The dull thud of fist hitting hard muscle seemed loud in the small clearing, but Ty barely reacted other than to wince with the impact. The punch should have leveled him. Earflaps looked at Ty in shock as he shook his hand and backed away a step, and Ty smirked at him.

“My turn,” Ty told him with a grin before whipping his left hand around to smash his fist into the man’s face. He held a rock in that hand, the one no one had thought to check. The crack of bone made Zane wince as his own face throbbed in sympathy. Ty could pack a punch, Zane knew from experience. He didn’t want to think about the damage he could do actually wielding something solid. The moose hat went flying and blood gushed down the man’s face as he fell back and landed in the dirt with a dull thump. Swizzlestick turned, raising his shotgun clumsily as he tried to aim it at Ty, and Zane surged to his feet.

Ty turned and threw the fist-sized rock at Swizzlestick, hitting him in the head and knocking him and his shotgun on his ass. Then Ty whirled around, intending to go for the gun he’d dropped.

He came to an abrupt halt when Redjacket calmly stepped up to him with his handgun and aimed it at his head. Something in the man’s eyes must have told Ty he would fire, because Ty slowly put his hands up obediently.

Zane had almost reached the shotgun when Redjacket shouted forcefully. “Stop!” He deliberately pushed the barrel of his .45 under Ty’s chin, forcing Ty’s head back slightly.

Zane froze in place, fists clenched, a scowl on his face that he knew just highlighted the split lip and the quickly darkening bruises along his cheekbone that weren’t hidden by his week’s worth of beard.

“Son of a bitch,” Swizzlestick wheezed from where he sat in the dirt, holding the gash on his head. “Shoot the bastard.” Earflaps whimpered in agreement as he rolled on the ground and bled profusely.

Zane jerked his chin as Redjacket narrowed his eyes at Ty, obviously seriously contemplating doing it. Swizzlestick got to his feet, grabbed his shotgun noisily, and grunted at him in warning. Zane stepped back with his hands up, staring at Redjacket and Ty tensely.

Ty hadn’t moved. He still stood with his hands in the air and his chin slightly raised, looking Redjacket in the eye as the man held the gun under his chin. He seemed to be holding his breath, waiting. For once, it looked like Ty didn’t have any more tricks up his sleeve. Or rocks. He was just waiting to be shot, and the realization scared Zane more than he’d ever thought it would.

Finally, Redjacket moved, reaching out to push Ty’s jacket off his shoulders warily. He yanked at Ty’s shirt, ripping the buttons out of it, then pushed the sleeves off his shoulders so the shirt slid back as Ty stood still, watching him blankly. Zane held his breath, waiting for Ty to do something. Anything. But Ty didn’t move as Redjacket patted him down to make sure he had no other hidden weapons or sticks or God knew what else Ty might have picked up out there.

He tossed away a few more rocks Ty had gathered, pulled a lighter out of his pocket and tossed it away, and removed Ty’s hunting knife. He stopped when he pushed up one of the short sleeves of Ty’s T-shirt. He stared at Ty’s arm for a moment and then looked up at Ty warily. Zane belatedly realized that the man must have caught sight of Ty’s tattoo.

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“Marine, are you?” Redjacket muttered to Ty as he finally backed away from him, far enough that Ty couldn’t reach the weapon as he held it on him. He gestured for Swizzlestick to help Earflaps up. “Think you’re a smart guy, huh, Marine?” he said to Ty. “Think one broke face is gonna save you?”

“Made me feel better,” Ty told him with a small smile.

Redjacket gave him a jerky nod. “On your knees,” he ordered angrily. He turned his head to look at Zane. “You too,” he snarled.

Next to Earl and Deuce now, Zane slowly went down in a crouch before dropping to his knees and settling his hands behind his head. Earflaps grabbed up his shotgun and practically shoved it in his face.

“Just one twitch, fella,” he growled. “Gimme one little twitch, and I’ll blow you to kingdom come.”

Zane wisely chose not to move at all, hiding his emotions from long practice, and from the corner of his eye, he could see Ty in the exact same position. Zane wondered what Earl and Deuce must think of them, seemingly unaffected by such things.

Redjacket stood in the middle of them all, looking around at them and obviously realizing that it would be hard to keep them all under control. He glanced between Zane and Ty, common sense telling him that they would be the most dangerous.

“You watch him,” he told Swizzlestick as he pointed at Zane. He handed the thin man Ty’s gun, which Swizzlestick shoved into his belt. “And those two.” He jerked his chin toward Deuce and Earl. Then he pointed at Earflaps. “You bring the Marine,” he said as he pointed at Ty.

Earflaps nodded and took Ty by the elbow, yanking him off the ground and pushing him far enough away to hold the gun on him safely. It was disturbing that they seemed to know to keep out of reach with the guns. They had enough common sense and knowledge to make them scary. They stalked off with Ty in tow as Zane went cold.

As soon as the shotgun was pointed at Ty’s back, Zane lurched. His body coiled as he saw them pushing Ty away from the clearing, but Swizzlestick was right over him and smashed the shotgun’s hilt down onto his right shoulder. Zane crumpled with an odd, choked sound of pain, curling into himself, hugging his arm close as the pain in his head was eclipsed.

Swizzlestick laughed, obviously happy with seeing Zane curled up on the ground. “Aww, now see, I got the easy job,” Swizzlestick said as he moved to stand next to Deuce, holding the gun on them as he positioned himself to where he could see his prisoners and still watch where his buddies were taking Ty.

Zane felt sick and incredibly helpless as he huddled there under watchful eyes, unable to move as his face and shoulder both screamed at him. When he heard the first blow land somewhere behind him, he turned his face into the soft dirt and closed his eyes. They could beat Ty into a pulp back there, and there was nothing he could do. And he knew Ty wouldn’t fight back because of the danger to his partner, brother, and father.

It seemed like a lifetime before the hits and grunts stopped behind him, and Zane took a breath to try to settle his stomach. As far as he could tell, Ty hadn’t made a sound. Far too long went by before they dragged Ty back into the clearing and left him on the ground, across the clearing from Zane and the others. Zane tried in vain to see his partner from where he lay, but the gentle curve of the ground blocked his view. To his immense relief, he heard Ty cough and the scuffle of his hands in the dirt as he tried to push himself up.




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