“That’s where you’re wrong. My family came from Treasure Cove. When my grandfather married my grandmother, they never conceived. So my grandfather took it upon himself to have an affair. Well, as the story goes, a bastard was born. My grandfather thought he had his heir, but thanks to the founding fathers of this pissant town, only the biological children can claim the inheritance. So when dear ole granddad couldn’t get his wife to accept the child, he had her killed, and then tried to pass off the child as theirs. But, you see, this town has eyes. When the powers that be demanded a DNA test to verify the legitimacy of the child, it came back negative. It looked like dear ole granddad couldn’t even get a whore pregnant. So, when granddad died, everything he owned reverted back to the town. But, you see, that DNA was wrong. My dad was the son of Patrick McKenzie.”
“Oh my God!” she whispered. “You’re Glenn McKenzie’s son.”
“Very good, my darling. You catch on fast.”
“Momma, I wanna go,” Tabitha said quietly, trying to break free of his hold.
“Shut it, you brat!” Kyle said, shaking Tabitha till she started to whimper.
“Don’t you hurt her!” Emma screamed as she lunged for Kyle. She watched in horror as Kyle threw Tabitha against the wall so he could defend himself from her attack. The moment she was within range, he grabbed a hold of her, pulling her in close. “Wrong move, darling, you shouldn’t have done that,” he said as Emma felt a sharp stick to her neck, and then everything went black.
* * * *
The guys, along with Emma’s fathers, rushed to help Rusty find a seat. Tucker went to grab a wet cloth, while Doc reached for his bag.
“Where’s Emma?” Travis asked.
“In the barn, looking for Tabby.”
“Doc, stay with Rusty,” Travis shouted as he, his brothers, Braxton, and Matthew walked into the living room, each grabbing a gun, and then made their way toward the barn. “Fan out. No one leaves,” Travis informed them as he entered through the double doors.
The barn was eerily quiet. Not even the livestock were making noise. They could see the blood from Rusty’s wound on the floor, along with a wrench splattered with blood. Walking over the weapon, he moved down the long walk, past the stalls, when he heard her whimpering.
Running toward the tack room, Tucker reached the door first and kicked it open to find Tabitha lying on her side in a small ball, crying.
Rushing to her side, he quickly picked her up and held her tightly. “I’ve got ya, Tabby. It’s all right,” he cooed as his brothers each petted her.
“Baby girl, where’s Momma?” Travis asked, wiping her tears.
“He kilt Momma.” She cried harder, clinging to Tucker. “He kilt’d her!” she screamed.
“Who, Tabitha?” Braxton said, brushing her hair from her face.
“Tabitha, baby, you have to tell us who hurt Mommy,” Tate said, rubbing her back. But Tabitha was not listening to anyone. Her uncontrollable sobs were heart wrenching, and it broke the brothers’ heart, but somehow, they had to get her to stop.
While Tucker tried unsuccessfully to stop Tabitha’s cries, Travis and Tate, along with Braxton and Matthew, began to search the rest of the barn. Within minutes, they returned, each saying the same thing—that Emma was nowhere to be found.
* * * *
Her body felt like lead. Her head was spinning, and her heart was beating too fast. She had no idea where she was, and she knew she was in trouble. Regardless of her situation, blind fury fueled her veins.
She was furious.
She knew she had been drugged, and that only pissed her off even more. Who in the hell did he think he was? Of all the people in the world she thought capable of being evil, Kyle was that last person on earth. It had never occurred to her, not in a million years, yet she had been wrong. And to make matters worse, this was all over money.
She had to think. She had to clear her mind and think of a way out of this, but first she had to get her body working. Whatever drug he had injected her with had not knocked her out. It restricted the use of her body, but not her brain.
When he reached the car, he dumped her body in the front seat, and quickly sped off the property. The main problem was that she had no idea where he was taking her, or what he was planning to do.
She needed answers. Trying to talk was impossible. Nothing came out.
“You can’t talk yet, darling. The drugs won’t wear off for a while. I am sorry I had to inject you, but I needed you compliant,” he said running his hand along her check, in a loving gesture.
I’ll show you compliant…while I chop of your balls and feed them to the vultures! “Time to take you back down memory lane, my darling,” he said, turning toward an open field. It was then that Emma knew where she was, where this horrible nightmare all began…the pond.
Emma watched in horror as the car made its way closer to the water. Her heart started beating faster. She thought for sure it was going to beat out of her chest. Perspiration began beading down her forehead. Her hands became instantly clammy.
Every emotion she had been desperately trying to suppress was now rushing back. Fear, desperation, and panic were some of them, but it was pure, unadulterated anger that raged. She was so angry. Angry at Kyle for terrorizing her, angry at Kyle for hurting her baby, angry that because of him, she had been running. But mostly she was angry because she knew in that instant that it had been him. He was the one who had attacked her all those years ago. It was his greed and desperation that drove him to be the vilest of creatures.
Think, Emma! You can dwell later, but right now, you have to find a way out of this mess.
