His heart began pounding as he realized that the woman on the horse was Macie. Was something wrong in the house? Blake couldn’t imagine what would draw her off, away from town, towards the hundreds of acres where their herd roamed. The instant she passed the last of the outbuildings and kicked her horse into a gallop, Blake was on his feet and running.
Something was terribly wrong and Macie was in danger.
Chapter 35
The canyon was straight ahead. Macie could see the gap between the surrounding hills. She remembered the Bradfield men talking about how they’d used it in bad weather to keep the herd out of wind and rain. It was perfect for corralling them as there was only a narrow exit at the back where a stream ran.
Its high walls served as both a natural barrier from the weather and a three-sided pen. Now, she frowned at it. The canyon was also the perfect place for a group of thugs to lie in wait. There was one way in and one way out.
Macie slowed her horse as she approached, her heart thundering from the ride and her fear. It shouldn’t have been surprising that Lucien Durning was willing to resort to murder to get what he wanted, but it had caught her off guard nonetheless. Her brain was spinning and she tried to lift up a prayer but was too frightened to form sensible sentences. She hoped fervently that God would understand the situation and step in anyway.
There was a guard on top of the rocks, she saw, watching her with a sneer. None of the hills on the ranch were terribly tall. The canyon walls were no different, reaching no more than twenty or so feet high. The stream that ran through the canyon burbled gently on its way to a small pond more than a mile away, snaking lazily past Macie’s feet. She eyed the guard and his rifle warily as she entered the wide mouth of the canyon.
“There she is,” a voice chortled.
Macie stepped closer to where half a dozen rough men lounged. Her eyes searched frantically for her husband, but Blake was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Blake?” she demanded firmly.
The men snickered and Macie’s heart fell. Something was very wrong here.
One of the ruffians swaggered forward. When he was only a few feet away, he said, “We don’t have him.” The men behind him guffawed as though this was the funniest thing anyone had ever thought to say.
“What do you mean? I got this note,” Macie held it up, anger quickly replacing her fear.
“Oh, our boss wrote that yesterday for our fellow to give to you,” the man laughed.
Ah, so this was the trap. It had been sprung. She’d thought Blake’s kidnapping was Durning’s plan, but now she saw that she was the one who’d been taken captive. To her surprise, Macie found herself relishing this chess match in which she’d been placed.
She calculated carefully. The deputy was likely to arrive with help before long. She needed these men to keep talking. After all, Durning’s plan was only just beginning to reveal itself. They’d captured her. Now what? Did they plan to take her somewhere and demand a ransom? Were they planning to hurt her? Was she merely a way to lure the men from the ranch? If she played her cards right, she might be able to discern their nefarious plot and gain some sort of upper hand.
“Why did your boss want me?” she asked boldly.
The man shrugged. “Oh, he didn’t care which of you ladies he got. We knew whichever of you came out of the house first would hurry out here to save your kin.”
She frowned. Deputy Mitchell had definitely said that a ranch hand and told him to give the letter to her. Had the deputy somehow interpreted that as a request for Blake’s wife? With a sinking heart, she realized that he most likely had understood the instructions perfectly and had been acting for this boss, not the sheriff. Was Deputy Mitchell a traitor then?
“All right, you’ve got me. What are you going to do with me?” Macie crossed her arms and hoped she looked brave.
There were answering snickers from the men and she lifted an eyebrow imperiously, spearing each of them with quelling glare.
“You’re going to come with us,” their spokesman said.
She shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
He smiled, brown teeth bared. “Oh, yes, you are. You see, we’re going to rustle most of your herd and you’re going to ensure that no one stops us.”
So, there was the rest of the plan. Macie’s stomach dropped; it was a good one. There was a double guard on the cattle, but that wouldn’t mean anything if they had Macie at gun point. The hands wouldn’t fight back and risk one of the ladies of the ranch.
She lifted up a more coherent prayer now. Deputy Mitchell hadn’t told the men where she’d gone, surely. No help was coming. The only thing she could think to do was stall, hoping someone would notice her absence. Of course, with a crooked deputy working against them, any number of things could delay their arrival.
Just as Macie opened her mouth to speak, movement at the top of the canyon caught her attention. As all the ruffians were looking at her, she was the only one to see it. Was that Harris up there? Macie’s heart leapt. How had they arrived so fast?
“All the fences have been repaired,” she blurted, needing to keep their focus a little longer. “How are you going to get the herd out?”
