A narrow path led down the hill into the canyon. Judd pointed to it with the barrel of his pistol. “You first.”
Air eased through Cade’s lips. So he had at least a few minutes to come up with another plan. He started down the trail, with Judd, supporting Mick with one arm, only a pace behind him. The descent was steep. Pebbles rolled over under his feet.
Behind him, Mick’s boots scrabbled over the ground as he slipped. Judd caught him and held him up. He swore. “Slow down, Schilling!”
Cade didn’t bother to correct him a second time.
They reached a hair-pin turn on a point jutting out into the canyon. Below them, Katrina still stood in the middle of the road.
Why hadn’t Collier taken her our yet? Where was he?
Katrina bent over her horse’s leg examining it.
The lead team from the stage trotted into view, going considerably slower since they were just coming out of the turn into the canyon. It was only a moment before the driver saw her.
“Whoa!” The driver pulled back hard on the reins and the coach jolted to a stop. “Lady are you crazy?!”
Katrina stood and spun to face him, sunlight glinting off the barrel of a pistol in her hand.
Judd prodded Cade’s spine. “Keep moving.”
The last thing he saw before the path turned was the driver shoving his hands toward the sky.
Cade licked his lips, his mind scrambling to make sense of the circumstances.
Collier hadn’t done his part. That meant he’d probably been taken out by one of Judd’s men. Maybe that other shot he’d heard. Unless… What if Collier was working with Katrina and Judd? That would make sense with the fact that he’d given them faulty information about where all the outlaws would be positioned.
The thought so stunned him that he stopped in his tracks.
Judd crashed into him from behind and nearly lost his grip on Mick. He cursed and gave him a shove. “I said, keep moving!”
Cade stumbled forward. It couldn’t be could it?
The path leveled out as they stepped onto the canyon floor and skirted around the last boulder that blocked their view of the stage and Katrina.
“Put your gun down!”
That was Collier’s voice. So he wasn’t dead.
Relief eased through him. Maybe all was not lost.
“Whoa!” The stage driver called and the stage jolted to a halt. “Lady are you crazy?!”
Lady? It had to be Katrina! Dread shimmied down Sharyah’s spine. She peered out the window but her side of the stage was angled away from whoever the driver had spoken to.
She gripped Brandon’s arm. “You keep your head down and do as you’re told. Everything is going to be fine.”
Oh how she wished she could believe those words.
Both Mr. Baylor and Jason had their pistols out now.
Sharyah snatched up her reticule and shoved her hand inside to pull out her own derringer. Then she heard a ratcheting hammer, and froze. The coach door jerked open.
Heart stuttering somewhere between beating too fast and not beating at all, she glanced up. Collier! A puff of relief rushed from her lungs and she relaxed against the seat.
He had had his gun leveled at Mr. Baylor’s chest but both Jason and Mr. Baylor tilted their guns toward the roof as soon as they saw Collier’s badge.
“Sheriff, thank—”
“Put your gun down!” Collier yelled.
Confusion swirled through her. What threat did Collier see? Neither Mr. Baylor nor Jason had their guns pointed at him.
Something hardened in Collier’s gaze and a muscle twitched at the corner of his eye.
A prickle of premonition raised bumps on her arms.
“I said, guns down.”
The men dropped their guns onto the floor of the carriage, in compliance.
She leaned forward. Something wasn’t right. The Sheriff must be confused. “Sheriff this is Mr. Baylor and my cousin Mr. Jordan. I don’t think we have anything to fear from them.”
“Miz Jordan…” Sheriff Collier grinned, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m just not the man you think I am.”
A cold chill gripped her. He wasn’t here to help them!
He glanced toward the road. “Miz Katrina, you want them down there with you? Or just leave ‘em inside?”
So Katrina was here.
Jason spoke, low and reassuring. “Everything is going to be fine, Shar.”
But Sharyah noted the grim glint of anxiety in his gaze.
“Collier!” Katrina cursed him soundly. “It’s about time you showed your face! I could have been shot!” She paused for only a second before adding, “Out here in the road where we can keep them all in sight.”
