The Payment (27 page)

“
Shut up, I owe the little bastard for
threatening me. Tie them up and get them up on their horses.” King
shouted to his men, he felt a shiver run up his spine from the cold
murderous rage in Dane’s golden eyes.

Dane struggled but out-numbered they forced
him back on his horse. However, he did manage to get in a few good
punches before they over powered him. Once disarmed and seated on
his horse, his gaze went to his brother and sighed in relief when
he observed Traye’s only injury remained the bullet wound.

All the way to the King ranch, he boiled in
rage. He silently promised to get Traye out of this, and then he
would come after King. This time, there would be no warning, but
blood. King’s blood.

Traye forced himself to stay conscious even
though his shoulder felt on fire; he knew if he gave in to the pain
and blackness, he would only make things harder for Dane.

When they reached the King ranch, Dane
fought as they dragged from his horse. Before he entered the house,
he watched as they roughly pulled Traye from the horse and followed
him inside. They were stopped at the parlor door, not at all
surprised by the occupants of the room. He stood with a hateful
sneer on his face.

Irene rose to her feet when she saw two of
her sons being dragged into the room. “Well look what we have here.
This should work out very well indeed.”

Traye raised his head at the sound of a
woman’s voice he never wanted to hear again in his life. His mother
seemed to have aged a great deal, but he could see the evil still
lived inside of her. “Dane, you never told us just how ugly she’s
grown.”

Dane turned to his little brother giving him
a proud look before he turned back and glared with malevolence at
his mother. “Sorry but I didn’t want to frighten you to death,
besides, I always thought her ugly. She just won’t accept the
fact.”

“
Shut up, shut up, I’ll teach you for
disrespecting me; it should have been done years ago. Take them out
to the barn and tie them up.” Irene screamed. She would show these
two what happens when they insulted her.

Paul sat quietly in his seat, as soon as he
found the right moment he intended to slip away. Things here were
getting too dangerous. He was starting to think Irene might be
slightly insane. He doubted she would ever get away with what she
planned. When they caught her, he did not intend going down with
her. He escaped going to prison in England narrowly and by God, he
would not let this woman drag him in to hell.

John looked worriedly at the pale face of
his daughter. Taking her hand, they followed Irene and her sons out
to the barn.

Irene stood just inside the barn and watched
as both of her sons hands were tied above their heads and their
shirts ripped from their bodies.

When the men moved away from them, only then
did she step forward and stopped beside them. “I’m going to teach
you both to respect me. Afterwards you're going to do exactly what
I tell you to do. I don’t care how long it takes, in the end I will
get what I want.”

Dane turned to face the evil face beside him
and sneered his contempt. “Go to hell bitch. Just remember when
this is all over I’m coming after you. If you dare lay your filthy
hands on Traye I’ll put my hands around your throat and squeeze the
evil miserable life out of you.”

Irene could actually feel herself being
afraid for the very first time. She grew even angrier when she
found herself unable to stop the shiver of fear that ran up her
spine. She pushed the fear and apprehension down and smiled with
triumph. “By the time I’m finished with you, you’ll only have
enough strength left inside of you to sign the ranch over to me.
After that I couldn’t give a damn what happens to any of you.” When
she saw him smile, she gave a frustrated cry and spun away, she
would break him. She swore she would break every one of her
unwanted sons. When she reached King and his daughter, she smiled.
“We’ll leave them here for a while and let them contemplate what
will happen to them.”

When everyone left, Dane turned to Traye
with concern etched on his face and in the tone of his voice.
“Traye are you all right?”

“
Shit, Dane I have a damn bullet in my
damn shoulder. How do you think I feel?" Traye snapped at his
brother.

Dane gave a quick grin knowing that Traye
didn’t seem to be in any immediate danger. “You know what she has
planned don’t you Traye?”

“
Yeah I know. If you can get away, go.
I’ll only hold you back.” Traye felt the strength seeping out of
him along with his blood. He tried hard and fought desperately, the
little strength left inside him he knew would never be enough to
stop the blackness coming up and engulfing him.

