Stars & Stripes

“I think it’s safe to call in the local LEOs now, though,” Ty said.



“The local what?” Jamie asked.



“LEO. It’s short for law enforcement officer,” Mark answered.



“Oh.”



Zane nodded again. They had enough evidence of a crime to bring in the local authorities. Which meant Ty and Zane could head home soon. The thought excited Zane, but it also made him sad. This was the first visit home he’d truly enjoyed since he’d left for college. Ty and the truth were both powerful sources of happiness.



He glanced at Ty as his lover paced back and forth, head down, body tense, like a prize hound on a scent. Zane grinned. He wondered if Ty would be open to coming back here regularly.



They continued to snoop around, trying to glean more information before they called it in. Ty told them what he was seeing: evidence of three men going in, and six coming out, carrying a heavy load. There were small tire tracks this time, like a hand truck or cart had been used. And they were fresh, less than an hour old.



Ty bent and examined something on the ground, and when Zane came closer, he saw that Ty was holding a tranquilizer dart.



Annie shouted from where she was keeping the horses at bay. “It’s probably a mixture of azaperone and sufentanil. Or maybe carfentanil. A combination of dopamine antagonist and analgesic that would be appropriate for such large animals.”



“What’d she say?” Ty asked.



“She said don’t stick yourself with it.”



“Oh.”



Annie drew closer to look at the dart. She left the horses, their reins draped over scrub brush to keep them from wandering. “When the dart hits, there’s a steel ball that pushes forward and injects the medication. It’s collared to keep it from falling out. The barbs on that dart haven’t been replaced properly, meaning it was either yanked out or it fell out.”



“Why would that happen?” Zane asked. Ty twirled the dart between his thumb and forefinger.



“They could have hit bone with it instead of muscle. That means that the animal they were trying to sedate didn’t get nearly enough of the medication to be out.”



“I hope he eats them,” Ty growled.



Zane patted his partner’s shoulder, torn between amusement at Ty’s vehemence and worry for the animals.



Ty got up and began wandering north along the fence, away from the tracks.



“We’ve got tire tracks, clear as day. I say we follow them,” Mark called out as he examined the tracks that led south, toward the nearest roads. The poachers had obviously found a more direct path to the fence this time.



Zane nodded. He headed over to peer down at the tracks. They were so clear that even he could have followed them. They’d had a rare summer rain several days ago, making the earth just moist enough to retain the heavy impressions. He glanced up, seeking either his father or Ty for their opinions. Harrison was nodding, but Ty had wandered away from them. Annie had managed to wrangle in the other horses, but Ty’s horse was following behind him, unbeknownst to Ty, of course, or he would have been throwing a shit fit about it obscuring evidence.



Zane almost laughed as he watched the animal plod along. What was it that made Ty a target for such undying loyalty? He seemed to inspire it in everyone he dealt with, including animals he hated.



Ty was studying the ground, good hand at his mouth, the casted one stuffed into his pocket.



“Ty!” Zane called out.



Ty glanced up and turned, saw the horse standing right there behind him, and stumbled back with a surprised shout. He almost tripped over a cactus behind him, but he caught himself and bent over, holding his hand to his chest.



“Don’t do that!” he yelled at the horse. The animal whinnied happily and butted its nose against his shoulder.



The rest of them laughed, not even trying to spare Ty’s pride.



When Ty finally pushed the horse’s head away, he looked over at Zane, but then returned his attention to the ground. “I think I have cat tracks here.”



“Tiger tracks?” Annie asked.



“It sure as hell ain’t Tom and Jerry.” Ty knelt to touch the dust near his feet. “I’ve never tracked a tiger before, but this is definitely feline and not canine. Can somebody come get this stupid horse!”



“We thinking one of the tigers got away?” Harrison asked, clearly concerned. He had thousands of acres of horses, sheep, cattle, and other livestock out here, not to mention the daily busloads of greenhorns who came to ride the trails. The last thing they wanted was a large predator on the loose.



“He definitely got away. These are running strides.”



Zane smiled as he watched his partner. The confidence with which he could say that was indescribably sexy, and Zane wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was proud of Ty.



Ty’s aviators glinted in the sunlight, and his jeans and thin white Henley were soaked through with dirt and sweat. Zane wanted to tackle him to the ground and lick him all over.



“I think we follow the truck,” Mark said. “Finding the tiger doesn’t get us any closer to catching these guys.”



“Agreed,” Ty said immediately. Zane looked over in surprise. “But if the tiger’s hurt he won’t last long. There’s also the possibility he’ll be attracted to the main house and barns. To the livestock, or even one of your trail rides.”



“Ty’s right. We at least need to notify the authorities, let them know there may be an exotic on the loose,” Harrison said.



“I think we should follow the tiger,” Annie said, tossing a pleading look at Zane and Mark. “He might be hurt. You know he’s scared.”



“Annie. Honey. He’s a tiger. He’s top of the food chain.”



“We could split up,” Jamie suggested. “We’ll follow the tire tracks and see where it’s getting access to the property. Ty and Zane can track the tiger, and Annie can head back to the house and alert the animal control people.”



“Or hell, walk into the preserve and use their phone,” Zane said with a wave at the fence.



“No, no one goes anywhere alone right now. That tiger can take down a horse and rider, sure as the world,” Harrison said. “Damn, I should have kept the boys with us.”



“No, it was the right call to send them back to the house,” Ty assured him.



Harrison nodded, frowning. He glanced at Zane. “I’m sure the sanctuary people called the authorities.”



“But they won’t know the tiger is loose, and —”



“Zane,” Harrison said in a voice that stopped Zane dead in his verbal tracks. “We need a badge to follow after that truck, just in case they’re still around and we actually catch up to them. And Ty’s the only one can track that cat. He needs a vet if he’s going.”



