Page 111 of Five Brothers

But I hear a squeal from the seats behind us, and I jerk my eyes to Dallas.

He looks at me, and we both do a double take toward the back seat. Keeping my eyes on the road, I stick my hand back there and feel two bodies.

“What the hell?” I yell.

JC and Mars pop up, JC folding his lips between his teeth, trying not to laugh, while Mars looks more contrite.

“Ah, shit,” Dallas grumbles.

“Dammit!” I bark. “You little shits.”

“Just keep going!” Dallas shouts. “Hurry!”

Tall trees and heavy brush surround us, and we bounce over the tracks, into Sanoa Bay. Taking a left and then a right, I don’t see any taillights ahead of us.

A small fork lies up the road, and I charge as fast as I can, swerving as low-hanging branches hit my windshield.

“Gotta get there before he makes the turn!” Dallas shouts.

“I know that! I can’t see.”

Ben Calderon’s driveway appears, and I jerk the wheel right, speeding up a small incline and slamming on the brakes. A thick row of trees blocks the view of the street from the driveway, and I yank my door open, glancing in the back seat before I jump out.

“I’ll deal with you two later,” I grit out. “Stay here!”

“Yeah, right,” JC replies, but I’m in too much of a hurry to fight with him.

Hopping out of the truck, I move to the tailgate, pulling it down. Sliding one of the many containers toward me, I flip open the lid and find the spikes.

I grab them.

“Hurry!” Dallas yells.

I hand him one side and take the handle of the other, leading the way through the trees and looking both ways.No cars coming. I walk to the other side, Dallas remaining where he is as we stretch the chain link of spikes across the road.

“This isn’t gonna kill them, is it?” I shout.

Iron had a lot of fun with these things back in the day. As long as they’re not going fast, it should be fine, right?

But Dallas yells at me, “He attacked our sister! And likes to beat up on women!”

“Right.”

I mean, it can’t be that unsafe. They sell them on Amazon.

I drop the chain, making sure it’s straight.

“They’re coming!” he shouts, running back for the brush.

I follow, both of us situating ourselves out of sight as Mars and JC come up to watch.

I grab them and pull them back.

The Audi gets closer and closer, rain dancing in front of the headlights.Almost there, almost there.I hold my breath, the fear that a stupid prank could turn bad making my stomach churn a little.

The car zooms past, and shots pierce the air.Pop, pop, pop, pop.

The car swerves and the tires expel their air, the sound of rain and the deflated rubber hitting the street filling my ears.

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