Hearts Out of Time

by Chris Lange

  Chapter 10

  “Jake, bring him inside!” Garrett barked. “You aren’t much help here anyhow.”

  His order was obeyed without so much as a frown. Jake dropped on all fours to avoid wild bullets and edged toward Weedon.

  Careful not to stand outside, Jake reached the injured man, grabbed his coat, wrapped his fingers around the collar and dragged him in beside her. To her utmost relief, the young man was conscious, grimacing from the pain.

  Jessica spared a moment to gawk at the crumpled form on the floor. “Oh my God.”

  His back to them to keep an eye on the situation outside, Garrett reloaded his rifle and aimed while speaking to his friend. “How bad is it, Weedon?”

  “I’ll be okay. It’s just a scratch.”

  “The bullet went right through his arm,” Jake said, “I can see the exit wound. If we take care of him as soon as possible, he’ll be all right.”

  “Do it then.” The request came from Jessica.

  Jake cast her a sideways glance before muttering under his breath, “Yeah, easier said than done.”

  The task would prove a challenge, what with the battle still going on and the movements of the train but the alternative was just watching the young man bleed to death. Couldn’t the gunslinger see that?

  With the wolfdog whimpering in her ear and staring at his master, Tracy put her hand on Weedon’s forehead. “Don’t worry. You’re going to be fine, I promise you.”

  He managed a thin smile as she bent over him despite White Fur blocking her way, and shifted to his good side.

  “I’ll take your word for it,” Weedon said. “Now help me sit up, will you?”

  Not a very sensible idea in his current condition.

  Jessica fired another round then quickly twisted her body to look at them. “No, stay down. We’re almost done.”

  He wouldn’t hear of it. Although sitting up proved a strenuous task, Weedon wasn’t yet out of the fight. “How many left, Jess?”

  “Only four and they’re disbanding.”

  “Good work.”

  She put more ammunition into her various weapons, but glanced aside without attempting to fire.

  “Look, Garrett, we have to know what they’re after. Stay here, back me up and I’ll go get one of them.”

  “I forbid it. I shall go instead.”

  “Oh, be sensible, will you? You’re the best shot and I’m the best rider. Jake can come if he likes, but we’re doing it my way.”

  Garrett must have known that Jessica was right, but having to allow her to go still seemed to rattle him.

  Just as Jake raised his head, Jessica turned away from the window and grabbed him by the vest. “Stop the train and get us horses. Hurry up!”

  He carried out her instructions and pulled the stop cord. A screeching noise filled the air, the brakes slowing the train down and bringing their motion to a halt. Clearly, the crew hadn’t taken any bullets in the head.

  Jake and Jessica rushed to the stable car.

  Garrett fired to cover their backs then threw his rifle on the nearest table. “Fear not, Miss Richardson. We lack ammunition but they disbanded, and we are out of harm’s way.”

  Tracy stood, her bunched-up muscles protesting at the sudden movement, and went to the window. The last two cowboys alive were riding away.

  With Garret next to her, she leaned out to get a better view. “Do you think they’ll catch up with them?”

  “I know not about him, but she will,” Garrett said. “She’s an astonishing rider, taught by her father. Gabriel Harring started training her in everything he knew from the day she turned two years old. She’s also a master at fencing and she fights like a man. I am truly glad she’s a member of our society for she is an excellent asset.”

  Weedon looked livelier than a few minutes ago, now sitting up and resting his back against an armchair. “Don’t forget to mention she harbors a fierce hatred toward vampires and she’s great at beheading them. Tracy, where are they? Can you see them?”

  Tracy gestured to the front of the train while she watched, impressed that Jessica didn’t seem to be in the least hindered by her dress. Astride her horse like a man, her calves bare, she exhibited white knickers. “Riding away. Jess is giving chase, but I can’t see Jake anywhere.”

  “Here I am. Well-prepared to assist you in any way I can, dear lady.”