“Wait a minute,” Mark said, voice going higher. “You want Ty and Annie to go after that tiger alone?”



Harrison nodded. His gnarled fingers rolled a cigarette as he spoke.



“Sir!”



Harrison shot a look at his son-in-law that immediately silenced him.



“I have the tranquilizer darts,” Annie said with a hopeful look at Ty.



Ty shrugged. He took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair before replacing it. Zane found himself staring again. He met Ty’s eyes, wincing as the sun flashed off his sunglasses.



“I don’t like it, but it makes the most sense,” Ty said.



They laid down a few more logistics, then separated. Zane sat high in his saddle and watched as Ty led his horse away on foot, picking up the trail of the lost tiger. He mounted a few moments later, Annie following a few feet behind him.



“He’ll take care of her, right?” Mark asked, eyes on Annie.



Zane nodded. “With his life.”



Ty estimated they rode for roughly three miles before the tiger tracks started to get too faint to see from horseback. He dismounted and continued to follow the trail for another half a mile before he lost it completely.



Annie sat and watched him pace back and forth. He was going grid by grid, trying to pick the trail up again. While he performed the methodical search, Annie told him what she knew about tigers. Like many other predators, he’d studied them back when he’d been trying to learn everything there was to know about how to kill, but he listened anyway, recognizing her rambling knowledge dump as a sign of her nerves.



She told him that a tiger could hit a top speed of thirty-five miles per hour, but could only maintain it in short bursts. If the tiger caught the drop on them, it would take down a horse before they could outrun it. If they were alert, though, and stayed away from areas of easy ambush, the horses would be able to outrun and outdistance the big cat.



The problem with that was that out here, almost everywhere was an easy ambush for a tiger.



Ty found himself glancing around every few seconds. The fact that they usually hunted at night didn’t comfort him much, nor did the fact that Barnum and Bailey were tame and used to humans. A life in the circus being petted by kids didn’t mean they weren’t still tigers with the survival instincts of wild animals. He wasn’t fooling himself into thinking they weren’t in danger.



“Have you lost him?” Annie asked after a few minutes.



“I think so, yeah,” Ty admitted. They were atop one of the odd, knobby hills that peppered the land, sun-baked and windswept. It was nearly impossible to find a sign. Hopefully, he’d pick up the trail again on the descent, but he had to find the route the tiger had taken in order to do that.



The sun beat down, searing through Ty’s shirt and reminding him of the many days he’d spent on Recon missions, wishing he were in a pool.



“It’s impressive, what you’re doing,” Annie said.



Ty shrugged and continued his careful search. “My dad taught me to track in the mountains. It’s easier there—lots of underbrush to hold sign, and the ground is usually moist enough to retain a track. I picked up more in the military, learned new terrain. The desert is tricky. Hard-packed dirt is near impossible sometimes.”



“Yeah. I wasn’t talking about the tracking. Although I am impressed,” Annie added, a smile in her voice.



Ty peered at her, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun.



“The last time I saw my brother, he was . . . not my brother. Broken. Drinking and torn apart and hopeless. No one could reach him. His eyes were dead and I just knew he would be too, soon. But here he is.”



Ty smiled, but he shook his head. “What makes you think I’m responsible?”



“I’ve never seen Zane as happy as he is right now. Even when he was with Becky. You’ve been good to him, and you’ve been good for him. And no matter what Mother or anyone else has to say about it, or what Mark says about your past, I want you to know that I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving my brother a reason to live again.”



Ty swallowed, surprised to find his throat tightening. “Well. He did the same for me.”



Annie smiled. “You’re not nearly the hard-ass you want everyone to believe.”



Ty rolled his eyes and waved at her. “Might as well get down, take a little rest. This might take me a while,” he said, voice still hoarse as he tried to stop thinking about Zane and start thinking about the tiger on the loose again.



Annie dismounted and stood beside him as he gazed out over the rolling terrain, mind churning. He glanced at Annie. “I love him very much.”



She smiled. “Good. I—”



Ty held up a hand, shushing her, and cocked his head at an odd buzzing sound in the air. He had the sense it’d been building for a while, but his conscious mind had only now taken notice. It was far off and echoing, so there was no way to tell where it was coming from. He peered out over the endless hills, and after a moment, he realized what it was.



“Engine.”



“You think it’s them?” Annie asked, looking around too.



Ty nodded. There was no way an animal control vehicle would have been dispatched this quickly, not this far out. It had to be the poachers, out looking for their escapee. Ty took a deep breath. If they came across a vehicle with three to six armed men in it, he was outgunned by a long sight. There wasn’t much he could do about it, and though they could hear the engine, it gave little warning to the vehicle’s presence because of the odd distortion of sound in the hills. It could be two miles away, or two hills away.



“The tigers liked you, Ty; try calling out for them.”



Ty hesitated, wondering if it would be imprudent to call out since they obviously weren’t alone out here. He decided it was worth the risk, though. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted the names of both tigers as loud as he could, and then stood listening to the echo fade across the hills. He strained to see movement, but there was too much real estate to cover.



He sighed and went back to his survey of the ground. He could find no trace of the tiger’s passing. It was as if the cat had mounted the hill and taken flight. It was frustrating, and not a little embarrassing after Zane had made such a fuss about his tracking skills. It also crossed his mind that they were too late. That engine may have been carrying both tigers away as they stood here.



He was on the verge of giving up when he found a divot in the earth, tiny trails where a few small pebbles had rolled from the edges of the depression. And on the lip of the innocuous circle was a tell-tale gouge. A claw.



“Got him!”



Annie came rushing over. She patted him on the back excitedly and then looked out over the land in the direction Ty was indicating. The hills made it hard to see far, and it made him uneasy that something as large and vicious as a tiger could be lurking behind the next knoll.