Page 51 of Talon
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Madisonwokeearlyagain.Beside her, Talon snored lightly, making her smile.Remembering his words the day before about trying to sleep while the bed shook, she eased out of bed, careful not to disturb him, pulled on some clothes and headed for the kitchen.She needed coffee and wanted to see if Kerry needed any help.
Padding barefoot into the kitchen, she frowned to find it dark.Was it earlier than she’d thought?Madison checked the clock and found that no, from what Kerry had told her the day before.She should have been here over half an hour ago.She should call her and check on her, but she didn’t have Kerry's number or Lurch’s.She could grab shoes and go looking for her, Talon had shown her where their house was yesterday.But what if the delay was that she'd encountered some kind of predator?
Madison shook her head, she couldn’t think that way, but she could be prepared.Heading back to the bedroom, she did her best to move silently so as not to wake Talon as she stepped into her shoes and grabbed her pistol from the nightstand.Almost as an afterthought, she picked up her phone.She could use it as a flashlight and if necessary, call for help.
She was almost out the door when Talon stirred.
“What’s up, Mads?”
“Kerry’s not here.I’m going to go look for her now.”
“Why not just call Lurch?”he asked, his voice still sleepy.
“I don’t have his number.You call and I’ll go look.I’ve got my phone if you learn anything.”She didn’t wait for him to reply, but closed the door, not bothering to try to be quiet now that he was awake and headed for the kitchen and the back door she knew Kerry preferred to use.
She stepped out the door, and the motion sensor light mounted near the roof came to life, letting her know nothing had moved out here in however long that thing took to turn itself off.She scanned the area first.What she could see was limited to the glow of the light overhead.She saw nothing to indicate anything out of the ordinary, other than that neither Kerry, nor anyone else had come up to start breakfast.
She stood still for several seconds, listening.There was no sound of footsteps or even the snuffling, snorting breathing of an animal.With a frown, she stepped off the small porch and headed for the path that led to the foreman’s house.Doing her best to stay quiet so she wouldn’t draw the attention of any animals that might be out there, but also so she could hear anything approaching, whether they were on two legs or four, she made her way along the path.
She’d just spotted the house and the light on inside and was making her way closer when the silhouette of a person stepped out from behind a pickup, startling her.
Madison bit back the scream that tried to escape, instead letting out a soft squeak.She didn’t take her eyes off the shadow, but put her right hand in her pocket and gripped the pistol there.
She didn’t want to shine her light in their face, not without knowing who it was because it could temporarily blind them and if it was Lurch or one of the other men coming to help her, she didn’t want to hinder them helping her look.But she did freeze.Not moving any closer in case whoever the shadow was, wasn’t supposed to be here.
“Madison?”the voice was hushed but she recognized it as Lurch.
“Yeah,” she said.
“She left more than thirty minutes ago.I take it since you’re here you didn’t find her?”
Madison shook her head, then realized it was dark, and he likely couldn’t see her.“No.and I didn’t see anything that seemed out of place to tell me she’d even been there this morning.”
“Son of a bitch.Give me a sec.”He picked up his phone and dialed someone.“Yo.I need everyone up and moving like yesterday.I need the gate closed and someone manning it.I need everyone, but whoever’s on the gate at the main house within the next five minutes.Kerry is missing and we’ve got to find her.”
He hung up and looked at her.
“That was Jake.He’ll get the men in the bunkhouse moving and call the ones not there.Let’s head back to the main house.”He came up beside her as she turned around.He turned on the large flashlight she hadn’t noticed in his hand and kept it aimed at the ground.“Did you hear anything on the way over?”
She shook her head.“I did my best to stay quiet, just in case, but the only thing I heard was my own footsteps.”The longer Kerry was missing, the more worried she became.What was out here that could have intercepted her new friend?Nothing the other woman had said or done made Madison think she would leave on purpose.
No.She’d seemed happy here.She seemed like she enjoyed cooking for the guys and taking care of them in her own way.
They didn’t see anything on the way back to the main house that Madison hadn’t seen on the way to meet Lurch.At the house, she opened the door and stepped inside while Lurch turned and scanned the area.
In the kitchen, Madison was surprised to see that several of the men were already there, including Talon and Jake, who had his laptop open on the table.
“Tell me what we’ve got,” Lurch said from behind her as he closed the door.
“I’ve got Colt on the gate,” Jake said, “Heather called in so she can help.Ghost and Malice are on their way, Malice told Bonnie to let Hank know she won’t be in today, but not to give a reason.I had Heather do the same when she called.I didn’t want them to tip anyone off that there might be trouble out here until we figure out what’s going on and how to handle it.”Jake looked up met Lurch’s gaze where he was moving around her.
Madison glanced around the room, with this many here already and the rest coming in, they would need coffee and food.She didn’t know the ranch well enough to help with the search, but she could make sure there was fuel for them.
“Good.I want all the women here.Including Robyn.I don’t care how sick she is.I want no one alone.Everyone moves in pairs.That means we need someone at the gate with Colt, and I want someone watching the footage from the camera at the gate to see who got in here.”Lurch paced the kitchen as he gave orders.
Madison kept her mouth shut, she didn’t have anything to add anyway, but went about filling the coffee pot and starting coffee brewing then she went to the pantry and refrigerator to see what there was she could make.It might not be as organized or as well put together as Kerry could manage, but she could get the men fed and keep them moving.She listened to their plans as she moved around them, working on cooking and keeping herself busy.
