Tom rubbed his jaw and turned away to look at the woman lying on the ground with Granny B trying to talk with her. “We’ll keep her and treat her wound until she’s healed, but everyone will be told to keep her from knowing our location. When we turn her loose, it’ll be close to Ashland.”
Jack said, “That sounds more than fair. You’d be within your rights to pitch her ass out on the road after she tried to kill you.”
Tom walked up behind Kate, who was now sitting up with Granny B, trying to get her to open up. “Child, my people didn’t want to hurt you. Tom said you attacked my family and killed Brenda. Listen to that girl over there sobbing? That’s Greta, Brenda’s daughter. Now, thanks to you, she’ll grow up without a mother.”
“We thought they were the same pukes who raided our ranch. Can’t you take the blindfold off?”
Tom placed his index finger over his lips. “The gang also killed the Clark family. We went there to live with them and found a burning slagheap. We want to kill them also, but couldn’t let you and your uncle kill us by mistake.”
Granny B got the drift of Tom’s line of thought but didn’t fully understand. She took Tom off to the side. “Son, what do we do with her?”
“We’ll take her back to our hideout and keep her from knowing us or the location of the hideout so we can release her later. I don’t want her to bring an army over there to wipe us out.”
Tom checked his captive’s bindings, picked her up, and placed her back in the cab of the truck after Jack had unhitched the trailer. Jack and Tom drove around the area for an hour on the old fire roads and then took a different route back to the ranch. Jack stayed silent while Tom talked. “We’re almost home. You’ll like the place. We might even take your blindfold off.”
Tom stopped a mile away from the ranch and placed a bag over her head to make sure she didn’t see where they’d gone. Tom helped her out of the truck and picked her up. He carried her into the barn and followed Jack as he opened the doors. Tom walked into the living area and sat Kate on a bench. “I’m only going to say this once. Obey all instructions. Don’t cause any trouble, and you’ll be treated well. If you fight or try to escape, you’ll be stuck in a dark hole and fed bread and water. Do you agree?”
Kate snorted. “I don’t have a choice. Do I?”
“We all have choices, but we must face the consequences of our choices.” Tom pulled the bag off her head and untied the blindfold. She blinked and saw Jack and June. “What are you doing with these assholes? June?”
Jack stooped to be at her eye level. “Kate, these are good people and our friends. You attacked them. What did you expect them to do? Just stand there and die? If you behave, you’ll be okay. If not, you’ll be locked up until we can drop you off somewhere.”
Kate’s eyes wandered from person to person in the dimly lit room. “I’m hungry. Can I eat now?”
Granny B looked at Tom, then the woman. “Tom, can I cut her bindings?”
“No! I’ll release the zip ties. They won’t be making any more, and there’s no telling when we’ll have to capture a beautiful young lady again. Even if she’s meaner than a bobcat in a gunny sack.”
Tom used his pocketknife to release the zip ties on her hands and stooped down to unfasten her feet. He looked up and saw the fire in Kate's hazel eyes. Then he saw flecks of gold in the hazel color and held his gaze a bit too long. He felt a tingling go up and down his spine, but a commotion behind him interrupted his train of thought.
“Move, I don’t want to hurt you, but the bitch has to die.”
Tom turned to face a large caliber handgun.
“Whoa! I know you want to kill her, but it won’t bring your mom back. Greta, put the gun down!”
Greta walked toward Tom. “Get out of the way. I don’t want to hurt you, but I’m shooting her now.”
Tom reacted with cat-like reflexes but was a bit too slow. Greta pulled the trigger on the Colt .45 model 1911 just as his hand hit her fist full of gun. The flash and explosion were close to Tom’s head when the bullet grazed his shoulder and cheek. It then ricocheted around the inside of the room. Tom felt instant pain but wrestled the weapon away from Greta. He held her for a minute. “Greta, this young woman thought we were the gang. She made a mistake, and it will haunt her forever. Don’t let killing her ruin your life.”
Rick took Greta away as Sam ran to Tom. “Let me help you to the table. You’ve been shot.”
Tom felt the warm blood running down his neck and chest. He could still see the glare of the flash when he closed his eyes. Sam kept the pressure on the head wound while Granny B cut his shirt off to reveal an angry red furrow on top of his shoulder.
“Tom, you’re darn lucky she just nicked your collarbone. You’ll have a scar on your shoulder and maybe on your cheek. What are you going to do about her?” Granny B continued to fuss over Tom while he thought.
Tom thought about the gold flecks in her eyes and felt that tingling again but then remembered how she’d tried to kill him twice. “I guess a good spanking and getting sent to bed without supper should adjust her attitude a bit.”
Granny B
