Page 2 of The Unbuttoned Ranger
He felt a sense of relief seeing Link Grimes.
This isn’t any time to get your beauty sleep.” Although Grimes smiled, Sharp could see the concern in his buddy’s eyes. The wounds were serious.
“I must not be dead because it’s not your ugly mug I’d expect to see greeting me on the other side.” His throat hurt to spit the words out. His body felt like a fire had burned through his veins.
Then he remembered…
Where did his ma go?
“You won’t die on my watch.” The statement came as a demand from Grimes.
“What are you doing out here?” Sharp needed to know everything. If he was going to die, he wanted to know who ambushed him so he could come back and haunt them.
A long hesitation proceeded Grimes’ rough exhale.“There was an ambush on Texas Heat Recon. Echo, Zane, and Hawkeye were gunned down too. The bureau is trying to piece together the events and trying to smooth things over by creating a story for the media.”
“Don’t let my pa find out about this on the news. It’ll kill him.”
“Don’t worry. No one knows about your ambush but me, at least for now. You’ve been here for a while, buddy. When I couldn’t reach you, I came searching.”
“Are the fellows okay?” A cocktail of pain and anger coursed through Sharp. He remembered having a flat tire. Getting out to change it. A van…a white van…a man asking if Sharp needed help. Then everything muddled together.
“No word how serious their injuries are yet. Echo was waylaid inside the office. Zane and Hawkeye were walking out of a pub when they were gunned down. I put out word to the rest ofthe team, then I took off after you. Appears it was a good thing I did.”
Sharp tried to move, wrestling against the penetrating discomfort now gripping him.
“Stay put a second, Creed,” Grimes demanded. His hand on Sharp’s shoulder kept him steady. Grime ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and held the material against Sharp’s side.“Here’s what’s happening. You’re going to have to fight harder than you ever have before. You’re going to get your ass up off this dirt road and we’re getting in my truck. You’ve got a chopper landing in a field just outside of Fin’s Creek.”
“I don’t need a chopper,” Sharp mumbled, although he felt weaker. Disoriented.
“They’re coming to treat you like royalty. Just like in the sandbox, right?” Grimes teased.
“If this was the sand I’d get a wheelbarrow.” Sharp tried to look down at his wound but all he saw was blood. Lots of it.
“You ready to do this?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be I reckon.”
Grimes hauled Sharp to his bloody boots. At six-foot three, two-hundred fifty-pounds, and referred to as a giant, it wasn’t an easy task, but thankfully Grimes was built like an ox.
Sharp squinted as pain unlike anything he’d felt before overcame him.
“Get your ass to the truck,” Grimes ordered in his most commanding voice.
Sharp never liked being told what to do.“Fuck off.”
Grimes’ laugh echoed through the corn field.
Every part of Sharp hurt. He couldn’t see anything now because his vision blurred. Each step he took sent an invisible blade sinking into the side of his chest.“That bastard got me good,” he moaned.
“Who did this, Sharp? Did you see anything?”
“White van. They wore masks. There were at least two of them, maybe more. I heard the driver’s voice. From up north.” He felt some of his grit returning. If he could get his hands on the bastards his last wish would be to rip them from limb to limb.
“We’ll get‘em. I stake my life on it. For now, though, we need to focus on getting you stitched up, bro.”
By the time they made it fifty feet to the truck, Sharp had sweat thick on his skin like he’d just ran a marathon and blood had soaked the material pressed against his side. Grimes practically shoved Sharp into the passenger seat and didn’t waste any time jumping into the driver’s seat and spinning tires as he slammed on the gas.
Sharp slumped against the door. Each breath he took sent a fire through his lungs.
