Page 65 of Sheltering His Second Chance

Raven watched the kid. Casp didn’t appear to be much older than Jamie.

“What are you doing in my place?” the boy asked, his hands lifted.

“Casp Hyles?”

“What the hell are you doing here? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“I just want to ask you a few questions,” Bend said calmly, taking a step across pizza boxes and beer cans.

The surprise on Casp’s face was exchanged for fear. Raven knew what was coming next. The kid took a backward step then bolted, disappearing into the dark.

“Shit! We do not hurt him.” Bend took off in pursuit.

Raven drew his weapon and took off, joining the chase.

The darkness and the layout of the land were a disadvantage for the Ryders. Raven couldn’t see a damn thing. Bend got a head start and they’d lost each other. Raven slowed and listened. He couldn’t hear any noise.

Heading into the woods, he could hear foliage and debris being crushed under foot. One thing was for sure, Casp wasn’t as stealthy as a ninja.

Keeping his gun lowered and pointed at the ground, Raven carefully stepped over downed trees and when he drifted his light ahead he saw the remnants of what looked like a testing site for bombs. Evidence against Casp was piling up.

Raven searched the ground and could see boot tracks in the damp grass and knew the kid had come this way. Raven’s heart hammered in his chest. His blood ran icily through his veins. They were dead men walking out here. This could easily be a mine field.

There seemed to be a suspenseful mist in the air. A mixture of fog and fear. Not his, rather the suspect’s who wouldn’t get away, not this time. Raven would die trying if it came to that.

He was about a fourth of a mile in on the trail which took much longer because Raven was very cautious, when the light caught a broken branch. Up ahead on the mossy ground, he saw a partial fresh footprint. The bastard was nearby. Raven could feel it in his bones.

Yet, where the hell was Bend?

Adrenaline flooded through Raven’s body, his heart rate picked up, but his breathing stayed in control. He’d been on cases that led him on pursuits before, but this one was different. This was personal. Every move, every action, had to be precise and calculated. No room for screwups because he realized the suspect was slippery. And smart. Probably even prepared.

Turning off his light, he moved under the cover of the silvery moonlight, silent as a predator. He was starting to understand his target wasn’t as smart as Raven first thought. He was leaving a trail a baby could pick up. Or maybe that was the point.

Hearing a rustling sound to his right, Raven stopped and listened. Then he felt a firm tap on his shoulder and he lifted his gun, pointing it at Bend’s forehead. “What the fuck!” Raven lowered the weapon and shook his head. Out of all the brothers, Bend could move as quiet as a panther and was just as graceful.

Raven jutted his head toward a thick hedge of bushes.

Then suddenly a loud blast sounded from a hundred feet away followed by fire and smoke shooting up in the air.

Raven was knocked back and barely had time to register what happened before apoppingsounded and a bullet whizzed by his ear.

“Get cover!” Bend yelled, scrambling for safety behind a downed tree.

Raven hit the dirt as bullets pelted around them. “Bastard means business,” Raven gritted out. “Does this change your idea about his innocence?”

“Don’t return fire. We need him alive.”

Raven cursed a blue streak.

Finally, the shooting paused.

“Casp? This is Sheriff Ryder. I just want to talk to you,” he called into the dark woods.

Raven searched the woods for any movement.

A second passed and Raven started doubting that Casp would respond, but finally, “If you wanted to talk it wouldn’t have taken two of you going into my place. I have rights.”

“We have a right to investigate, son.” Bend waved at Raven then pointed twelve o’clock.

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