Page 37 of Guarding Bristol

She let out a yelp and slammed the brakes when the pickup suddenly veered out of a cross street directly in front of them.Yanking the wheel to the left, she narrowly avoided slamming into the back of the truck.The sudden turn sent them careening across the other lane, barely missing another car coming in the opposite direction as it crested the hill.

But the truck couldn’t handle the angle of the turn.Out of the corner of her eye she saw it flip onto its side and fly across the road to slam into a power pole.

“Oh my God...”She drove past it.

“Pull over,” TJ said.

She shot him a disbelieving look.“Are you insane?”

“Do it.Hurry.”

Her gut commanded her to get as far away from the situation as possible, but the urgency in his voice gave her pause.Battling with herself, she hit the brakes and yanked the car over to the shoulder.Watched in shock as he unstrapped and hopped out to run toward the truck.Maybe they were badly hurt, and he was going to try to help them?

She got out too and stood on the shoulder, phone ready, thumb hovering over the emergency call button just in case.Should she call the police?Get back in the car and the hell away from this insanity?

TJ ran up to the flipped truck.The windshield and windows were all smashed from the impact.Two men were trying to crawl out of the cab.One made it out, hit the pavement like a landed fish, and lay there while his buddy crawled out, bleeding from his head.

Bristol edged a little closer, gaze riveted on the men.They lay side by side on the road under the faint light from the broken streetlamp.TJ ran up to them, knelt and secured their hands behind their backs with plastic zip ties that he’d apparently been carrying in his pocket—because maybe he tied people up on a regular basis?

Bristol stopped a few dozen feet away and hovered there in uncertainty, not knowing what to do, still tempted to ditch TJ, just jump in her car and not look back.But thinking about her brother made her stay put.Rangers never leave a man behind.

Not that she was a Ranger.She was an ultrasound tech.And she was mad as hell at all three of these men, for different reasons.

“Who the fuck are you?”TJ growled to the men as he took pictures of their faces and checked their pockets.

Neither of them answered, their expressions mutinous.

“Talk,” TJ said to the guy who wasn’t bleeding, digging a knee into his back.It occurred to Bristol that it was weird neither of them seemed to have any ID or phones on them.Maybe they were in the truck.

When it was abundantly clear neither of them was interested in talking, TJ stood and stalked around to the up-facing side of the truck.

Bristol edged backward, shifting her focus back to the bound prisoners lying on the side of the road.The shock of everything was starting to wear off, rapidly being replaced by a rising tide of anger.

Her breathing turned shallow and choppy.These men had chased them.Endangered her life and forced her to take emergency evasive measures that could have gotten her or other innocent people seriously hurt or killed.

TJ rummaged around in the cab of the truck, grabbed something, and stuffed it in his pockets.“Let’s go,” he said, walking toward her.

Bristol was mad at him too, but her gaze swung back to the bound men, her anger rising until it was hard to breathe.Those...thoseassholes.God knows what would have happened if they’d caught up to her and TJ, but it wouldn’t have been pretty, and they were also involved in whatever illegal deal she’d witnessed at the hospital.

Her temper snapped.

“You know what?No.”They weren’t getting away with this.No way.

She stomped toward them, spotted a plastic water bottle lying on the shoulder on the way.She snatched it up, planted her feet, and hurled it as hard as she could at the man closest to her.

Instead of smashing him in the head, the nearly empty bottle bounced harmlessly off his back and rolled into the middle of the road, but she felt vindicated anyway.“I hope you have the worst whiplashever,” she spat at them, vibrating with indignation.

“Okay, feisty pants.Let’s go.”TJ grabbed her by the arm and dragged her away, hustling her back toward her car.“Gimme the keys,” he said, holding out his free hand expectantly.

No traffic had come by yet.She couldn’t decide if that was lucky or not.

She yanked her arm out of his grasp.“I can drive.”On the one hand she didn’t want to spend another minute in his company.But on the other she wanted answers too badly to leave.

“No, you really can’t.And you’re in shock.Hand them over.”

Was she still in shock?Maybe.

Reluctantly handing the keys over, she realized her hand was shaking.Actually, all of her was shaking.Okay, yes, it appeared she was still in a bit of shock.But for sure she was still mad as hell.

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