Purdy nodded.
With his free hand he began to search for weapons. He found the bulge of a concealed carry over his right hip and pulled out a Smith & Wesson Shield. In a pocket he found an extra clip. He placed them both behind him and scooted them across the floor in Yardley’s general direction.
Kye looked over at Yardley. She was sweating, her eyes narrowed as she monitored Purdy while her arms trembled from holding the powerful wolfdog in check. “Yard, pick up the gun.”
She nodded then barked the command in Czech to call Oleg off his prey. “Pust!”
The wolfdog glanced back at her as if he couldn’t possibly have heard right, but then he quickly returned to her side when she didn’t speak again.
“Hodny, Oleg!” Her praise was bright and girlish but she didn’t reach to pet him—the wolfdog was still on the job, hackles raised and gaze still locked on the pair of men on the floor.
Kye watched Yardley work to calm Oleg with more whispered words of praise until he seemed to work back from high find alert. Only then did she free one hand from her two-handed grip on the leash and reach down for the gun Kye had shoved her way. She picked it up carefully but confidently and looked at Kye for direction. There was fear in her gaze but resolution, too. She would do whatever he asked next.
“So now we’re armed. That’s a good thing.” He grinned at her. “I need duct tape. Lots of it. But first secure every door.”
“Right. I’m leaving Oleg with you.” Yard made a motion with her hand sending Oleg into the down position before releasing his leash.
The Czech wolfdog lay down immediately but continued to growl, his teeth on display as he kept absolute focus on the pair of men on the ground.
She looked back at Kye, not asking the question in her gaze.
He nodded once. “I got this. But hurry.”
“You beat your woman, big man?” Purdy snickered. “That why she moves so fast when you speak?”
Kye realized he was talking about the marks on Yardley’s face. He’d stopped seeing them. But he supposed that like David, Purdy was seeing her as cowered by the bruises. Not in his eyes. In his eyes she was beautiful and strong, and sexy as hell. They’d missed the stubborn glint in her gaze that said she was ready to do whatever needed to be done.
Yardley disappeared into the living room and reappeared after a moment with a roll of max-duty silver tape. “I’ll put us on lockdown.”
Kye took it and wrapped several turns about his prisoner’s wrists and then up his arms until his elbows were tightly pinned together behind him.
“Ow. I think my shoulder’s dislocated. You’re cutting off my circulation.”
Kye jerked the tape tighter while Purdy began to struggle. “You were going to try to kill me. If I were you, I’d be grateful this is all the pain I’m dishing out.”
Oleg came up a bit, nails scrambling on the floor as he assessed the situation. Both men shot wary glances over their shoulders.
“Lie still. That dog is going to bite the one he gets to first. I swear I’ll be yards behind you if you so much as twitch again.”
Purdy went flat on his face, as if his bones had liquefied.
When satisfied his arms were immobile, Kye scooted back slowly to where he could bind his ankles, and then removed the Ka-Bar with its sheath. Then he patted Purdy down, finding a wallet, keys to a vehicle, and a cell phone. He shoved them all into a pocket of his jeans.
Finally, Kye flipped him onto his back and straddled him again. “Let’s start at the beginning. Who the hell are you?”
Purdy spat in his face. “Fuck this! You’re screwed.”
“Maybe. But not by you, you piece of shit.” Kye tore off another short piece of tape, ignoring the blood dribbling down his face onto his shirt. “Are you really expecting backup?”
Purdy, or whatever his name was, only stared at him with an ugly grin. “Broke your nose, pretty boy. I fuckin’ screwed you.”
Kye blinked. “I’ll take that as non-compliance.”
As he reached forward, the man’s bug eyes practically popped from their sockets. “What are you doing?”
Kye glanced at the tape strip hanging from his thumb. Did Purdy think he was going to tape his nose to torture him for more information? We judge others by what we would do ourselves. He’d heard that somewhere. Okay, this was a level of fucker he really didn’t want to deal with.
He slapped the tape over the man’s mouth, sealing it tight with the palm of his hand, and then quickly shifted off him on his knees on the floor, needing to put distance between them.
“What are we going to do with him?”
Kye glanced up. Surprise zipped through him. Yard stood there, tall and resolute. In the midst of the struggle to control his own emotions he’d nearly forgotten her.