Lady Deception

by Bobbi Smith

Jack levered himself up on an elbow to look down at her as he spoke. "I've been delving into the background of the gang's activities and I'm convinced El Diablo has a contact here in town. I've narrowed down the suspects to two."

  "Who are they? Did you hear something from your contact?"

  "Not yet. I've figured this out on my own."

  Elizabeth looked puzzled as she tried to imagine who he could have come up with. "What did you learn?"

  "There were two people in Del Fuego who had advance knowledge of the gun shipment. Fred Halloway and-"

  "It couldn't be Fred," she insisted, quickly defending the lawman.

  "And..." He paused, hating what he had to say next. "Your husband."

  "Jonathan?" She stared at him wide-eyed, her color paling, shocked by the suggestion. "You think my Jonathan is somehow connected to El Diablo?"

  "If he's not El Diablo himself," he stated firmly. "I'm sorry, but he and Fred are the two most likely suspects."

  "But Jonathan's paralyzed! He couldn't have had anything to do with the robberies. Dear Lord, why would he allow himself to be shot at the bank if he were El Diablo?"

  Luke shrugged. "Maybe it was a plan that went awry. Maybe Jonathan was only supposed to be wounded, and the shot went wide. I don't know. And as far as his being paralyzed goes, he could still relay messages to the right people if he were the contact. According to the general at the fort-"

  "You mean..."

  "You're familiar with General Larson?"

  "Yes, he and his wife are our close friends."

  "Well, according to him, Jonathan was one of very few who knew the details of the gun shipment, and whoever informed El Diablo knew all the details."

  "There is no way it could have been Jonathan," she defended her husband.

  "Are you certain?"

  "Positive. Jonathan may be many things, but he's not an outlaw."

  "Then can you think of anyone he's been in contact with who he might innocently have told about the gun shipment or the money at the bank? Someone who could immediately send word to El Diablo and set the gang up for their next job?"

  "He's had so many visitors since the shooting." She looked bewildered as she tried to remember all those who'd come to visit. "I don't know if I could pick out even one who might be the one you're looking for. They're all our friends."

  "Think. Did anyone want to speak with him alone and uninterrupted? Was there anyone who seemed secretive in any way?"

  "No. I was with him most of the time. It can't be Jonathan. It just can't. As his wife, don't you think I'd know it if he were El Diablo? Don't you think I'd be aware of strange comings and goings, of cryptic messages and the like? There's been nothing like that with Jonathan that I've ever seen. Nothing."

  Jack fell silent, going over Fred's connections in his mind, trying to fit the new sheriff into the role of informant, wondering if Steve was having any success with him.

  "You believe me, don't you?" she asked worriedly.

  "Of course," he assured her, drawing her to him for a kiss and then cradling her to his shoulder.

  Elizabeth breathed easier. The last thing Jonathan needed was to find out that he was suspected of being involved with El Diablo.

  "I just wish I could find that one missing link."

  "Maybe there's more than one person involved," she offered.

  "There could be, but I doubt it. When there's more than one person involved, people talk, and El Diablo's gang is known for their secretiveness."

  "Enough about El Diablo," she said sofdy, kissing him to distract him from thoughts of the bloody gang.

  "You're right."

  And they spoke of the gang no more.

  It was over an hour later that she dressed and prepared to leave him. Jack took her in his arms to kiss her once more.

  "I don't want you to go... ever."

  "I wish I could stay, but there's no way. Coming here as I do is so dangerous as it is."

  "I know, and I'm sorry to put you in this situation."

  "You didn't put me here. I come to you because I need you, Jack. You'll never know how much our time together means to me."

  He held her close for a moment longer, then let her go. She slipped from the room.

  "What are you doing here?" El Diablo demanded, coming face-to-face with Hadley, standing in the shadows of the front porch.

  "Where were you?" Hadley demanded. "I've been waiting for hours."

  "That's none of your business. We had no rendezvous set. My life is my own."

  "Not for much longer," he said tightly.

