Page 32 of Hard Rain
Whip twisted Stiner’s arms behind his back, cuffed him, then shoved him against the SUV hard enough to rattle the door.
Axel finally got a good look at Stiner. The asshole looked like absolute shit after his stint upstate.
“I told you before, Stiner. Keep your hands to yourself.”
Whip kept him pinned against the SUV.
“Now you’re looking at assaulting a federal officer.”
“Fuck you, Tauber!” Stiner snarled through bloody teeth. “You got no right. She’s my wife.”
“Ex-wife now, from what I hear,” Axel said, gesturing with the Ruger toward the guy frozen beneath the barrel. “You wanna leave or join him?”
“No, sir,” the man gulped, staring hard at the badge hanging around Axel’s neck.
“Then collect your buddy and get the fuck out of here.”
Axel stepped back just enough to let him move and removed his boot from the guy on the ground.
The man grabbed his groggy friend from the concrete and hauled him away just as flashing blue lights exploded across the parking lot.
Two sheriff’s cruisers tore into the gas station lot.
Tires hissed through standing water.
The two men barely made it ten feet before deputies swarmed them.
Axel shrugged once. “Oh well. Gave ’em a chance.”
He crossed back toward the SUV and hauled Stiner away from Whip by the front of his soaked jacket.
“You have to be one of the stupidest motherfuckers alive,” Axel snapped. “What exactly did you think this was gonna accomplish?”
“Fuck you too, Bain!”
Two deputies walked over through the rain.
“Whip,” one greeted.
“Chase.” Whip nodded once and jerked his chin toward Stiner. “Assaulting a federal officer.”
“Jesus Christ, Stiner,” Chase muttered. “I told you to keep your nose clean.”
“Yeah,” Stiner spat.
The second deputy stepped in and hauled him away from Axel before things escalated again.
“How long you boys in town?” Chase asked, stepping closer to Whip beneath the rain.
“He’s not staying long,” Axel growled, edging closer.
Not quite stepping between them.
Close enough to be in the way, though.
That’d do.
Whip elbowed him lightly in the ribs. He grunted and crossed his arms, not budging.