His heart nearly stopping when he heard the
strain of Traye’s voice, Dane searched his brother’s face with
fear. “Damn it Traye I’m not going to leave you behind. Just hang
in there Traye and I promise I’ll get us out of this somehow.” When
he finished speaking, he realized his words fell on deaf ears.
Traye was already unconscious and all he could do is pray the bitch
would leave him alone. In his heart, though he didn’t hold much
hope the woman cared about nothing but herself.

FIFTY

Devon grew worried when Dane and Traye never
returned. After talking to Jesse and Reese, they agreed that he and
Reese would go in search of Dane and Traye. Things looked bad when
they never came across any sign of them as they searched the East
boundary. When it grew completely dark on a hunch, Devon suggested
they head for the King ranch. They hid the horses and made their
way closer to the house under cover.

Hidden behind a crop of trees they saw a
small group leave the house and head for the barn, his gut knotted
Devon grew apprehensive.

“
Dev if we don’t get to Traye soon I’m
fearing it might be too late.” Reese couldn’t say how he knew, but
he knew his twin to be in a bad way.

Dev turned a quick gaze to Reese, placed his
hand on his shoulder, and squeezed. “We have to wait Reese. We
can’t go blazing in there no matter how much we want to. They could
kill both Dane and Traye before we were even close to them.”

Reese cursed softly knowing Devon spoke the
truth, they could do nothing but wait.

The pain of having his arms stretched over
his head started to become unbearable, but not nearly anywhere near
as bad as his worry for Traye. Dane twisted, tugged and cursed
trying to free himself. His wrists were rubbed raw and blood
trickled down his arms. He became frantic with worry over the fact
that Traye remained consciousness, and it frightened him. If he
didn’t get help for him soon it might be too late.

Once again, he tugged frantically at the
ropes around his wrists. He stopped suddenly when the light from of
a lantern lit up the barn. In panic, his head swiveled to Traye and
he cursed when seeing his head hanging and the blood still dripping
from his wound. His whole body tensed when he heard the evil voice
behind him.

“
I’ll give you this one chance sign
over the ranch and you both can go home. If I were you, I would
take up my offer. Your brother doesn’t look at all well.” Irene
said as she came to stand beside her oldest son.

Dane stared at the woman who gave him birth
with hate boiling and rolling through him, he never felt such rage
or hatred in his life. He turned away and closed his eyes knowing
that he would do what she wanted. What choice did he have, Traye
needed help, and if he did not have it soon might die.

Impatient Irene moved away and waved to one
of the men she hired a few days ago. “Do it, perhaps once he’s
tasted a few lashes, he will be more co-operative.”

His face set in grim lines, his body tensed
and tightened; Dane readied himself for the pain to begin. He let
his mind picture his wife and thought of her beauty, her loving and
how lucky he is to have her in his life. Suddenly, his body jerked
and his mind writhed in pain as the lash struck like burning
lightening across his back.

Irene stood watching as the lash struck her
son, she cringed slightly but other than that refused to show any
other emotion. She would do whatever she needed to and nothing
would stand in her way.

John King winced ever time the lash struck
Dane. He started to realize that Irene might be a little crazed. He
now started having second thoughts about becoming involved with her
and if Dane or his brother died, it would surely bring the law down
on them all and no one would get out of this. He needed to find
some way to save himself and his daughter before it became too
late.

Frustrated Irene watched the whip strike her
son repeatedly. The damn stubborn idiot never cried out once. She
moved her gaze from her oldest son to the other, still unconscious
and useless. A smile crossed her face perhaps not so useless after
all. “Stop, he’s too stubborn, let’s try the other one, maybe if he
witnesses his brother being whipped it will stop him from being so
stubborn.”

