Braden managed to bolt ahead of her, effectively cutting her off. The moment she paused to change direction gave Ian the chance he needed.
He took her down with a tackle. Her cry of pain hit him right in the chest. Damn it, he hadn’t wanted to hurt her.
She struggled beneath him as he tried to pry most of his weight off her.
“Get off me!” she cried.
He grabbed her wrists, careful not to squeeze too tightly as he tucked both hands into one of his and held them over her head.
“Stop fighting me,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’m trying not to hurt you here.”
“I won’t go back to that bastard,” she hissed. “You’ll have to kill me.”
Braden made a noise that sounded like a snarl. Ian yanked his head up to see Braden scowling beside him. Ian glanced back down at Katie in surprise. She thought they worked for de la Cruz. And why wouldn’t she? They both showed up at the same time and both had made a grab for her.
He eased his hold on her and backed away, determined not to terrify her any more than he already had.
“Katie, listen to me. Gabe sent us.”
Her eyes widened in shock, and all the fight went out of her in one big whoosh. She stared dumbly at him for a long second as he rose to his feet. She scooted along the ground on her behind then picked herself up as if she was prepared to flee again.
Braden stepped forward, but Ian held out a hand to stop him.
“Is he alive?” she demanded.
There was so much fear in her gaze that he couldn’t stand the thought of telling her Gabe was dead. Right now his priority had to be keeping her alive.
Braden glanced over his shoulder as the staccato of machine gun fire sounded in the distance. Then to Ian’s surprise, he strode over to Katie, hoisted her over his shoulder and took off into the brush.
Ian jogged after them just about the time Katie started to fight. But it was her pained grunt when Braden hopped over a fallen log that made him pause.
“Braden, wait, you’re hurting her,” Ian called out.
Braden stopped and swung around to stare at his brother in surprise. Ian grimaced. Whether she was hurt or not wasn’t the issue. If Braden wasn’t killing her then Ian should have just let him go. The sooner they got the hell out of here the better.
But Braden eased her off his shoulder and set her on her feet, though he gripped her arm so she couldn’t take off. Her pale, shaken face and her short gasps of breath made it obvious that she was indeed in a lot of pain.
Braden cursed and touched her cheek with one hand. “I’m sorry, Katie. But we’ve got to get the hell out of here. Now. We can’t fuck around waiting for you to decide if you can trust us. It’s either your buddy de la Cruz or us. I need you to decide so we can escape without an ass full of lead.”
There was a brief flash of uncertainty in her wide eyes as she studied Braden first and then Ian. She glanced back toward the house, and her expression hardened.
“If you betray me, I’ll kill you,” she said in a voice that sent chills down Ian’s spine.
Funny thing was, he absolutely believed her.
“You can certainly try,” Ian said as he moved toward her again.
He took her arm and turned her in the direction of the SUV. Braden took her other arm and they hustled her up the incline. By the time they reached the SUV, Katie was stumbling to keep up. As he glanced down at her bare feet, he cursed to see one was bleeding. He hadn’t even considered her feet. He’d told Braden to put her down because she was in pain, and he had no idea the extent of her injuries, but in his boneheadedness he hadn’t considered the fact she’d been running through the woods with no shoes.
He reached for her, sweeping her into his arms as he walked the remaining distance to the truck. Her face went pale, and sweat beaded her forehead.
He stalked over to the SUV and sat her on top of the hood. Before she could utter a sound, he yanked at her T-shirt, baring her ribcage and breasts to his view.
“Hey!” she shouted as she took a swing at him. She shoved furiously at the shirt, but he held tight.
“What the hell did he do to you?” Ian growled.
Her full, pink-tipped breasts bounced slightly as she struggled to cover herself, but Ian’s gaze was drawn to the dark bruises that marred her belly. He put his hands over her ribs, checking for breakage.
Beside him, Braden muttered a dark obscenity as he stared at her chest.
Her hands trembled as she gripped the T-shirt, trying to pull it away from Ian.
“Can we just get out of here?” she asked in a shaky voice.
Ian gently arranged her T-shirt back over her stomach then plucked her off the hood of the truck. He carried her around to the passenger side and deposited her into the backseat.
“Stay down,” he ordered.
To his surprise, she complied, lying on the seat as Braden slid into the front seat.
Ian hurried around to the driver’s side and got in. He shoved his gun at Braden. Seconds later, he peeled out down the rugged path they’d taken to the ridge overlooking de la Cruz’s house.
As soon as he pulled onto the divide road, they were nearly run over by two black SUVs. He careened sharply to the left to avoid being hit and then stomped on the accelerator, fishtailing in the loose dirt.
“Holy fuck,” Braden spit out as he almost landed in Ian’s lap. Then he hit the deck when a barrage of bullets pelted the passenger door.
“What the hell did you do to piss him off so bad, sweetheart?” Braden called back to Katie.
“I’m breathing,” she muttered.
“Not for long if I can’t shake these assholes,” Ian said grimly. “Anytime you want to take some heat off us would be nice, little brother.”
Braden cracked a grin. “Well, you do always say I’m too quick to start shooting shit. Figured I’d show some restraint.”
“Restraint, my ass. Now ain’t the time for it. Shoot the fuckers.”
Braden laughed, and Ian shook his head. How on earth he could always crack jokes in high-pressure situations was beyond Ian, but he was used to it by now. It used to drive Gabe up the wall, while Eli just chuckled and went on.
Braden cracked the window, angled his rifle and squeezed off several rounds. Ian checked his rearview mirror to see one of the SUVs hit the ditch. The bad news, however, was that two more had joined the chase.
“Son of a bitch,” Ian swore.
“I’d say the airport is out,” Braden said as he steadied himself for another shot. “We’re going away from Delta, and it’s not like they’re going to let us on a plane to calmly fly out of there.”
“Aren’t you the observant one,” Ian said snidely.
“Can we dispense with the adolescent bickering and get the fuck down the road?” Katie bit out.
“Aah, I’d almost forgotten about her,” Braden said cheerfully as he took out another SUV.
“We’re saving your sweet ass, so I don’t want to hear any bitching,” Ian said in a tight voice.
She snorted. Actually snorted.
“Would you like me to let you out so you can hitch a ride with your buddies back there?” Ian asked.
Braden arched an eyebrow as he glanced sideways at Ian. Ian ignored him.
“Don’t expect me on my knees with gratitude. I don’t know who the hell you are, only that you’ve chased me all over St. Louis, you drugged me, tied me to you in my bed and stole my cash. Now you show up here in Colorado and tell me Gabe sent you. That’s the only reason why I didn’t take your goddamn heads off back there.”
Ian laughed. He couldn’t help himself. “You talk big for such a little woman.”
He heard her hiss of anger and smiled even bigger, and all the while, Braden was looking at him like he’d lost his mind.