Crashed, p.1
Crashed, page 1
Crashed
A Barnes Brothers Novel
By
Shiloh Walker
Copyright
Copyright © 2023 Shiloh Walker
Seashell Image © Nemanja.Radovanovic | Vecteezy
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
My Patreon Supporters
Acknowledgements
Trademarks
September
August
June
Valentine’s Day
Summer
Isabel
Miles
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
Trans Rights are Human Rights
Read A Prime’s Passion
LOOK FOR OTHER TITLES BY SHILOH
WRECKED
About
Dedication
To my Patreon supporters. Your support is everything.
For all the readers who kept asking when Travis would be getting a book. I know it took a while. I hope the wait is worth it.
Trans lives matter.
Trans rights are human rights. The End.
My Patreon Supporters
M.M. Carroll
Brianna P
Kelly Y
Anne Marie M
Kayla M
Dwn
Caitlin S
Candice
Kathy D
Thaois G
Julia F
Kerry
Julie S
Kate F
Lalgil
Tash
Clare H
Suzanne C
Dierdre F
Nicole A
Larry O
Diana S
Noelle A
Margaret W
Natalie H
Carla H
Samantha KH
Cecilia R
Special Patreon Acknowledgement...I’d like to thank Wes Damgo. Thanks for being a supporter!
Acknowledgements
Thanks to P & J. I appreciate your help on this.
While I sought their insight and assistance on trans issues while writing Aaron’s storyline, knowing I’d need insight and care on how I wrote about a trans teen and how I addressed certain trans issues, in the end, any inaccuracies lie solely with me, the writer.
Thanks to A for your insight on Storm’s character.
Trademarks
Wonder Woman/Diane Prince are trademarks of DC Comics
Storm & the X-Men are trademarks of Marvel Comics
September
15 Years Old
Text messages sent & received
Isabel: I miss you already.
Travis: I know. I can’t believe it’s going to be a year before I can see you again. Can’t I at least call you?
Isabel: Travis, I told you about my dad. He’s absolutely the worst. He probably thinks I’ll get pregnant just talking to a guy I like.
Travis: Alright, alright. I’d just as soon avoid pissing him off since I plan on marrying you as soon as we’re 18.
Isabel: You can’t be serious.
Travis: I told you I fell in love with you the second I saw you and I meant it. You said you love me, too, right? So, why shouldn’t we want to get married, Bella mine?
Isabel: ♥ ♥ ♥ Bella mine? That’s so sweet! ♥ ♥ ♥
Travis: Yeah, well. It’s how I feel. You’re mine. I’m yours. That’s it for me.
Isabel: I don’t know how I ended up finding a guy like you. You’re so wonderful.
Travis: Is that a yes?
Isabel: You’re impossible.
Travis: I’ll keep asking until you say yes.
August
16 Years Old
Text messages sent & received
Travis: It’s official, Bella-mine. I hate that guy. Your dad is a dick.
Isabel: I told you. I’m sorry he was so rude to you and your brothers. Your mom, though...wow. She’s a queen. I’ve never seen anybody put him in his place like that.
Isabel: Travis?
Travis: I want to ask you something. Please don’t lie to me.
Isabel: Okay.
Travis: Do you promise you won’t lie?
Isabel: I won’t lie. But I can’t promise to answer, either.
Travis: I guess if you don’t answer, that will be an answer on its own, won’t it?
Travis: My dad followed you and your family out to the car. I know because I was kinda following, too, and I saw him. I didn’t say anything about it. I planned to, but then we got home and everybody had gone to bed ... well, I went downstairs and heard him talking to Mom.
Isabel: About what? Why would he follow me?
Travis: The same reason I did. He was worried your dad would hurt one of you.
Travis: Isabel?
Travis: Iz?
Travis: Iz, damn it, answer me or I’m calling.
Isabel: Don’t call! Please!
Travis: You’re scared of him.
Isabel: I can’t answer that.
June
17 Years Old
Text messages sent & received
Travis: One more month until I can see you again, Bella-mine. I can’t wait.
Isabel: Me, neither. The months get longer and longer, don’t they?
Travis: Yeah. But that’s only because we’re almost done with this shit.
Isabel: I hope so. But you have to remember what we planned.
Travis: I know. We’ll take care of all that. I’ve spun some bullshit to my mom, pretending I was thinking about a book and asked her. We can do this, Iz. I promise.
Isabel: I hope so, Trav. I really hope so. Dad did something...never mind.
Travis: What did he do?
Isabel: Don’t worry about it, okay?
Travis: Tell me.
Isabel: You’re a bully sometimes. Look, maybe it’s no big deal, but he introduced MK to some guy. It’s the son of a friend of his. Maybe it will be okay. I don’t know. But I heard him on the phone and he’s already talking about them getting married. It was...weird. Okay?
