Page 116 of Brands

What the hell was that?

Smoke and dust billow from a broken window above the storage room.

Running as fast as I can, I cut the corner of the barn to see a wave of white pouring from a hole in the concrete wall to spill over the green earth outside.

Milk.

Thousands of gallons.

Hundreds of cows, hours of work.

All that money.

Flushed into the soil.

It drops me to my knees.

Wait. Is that…an engine?

Leaping back to my feet, I sprint around the far end and catch the tail end of a Jeep fishtailing across the gravel.

Fuck you.

I raise my gun and aim for the tires, pulling the trigger like I’ve practiced so many times before.

I always thought I’d be shooting Char’s toxic ex, Matt. Never a car.

They veer hard to the left, cutting behind one of the storage sheds.

No way asshole.

I backtrack, my legs pumping so fast I feel as if I’m flying.

Barely beating the speeding vehicle, I plant my feet in front of it’s only way out.

“You’re gonna have to kill me,” I grimace, raising my pistol.

The world falls into slow motion as I point my weapon at the windshield.

I’m playing for keeps.

No onemesses with me or mine.

They killed my cows.

They could have made me lose mybaby.

Dropping the front sights to just above the curve of the steering wheel, my finger tightens on the trigger.

This ends now.

Whoever is driving hunches forward, nailing the accelerator so I can hear the whine of the engine as it builds up.

With a final squeeze, the hammer drops as a body flies at me from the side, tackling me to the ground.

The Jeep narrowly misses me, but then crashes against the concrete divider in the loading lane.

“Lib—” Blue coughs from the ground next to me.

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