I pulled his curved hanger out and held it in front of him. "Personal possession?" I asked."No, only standard issue," he said, sniffing.I threw the sw...rd into Rock Creek and heard it clink across the ice and stones before it found a place to splash."You'll pay for this," he told me, holding his head back and pushing the stained white cloth against his thin nose."Probably," I agreed, feeling right proud of myself. "Now come along and lead your horses." I told the two men who had taken the guns. Once I got to the office, I set Lucas the task of adding a gate and cameras. "I do not want the gate to be a bank vault, just something to keep the average guy out. If they come at it with a blow torch, let them in, but let me know they are there. However if a guy comes to pick me up for a date, I want it to look like a cattle gate." Nobody is going to pick you up for a date, ‎ ‏because you better not be telling anyone where you live," Ed said from across the room.Also that Monday shortly after. The message was brief."Marie if you still want to submit yourself to me then send me a one word reply of 'Yes', if not then good-bye. I will give you instructions in response to your yes, but will answer no further questions – James."I hit reply and froze. My fingers would not move to the 'Y' much less the "e" and the "s" button. It took an hour before I was able to type that one word and another to hit the send button. If I'd known it would take James another week to reply I might have changed. As the doors at the back of the sanctuary slowly opened, Mike was left completely breathless at the sight of her. She had grown her deep red hair long again, down to about the small of her back, and had beautifully styled it into a wavy fashion. Her strapless wedding dress was absolutely stunning, accentuating her every curve before tapering down to a mermaid tail at the bottom. Completing the ensemble was her favorite gold locket, dangling from her neck and resting perfectly between her.