  The unexpected reply came from the doorway opening onto the balcony just as the bad boy from the Wild West walked over to her. Startled by his entrance, she kept her mouth shut as Garrett lashed out.

  “Bloody hell, Cooper, what are you doing here?”

  His crude choice of words and harsher than steel tone left no doubt as to his irritated state of mind. Neither did his gaze on the gunslinger.

  “You shouldn’t have left Jessica alone,” Garrett said in a harsh tone. “Are you out of your mind?”

  Jake shook his head. “Not so. I believe my woman is quite capable of handling herself.”

  “Very well, I’ll go.”

  Eyes burning with anger, Garrett glared at Jake with such an expression of contempt that the gunslinger must have felt remorse, although it didn’t show in the slightest. Hatred and rage suffused the atmosphere. Tracy tensed. Would they start fighting each other? With a shrug, she turned her attention back to the plain.

  “Guys, look!” Excited anew with Jessica’s prowess, Tracy indicated the spot where the vampire huntress was catching up with a rider.

  The horses rode two abreast, full speed. One powerful shove and the cowboy was thrown down, biting dust. Slowing her steed, the huntress circled the man on the ground before dismounting near him.

  He tried to get up, but she was quicker and kicked him square in the head. He went down, motionless.

  Eyes riveted to the show, Tracy forgot the people around her and their proper manners. “Holy crap!”

  The exhilarated curse flew out of her mouth, her mind spinning from exhilaration at Jessica’s feat, and she pulled at Garrett’s sleeve. “Did you see that? She kicked his ass big time.”

  “She most certainly did,” Garrett agreed.

  “That was incredible,” she replied.

  But unlike her, he didn’t seem awed by the woman’s stunt, not even amused.

  “Miss Richardson,” he said, “I don’t wish to put a damper on your felicity, but could you let go of my arm, please?”

  He remained as cold as a meat storage locker in a Siberian bunker. Nothing ever moved him. Nothing ever excited him. Well . . . she had. Once.

  Jake took out an old-fashioned version of a first-aid kit from a cabinet. He cleaned Weedon’s wound, his patient clenching his teeth through the ordeal, and bandaged his arm. That was the extent of what they could do.

  She dealt with the cut on Garrett’s cheek as soon as she got her hands on the first-aid kit. Not much to work with in the box, yet a kind of antique Band-Aid did the trick. Then she called out to Jake, “Is Weedon going to be okay?”

  “For a while, but he needs a physician.”

  His patching job done, he left them to go help Jessica bring the unconscious attacker back to The Drifter. The pair hauled him inside and dumped him on the floor.

  The cowboy came to when they threw water in his face. He used the wall to sit up right before Jessica put a knife against his throat. “What were you after? Don’t lie to me, I’m not in the mood.”

  The man already had a taste of her. He also didn’t appear trained to endure torture. Or didn’t feel like it. “It ain’t my fault, I swear. I was told to capture a woman. Not you though, ma’am. The sissy one.”

  He gasped for air and his eyes widened when Jessica threw his head back. “Who?”

  Despite the terror filling his gaze, he managed to point his ch
in at the standing group. “Her.”

  Tracy looked around. What the hell? Who had referred to her as the sissy one?

  But the interrogation wasn’t over. “Why?” Jessica demanded.

  “Don’t know why. I just do what people want.”

  Yeah, didn’t they all? Still, coming out of the cowboy’s mouth, the statement sounded pretty likely.

  Unfazed, Jessica shifted her wrist. “Who paid you?”

  He groaned when, knife in hand, she tugged on his hair and grazed the skin of his throat from left to right.

  “Don’t know.”

  “Answer me!” She applied a little pressure, drawing blood.

  Wide-eyed, the prisoner drooled. His chin glistened with saliva. “I don’t know. A man paid me good to do the job.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “Come on, ma’am. I ain’t never seen the man before, I promise.”