“Alright you heard her.” The sheriff jerked his head toward Katrina’s voice. “Everybody out of the stage, now! Driver, you come down nice and easy. And if your hand even goes anywhere near that rifle you’ll be eating lead.” He backed away a step, his tongue flicking out to moisten his lips even as his gaze darted back and forth between each group. “Move! I said everybody out!”
Baylor jumped down first, followed by Jason who turned to help them down. Sharyah let Brandon go first, then took Jason’s hand, clutching her reticule and praying Collier wouldn’t demand she leave it behind. Her Derringer only had two bullets, but they might come in handy in the next few moments.
Footsteps crunched over gravel in the roadway. Judd Rodale stepped into sight.
Where he is, Mick won’t be far away. Her stomach rolled.
Judd was holding onto the arm of someone she couldn’t quite see yet. “Collier, you didn’t happen to know anything about Schilling, here, skulking around, did you?”
Schilling? Sharyah froze. Held her breath. Fear threatened to paralyze all thought.
Judd pulled his prisoner into sight.
Cade! She gasped.
He stood in the road, hat pushed back on his head, and hands lifted at shoulder height, somehow looking relaxed and confident. He gave her a quick wink and a little nod, as if to assure her everything was going to be just fine. Judd shoved him further into the road ahead of the lead horses.
Blood soaked one side of Cade’s shirt, and still glistened wet in the sunlight. He’s been shot!
Sharyah gritted her teeth, refusing the tears that begged for release, and folded her arms against the trembling that shook her. And he still had a gun to his back!
Katrina strolled down the line of captives, giving them each a once over and now her parasol blocked Cade from sight. She jolted to a stop in front of Sharyah with a gasp. “You! But—I thought—”
Sharyah pressed her mouth into a grim line. “Surprised to see me alive, I take it?” Come to think of it, Sheriff Collier hadn’t batted an eye when he saw her alive. Why not?
Judd leaned over to peer around the edge of the parasol and whistled. “Well, I’ll be!”
“Shut up, Judd.” Katrina’s chin lifted and fire glittered in her gaze. She jerked a gesture toward Mr. Baylor, and snapped at Collier. “This one has to be the courier. Line the others up in the road next to him.” Her hand flapped toward Cade.
Collier and Mick pulled Mr. Baylor from the line, and then Collier pushed Sharyah down onto her knees next to Cade in the roadway with Brandon to her right and Jason and the driver after that. Collier stepped in front of them all, keeping his rifle trained in their direction.
Judd immediately set into asking Mr. Baylor if he was transporting diamonds, to which the man responded negatively.
Sharyah suppressed a moan. None of this could end well. Hadn’t God promised that goodness and mercy would follow those who tried to live for Him?
Cade bumped her with his shoulder. “What are you doing here?”
“Brandon…” her eyes flitted to Collier’s gun, and she clutched her reticule close. “Brandon confessed that he ran away. He has a mother. We were taking him home.”
For just a split second Cade’s eyes slid shut and defeat seemed to cloak his shoulders. Then
he lifted his chin and something softened in his expression. “We’re going to get through this.”
Despite her determination, tears welled. “You’re hurt.”
“This?” He gave a little shake of his head. “Just a scratch. I’ll be fine.”
Collier stepped up before them. “No more talkin’!”
Off to the right, Katrina paced a short path from one direction to the other scanning the hills around them. “Judd, just hurry up and let’s get out of here. And where are Red, Billy, and Seth?”
“Patience woman! You think he’s gonna hand over that much in diamonds without so much as a protest? Stop worrying like a wet cat. They’ll be along shortly. And I’ll have your diamonds in no time.” His voice dropped low as he continued talking to Mr. Baylor.
Cade shifted slightly. “What Collier hasn’t told you two is that he brought me and several others here with him to take you all out. He wants the diamonds for himself, don’t you Collier?”
“Shut up!” Collier stepped toward him.
“Your three compadres have probably already been—”
“Shut yer yap, I said!” Collier rammed the butt of his rifle into Cade’s forehead. “He’s lyin’! I didn’t know anythin’ about him bein’ out there, I swear.” He hoisted the gun again, as if to prove his point.
