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Suddenly, two ht Ty could just barely see them out of the corner of his eye They were both dressed in heavy, caer of the tore a hunting cap with earflaps, which were pinned up so they made him look a little like aover their forearave a lohistle as he peered out into the clearing at the crater the explosion had produced

"We got somebody, huh?" he whispered to his buddy, who nodded and looked around wordlessly

"No body," the smaller man observed as he chewed on what looked like a plastic swizzle stick

Bothto see a body in the trees Ty caught hi his eyes They expected someone to have been blown up into the air?

"Must have been a lucky one," Earflaps decided quietly "Got away," he murmured even as he turned his head and peered around the quiet forest

Ty closed his eyes quickly and h with his cae He should have knohoever was up here wouldn’t be green city folks He’d underestimated their opponent already, and he daot scared and ran," the thin, cruel-looking man with the swizzle stick said with a sneer Ty risked opening his eyes into slits, watching through his eyelashes as Earflaps nodded wordlessly and continued to look around suspiciously "Should we follow him?" he asked after a moment

Swizzlestick shook his head and jerked his thu hurt, and he’s four days’ hike froet back"

The bigger man nodded, and they both turned to slink back into the woods Theylouder now, though, no longer worried about being overheard

"Radio back, let hiettin’ to his dao nuts if he don’t hear froain He reached for a sot nothing but static in response He sighed in annoyance and waved the radio "Still don’t work Must be a toashed out sorunt They pushed through the thick underbrush and disappeared into the forest once ress Then he waited so steady and low, eyes flickering about as he waited More often than not, they ht, where he knew Earl Grady was hidden Zane gritted his teeth and forced hiht about what the man had said to his own son, Zane wouldn’t be able to stay still, because he’d be over there kicking some sense into him What kind of man called his own son a coward? Perhaps more specifically, what kind of man would call Ty Grady a coward? Zane kneithout a doubt that had those words come from anyone but Earl, Ty would have taken off his head

Zane closed his eyes Ty hadn’t been angry, though The hurt he’d seen streak across Ty’s face had been heartbreaking Zane knew he should have said reed with Earl, Zane si, waiting for Ty to coht have set that stupid trap And while Zane thought Earl’s plan to protect innocent hikers was a lovely, shiny idea, it was also na&iu into the dirt, and he jerked in surprise when the underbrush stood up roughly five feet in front of him

"Garrett," Ty muttered as he wiped the leaves and dirt off his face and shook off the rest of his cae

Zane squeezed his eyes closed for a second before looking at Ty "How’d it go?"

"This is trouble," Ty told hieneral directions of his brother and father "They’re carrying shotguns Talked about following and killing And there’s another one soot is your Suns I don’t know about," Zane said

Ty shook his head and wiped at his cheek again "They were talking about treasure," he said with a wrinkle of his dirty nose

Zane peered at him, incredulous "Treasure?" He pushed himself up to kneel back on his heels "Like froed and met his eyes "I don’t know," hereally fucking tired of hearing about treasure"

Earl and Deuce slowly separating froe drew Zane’s attention "I don’t like this, Ty," Zane said quietly,his partner’s eyes Ty just shook his head helplessly, and Zane curled his hands into fists, unable to hide his aggravation

"What did you see?" Earl asked once he reached their sides Ty related to the he’d seen and heard, down to what eachand the brand of boots each wore "Treasure," Earl repeated in a flat voice after he was finished Again, Ty just shrugged

"Does it really matter?" Zane asked pointedly "There are traps andto kill us Who cares what they want?"

"It matters ’cause htfully

"You really think there’s some sort of lost treasure up here?" Deuce asked doubtfully

"Don’t matter what I think," Earl pointed out "Only et rich up here, then it’s trouble"

"All the et out of here," Zane said firet in trouble We can’t do et dead," Earl said to him firmly

"Swizzlestick did say ere four days’ hike fro with the dirt on his face "Either alked through a time warp, they have no idea where the fuck they are, or they were banking on scaring anyone lost and eavesdropping"

"I vote ti reed in all seriousness

Earl was rubbing at the bridge of his nose as he listened "What’s your point, son?" he asked finally

"I’ht’ve knoas there," Ty answered