“And I’ll take every reward in my grasp.” The big man’s gaze cut to his partner. “Ain’t you ever rubbed your dick while listening to her singing out of reach on that stage?” His hand dropped from her head to encircle her arm like a band of iron.
That didn’t stop her from trying to twist free. “Madam Garrett will—”
He hauled her toward the train. “She can do whatever she wants. Same as I’m gonna do what I want—which is stripping you naked beside that train and jerking off while you wriggle beneath me with all of your pale flesh free for my other hand to grope.”
His partner jumped between them and the train. “Hey! When do I get my turn?”
“After you stand guard and make sure no one interrupts me.”
“I discovered who she was first. So I should go first.”
“Too bad yer a bandy-legged runt who’ll spend his life being second.”
The thin man tugged her toward him. The bigger one jerked her back. She felt like the wishbone on last week’s pheasant dinner, pulled in two directions and ready to snap.
The only direction she wanted to go was away from these two men. She needed help. Any help. At the saloon, she’d overheard that brakemen often worked in pairs. Was the other man in the caboose at the end of the train? Or walking along the backs of the cars? If she could get his attention, she might have a chance.
She screamed as loud as she could. Then she bit the palm that descended to cover her mouth. She could do nothing to escape the punch that followed. Pain exploded in her jaw and cracked her head back. Once again she hung from the big man’s grasp.
“Hit her again,” he growled, “and I’m gonna darken yer daylights.”
“But she bit me!”
“Remember those rules Garrett likes to harp about? We can do anything we damned well please except leave one of her girls too beat up to work in her saloon.”
“We can’t stick our pricks in this one.”
“There are other ways to get off.”
Eager fingers reached up to squeeze her arm. “If I help you get her into the engine cab, no one needs to stand guard. We can both be first.”
A frustrated growl sounded above her. “I’m only sayin’ yes to shut you up.”
She threw the last of her strength into trying to break free. The two men ignored her. With a determination gained from a single-minded purpose, they pulled her across the dirt toward the train.
CHAPTER 11
Noah’s heels hovered over his gray’s flanks as they followed John’s horse like a shadow through the rail depot. With the slightest command, Pepper would turn onto a new course. They’d been together long enough for the horse to sense his decisions a heartbeat after he’d made them. Trouble was he hadn’t a clue what to do right now.
Should he stay with John or start his own search?
On their first lap, John halted just long enough to bark orders at the townsfolk and workmen. This time they didn’t stop. They raced past the caboose, the railcars packed with bellowing cattle, the empty corrals and loading ramps, the locomotive rumbling and puffing black smoke while it waited to leave.
John’s attention was riveted on the workmen retreating into town. Noah squelched the urge to abandon the chase. The Star’s strong-man was riding in circles. But he couldn’t take the chance, however slight, of John stumbling onto Sadie without him nearby.
The orders Madam Garrett had given back at the Star made him rigid with worry, and anger.
They’d punished Sadie before. They meant to do so again. There’d be a reckoning for those offenses…as soon as he made sure Sadie was safe.
How could she have disappeared so quickly? Why hadn’t anyone seen her? John was offering enough incentives to make even a by-the-book preacher turn her in.
From the din behind him came a sound, faint as the cry of a bird high overhead. It raised the hair on his neck. He reined Pepper around. On the opposite side of the locomotive he’d sped past, two men dragged a struggling form. A tangle of brown with a flash of familiar red. Gone behind the locomotive in a blink.
His stomach flipped over, sick with dread. Pepper raced forward and bounded over the tracks straight toward the two men climbing into the engine cab. Long red hair hung from the bundle they were trying to force inside.
With a roar, he jumped to the ground, his revolver cocked and pointed at the biggest man’s back. “Bring her down. Or you’re both dead.”
The pair froze. The smaller man tensed, most likely preparing to jump on him.
