Free Verifiable Intelligence by Kaitlin Maitland

back left and meet me in the rear of Miss Kitty’s Saloon.”
    He wondered at first if his fuzzy mind had just fabricated that order. But her face was set and he was in no position to protest. He wasn’t even altogether certain he could create a diversion without getting himself shot again in the process.
    She nibbled her lower lip. “I need to know if you can do this for me, Jace.”
    Unable to articulate, he nodded. The nodding was worse. He felt like a bobble head doll; head too big for his body, wavering about like a free weight.
    Her lithe body was warm where she pressed it against him, bolstering his strength and helping him gain his feet. He glanced down and realized she’d used a strip of material from her loose flannel shirt to bind his shoulder. Though the gesture was touching, he could already feel his blood seeping through the wrapping.
    “I don’t want you to go, Jace,” Ryan’s voice was on the verge of a whine.
    Jace wrapped his right arm around his little brother and squeezed as mightily as he could. “You’ll be safe with Dayne. She’s too damn stubborn to let anything happen to either of you.”
    A smile twitched at the corners of her full lips. “You got a weapon?”
    “Do I ever run around without one?”
    Her mouth thinned and he saw a muscle jump in her jaw. “Just lay low until I get back to you, all right?”
    He tried not to bristle at the naked command in her voice. It wasn’t like he had any other choice, but a man had his pride. Jace hated taking orders, especially from Dayne.
    The courtyard was almost empty when he headed for the doorway. He’d half expected to see a few security personnel. Screaming was a normal occurrence in a place like this, as were adrenaline-induced hallucinations. He could hardly blame the rent-a-cops for taking their time when there were no dead bodies and no obvious crime.
    From the corner of his eye, Jace could see the telltale gleam of a weapon in the waning sunlight of the fall afternoon. Keeping his movements carefully measured, he slipped from the arcade entrance to a copse of nearby trees. Though partially hidden, he’d made certain to give the sniper a broad view of him exiting. As anticipated, the sound of a bullet scraping across tree bark before thudding ominously into the mulch at his feet was followed by a muffled rifle report.
     
     
    Dayne took hold of Ryan’s arm with one hand, and her Sig with the other. As soon as Jace exposed his profile, she took off, Ryan trailing like a rag doll. She cut a zigzag pattern around trees, between paths, up onto a park bench and over the low fence behind it.
    She couldn’t have planned a better situation. The Tommy G. Robertson railroad station was less than 35 yards away, and she could see the muted black and gold engine coming to a hissing stop at that moment.
    “When I say, we’re going to break for the train, Ryan. Got it?”
    “The train?” he wheezed, ducking behind a flowering bush.
    “I’m going to put you on. I want you to stay on until either Jace or I come and get you.”
    “But…”
    “Don’t argue with me, Ryan. Just do it.”
    His wide blue eyes opened just a fraction wider. She felt bad for him. None of it was his fault. Who could blame him for being related to Jace? It wasn’t as if he were responsible for his genetics.
    The waiting passengers were settling into their seats when she made her break. She kept expecting to hear a shot, but there was nothing. That was almost worse. What if it meant they’d already managed to down Jace?
    “Go!” Dayne growled as she hurled Ryan over the white barrier fence.
    Fortunately, the railroad attendants were too busy flirting with each other to notice one little boy climbing into the rear car before settling low into the last seat. She waited an interminable four seconds for the train to emit a massive cloud of clinging steam before chugging out of the station. Each one was agony. She kept expecting the shot, to see a bullet shatter the