“I was thinking, darling, that when we buy our first house, it should be somewhere close to that little brat of yours. I mean, I know you say you love that demon, so I will allow you to see it on occasion, but seriously, darling, I will expect some respect out of our children,” Kyle said as he drove down the long dirt road.
If you think for one minute that I am going to allow you to touch me, you’ve got another think coming, you sick bastard.
Oh, she was certain of one thing. He was delusional!
“Your divorce is going to be easy to take care of. I figure those cowboys of yours will want to keep the brat, and that’s fine. You’ll be too busy with my sons that you will be giving me. But they get nothing else.
“Seriously, Emma, what were you thinking? Cowboys? Darling, you could do so much better, and of course you did, when I walked into your life. Now, I can forgive you for running away, but you will have to be punished for not doing as you were told. I must have you obeying me at all times, darling. But don’t worry. We can take care of your punishment right off, that way we can enjoy the rest of the night,” he said, coming to a stop.
Emma watched as he shut of the engine, pocketed the keys, and got out. He opened her door and yanked her from the seat, dragging her to the sandy bank of the pond. There she found a blanket already laid out with a black bag, ropes, handcuffs, and a ball gag. Oh shit! Okay, boys, you can show up any time now.
He laid her on the blanket, grabbing the ropes. “I think these can wait since you still can’t move. Besides, I would rather feel you loving me instead of being tied up.” She watched as he removed his shirt. She was shocked to find his torso marred with scars. Then, realizing what he was about to do to her, she smiled. I can move. About time!
“Are you laughing at me?”
Emma just smiled again. Yes, you sick fuck! I am plotting the many ways to disembowel your ass with a twig!
But the smile was quickly forgotten when Kyle loomed over her and slapped her hard across the face. “Let the punishment begin, then.”
* * * *
The brothers and Sheriff Connelly were all mounted up when the doc and Matthew came out of the house. They watched as the older men made their way toward them. “Where are you guys going first?” Matthew asked.
“We’re gonna check the property. If she
ain’t here, then we’re gonna fan out and head to the neighboring ranches. He couldn’t have gotten far. Braxton has already called into the office and the boys over there are combing the town. You just keep an eye on your granddaughter. Not a scratch, Doc, I mean it,” Travis said, pulling on his reins and galloping away.
“Don’t worry so much, Doc. We got the easy job.” Tucker smiled as he soon took off.
“She likes The Lion King. It calms her, and for God’s sake, no sugar! That girl will be bouncing all over the place within twenty minutes,” Tate informed him and was soon following his brothers.
“I feel like I should be doing something more,” Doc said, looking at Matthew.
“I think we have done enough already. That girl hates us. Let’s just take care of Tabitha and watch The Lion King.”
* * * *
The brothers covered ground quickly, checking every possible place they could think of. It didn’t take long before the ranch hands had all mounted up, and soon a posse of men scoured the area for one female. But with over a thousand acres, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Travis could see from his vantage point, the ranch was a treasure cove of valleys, brush, and dens. It could be possible for one to hide out for weeks without being noticed, but he and his brothers had lived their whole lives here, and there wasn’t much they hadn’t discovered. So, taking that into account, they each decided to split up and cover the ground quicker, thinking that if one of them found Emma first, they would notify the others immediately. But as they were getting ready to split up, a bloodcurdling scream cut through the air.
* * * *
Emma tried not to scream, but when that leather whip touched her back for the third time, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. The slashing pain reached down to her bones, and it felt like she was being sliced alive.
She handled being slapped across the face, which stung, with nothing more than a scornful look. Being whipped with a leather belt…well, she figured it wasn’t that bad. Her momma on more than one occasion had whipped her butt as a child for one infraction or another and she had survived, but nothing could have prepared her for that bull whip. When the first slash hit, it was more shock than pain that registered.
Growing up near a cattle ranch, she had seen the ranch hands use these whips on a daily basis, but never in her mind had she thought of how it would feel to have that thin piece of leather slash across her backside. She figured that if the cattle could stand it, she could, too.
She was wrong…way wrong.
The moment the tip of the whip hit her for a second time, she yelled, “You asshole!” The sting she could handle, but it was the immediate spreading of pain that tried to consume her. A pain unlike anything she had ever experienced robbed her of her senses, and it was moving swiftly through her body so fast she couldn’t control it. Sweat began to bead over her body, her heart raced, adrenaline quickly filling her veins, but somewhere within her body her brain misfired somehow, because the part where she was hoping to pass out, well…it never happened.
She was left to the mercy of the sick bastard wielding the whip, and from the look on his face, he was just getting started. She watched from her position on the blanket as he flicked the whip in the air, sending an ominous crack into the air.
He was enjoying himself. The smile on his face said it all. She watched as he played with that whip as if it were a child’s toy, and for the first time in a very long time, Emma was deathly afraid of what he was going to do. She knew he had other things in that black bag of his, because that was where he had pulled the belt and the whip from. But she had no clue what else was in there, and quite frankly she didn’t want to know.