Travis: Your dad talking about them getting married and being okay with it? That’s not weird, baby. That’s straight-up Twilight Zone shit. And what the fuck? MK is 15! He doesn’t even want you dating.
Isabel: Not unless it’s some asshole he likes. And I don’t like the assholes he thinks I should date.
Travis: When did this start! WTF!
Isabel: Fuck. I shouldn’t have said anything. He’s just had a couple of guys from his office come over and SUGGESTED I accept when they ask me out. I haven’t, okay? But he’s pushy about it.
Travis: I want to kill him.
Isabel: Don’t say that. He’s a jerk, but he’s still my dad.
Travis: I didn’t say I would kill him, just that I wanted to. Don’t let him push you into anything, Bella-mine. I love you.
Valentine’s Day
18 Years Old
Text messages sent & received
Isabel 9:52 PM: Travis. Something happened today.
Isabel 10:59 PM: Never mind. Forget about it.
Travis 11:37 PM: Hey, I saw your text. Sorry I didn’t answer sooner.
Travis 12:02 AM: Isabel?
Travis 7 AM: Isabel, come on, answer me.
Travis 8:31AM: Hey, are you mad at me? I meant to text earlier than I did last night, but things got a little crazy here. I don’t want to keep texting cuz it was getting late and I didn’t want to wake you. I know the gift card thing isn’t the same as flowers or anything, but you know I love you.
Isabel 8:45 AM: I’m not mad at you. It was just a shitty day. My dad pulled that “it’s time you start thinking about your future” shit again and we were all out to dinner this time and I couldn’t get away from the fucking prick he invited along as my DATE. I hate him, Travis. I hate him so much. I hate him, hate him, hate him.
Travis 8:47 AM: I hate him, too. Want me to fly out there and beat him up?
Isabel 8:50 AM: I want you to fly out here and take me away from all of this. Now.
Travis 8:53 AM: If you’re serious, I’ll be on a plane as soon as I can get a ticket. Just say the word, Bella-mine.
Travis 9:02 AM: Iz?
Travis 9:39 AM: Isabel, do you want me to come get you?
Isabel 10:01 AM: More than anything. But I can’t. My sisters need me. My mom won’t do shit to protect them from Dad. They’ve only got me. If I run off without finishing school, it will make it that much harder to get custody. But this summer, I’ll graduate, they’ll be 16 and it will be different. It’s just a few more months. Right? I can do it for a few more months. I can.
Travis 10:03 AM: You can. Then you’ll never have to see the prick again.
Summer
18 Years Old
Provincetown, Massachusetts
“Hey...aren’t you Zach Barnes’s little brother? Travis, right?”
Travis glanced at the older guy before focusing back on his phone. “You’re a little old to be a Kate+Nate fanatic, aren’t you?”
Travis was used to people recognizing him. Some even mistook him for Zach at first, although that was happening less and less. Both Travis and Trey were catching up to their older, very famous brother, but over the past couple of years, Zach, the former child star and tattoo-artist-in-training, had started sporting a fair amount of ink.
The paparazzi had gone crazy over the first few tattoos, but Zach had ignored it all, pretty much as he had ignored just about everything Hollywood-related, save for his co-star, since the last episode of the sitcom aired a few years earlier.
“Yeah.” The stranger smiled, a friendly, affable grin.
Travis didn’t buy what that smile was selling. Not for a minute.
“Guilty, kid. I never watched it much. My sister did. She had pictures of him tacked all over her room. Now Abigale...” He smiled. “She’s something else.”
Snorting, Travis shot a look to the line waiting at the counter. Zach was up there, along with Travis’ twin, Trey. But the line was moving damn slow and they were too far away to hear.
“You better not let Zach hear you talking about her. He’s crazy about her. And ... ” He gave the man another look from head to toe before giving a derisive snort. “She’s a little young for you, don’t you think?”
“I’m not talking about that. She’s a beautiful young woman, of course, but I’m old enough to be her father.” The man frowned, and the look of distaste in his eyes told Travis he meant it. But then he shot another look back at Zach. “They got a thing going, huh?”
Travis put the phone face down. Isabel probably wouldn’t be able to text him any time soon, but he was ever hopeful. They were on the final countdown here. Just a matter of days. That’s all it was.
But first, he had to deal with this jackass.
Leaning against the padded back of the bench, Travis gave the man a hard look. Probably close to forty, he decided. Old. But his eyes were even older. He wanted something, too. Growing up with a famous—and rich—older brother, Travis had learned how to spot the takers and users pretty young.
“What do you want?” he asked bluntly. “You’re not here to talk about Zach or Abby. Are you?”
