Page 79 of Ace
He shrugged.‘Well, yeah. Life’s simple there. It’s easy. Uncomplicated. That doesn’t make me a flower.’
‘But you wouldn’t mind getting lost there, living off catfish and gators.’That same smile reeled him in.
‘I could, yes.’
‘Which makes you as rare as those roses only Gran Mere knew about. Don’t you see? She knew you were coming. She meant for me to look for you, not some flower.’
That… Keller was going to have to think about. Rangers were not roses or pansies or—Jesus. His team had better not catch wind of this. He’d never hear the end of it.
‘I don’t know for certain,’Savannah whispered, as if she thought someone were listening,‘but I believe this witch is behind whatever RJ’s doing or plans to do. I saw your team’s threads turn to ash. She means to kill all of you. She is evil.’
Could it be?‘You think this witch is... Elaine?’That seemed a stretch. What did she have to do with Gran Mere?
Savannah nodded.‘Yes. I believe your mother is the entity who commanded me to go to Sanctuary. I might be wrong, but I sense RJ’s already there. I think she’s using him. He’ll kill my animals if I don’t at least go talk to him.’
‘And I said no, damn it. Boss!’Keller all but bellowed for the man he’d tried to ignore since he’dbeen swallowed up by the Deuces Wild team.‘Damn it, Boss, can you hear me? I—’Shit, This was hard to admit.‘—I need you!’
‘Copy that,’Tucker’s deep throaty affirmative came back instantaneously.‘Whatzup, Kell?’
‘RJ. Is he at Sanctuary?’
‘Yes. Tate’s already there with Eden. They’ve got eyes on John. What’s the problem?’
‘Savannah just got a call… I mean, a psychic message from some witch.’Who just might be my mother. Could he sound more hysterical? Closing his eyes, Keller summoned his inner Ranger and said,‘Savannah believes RJ means to destroy her animals unless she shows. You have to stop him.’
‘What do you think we’re doing? Right now, that smug son of a bitch is about to run into a brick wall. Tate and Eden are already boots on the ground inside Sanctuary. You kids are good to listen in, watch if you can.’
Keller blinked at what was happening without him. He hadn’t told Tucker the ugly part about his mother, and he wasn’t there with Tate and Eden. If RJ refused to stand down, Keller wouldn’t get the chance to end him. Shit. That didn’t sit well with him. This washiskill, his chance to end the bastard who’d nearly ended him, who’d lusted after and threatened Savannah. Who’d hurt all those birds. But what the hell did Tucker mean about listening in or watching? Keller didn’t have those skills. Hell, he could barely communicate with his team.
‘Your boss wants you to project your mind to Tate or Eden, Keller, and watch RJ through their eyes. Butis that what you want to do? Wouldn’t it be better if we both let RJ go and concentrated on your mother?’Savannah whispered psychically, her fingers warm on the back of his IV needle-perforated hand.‘You’re part of the best team on the planet.You know that, and my place is here with you. You’re not strong enough to travel, but ending RJ’s reign of terror can’t wait for you to get better. He has to be stopped before he hurts anyone else. Let’s trust Tate and Eden, Keller. Let them handle Doctor John while we handle your mother.’
He stared up at her. Savannah trusted Tate and Eden, but could he? Yet he already had back at the gunfight, hadn’t he? And it was Tucker who waited on him now. Damn.Deuces Wild, huh?
‘Yup, Deuces Wild,’Tucker purred like the smug Navy SEAL son of a bitch he was and would always be.‘Trust me, Kell. John’ll never see our guys coming. He already ran into some old duffer with a shotgun. You know a Lyle Goldenrod, Savannah?’
She clapped a hand over her mouth.‘Oh, no! I forgot Coach. Yes, Lyle Goldenrod! He’s my hired hand. Is he hurt?’
‘Relax,’Tucker murmured.‘Your buddy Lyle’s in charge at the moment, not that pipsqueak moron with a medical license he got out of a box ofCracker Jacks. You should see old man Goldenrod; you’d be proud. Why don’t you two watch or listen in, whatever you can handle? Looks like RJ’s decided to blow Sanctuary off the map. Lyle’s got his shotgun on him, but RJ’s holding a detonator. Says he planted charges all over the place. That it’s too late. You think it’s too late, Kell?’
For some reason, a funny feeling caught in Keller’s throat. He coughed, damn it, then he coughed again. Tucker needed to stop calling him—that.‘It’s never too late, Boss,’he finally ground out.‘Light him up. With extreme prejudice.’
‘My pleasure.’
Keller drew in a deep cleansing breath, and he simply, finally, let go. He’d heard it said once that there was no ‘I’ in team. Well, he no longer had to be an army of one, either. Those days and those ghosts were behind him. He didn’t need to watch the drama unfold at Sanctuary. RJ would die. That was what small-minded men like him did. They grabbed their fifteen minutes of fame at the expense of others, then went out in a fiery ball of what they called glory. But Keller called it chicken shit, the typical coward’s way out. Goodbye and good riddance.
‘Tell Tate and Eden I’m buying drinks next time we get together.’
‘You bet your ass you are.’
Keller could honestly feel Tucker’s shit-eating grin all the way from wherever he was watching his infamous but incredibly skilled Deuces Wild team.
‘Get some sleep, Kell.See you kids soon.’
‘Sounds like a plan. Night, Boss.’Keller felt Tucker disconnect from his mind. It was very much like a door closing. Even came with the click of a doorknob. Interesting.‘You’re right. I don’t need to watch Tate and Eden do their job,’he told Savannah.‘Do you?’
‘No. I’m good.’
‘But about my mother… We’ll deal with her together.’