He shifted his aim and pressed the trigger. The man’s hat flew into the air. He cocked the hammer and swung the barrel back to the first man who now glared down at him. He raised the gun until he stared straight down the barrel into a pair of black eyes.
The man’s gaze dropped to Noah’s chest, to the silver star pinned there, then rose to clash with his again. “Ain’t it against the law to shoot unarmed men, Deputy?”
“Noah?” Sadie’s voice flowed over him, dulling his rage but only for an instant.
He fought the urge to look at her. He kept his gaze on the men, but his words were only for her. “How badly did they hurt you?”
“The big one threw me off the top of the coal car. The other one punched me in the jaw.”
Noah swore.
“She tried to stowaway on our train,” the smaller man said in a shrill rush. “She’s that escaped whore John wants brought in.”
“That why you were forcing her back onto your train?” Noah demanded.
Silence met his question.
He drew in a deep breath, struggling to hold onto his raging emotions. “I killed the last man who tried to take her. Shot him square between the eyes. But you—” He lowered his aim to the man’s crotch. “You both deserve a bullet between your legs. Marshal Masterson will understand when I tell him you ignored my direct order to bring her down.”
With exaggerated care, the two men climbed down and set Sadie on the ground. Then they raised their hands and retreated as far was the engine would allow.
“Get back on that train,” he growled, “and out of my sight.”
The pair scrambled to obey. As soon as the train started moving, Noah holstered his revolver and dropped onto his knees beside Sadie. She lay curled in a ball on her side.
“What were you thinking, stowing away on that train?” His voice came out hoarse, unwilling to speak of the danger she’d exposed herself to because of her need to run away from him.
“I felt a sudden need to disappear in Chicago.”
The train rattled by, picking up speed. If she’d succeeded in stowing away on it, he might have never seen her again.
“Mule-headed little fool,” he muttered. He brushed her hair away from her cheek and tucked it behind her ear. “Why is your face streaked with so much dirt?”
She released a long sigh. “So, I failed there as well. I’d hoped to cover all of my face. And my hair…I should’ve cut it.”
“If you had, I might not have seen—” He shoved the thought from his mind and gathered her in his arms with all the gentleness he could muster.
She didn’t utter a sound, but her pain was evident in the stiffness of her muscles.
“I’m just glad I found you.” He breathed the words into her hair, then forced himself to continue in a firmer voice. “I made you run from the Star. I’m sorry.”
“I wasn’t running from you,” she replied without hesitation. She was telling the truth.
Her truths baffled him as much as her lies. “Then why did you leave?”
“Cora said it’d be either you or Wardell coming. Wardell was a possibility I couldn’t face.”
Wardell. The name echoed in his mind as the last railcar swept by. Its wake buffeted him, made him stagger. His hold tightened on Sadie as he stared after the receding tail of the train. He should’ve hauled Sadie onboard himself. He should’ve left Dodge with her safe and secure in his arms…and never looked back.
“I need you to return her
to the Star.”
Noah spun from the train to face John standing opposite him on the other side of the tracks.
His muscles coiled, preparing for a fight. But he couldn’t slug or shoot his way clear of John. Not with Sadie in his arms. He’d have to set her down. His arms refused to release her. He strode toward Pepper who patiently waited a short distance away.
John set a parallel course beside him. “She ain’t in no shape to travel.”
Noah kept walking. “I’m not leaving her alone with you and Gertie.”
“There’s a room waiting for you at the Star. For you and Sadie. Or have you forgotten that you paid for a night with her?”
Noah halted beside Pepper. “And in the morning?”
“Sadie will have had time to rest, and the madam will have time to cool off.”
“I need to go back.” Sadie’s words held a quiet certainty.
“Like hell you do,” he bit out.
“If Wardell wasn’t coming for me,” she continued in the same tone, “then I’ve no reason to run.”
She had no reason to stay either. At least not one she’d shared with him. And she had yet to pay Gertie’s price for running away. Anger whipped him around to face John. “You didn’t hear Madam Garrett telling him—” he thrust his chin at the man, “—to punish you as soon as he found you.”
