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Buster’s hands came up in the surrender position. “Hold on there, Mr. Archer. We didn’t come to get into a confrontation.”
Reese started to back away slowly from the door.
“Then, why have you come?” Mr. Archer continued. “Because I don’t take kindly to strangers meddling in my business or folks intent on trespassing on my land.”
The reaction to their visit was over-the-top. Fear raced through Reese as she cleared the porch. She wouldn’t put it past the family to make up a story about the three of them after shooting them. Then again, if Tandra was here, would they want to risk being found out?
The adrenaline jolt Reese was experiencing was the equivalent of a double shot of espresso. Her heart thundered inside her rib cage as her gaze scanned every place the light touched.
“We’ll just be leaving now,” Buster said as he hopped down from the porch.
The dog could be unleashed on them. They were on Archer land. Texas would back the land owners if they were mauled, especially if the Archers claimed the trio were trespassing.
Reese was torn between getting the heck out of Dodge and probing to find out if Tandra was here.
“Get inside the pickup as fast as you can,” Darren said out of the side of his mouth. He spoke barely loud enough for her to hear.
She didn’t wait for a second invitation. Reese turned and made a beeline for the truck, not stopping to look up until she was safely inside.
“Oops,” Mr. Archer said before making a weak attempt to call his dog back.
Reese turned in time to see the dog clearing the porch in one jump. Darren hurried inside the truck and Buster followed a few seconds later.
“Did that bastard just sic his dog on us?” she asked, incredulous.
“Are those the actions of an innocent man?” Buster growled. He started the engine and backed down the lane.
On the side of the gravel lane, the headlights showed two men with weapons hiding in the shadows. They looked like the Archer boys.
“Do you see those bastards?” Reese asked, motioning toward the left. They were about twenty feet apart on the same side of the road.
“Sure do,” Darren stated, pulling out a weapon and keeping it behind the dashboard, out of view. He wasn’t taking any chances but didn’t want to instigate trouble, either. She appreciated his caution because this place seemed like a teapot on a burning hot stove ready to boil over any second. The tension in the air was thick.
“We can’t leave,” Reese said without a whole lot of conviction. Theyhadto leave but they couldn’t abandon Tandra if she was here.
“I know,” Darren said quietly. “We just need a better plan to figure out if she’s here.”
Darren issued a sharp sigh. “If Tandra is alive, she might not be for long now that we showed up, poking around.”
“Did we just issue a death sentence to a fifteen-year-old girl if she’s not already dead?” Reese asked, horrified.
Darren let out a sharp sigh. He knew she was right. Buster didn’t offer a differing opinion, either.
“It’s impossible to know for certain,” Darren finally said as they left property. “Staying here will get us killed and we are of no help to Tandra if we’re silenced.”
He made a good point, and it was along the lines of what she was thinking, too. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place.
“How about you guys drop me, and I’ll circle back?” Buster said.
“With Tyson running around?” Reese asked. “You can’t do that.”
“Plus, the others might be walking the property for a while to make sure we didn’t get any bright ideas,” Darren said.
The sheriff believing them would make this a whole lot easier. Going back on the property without permission was trespassing, and it was legal to shoot them on sight.
“What can we do?” she asked in frustration.
“We’ll think of something,” Darren reassured her. He was picking up his girls tomorrow at noon. All investigating needed to stop for him at that point.
