Stars & Stripes (Cut & Run 6)

“Agreed,” Ty said immediately. Zane looked over in surprise. “But if the tiger’s hurt he won’t last long. There’s also the possibility he’ll be attracted to the main house and barns. To the livestock, or even one of your trail rides.”

“Ty’s right. We at least need to notify the authorities, let them know there may be an exotic on the loose,” Harrison said.

“I think we should follow the tiger,” Annie said, tossing a pleading look at Zane and Mark. “He might be hurt. You know he’s scared.”

“Annie. Honey. He’s a tiger. He’s top of the food chain.”

“We could split up,” Jamie suggested. “We’ll follow the tire tracks and see where it’s getting access to the property. Ty and Zane can track the tiger, and Annie can head back to the house and alert the animal control people.”

“Or hell, walk into the preserve and use their phone,” Zane said with a wave at the fence.

“No, no one goes anywhere alone right now. That tiger can take down a horse and rider, sure as the world,” Harrison said. “Damn, I should have kept the boys with us.”

“No, it was the right call to send them back to the house,” Ty assured him.

Harrison nodded, frowning. He glanced at Zane. “I’m sure the sanctuary people called the authorities.”

“But they won’t know the tiger is loose, and —”

“Zane,” Harrison said in a voice that stopped Zane dead in his verbal tracks. “We need a badge to follow after that truck, just in case they’re still around and we actually catch up to them. And Ty’s the only one can track that cat. He needs a vet if he’s going.”

“Wait a minute,” Mark said, voice going higher. “You want Ty and Annie to go after that tiger alone?”

Harrison nodded. His gnarled fingers rolled a cigarette as he spoke.

“Sir!”

Harrison shot a look at his son-in-law that immediately silenced him.

“I have the tranquilizer darts,” Annie said with a hopeful look at Ty.

Ty shrugged. He took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair before replacing it. Zane found himself staring again. He met Ty’s eyes, wincing as the sun flashed off his sunglasses.

“I don’t like it, but it makes the most sense,” Ty said.

They laid down a few more logistics, then separated. Zane sat high in his saddle and watched as Ty led his horse away on foot, picking up the trail of the lost tiger. He mounted a few moments later, Annie following a few feet behind him.

“He’ll take care of her, right?” Mark asked, eyes on Annie.

Zane nodded. “With his life.”

Ty estimated they rode for roughly three miles before the tiger tracks started to get too faint to see from horseback. He dismounted and continued to follow the trail for another half a mile before he lost it completely.

Annie sat and watched him pace back and forth. He was going grid by grid, trying to pick the trail up again. While he performed the methodical search, Annie told him what she knew about tigers. Like many other predators, he’d studied them back when he’d been trying to learn everything there was to know about how to kill, but he listened anyway, recognizing her rambling knowledge dump as a sign of her nerves.

She told him that a tiger could hit a top speed of thirty-five miles per hour, but could only maintain it in short bursts. If the tiger caught the drop on them, it would take down a horse before they could outrun it. If they were alert, though, and stayed away from areas of easy ambush, the horses would be able to outrun and outdistance the big cat.

The problem with that was that out here, almost everywhere was an easy ambush for a tiger.

Ty found himself glancing around every few seconds. The fact that they usually hunted at night didn’t comfort him much, nor did the fact that Barnum and Bailey were tame and used to humans. A life in the circus being petted by kids didn’t mean they weren’t still tigers with the survival instincts of wild animals. He wasn’t fooling himself into thinking they weren’t in danger.

“Have you lost him?” Annie asked after a few minutes.

“I think so, yeah,” Ty admitted. They were atop one of the odd, knobby hills that peppered the land, sun-baked and windswept. It was nearly impossible to find a sign. Hopefully, he’d pick up the trail again on the descent, but he had to find the route the tiger had taken in order to do that.

The sun beat down, searing through Ty’s shirt and reminding him of the many days he’d spent on Recon missions, wishing he were in a pool.

“It’s impressive, what you’re doing,” Annie said.

Ty shrugged and continued his careful search. “My dad taught me to track in the mountains. It’s easier there—lots of underbrush to hold sign, and the ground is usually moist enough to retain a track. I picked up more in the military, learned new terrain. The desert is tricky. Hard-packed dirt is near impossible sometimes.”

“Yeah. I wasn’t talking about the tracking. Although I am impressed,” Annie added, a smile in her voice.

Ty peered at her, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun.

“The last time I saw my brother, he was . . . not my brother. Broken. Drinking and torn apart and hopeless. No one could reach him. His eyes were dead and I just knew he would be too, soon. But here he is.”

Ty smiled, but he shook his head. “What makes you think I’m responsible?”

“I’ve never seen Zane as happy as he is right now. Even when he was with Becky. You’ve been good to him, and you’ve been good for him. And no matter what Mother or anyone else has to say about it, or what Mark says about your past, I want you to know that I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving my brother a reason to live again.”

Ty swallowed, surprised to find his throat tightening. “Well. He did the same for me.”

Annie smiled. “You’re not nearly the hard-ass you want everyone to believe.”

Ty rolled his eyes and waved at her. “Might as well get down, take a little rest. This might take me a while,” he said, voice still hoarse as he tried to stop thinking about Zane and start thinking about the tiger on the loose again.

Annie dismounted and stood beside him as he gazed out over the rolling terrain, mind churning. He glanced at Annie. “I love him very much.”

She smiled. “Good. I—”

Ty held up a hand, shushing her, and cocked his head at an odd buzzing sound in the air. He had the sense it’d been building for a while, but his conscious mind had only now taken notice. It was far off and echoing, so there was no way to tell where it was coming from. He peered out over the endless hills, and after a moment, he realized what it was.