Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem ( Elysia and Tarquin)

The boss moved with lightning speed, darting behind a thick oak and using the trunk as cover. In one smooth motion, he leapt to the next tree, barely making a sound.

Gunfire chased him-rounds cracking through the air as the shooters tried to keep up, but he stayed just out of reach.

A few tense moments later, the woods fell eerily silent again. The hunters had lost him again.

But Tarquin and Elliot, crouched low behind a mossy log, could see the boss just a few yards away, hidden behind another sturdy tree.

The boss bent down, scooping up a handful of rocks from the forest floor. With a quick flick of his wrist, he hurled them-vanishing behind the brush at the same instant.

Those rocks flew like bullets, smacking into several of the hunters with brutal force.

One rock went clean through a hunter's arm, another buried itself deep into someone's thigh bone. The screams that followed tore through the quiet-pure agony.

Watching the action play out on the computer monitor, it was obvious-the boss wasn't just running. He was toying with them, buying time for Tarquin and Elliot.

The screen showed everyone's location, constantly updating. In the corner, a counter ticked down: 56 people left. The boss was one of them.

Elliot hovered his mouse over a hunter's rifle, and a pop-up displayed the make, model, and country of origin.noveldrama

He moved the pointer to a hunter's face. Instantly, a small window appeared with a crisp color photo and a detailed bio.

Tarquin stared, speechless. He'd seen plenty in his life, but watching Elliot work the controls, he couldn't help but feel a surge of respect for Howard.

"Impressive," Tarquin murmured, eyes glued to the screen.

There were more heat signatures in the area-three separate spots, each marked in bright red on the map.

Elliot pointed to the last one. "That's Quincy and Walter."

"Quincy's a designer, an artist—he loves painting mountain landscapes and rare wildlife."

He nodded toward the other dot. "And that's Walter. He was the chief engineer at the Department of Defense. Some of our most

advanced weapons-stuff that made headlines all over the world-were his inventions."

"And Evan? Besides his hand-to-hand skills, he's a whiz with explosives-learned everything from Walter."

"Sometimes he even dreams up wild gadgets-again, all thanks to Walter's mentoring."

Suddenly, a memory flashed through Tarquin's mind. He frowned, his brow furrowing. "The old man? You mean... the legend?"

Elliot nodded. "Yeah. That's him."

Tarquin just stared at the computer

screen, stunned at the tiny,

gray-haired man's photo. He'd-

always known there were some

serious heavyweights hiding out in these woods, but never one like this.

This "legend"—the man who'd given entire foreign defense contractors nightmares, the one whose very name sent shivers down spines around the world.

No one could touch him when it came to defending the country. If he was the second most valuable asset, no one dared claim first.

If word got out that he was still alive, foreign soldiers would freak out-panic even. Our own military? They'd be crying tears of joy.

If he ever decided to come out of hiding, it wouldn't just be one top general sent to

greet him—it'd be every branch, Army, Navy, Air Force, you name it.

Tarquin took a long moment to process, then asked, "Your Gerald... Is that Mr. Morgan? Gerald Morgan?"

Elliot nodded again, dead serious. "That's the one."

Tarquin let out a low whistle.

The Morgan family had produced several titans of industry, but Gerald was on another level. In the

business world, they called him the "legend"—a man whose power and influence could turn the market upside down with a snap of his fingers.