Page 57 of Talon
“You’re right,” Talon said, “We can’t forget his legs.”He turned back to Morgan and swept his legs out from under him, watching with more than a little glee as the man fell hard on his ass, then because of his bound arms, was unable to stop himself from falling backwards until he lay on the ground.
Morgan grunted then there was a string of muffled something that was probably curses or threats, Talon didn’t really care which, or if it was something else all together.Instead, he kicked Morgan’s feet together then stood astride his thighs so he couldn’t kick them open again, and bent and wrapped the tape several times around his ankles.
When he was done, Talon stood back up and stepped over Morgan, possibly accidentally kicking him in the ribs as he did.
“Now that he’s bound, how are we going to get him back to the ranch for pickup?”Heather asked, rolling her eyes.She’d obviously seen the not so subtle kick to Morgan’s ribs.
“We could drag him behind one of the bikes,” Malice suggested, an amused light in his eye, and experience with the other man, told Talon he was only half joking.
A gasp from Heather’s direction told Talon that she’d heard his suggestion and the idea horrified her.Not that Talon would do it.But he did like imagining it.
In the end, Talon ended up using bungee cords to secure him curled around the first aid kit already mounted to the back of his four-wheeler.It would be easier if he’d brought one of the trailers.He hadn’t been thinking about bringing Morgan back, but rather that he didn’t want to bounce Kerry around like that on the way back.He didn’t mind bouncing Morgan around nearly as much.It wasn’t going to be the most comfortable way to ride, at least not for Morgan, but Talon didn’t give a shit.after loading him.I al on, Heather.Ghost & Malice headed back to the barns.
40
AfterLurchandKerryarrived at the main house, Madison fussed over her for a bit, making sure she was all right, and trying to find out what had happened.Other than being a little battered and bruised, Kerry seemed fine.But no one would tell her who had taken Kerry or why.All Lurch would say was that they were all safe now.
Did that mean what she was afraid it did?Had Billy done this?
What had he been thinking?
How had he known where she was?So many questions raced through her mind.
"Are they coming back here?”she asked.
"Back to the barn, not here," Lurch said.distracted.His attention was on Kerry not Madison.and understandably.
Seeing this, Madison stopped asking questions.She did what she could to make sure they had everything they needed, and when she saw that Bonnie had everything handled, she slipped out the front door and down to the barns.
There was no one around when she got there.Looking around she saw there were several vehicles missing from the neatly arranged four-wheelers and dirt bikes.She'd passed one as she'd left the main house and assumed it was what Lurch had brought Kerry back with.
As she was looking around and wondering how long she had until someone realized she was gone, She noticed a high pitched buzzing noise.She listened closer, tilting her head to get a better idea where it was coming from.After a moment she realized it was not one, but several small engines like the ones on the ATVs and dirt bikes, approaching.
She stepped outside and looked down the road but saw nothing.The sound kept getting louder and closer.She looked around but saw nothing.After a moment more, it dawned on her that they must be on the far side of the large barn and made her way around the building.
As soon as she rounded the corner of the barn and had a clear view to the south, she could see three dirt bikes and a four-wheeler headed almost straight for her, though they were probably still at least a half mile away, if not more.She watched as they approached and soon realized there was something on the back of the four-wheeler but couldn’t tell what it was, even as it got closer.It appeared to be a large toolbox, but she couldn’t figure out why it might be there.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to go back around to the open space where they’d had the fire the night before and sit down.Lurch had said it was safe, but even if he’d been wrong, she still had her pistol, just in case.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust him.Well, maybe she didn’t trust him quite as much as she trusted Talon, but she hadn’t known him as long.Plus, Lurch was distracted trying to take care of Kerry.Why would he have as much attention on her and what she was doing?
The sound told Madison they were close, when something changed.She wasn’t sure why, but the pitch of the engines changed.She was half-way to her feet when a hand hit her shoulder, startling her enough that she let out a small scream before she was able to bite off the sound.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
She twisted around to see it was Jake behind her.
“Getting up to go see Talon.”
“I know you heard Lurch tell us this morning that no one goes anywhere alone.If you’d said something, I would have come with you.”A scowl marred his brow as he released her shoulder and folded his arms across his chest.
“You were busy, and Lurch said it was safe.I asked twice to be sure.”
Jake closed his eyes and took a deep breath.Madison didn’t know if he was trying to control his temper or hold back something he wanted to say, but wouldn’t for some reason.Either way, she was determined she hadn’t done anything wrong, so he had no reason to be upset with her.
She turned to go back around the building as a single dirt bike came around the corner of the building and pulled to a stop in front of the open door.With a helmet on, it might have been difficult to know who it was, except the rider was clearly a woman, so it had to be Heather.Heather swung one leg over the bike then did something before walking it into the barn.
Madison shot Jake a glance and found he was no longer glaring at her but was watching Heather too.Instead of waiting to see what he had to say, if anything, she went to the barn, arriving in time to watch as Heather pulled off her helmet, shook her hair loose then hung the helmet on the wall with the others.
