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Not well enough Crista stared straight ahead and tried to concentrate on just breathing Daas close; she could feel hi would be okay She repeated it to herself over and over again and prayed she was right

Dawg kept the van in sight froht red extended-cab pickup truck Cranston and Dane had been waiting in outside the front of the store

He eating He could feel thehis back

He had promised to keep her safe He remembered that As they drove to Johnny’s, he had pro to let hioing to be just fine

He should have known better God help hio that he couldn

’t tempt fate that damned far He should have known Johnny had an accoured out he orking with the ATF

That so was certain extended into the law enforcement community Jim had been involved with Special Forces and deep cover investigations during his time in the Arh he weren’t i someone’s blood for the ," Cranston assured him, not for the first time "We have a tracker on Alex’s vehicle as well as that purse we found in Grace’s house His tail verified he left the house by the back door dressed as Crista, and he’s driving Alex’s car We won’t lose hied to identify the car Johnny had been using to visit his buddies Alex’s car was supposed to be locked in the unattached garage behind the house he and Crista had grown up in Johnny had her house keys and the keys to that garage and to the car

"Do you knoto kill you if you do, Cranston?" Dawg asked him softly

Cranston cleared his throat uneasily "I don’t have a worry, Dawg We have it covered"

"Grace just turned off the highway and headed up a hunters’ road to the lake," Greta Dane reported She pulled up ared dot indicating the car Johnny was driving

"Natches, are you getting this?" Dawg asked over the speaker line set on his cell phone

"I have it here, Dawg," Natches said softly "He’s heading toward the old Bridgeland hunting cabin I’ll circle around and get in place Don’t worry, Bro I’ll cover her"

Dawg heard the complete uneht knot of fear begin to uncoil in his belly Natches’s loyalty was unquestioned, as was his ability with the rifle Dawg knew he kept close by

"I’ told him "Don’t take any chances, Natches I don’t care if Bedsford and Johnny both lose grayknew that tone of voice There was every chance in the world that Bedsford and Johnny would end up with a bullet in the head anyway

"Natches, you follow fucking orders," Cranston snapped out furiously as he flicked Dawg an enraged glare in the rearview mirror "We need those two alive"

The call disconnected

"Daent snarled "If those two end up dead, I’ll take it out of your hide"

"If those two end up dead, I won’t lose a single night’s sleep over it," Dawg growled in return

"Don’t fuck with me, Cranston You knew Bedsford was involved in this, and you didn’t deign to tell any of us And don’t bother denying it"

It had taken Dawg a few ether, and if he hadn’t known Cranston as well as he did, he wouldn’t have suspected it But he did know Cranston Throild card in the mix, and he was killer-cold Cranston wasn’t cold If he wasn’t driving, he would be rubbing his hands together in glee

"How did you figure out Bedsford was involved in this?"

Cranston cursed under his breath "He’s related to the dead transport driver, Private Dwayne Stockton There were cell phone calls to Bedsford in the weeks before he was killed"

"And I didn’t know this why?" Dawg had to force the words past his lips and his hand off his weapon

"Because he orking for you, and I decided to wait before inforht I was involved"

"I didn’t believe you were involved, but I had to be certain By the time I was certain, Miss Jansen was involved, and I had to decide the best way to handle it I handled it by watching your back and hers until I kneas going on"

"The van is turning off," Dane said softly "Natches has directed ouran alternate route Grace is in place, and Natches has hi directed theht of Crista in that damned van "The next road will keep us parallel to him and put us in place tocabin hadto it due to the four-wheelers often used to access it

Daiped his hand across his brow, his gaze locked on the van ahead of them until Cranston ut then

Dawg pulled his handgun fro it, he pulled the extra clips from the supply Cranston had tossed in the back, checked the it on and strapping the sides in place

God bless Layla Matcher’s heart If it hadn’t been for her standing at theand seeing Ji would have never found her