Page 36 of Tack’s Bounty

Stinger pulled his phone out, tapping in some numbers. “If someone had all the five thousand in gold, it would be worth around nine hundred thousand dollars. But Muncie was just one of the many robberies credited to the James-Younger gang. The Liberty, Missouri, bank robbery was, I think, in the sixty-thousand-dollar range.” Stinger walked over, tapping the photo again.

“Looks like we need to go see Ms. Jolene and Rufus again with the additional information. Let’s head out. This can’t wait,” Stinger said, pointing toward the door.

Freedom was holding a notebook against her chest and walked out. Lake followed because the guys weren’t going to let them stay.

“Do we need to feed the animals before we all head back to the clubhouse?” Stinger offered.

“Nope. We took care of all the chores before we decided to check things out,” Lake informed him, not that it was any of his business.

Sophia sat with Charlie, Ruthy, Lake, and Freedom. Ariel and Adley had taken the boys to their houses to put them to bed. Once some of the guys had returned with Lake and Freedom, they’d talked with Pit, and the guys had immediately called Church.

Freedom had been furiously reading some notebook. Freedom kept reading but then glanced at Sophia. It was starting to unnerve her.

“What the heck, Freedom?” Sophia demanded. Freedom’s deer-in-the-headlights look didn’t make Sophia feel any better. “Spill it.”

“I took Jolene’s journal from the room we found,” Freedom confessed.

“And…” Sophia prompted. She wished her friend would get to the point.

“I don’t want to upset you any more than you are,” Freedom whispered.

Sophia glared at Freedom until she gave in.

“Jolene isn’t Rufus’ mom. She’s his wife. She killed your parents because they wouldn’t let her look for the treasure, and she wanted to kill you if they couldn’t find the treasure. She had a three-million-dollar life insurance policy on you, but it hadn’t matured before you divorced him. She talks in the diary about how she hates that Rufus is making love to you instead of her,” Freedom rattled off, barely pausing for air.

Sophia stared, blinking at Freedom, trying to comprehend all that she’d said. Sophia stood up because she wanted to have a little chat with Rufus and Jolene.

“Where are they?” Sophia asked Ruthy. If anybody was on her side in letting her see Jolene and Rufus, it was Ruthy.

“I’ll take you,” Ruthy agreed, standing up.

“Can we pick up a baseball bat on the way?” Sophia wondered.

Ruthy chuckled. “Yes, Stinger has plenty in his room,” Ruthy explained, opening Stinger’s closet to show Sophia his collection. Sophia picked a metal one because it looked like it would freaking hurt and it would be easy to clean blood off of.

Ruthy laughed. “Oh, you’ll fit right in.”

Lake joined them as they walked across the compound to where Rufus and Jolene were being kept.

“I know, I know, I’m not part of the club, but Sophia, she’s my girl, and I’m going to protect her. If she needs me to jump in and get a little dirty getting Rufus and Jolene to talk, I will because I’ll protect her in whatever way she needs,” Lake informed them.

Sophia appreciated Lake offering, but Sophia had been furious at what she’d learned before about Jolene and Rufus. Now, she was angry on a level that she’d never been before. They’d deprived her of her kids ever being held by her parents or her dad walking her down the aisle—all for a supposed treasure that may or may not be on her property.

Ruthy opened a door to a nondescript building beside a tall Morton building and then unlocked a door inside the building. Behind the door, Rufus and Jolene were tied to chairs. They both looked a little worse for wear, and Sophia got a perverse pleasure from seeing their suffering.

She stood in front of them, not saying anything for a moment. Thinking about Rufus having sex with Jolene and then sticking his minuscule dick in her had her swallowing the vomit climbing her throat.

“Soph, you’ve got to save me. They’ve got it all wrong,” Rufus pleaded.

Sophia stepped closer. “Why?”

She quite enjoyed the perplexed look on his face.

“Because we were married.”

She thumped the bat against her hand. She was so freaking angry, but she wasn’t sure how she wanted to do this.

“There’s no right or wrong way to do this. Relax. They’re not going anywhere until we decide they are. We can stand here while you work through it,” Ruthy said.