  Standing closest to Jessica, Garrett bent down to put a calming hand on her shoulder. “Don’t haul him over the coals. He’s only playing second fiddle.”

  Looking panicked by this beautiful woman who didn’t seem able to see reason, the cowboy shouted, “Please, ma’am, don’t! He was nobody, that’s all I know. But yeah, hold on . . .”

  “What?” Jessica said in a menacing tone.

  “He spoke funny.”

  She yanked his head again, unimpressed by his sudden willingness to spill the beans all over the floor. “Funny how?”

  “Like him.” He pointed at Garrett.

  In a swift motion, all heads turned to him before he addressed the cowboy with a low and threatening voice. “What do you mean to say?”

  “I mean like you, big words and funny accent.”

  Jake snapped his fingers and a fierce, malicious light glinted in his eyes as he faced Garrett. “Did you hire the guy? Why now, who would have guessed you were a traitor?”

  “Not now, Cooper.

  Having dismissed the gunslinger, Garrett crouched beside the cowboy. “What were you supposed to do with the lady?”

  “He told me to take her back to town to a warehouse on Oakland docks, tie her up, and leave her there. That’s all I know.”

  “What did he look like?”

  “He stayed in the shadows. I ain’t seen his face.”

  The man was whimpering now. Heedless of his misery, Jake nodded as though the cowboy had revealed the mysteries of the universe. “And I bet my horse that Garrett would have gone later to get the package back. What a very cunning plan.”

  Jessica snapped as she eased the knife from the cowboy’s throat and struck his shoulder in the direction of the door. “Shut up, Jake. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Weedon moved his arm although he winced when he cocked his head toward the balcony. Brow creased with determination, he said, “Yeah, shut up, Jake, and let this guy go. I’m sure he’s told us everything he knows.”

  The cowboy scrambled to his feet, a bit unsteady but determined to get the hell out of there. He lurched outside without looking back, jumped on his horse, untied the reins from the balcony rail and rode away.

  With a spiteful grin stretching his lips, Jake stared pointedly at Garrett. “How about tying this one up? Just to be on the safe side.”

  Obviously upset with her boyfriend’s attitude, Jessica wheeled toward him and punctuated her words with a stab of her knife. “Cut the crap, Jake. Why would Garrett do such a thing? What you’re implying is outrageous.”

  “I agree with Jess,” Weedon said. “Garrett isn’t a traitor, Jake. You know him well enough. Whatever gave you that idea? That cowboy’s ramblings? Come on, man. Half the town of San Francisco speaks with a British accent.”

  “How come you’re all so quick to trust him?” Jake snapped.

  Tracy suspected she knew the answer. Although her encounter with Garrett was still recent, she trusted him. Not only to carry out her father’s wishes, but because last night she’d glimpsed the real Garrett Burnes, the man who gave himself up to her. She knew. She had been to the core of him.

  Garrett exhaled a long breath, his bland expression implying he was already past the gunslinger’s groundless accusations. “This is all so ridiculous. We ought to attend to the task at hand, not let ourselves be led astray by erroneous suspicions.”

  Weedon passed his hand over his bandages and raised his face to look at the group standing in front of him. “Right, let’s do that. Jake, how far is it to Gold Run?”

  “Not far. It shouldn’t take more than an hour now.”

  Weedon nodded. “Good. We’ll go there, retrieve the painting and the safety catch, come back home, and see what happens next. I guess we’ll be contacted soon enough.”

  With a shake of her head, Jessica squatted beside the injured man to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I’m not certain this is the best move. We have no idea what we may find out there, and you need professional care. Maybe we should turn back.”

  Weedon wouldn’t hear of it as he waved off the suggestion with a slightly shaky hand. “No, we’re almost there. We’re not quitting now. I’ll be okay, besides I’ve been in worse situations in the wild.”

  He seemed so sure of himself that nobody dared contradict him. Jake had The Drifter moving again, continuing onward.