“Stop!” Sharyah lunged forward and stretched out a hand to prevent another strike. “He’ll be quiet.” Her whole body trembled. “I’ll keep him quiet.”
“What’s he talking about, Collier?” Judd ceased his interrogations and stepped over to glower into the man’s face, although he kept his pistol directed toward Mr. Baylor.
Maybe Cade’s comment would work? Did he really have other men out there who might help them? Smith maybe? Blood oozed down his cheek from the fresh gash over his eye. She plucked the hanky from where it was tucked into her cuff and pressed it to the cut. He couldn’t afford to lose any more blood.
“Nothin’!” Collier swore. “He’s just tryin’ to get into yer head! Now let’s get on with it.”
Judd stood still for a long time, and like two bulls neither of whom wanted to back off, the men stared each other down, chins lifted.
Finally Judd must have been satisfied that Collier was telling the truth, because he stepped away and spat to one side. “Alright, let’s find the diamonds. Mick,” he gestured his brother over to a seat on a boulder across the road and pressed a pistol into his hand, “watch them and shoot the first one that tries anything.”
Judd, Collier, and Katrina took Mr. Baylor with them toward the stage.
Mick lounged lazily, the pistol resting on one thigh. But his eyes, anything but lazy, raked her from the ground up and back again.
Sharyah shivered and looked away to dab at Cade’s cut. The man had that same feral look he’d had when he’d accosted her in the meadow. A rock bit into her knee and she shifted to a less painful spot.
Cade’s fingers brushed hers and a muscle pulsed in his jaw. His gaze dropped to her reticule, darted to Mick, and then met her own. “You still carry my tintype in your bag?”
She swallowed, knowing good and well it wasn’t his picture he was really asking about. “You asked me never to go anywhere without it.”
“Did you listen?” He kept his voice low and darted another look toward Mick who was still ogling her.
Sharyah pressed away a roll of nausea and tried to lighten the mood. “I always listen.”
He arched his brows. “Uh huh. Like you listened when I asked you to wait at the Hanging T until I came back for you?”
Yes, there was that, wasn’t there? But she had a good reason! “There is a mother in Beth Haven who has no idea her son is alive and well. What was I supposed to do?” Brandon shifted and she patted his shoulder. “This is not your fault.”
Across the way Mick stood from his perch on the boulder. He swayed slightly, and for the first time Sharyah noticed that his jaw was quite swollen and purpling with a bruise. His predatory eyes never left her but he hesitated as though trying to make a decision.
Cade snatched the hanky down and leaned closer. He lowered his voice. “Do you trust me?”
She darted a look toward Mick as he took a slow step forward, then nodded. “Yes.”
“I need you to distract him. Just for a minute. Drop your bag.”
“Cade…” She shivered at the thought of spending even one second talking to Mick Rodale, but even as she uttered the small protest she let the drawstring slip from her wrist and her reticule slid to the ground between them.
“I won’t let him hurt you. I just need a couple seconds.”
That was what made every muscle in her body weak with fear. She knew he’d fight for her, but in doing that he might be hurt – hurt worse than he already was.
Yet what other options did they have?
She lifted her chin, ready to face Mick head on, but at that moment Smith stumbled out from behind the stage, hands lifted high in the air. Billy and Red shoved and prodded him from behind with their guns.
Mick, still several strides away, paused, his attention on the newcomers.
“There you are!” Katrina stepped into view, Collier right on her heels with a strange emotion in his eyes.
Was it happiness to see Smith? Or worry? Sharyah couldn’t quite tell.
“Where’s Seth?” Katrina snapped.
Red and Billy looked at each other, then Billy stuck his lower lip out with a shrug. “Don’t know. Figured he was down here with ya’ll.”
Katrina raked Smith with an assessing gaze. “And who’s this?”
Red gave Smith a shove. “Found him up on the hill, trying to help Judge Green who’d just tried to waylay me a few minutes before that. We figured we’d better bring him along to the party.”
Katrina cast a sharp glance toward Collier. “Where’s the judge?” Even though she was glowering at Collier, her question wasn’t directed to him.
