Page 93 of Bravo

“I’ll give you the thumb drive for the ranch. I can mail it to you. Overnight it. Meet in a coffee shop and hand it over, whatever you want. You can have it if you’ll leave them alone.”

“You have cost me two years of resources. Two years of trouble. So the thumb drive isn’t enough.”

“You want to kill me.”

“I don’t like loose ends. If I thought you’d managed to get information off of that thing, there’d be no choice. I’d be leveling that ranch and killing every single person who might know anything about it. Make your choice, but stop testing my patience. Either do what I’m asking, or they all die.”

“I—”

“I’m not a patient man. There will be a car waiting to pick you up once you’ve gotten off the property. The second I see you leave that house, I’ll have them bring the drones in, and your cowboy will be safe. But deny me any longer and?—”

“I’ll do it.” Tears stream down my cheeks as I speak the words. Bile rises, burning my throat.

There’s no other choice, though.

He has us.

“Good girl,” he says. “I promise it will be quick. You have five minutes to walk out that back door.” He ends the call, and I drop the phone, choking on a sob. My entire body is shaking.

Five minutes.

I have five minutes.

Folding my hands, I drop my head. “God, please help me,” I sob. “I’m so scared. I’m so scared something will happen to them. Please keep them safe. No matter what happens to me, please, Lord, let them stay safe.”

CHAPTER 32

BRADYN

The damage is substantial, but no lives were lost.

The blast from Kennedy’s place took out a wall into the next cabin as well as all the windows, but we were able to keep the fire at bay long enough for the fire department to get here and put it out before the flames damaged the others any further.

A gift from God above, for sure.

But, man, two fires in as many weeks on the ranch? Not a great start to the year.

“Any idea what caused this?” Elliot asks as he comes to stand beside me. It’s still relatively dark with the sun just starting to creep over the horizon, so there’s not much we can see except what’s illuminated by the work lights.

“Not sure yet. We’ll have a better idea tomorrow when they’ve been able to see it in the daylight.”

“Gas line, maybe?” Tucker offers.

“Possibly.” But my gut is telling me something is off. These homes have buried propane tanks, and both cabins were empty since one was Kennedy’s and the other Arthur’s. Which means the theory of someone forgetting to turn off a stove is not a likely one.

“No one needs anything more than some minor stitches,” Lani says as she comes to stand beside me. “They were all really lucky.”

“God had His hand on them tonight, that’s for sure.” Elliot sighs.

“Amen to that,” Tucker adds. “Dylan and Riley headed up to the house to let Mom know. She’s pretty shaken up about the whole thing. And Dad is struggling, too.”

“Understandable.” I pull my hands out of my pockets. “I need to check back in with Kennedy. Let her know that everything is okay.”

“Is it, though?” Tucker asks. When I turn toward him, he continues. “It seems strange, doesn’t it? The first fire, sure, storm-related. But the cut fence and tire tracks? This explosion?”

I can see the lines he’s drawing because they’re ones I already have. “I’m wondering if it’s all connected, too.”

“The cut fence could’ve been someone scoping out the tree lines. Seeing how close they can get before the cameras catch them,” Elliot offers.

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