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“Just to get something we need. He’ll be right back.” Bree didn’t know exactly what Tanner was doing, but she knew her words were true.

Sure enough, he was back a few minutes later, two sticks in his hand. He laid them both by Bree.

“This is as close as I can get to weapons. Obviously, they’re not going to be super useful against...more modern weaponry.” She appreciated that he didn’t say the word gun in front of the kids. No need to plant that in their minds right before they were stuck in the dark all night. “But it’s something. Use it like a baseball bat. If someone who’s not me comes in here, make your first shot count.”

His giving her pointers on how to best use that large stick as a weapon was scaring her more than anything else he’d said today. Because he really thought she was going to have to use it.

But now wasn’t the time to give in to panic. Tanner needed her to be strong. So she just reached over, found his hand in the dark and squeezed. “Okay.”

As she’d predicted, it didn’t take long for the kids to fall asleep. It was dark, they couldn’t talk and there was nothing to see, not to mention their little bodies had been pushed hard today.

Once they were, Tanner brought his lips all the way to her ear and spoke quietly. “I’m going out. This place is good as a shelter, but if they find us here, we are basically sitting ducks. At least from out there if someone finds you, I can do something about it.”

She nodded so he would know she understood.

“If I can take one or more out, I’m going to try to do that.”

She stiffened. They undoubtedly had weapons. And he didn’t know how many of them there were.

His hand came up and threaded into her hair on the other side of her head, the motion so Tanner-like and in control that it helped calm her.

“These guys have guns. They’re dangerous, freckles—I can feel it in my gut. If I don’t come back, at first light, you take the kids and run.”

She shook her head frantically. There was no way she was leaving him.

“Yes.” His fingers gripped her hair more firmly. “You go in the morning. You follow the direction the sun is rising until you run into the river, then turn right and follow the river south all the way until you hit the road. You get Noah, Whitaker, Ronnie...everybody. You send them all back up to help me.”

“I don’t want to leave you,” she whispered.

“I’m going to be there for our wedding, don’t you worry. But you have to promise me you’ll go. I can keep myself alive, but I can’t watch them hurt you or those kids.”

“If you’re not at the wedding, I’m going to make you wait another whole year to get married, with the no-touching rule still in effect,” she lied. She’d never be able to live that long without touching him.

He kissed her forehead. “You can damn well bet I’m not going to miss our wedding night—you’ve got too many dirty debts to pay. I’ll see you soon, freckles.”

With a hard kiss on her lips, he disappeared silently into the darkness.

Chapter Fourteen

Tanner moved as silently as possible through the trees, stopping every so often to try to listen for anything out of place. Noah was so much better at this than he was. But to keep Bree and the kids safe, he would damn well learn how to do it fast.

He heard a soft bit of radio static crackle from a distance and knew it was the men signaling to one another. The good news was they were at a distance, nowhere near him or the hideout. The bad news was these guys were communicating via walkie-talkie.

And they were definitely around, and they were prepared.

Moving as silently as he could, Tanner made rounds farther and farther out from the hiding spot. He knew the men were out here, but he didn’t want to stumble on one of them unaware.

What was the best plan? Try to lead them away? Would Bree run with the kids like he told her?

She would. If he didn’t come back for one reason or another, he had to believe she would.

He shut his eyes again, focusing on the sounds around him. He heard the soft static again and moved silently in that direction. When he heard it again many minutes later he froze. That time it had been close. Way too close. He remained still. This might be his chance to take one of the men out.

He kept himself motionless to listen and figure out what direction he’d need to move, but this time it was voices that caught his attention.

“How many times are you going to let that damn thing give off noise?”

Tanner froze. That voice. He knew that voice. Where from?