you two decide to come down here tonight?” Zane asked them, raising his voice over the clopping of the horses’ hooves.
“Same as you,” Nick answered. “I just needed to know what we were dealing with.” He pulled his flashlight, turning it into a small lantern that he held out between them. His other hand was on Kelly’s waist, resting there. He wasn’t gripping Kelly like Ty was gripping Zane, and he seemed pretty at ease with the whole horse thing even though he wasn’t in control of the animal.
“How does a city boy from Boston get to know horses?” Zane asked.
Nick looked from Zane to Ty, both eyebrows jumping. “Ty never told you?”
Zane glanced over his shoulder. Ty shook his head.
“We were some of the first into Helmand Province,” Nick explained. “The mission was to clear Marja, and we were part of the advance team sent in for recon. But there were no roads. No equipment had even been floated in yet. Nothing but what we could hump in on our backs. The only way to get from one point to another was by horse. We probably spent six weeks on horseback altogether.”
“Oh Jesus, Digger on a horse,” Kelly said. “He kept threatening to make his horse into stew.”
“He named his horse Stu,” Nick added.
“And Ty’s kept biting him. I even switched with him after a few days,” Kelly continued. “But then it would gallop to catch up to him just so it could bite him.”
Nick and Kelly both laughed. Their horse shied to the side, and Kelly glanced off into the woods.
“It wasn’t funny,” Ty grumbled into Zane’s ear.