by Sara Orwig
“Dan isn’t going to stay in one place.”
“He watches you all the time.”
“He does?” she asked in surprise. She had caught him watching her a lot of times, but it seemed as if just as often he was unaware of her presence.
A noise caught Rachel’s attention, and she tilted her head to listen. “Abby, I hear horses,” she said, feeling a flutter. She wondered if every time someone came to call, she would sense impending trouble. Was it because of all that happened on the trail? She hurried to get a rifle and yanked on the dinner bell, trying to alert Pa and the others.
She turned with the rifle in her hands, glancing over her shoulder. Pa strode toward her. Dan stood across the clearing, his shirt off, a sheen of sweat on his coppery chest. A long board rested on his shoulder. His other hand rested on the grip of his revolver while he waited and watched her.
Lyman McKissick and another man rode over the hill and she lowered the rifle. She glanced around as Pa strode forward to greet him. Dan stared at her and then turned abruptly, walking back toward the framework for the barn. The men dismounted; Lyman came forward, the other man stayed back. Lyman shook hands with Pa and said hello to Abigail, turning to her.
“Morning, Rachel. Don’t you look pretty today!”
“Thank you. Would you and your friend care for a drink of cold water?”
“Thank you. Monte.”
The man dismounted and came forward, a lean, hard-looking man who had a scar running across his nose. His dark eyes gazed flatly at her, and Rachel could remember him holding Abigail the night of the attack.
“This is my foreman, Monte Wolford. Monte, Miss Abigail Kearney and Mrs. Rachel Johnson. This is Eb Kearney.”
Pa shook hands with him while Abigail dipped out tin cups of cold water. Rachel looked at Abigail, wondering if she remembered the man, but she seemed calm and composed, only a slight frown indicating her feelings toward Lyman. As she walked away from the men, Monte’s gaze slid to Abigail and raked over her, lust obvious. Rachel felt a curl of loathing.
“How’s the work progressing?”
“We’re getting things built,” Eb answered, and Rachel detected a hard note in his voice.
“I was going past and thought I would stop. I’m riding northwest of here to buy some cattle from a man who’s pulling up his stake and moving back East. He doesn’t like the cattle business and wants in a city. Mr. Kearney, show Monte how your work is progressing. Miss Abigail, if you will excuse us, I’d like to talk to Rachel a few minutes before I have to move on.”
“I doubt if a barn would interest you,” Pa said curtly to Monte and turned to Rachel with a questioning look. She knew if she wanted to refuse to talk to McKissick, Pa would back her up. The knowledge filled her with satisfaction because Pa sounded as determined and fierce as he had years ago.
“We can talk,” she said to Lyman who was watching Pa intently. She moved away from the others and Lyman fell into step beside her.
“Texas is changing your pa. He’s getting touchy and hard.”
“Pa went through the war and fought some big battles. He’s like his old self since we’ve been here. He’s hired more men and they’ll be here soon,” she added, wanting McKissick to know their number was increasing.
When Lyman took her arm, Rachel looked up at him. He nodded in the direction of the creek. They crossed the cleared land, the sun hot on her shoulders and bare arms. As soon as they reached the shade, she stopped. “We can talk here.”
He glanced toward the barn and back at her. “I’d rather be alone with you.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“I won’t do anything you don’t want me to do,” he said cheerfully, smiling at her. “Come on, Rachel. Give me a few minutes. I’m not going to hurt you.”
She nodded and walked to the creek with him. “This is far enough, Mr. McKissick. Why did you want to talk to me?”
Lyman took his hat off and reached inside along the band. He tossed down his hat and took her hand, placing something wrapped in a linen handkerchief in her hand.
Startled, she glanced up at him. “What’s this?”
“A trinket I brought you from San Antonio.”
She extended her hand. “I’m a married woman and I’m not going to have any man come courting. You keep your gift.”
His smile left and he inhaled, his broad chest expanding as he stepped closer. He took the linen-wrapped gift and flicked away the handkerchief.
Sunlight slanted through the trees and caught the light in sparkling diamonds on a filigree necklace of gold. She stared at the glittering stones and felt cold.
“That’s beautiful, but I can’t accept it.”