The guy’s eyes narrowed in speculation, then, after shooting a look over his shoulder toward the front of the restaurant where the other two Barnes brothers waited, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white card. Placing it in front of Travis, he used one finger to push it to the edge of the table. “You’re a sharp one, aren’t you? I want to talk to you about your girlfriend, kid. She’s...not exactly what you think.”
Anger punched through him, cutting through his surprise that this guy knew about Isabel. “Fuck off.”
“I’m serious. Look, I know all about the thing going on between you two. Adorable, really. But there’s a lot of shit about that girl—and her family—that she hasn’t told you. And it’s ugly, dangerous shit.” He leaned closer. “I’m talking shit that could put that family you love so much in danger. Call me. Or don’t. But if you’re as sharp as I think you are, you’ll do the right thing.”
He turned and walked away, leaving Travis to glare at his back. He almost jumped up and went after him, but stopped himself when he caught sight of his twin waving him down. Trey pointed at the sign and mouthed something Travis didn’t care enough about to parse through so he just nodded and went back to fuming.
Looking at the card, he read the simple font.
Miles Hawkins
The official-looking seal on the card was what really got under his skin ... that, and those three words just under the man’s name.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
“What the fuck?” Scowling, he picked up the card.
“Don’t forget the ketchup, Trey.”
Hearing Zach’s voice, he shoved the card into one of the pockets on his board shorts, zipping it shut just before Zach put down a tray filled with soft drinks—and an amber bottle.
Zach had recently turned twenty-one and was enjoying his legal drinking-age status.
Normally, Travis would have razzed him about it.
But he was too busy thinking about the card the guy had left.
An FBI agent.
What the fuck?
“You going to tell me what’s up?”
Travis shot his twin a dark look. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit. You’ve been in a mood ever since lunch.” Trey swung his legs over the side of the bed. “What’s the deal? Your girl not here yet?”
Travis glared at him. He’d never outright told Trey about Isabel. Hadn’t needed to, really, because his twin knew. The one time Trey had asked for information on whoever it was that had him twisted up, Travis told him the truth.
“I love her. We’re going to get married as soon as she graduates high school.” Travis and Trey had both already graduated and were in college—a couple of years early. “Don’t go running and tell Mom or Dad, though. Her dad is psycho—seriously psycho and if he hears anything about it, he’ll hurt her.”
“If he’s crazy, why not call the cops?”
“Because her dad is a US District Attorney, man. He’s a dick and he’s crazy, but nobody will listen if I just call the cops without any proof. She’s afraid he’ll hurt her family and none of the cops will listen if I just try to report him. I can’t risk him hurting her.”
“I told you not to talk about her,” he said now, keeping his voice low, although it was just the three of them there at their parents’ vacation house just outside of Provincetown, Massachusetts.
Zane was in Europe ... somewhere, waiting tables in Italy, hiking the Alps, taking pictures in France or eating stinky cheese. Travis had no idea.
Sebastien was spending the night with one of the kids he’d become friends with during their numerous summers here.
Zach was probably online chatting with Abby, which meant he wasn’t aware of anything, or anybody, else.
Their dad had surprised their mom with a getaway to a B&B for just the two of them their first three nights in the Cape Cod area, so for the first time, it was just the three brothers.
Trey rolled his eyes but held up his hands. “Okay, okay. I’m just wondering what’s wrong, man.”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit.” Trey scowled. “Look, if you don’t want to talk, fine. Tell me. But don’t lie to me, okay?”
Guilt twisted his gut and he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Sorry, Trey. I’m just in a shitty mood, alright? That’s the truth, too—no lie.” He wasn’t going to go into detail, though. He trusted his twin, but his gut was in knots about what that Hawkins guy had said earlier.
He needed to talk to Isabel but they had just gotten into town a few hours earlier. It would be tomorrow at the earliest before she could get away from the vacation house her father owned.
“I’m going for a run, alright?”
Trey eyed him. “Want company?”
“Nah. I just need to clear my mind.”
Isabel: Dad has a fun-filled day of deep-sea fishing lined up tomorrow.
Can we meet early?
Travis’s heart almost jumped out of his chest when the text came. It was already racing from the three-mile run he’d just taken and now thundered in his chest, the beat brutal.
He’d been waiting to hear from Isabel ever since he woke up that morning—at five fucking a.m.
She’d be here today. They always got to Provincetown on August 2, rain or shine, no matter what.
He knew he wouldn’t see her until tomorrow, at the earliest. But once she was ready, they were leaving this town, getting away from her father, and getting married.
He already had everything planned, from how much money he needed to pay a guy in town to drive them to Boston, to the tickets they’d need to fly out to California—no way could they stay here. Not right away, at least. He already knew his parents would be pissed, but they’d get it, once he talked to them. They’d understand. And Mom could help, too. She might not be some hotshot US District Attorney but she was still a lawyer, and she was fucking whip-smart and she had a brain that was almost scary.
