Free Twins of Prey by W.C. Hoffman Page A

gun drawn on two children, was never covered in his vast amount of training.
    His mind was full of mixed emotions, the rationalizing began with the fact that “They killed Aurora, but I can’t shoot a child” raced through his mind straight to his trigger finger. Still, astonished that there were two of them, he continued to not be able to focus his aim on either of them.
    “I am not going to tell you again, get on the fucking ground!” Ravizza again demanded of the twins.
    Frozen in place looking at his brother, Drake knew their only chance was to run. However, he could only hope that Tomek was thinking the same. Surveying the situation, Drake knew the bow slung over his shoulder was useless and reaching for a knife on his belt or ankle would surely get him shot. Seconds had gone by since they were first ordered to the ground but in all three of their minds it felt as if hours had passed. Then the silence broke.
    “We both know you are not going to shoot me.”
    Ravizza was immediately taken aback by Tomek’s boastful words.
    “Stay there, back up and get on the ground,” the deputy ordered as Tomek slowly walked toward him with his hands up in a non-confrontational manner. Tomek, ignoring the stern request, continued walking slowly toward the now-retreating deputy.
    Ravizza presented Tomek with one final warning. “One more step, son, and I am going to kill you.”
    Tomek responded with his own demands and a simple form of negotiation, which shocked Drake.
    “No, you are not. You are going to let my brother go and then you can do anything you want with me. But if he is not allowed to leave then one of us is going to kill you. Because we all know you cannot take us both down without killing us. And you, officer are not a killer, are you?”
    Looking at Drake directly in the eyes, Tomek then asked “Is that okay with you, Pine Slider?”
    “Pine Slider? Why did he call me Pine Slider? Is it just that he doesn’t want them to know our names or is it... ah, okay,” Drake pondered until it dawned on him and he knew Tomek’s exact reasoning for calling him the wrong name. Drake looked at his twin again with a newfound appreciation for his tactile thinking and only nodded in agreement.
    “Pine Slider? So that’s your name?”
    Drake again only nodded, but this time it was in response to his enemy’s questioning.
    “Put your knives and anything else you have on the ground and leave, Pine Slider.” Ravizza said while standing directly behind Tomek, using the boy’s body as a shield. Having seen the thrown knife that buried itself into Aurora’s chest make its impact, he was not taking any chances. He then turned his attention back to Tomek.
    Drake did as he was told and slowly backed away from his brother and the deputy until he reached a short bend in the trail, which cleared him from their sight. Running as fast as he could directly to the top of the hill he began surveying the valley as his new concern was getting ahead of the deputy who now had his twin brother in handcuffs walking swiftly toward the river. He knew that no one knew the wooded trails like he and Tomek and figured the deputy was headed toward the one thing that would lead them directly back to Pine Run, the river.
    Getting ahead of them would not be the hardest part knowing now that he was unarmed. He had to flank them, get ahead and beat them to the pine rows adjacent to the river if he had any chance at stopping the well-armed deputy that had his brother in custody.
    With the sun still high in the mid-day sky Drake knew that even at a slow pace Ravizza and Tomek would reach the pines before the shadows in the valley grew. Drake would have preferred to deal with the situation in the dark. However he was unaware of Ravizza’s unique set of nighttime sky-reading skills. If the two of them were delayed at all, the sky would not be visible through the evergreen canopy in the pines.
    Forty-plus years ago the logging industry had cleared out