Page 119 of Stockman's Showdown

They all looked at her, the air crackling as she paused for dramatic effect, just like her grandfather did in his storytelling. But this pause was ticking off Leo more.

‘Bree…’ he warned her.

‘That pilot, of the plane your boys shot at? She’s a cousin to the Riggs brothers.’

Leo’s face said it all as he stared at her for the longest time, as if the air had been sucked into a vacuum. Due to the actions of his men—shooting at that plane—they had drawn the worst kind of attention, and Leo knew it. ‘You idiots!’

‘Boss?’ All his men stood.

Leo paced the floor, the anger darkening his features. ‘Wrench, Hammer, burn the crop, now. Bones pack up our gear and get ready to torch the rest of this place. We leave no evidencebehind.’ He picked up the laptop and ripped out its cord. ‘Gator, tie those two up. They’ll be coming with us.’

‘Just let us go.’ Bree scowled at Leo.

‘You’re a smart girl, you know I can’t do that, not until we’re safely out of the Territory. But if you behave, maybe I’ll let you go. Or I’ll use that time to convince you to be with me. But I’ll let my mother decide Charlie’s fate.’

‘Not gonna happen!’ Shielding her grandfather, she grabbed a chair, ready to use it as a weapon. She may not have been able to protect her mother all those years ago, but she was a grown woman now and she’d do anything to protect her grandfather, no matter the cost.

That’s when something exploded on the other side of the door, forcing them all to duck for cover. The noise was deafening and so was the flash of light.

Bree pushed the table over and dragged Charlie behind it, as the windows smashed, sending shards of glass across the room, as the upper walls of the demountable were peppered with bullets turning it into Swiss cheese.

‘Bree!’

It was Ryder.

Forty-six

Using his tactical military knife, Ryder slid back the window lock, pushed the window open and climbed inside the bedroom.

‘Bree!’

It was his own voice, recorded on his phone, followed by a spurt of gunfire, but on the other side of the building.

Dex wasn’t very subtle. But Ryderhadasked his trigger-happy brother for a diversion using his favourite toy, the woodcutter.

And it worked.

Everyone else was distracted, facing the front door while he entered the room behind them. ‘Hands up.’

He was ready for it. The two men on his left drew their weapons, and he shot them without blinking. The other two fled through the front door, where Dex shot them in the legs, they crumpled onto the cracked concrete path.

Dex ran up and kicked their weapons away, aiming his new lethal toy at their heads. ‘Please move. Go on, I dare you.’

They weren’t going anywhere, flat on their stomachs with their hands out in surrender.

But it was Leo who was an issue.

The prick had Bree, while Charlie was trapped in the corner, too close to Ryder’s line of fire.

‘Let go.’ Bree struggled against the enemy.

‘No. I wish I could. But we both know Ryder won’t shoot, not you.’

That prick was right. But it did nothing to deter him from aiming at Leo.

‘I would have used that crop to buy Elsie Creek Station for you, Bree.’ Leo’s cheek pressed against Bree’s, his handgun pressed against her ribs, wrapping his other arm around her while watching Ryder. ‘I know how much that place really means to you, Bree. Not him,’ he said sneering at Ryder. ‘He has no clue how much you sacrificed for that station, how much you care about that land of red dust. I know, because I’ve been watching you for a long time.’

‘Stalker much!’ Somehow Bree got free, enough to spin around to face Leo. Even though Ryder’s heart dropped, Bree was using her body to shield Charlie. ‘Charlie, go. Get outside. Now!’

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