Page 1 of The Unbuttoned Ranger (Texas Heat: The Heart of a Texas Ranger #1)

The sounds of chaos unleashing was always a deafening cacophony in Sharp Creed’s opinion.

Pop. Pop. Pop.

Doors being slammed.

“ Let ’ s get out of here.”

Tires rooster tail on gravel, flinging rock all over Sharp.

He knew he was hit.

It didn ’ t look good.

The debris on the berm cut into his face but he was numb. His vision blurred. A softness washed over him, and a bright light replaced the lush pasture. He could see cattle moseying along, paying him no attention like this was just another moment in their eventful days.

“ Don’t suppose any of you are willing to use a phone and call for help?” Sharp muttered.

He couldn ’ t move. His body seemed rooted to the crumbled side of the road where he ’ d been gunned down while fixing a flat on his way to Fin ’ s Creek. His phone, radio…even his gun was all inside the truck.

Good place for them.

He managed to roll onto his back. He stared up into the clear blue sky. It could be worse, he guessed. It could be pouring rain.

Pain spread through his body. This wasn’t the ending he’d imagined—there was no gunfight, and he hadn’t even been armed when shot.

He struggled against the darkness closing in.

At thirty-eight, there was so much he’d left unfinished: marriage, kids, a post-military life he’d planned but never achieved.

As the pain faded, resistance vanished, replaced by an unexpected warmth.

He better not be pissing himself.

A man should never die in his own piss.

Another thought bombarded his weak senses. Would anyone show up to his funeral?

Who would take care of his pa?

Sharp swore if he made it out alive, he would tell his pa how much he loved him and do more to help the man who ’ d always been there for him. And he ’ d find a woman and get hitched. Yep…that was exactly what he ’ d do. His future became crystal clear on the brink of death.

He saw something on the stretch of road. A silhouette that formed into…

His ma.

He blinked. “ It ’ s been a long time, Ma.”

That was his last thought as he drifted into a sweet sleep.

I got a man down. He took a bullet. I need a chopper now.”

The frantic voice reached Sharp Creed through a haze. He heard the static of a radio, then the voice on the other end came over, “ Ruber One to Heat. Bird in flight. Over.”

Who the hell were they calling a bird for?

Sharp managed to roll his head to the side and blinked at the bright sunlight. Someone leaned over him, rubbing his knuckles in Sharp ’ s sternum.

“ You ’ re going to be okay. There you are. Wake up.”

He knew that voice.

“ Grimes?” Sharp tasted the dirt and blood that coated his parched lips.

He felt a sense of relief seeing Link Grimes.

This isn ’ t any time to get your beauty sleep.” Although Grimes smiled, Sharp could see the concern in his buddy ’ s eyes. The wounds were serious.

“ I must not be dead because it ’ s not your ugly mug I ’ d expect to see greeting me on the other side.” His throat hurt to spit the words out. His body felt like a fire had burned through his veins.

Then he remembered…

Where did his ma go?

“ You won ’ t die on my watch.” The statement came as a demand from Grimes.

“ What are you doing out here?” Sharp needed to know everything. If he was going to die, he wanted to know who ambushed him so he could come back and haunt them.

A long hesitation proceeded Grimes’ rough exhale. “ There was an ambush on Texas Heat Recon. Echo, Zane, and Hawkeye were gunned down too. The bureau is trying to piece together the events and trying to smooth things over by creating a story for the media.”

“Don’t let my pa find out about this on the news. It’ll kill him.”

“Don’t worry. No one knows about your ambush but me, at least for now. You’ve been here for a while, buddy. When I couldn’t reach you, I came searching.”

“ Are the fellows okay?” A cocktail of pain and anger coursed through Sharp. He remembered having a flat tire. Getting out to change it. A van…a white van…a man asking if Sharp needed help. Then everything muddled together.

“ No word how serious their injuries are yet. Echo was waylaid inside the office. Zane and Hawkeye were walking out of a pub when they were gunned down. I put out word to the rest of the team, then I took off after you. Appears it was a good thing I did.”

Sharp tried to move, wrestling against the penetrating discomfort now gripping him.

“ Stay put a second, Creed,” Grimes demanded.

His hand on Sharp ’ s shoulder kept him steady.

Grime ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and held the material against Sharp ’ s side.

“ Here ’ s what ’ s happening. You ’ re going to have to fight harder than you ever have before.

You ’ re going to get your ass up off this dirt road and we ’ re getting in my truck.

You ’ ve got a chopper landing in a field just outside of Fin ’ s Creek. ”

“ I don ’ t need a chopper,” Sharp mumbled, although he felt weaker. Disoriented.

“ They ’ re coming to treat you like royalty. Just like in the sandbox, right?” Grimes teased.

“ If this was the sand I ’ d get a wheelbarrow.” Sharp tried to look down at his wound but all he saw was blood. Lots of it.

“ You ready to do this?”

“ As ready as I ’ ll ever be I reckon.”

Grimes hauled Sharp to his bloody boots. At six-foot three, two-hundred fifty-pounds, and referred to as a giant, it wasn ’ t an easy task, but thankfully Grimes was built like an ox.

Sharp squinted as pain unlike anything he ’ d felt before overcame him.

“ Get your ass to the truck,” Grimes ordered in his most commanding voice.

Sharp never liked being told what to do. “ Fuck off.”

Grimes’ laugh echoed through the corn field.

Every part of Sharp hurt. He couldn ’ t see anything now because his vision blurred. Each step he took sent an invisible blade sinking into the side of his chest. “ That bastard got me good,” he moaned.

“ Who did this, Sharp? Did you see anything?”

“ White van. They wore masks. There were at least two of them, maybe more. I heard the driver’s voice. From up north.” He felt some of his grit returning. If he could get his hands on the bastards his last wish would be to rip them from limb to limb.

“ We ’ ll get ‘ em. I stake my life on it. For now, though, we need to focus on getting you stitched up, bro.”

By the time they made it fifty feet to the truck, Sharp had sweat thick on his skin like he’d just ran a marathon and blood had soaked the material pressed against his side.

Grimes practically shoved Sharp into the passenger seat and didn ’ t waste any time jumping into the driver ’ s seat and spinning tires as he slammed on the gas.

Sharp slumped against the door. Each breath he took sent a fire through his lungs.

He must have passed out the rest of the drive, because when he opened his eyes, his pa was standing over him and the chopper ’ s blades whirred loudly in the distance.

“Pa, what are you doing here?” Sharp pushed through his cracked lips.

“Grimes, son.”

“That dumbass. I didn’t want you to see me like this.”

“ Hang in there, son.” Bradley Creed stayed close as Sharp was loaded onto a stretcher. He didn ’ t like doing this to his pa. The old man had been through enough, over twenty years ago not to mention more recently.

“ I ’ ll be fine, Pa.” Sharp ’ s dry mouth made it hard to speak.

Loaded in the chopper, Sharp stared into the ceiling of the bird, feeling a wave of weakness overcome him in a way that combating it seemed insurmountable.

If he made it out on the other side alive, he swore he ’ d change…

He’d be a better man.