Page 89 of Deadly Evidence
“It’s going to take more than one person,” Brady said. “If we go, promise that you’ll stay here.”
“I’ve got the keys,” she said. “I’ve got the truck, trailer and horses. I’mgoing. There’s no way that I can sit here and worry—and there’s no way that you’d ever find your way around in the dark out there.”
Brady sighed. “Okay. Then promise you’ll stay in the truck with the doors locked. Maybe you know the way, but you don’t have the training to deal with this type of people. Understand? You—or someone else—could get hurt.”
“I’m not a fool. I’ll stay well out of your way,” she retorted.
“I think we should wait,” Tom said to Brady, tipping his head in her direction.
His condescension rankled.
“And what happens if thesesuspectsget spooked tomorrow and decide to kill my daughter no matter what? She can identify them, and that sure presents a risk.” Anna met Brady’s gaze with a steely one of her own. “I’m not willing to take that chance.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Within twenty minutes, one of the pickups was hitched to the stock trailer, and four horses were saddled and loaded.
Brady slammed the gate shut and rounded the back of the trailer, his nerves humming and senses sharpened, ready for whatever lay ahead.
Until the moment Lacey disappeared, he’d been driven by the need to take down Garcia’s organization and seek justice for Chuck’s death.
Now all that mattered was finding Lacey alive—and that hope dimmed with every passing hour.
Dante stepped in his way, his face pale and drawn. “I want to come along. Ineedto.”
“Look, kid. You’re safer here.”
“But I can help.” Dante swallowed hard. “I...might know someone who’s involved.”
“That new guy at the Rocking B?”
Dante’s eyes widened. “You know about him?”
“He sure seemed to know you.”
“Nieto is big trouble. I know of him from back home...back when I used to get in trouble with the law, too. But that’s over.”
He gripped Brady’s forearm. “Please—you might need someone else with you who can handle a horse.”
If he’d ever had doubts about the boy, the raw emotion in Dante’s eyes swept them all away.
“I can’t put you in danger, kid. You’re better off here.”
“Anna and Lacey are like family to me now.” Dante’s voice broke. “Don’t leave me behind.”
Brady hesitated. “You could help Anna with the horses when Tom and I go ahead on foot...as long as you stay put, wellout of sight. No heroics, got it? Get in the way, and you could jeopardize everything—and you could get hurt.”
Relief filled the boy’s eyes. “Promise.”
Tom stood by the cab of the truck, his face creased in a frown. “This isn’t going to be easy,” he muttered. “After all the rain, the footing will be slick. We won’t know where we’re going. We don’t even know if the objects Joe sees on the FLIR screen are our suspects.”
“But in daylight, they’d see us coming, and I’m confident Anna can help us get to where we have to be.” Brady clapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, we need to get moving.”
They all climbed into the truck, and Brady took off with the headlights dimmed. For the first six miles of ranch road, he drove as fast as he dared with horses in the trailer.
For the last two, he slowed down and switched off the headlights.
Once he hit the highway, he kept it steady and quiet at an even forty miles an hour.
