Cut and Run 2 - Sticks and Stones

of the ATV Deuce was riding behind them, the more certain he was that it wasn’t worth the effort to work up remorse over something there was no way in hell he’d ever regret.
    “Don’t get clever with me, Ace,” he heard Ty growl to one of the prisoners. The distinctive sound of the action on the shotgun pumping followed the threat.
    Zane resisted the urge to look over his shoulder again. The biggest problem they’d had as they made their way over the roughly two miles of trail was keeping their two prisoners in line, and that hadn’t really been much of a problem at all. Ty seemed to be taking some perverse joy in it. But Deuce had a bird’s-eye view and hadn’t objected to anything Ty had done yet, so Zane figured he’d let well enough alone.
    Earl stopped ahead of him and turned slightly, gesturing at Zane. Frowning in surprise, Zane jogged ahead several steps to join him.
    “Yeah?” Zane asked.
    Earl had his head down, watching the others out of the corner of his eye. “You think we need someone else watching those boys?” he asked Zane seriously.
    Zane raised a brow, figuring such a delightful question deserved a simple answer. “You going to tell Ty he needs to give you the shotgun and take point instead?”
    Earl met his eyes briefly. “We don’t want anymore bloodshed,” he reminded neutrally. “Ty ain’t exactly in the best frame of mind right now.”
    Pursing his lips, Zane exhaled slowly and glanced back at his partner, who was watching them as he stood with the shotgun trained on the two tied men. Would Ty really just off and shoot one of their prisoners? Even as rattled as he was? “He won’t shoot someone who doesn’t attack him head on,” Zane settled on.
    “Yeah, tell that to Mara’s oven when we get home,” Earl muttered under his breath as he looked out ahead of them.
    Zane snorted at the silliness of it.
    Earl nodded and glanced at Zane, turning to look over his shoulder at Ty and the prisoners.
    “What’s the problem?” Ty demanded in a sharp voice.
    Earl looked back at Zane with a raised eyebrow. “No problem,” he assured Ty as he gave Zane one last glance and moved on.
    Zane winced slightly but kept moving with Earl. “It can’t be much farther. We could all use a break,” he muttered. Hopefully Ty would remember that his father and his partner were beyond the assholes he was herding. Not that he expected Ty to actually shoot….
    The two prisoners obviously weren’t as convinced, and thanks to the shotgun at their backs, Zane’s repeated threatening glares over his shoulder, and some effective knots, the two men moved along relatively quietly. When they finally reached the main camp, the shelter and supplies were a welcome sight, as sparse as they were. Deuce parked the ATV out of the way and clambered down from it, groaning and complaining as he stretched out his bad leg. Ty kept the gun on Redjacket and Earflaps as Earl secured them to a tree with bungee cords and what little rope they had salvaged. Zane dropped his backpack and the satchel he’d carried from the other camp, and Deuce followed suit as he stepped up to Zane and spoke into his ear quietly while they were occupied. “I think he’s having flashbacks,” he confided in Zane with a tilt of his head in Ty’s direction.
    Zane felt a wave of something stronger than concern lap through him. He glanced at Ty furtively. Flashbacks meant military, and that was something Zane just wasn’t equipped to handle. “We’ll get some things settled, and I’ll see if I can’t talk with him a little, keep him with us,” he murmured.
    Deuce winced slightly and met Zane’s eyes hesitantly. “He was a different person then,” he told Zane in a whisper. “He’s dangerous like this.”
    As Zane stared at Deuce, he realized just how much of himself Ty truly kept from his family, even Deuce, who seemed so close to him. Ty was dangerous anytime. Anytime at all. Right now he just had a shorter fuse. Zane nodded slowly, not seeing any reason to argue or try to enlighten Ty’s brother just then.
    “Well, we’ve got plenty to do, see what’s here, get cleaned up.” He lightly touched his own cheek, trying to evaluate it through the pain the pressure caused.
    Deuce’s perceptive eyes studied him, seeming to notice his lack of reaction and storing that information away. He swallowed hard and then gave a jerk of his chin. “Want me to doctor it?” he offered.
    Zane raised a brow. “What kind of