rolled, trying to catch his bearings. The world spun as he tried to figure out where he was and what exactly had happened. His eyes fell on a smashed rock beneath him, blinking at it quizzically. Absently, he pulled the stolen helmet off and looked at the dent in the back where his head had hit the rather largish rock, saving his skull.
“Always wear your helmet, kids,” he said, still dazed.
Pushing himself upright, he looked around, tossing the helmet aside. He could hear the calls of the men from the road, recognizing Gruff Man’s voice.
“He went into the woods, go get his ass before the others show up. I need to check on Rich Boy to make sure he’s alive.”
Mustache’s annoyed voice came next. “Don’t see why we had to go this far. We weren’t supposed to hurt the guy.”
“We weren’t supposed to kill him. Giving him a little toss around isn’t a big deal.”
“Unless he wasn’t buckled up.”
“Go get that idiot and leave Rich Boy to me.”
So there were more coming. Tyler didn’t know how long he would have until back up arrived, but he was sure it wouldn’t be too long. Whatever group these two worked for, they were at least organized enough to create the accident.
Tyler’s throat closed as he remembered Nate had been in that car, and alive or not, Gruff Man was going after him. Looking around, he quickly picked up a hefty branch lying across the forest floor. Mustache wasn’t exactly bothering to cover his footsteps, apparently believing Tyler was dead, unconscious, or too dazed to function. Which considering how he’d landed, Tyler knew wasn’t too unsafe an assumption.
A shame, for Mustache, that it was an incorrect one.
He waited until the man came into sight, gun held low and looking around. From behind a tree, Tyler twisted and slammed the branch into the man’s face. He could only wince as he heard another crack of bone, probably the man’s nose.
Again.
Before Mustache could do more than give a low grunt of pain, Tyler was on him. This time he didn’t hesitate, swinging the branch to catch the man alongside the head. Another grunt from Mustache and his eyes rolled up into his head.
Tyler let out a sharp breath, staring down at the unmoving man. It had happened so quickly, he’d barely had a chance to think about what he was doing. A rush of worry flooded through him as he reached down, pressing two fingers to the man’s neck. Relief followed when he felt the faint but steady pulse at his fingertips. He had knocked the man stupid, but he hadn’t killed him.
That didn’t stop him from grabbing the man’s gun, though, shoving it into the waistband of his shorts before taking the branch with him. He had landed a few feet into the trees and as he approached the road, he couldn’t help but admire that he had somehow missed every tree and large rock on the way in, save for the one the helmet had taken the blow from. Either he was the luckiest son of a bitch on the planet, or something had been looking out for him.
He could see Gruff Man through the windows of the truck, approaching the car. As much as he wished he had a plan to work with, Tyler knew there was no time. He didn’t trust Gruff Man to behave himself if he found Nate in one piece, and Tyler knew he had to move quickly.
Darting out from behind the trees, he pressed himself against the side of the truck. Knowing he was at least somewhat hidden from view, he slid along the edge of the truck toward the front.
“Looks like you were smart enough to be safe,” Gruff Man muttered from around the front of the truck. “At least they teach you about seat belts at your fancy schools.”
Tyler took a deep breath, guessing that Gruff Man was looking at the car and not paying any attention to what was going on behind him. Again, he supposed it was a smart assumption considering how Tyler had crashed. But again, he knew it wasn’t the safest of assumptions. He could only hope he was making a far safer assumption about Gruff Man’s position.
Once more, he shoved himself around the corner, took in where Gruff Man was, and advanced quickly. He made it the first few feet without any problem. Gruff Man was crouched beside the overturned car and staring into it. When his feet hit the