Sticks & Stones

Suddenly, two men moved through the overgrown foliage to his right. Ty could just barely see them out of the corner of his eye. They were both dressed in heavy, camouflage Carhartt jackets. The bigger of the two wore a hunting cap with earflaps, which were pinned up so they made him look a little like a moose in the woods. They both carried shotguns slung over their forearms and held in the crooks of their arms. Earflaps gave a low whistle 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.



Both men looked skyward, as if expecting to see a body in the trees. Ty caught himself almost rolling 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 mentally cursed himself. He should have been more thorough with his camouflage. He should have known whoever was up here wouldn’t be green city folks. He’d underestimated their opponent already, and he damn well knew better.



“Looks like he just got 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 thumb over his shoulder. “No way he made it out without being hurt, and he’s four days’ hike from help. Mountain’ll kill him before we have to. Let’s get back.”



The bigger man nodded, and they both turned to slink back into the woods. They moved quietly, and Ty was impressed. They were speaking louder now, though, no longer worried about being overheard.



“Radio back, let him know,” Earflaps ordered. “He’s all tetchy about people gettin’ to his damn treasure before we do, he’ll probably go nuts if he don’t hear from us soon.”



Swizzlestick nodded and stopped moving again. He reached for a small radio at his hip. He pushed the button and called, but got nothing but static in response. He sighed in annoyance and waved the radio. “Still don’t work. Must be a tower washed out somewheres.”



“Let’s get goin’, then,” Earflaps said with a grunt. They pushed through the thick underbrush and disappeared into the forest once more.



Ty waited until he could no longer hear their progress. Then he waited some more.



ZANE lay still, breathing steady and low, eyes flickering about as he waited. More often than not, they moved to look about twenty feet to his right, where he knew Earl Grady was hidden. Zane gritted his teeth and forced himself to relax.



If he thought 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 knew without 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 more, done something, but once Ty had quietly agreed with Earl, Zane simply couldn’t contradict him.



And so Zane lay there, stewing, waiting for Ty to come back from a pointless recon to see who might have set that stupid trap. And while Zane thought Earl’s plan to protect innocent hikers was a lovely, shiny idea, it was also naïve and dangerous.



Zane’s fingers dug 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 camouflage.



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



“This is trouble,” Ty told him as he glanced around in the general directions of his brother and father. “They’re carrying shotguns. Talked about following and killing. And there’s another one somewhere.”



“All we’ve got is your Smith & Wesson and my Glock, unless there are more guns 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 from John’s story?”



Ty shrugged and met his eyes. “I don’t know,” he muttered. “That’s what they said. But I’m getting really fucking tired of hearing about treasure.”



Earl and Deuce slowly separating from the foliage drew Zane’s attention. “I don’t like this, Ty,” Zane said quietly, meeting 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 them everything he’d seen and heard, down to what each man had been wearing and 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 and men willing to kill us. Who cares what they want?”



“It matters ’cause money is a hell of reason to kill,” Earl answered thoughtfully.



“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 matters what they think. And if they think they’re gonna get rich up here, then it’s trouble.”



“All the more reason to get out of here,” Zane said firmly, “before we get in trouble. We can’t do much to stop them if we’re dead.”



“So we don’t get dead,” Earl said to him firmly.



“Swizzlestick did say we were four days’ hike from help,” Ty muttered, still fussing with the dirt on his face. “Either we walked 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 time warp,” Deuce said thoughtfully.



“Would make the retelling more interesting at the water cooler,” Ty agreed in all seriousness.



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



“I’m just saying, they might’ve known I was there,” Ty answered.



“Don’t you think they’d have just shot you instead of playing mind games?” Earl countered.



Ty remained conspicuously quiet, his head down and staring at the ground devotedly. Zane felt his chest tighten as he looked at his partner. He’d never seen Ty back down from an argument when he thought he had a case to make. Anger bloomed again in Zane’s chest and he turned on Earl to speak, but the older man beat him to it.



“We need to track them down,” Earl decided. “Shut down whatever they got going and deliver them to the rangers to take care of.”



“Is that all?” Ty asked drolly.



“Dad,” Deuce started uncertainly.



“I will not have people gettin’ killed in these mountains!” Earl snapped stubbornly. Deuce and Ty both looked at him oddly, obviously surprised by the vehemence. “Those men think they’re safe up here, not being careful,” Earl went on. “All the noise they was making, they’re not trying to hide sign.”



Ty looked at him doubtfully but remained silent, refraining from reiterating his opinion from a few moments ago.



“If they’re setting more traps like this around, we may be the ones getting killed,” Zane argued.



“Son, if you want to head on back and bring in the cavalry, you do it,” Earl said with a look at Zane. His voice was calm and cold, and it raised Zane’s hackles. “That goes for you too,” Earl said as he gestured at Ty and Deuce. “But the next goddamn word I hear that ain’t helpful is gonna be met with violence, that clear?”



