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retreat before any possibility of discovery. Killing or capturing Tanner would be his primary
objective, and there was no way he would risk leaving before that mission was accomplished. Gas
was spilling, raising the possibility that fire was imminent. Leaving Park protected by the hulking
metal carcass of his van was not an option. He needed to get Park away from the vehicle, leave him
alone on the ground, while Tanner drew Tim s attention in the opposite direction. With a mental eye
roll, he acknowledged the futility of the plan, but it was the best he had.
The van catching fire would be the best-case scenario, because then all he needed to do was wait
for the blaze to be spotted and survive fifteen or twenty minutes with his psychopath brother stalking
him oh and never mind that baby bro would be armed.
Tanner cursed the rapidly lightening sky, shifted Park in his arms, and resisted looking toward the
tree line on the other side of the Ranch Road Seven junction. He didn t need to look in order to know
that was where Tim would have been watching for their vehicle. Turning in the general direction from
which they d come, he blinked rapidly, trying to sort through anything to explain the rapid approach of
a king-cab, no headlights, no running lights, a shadow behind the wheel. With barely enough time to
react, the truck spun toward him in a hailstorm of pebbles and he twisted away to protect Park from
further injury. The door swung open and Chance jumped out, his mouth moving.
 Get in, get in, get in, he chanted, his voice a harsh whisper, as if his arrival would be a secret.
He opened the rear door of the big truck and Tanner staggered forward. Together, the two of them
maneuvered Park into the backseat. The truck lurched to the left a second before the sound of a rifle
shot reached their ears, followed by the realization that one of the tires had just been shot out.
 Fuck, Chance shouted, apparently no longer concerned with keeping quiet.  Get in.
Another shot rang out, this one embedding itself in the front of the truck. A hiss of steam and the
sweet smell of radiator fluid mingled with the odor of gas. They were ducks in a shooting gallery.
 Get Park the fuck out of here, Tanner said.  I ll draw his fire.
 No, wait, Ty s 
 Go before the fucking van explodes, goddammit, Tanner shouted. Without waiting for an
argument, he circled around the van, then ran toward the closest clump of juniper trees. Knowing he
was backlit by the approaching sunrise, and expecting T-bone to be watching, Tanner zigged then
zagged, throwing in a little unnecessary arm movement just to make sure he caught his brother s
attention. Fifteen feet from his goal, the earth at his feet exploded, followed by the rifle crack. Stones
bit into his skin, and Tanner dove toward the protection of the tree.
 Oh fuck.
****
Refusing to allow himself to be distracted or discouraged by the arrival of a WSR ranch truck, T-
bone reassessed the situation. The two men at the truck, although tempting, were not his main target. If
he failed to kill Tanner, everything else was pointless. That didn t mean he couldn t use the other men
to his advantage. Clearly Tanner had some attachment to them since he was deliberately drawing fire
in the opposite direction. Unfortunately, time was at a premium as someone would no doubt have
already called to the ranch or 9-1-1. Either way, T-bone had less than a ten-minute window that he
could count on before the possibility of help arrived. Time was not on his side.
 Daddy wants to talk to you, Tanner. If you come over here, I ll leave the other two alone, T-bone
called softly.
 Fuck you.
 I think I ll leave that to the fags. If you want them to live, you better come with me.
 Never going to happen, Timothy. Get out of here while you can.
Apparently big brother thought he stood a chance. Wrong. Tanner never had been very good at
seeing what was right under his nose. Despite how dense he could be, no doubt he d finally figured
out that his goals and T-bone s were mutually exclusive. On such a short timeline, there was no sense [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]