Page 61 of Lone Star Rescue

Oh, God. She was wearing a bomb.

Sticks of dynamite had been placed in the pouches of the vest that she now had on. There was a timer, too. A digital clock with a countdown on it, and it’d been turned facing her so she could see the numbers ticking off.

Twenty-nine minutes, thirteen seconds.

Her heart skipped more than a couple of beats, and her breath came out in a gust. All of it. And the muscles in her chest were vising her lungs so she couldn’t drag in any air. She tried to grab the vest, frantic to get it off her, but her hands were tied behind her with what felt like rope that had been secured around a metal support pole.

“Oh, good,” someone said.

Buckner.

She looked up and saw the SOB walking toward her. Bree also realized she was on some kind of elevated platform since Buckner had to go up four steps to get to her.

“You’re awake.” Buckner gave a cocky grin that she wished she could punch off his face. “Not her though.”

Bree followed the direction of where he’d tipped his head, and her stomach dropped even more. Because Tessa was tied up against another support pole, her head slumped to the side. But she was moaning so she was alive.

They both were.

And Bree had to hold onto that. As long as they were alive, they could get out of this.

But where was Rafe?

She was too afraid to ask, but she had heard that fight. One where he’d been seriously outnumbered, so he… She stopped but couldn’t hold back the hoarse sob that tore from her throat.

“Now, now,” Buckner told her. “Lover boy isn’t dead. My men left him very much alive, though they might have broken some bones. Maybe dislocated a few things, too.” He checked the time. “They left him almost an hour ago, so I suspect he’ll be here any minute now.”

Bree frantically shook her head. She didn’t want Rafe walking into this.

“I know, you’re worried about him,” Buckner went on, the mock sympathy oozing from his voice. Behind him she saw one of his combat thugs peering out the slightly open metal door.

“What the hell do you want?” Bree demanded.

No mock tone for her. Thankfully, she’d gathered enough breath to use her cop’s voice. She also began to struggle with the ropes to try to free her hands. Buckner or his thugs had obviously taken her weapons, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t try to fight back.

A burst of air left Buckner’s mouth. Not a laugh, and the façade of any and all sympathy drained from his face. He pointed to Tessa.

“That bitch has caused me a lot of trouble. We’re going to fix that tonight. Consider this a big assed tell all where I will get what I’m looking for. Or I’ll kill you all,” he added, and he turned and walked back toward the other man.

“Tessa?” Bree whispered, still twisting the rope. It was tight, digging into her flesh, but she kept moving her wrists. “Tessa?” she repeated.

This time, she got a reaction. Tessa opened her eyes, and Bree gave her a moment to fight off the sedatives and glance around. It wasn’t a fast process. A full minute ticked off the two timers, and then Bree saw the moment it all sank in.

Tessa screamed again.

Then, she cursed, and she aimed the profanity at Buckner when she spotted him.

Buckner shifted an assault rifle he had just picked up and came back to join them on the platform. “This stage, if you can call it that, was apparently once used for weapons’ demonstrations,” Buckner said as if giving them a history lesson. “And for punishment. Executions, too. From what I understand, at least a half dozen failed recruits were tied to the very poles where you both now stand, and they drew their last breaths here.”

That was probably meant to scare them, but Bree wasn’t scared. Not for herself anyway. She was pissed. “What do you want?” Bree repeated.

Buckner kept his narrowed eyes nailed to Tessa. “She can tell you. Can’t you, Tessa? Tell them what you did after begging me to do a favor for you. After crying and pleading with me to bury your dead sister.”

Tessa swallowed hard. Her eyes were hard, too, and she didn’t look away from Buckner’s intense stare. “I recorded the asshole saying he would help, that he would dispose of the body.”

“And why did you do that, Tessa?” Buckner yelled. He took hold of Tessa’s hair and slammed the back of her head against the metal pole.

Tessa gasped and cried out in pain.

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