Deuce didn’t even look up; Ty was watching Earl calmly. Zane stared at Ty, gritting his teeth, waiting on his decision. This was a truly shitty situation, but he would not leave Ty behind. Ty glanced at him and met Zane’s eyes for a moment. Zane had always detected a spark of enjoyment in Ty’s eyes before, even in the most dangerous of situations. That spark was gone now, replaced by something more sedate and sad. Resigned. Ty sighed and looked back at Earl. “If we’re going to follow them, we need to get going,” he suggested softly. “Trail’s getting cold.”



Earl continued to fix a glare on Zane for a moment longer before he turned and nodded at Ty. He handed him a clean handkerchief as he passed by him. Ty took it and looked down at it with a mumbled, “Thank you, sir.” He used it to wipe at his face as he turned and followed his father back toward the small clearing.



Zane clasped both hands behind his neck and just watched him go. He’d never seen Ty behave this way, as if someone had just taken all the spirit and fight in him and crushed it to dust. It was acutely painful to see, especially after seeing him so relaxed and carefree just a few hours ago.



Deuce stopped next to him, and they watched the other two move off. “He’s not usually like this,” he told Zane in a whisper.



“No. He’s not,” Zane agreed, fully aware that Deuce was talking about Earl and that he wasn’t.



Deuce glanced sideways at him. “Can you blame him?” he asked finally.



Zane sighed, dropping his arms and watching the rigid line of Ty’s shoulders as his partner walked away. How could Earl not see the pain coming off Ty in waves? “No,” he said quietly. “I can’t.”



Deuce shook his head and started through the thick foliage, muttering to himself as he went. After another silent curse, Zane followed.



WITH Ty on point, following the trail through the dense woods, they were making excellent time. Earl watched Ty’s back as he moved, the set of his shoulders, the somewhat jerky movements. Every time Ty glanced over his shoulder to make certain they were still on his six, Earl felt a pang of guilt. He knew what he’d said had been inexcusable and unnecessary and patently false. Ty was anything but a coward. Now, though, was not the time to apologize. It would keep until the danger had passed, he told himself.



Zane Garrett was getting on his bad side, though. The boy just didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut. Earl glanced over his own shoulder to look back at the FBI man doubtfully. He wasn’t certain why Ty didn’t just demand Richard find him a new partner. He couldn’t imagine how Zane was an asset to him.



Ty stopped and held up his fist to halt their progress. Earl slowed and watched as Ty stood with his head lowered, listening. Finally, Ty turned and looked back with a deep frown. Earl followed Ty’s eyes; Ty wasn’t looking at him. Ty was watching his partner. Zane patted Deuce’s shoulder and walked forward, passing Earl without comment and joining Ty at point.



“What’s up?” he heard Zane say quietly.



“This feels wrong,” Ty responded with a shake of his head. He lowered his head closer to Zane’s as they spoke. “A toddler could follow this trail. Why aren’t they being more careful?” he asked.



“It’s not like they’re expecting trained Recon Marines to be tromping around,” Zane said, just a touch of humor in his voice.



“But they know someone’s close,” Ty argued. “Someone who recognized that can for what it was.”



Earl watched them silently, not intruding in the conversation simply because he was so fascinated to see them actually working together.



“And you said they dismissed it,” Zane reminded Ty.



Ty looked at Zane for a long, silent moment before he lowered his head and rubbed at his eyes. “It just feels off,” he murmured as he looked around almost nervously.



Earl frowned as Deuce came to stand beside him. Ty’s behavior reminded him too much of the times he himself had seen ghosts in the shadows. An explosion like that could easily have triggered a few flashes. Earl knew something about those. He thought Ty would mention having that problem, though. His boy knew how dangerous they could become.



Zane nodded slowly as he tipped his head to one side, watching his partner. “We’ll be careful. You know what to do,” he said quietly.



Ty looked back at Zane, the frown still set on his face. But as Earl watched them, he could see a hint of calm come over his son. Earl had never seen anyone have that effect on Ty, and it truly surprised him.



Ty sighed heavily and nodded. “Just… be on your toes,” he requested of Zane before he glanced at Earl and Deuce and nodded at them.



“Everything okay?” Deuce asked carefully.



Ty shook his head in answer. “We’re gonna slow down some,” he told them before giving Zane one last look and then turning around.



Earl watched Ty for a moment and then turned his chin to observe Zane as the man watched Ty walk off. Then Zane shifted his weight and took four long strides to catch up, and he stopped Ty by saying something quietly enough Earl couldn’t quite make it out. Ty turned and responded just as quietly, reaching out in what appeared to be an unconscious gesture to fix the strap of Zane’s pack before turning around again.



Deuce moved to follow, his head down as Earl stared after them all. He couldn’t quite figure Ty and Zane out. He wouldn’t call them friends, exactly. They were always mouthing off and antagonizing each other, much like Ty and Deuce did. But when the situation became tense, their relationship changed. The closest thing he could compare it to was him and Mara.