Chapter 74

74

Meyra was probably going to live happily ever after with the seriously hot, rich dude who seriously adored her. Dylan liked the sound of that. Brandt was one of those guys who was special. Who just meant something. Meyra deserved someone like that.

Brandt and Meyra went back in. Her respect for her cousin and how strong Meyra actually was went up exponentially. There were dead guys who had intended to kill her cousin and the man Meyra loved in there. Dylan didn't know if she could have been as brave.

She was standing in the parking lot at the rear of her most recent "borrowed" truck when she saw it.

She bit back a scream.

The white van spun to a stop right in front of her.

The driver's door opened.

A tall, broad-shouldered man who resembled every Tyler she'd ever met stepped out. But she knew with one look this one wasn't up to good.

She was trapped, the big navy truck behind her. His van in front of her. If he wanted, he could lift her right off her feet and throw her into that van just like he had that man before—not to mention like he had Meyra. And drive off with her forever.

"You're Bruce Tyler," Dylan said. When in doubt, Dylan would talk. Possibly a fatal flaw there. "Fletcher's uncle."

They seriously even looked alike and everything. This guy was just like fifteen years older and had much darker hair.

"Yes, so I've heard. And you?" He was studying her, giving her a weird look that told her he liked what he saw.

"Dylan. Talley. I'm a Talley."

"Gerald or Arthur?"

"Arthur. The really annoying one." She just stood there, shivering like an idiot.

"Imagine that. You stole that truck, enjoy it?"

"Borrowed it. Rescue mission." He sounded just like his nephew Fletcher. He looked like Fletcher and Ben, but with dark reddish-brown hair like superhot guy Martin. Only he was older, at least in his early forties, and carried a few more pounds than he should.

And he just looked wrong. That was what it was. There was a look in his Tyler blue eyes that just gave her the willies in every way. Something broken and dark and that could give a woman nightmares.

"Everyone inside doing okay?"

"I…guess." Two guys inside were wounded, two were dead, and Brandt and Meyra had been abducted. How okay did he think it was going to be?

He walked around the van, to the rear door. And opened it. Like it was just any other day, a walk in the park even. Like there hadn't been people murdered there today.

Dylan fought the urge to pee her pants. Or to run for the hills. Not that she could, his van rather blocked her exit. And besides…she couldn't leave Meyra and Brandt behind. She just couldn't.

He had a big, nasty gun in his hands. And he was insane. Like literally.

He could kill her at any moment. She inched toward the front of the truck. He gave her a look. She paused, hands up. "What…what are you doing here?"

"Giving Sage a bit of a wedding present. I know she's probably on her way now."

"Maybe. I don't know. I did call the cops." And was recording him on her phone, but she wasn't going to tell him that part. Right there, tucked into the top pocket of her overalls. "They'll be here at any moment, I think."

"Doubt it. County is too big and there aren't enough cops to go around. Here you go. See Sage gets it." He reached into the van and dragged a man right out.

Dylan wasn't entirely certain, but she thought she'd served him at the diner a few times before. Him and his son, who she'd thought was a contender on the hottest guy in Masterson County list. She just didn't remember his name. "Is that Judge Fisher? The guy who did this?"

"Sure is, sweet thing. Judge Fisher here and his wife are up to their eyeballs in Morris Preston's little games. She's just as soulless and evil as his honor here. Maybe even more. You see to it that Sage knows that. I'm sure she'll figure out what should happen next."

Dylan just nodded.

As he dropped the man at her feet. "You over eighteen?"

Dylan just nodded, just shivered and shivered and tried not to freak out. "Twenty-three, actually. Older than I look."

"Good. I can do this, then."

He stepped over the judge like he didn't have a care in the world, tucking his gun in the back of his pants.

Dylan squealed when hard male hands went under her arms and she was hauled literally off her feet.

She would have screamed, but there wasn't really a chance, honestly.

Not with his lips pressed to hers in the weirdest kiss she'd ever had in her life. A kiss that last far longer than it should have. She squirmed and fought, but it didn't do any good. And the man's hand had no business right there on her rear end.

Then he put her back on her feet, and smirked at her. "I have always loved small women just like you. You remind me of her, you know. See you around, sweetheart. We'll have to finish this later."

He snatched the keys to the big truck right out of her hand.

Climbed inside.

And drove away.

As Brandt and Meyra came running. "Dylan! Are you okay?"

" That was the weirdest Tyler I have ever met."

"What did he want?" Meyra asked.

"To deliver a present to Sage. Him." Dylan just pointed. At the bound and gagged man looking up at them now.

"Well, hello, Judge Fisher," Brandt said in the most dangerous voice Dylan had ever heard. "You aren't going anywhere."