Earl stopped ahead of him and turned slightly, gesturing at Zane. Frowning in surprise, Zane jogged ahead several steps to join him.
“Yeah?” Zane asked.
Earl had his head down, watching the others out of the corner of his eye. “You think we need someone else watching those boys?” he asked Zane seriously.
Zane raised a brow, figuring such a delightful question deserved a simple answer. “You going to tell Ty he needs to give you the shotgun and take point instead?”
Earl met his eyes briefly. “We don’t want anymore bloodshed,” he reminded neutrally. “Ty ain’t exactly in the best frame of mind right now.”
Pursing his lips, Zane exhaled slowly and glanced back at his partner, who was watching them as he stood with the shotgun trained on the two tied men. Would Ty really just off and shoot one of their prisoners? Even as rattled as he was? “He won’t shoot someone who doesn’t attack him head on,” Zane settled on.
“Yeah, tell that to Mara’s oven when we get home,” Earl muttered under his breath as he looked out ahead of them.
Zane snorted at the silliness of it.
Earl nodded and glanced at Zane, turning to look over his shoulder at Ty and the prisoners.
“What’s the problem?” Ty demanded in a sharp voice.
Earl looked back at Zane with a raised eyebrow. “No problem,” he assured Ty as he gave Zane one last glance and moved on.
Zane winced slightly but kept moving with Earl. “It can’t be much farther. We could all use a break,” he muttered. Hopefully Ty would remember that his father and his partner were beyond the ass**les he was herding. Not that he expected Ty to actually shoot….
The two prisoners obviously weren’t as convinced, and thanks to the shotgun at their backs, Zane’s repeated threatening glares over his shoulder, and some effective knots, the two men moved along relatively quietly. When they finally reached the main camp, the shelter and supplies were a welcome sight, as sparse as they were. Deuce parked the ATV out of the way and clambered down from it, groaning and complaining as he stretched out his bad leg. Ty kept the gun on Redjacket and Earflaps as Earl secured them to a tree with bungee cords and what little rope they had salvaged. Zane dropped his backpack and the satchel he’d carried from the other camp, and Deuce followed suit as he stepped up to Zane and spoke into his ear quietly while they were occupied. “I think he’s having flashbacks,” he confided in Zane with a tilt of his head in Ty’s direction.
Zane felt a wave of something stronger than concern lap through him. He glanced at Ty furtively. Flashbacks meant military, and that was something Zane just wasn’t equipped to handle. “We’ll get some things settled, and I’ll see if I can’t talk with him a little, keep him with us,” he murmured.
Deuce winced slightly and met Zane’s eyes hesitantly. “He was a different person then,” he told Zane in a whisper. “He’s dangerous like this.”
As Zane stared at Deuce, he realized just how much of himself Ty truly kept from his family, even Deuce, who seemed so close to him. Ty was dangerous anytime. Anytime at all. Right now he just had a shorter fuse. Zane nodded slowly, not seeing any reason to argue or try to enlighten Ty’s brother just then.
“Well, we’ve got plenty to do, see what’s here, get cleaned up.” He lightly touched his own cheek, trying to evaluate it through the pain the pressure caused.
Deuce’s perceptive eyes studied him, seeming to notice his lack of reaction and storing that information away. He swallowed hard and then gave a jerk of his chin. “Want me to doctor it?” he offered.
Zane raised a brow. “What kind of doctoring you think you can do?” he asked, a touch of humor in his voice. He figured the whole side of his face was one big bruise. There was nothing to be done if anything was fractured. The black eye couldn’t be helped other than to keep the swelling down so it wouldn’t swell shut. His jaw wasn’t broken, and the only thing that really needed attention was his broken nose.
Deuce just raised one eyebrow. “I did my rounds in the ER just like everyone else,” he reminded as he glanced over at Ty and Earl, who had just finished securing the two prisoners.
“Sure,” Zane said with a shrug after peering at Deuce for a quiet moment. “You’d probably get the nose straighter than I would.” He turned to look over at Ty and Earl. “What about them?”
Deuce watched his father and brother for a moment. “What’s wrong with them, I can’t fix,” he finally claimed quietly. He dropped his pack from his shoulders and turned to limp toward a folding card table nearby.
Zane let out a long breath. After a good look around from where he stood, he went digging in one of the tents and came up with a first aid kit. At least the ass**les were well-provisioned. He carried it out to the table where Deuce sat, letting the other man open it and survey the contents as Zane watched Ty and Earl going through the other tents.
“Earl’s favoring his ribs,” Zane observed.
“I’ll wrap them,” Deuce assured him. “If he lets me,” he tacked on with a long-suffering sigh. He glanced up as Ty neared them, carrying a radio.
“Dad’s got a broke rib,” Ty informed them.
Deuce looked at Zane and smirked, but he nodded in response and looked up at his brother carefully. It was the first time Zane had ever seen a hint of true wariness in Deuce’s eyes when looking at his brother. But Zane was too tired to pu**yfoot around his partner, especially when it came to trying to take care of him. “What about your ribs?” he asked bluntly. “You took quite a beating.”
“I’m fine,” Ty replied immediately. He looked over Zane’s face critically. “You’re not,” he observed. “Is it broken?” he asked with a frown as he reached out to brush his fingertips across Zane’s bruised cheek.
Zane shied away from him and hissed at him. “The nose is. Deuce is gonna set it,” he confirmed. “Not sure about the cheek. Hurts like hell, but it doesn’t feel like anything’s moving around that shouldn’t be.”
“Don’t poke it,” Deuce told Ty sternly as he rummaged through the first aid kit.
“I wasn’t going to,” Ty told him defensively. He placed the radio on the table and looked at Zane again.
“Need some help?” Zane asked, trying to keep his voice calm.
“I know how to work a radio, Garrett. You worry about your broke face,” Ty advised in annoyance.