The man in front of her tucked his fingers into his suspenders and bragged, “Fences can be cut easy enough.”
“It’s a pretty good plan,” she said, hoping to strike just the right air of reluctant admiration. “Did your boss work it out on his own?”
Nods around the canyon confirmed it.
Macie raised her eyebrows. “He must be quite a fellow. Has he done this sort of thing before?”
“Girlie, you don’t know the half of it,” the man in front of her cackled. “He’s scared off nigh on a dozen people in this part of the country alone.”
It was time to take a risk, Macie decided. Without missing a beat, she said, “Lucien Durning’s a clever fellow, all right.”
The thugs nodded and laughed, calling out their agreement of the fact. There it was, she thought with some satisfaction. This was the proof they needed that it was Lucien calling the shots. She only hoped Harris had heard and could bear witness.
The man in front of her must have been smarter than the rest, because he suddenly scowled at her and took a menacing step forward. “What did you say?” he demanded.
Macie’s triumph wavered and she took a hasty step backwards. “I said that Lucien Durning’s clever. He’s your boss, isn’t he?”
“How do you know that?” the man growled.
“Aw, Hank, the jig is up,” one of the other thugs chided him. “She knows we’re on Durning’s payroll. So what?”
Hank’s expression became cruel as he said, “Durning told us we could dispose of her however we chose if she found out he was behind it all.”
Cruel chuckles erupted around Macie and she suddenly knew exactly how a wounded deer felt when surrounded by wolves.
***
Blake peeked around the edge of the canyon mouth, blood pounding in his ears. Harris had gone on ahead, winding his way the long way round. He had sneaked up on the guard at the top of the wall, catching him by surprise and knocking him out silently. The two deputies were going around to the back of the canyon, ready to sneak out and overpower as many men as possible.
These were dangerous brutes, Blake knew. They wouldn’t get out of this without bloodshed, most likely. The thought worried Blake. Macie could so easily be hurt if bullets started flying. Besides, he and Harris weren’t killers. If they could avoid taking lives, he would be mighty relieved, but was that possible?
He peeked around again, this time looking up for Harris. His brother wiggled a finger and Blake whipped back around, nodding at Troy. Instantly, Troy pulled back his arm and let a heavy rock fly. It crashed against the wall of the canyon.
“What was that?!” hollered more than one man.
From inside the canyon came the strains of the panic this had caused. A quick squabble ensued in which one fellow ordered a
nother to go and investigate. There seemed to be some disagreement about whether or not the first man had the right to issue orders. Soon though, the others urged the man along and he came stumbling out of the cave, clearly unhappy about being given the task.
Troy grabbed him from behind, clapping one hand over his surprised mouth and his other arm around the man’s neck. Within the span of less than a minute, the ruffian was laid out flat, unconscious, and beginning to snore. Blake took the man’s guns and tucked them into his own belt.
It didn’t take long before the fellow’s absence was noted.
“Where’d Abel get to?” someone asked.
“Dunno. He should be back by now.”
A further argument broke out. Blake stood with his back against the canyon wall and rolled his eyes. This wasn’t much of a professional operation. He hoped fervently that this would work to their advantage. When the new fellow came trudging out, he was given the same treatment as his cohort.
The trick had worked twice, but it wouldn’t work indefinitely. Blake peeked around the corner up at Harris who saw him and held up a hand with four fingers standing upright. There were four men left. That was one each for Troy, Blake, and the two deputies if they managed to arrive in time.
Blake prayed that they could get at least one more of the thugs out of the way before they grew wise and stopped coming out one at a time.
“Hector didn’t come back either,” one of the men growled, a note of concern in his voice.
“I don’t like this. Let’s get out of here,” someone suggested.
There was the general sound of feet shuffling in their direction. Blake and Troy flattened themselves against the wall of the canyon, hoping for another few seconds of surprise.
The sounds of the men drew closer and closer.
“Get your hands off me!” cried Macie.
Troy thrust out a quelling hand and Blake stayed where he was, though every instinct was screaming at him to go to his wife’s aid, destroying everyone who stood in his way.
“Shut up!” demanded a gruff voice.
“You two up front, watch out! There are snakes in these parts,” Macie called.
You clever woman, Blake thought with grim amusement. Macie had found a way to let anyone who was listening know exactly who was coming out first.
“I’ll get the first one,” Troy breathed in his ear.