“She knows the madam’s rules.” John widened his stance with one foot behind the other, braced and ready.
Damnation. He’d have to set Sadie down after all.
“I knew,” she said, “and I still climbed out that window.” The warmth of her palm on the back of his neck, made his pulse jump. With the barest of pressure, she pulled his head down until her lips brushed his ear. “I don’t want to return to the saloon, but…” Her halting, soft-spoken words made his heart race even faster. “I must finish what I started.”
If he hadn’t seen the clearness in her eyes a moment before, he might’ve thought that she was so exhausted she was letting her secrets slip. This was no accident. This secret was for him, and him alone.
He turned his back to John and lowered his voice to match hers. “What’s so important it’s worth risking a beating or worse?”
“A promise made to a friend. Someone who helped me when no one else would. Will you…help me fulfill that promise?”
Finally, she’d asked for his assistance. Without hesitation he said, “Yes.”
* * *
Sadie forced herself to say the words. “Then take me back to the Star.”
As soon as they left her mouth, Noah stiffened in rejection while at the same time his arms tightened around her. He gave a whistle and his horse, and John, followed them toward town.
She tried to relax in his arms, wanting to stay there forever and dreading the moment when he must put her down…when she’d be alone again. All too soon, they reached the alley behind the Star. As soon as they did, the back door burst open. Gertie stood in the doorway, hands fisted on her hips, her glare sharp as a blade.
Sadie’s anxiety doubled. She concentrated on remaining still, on not showing her fear. A hefty challenge that kept her well occupied.
“I’m sorry you’ve been inconvenienced, Mr. Ballantyne.” Gertie’s voice was tight with repressed anger. “Rest assured she’ll be disciplined for wasting your time.”
Noah’s embrace couldn’t stop the cold from reaching her. Icy tendrils streaked down her back, reminding her of what was to come—the lash of John’s strap.
She tamped down her shivers. She’d chosen this path. Too late to head down another, she reminded herself. Pain is temporary. Fear is fleeting. Making sure Gertie couldn’t savor her triumph over Edward would strengthen her forever. But to get to forever she had to survive today.
Noah’s fingers squeezed her arm with a gentle reassurance. She hadn’t hidden her fears after all. He’d felt them. How could he not, when he held her this close?
“My time with Sadie has been well spent, Madam Garrett,” he said. “I look forward to enjoying my entire night with her.”
She’d forgotten his purpose for coming to the saloon an hour earlier: an entire night alone together. She felt her jaw sag along with Gertie’s.
The madam recovered first. Her smile didn’t reach her eyes, however, and the lines around her mouth remained hard. “Room’s where you left it. That much hasn’t changed. It hasn’t sprouted wings and flown the nest like the ingrate in your arms did when she ran us all ragged in search of her.”
Sadie swallowed the urge to comment that Gertie hadn’t run anywhere and didn’t look in the least bit ragged.
Gertie’s gaze cut to John hovering behind them. “You’re needed at the bar. Have one of the girls stable your horses.” She stepped back to let John pass. “We’ll talk in the morning.”
Noah blocked John from entering the saloon. “I’d hate to hear of Sadie being punished for this or anything else. When I come to the Star, I bring only my money. I want to leave my duties as a lawman outside.”
John looked to Gertie for confirmation.
The madam’s lips compressed into a thin line. Finally, she nodded. Then she gave Sadie a crafty-eyed once over. “I reckon you’ll want me to add a tub of water to your bill, Mr. Ballantyne.”
“And clean clothing for Sadie,” he replied.
Gertie nodded again, this time with approval. “I’ll send something appropriate, something to match your room.”
Noah cleared his throat. “I’ll probably need a bottle of whiskey as well.” A muscle jumped in his jaw as he carried her through the door and into the chaos of the saloon.
