A man with long blond hair and scruffy beard entered with a lantern lighting his way. Zachary was on him in a flash. He slammed the wood against the man's skull and he crumpled to the ground in one big heap. The lantern luckily rolled harmlessly to the side.
"Hey!" A second man, taller and lankier entered with a gun in his hand. He was prepared for the assault and ducked. He then lunged at Zachary's feet throwing them to the ground. They grappled for possession of the gun, which Zachary managed to kick out of the man's hand. Finally, Zachary got one good swing in and knocked the kidnapper out. A third unexpected man came charging in. This time, the man had the advantage of surprise.
"Hold on right there. You ain't going nowhere. I oughta put a bullet in you now and save me the trouble of doin' it later."
Zachary held up his hands and shrugged.
“That’s better,” the man said. His lazy smile made his wide face appear homelier. “Now—”
Before he could utter another word, Gillian charged throwing herself at the man's legs. Being thrown off guard by the sudden impact, he fell forward. Zachary promptly whacked him on the head, knocking him out before he even knew what happened.
Zachary looked at Gillian, a grin slowly spreading across his face. For the moment, they forgot they were angry at each other. "You're going to have to stop saving me like that. What are people going to say?"
"Well, someone has to watch over you since death seems to be knocking at your door." One of the men groaned, drawing their attention to their situation. "What are we going to do with them?" She motioned with her thumb.
"Tie them up." He picked up the guns that were scattered on the ground, keeping one of them on him and discarding the others. He retrieved the lantern and handed it to Gillian. "I’ll stay here and guard these three, if you’ll go hunt down something we can use to tie them up
.”
Gillian headed toward the back of the barn. She barely began the search, when Molly came out of one of the stalls with rope in her mouth. She promptly dropped it at Gillian's feet.
"You're an amazing dog, Molly. Are you a guardian angel in disguise?" Molly turned her head to one side as if she was trying to understand what Gillian was saying. "Come on girl." They made their way back to Zachary.
"Here's the rope." She handed it to him and he handed her the gun.
"Make sure you don't shoot me."
"Keep testing me like you have been and I just might
.”
Zachary gave her a lopsided grin and went to work tying the kidnapper’s hands behind their backs and then tying their feet. After he was finished, he took the gun back.
"Now what?" she asked.
"We wait until one of them wakes up so I can find out the information that I need."
"Can't we just let the authorities take care of this?”
"I might be a little more persuasive
.”
Since, he knew the men wouldn't be alert for a little while, he decided he would see what supplies were available for them. He picked up the lantern and headed toward the open door. He was almost there, when Gillian called to him.
"Where are you going with the light?"
"I’ll only be a minute
.”
He was good to his word and came back with a blanket and another lantern that he had already lit. He spread the blanket out. “There,” he said as he turned to glance at her standing with her arms wrapped around her. She looked a sight with her hair all tangled, straw sticking out all over and dirt smudged on her left cheek. He had the urge to kiss her. "Hell and damnation," he said under his breath. Even in her bedraggled condition, she was enticing. He cleared his throat. "I want to check out where we are and make sure we don't have any
more surprises in store for us."
Gillian sat down and stretched her legs out in front of her. Molly circled a few times before settling down at her side. While Gillian waited, she began to puzzle over how Molly came to be with them in the first place. She wasn’t at Lotti's house. They had left her at home. Home? She realized how easily it had slipped into her mind to call the house where Zachary and Tyler lived—home.
It seemed in the short time that she had been here she’d come to feel comfortable with her life with the Creightons. She could see herself staying, which only managed to confuse her more. She wished she could call up Samantha and talk this all out. She missed their late night talks at Polly’s
, the coffee shop near her apartment with the best homemade pies and freshly brewed coffee
. She even missed Jerry. He had been a friend long before she had ever dated him. She wondered if they were worried about her. It was odd that even though she missed her old friends and her old life, she felt like she belonged here.
Molly licked her hand and she leaned over to pet her. "What am I to do if the time arrives for me to go back home, Molly?"
***
Zachary finally wandered back in, and for a moment, he just stood there and watched Gillian nuzzle close to Molly, seemingly carrying on a conversation with the mutt
.
She finally noticed him and looked up meeting his gaze with those green eyes— siren eyes. A knot rose in his throat and for a split second, he thought about turning around and running back outside. He wanted her until he ached inside, but he knew rejection would be all he would ever get from her. It was going to be one long and agonizing night. "Have any of them stirred?" he asked from his position at the doorway. Just by looking at the three men, he knew they hadn’t, but he had to start a conversation to keep his mind off her
… lips, luscious lips,
kissable lips. His eyes lingered just long enough to make him squirm. Fortunately, she seemed not to notice his discomfort. She had already turned away to glance at the unconscious men.
"Not a peep." She was happy to report. She looked at him and frowned. "Why are you hovering in the doorway? Do you plan on joining me or do you expect me to interrogate your prisoners when they wake up?" Her brows rose as she waited for him to reply.
“Your tongue is sharp enough. You might do well to interrogate.”
She rolled her eyes.
He walked toward her and into the light.
Gillian gasped. “Oh God, you do have a nasty bruise on the side of your head.”
He touched the area.
"Does your head hurt?"
Zachary sat down next to Molly using her as a barrier between them. "Just a little. Are you all right?"
"I think I’ll live." She gave him a quirky half smile.
"I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess." He was too. He didn't want anything to happen to her.
