Page 68 of Keel

They were still in range, so he knew Bean had heard him, but the answer didn’t come immediately.

“Sorry, Keel, I was doing some first aid. I’ve already called. They’re on their way.”

Keel could see Forest and Stone ahead. They had slowed significantly. That was one thing about Delta. He and his team had to stay ready for anything, so their bodies were honed and ready for action. They also had night vision, and the brothers didn’t.

With the men slowing, they could run this speed all day. But he needed to do more than just run this pair to exhaustion. He needed to catch Forest and make sure he never came back to bother Frankie.

“You should give up,” Keel called out as he closed the distance on Forest.

It was almost comical to see the fear on Forest’s face as he turned to glance over his shoulder. The high-pitched yelp the man let out before he tripped and stumbled only added to how funny it was.

On missions, they rarely chased their target, and he would take no pleasure from this if Forest hadn’t tortured Frankie. But seeing Forest’s desperation was nice. He wanted to cause pain and make sure the guy could never hurt Frankie again.

But one thing he knew without a doubt was that if he shot and killed Forest right now, he would go to jail. The bastard wasn’t worth a prison sentence. They needed to corner the jerk and then hand him over to the cops.

“We’ve got you cornered,” Chase called out.

Forest responded by waving his gun over his shoulder and firing. The shot went way wide, hitting a tree off to Keel’s left. The man was dangerous. The idiot could hit them by firing that way. Based on what he knew about Forest, if the man stopped and aimed his gun, he would probably have little chance of hitting a target, but firing off a shot with the gun swinging wildly, he might actually shoot one of them.

“Give it up,” Keel called out.

“Never.” Forest slung his gun over his shoulder again and fired. But he wasn’t a crack shot, and he had no idea what he was doing, because before he pulled the trigger, his aim had changed significantly, and his bullet hit Stone, dropping him to the ground with a pitiful scream.

Keel was close enough that he could see blood spreading on Stone’s shirt. Forest cried out as he watched his brother’s life fade.

“You shot Stone!” Forest turned to face them and began firing.

Keel and his guys ducked behind trees to keep from being shot. “This isn’t going to end well for you,” Keel called out when there was a break in shots.

“You fucking killed my brother. I’m going to kill you.”

They’d run far enough that Keel could tell they were by a road. If they fired at Forest, they might hit a passing vehicle. No one wanted that.

“I’m circling to the left,” Chase said.

Keel needed to keep Forest distracted, so he didn’t see Chase moving. “You’ve got nowhere to go. And we didn’t shoot your brother, you did.” Keel tried to keep his voice even, but he wasn’t done with this guy. The man had tortured his woman, and Keel wasn’t a forgiving man. Maybe Chase would just wound Forest, then they could get him put away for life.

“I hate you, and I hate Frankie. I hope you both die!” Forest yelled.

Keel heard the crunch of leaves and glanced around the tree, seeing Forest running away. Keel moved to go after him, but he could just make out Forest disappearing into deep tree cover.

A loud horn honked, and tires squealed on pavement. A loud thud sounded, like maybe someone had bounced off the front of a vehicle.

Maybe Forest thought the truck could stop, or maybe he ran out onto the road on purpose. They were closing in on him, and his brother was dead. Forest probably knew he’d killed Stone. Maybe he couldn’t live with that pressure.

Keel moved closer to the trees where Forest had disappeared. He could see the lights from the truck and removed his night vision, so he wasn’t blinded. It was a bad scene. It looked like Forest had jumped out in front of that truck.

He couldn’t do anything here, so he disappeared back into the dense foliage. Forest had shot Stone. The forensics would prove that much. Maybe the cops would think it was a murder suicide.

Keel and his buddies headed toward the cabin where Frankie had been held. She needed his help. Forest was beyond any help they could give.

Sirens split the silence, echoing through the woods. He was thankful Frankie was okay. He moved to the bed of the truck where Bean had placed Frankie and put his hand on her knee.

“Are you okay?”

She nodded, worry filling her face. “What happened?”

“He’s gone. It’s best we get our story straight. I don’t want the cops delving too deeply into everything.”