Page 79 of Claimed By the Deputies

“If you want to do right by your son, get him a lawyer,” I tell her as I cuff him, then hoist Dante up with a grunt. “Make sure it’s a good one.”

“I’m innocent!”

“Be smart, lady,” I advise, my gun still pointed at her as I drag her loser son out of the kitchen and back to the front of the diner.

I hear the back door burst open at the same time I get Dante out into the parking lot. With seconds left, I get him back to my SUV, where Tassia is already behind the wheel, an anxious look on her face.

“Keep your head down,” I tell Dante as I shove him into the backseat.

The Stallions come out of the diner, guns blazing.

“Shit!” Tassia exclaims and jerks the SUV into drive.

I jump into the passenger seat just as she takes off. A cloud of dust rises in our wake as projectiles fly past us. Two bullets hit the side and sparks fly, but we manage to get back onto the road otherwise unscathed. The Stallions rush to their motorcycles intent to come after us.

“You were right,” I tell Tassia, the adrenaline coursing through me like wildfire. “And I was a smart man for trusting you.”

“Honestly, the odds were fifty-fifty, but yeah, I’m glad you trusted me too,” she replies with a smirk and a wink. She looks into the rearview mirror. “We can’t take him back to the station.”

The road opens up before us, signs for Denning and Frost Valley advertising the next two stops. Tassia has a valid point. We already lost a guy in custody, and besides, the Stallions are hot on our tail.

“It’ll be a jurisdictional and prosecutorial mess. His lawyer will have a field day with violation of rights and whatnot.”

“Where are you taking me?” Dante asks from the back seat.

I give him a hard look. “Shut the fuck up.”

“I have rights!”

“Yes, one of them being the right to remain silent, and I suggest you use it for the time being,” I reply, shifting my focus back to Tassia. “Definitely not the station. I’ve got a better idea.”

“Where can we keep him safe until we get a confession out of him? He’ll lead us to Trevor, I’m sure of it,” she says.

“Your place.”

“What?”

“Tim’s cabin. The workers aren’t coming in until next week, and we changed all the locks on the first floor.”

She nods. “Tim also had new windows and beams installed for stability. Yes, that could work. He’d be right next door to us.”

“We’ll record everything.”

“Lucas is going to be so mad at us.”

Maybe. But he’ll also understand. After everything that’s happened and given what’s at stake here, Lucas will definitely understand.

20

TASSIA

“You people have lost your damn minds,” Patterson says.

She stands in the middle of the living room of what was once my little safe haven, my first step into a new life. It still smells of burnt wood and melted plastic. It’s anything but habitable, but the windows and doors are sturdy and secured.

Dante’s cuffed to a heavy chair in the middle of the ground floor.

Tyler was smart bringing him here. After several rough turns and back roads, we were able to lose the Stallions following us. I’d be turned on by his out-of-the-box thinking if it weren’t for the nausea swelling in the back of my throat again.

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