Red guffawed and the sound sent a swirl of horrible apprehension through Sharyah.
“He won’t be bothering us anytime soon.”
They killed him?
As if sensing her worry, Smith said, “I left him my canteen.”
“Hush up, old man!” Billy cuffed Smith from behind.
So the judge had at least been alive when they left him. And Smith had been out there supposedly coming to their rescue just like Cade had claimed. Along with the judge. Was there anyone else?
Smith sent Cade an apologetic glance.
Cade shook his head, giving his father a little shrug, as if to say, “Don’t worry about it,” but Sharyah could read the defeat in his eyes.
“Well, we’re lucky nothing came of it.” Katrina turned to fully face Collier now, and leveled her pistol at his chest. “But you lied. There were other men out there. And I think Cade was telling the truth.”
Alarm filled Collier’s face and he lifted his hands. “No wait—!”
Katrina shot him. Right through the heart. He fell, staring sightlessly at the brazen blue sky overhead.
Sharyah couldn’t stop the little yelp of shock that burst forth. And in that moment she knew Katrina had no intention of leaving any of them alive. She thought of Brandon, so young and full of youthful vigor, his life cut short in such a manner. Jason and Nicki, who had just celebrated the birth of their little girl. Cade… she closed her eyes unable to finish that thought.
Breathe.
Katrina dismissed Collier’s body with a flip of her wrist and reloaded her spent chamber as she spoke to Red and Billy. “Roll him into the ditch.” She gestured from Mick to Smith to where they all knelt in the roadway. “Get him over there next to them, and then come help me search the inside of the coach. Those diamonds can’t be that hard to find. Billy, you keep an eye on everyone.”
Red and Billy rolled Collier over the embankment, leaving a dark splotch of blood in the roadway. Red followed Katrina as Billy came toward them.
Sharyah couldn’t seem to pull her gaze away from the da
rk stain that stood in stark contrast to the dirt around it. Evidence of a soul who’d had a choice, a chance at Life, only moments ago, but now no longer had any options.
How much more blood would be shed here today?
Mick shoved Smith onto his knees in front of Brandon. “Don’t go anywhere now, old man.” He patted Smith on the head giving a dry chuckle as he reached out to trail one finger over Sharyah’s cheek.
She jerked her face away.
And beside her, Cade stiffened. “Keep your hands off her.”
Mick only chuckled again, his gaze never leaving hers. “I guess we’ll just have to delay the pleasure of getting reacquainted for a few minutes.” He sauntered toward the coach.
Sharyah’s shoulders slumped in relief. The snake!
Billy, left as their only guard, winked, took a seat on the boulder across the road, and watched them all intently.
Over by the stage Judd bellowed a curse, something crashed, and Baylor grunted.
Still jittery, Sharyah wrenched around to see what was happening. Apparently Katrina, Mick and Red were all inside the coach, because it jostled from side to side as though people were moving in there and the only people in view were Judd and Mr. Baylor.
Judd, his beefy hand wrapped in a firm grip around Mr. Baylor’s neck, screamed into the man’s face. “I’m done playing games! You have exactly ten seconds to give over the diamonds, or someone dies!” Judd’s voice warbled, shredded ragged by rage and insanity. He shoved Mr. Baylor up against the side of the coach and rammed the barrel of his pistol into the man’s cheek. “Where! Are! The! Diamonds!?”
Sharyah spun around to face the front, she had no desire to see another man killed as she watched.
Cade squeezed her hand, his palm warm against hers as he gritted, “The diamonds aren’t even here.”
She met Jason’s gaze over top Brandon’s head, then looked back at Cade and nodded. She whispered, “That man has them. He galloped into town at the last minute and delayed our departure, but he told us he has them.”
Cade’s eyes slid shut. “Don’t worry. We’ll think of something.”
Judd bellowed another curse and Mr. Baylor grunted.
Brandon cowered and Sharyah wrapped one arm around him. She glanced down to murmur a word of encouragement but stilled. Brandon had slunk down, but what she had perceived as cowering was really him gathering up small pebbles.
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