Page 7 of Tack’s Bounty

Tack and Shield stared at her, eyes wide.

“Did I say that out loud again?” she wondered.

They both nodded. Then Shield patted Tack’s shoulder. “Brother, this is going to be interesting,” he pointed out, walking around Tack to get a mug of coffee.

“Good Morning! Good Morning, hot motorcycle men,” Freedom chirped, walking in and opening the refrigerator.

Sophia was thankful for Freedom’s interruption.

“I’m going to take a quick shower and be back in a second,” she declared, running off to her room.

She was mortified. She hadn’t narrated her thoughts in years. Rufus had broken her of that habit because he’d pinched her lip every time she did it. She had no idea why suddenly this morning she’d started doing it again.

She slipped her clothes off, turning the shower to hot to wash her embarrassment away. How long was it acceptable to hide in the shower?

Tack stared at where Sophia had vanished to her room. If he’d been attracted to her yesterday, today had increased it a thousand-fold. Listening to her verbalize her internal thoughts and spending time in her presence had him understanding what his Vice President and President had meant about when you finally meet your one, you’ll know.

Sophia had him standing in her kitchen wondering how fast he could get his cut on her back and his ring on her finger.

“Why are you two acting weird?” Freedom asked.

Shield started to open his mouth, but when Tack glared at him, he closed it.

“It’s early. I think I need more coffee,” Tack stated, walking back toward the coffee pot.

Freedom chuckled, shaking her head. “Yeah, let’s call it that. It’s totally not about what I heard as I walked down the hall that has your dick hard in your jeans.”

Tack stared at Freedom. “Fucking hell,” Tack grumbled.

Shield’s laughter and high-fiving Freedom didn’t make his need for Sophia go away.

Lake walked in, going straight to the coffee pot. “What’s so funny and what am I missing?”

“Nothing,” Tack grunted, taking his coffee and heading outside. Going out the back door, he stared around the property, specifically at where he’d run and lost the guy. He wondered if there was something the person might have left that he might see in the light of day. Without thinking about anything but finding out more about the person, Tack set off at a brisk pace, going through the small gate that kept the farm animals from being able to reach the driveway and the land on the other side of it. He slowed down when he got to the large stand of trees, scrutinizing the ground for anything out of the ordinary.

The ground was a little muddy in the trees from the rain they’d had last week. He paused when he saw a couple depressions in the ground and four candy wrappers that looked out of place.

He pulled out his phone, ringing Shield.

“Yeah,” he answered.

“Grab a plastic bag and some plastic gloves from Sophia’s office. Bring them over to the stand of trees where I chased the guy to last night. I want to collect some items without getting any prints on them,” Tack directed.

“Got it,” Shield agreed.

Tack looked around the area to see if there was anything else that struck him as not belonging. He turned all the way around, then stood behind where the depressions and candy wrappers were. He faced the house, and his heart stuttered. This spot gave a perfect view of the big kitchen window over the sink that had light shining through it. The window had one of those half-gauzy curtains over the bottom half, but through the top half, anyone would be able to see into the kitchen and identify who was there. They’d also be able to see when the lights went off for the night.

Tack didn’t have a good feeling about whoever was doing this to Sophia, and he definitely didn’t want to have to go on shift today and leave her. Sure, he could leave a brother to watch over the farm, but Tack wanted to be the one to take care of her.

Chapter Five

Sophia had opened the clinic, but her appointment wasn’t due for ten minutes. Lake would have already fed the animals and let them into their areas, but this morning, Sophia could use a nudge from Pudding. He might be an asshole to men, but he was a sweetie to women. He’d rub his head against her hip and let her pet his forehead and neck, which soothed her.

Taking her coffee outside, she spotted Shield standing under one of the trees, scrutinizing the house, not having any idea Pudding was running toward him.

“Shield, you need to hurry. Pudding’s heading your way. He’s a little obnoxious sometimes,” she yelled, motioning for him to hurry.

“I’m good with animals,” he called back, turning toward the donkey. “Who’s a good boy?” followed quickly by, “Motherfucker!” when Pudding headbutted Shield’s crotch. Shield grabbed his junk, dropping to his knees.