Even through his pain, Dane heard the threat
to his brother. Every protective instinct in his body screamed. His
head thrust up and from somewhere deep inside of him, he found the
strength to struggle at his bonds. “I’ll kill you bitch, I swear
I’ll kill you.” He roared the threat.

John King raced to Irene’s side and grabbed
her arms in a tight grip. “For God sakes Irene you can’t do such a
thing, you’ll kill him. I won’t let you do it.”

Infuriated Irene struggled in the tight
punishing hold on her arm and hissed in outrage. “Damn you, all
right I’ll leave him alone for now.”

Relieved John let go of her arm. “Let’s
return inside, nothing can be accomplished at the moment. I think
we need to rethink things.”

Irene’s mouth thinned into a thin line, she
knew King started to have a change of mind, and he now became
useless to her.

Even through the fiery pain riddling his
back, Dane managed to smirk when he heard King’s words. The fool is
just starting to realize how far his mother dragged him into hell.
He heard the shuffling feet fade away as well as the light
disappearing. With all the strength left in him, he lifted his head
and turned and looks at Traye before the light disappeared
altogether.

What he saw made his heart plummeted to his
feet. Traye didn’t look good at all and fear filled his heart, he
felt such overwhelming guilt that he failed to save his brother and
his head drooped and tears fell from his eyes.

“
I’m sorry Traye, God I’m so sorry for
everything. India oh God India, please Lord look after my sweet
wife and our babies. I love you India God, I love you.” He
whispered before what little strength left in him evaporated, and
he fell in to unconsciousness.

“
Come on Reese let’s go. Make sure you
keep well hidden and don’t make a sound.” Devon whispered harshly
in warning.

In the darkness, Reese shot Devon a
disgruntled look but did as he said and followed behind keeping to
the shadows.

Devon kept to the darkness as he cautiously
made his way to the barn. When he reached the wooden structure, he
flattened himself against the side of the building waiting for
Reese. He smiled grimly when Reese reached him. “Listen Reese, we
don’t know what we will find inside, you have to keep quiet no
matter what we discover if we are all going to get out of this
alive.”

“
I understand now let’s go.” Reese
hissed, every minute that passed he felt Traye slipping away from
him and he grew desperate to reach him before it was too
late.

Devon took one more look around then moved.
He kept himself flat against the building until he came to the
door. Unable see a thing he cursed under his breath as he stepped
inside the barn. He grunted when Reese barreled into him and rushed
forward.

“
Here Devon, hurry help me.” Reese by
instinct went straight to Traye. “Traye, Traye are you all right?”
He whispered in desperation, tears ran down his cheeks when no
response came.

Devon hurried forward led by Reese’s voice;
he reached out and touched hot flesh. “Dane, Dane.” When he heard
the soft moan, he felt somewhat relieved. “Let’s cut them loose and
get the hell out of here.”

Both men were grim faced and full of
anxiety. They worked quickly and silently, when they freed both
Dane and Traye they hefted them over their shoulders and made their
way back to where they left the horses.

FIFTY-ONE

India knew everyone tried hard to hide
something from her. She sat on the sofa looking aggressively at
Jesse who now seemed to be the only one around; he stubbornly
continued not to meet her gaze. She had a premonition that
something terrible must have happened to both Dane and Traye. With
the sudden disappearance of Reese and Devon, she grew even more
certain.

Jesse refused to meet India’s constant
glare. He grew frantic and was having a hard time trying to hide it
from her. He wished both Mason and Tye were still up. At least with
them around it would be some distraction. Where in the hell were
they and why didn’t they come home? His gut twisted in knots the
longer he waited for everyone to return.

Suddenly, he caught the sound of horses
approaching. Jumping to his feet, he raced from the room. Pulling
open the front door, he raced outside. He stopped on the edge of
the veranda when Reese and Devon pulled up their horses. His gaze
fell on two immobile bodies slung over the saddles in front of
them.

His heart stuck in his throat and his whole
body trembled, in the distance, through the fuzz in his brain, he
could hear India calling out, but he couldn’t move.