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Majors killed Sully and escaped."

  "I always knew Sully was an idiot!"

  "He's a dead idiot now, but that doesn't change anything. You've got to get out of here. When Majors gets back here and tells Logan what he knows, they'll know who you are."

  "How much time do I have?"

  "Who knows? I'm surprised I beat him back here, but then he had the cantina singer with him and that probably slowed him down a bit."

  "I may have something else that will slow him down," El Diablo said thoughtfully. "As far as I know, no one else in town has been told that Majors is working for Logan. If Logan is no longer around to save him when he returns, Luke Majors is as good as dead."

  "How do you figure?"

  "We almost had a riot a few weeks ago when a bounty hunter brought in a man he thought was Majors. You wouldn't have believed the excitement in town. Logan and Halloway had to chase the people off. If Logan's dead and Majors shows up in town, he's gonna hang for sure."

  "I like the way you think."

  "You always have." El Diablo smiled.

  "Shall I take care of Logan?"

  "No. You stay here out of sight."

  "What about Jonathan?"

  "Don't worry about him. He's in bed, and he's hot going anywhere unless I move him."

  "Poor bastard," Hadley remarked.

  "You got the bastard part right. As soon as I finish with Logan, we'll ride. The farther we get away from this town and the people in it, the better. I'm sick of the whole place. You got money?"

  "I've got our shares from the sale of the guns."

  "Good. That should take us far and fast."

  El Diablo disappeared inside. Ten minutes later, the outlaw leader reappeared dressed in black.

  Hadley nodded approvingly. "If you stay in the shadows, no one will ever see you."

  "That's exactly how I want it. This is how I man aged to get inside the jail and find out about Sheriff Gregory that night."

  "Be careful. Ill be waiting."

  "I'll be back."

  El Diablo moved off into the night.

  Jack had lain awake for a while thinking about all that had happened, and wondering how Luke was. He hoped his friend was safe. He finally drifted off. He had been sleeping heavily, facedown on the bed, when a sound in the room roused him. He opened his eyes and smiled.

  "You came back," he said warmly.

  "I had to," came her answer.

  And then Elizabeth, moving toward him, kneeling over him, drew out a savage-looking knife and in one smooth vicious move, plunged it into Jack's back.

  He rose up with a roar, his eyes wide in agony and confusion. She jumped back and fled toward the window she'd just climbed in.

  "You?" he managed in a strangled voice, trying to give chase. He tried to catch her, but the pain was too great and his legs wouldn't work. "It was you?"

  Elizabeth smiled coldly down at him as he collapsed beside the bed and lay still. "Yes, Jack, dear, it was me. All the time."

  Without a backward glance, she escaped from the room and disappeared.

  Her brother was waiting for her when she returned to the house. He met her outside.

  "Is he dead?" Hadley asked.

  She shot him a disgusted look, irritated that he would question her. "I stabbed him in the back while he was still in bed half-asleep. Let's ride."

  "Do y
ou have everything you need? Is there anything you want in the house?"

  Elizabeth glanced at the house where she'd lived with Jonathan for the last three years. Had she been a sentimental woman, she might have known a moment of regret leaving it. After all, the only reason she'd married the banker in the first place was to have this kind of a life. She'd been sick of always being on the run and had seen marriage to the lonely banker as the perfect way to settle down in one place and still get the information they'd needed for the gang. Jonathan had never caught on to her, either. He'd accepted at face value her stories that she was going to see her brother whenever she went to meet Hadley, and he'd never questioned her or wanted to accompany her. Had Jonathan ever wanted to go, they would have arranged some kind of miserable meeting so he would never ask to accompany her again. But her husband had never been an adventurous sort, so they'd been safe there.

  Now it was over. Elizabeth was going to walk away without a backward glance. Jonathan had meant nothing to her when she'd married him, and he meant less than nothing to her now. He had been a means to an end. She had used him while it had benefited her, but she valued her own life too much to stay around when it got dangerous.

