Tracker. Lenora Worth
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understand.”
* * *
Penny nodded, her gaze latching onto the other man while she prayed Jake wouldn’t kill either of them.
Jake kissed her on her temple, the heat of his lips burning her damp skin with a desperate heat. “I told you, I’m not leaving without my son.”
He backed up, using her as a shield, and then pushed her a foot away, behind a towering pine. “Don’t move, Penny. I mean it.”
Confused and frightened, she scraped her knuckles against the rough bark while Jake stalked around the tree, giving her a possible means of escape. She could run now. Just leave them to duke this out. She could get Kevin and go as far away from here as possible. She’d done it before.
But the man who’d come to her rescue caused her to stay. She couldn’t leave him here with Jake. He’d called her by her real name so he obviously recognized her, which could only mean they’d been digging into her past, too. Then Jake had called the man Zeke and bro. What did that mean? He’d never wanted to talk about himself or his family because of the classified nature of his job. None of this made any sense.
But if this man was a friend or a true brother, he hadn’t come here for a family reunion. He was dressed in a bulletproof vest and wore a black cap over his crisp, dark hair that clearly read FBI. His partner was a sleek, fierce warrior. She’d always had a heart for dogs. This one was also marked as FBI.
“Hey, Penny. If you run, I’ll kill him and his loyal partner, okay?” Jake said again, glancing at her with a threatening look. “But since we’re all here together, I guess it would be rude of me not to make the proper introductions.” He held his gun toward where the man called Zeke stood with feet braced apart and his deadly-looking rifle raised.
Before Jake could tell her who he was, the agent said, “Jake, man, don’t do this. We all want to hear your side of the story. Your unit is worried about you.”
This man was from Jake’s unit!
“Who is he?” she asked Jake.
Keeping his eyes on the other man, Jake said, “Well, you always badgered me about my family, and now you get to meet my little brother, Zeke. Not the best of circumstances, but that can’t be helped.”
“You have a brother?” Penny asked, watching the man at the other end of this standoff. Hoping he could figure something out that would save both of them. He certainly looked capable. Muscular and confident, he stood ready for Jake’s next move. But he also held a hint of hope that Jake would give up.
That should reassure her but...she was afraid none of them would get out of this alive.
Jake shook his head, his eyes wild, his gaze darting between her and Zeke. But he kept his pistol trained on the man and the canine. “Actually, he’s only my half brother. We shared the same father but that’s about it. My old man left my mother and me for his new family.”
He said that with such disgust, Zeke flinched but recovered before Jake even noticed. But Penny noticed. Her heart went out to the man standing there, his rifle aimed at Jake. What must he be going through right now?
Two brothers, one good and one bad.
She couldn’t walk away from this. Jake would keep coming. She had to do something now. But which one did she trust?
Jake’s next words confirmed that decision and told her what she had to do. “Now you know Kevin has an uncle, but he’ll never get to meet Uncle Zeke.” Raising the handgun at the same time he grabbed Penny and pinned her in front of him, he said with regret in each word, “I’m going to have to kill you, bro. You know too much.” His grip tightened on Penny. “You both know too much.”
Zeke inched forward, the canine following. “Jake, think about this. Don’t make things worse for yourself. Let her go and you and I can talk.”
“No more talking,” Jake said. Then he held the gun closer and moved it up to Penny’s heart. “Back off or I’ll kill her right now. I’m not playing. I have to get out of here. With Kevin.”
Penny’s gaze slammed into Zeke’s shocked expression. She’d dropped her backpack when Jake had shoved her at the tree, and she couldn’t reach it now. Panic-stricken, she looked around for a weapon. Anything would suffice. Glancing back at Zeke, she tried to send him a silent message. She made a big deal about looking past him as if she saw someone else. Straining forward, she shouted, “Jake, did you see that? I think someone’s in the woods.”
It was enough to cause her ex to lift his head and glance around. He shifted, his hard-edged gaze sweeping the area.
Penny slumped against him again, causing him to shift. She slipped down and grabbed a jagged piece of rock and managed to twist toward Jake, her arm raised as she lifted the stone toward him while his arms went up in the air. She’d been a softball pitcher in high school so she could pretty much aim for any sweet spot far away. But up close, it was too hard. Thinking quickly, she aimed for the weapon in his outstretched hand. The heavy rock made contact enough against the gun for Jake to lose his grip. His gun flipped out into the air and fell a few feet away.
“You shouldn’t have done that, Penny,” he snapped as he shoved her onto her back and slid toward the weapon.
Zeke shouted at her, “Run. Go. Get out of here!”
The canine started barking and snarling.
Then the FBI agent shouted again, “Run!”
Penny grabbed her backpack as she headed into the woods. Her cell phone was inside. She could call the inn and warn Claire.
Gunshots went off. The FBI agent commanded, “Attack!”
Glancing back, she saw Jake roll and then hop up, the gun now aimed at the dog as he ran ahead of the barking canine, shooting to keep him away. But the dog was quick. He nipped at Jake’s booted foot, his teeth sinking deep.
Her ex grunted and let out a string of curses, all the while fighting to get free of Cheetah. But his efforts failed. His pants ripped and he managed to get up and stumble forward, the dog still on his heels.
Penny couldn’t stop to watch.
The whiz of a bullet hit a tree near her. She heard the shots and realized Jake was making good on his word to try to kill her.
She heard more shots and pivoted around. Her crazy ex was now shooting toward the dog.
Zeke began returning fire. The medium-sized dog was becoming more and more aggressive, barking angrily and dancing away from the continuous shots. The animal would gain on Jake again any second now. Penny turned and ducked behind a tree just as the dog leaped into the air and headed toward her assailant.
But Jake took one more shot and disappeared into the woods.
Zeke came hurrying by. “Stay there,” he told her on a rushed breath.
Then Jake shouted from somewhere above her on some rocks, “Call off your partner, Zeke. I have Penny in my sights and I will take out her and the dog. You know I’m a good shot.”
The words echoed out over the woods like an eerie wail. As if to prove he could do it, Jake shot above Penny’s head. She ducked and held her breath.
Then she saw Jake running through the rough terrain in a zigzag pattern. Heard him shout, “I’m taking him, Penny. None of you can stop me.”
He fired another round of shots, causing Zeke to rush toward Penny and push her down, his big body shielding hers.
“Halt,” Zeke called to the canine barking loudly at the rock formation.
Cheetah whirled and stopped.
“Come,” Zeke called again, the reluctance and frustration obvious in his tone.
The obedient dog returned and stood watch, his beautiful heavy fur quivering with awareness.
“Why