  Garrett lifted Weedon up carefully, and Jessica helped him to sit on a couch.

  Weedon tried to make himself comfortable, with the wolfdog lying at his feet. They all sat down, gathering around him, a perceptible feeling of hostility estranging them from one another. Or from Jake.

  Garrett’s firm voice broke the silence. He fidgeted with his cuff links but his eyes observed the whole group. “Miss Richardson has been a target since she set foot in our world. Last night’s attempt on her life was no random aggression, nor was our encounter with those cutthroats in the alleyway.”

  Sneering at Garrett, Jake moved over to curl a possessive arm around Jessica’s shoulders. “Well . . . they didn’t cut your throat, did they?”

  Jessica shook him off.

  Features cold, Garrett ignored him. “An unidentified person gave a goodly sum to those cowboys, but how did he find out we were on our way to Gold Run? I only revealed the location of the painting last night, and solely to you.”

  The gunslinger sprang to his feet as though something was biting his soles, his tone resentful and hostile. “Good point. We couldn’t have done it even if one of us wanted to. But the story is different on your side, isn’t it? You knew about Gold Run.”

  Tracy felt a cold settle in the pit of her stomach and the thick silence following his statement seemed to press down on her.

  Mindless of them all, Cooper riveted his gaze on Garrett. “You set us up.”

  “How can you even imply . . .?” Garrett’s voice trailed off.

  Belly torn with unfairness, she picked up on Garrett’s indignation, his bitterness and anger at being unfairly incriminated. His honor had been placed in jeopardy, and he couldn’t bear the thought.

  She couldn’t either, for that matter, an intense feeling of frustration swelling up in her. Although the gunslinger had a point, she despised Jake’s lack of style and the way he always picked on Garrett.

  She eyed each of them in turn. “Whoever that person is, there’s no way it’s Garrett because all he had to do was extract information from me when I first landed here. We were alone in my father’s lab and I was the ideal prey. If that was his intent, he’d have gotten whatever he needed in a few minutes. Easy come, easy go. Yet, he didn’t.”

  The hint of a smile quirked Weedon’s lips as he winked at her. “Right-oh.”

  “You’ve known the man only a day,” Jake continued, unfazed. “Who are you to trust him? By all that I hold dear, I know I don’t.”


  Who cared what he thought? Still, her exasperation leaked from her voice. “Well I do.”

  Bad answer. She’d played right into the bad boy’s hands.

  Jake smirked. “And why would that be?”

  Chapter 11

  “Because he, well, because . . .” Tracy stammered, running out of steam. She caught sight of Garrett’s eyes. He looked at her in an unusual way, almost with fondness while a sleazy sneer distorted the gunslinger’s handsome face.

  “Because you got laid, my dear,” Jake said.

  The company froze as Garrett sprang to his feet, harbinger of all-out war, to stand in Jake’s way. “That’s enough, Cooper. You will apologize to Miss Richardson now.”

  “The hell I will.”

  Both men faced each other, poised to strike with their words, features twisted, wrath burning in their eyes.

  A low, deep growl issued from White Fur. The wolfdog didn’t even lift his head up but just lay on the floor, his rumble lasting long enough for everyone to get the drift of his temper.

  Jessica eyed both opponents in turn, the fluttering of her pulse visible against the base of her throat. “Calm down, you two. This isn’t the time for dissent.”

  Although the vampire huntress tried to defuse the situation, she didn’t appear to have been insulted. Neither had Weedon. Tracy knew they obviously didn’t feel the resentment currently running up and down her veins, heating her blood, and pushing her to get the last word on any topic pertaining to herself.

  She got up slowly to look straight at the gunslinger, her belly writhing with cold anger and outrage. “I don’t need any apologies from you, Jake. You are the most obnoxious, despicable man I’ve ever met. I never imagined an American officer and secret agent could be a bad guy, and I can’t tell you how much you disappoint me.”