  "No," Elizabeth finally answered him, and her tone was completely devoid of emotion. "There's nothing I want inside. We can leave now."

  She walked away with Hadley to where he'd tied up his horse and one for her. They mounted up and rode quietly away.

  "Where do you want to go?" Hadley asked.

  "Far away from here," she answered.

  Once they reached the edge of town, they spurred their horses to a gallop and never looked back.

  Jonathan lay in his bed, staring unblinkingly at the ceiling. Elizabeth and Hadley were part of the El Diablo gang. Terror filled him.

  It was obvious they hadn't known he could hear them. But he had heard them, every word. Their conversation played over and over in his mind. He'd been helpless to stop them. Had he yelled or called out for help, no one would have heard him but them. He probably would have ended up dead, just like that Texas Ranger was right now.

  Jonathan trembled. Elizabeth and Hadley might have said they were leaving, but he didn't trust them. He had no intention of making a sound until morning. Only then would he try to figure out a way to get word to the sheriff about what he knew.

  Images of Elizabeth tormented him the rest of the night. Elizabeth as his beautiful bride, as his loving wife. It had all been a terrible lie. She had never loved him. She had only used him. She had even plotted to rob his own bank! She was the one who was really responsible for his injury.

  Hatred welled up powerfully within him. He might have been a little cruel to her since he'd been injured, but if he ever saw her again, she would learn the true meaning of the word.

  "We'll make Del Fuego today," Cody announced as she saddled her horse the second morning out.

  Stalking Ghost nodded. "We should reach the town by early afternoon."

  Luke didn't respond as he sat waiting for them to get ready to ride out. He'd been mostly quiet since Cody had stolen him back from Reid, speaking only when asked a direct question. There was no point. When he met with Jack, he would tell his friend all he knew; until then he would go along with Cody and Stalking Ghost and pray that they reached town as quickly as possible.

  Once he'd told Jack what he'd learned, he was going to collect the money his friend owed him and head for the Trinity. Luke planned to sit out on the ranch with Jessy until they ran out of sup plies. The last thing he wanted was to be around anyone. He'd had enough of "civilization" to last him a lifetime. He was looking forward to some peace and quiet

  Cody glanced over at Luke as she finished with her horse. In a few hours she would be turning him over to Logan and would probably never see him again. Somehow she wanted him to know that everything that had happened between them hadn't been an act. She wanted him to know that she had appreciated his kindness and his protection when she'd been Sister Mary. Cody wanted to tell him, too, that she was glad she'd saved him from Sully, but she was certain he would accuse her of having done that only for the money.

  When Stalking Ghost moved away, Cody saw her chance to talk to Luke privately, and she went to him.

  "There are a few things I have to say to you before we reach Del Fuego."

  He glanced up at her from where he sat. His regard was glacial.

  Cody almost shivered at the coldness and contempt she saw in it. She was tempted to turn and walk away, to give up, but she didn't. "First I wanted to say thank you."

  He gave her a mocking smile. "Thank you? For what?"

  "For the way you treated me when you thought I was Sister Mary. You were very kind and very protective, and-"

  "And knowing what I know now, I realize you would have been just fine without me. I was a fool."

  "No, you were a gentleman. That's rare in-"

  "Go ahead and finish what you were about to say, Jameson. `That's rare in a killer.' Well, your thanks aren't needed or wanted. If I'd had my way, we would never have met."

  "I would have found you."

  "Because it was your job," he shot back at her.

  "I'm bringing you in alive. That's more than some of the others would have done," she countered.

  "So I can be hanged by a mob," he finished bluntly.

  "There won't be any lynching. The law will see to that. Things were pretty stirred up when I was there, but then, the townspeople were still angry over Sheriff Gregory being killed that way."

  "Killed what way?" Luke was instantly alert, fearing he'd hit the sheriff too hard when he'd left to follow the gang.

