Page 114 of Stockman's Showdown

‘Tools!’ She peered over her shoulder at Leo, even giggling. ‘Which one is the sharpest tool in your shed?’

Leo laughed. He always understood her smart-arse cracks when very few people ever did. ‘Bree, you do amuse me. Gentlemen, please play nice with our guests.’

Gator just sneered at her.

Bree refused to move. Even if the assorted night bugs landed in her hair, and a mosquito buzzed near her ear, she wasn’t moving. Hoping that if she stood here long enough, under this spotlight, Ryder’s cameras would pick them up for Cap to notice. After all, they were right next door—with only a few thousand acres between them.

‘Bree, you did ask the question, and I’m only being neighbourly in answering them for you.’

‘With guns and backup, like this one who smells like a split personality to me.’ She narrowed her eyes at Gator. She was so close to waving her arms in the air, hoping that Cap was watching that wall of monitors in the boys’ boardroom.

‘Come on, kid. Leo’s gotta show us something. If we behave, he’ll let us go home.’ Charlie tugged on her arm, leaving her with no choice but to follow her grandfather inside.

The door slammed shut behind her, closing her inside with five men and Charlie. She was unarmed, trapped, and outnumbered, right next to Leo’s dope crop worth a few million dollars.

There was no way Leo was letting them go home now.

Forty-four

Ryder stared at Bree’s bag, deliberately left behind, as a fresh wave of icy fear coursed through his veins. She’d been taken—he was sure of it. And there was only one thug who’d dare to do such a thing: Leo.

To be certain, he’d called Cap to watch the cameras back home and sent the others to search the rodeo grounds.

Back at his ute, his phone rang. It was Cap. Ryder answered immediately, his stomach clenching with a mix of fear and anger. ‘Cap, did you see something to do with Bree?’

Cap’s voice came through, grim and sharp. ‘Bree and Charlie are with Leo. They’re at his place.’

The words hit like a punch to the gut, echoing loudly in the rodeo car park. Ryder’s fists clenched as anger surged through him, raw and unforgiving. He should have never let her out of his sight.

Ash and Dex ran up, their eyes wide with surprise. Behind them, Sophie and Harper, clutching each other’s hands like sisters.

‘No. Dammit.’ Ryder’s voice was tight, barely containing the storm of fear and rage brewing inside. His teeth ground together as he demanded, ‘When did they get there?’

‘Just now. Bree’s giving them lip. You could see she’s angry, she stood there for the longest time—’

‘Because Bree knows where the cameras are.’Good girl.

‘But Charlie looks terrified.’

An icy rush raced through his bloodstream, squeezing his heart. ‘Can you still see them?’

‘No. Leo’s taken them inside that demountable, and Leo’s men had their handguns out. Does this mean that Charlie and Bree have been—’

‘Kidnapped!’ He gritted his teeth so tightly they were going to snap. ‘Ash, Dex, take the girls home in Pandora. Cap, I want you to get the boardroom ready for everyone to hunker down. It’s the most defensible place we have. Bree’s stashed bedding and snacks in the cupboards just for this sort of situation.’ A situation he didn’t think would happen—but Bree had been paranoid over something. She called it a cyclone kit for the station, which he’d thought was strange when the cyclone season didn’t officially start for another month. But with a new type of storm about to break, thank goodness he let Bree do what she wanted.

‘Do we call the police?’ Ash asked.

‘They’re all over the place, working.’ Dex tore his hat off his head, raking fingers through his hair. ‘I’ll kill that bastard.’

Get in line!‘Cap, as soon as they arrive get everyone to the boardroom and put Sarge inside that room,’ Ryder ordered over the phone, while facing his younger brothers. ‘No one will get past that shepherd.’ Sarge was a well-trained ex-police riot dog, who’d sat beside Ryder many times over many nights, like a good soldier. That dog would fight to the death to protect those he loved. He already had a bullet wound from protecting his previous owner.

‘Do you want my dogs?’ Cap asked over the phone.

‘Absolutely. Let them out of the kennels, they can be our outdoor alarm system. And light the place up with the spotlights Dex and I installed.’Only today.

Dex’s eyes widened at Ryder. Had they both picked up on Bree’s vibe, aware that Leo’s bust was happening in the morning. He glanced at his watch. It was just after eleven. The raid was set for seven.

But this play by Leo was something unexpected. What had triggered Leo to do this?

---