“I think so.” Bam stands with me in his arms before letting my feet drop. “What’s going on?”
“I knocked him out, or he might be dead. Not sure.” Bam slowly releases his hold on the rest of me. “There is no phone service out here, and I don’t know where your dad is.”
“He’s here?”
“We came together.” That’s sweet. They’re bonding. I want to tease him about it, but it’s so not that time.
“I heard two shots.” Now it’s me whose eyes are filling with tears.
“One was at me, but he missed.” I let out a gasp. “Not sure about the second.” Bam slings the rope that was just around my legs and hands over his shoulder.
“What’s that for?”
“We need to tie up the old man.” He hands me the gun. “Take this. You stay here while I go search for your dad.”
“I’m coming with you.” I grab the front of his shirt, fisting it. “I don’t want to use this thing.” There is no way in hell I’mleaving his side. He better get used to it because I’m about to become a stage five clinger.
He nods. “Fine. But you stay behind me, and you listen to my directions. If I tell you to run, you do it.” He grips my chin, looking straight into my eyes. “I don’t care what’s happening. You run. You got it?” I may be nodding my head in agreement, but there’s no way in hell I’ll be leaving Bam in danger. “Hold on to the gun.”
“Bam. What if something happened…” I can’t even finish my sentence without getting choked up.
“Everything is going to be okay. I promise.”
“Okay.” I believe him. Bam has never let me down, and I know he never would if it were in his control.
“Come on, rebel.” I lift my chin and put my shoulders back. He gives me a soft smile, then nods toward the door, and I go out behind him. I’d follow him anywhere.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
BAM
Mr. Patton is motionless in the dirt. I take him by his legs and drag him over to the porch. He wakes up halfway there and starts wriggling.
“Rebel, shoot this dumbass in the head if he moves anymore.”
Josie pumps the shotgun, the clink of the metal sliding over metal rings loud in the evening. Mr. Patton immediately falls still. Without the old man moving, it’s easy work for me to get his body next to the porch. Quickly, I fasten his legs to a footing and secure his hands behind his back, and we leave him lying face down in the dirt. It’s possible he could get away, but it’d be hard.
I retrieve the gun from Josie and hand her my phone. “There’s no service out here, but your dad was going to come in from the west. Maybe when we’re closer, service will pop up, and we can call him.”
“I was just getting used to the gun,” she jokingly complains but flips to her contacts and gets her dad’s number ready to dial.
“I was surprised you knew how to chamber the shell.”
“My dad taught me. You can’t have guns in the house and not have everyone know how to use them. It’s a safety issue.”
We start toward the tree line. Josie holds her phone up, swings around, curses under her breath, and then I hear a yelp. “I have a bar. Two of them!”
She presses the dial button. I try to filter out all the sounds of nature to listen for a ring. At first, all I hear is wind, chirping of birds, and some crickets, but then, to my left, there’s a mechanical human-made noise. Josie must have caught it before me because she’s running in that direction.
“Be careful,” I yell. “There may be traps.”
Josie slows up. When I reach her, she’s found a long stick which she uses to tap the ground in front of her.
“This is going too slow.”
“He’s not far off. The ring is closer.”
“Dad! Dad!” she yells.
