Chapter 10 #2
Sydney hummed softly, then pointed at the screen with her left hand. “That looks like—”
She jammed the muscle relaxant against his neck then stepped back, crowding into the corner of the stall and putting Cobalt’s head between them.
“What the fuck?” The stranger whirled with a snarl, all pretense of being a nice guy falling away. His eyes widened, the quick-acting relaxant hitting his system so fast his legs collapsed, and he crumpled to the ground in a heap.
Declan had crawled in the upper window of the barn and made a quick trip around the perimeter of the loft. It was only after he’d spotted Tansy and Petra safe but trapped in neighbouring stalls that he’d signaled Sydney to go ahead and use her knockout meds.
His entire body tightened as he waited mostly hidden from view in the loft, unable to do more than watch.
Thankfully, Sydney was both brave and quick, and within seconds of the man landing at her feet, she’d grabbed Cobalt’s reins.
His horse was justifiably upset at the body sprawled under her legs. Then again, if the guy got stepped on, that was his problem for having come in where he wasn’t welcome.
Sydney knelt to check the man’s pulse, but she glanced up at the loft, waiting for the next signal of the options Declan had shared.
He dropped a handful of zip ties from the loft, speaking quietly. “Stall Cobalt next door, tie this guy up, then lock the gate. Stay hidden—someone’s in the office.”
“Tansy? Petra?”
“Safe.”
He took off for the stairs that would drop him just outside the office door. Silently he paced around the spots where he knew the floorboards would creak underfoot.
He made eye contact with Tansy and Petra individually and offered both of them a finger pressed to his lips and one hand raised in the wait sign.
Tansy grimaced, casted leg stretched out on the hay bale she rested on, and flashed him a thumbs-up.
Petra planted her hands on her hips, clearly frustrated, but she too dipped her head in agreement.
From the noise inside the office, the man inside was searching through every filing cabinet and every desk drawer, not even caring he might be overheard. Low curses rumbled from him as he worked.
Declan took a second glance into the room to gauge the best way to rush forward, but luck was not on his side. He locked eyes with the stranger rifling the office.
“Who the fuck are you?” the man demanded.
May as well go for it, Declan decided. He took a step forward, blocking the doorway. “I’m the one who needs to ask that question. Why the hell are you tearing apart my office?”
“You work here?” The man’s expression lightened. “Just trying to find some information, man. Tell me what I need to know, and I’ll get out of your hair.”
“Don’t know that I want to give you anything considering how poor your manners are,” Declan drawled. He folded his arms over his chest and stared down at the man who was a good five inches shorter than him. “This how you usually ask for directions—breaking and entering?”
“Fuck this,” the stranger muttered, and too late, Declan remembered Sydney’s warning about the gun.
She’s going to give me so much shit—
“Back up,” the stranger ordered, pointing a dark handgun squarely at Declan’s abdomen. “Mac. Where the hell are you?” he shouted.
“You mean the guy who took off in the truck?” Declan had his hands raised as he shuffled backward. “Christ. He had the pedal to the metal and took off like his ass was on fire,” Declan lied.
The stranger kept moving toward him, and Declan kept backing up, barely keeping his shit together when he stepped out of the door and spotted Sydney pressed to the wall, inches to his left.
“Bullshit,” the stranger said. “Since you work here, I assume you’ll be able to give me a little more help than those useless bitches. You got someone here named Dean?”
Declan hesitated in his step, wondering if he could swing quick enough to knock the gun out of the man’s hand, when Sydney moved, hard and fast.
The crowbar in her hands slammed into the man’s forearm. The gun fell as the man screamed. Declan was on him in a second, wrestling him to the ground and pinning him in place.
The entire takedown was far too reminiscent of having to overpower Russ.
“Bloody idiot,” Sydney muttered. “And yes, I mean you. Here. I found some more zip ties on the bench where I grabbed the crowbar.”
“Good job staying safe in the stable,” Declan grumbled as he accepted the long strands of plastic.
Sydney put her knee between the man’s shoulders and helped restrain him. “Right? Lucky for you, I’ve got selective hearing.” She waved her phone. “Want me to call 911?”
“Yeah.” Declan paused. “What about your knockout special—gonna be a problem?”
Sydney shook her head. “Some of the effects will have worn off by the time they get here, and self-defense on home turf is always the proper answer. It’s iffier when I’m an uninvited guest at someone else’s home like Mr. Greenlee’s.”
The stranger, with his ankles and knees lashed together and his hands immobilized behind his back, continued to curse and utter threats.
Declan snatched up a rag and shoved it in the man’s mouth. “You eat with that mouth? Enough.”
“I’m grabbing the girls,” Sydney announced. “If you’ve got this under control.”
“If we don’t find keys, we’ll need to cut the locks.” Declan stood, fisting the back of the man’s shirt and dragging him toward the stalls. “I’ll give you a hand. I’ll just tuck this trash into the stall next to where you left the other one so it’s easier for the police when they get here.”
Chaos at its finest reigned for the next two hours.
The police came; the police left with the promise the two invaders would be safely locked up for the foreseeable future. Tansy and Petra reclaimed their phones and got a hold of their guys, who were luckily already on the way home.
In one of those never-ending type of days, parts of the story were repeated over and over, especially once Jake and Aiden got home and reassured themselves everyone was really okay.
With Jeffrey temporarily out of the way, passed out in his bed from the excitement of the zoo day adventure, the rest of them met at the kitchen table to catch up.
“We were out in the barn taking care of the rescue animals,” Petra said.
“Next thing, I hear someone talking to Tansy—quiet at first. Which, fine. Didn’t expect anyone else to be in the barn, but people do show up with strays at times.
But then her volume went up, and she told him to mind his own business and get the hell out of the barn. ”
“Damn leg cast,” Tansy complained. “Couldn’t move fast enough. He hauled me into the stall and dumped me inside.”
“You did call out Blackbird,” Petra pointed out. “Gave me enough time to text Declan the heads-up signal before the second guy surprised me.”
Aiden’s glare tightened.
“Neither of them roughed us up,” Petra assured him. “It felt like they were trying to be sneaky—then gave up and went full-on brute force instead.”
“I think they weren’t really supposed to be doing what they were doing.” Tansy waved a hand. “Sorry, that made no sense, because obviously— I mean, they weren’t looking for information because someone told them to. More like they’d an idea on their own and were feeling it out.”
Interesting idea, but Declan kept the story moving forward before it could get derailed.
“Sydney and I got Petra and Tansy unlocked and waited for the police to come. Turns out the breaking and entry charges were more than enough to get things started because there were warrants on file for both their arrests.”
All eyes turned to Petra.
She held her hands up innocently. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t have time to shove any lies into the system.”
“So we won’t have a return visit from those two anytime soon?” Jake clarified.
“Nope,” Declan confirmed. “It’s still a mess, though, so if you could check with your friends and make sure Russ wasn’t tied to this, I’d appreciate it.”
“And we need to talk to Logan,” Aiden said firmly.
“Agreed.” Through the window, Kevin’s truck was visible as he made his way down the drive, returning home with all the hands. Declan debated the wisdom of immediately hauling the kid up in front of the entire group, but none of the ladies would leave, and no one wanted to wait.
“This is our home too,” Tansy said softly. “And he’s part of the High Water family. Family meetings are part of the deal.”
“Let’s handle this fast—before folks show up expecting supper,” Petra said.
“I’ll grab him,” Jake offered, slipping out the door.