Her hands were bound tightly to the stakes, along with her feet. Sprawled out flat on her stomach, she was naked, angry, sore, and now bleeding. She knew the boys would be looking for her, and that gave her hope, but until they found her, she was on her own.
“I’m sorry about this entire situation, darling, but soon I won’t have to punish you like this. Soon you will do exactly as I say without fail, eager to please me,” Kyle said, flicking the whip.
“I hope your dick gets infested with fleas! You sick piece of shit.” Emma screamed her rage out at him. “Didn’t your momma teach you any manners? If you think for one second that I will ever obey you, boy howdy, you have another think coming. I would rather sell my soul to the devil himself before I ever do anything you tell me to do.”
“But, darling, haven’t you figured it out? I am that very devil,” he said, raising his hand to flick the whip at her.
Every muscle inside Emma tensed, readying herself for the pain that she knew was about to come when a crack filled the air.
Holding her breath, Emma watched as Kyle stood motionless, as if he fought to move against some unseen object. Then, very slowly, his blue shirt became darker and darker. She watched as he fell to his knees then, as if her nightmare couldn’t get any worse, another crack split the air and Kyle fell backward with a small hole in his forehead.
Kicking their horses in to gear, Travis, Tucker, and Tate reached the pond just as Kyle fell to the ground.
Jumping from their horses, they ran to Emma, who was crying uncontrollably.
“Son of a bitch!” Tate said, reaching Emma first. “That motherfucker whipped her.”
“He better be glad his ass is dead, ’cause I would have torn him apart with my bare hands,” Tucker replied, removing the binds from her hands.
“We need to hurry. I don’t know who shot that fucker, but my guess he is still out there. I want Emma home where she is safe,” Travis replied as he removed the last of the rope around her ankles. They tried to be as careful as possible with her as they wrapped her in the blanket she once laid upon and quickly had her settled upon Travis’s horse.
“Where the hell did that shot come from?” Tucker asked, gun out, cocked and ready.
“From the northeast I think, near the main house,” Tate said, climbing back onto his horse.
“Let’s get Emma back to the house so Doc can take a look at her,” Travis said hurriedly as he turned his horse and headed for home.
* * * *
“Did you get ’em?”
“Yeah, but I hit his chest. Son o’ bitch moved on me.”
“Here, let me try.”
“You haven’t shot a rifle in years, better let me try again.”
“Hell no, you had your shot. It’s my turn.”
“Well, if you’re gonna cry about it!” he said, handing his brother the rifle. “Better make it count, ’cause we gotta head back.”
“I’m not crying about it. I just want my turn. And for your information, I could always shoot better than you.”
“Yeah, well, that’s still debatable. Just shoot the bastard and let’s get back.” He got up to give his brother some room. Stepping back a couple of paces, he watched as his brother got into the prone position, leveled his scope and took a deep breath and pulled the trigger.
“Doc, can I have some ice cream now?”
Chapter Fifteen
In the weeks that followed, things seemed to settle down at the ranch, but Emma wished she could say the same for the town. Once word got around that a single person controlled the town Charter, those affected were in an uproar. All the neighboring ranches and some select businesses in town began searching for this lone person. Everyone had their own suspicions, but nothing was concrete.
Her father, Matthew Jenkins, decided to relocate back to Treasure Cove after more than one of the ranchers hired him to investigate the town’s Charter, which infuriated Doc. It was nice having them both around, but Emma began to suspect the main reason Matthew moved back to Treasure Cove was because of Macie. Her suspicions were confirmed when the bickering between the two of them was taken to a whole new level when Matthew punched Doc in the face at Macie’s Diner over a parking spot. Poor Macie was livid and embarrassed, banning the both of them foreve
r, and an angry Braxton had to arrest both of them. They continued to fight all the way to the jail, where they had to be separated.
Kelly kept coming over to continue therapy, but eventually it was more to talk about the infamous Daniel Meyer, a young navy sailor who, along with other members from his team, Kelly was helping acclimate back into civilian life. It was hard for Kelly, because these men refused to talk, but lately some of them had begun to open up, except for Daniel. Kelly was determined to get through to Daniel, and nothing was going to stop her.
As for Emma and the boys, well, things went back to normal after Kyle was killed. It was later confirmed that Kyle had indeed been the biological son of Glenn McKenzie, but that was it. As for Glenn being the son of Patrick McKenzie, it turned out that Old Man McKenzie never did father Glenn. Authorities down in Denver were able to locate Glenn’s mother, who just happened to be alive and well, living in a nursing home. She confirmed that yes, she had had an affair with Patrick, but she was already pregnant with Glenn by then.
Life on the ranch continued on. Travis still insisted that Emma and Tabitha be watched at all times, and so far Emma was going along with it, because she knew that until Travis found out who controlled the Charter, he believed that Tabitha and she were in some sort of danger. It caused a lot of fights between them, but eventually Emma conceded. The boys tried on several occasions to get her to talk about what had happened at the pond several years ago, but Emma decided to put it out of her mind. She knew what had happened, she had lived it, but she chose not to allow it to control her life. It was in the past, and she couldn’t change it, so she moved on.
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