Blake nodded, heart pounding.
Then a man appeared around the edge. He was walking carefully, pistol out in front of him, eyes sweeping back and forth for sight of whoever had taken out his comrade, but he’d missed the Bradfield brothers tucked in the shadows.
In an instant, Troy moved. The thug had stepped in front of them and his back was to the two Bradfields. Troy made a flying leap, tackling the man and rolling him away. Taken by surprise, his gun went flying.
By then, the second man had come out. He only had enough time to let out a shocked, “Hey!” before Harris dropped from above. This fellow kept hold of his gun by sheer dumb luck. By the time Harris got to his feet, it was clear that the man had been knocked unconscious. Harris had to pry his fingers open to get his firearm free.
Macie suddenly appeared around the edge of the canyon and Blake froze, horrified at the sight of the gun held against her temple. She was fighting and furious, he saw. Though he admired her daring, Blake was terrified that she’d anger her captor and he’d pull the trigger.
“Let me go! Get your hands off me!” she yelled in a ceaseless stream.
Blake had to get the gun pointed away from his wife. His eyes scanned the scuffling around him, trying to find some advantage to exploit. Suddenly, the two deputies burst from the opening. Deputy Carter grabbed the ruffian’s wrist, knocking the gun away while Deputy Mitchell pulled Macie from the man’s grasp.
“Take her back to the house!” Blake hollered at Deputy Mitchell. He didn’t give his wife another look as he put his full attention on helping the other policeman wrestle this fellow into submission. Once these men were in custody, he’d worry about getting home and checking on Macie.
After all, she was safe in the deputy’s care.
Chapter 36
It took Macie a full minute before she realized that she wasn’t out of danger yet. Everything had happened so fast. Her brain reeled to make sense of the flurry of activity she’d witnessed. It had seemed like the Bradfields were overpowering Lucien Durning’s men. Was she right about that?
When she finally looked over at the man holding her arm so tightly and marching her away, a stone dropped into her belly. She’d been rescued from Durning’s men only to be passed into the hands of a corrupt deputy who was hurrying her away from her rescuers.
“Make a sound and it’ll be the last thing you do,” he growled low in her ear.
Macie felt the point of a gun poke her in the back and she reacted almost without thinking. She dug in her heels, jabbed back with her elbow at his throat, and screamed with everything she had.
Deputy Mitchell bent over double, choking and clutching at his neck. Harris was the first to arrive on the scene, though Blake was right on his heels.
“What happened?” Harris demanded, putting a protective arm around her shoulders.
“He’s the traitor!” Macie insisted, pointing wildly. “He’s working for Durning! He gave me a note saying they had Blake and told me to come straight here.”
She watched her husband carefully, desperately hoping he would understand her hurried explanation and restrain the deputy before he could escape. It took a moment, but then Blake’s eyes narrowed and he nodded at Harris. Between the two brothers, the deputy was soon well and truly caught.
“Nice work, Macie,” Harris said warmly.
She threw him an appreciative smile and said, “Thanks, Harris. I’m just glad you were able to get here so quickly.”
Macie looked over at Blake, meaning to include him in her praise but found him frowning at her. She was suddenly too exhausted to figure out what was wrong.
It was decided that Deputy Carter would accompany Macie back to the ranch then go on to get the sheriff and bring him back to arrest the thugs and Deputy Mitchell. Macie climbed gratefully into the saddle of a borrowed horse and rode home in a tired fog. Her adrenaline was long gone and she thought wistfully of her bed.
But, back at the ranch there were worried family members waiting anxiously to hear all. Macie had a job reassuring them that everyone was fine and Durning’s men had been captured. Len in particular was eager to hear if they’d gotten the confession they needed. Her tired brain worked hard to recall how everything had transpired. Had Harris overheard Hank’s words? Though they’d confessed to her that they worked for Lucien, Macie couldn’t say with confidence that anyone else had heard.
“Come and have a rest,” Judy offered, giving her husband a quelling look when his questions dragged on. “You can sleep here in Blake’s old room. We aren’t out of the woods yet and I don’t want you alone at your cabin. You look done in, dear.”
Macie gladly followed her mother-in-law to one of the bedrooms and flopped on the bed, asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.
***
Blake trudged back to his parents’ house, with Troy and Harris close on his heels. He should have felt light-hearted, but he was worried. Neither of his brothers looked completely at ease either.
The Scars of a Pure Heart Page 26
