Page 142 of The Moments You Were Mine

“What the hell is going on?” Kurt’s voice was full of confusion and anger.

But it was nothing to the storm brewing in me.

“Parker, we can figure that out later. Right now, we need to make a plan,” Sweeney said. His voice was calm. Serene. The team leader he’d always been in action. I was nowhere near my SEAL self. I was a bundle of emotions that ended up with deadly consequences.

Will had died for these same reasons—emotions clouding his judgment.

I shoved my forearm deeper into the man’s throat before stepping back.

Teddy coughed, and his hands went to his throat as he sagged.

I turned my back on him and looked at Sweeney. “We’ll follow their trail from the fire road just in case they don’t go to the caves.”

“Agreed. While you and I approach from there, Cranky and Lance can head directly to the caves from the river,” Sweeney said, pulling up a map of the ranch on one of the monitors and dragging his finger along the path Fallon and I had gone with the excursion the day of the shooting.

“I’m coming,” Kurt said, heading for the gun cabinet and pulling out the rifle. He was already loading it when Teddy joined him, pulling out a shotgun.

I tore it from his hands. “No. You don’t get a weapon. And you will not be anywhere near her—ever again, if I have my say.”

“Screw you,” Teddy said, eyes full of a rage that matched my own. “She’s like a daughter to me. If you think I’d do anything to hurt her or Lauren, you’re an idiot.”

Sirens filled the air.

I didn’t have time for this. I needed to get out of here before the sheriff arrested me for taking the damn ambulance.

“Let’s go,” I said.

“Comms,” Sweeney said, stopping me with a palm to my chest.

Behind us, the doorway filled with a huffing and puffing Wylee. “What the hell, Steele?” The sheriff’s jovial Santa image dissolved into a furious demeanor that matched the mood in the room. “Why the hell would you waste my time, take me from a burning airplane and a double-murder scene to chase after you in a stolen ambulance?”

“Ike Puzo has Fallon,” I said. I pointed to the screen Lance had frozen at a still image of the sedan.

Sweeney handed me a set of comms before handing others to Cranky, Kurt, and Lance.

“You can’t head out after him without law enforcement,” Wylee said. “He’s suspected of killing two men in the tower at the airfield.”

I just raised a brow. “You want to do something?” I waved a hand at Teddy. “Keep him the fuck away from me and this rescuemission.”

Wylee glanced from me to Teddy with surprise. “Teddy?”

“It’s not what he fucking thinks,” the man snapped. “I’d never hurt her. Or Lauren. They’re my family.”

“Yeah, and Chuck here thought he was on the right side of the law too,” I growled. I eyed the kid. He said he knew the caves, but how the hell could I trust him? He’d worked with Ike once before. What if he led us into a trap?

Goddamnit.

But he had come to get help after seeing Fallon at gunpoint. It was easy to see the crush he had on her, and he’d been distraught when he’d thought she’d been hurt the day of the shooting.

I looked up at Kurt. “You know the layout of the caves?”

He wiped at his jaw. “It’s been years since I spent any time in them. Mostly as a kid. I could get you around, but Chuck here probably knows them better than any of us.”

The teen’s shoulders straightened, and he raised his chin. “I can help you, Mr. Steele. I swear, I can.”

“Fine.” I looked out the door at the fading sun—another thing in my favor. Nighttime cover was a SEAL’s friend. I turned back to Sweeney. “We got any night vision goggles here?”

He shook his head in the negative.