"All this violence, and for a house, you haven't even lived in since you were a child. Aren't you tired of having to watch your back? Wouldn't it be easier if you just let it go? Build another house. Start over. You don't have to carry on this personal vendetta against Cyrus."
He ran his fingers through his hair. "You don't understand."
"You're right. I don't understand."
They remained silent after that. Zachary played with the hay on the ground and Gillian kept squirming trying to find a comfortable position. She was now sitting cross-legged with one elbow on her knee and resting her chin on the palm of her hand.
One of the men groaned. Zachary flew to his feet and went over to where the men were tied up. He crouched down beside the man with the long blond hair waiting for him to come fully awake. When he opened his eyes and he found he was bound, curses flew from his mouth with bitter resentment.
"So
…
" Zachary interrupted
his tirade
, "I don't think, we've been properly introduced.”
"I ain't tellin’ you nothin'," the man spat.
"Oh, I think you might, especially since you’re not going anywhere soon
.”
Zachary then stretched his arms and yawned. "I'm a bit tired myself. Had a rough night, you know. I guess I'll be getting some shuteye. Maybe you'll be a little more co-operative in the morning."
"You ain't aimin’ to keep me tied up all night?"
"Well
…
" Zachary rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I do believe that is my plan
.”
The m
an cursed again. "Tsk tsk…
Didn't your mother teach you any manners? We have a lady present." He pointed over his shoulder to where Gillian was seated.
"Maybe I need to be talkin' to the little lady about lettin' me go."
"Remember you and your friends kidnapped her and threw her in a barn. I don't think she
’s
in a compassionate mood."
“If she hadn't shown up when she did, we wouldn’t have tak
en
her. What were we suppose to do?"
Zachary glanced at Gillian, wondering why she had been in his room. He made a mental note to ask her later and brought his attention back to the man in question. "I just want to know why you’re holding us here. Who sent you?"
"I don't know and that's the God's honest truth of the matter. There be a man that gave us the instructions. We's were paid good money up front and we's would get the other half when the person came to collect ya’ll."
"Do you know what this person wanted from me?"
"Ain't got a clue. Just knows the person wanted you alive. Had strict orders on that. We wouldn’t have knocked you on the head. I was plannin’ to use the chloroform on ya, too, but Sam panicked." He
nodded toward
the lanky man to the right of him.
"What about the incident on the dock?" Zachary wanted to know if the two events were related.
"Dock?” The man seemed confused. "I ain't followin’ you there. We's were told to take you from the house. That's why we waited for you in your room. There was no mention of the docks."
Zachary rubbed his chin. If they weren't the ones responsible for the attack on the dock then that meant there was someone else after him.
"Hey, ain't you going to untie me? I told you all I know."
"I thought we would wait for the person to show up to collect us. I would love to properly introduce myself."
"Ain't goin’ to happen. I was on my way to meet someone to let ‘um know we's had you. When I don't show, they could only assume somethin' went wrong. They won't be contactin' us again. I'm mighty upset at that, too. They were givin' us a large sum of money." The man's eyes narrowed. "If you give us the amount that we's were suppose to have, we'll let you alone."
Zachary chuckled. "Well, that is mighty kind of you but as I see it, you are in no position to make any bargains. All I have to do is fetch the sheriff and you'll be leaving me alone."
"No!" The man sounded panicked. "I see your point. We's will just leave town."
"I think that would be a wise choice."
Zachary rose from his seat and went over to Gillian. "You ready to go home, now?" She looked up at him and nodded. He offered his hand and hauled her to her feet. Then taking his knife out, he undid Sam’s binds. He was still dead to the world. "That should do it. When your friend there wakes up, he can help you two with the ropes. I hope that I didn't hit him too hard. I knew one man that stayed unconscious for three days."
"Three days! Are you mad? We's can't stay like this for three days. With the heat, we’d die of thirst."
"That would be a shame wouldn't it now. I'll tell you what. I'll tell the sheriff about you in two days. If you haven’t escaped by then, he can help you out." The man murmured something under his breath and began struggling with his ropes.
Zachary whistled for Molly as they headed around back to where the three horses were tied. He untied two of them and whacked them on the behind to scare them off. Both horses galloped away at a fast pace. He then calmed the remaining horse before he untied him. Zachary looked at Gillian now. "I'll help you up." He took hold of her waist and hoisted her up on the mount. Her nightgown rose halfway up her leg exposing a creamy firm thigh just inches from his reach. Zachary swallowed hard. He pretended to adjust the pack before he jumped up behind her and took the reins. It was going to be one hell of a long ride.
Gillian tried her best to sit ramrod straight so she wouldn’t lean against Zachary since he had the tendency to muddle her senses. She was failing miserably for she was aware of every restless movement he made behind her. "Do you know where we are?” To her annoyance, her voice cracked.
"Um huh. We’re just outside of town. This land belonged to George Metz, but when his house burned down some years ago, he up and left. The barn was all that was left."
Gillian pulled straw and God-only-knew-what-else out of her hair. "What I would do for a shower
.”
"You want it to rain?"
Gillian couldn't help but laugh. "No, not rain. A shower in my time is being able to go into your own private bathroom, turn on the warm water and have it spray above you so you can wash yourself." She sighed. "That is one luxury, I do miss."
"I may not be able to provide you with a shower, but I can bring you to a place where you can wash. If that is what you wish."