  "He was shot down in cold blood while he was locked in the jail cell." Cody looked at him, trying to read his thoughts. "You might say executed. One of the deputies who'd been keeping watch around town that night was killed, too. Most of the talk said you were the one who killed the sheriff.l

  "Gregory was alive when I left that jail! I made sure of it! I was the last one out!"

  "Well, he was murdered that night!"

  "El Diablo.. .It had to be El Diablo," Luke said softly. Hadley's sister. Was the outlaw leader in Del Fuego?

  "Who is El Diablo?" Cody asked him.

  "I never met him. I don't know." It wasn't a lie.

  "You were a member of the gang and you never met him?"

  "He never rode into camp while I was there."

  "Why did you run after you shot Sully? If you were one of the gang, they wouldn't have blamed you for killing him in self-defense."

  "I wasn't taking any chances." He fell silent, fearing he'd said too much already. What he knew about El Diablo he was saving for Jack.

  Steve Laughlin had been working with Fred all night. There had been a disturbance at one of the saloons, and they'd spent most of the long night hours sobering up drunken cowboys. They were tired as they waited in the office for Jack to show up the following morning to relieve them.

  "What time have you got, Fred?" Steve asked, wondering what was keeping him. Logan was usually on time.

  "After nine. You think Jack had something else to do this morning?"

  "Not that he mentioned to me. I think I'll go check on him, though. You want to come with me or wait here in case he shows up?"

  "I'll wait here. You go on ahead."

  Steve reached the hotel and went up to Jack's room. He knocked, but got no answer.

  "Jack... are you in there?" he called loudly, knocking again.

  It was then that he heard it: a low, barely distinguishable moan coming from inside.

  "Jack?" Steve put his ear to the door and heard it once more.

  He ran back down to the front desk.

  "I need to get into Ranger Logan's room," he demanded of the clerk.

  "I'm afraid I can't do that without his permission."

  "Look, I'm his boss, and I think something's wrong. I heard a strange noise that sounded like a groan coming from inside. I need the door unlocked now, so I can check."
<
br />   The clerk looked doubtful, but agreed. He planned on staying with this man the whole time just to make sure everything was left untouched.

  "Mr. Logan?" the clerk called out to Jack when he knocked on the door before opening it.

  When there was no immediate answer, he unlocked the room for the Ranger captain. As they stepped inside, to the clerk's horror, they found Jack Logan unconscious on the floor.

  "Send for a doctor, quick! And get word to Sheriff Halloway!" Steve began issuing orders to the stunned and unmoving clerk.

  The man turned and fled, and Steve hoped he remembered to do as he'd been told.

  Steve stared down at his friend, at the savage wound in his back and the blood that stained the floor around him where he'd fallen. He felt for a pulse and breathed easier when he found one.

  "Jack? Can you hear me?" He bent low just in case Jack tried to speak. "Who did this to you? Was it El Diablo?"

  But Jack did not respond. He lay unmoving, his breathing shallow and labored.

  The wait for the doctor seemed an eternity to Steve, and when the physician finally came through the door, he had never been so glad to see anyone.

  "I didn't move him. I was afraid to until you had a chance to look at him."

  "We can do it together, right now. I want him on the bed," Dr. Michaels directed.

  They carefully lifted Jack onto the bed, and then the physician began his examination. Steve went to close the door to the room while he worked.

  "Will he live?" Steve asked, unable to stand the waiting any more.

  "From the looks of things, the blade was deflected by a rib; otherwise he'd have been dead already."

  "Is he going to make it?"

  "I think so, but he's lost a lot of blood."

  "Do everything you can for him," Steve insisted. "I want this man alive."

  "So do I." He continued to work on Jack.

  A knock at the door drew Steve from the bedside. He answered it to find Fred Halloway there.

  "What happened?" He looked past Steve toward the bed, where Jack lay facedown while the doctor treated him.

  The Ranger captain stepped outside and pulled the door almost shut behind him. "Someone tried to murder Jack last night."

  Fred was shocked. "But who? Why?"

  Steve's expression was determined as he answered, "El Diablo. Who else? Jack must have been getting too close to the truth."