Page 23 of Tack’s Bounty

“You don’t have a man. Nobody would put up with your fat ass,” Rufus shouted back.

Tack stood up, dropped a kiss on her forehead. “Feel free to eat without me. I’ve got some trash to take out. Anybody want to go with me and make sure I don’t kill him?”

Shield stood up with Stinger and followed Tack out. Sophia started to follow, but Ruthy held up her hand. “Let the boys deal with the trash. You don’t need to worry about him bothering you again,” Ruthy directed.

Sophia thought about it and decided Ruthy was right. Her man could take care of anything that needed to be done.

Tack dropped a kiss on Sophia’s forehead and vowed that he’d take Rufus farther away from the house before he taught him a lesson. He planned on making the man howl a little before sending him on his way.

Rufus was standing close to the door. Tack shoved it hard, knocking Rufus off the step and watching him fall to his butt with satisfaction.

“Let’s go for a walk,” Tack suggested.

Rufus stood up, dusting off his pants. “I’m not going for a walk with you. I want to talk with the fat cow in the kitchen,” Rufus replied.

Tack stepped closer and grabbed Rufus’ neck, lifting him off his feet. “That’s my fucking woman you’re talking about, and if anything about her comes out of your mouth, it better be fucking respectful. Shield, wrap him up so we can head back behind the barn,” Tack directed, striding away, knowing that the guys would have his back. He walked by the barn, crossed in front of the garage, and followed the trail around back. Stinger wasn’t far behind and came to stand by Tack.

“Where’s Shield with numbskull?”

“Shield decided to wrap him for transport instead of fighting him the whole way here. Oh—there they are,” Stinger confirmed as Shield came around the tree line driving the tractor with Rufus duct-taped to the scoop. Shield was raising it up, then lowering it back down as he drove over to them.

Once Shield was in front of them, he lowered the scoop to waist height, tilted it, and dumped Rufus out. Tack had to admit the groan Rufus emitted behind the duct tape gag had him chuckling.

Tack waited for Shield to shut off the noisy tractor before bending down and ripping the duct tape off Rufus’ mouth. His screech was music to Tack’s ears.

“Now, I have a couple questions for you, Rufus, and depending on how you choose to answer them will determine how you spend your evening. Nod if you understand,” Tack threatened.

“But…” Rufus pleaded.

“Nope. Nod yes or no. I don’t want to hear your voice because then it reminds me what that whiny voice said earlier when you called my woman names.” Tack waited until Rufus nodded yes.

“All right, now tell me why you’re bothering Sophia, even though you’re divorced,” Tack directed.

“I’m not bothering her. I came to check on her. I heard someone left dead squirrels on her front porch,” Rufus stammered.

“Oh, you heard that, did you? Where?”

“Where what?” Rufus asked.

“Where did you hear that?” Tack repeated.

“On the police scanner,” Rufus replied.

“Now, Rufus, you nodded and said you understood that how you answered would determine how your evening went, and you just lied to me. Now, tell me how you really found out,” Tack ordered, leaning down, picking up Rufus’ foot, tugging off his shoe and sock. He grasped a toe and put pressure on it, bending it back toward Rufus.

“Stop. That hurts,” Rufus pleaded.

“It’s in your control to stop this,” Tack dryly noted.

“Aww, ouch, fuck, it was my mom. She saw someone hanging squirrels, then running away,” Rufus insisted.

Tack let the pressure off Rufus’ toe, staring at him.

“If you were coming to help her, why’d you call her names?” Tack questioned.

“Because she’s never grateful when someone helps. She thinks she’s Superwoman and needs to be in charge and fuck, you’ve seen her. Those tits flop to the side when she lies flat. I tried to get her to do something about them to make them perkier,” Rufus offered.

Tack grabbed one of Rufus’ toes, bent it sideways until he heard a break. Rufus screamed, wiggling on the ground, trying to get away.