Stars & Stripes (Cut & Run 6)

“What?” Annie asked through a quiet sob.

“He’s goddamn petting the tiger.”

“Petting the tiger?”

“I’m going down there.”

“Zane, wait!” Annie cried as Zane urged his horse down into the arroyo.

At the sound of her shout, the tiger sat up in a rush and focused on him. His horse balked, dancing sideways at it caught wind of the big cat’s scent. The tiger lunged to his feet, letting out a roar that froze the very marrow in Zane’s bones.

Zane was peripherally aware of the horses panicking. Ty’s bay broke away from Jamie and ran. It took all of Zane’s skill to get his own animal under control again.

Zane stopped his horse from going closer, but the damage was done. The tiger bent and took Ty’s arm in its mouth, pulling him by his wrist across the arroyo bottom. Ty didn’t move, didn’t struggle. Zane’s stomach knotted, and he had to fight the urge to retch as he watched Ty’s limp body being dragged across the ground, at the mercy of one of the largest, most dangerous predators on earth.

Annie joined him on foot, breathless and pale. “Tigers are territorial, Zane. Either Ty is his meal, or Ty is his friend. Either way, he sees us as a threat. We have to drive him off or tranquilize him before we get anywhere near Ty. And I lost the dart gun.”

Zane nodded, dizzy and ill. Annie reached for his saddle, pulling the rifle out of its scabbard and pointing it into the air. She fired.

The tiger jolted away, bounding a few yards before hesitating and looking back at Ty’s limp body. He seemed confused and intimidated by their aggressive behavior. Annie fired again and again, each time driving the tiger further away. Zane urged his agitated horse forward, and the animal just seemed glad to be getting away from the gunshots as it barreled down the hill. Annie fired the last round in the rifle as Zane’s horse charged, and the tiger turned and ran, disappearing into the hills.

Zane dismounted while his horse was still moving, hitting the ground running and then sliding to his knees in the scrub brush next to Ty. Ty’s eyes were open and unblinking, his body contorted in the position the tiger had left him.

“Baby?” Zane said through a broken sob as he reached for Ty’s face.

Ty closed his eyes, a painfully slow gesture, and when he opened them again he was staring at Zane.

“Oh Jesus, Ty. Are you okay?”

Ty closed his eyes again. He tried to speak, lips barely moving.

“What?” Zane asked as he leaned closer.

“I hate Texas.”

Chapter 8

Zane held Ty’s limp body in the saddle. It wasn’t comfortable, but Ty seemed to have no control over his limbs and little awareness of where he was or even who he was. Zane couldn’t allow him to be strapped to a saddle like a dead man, so he rode with Ty in front of him.

Joe and Cody greeted them when they trotted into the main yard, running to help get Ty off the horse when they realized he wasn’t conscious. Ty’s horse had beaten them there, tipping the others off that something had gone wrong. A police vehicle and an ambulance were already on the way, even though Joe confessed they’d all just thought Ty had fallen off his horse.

Ty was a dead weight in their hands, and they had to carry him into the house together. Annie ran to her truck and retrieved the well-stocked bag she took with her on calls, and then she followed them in.

Zane stood in the yard, stunned and staring at the open front door.

“Z?”

He turned to his father.

“You fall apart later, you hear me? Your man saved my little girl today. You go in there and be strong for him.”

Zane blinked at him, and then nodded. He headed for the house, putting one foot in front of the other. It was the only way he could manage to function.

The boys had placed Ty on one of the sofas in the den. Annie was checking his pulse and blood pressure.

“I don’t understand why he was even conscious,” she said to Zane when she realized he was there. “That dart should have dropped him before he could get off a shot, much less empty his clip. And he’s still partially responsive, even now. I don’t understand.”

Zane nodded and ran his hand over Ty’s forehead, then leaned down to kiss it. “He has strange reactions. Two Tylenol will wire him up just like one of those five-hour energy shots. Benadryl makes him sick. Vicodin makes him stop breathing.”

“Christ, there’s no telling what he’s going to do with this! I know he pulled the dart out; maybe he didn’t get a full dose. Maybe it hit bone. Get his shirt open, let’s see where it hit him.”

Zane pulled out his knife and put the blade to the collar of Ty’s Henley.

Ty reached up and grabbed his wrist. Annie screamed and dropped her stethoscope.

“Don’t cut the shirt.”

“Jesus, Ty, are you awake?” Zane tossed the knife to the floor and dropped to his knees beside Ty.

“I hate Texas,” Ty said without opening his eyes.

“Why does he keep saying that?” Mark asked from the doorway where he stood watching.

“Obviously, he hates Texas!” Zane snapped. “Why shouldn’t he? It keeps trying to kill him!”

Ty’s head lolled to the side.

“Ty?” Annie asked as she leaned closer to him. “Can you hear us?”

Ty groaned.

“Baby?” Zane whispered. He rested his chin on the couch, letting his nose touch Ty’s. He closed his eyes and put his hand against Ty’s cheek. “Are you in there?”

“I feel weird, Zane.”

Zane fought back a sob of laughter and ran his hand through Ty’s hair.

“What in the world is going on in here?” Beverly demanded as she came into the room. She saw Ty on the sofa and put her hands over her mouth. “Oh my God!”

“He got shot with a tranquilizer dart,” Mark told her. He and the others were staying out of the way, watching from the doorway.

“Will he live?”

“We think so,” Annie answered as she checked his heartbeat again.

“Oh my. We have guests coming, is he bleeding on the upholstery?”

Zane raised his head, meeting Annie’s wide eyes. Zane pushed to his feet and rounded on his mother, fire boiling through his veins.

“You bitch,” he growled, sounding stunned even to his own ears.

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

Joe turned and ran for the door, yelling, “Harrison!”

“How dare you talk to me like that!” Beverly shouted.