Page 31 of Tack’s Bounty

“It wasn’t me. I left the gas can over in the barn to melt, but the bikers caught the fire too soon,” Rufus whined in his nasally voice that made Sophia want to throw up.

“Well, if you’d done your job while you were married to her, then we wouldn’t be in this predicament,” Jolene countered.

“Really? You’re going to blame me? You’re the one who screwed up when her parents wouldn’t let you buy the land. I was brought in to clean up your mess. He wants results soon,” Rufus warned.

Ruthy turned back and motioned to Shield. “Grab him and tie him up in another room. We’ll take care of her,” Ruthy insisted so softly that Sophia had to strain to hear her. Shield nodded and passed Ruthy to walk in first, pulling something from his pocket. Ruthy had pulled something out too. If Sophia hadn’t seen it, she wouldn’t believe it.

Before Jolene or Rufus even knew they were in the room, Shield and Ruthy had slipped bags over their heads, yanking them back and pushing them to their stomachs on the floor. Zip ties were on their hands, and Shield was shoving Rufus in front of him out of the room. Jolene was wiggling and cussing at Ruthy, saying that they better let her go because she was someone important. Once she had zip ties on Jolene’s hands and feet, Ruthy motioned Sophia to help her move Jolene to the bed.

Tossing her on her back, Ruthy pulled off the bag and stared at her.

“You better let me go or you’ll be sorry,” Jolene threatened.

Ruthy pulled a huge knife out of her pants, which made Sophia wonder where she’d been hiding it. She walked close to Jolene, leaning over her.

“You’ll be sorry if you don’t tell me why you’re keeping an eye on the house across the street,” Ruthy whispered menacingly.

Jolene spit at Ruthy. “You don’t scare me. You better leave me alone or he’ll come for you.”

Ruthy placed one knee on the bed by Jolene’s hip. “I don’t know who he is, but you’d have to be around to tell someone I was here. Did you think you were leaving this room alive?” Ruthy asked.

Sophia shuddered a little at Ruthy’s tone. If Jolene wasn’t scared, then she was an idiot.

“You’re bluffing. You don’t have it in you to kill someone,” Jolene bragged.

“Oh, you mean like you. You killed the couple across the street, didn’t you?” Ruthy asked.

Jolene glared at Ruthy. “You can’t prove anything.”

Sophia gasped. She’d never considered that Jolene was behind her parents’ accident.

“I’m going to need to know why you want the property across the street and who you’re working for. Last chance,” Ruthy threatened, leaning her knife close and sliding the blade down Jolene’s arm—not breaking the skin, but the threat was there.

“You’ll have to kill me,” Jolene vowed.

“So be it,” Ruthy shot back, pulling a syringe from her pocket, grabbing Jolene’s arm to inject her. Sophia stared, wondering how the heck she’d ended up here as she watched Jolene’s eyes slip closed.

“She’s not dead. I just knocked her out. I think the boys need to have a chat with her. Are you okay?” Ruthy asked, sliding her arm around Sophia.

“I ate dinner and fixed meals for the woman who killed my parents. How could I do that, and why did she kill my parents?” Sophia wondered.

Ruthy led her out of the room. “I’m not sure, but we’ll figure it out. I drugged her because I figure it’s better for her and Rufus to be guests of the Saint’s Outlaws MC until we figure out what they are doing and who they are working for. I want you safe. If he’ll try to burn a barn, what’s to stop him from setting the house on fire?” Ruth urged, pausing outside the room Shield was in with Rufus.

Sophia had always thought she was a law-abiding citizen, but if it was up to the law, Jolene might actually succeed in killing her. She didn’t have any qualms about the Saint’s Outlaws MC taking them somewhere for them to be detained.

Footsteps pounded up the steps.

“What the heck is going on here?” Tack shouted.

“Just a little reconnaissance. We have two packages that need to be detained and interviewed,” Ruthy replied.

Sophia hadn’t seen that look on Tack’s face before, but if she had to describe it, he looked like those cartoon characters where their jaw dropped to the ground. He looked toward the floor, rubbing his temple.

“And you thought it was a good idea to bring Sophia with you, why?” Tack asked.

“She’s part of the family, and I wanted some bonding time with her. Plus, she had some anger she wanted to work out, though I don’t really think me threatening Jolene actually let her expend any. Sweetie, do you want to beat on Rufus a little bit before he’s transported? I have some brass knuckles in my bag. That might be fun,” Ruthy offered.

Sophia chuckled, trying to frame the right words to reply to Ruthy’s offer. “You know, I think I’m good, but I appreciate the offer. I’ll keep it in mind for later.”