They stared at each other and she felt the tension mount between them. “You won’t keep fighting me,” he said tersely, looking angry. “You’ll be mine. If you want your family to survive and be safe and that pretty little sister of yours to be happy, you’ll do what I want.”
“So you are threatening me,” she said, lifting her chin and feeling a slow-kindling rage that they would have to fight him. “There are many beautiful women who would find you charming and would be thrilled with a gift like that necklace. Why do you want me?”
He gave her a mocking smile, reaching out to tilt her face up. “You’re a challenge to me. Too many women are too eager. And you’re a Southern lady. That’s something I want because it will wipe out some of my past. You’re a wildcat and I know you’re filled with passion.”
“Unfortunately, I’m married and I’ll stay faithful to Elias.”
“Think that over, Rachel,” he said quietly, his voice becoming hard. “How important is your sister to you? Out here, a swarm of men could ride in and take her before you batted your eyes. They could entertain themselves with her for days.”
Rachel spun around to go back, but he reached out and caught her, yanking her up against him. “Don’t scream!”
“I will if you don’t release me!”
“You damned well better listen before we do what I just said. You’re on a frontier where anything can happen. You know why Horace White sold.”
“We’ll have enough men to fight you—”
“It won’t be me. I’m not going to ride in here and do any harm. I’m just telling you what can happen.”
“I know it’ll be your men. We may lose finally like Horace White, but Pa’s hired men who’ve fought before and they’re willing to fight to protect this place. And they’re good shots.”
McKissick smiled, making her blood turn cold. She felt as if she stood in a winter storm as she looked into his blue eyes because he seemed so satisfied and confident.
“Don’t make it hard on yourself and your family. Don’t destroy your sister. She’s happy now with Will Murdock—”
“How’d you know about Will? Is Will one of your men?”
“No. I find out what goes on. You’ll do what I want whether it’s willingly or by force,” he said. She felt trapped, experiencing a grim foreboding of a struggle to protect Abby and Lissa as she stared at him.
“Someday your pa will be away working, tending those cattle he bought. The men will be with him, and there’s no way you can stop some men from taking your sister or your baby. Baby girls as pretty as yours bring a fancy price in Mexico.”
Hate surged in her and she wrenched away, turning to run back to the others. Lyman caught her arm. “Wait a minute. Don’t go rushing back like that. Your pa will come after me with his rifle.”
“You get off this land and don’t come back,” she said in a low voice. She turned to head back and he walked beside her.
“You’re making a mistake. I can protect you and your family. Think about your pretty sister at night. Think about your baby.”
She spun around, her hands on her hips. “You think about this—the next time you set foot on this land, you’ll be shot for trespassing.”
She could see the fury in his eyes. “That’s unneighborly in a place where n
eighbors need to stick together for protection. Horace White was that way and you saw what happened to him and he didn’t have any pretty women to draw men.”
She turned and walked back toward Lyman’s horse where Monte was waiting, leaning against the wagon. Pa and Abigail were nowhere in sight. She glanced toward the barn, looking at Dan lifting a board into place. He stared at her, and then turned his back. She glanced up to see McKissick looking at Dan.
“So you still have that damned Yankee with you?”
“He’s quick with a gun as you already know.”
“Yeah,” Lyman said, staring at Dan, the hard look coming back to his eyes. “He’s a damned breed and a damned Yankee spy!”
Startled, she looked up at Lyman, frowning. She wanted Lyman and Monte to go, but he had been correct about Dan being a halfbreed, so he knew something about his past. Her curiosity was greater than her anger with McKissick.
“A spy? What makes you think that?”
“Because we’ve crossed paths before, or didn’t he tell you,” Lyman said harshly, still staring at Dan. “He was posing as a Confederate officer. Kept me from killing a no-good halfbreed Injun prisoner. Found out later, your hired hand there was Lt. Overton of the Union Army, working for a man named Allan Pinkerton.” He looked down at her. “Pinkerton hunts down men for the government and individuals. During the war he had a staff of spies. You’ve got a damned Pinkerton’s agent working for your pa.”
