Their Obsession (Four Mercenaries 2)

“Did it come from there?” Clover asked, pointing to the back door.

Tank squeezed Clover’s shoulder and walked toward the police car, but when Pyro gravitated to the rear of the black truck, Clover followed him like a curious puppy itching to join his most courageous brother on an adventure. Tank shook his head at them and approached the officer.

“I don’t want to make your job harder, but there’s some strange noise coming from the victim’s car.”

The policeman took a deep breath, his fresh cop face struggling against the scowl threatening to surface, and Tank knew exactly what he was thinking. That the damn civilians were making his job harder for no reason. Everything had its place, and the truck and its contents could wait.

“We’ll get to it. Might have been the wind.”

There was hardly any breeze, but Tank wasn’t going to argue. It was none of his business. Without Pete, they had no contact with whoever wanted the cargo moved, so it was out of his hands anyway. As was the cash he’d been promised. Could this night get any worse?

Metal smashed against flesh with a dull thud, and when Tank turned around, about to chastise whoever caused unnecessary mayhem with cops around, his feet froze to the ground.

The back of the black truck was wide open, its doors still swinging from the sudden impact while Clover scrambled to his side, mouth agape as he looked at the huge animal wobbling on its legs right next to him.

Tank couldn’t believe his eyes, so he had to do a double take when the lion roared. His legs were already moving Clover’s way, but Boar was closer, and he threw himself between the animal and their boy, as if he were striving for a touchdown.

It must have only angered the beast further, because it lashed out with its paw at the bodies rolling away.

“Don’t just stand there!” Tank yelled to the cop, while Pyro aimed his gun at the lion, which must have woken from sedation and wasn’t happy about it.

Its legs didn’t seem as steady as they should’ve been, but the beast still growled, sinking lower when Pyro scrambled to his feet, eyes so wide they were about to pop out of his sockets. The wild cat moved toward him with its tail swishing, and when the cop pushed past Tank, the firearm in Pyro’s hand went off.

Clover let out a choked scream, but so did the cop, who fell over, holding on to his own shoulder.

And the lion? It shot into the darkness in a loud rustle of the tall grass that made up the landscape.

“The fuck!?” The cop screeched in a high-pitched voice, already scrambling to take the safety off his gun. “You shot me! Everybody on the ground!”

Tank gritted his teeth, but even though Pyro followed the order, he still had to talk.

“Must have been the lion, officer.”

Tank didn’t question the orders and lay down, smelling the dirt. Just great. What a successful return to the only job he was good at. “He panicked. Must have been a ricochet.”

“Stay where you are. You can explain yourself at the station,” the other cop said, though he didn’t even look at Tank, his eyes trained on the silvery expanse of grass. His knees were shaking as if he were about to shit himself.

Really? That’s what they were about to do when there was a lion on the loose in fucking Oregon?

But what could he expect when those officers likely had more experience with traffic violations and illegal lumbering in Christmas time?

“Backup. We need backup,” the cop stuttered before running over to the patrol car. At least Clover was all right.

“You can’t leave us here! There’s a lion nearby!” Tank yelled in frustration. The wild cat was frightened and disoriented, so it would hopefully not be a threat, but maybe the cops would let them go.

Boar shuffled closer. “We’re still in Oregon, right?”

“Yes…” Tank said through gritting teeth because he knew where this was going.

“Is it time to call your brother?”

Chapter 5 – Clover

“Can’t believe we have to wait two more hours,” Boar moaned, rocking back and forth on the yoga mat laid out at the back of the van. They’d moved the motorcycle outside to provide more space and were now stuck in the parking lot by the small-town police station, waiting for something to happen.

Local news, on the other hand, were having a field day, with journalists and reporters alike showering the chief of police with endless questions. The guy took it on board like a professional entertainer, and while every cop in the county was out on a lion hunt—including the one Pyro accidentally shot, since the bullet only grazed him—the chief was all smiles and assurances.

And in the meanwhile, Pyro was stuck in a cell until further notice, because there was no one available to deal with his case. Clover sat next to Tank, and they went through endless text messages on Pete’s phone, his browsing history, and photos, looking for anything that could prove useful. If anything, the search proved Pete had not been gay, but that no longer mattered anyway, since they already knew the reason for his interest in Clover.