A never-ending volley of voices fought to be heard over the strident notes of the piano. Noah scowled the men out of his way as he headed for the fancy room. He kicked the door closed behind them. The noise on the other side faded to a distant thunder as he strode to the bed.
The ache inside her returned, coiled tight. She went still around it. Waiting. Wanting.
With infinite care, he set her down on the mattress and sat beside her. His hands moved to her waist. His grip tightened and eased, drawing her back to his warmth. She held her breath, anticipating what he’d do next.
He released her and went to stand by the window.
The loss of him, sturdy as a house of bricks around her, left her shaking. She needed to put an even greater distance between them, so she could rebuild the wall around her heart. She needed to stop lying to herself. From day one, she’d never had a hope of maintaining that wall.
“Where did you go, this time, when you left me?” She regretted her question immediately, the weakness in it and in her. Her hands clutched in her lap seemed the safest place to look.
“Sadie,” his voice was gruff, “after we kissed, you had me tied up six ways till Sunday. It’s not wise for me to be near you when I’m in such a state.”
She nodded. In this way they were similar. She stole a look at him from under her lashes.
He leaned heavily against the window frame while he surveyed their surroundings. “This room is…astonishing. It’s so colorful it hurts my eyes.”
She’d been so wrapped up in Noah that she hadn’t given the room a second of her attention as he carried her in. The setting sun made the jewel tones even more vibrant. She fidgeted with the sleeve of her jacket then stopped, realizing how filthy she was from her fall in the coal car and her tumble from the train. She was covered in dirt and coal dust, but her wretched appearance hadn’t seemed to bother Noah.
“You know this is only temporary,” he said.
She clenched her teeth. Pain is temporary. Fear is fleeting. Don’t let him distract you.
He heaved a sigh. “I can’t protect you if Madam Garrett believes no further payments can be gained from the arrangement.”
“You’re in this room because of Gertie?” She sealed her lips, mortified that she’d almost blurted her hope he was here for a whole lot more.
“And because—” He pushed away from the window. When he reach
ed the bed, he leaned down until his lips hovered over hers. “I want—” his voice was low, urgent, “—you.” He breathed the last word into her mouth.
She opened to him wholeheartedly. Her pulse raced to an ancient tune. A primal need devoured all coherent thought. All except one: it wasn’t enough. She must, somehow, get even closer. She pressed against him, and gasped when the pain from her fall reminded her not to move so quickly.
With a muffled curse, Noah stepped out of reach…out of hers and his. “I shouldn’t have—” He scrubbed his hand over the back of his neck. “You need to rest and heal. Most of all we need to talk.”
“About what?” She brushed her fingertips over the tingling warmth he’d awakened in her lips before he retreated. Words couldn’t describe what she felt, what he made her feel.
“I’m not leaving you again.” Despite his reply, he paced the room like a caged wolf.
Another truth fell into her grasp. They were the same in this as well. “Dodge’s oppression is eating at you. You crave the open country.” Her now fisted hand lowered from her lips to her lap. “You’ll leave.”
“I won’t.”
“Yesterday you went…” Far enough for me to fear you’d never come back.
He stopped in the middle of the room, halfway between the window and the door. “I went to your farm.”
Disbelief made her gasp. “My farm?”
“You could go there as well.”
“I can’t. I have to—” Her gaze ricocheted around the room, her mind searching beyond the walls for where she might look for Edward’s possession. She’d run out of places.
He spun to face her. “Tell me,” he urged, “about your friend, the one you promised.”
She wanted to tell him. She desperately wanted to share this burden with someone else. But how much could she say about Edward before Noah unraveled all of her lies? After that, how long before Gertie knew as well?
A knock shattered the brittle silence between them.
He crossed to the door and held it wide. “I’ll take that.” He lifted a copper bathtub from the straining hands of two of Gertie’s girls. He carried it across the room as if it weighed nothing. The women’s gazes followed him, frank and admiring.
Between Love and Lies Page 13