Chapter 19
Stunned, Rachel looked at Dan. He hoisted a board in place, muscles ripping in his back while he held the board and hammered. Her pulse roared in her ears as Lyman face her. She realized he was staring at her.
“I hope you’re thinking about what I said.” His gaze went beyond her. “All of you are courting danger. Horace White lost his barn and his house, sold his herd and land cheap.”
“Goodbye, Mr. McKissick.”
He leaned close. “You’re going to regret what you’ve done today. Your sister isn’t the strong woman you are.” He turned away and strode to his horse. Mounted, he led the animal close, looking down at Rachel before he turned to ride away, his man following him.
She felt icy cold. Fear was numbing, but along with it was rage. She thought how Dan had made love to her; was he waiting to arrest Pa, so he could enjoy her body first? Had she been acting as lovesick around him as Abigail did around Will?
While Lyman and Monte Wolford rode away, she stared at Dan. Feeling betrayed and hurt, her dreams and love shattered. When did he intend to arrest Pa? She knew he would. Her first instincts had been right. Thinking about the moments of passion with him tormented her, remembering his kisses, his caresses, the intimacy of nights of sitting on the trail by the dying campfire and talking to him until almost dawn.
This was why he had joined them and stayed with them—to arrest Pa. At first he must have been uncertain he had the right family and held back because of Lissa and their Kearney name. But once he knew she wasn’t Lissa’s mother, he would know he had the Benton family. So why hadn’t he arrested Pa when they reached San Antonio? She remembered moments when Dan had looked so formidable, times when he looked as if he were on the verge of violence. Was his anger because he intended to arrest Pa at those times? So why hadn’t he?
She watched him stride to the stack of lumber, pick up a board, and carry it to wooden horses to place it where he could saw one end. Why hadn’t he arrested Pa when he had guessed the truth? There was only one conclusion she could draw—he waited to seduce her.
Hurt and rage and fear swirled in her like thistles caught in a blizzard. She wanted to run across the space between them and strike him and scream at him. And beneath all the anger was a cold fear that any time now he would arrest Pa. Maybe Dan had planned to spend several weeks longer with them, taking her to amuse himself until he tired of her.
She remembered the night they had gone to the fiesta. When they left the hotel, she could recall Dan’s words while he walked along beside her. “I have some unfinished business here, something unpleasant I don’t want to do.”
A cold knot of fear for Pa was overridden by her rage. She wiped at her cheeks, brushing away tears. She had been taken in by charm, by deceit. She wasn’t going to let him take Pa. Dan could go get the rangers, or the alcalde and come after Pa, but they had time to pull up and go before Dan could return. She strode to the wagon as Abby and Lissa came around the side of it. Lissa held her doll in her arms.
“Rachel!” Abby’s eyes became round. “What happened?”
“I’m all right,” she said. Lissa walked to the shade to sit down beside the wagon wheel and prop her doll beside her.
“Did that McKissick hurt you?” Abby asked in a low voice.
“No, he didn’t!” Rachel snapped, climbing into the wagon to get the Winchester. She yanked off the dress, changing quickly to the pants and shirt. Abby climbed into the wagon behind her.
“Rachel? What’s wrong? You’ve been crying and you look angry. What happened?”
“Abby, go get Josh and tell him to come here. Hurry.”
“I will, but tell me what’s wrong.”
“You get Josh and I’ll tell you both. Don’t say anything to Pa or the others.”
Abby frowned before she climbed out of the wagon, and Rachel yanked down her hair, her hands shaking as she hurriedly braided it and reached for the wide-brimmed hat. She wasn’t going to wear a dress. Trying to be more of a woman had been for Dan’s benefit and now she regretted it.
As Josh approached, she jumped out of the wagon. Reaching beneath the wagon seat, she retrieved the revolver and held it out to him.
“Josh. Put this behind you and come with me. We’re going to run Dan Overton off our place. I want you to shoot if you have to.
“Rachel, what’s he done?” Abby cried. “Did he hurt you?”
“He’s a Pinkerton’s agent and he’s here to arrest Pa!”
Abby’s blonde brows arched. “What’s Pinkerton’s?”
“It’s a detective agency and they have agents all over the country now.”
