Craven sneered out a laugh. "Please. You have nothing on me. No proof, no evidence. Nothing. And I have sixty-two million dollars in a bank in a lovely little non-extradition country. I don't want to hurt you. I just want time to get away. For all of us to get away. I think that's very generous of me, don't you, Merks?"
"I know it was you, Chuckles," I taunted. "Are you really going to let this suit get away with telling you who you can and can't hurt? Or are you going to take me on like a man?"
"You're not a man, though, Shepherd. You're a filthy animal," Merks snarled. "I wouldn't dirty my hands with you."
"Sure. Chicken." I made clucking noises not quite beneath my breath.
Merks lunged at me, but Craven pointed at the woman. "If he tries to fight Shepherd, shoot all three of them."
"So much for honor among thieves," Andy scoffed. "How much of that sixty-two million did you see, Merks? We know you're the one who killed Darryl. Got the wrong Santa, didn't you, you moron?"
Merks looked like his head might explode any second. His face turned almost purple, and he clenched his hands into fists at his sides. "I'll get mine!"
Craven's gaze fixed on Merks, and, for the first time, he looked slightly concerned. "Enough! Shepherd, Kelly, get into the back of the truck. Merks, step back. Smith, shoot them all if they don't follow my orders."
The woman grinned, displaying truly horrible dental hygiene. "My pleasure."
I rose onto the balls of my feet, prepared to spring at him, shifting on the way.
"And start with the deputy."
Okay. I was going in the back of the truck. There was no way I'd do anything to get Andy killed. Tess would never forgive me.
I wouldn't forgive myself.
"You win, Craven," I said, sauntering toward the truck, careful to keep my body between Smith's gun and Andy. A tiger could take a bullet better than a human, especially a little human, like our lion-hearted deputy.
Andy knew what I was doing, though. "Get out of my way, Shepherd. I'm the law enforcement here. I need to protect you." He tried to shove past me, but I nudged him forward.
"Tiger," I said beneath my breath. "I'll heal. We go in the truck now, and we find a way out the second they close the doors."
I hopped up into the back of the truck, leaned down, and swung Andy up with me.
"Good choice," Craven said, smirking.
"Yeah. Good choice, losers," Merks said, laughing, just before he stepped forward and slammed the doors shut in our faces, leaving us in the dark.
"I can't believe they didn't even take our phones," Andy said. "Idiots."
"Yeah. I noticed," I said, my heart sinking into my gut. Not taking our phones meant there was no way they were leaving us alive.
Forget that. I was finding my way back to Tess.
"I'm going to shift, because I can probably claw my way out of—"
"Reinforced steel," Andy said, from where he was poking at the side of the truck. "We're screwed."
Before I could answer, somebody started the truck and jerked it into gear. Seconds later, we were rolling forward, and I remembered which way they'd parked the truck.
"Brace yourself," I shouted, but there was nothing to brace ourselves on.
There was a tremendous jolt as the front wheels of the truck flew off the ground at the side of the hole, and the undercarriage hit the dirt. Then the momentum carried us forward and the truck shot through the air and crashed nose-first into the bottom of the hole.
I shifted in mid-fall and still took a hard fall, even in tiger shape, but I was more concerned about the loudcrackAndy's body made when it hit the wall. Broken bones, for sure.
"Not his neck or back, not his neck or back, not his neck or back," I muttered, after shifting back so I had hands to check him over with.
In the dark, though, it was impossible to be sure how bad his injuries were. He was out cold, and I was afraid to move him.
