They weren’t here to talk.
A black SUV rolled to a stop on the other side of my bike. Even over the stink of exhaust, I could smell the mutt from earlier today.
I should have seen this coming.
“Get behind me,” I told Tara just as the deputies shouted my name.
“What’s going on?” I called.
Inside me the beast thrashed for control.
One of the deputies drew his gun.
I put my hands in the air. “What the fuck is going on?”
“Get on the ground!”
The driver’s door to the SUV opened. Tara whimpered.
The mutt came straight for us. A gun stayed trained on Tara. No clean way out.
Not without letting the beast free.
He bucked for control.
The odds weren’t in my favor as the other deputy drew his gun.
“I said get on the fucking ground!”
I couldn’t hold back a growl. “I don’t know what Jacques is paying you, but it’s not worth your life.”
It happened fast. One deputy yanked my arm, gun pointed at my chest. The other kept his gun trained on Tara. He wassmilingat me.
“Isaac Barbeaux, you’re under arrest for the kidnapping of Tara Delaine.”
I didn’t dare move, barely breathing as cuffs were secured around one of my wrists. I needed that gun away from Tara.
As soon as he was distracted, I could—
The mutt was there, tearing Tara away from me. She screamed.
I let the beast go.
The first deputy hit the sand hard, his gun flying from his hand. The second made a strangled noise, eyes wide as he watched the muscles in my face twist.
He didn’t see the beast. Only the change in my eyes—something his mind couldn’t place.
He dropped his gun, running to his partner and heaving him off the ground.
“Get up. Get the fuck up!”
A door slammed. Tires screeched. Tara was still screaming.
I ran, chasing the red lights at the back of the SUV. The scent of burning rubber scorched my lungs.
I couldn’t catch them. Not like this.
One deputy helped the other into the car as I charged back to the beach. They both scrambled into the passenger side when they saw me return, slamming the door behind them.