Page 42 of Kane's Bounty
Troth shrugged his enormous shoulders. “I picked him up after you left him wasted in Mexico. I only missed you by a few minutes. Wade was much easier to break than one would have thought of a trained agent.”
“Did you kill him?”
He shook his head. “No point in that. He’s a good source of information, even if he’s a lousy hunter.”
Banta looked toward the sun. “Time to get you two to Boston.”
Kane hated being beaten. It gave him a bad taste in his mouth, but he couldn’t get both of them away. He might be able to escape by himself, but trailing a hunter of Banta’s skill would be difficult if not impossible. If they were willing to take him along, he’d bide his time and wait for a better opportunity.
A long, black limousine pulled into the parking lot. One of the mercenaries shoved Kane in the lower back. He walked forward and played out how he would make the soldier pay for it later. In fact, he had plans for all of them. They pushed him against the car, took his weapons and cuffed him before he climbed into the backseat. By the time he was frisked and bound, Lena was already inside. He smiled briefly at her, but she didn’t return the smile.
They were both facing forward, while two men with guns drawn sat facing them.
Lena’s mind was tightly closed, which was good, but he missed her emotions flowing through his mind. His own mind could stay open while blocking Banta or any other telepath. It was part of his training to close off his thoughts while still being able to read the minds around him. He didn’t even bother with Banta, but sensed excitement from the rest of the squadron. They were very pleased to have captured not only Lena, but him as well.
* * *
Later that morning, they arrived in front of the Beacon Hill federal-style row house. Elegant brick homes lined the narrow street just past the beauty of the Boston Public Garden. Kane looked up at the three-story structure and all the windows they potentially could gain their escape through. One steep flight of steps led up to an ornate front door.
Lena had not said a word since they’d been captured and her thoughts were still blocked. He looked over and saw her fists clenched at her sides and her face tightly emotionless. This had been her home. He could only imagine what horrors she was going through as they ascended the steps to face Oscar Thorn.
An elderly butler opened the door and looked down his hawk-like nose at Lena.
“Hello, Monty. You look fine,” Lena said.
“Madam is a bit worse for wear,” the butler said in a haughty, English accent.
She smiled at his insult. “Oh Monty, it is good to see you.”
The butler bowed, but said nothing else as they were ushered through the foyer and into a doorway to the right.
He would have given anything to know what she was thinking. As a telepath, he was accustomed to knowing the feelings and emotional state of those around him. Lena was so expert at blocking psychic senses that he felt absolutely nothing from her. He ignored Banta’s steady analytical thinking. The other soldiers were useless to try to read. Their heads were filled with various degrees of anger, lust and elation.
When they drew close to the doors, Kane began to sense the rage burning within the room. Inside, the man himself gave the outward appearance of a calm, almost careless businessman. His expensive suit was impeccable in black with subtle pin-striping. He was slim and tall, with his dark hair pulled straight back off his forehead. His thin lips were tipped up in a fake smile. To Kane, it was obvious he was furious with both of them.
“Lena, my dear, I’m so happy you’re home.” Oscar Thorn came around the desk and walked to Lena. He dipped his head as if to kiss her, but she turned hers and avoided the connection.
“This is no longer my home. In fact, it never was. You made sure of that.” She ignored the soldiers crowding the study and sat down in one of the four overstuffed, leather chairs grouped together for conversation. She looked as if she had sat down in that particular chair a hundred times before and none of those occasions had been much more pleasant than the current situation.
Kane found his hatred for Oscar Thorn growing by the second.
Thorn smiled brighter, but as his outward elation increased, so did his internal rage. He turned his attention to Kane. “Mr. Lakeland, you have made it quite difficult to return my wife to me.”
“Ex-wife,” Kane corrected.
He waved off the correction. “The entire thing has made me wonder why a man such as yourself would go to so much trouble for a woman he does not even know.”
Banta pushed Kane down into another of the chairs. The handcuffs bit into his wrists when his body trapped them against the cushion.
Thorn continued speaking. “Then it occurred to me that my whore of a wife had likely fucked you in order to gain your assistance. Banta assured me that this alone would not be enough. He says you take your job quite seriously and never take bribes of any kind. He told me it was one of the reasons he wanted to tempt you onto his team. Your records show you are cold and calculating.”
He paused as if waiting for some response. Kane said nothing.
Thorn shrugged. “Then I became curious about you, Mr. Lakeland. What would make a bounty hunter help a woman of this type? I had a friend of mine run a check on you.”
Kane’s stomach tightened. His own fury was beginning to get away from him and he had to make an effort to hold his mind blocks in place. Banta’s hand gripped his shoulder painfully, letting him know his slip had not gone unnoticed.
“I learned you have a brother in the service of the government. I also found out you were offered a similar job in spite of your less spectacular skills, yet you turned it down. Why?”
