Page 69 of Cowboy's Sinful Bargain

I pulled my cell phone out again and brought up my note app. I explained as much as I could considering I knew next to nothing about what was going on. One by one I showed each person what I had typed out so that they would understand the situation we were in.

Axel grabbed my phone and typed something out before handing the phone back to me.

"I heard cars coming up the driveway when I stepped out of the back door after dinner. I heard Monty yell something, but when I turned to go back into the house, something hit me in the arm and everything went dark."

When Miko saw what Axel had written, he made grabby hands for the phone."My uncle's men use darts that are dipped in a drug that incapacitates people."

When I glanced at the floor, Miko started typing again.

"You won't find any of the darts. They never leave evidence behind."

That was not helpful.

"You think it's your uncle doing this?"I typed out.

Miko shrugged.

"Okay, are any of you still armed?"

They all shook their heads.

"Get armed and then meet us back here, and stay quiet. I don't want to alert anyone that you guys have woken up."

All of the ranch hands hurried out of the mud room. I put my cell phone away and then turned to look at Miko and whisper, "I don't suppose I could convince you to stay here?"

Miko just grinned at me.

Yeah, I didn't think so.

I wrapped a hand around the nape of his neck and yanked him forward until he hit my chest. "You remember the rules?"

"Do exactly what you say and do not leave your side for any reason."

This one time I wished his memory was faulty.

Chapter Twenty

~ Miko ~

I knew Jos didn't want me to go on this little adventure with him because he wanted me safe, but I wanted the same thing for him and the only way I could ensure that was by sticking to him.

While Jos was busy texting Ken again to let him know we'd found the ranch hands, I carefully opened my kit and pulled out several needles. I stuck them into the fabric of my clothes in different place just to be safe. If I was caught and searched, I still wanted to have a few on me.

When the others came back, they all had guns. I wasn't thrilled with this fact because I didn't want someone to get hurt, but I understood it. There were intruders on the property and we had a duty to protect the ranch and ourselves, or at least hold them off until the police got here.

I was most worried about Mrs. Gibbons and my father. I knew they should be in the main house right now, but I didn't know who was in there with them.

Jos pulled out his cell phone again and began typing away."Split up into teams of two except you, Declan. I want you to get down to the main gate and wait for the sheriff to arrive. Let him know what happened to you and the others and then tell him we are going to go to the main house."

The men read what Jos had written and then nodded.

"Miko and I will take the kitchen entrance. I need one team to go in the front and another to climb to the second floor balcony and come in from there. Our first priority is finding Monty and Mrs. Gibbons and getting them to safety. Incapacitate if you can, but do what you need to do to keep yourself safe."

Once everyone knew what they were doing, we walked out of the shower room and broke off into teams, going in differentdirections. I stayed as close to Jos as I could considering his longer legs, and followed him to the kitchen entrance off the back porch.

My heart thundered in my chest as Jos eased the back door open and stepped into the kitchen. I was sure we were going to be caught at any second.

We weren't, and that started worrying me even more. Were the intruders still here? If not, had they taken my father and Mrs. Gibbons or done something worse to them?

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