“I don’t believe you! If Dan is after Pa why would he wait this long to arrest him? Why would he help us and work for us?”
“Because he’s enjoying himself,” she said quietly to Abby.
“I don’t think you’re right.”
“Lyman McKissick said he was a Yankee spy during the war and he works for Pinkerton’s. I know that’s why he’s stuck with us, Abby. And when I confront him with the truth, I think he’ll admit it. But even if he doesn’t, I’m running him off.”
“Suppose you’re wrong.”
“Lyman knew him during the war. Dan has never admitted that he was a spy. That explains why he’s stayed with us. I never have figured out why he wanted to travel with us.”
“Why would he be here now? Why not arrest Pa when we were all in San Antonio?”
“I don’t know why he’s waited,” she said, wondering how long before Abby guessed he had waited to pleasure himself with her. Feeling a tight knot in her throat, Rachel strode toward the men. She glanced over her shoulder. “Come on, Josh.”
“Rachel,” he said, running up beside her and trotting along. “I can’t shoot Mr. Overton. He’s too good to us.”
“Josh,” she said, whirling around to face him, “you won’t have to shoot him. I’ll do the shooting. Just hold the gun on him. I want him out of here and away from us. And remember, he hasn’t really been good to us, because he’s going to take Pa back to Mississippi to hang.”
Josh blinked and clamped his lips closed and his face turned red. Anger and tears filled his green eyes. Understanding his hurt too well, she knew she had an ally and she turned to stride toward the half-constructed barn. The men worked without shirts. Pa hammered a board. Oscar was measuring one, Zeb and Will hammered while Dan sawed a board.
With all the pounding, none of them could hear her if she yelled. She motioned to Josh to stop and she moved several yards away from him. She turned the r
ifle barrel toward the sky and fired.
The blast dimmed the other noise. Dan whirled, his hand on his revolver. Zeb Winters dropped his hand to his gun. She cocked the rifle and aimed it at Dan. He lowered his hand to his side. She glanced swiftly at the others and saw everyone had lowered his hands.
“Rachel, for Lord’s sake—” Pa said.
“Pa, move over here,” she said, staring at Dan.
Frowning, Pa stared at her for just a moment and then he walked toward her. “Pa, please stand behind me.”
“What is it, Rachel?” he asked quietly. He picked up his rifle from the fence and moved beside her. She looked into Dan’s brown eyes, feeling something wither inside her.
He stared back, his features impassive and she realized how good he was at duplicity.
“Lyman McKissick told me all about you,” she said, her voice carrying in the silence. “Josh has a revolver. I don’t know if you’re given to drawing on women and children—”
“I’ve got him covered, Mrs. Johnson,” Zeb Blake said. She heard the click as he pulled back the hammer of his revolver, while she gazed steadily at Dan.
“You get off our property now. If you ever come back, I’ll shoot.”
Dan stared at her, seeing the anger, the spots of color in her cheeks. He heard the click as Zeb Blake drew his gun. He couldn’t look away from Rachel. He didn’t know what Lyman McKissick had told her, but she must have made some good guesses.
“All McKissick could tell you was what I did during the war. He doesn’t know anything else.”
Eb Kearney raised his rifle, and Dan had a sinking feeling he wasn’t going to get a chance to discuss anything with them. “Rachel, put away the rifle and let’s talk about whatever it is that has you so hopping angry.”
“We will not talk. You’re a Pinkerton’s man and you can get off our place.”
Her eyes blazed fire, and Dan wished she had confronted him alone. He couldn’t take a chance now on doing anything except what she ordered with all the other guns trained on him. Josh held the revolver on him and when he looked into Josh’s eyes, Dan felt as if he were being crushed by a giant stone. He could see the glisten of a tear on Josh’s cheek, see the look of disappointment. Josh’s lips were clamped together. Looking at Rachel’s fiery expression, at Josh’s red, pained face, Dan hurt. Regret came rolling up in waves, and he wanted to stride to her and yank the rifle away and make her sit down and listen. He wanted to put his arm around Josh’s shoulders and talk to him until that look of betrayal and disappointment was gone. Dan’s gaze swung to Eb who looked sad as he held his rifle.
