Rewarding Redemption

by Bonnie R. Paulson

  Jason arched his eyebrow, a smirk teasing the corners of his lips. “I don’t think you have the treasure with you, but I think you know where to find it.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Jenny pressed her lips together. Devlyn deserved to be shot for starting the rumor about her and the treasure. Why would he even want the treasure to be found? She couldn’t be sure, but if she found out about one more person on a treasure hunt for her ‘loot,’ she might scream.

  A large part of her wished Jason was attracted to her, remembered their shared kiss from when they were kids, and that he couldn’t stop thinking about her as much as she’d never been able to banish him from her memory. But that was wishful thinking. Dangerous thinking. She wasn’t a child anymore where a butterfly touch of Jason’s lips could turn her into a princess.

  No, she was an adult now with grown issues and realities. Dreaming about being rescued by the dark lawman was foolhardy.

  Jason’s gaze didn’t waver and he tilted his head to the side, waiting for more.

  She could out-stare him. She didn’t look away, but brought her fingers together and fidgeted. His eyes – so dark, so deep. Crap, she wasn’t as steadfast as she assumed. She dropped her hands. “Look, what if I told you I know some of the information? What if I told you I know where to find the rest?”

  “Right now, I’m not concerned with that. I’m actually here to help you, believe it or not. I’ve been looking for you for a long time. Now that I’ve found you, let’s shove that business to the side for now.” He leaned toward her, his jaw strong and straight. A jaw line designed to make a girl swoon. His sculpted lips moved and she realized he was talking. “Where are you hiking to?”

  Trying to focus, she narrowed her eyes. “I’m not looking for the money right now. I really don’t have all the information I need.”

  She didn’t remember him being so distracting when they were kids.

  He shrugged. “That’s fine. Where ya goin’? Can I help you get there?” Steady. He was always so dang steady.

  Jenny sighed. A little help would go a long way. Plus, spending time with the boy from her past might get her over the lonely slump she fell into a week or so ago. “I need to get to the Redbird house.”

  “Why there?” Jason watched her, gauging her.

  “Because I’m safe on the reservation and their house was my home for a while.” She pushed herself to her feet, brushing at the debris on her jeans.

  Jason glanced at the unconscious man behind him. He turned back to her and arched his eyebrow. “Clearly.” He glanced up at the sky, the sun beating down through the pine needles.

  “Would you… want to help me get there? Take me to safety?” Maybe she could appeal to the protective side of the boy he’d once been.

  “Why do you feel like you’re not safe, besides the obvious?” He regained his feet, standing a good head taller than herself. The height difference put her on level with a dark shadow of stubble along his chin and jaw.

  She stared at his jacket, where he tucked the badge, as if she could see through the material with x-ray vision and read the metal. “Can I ask if you’re federal or local?”

  He didn’t pretend to not know what she was talking about. He considered her question, the length of his dark lashes hiding his eyes for a moment. “What if for today, I’m neither?”

  Curving her lips to the side, Jenny cocked her head. “Neither? What do you mean?”

  Maybe he played some game and didn’t want to help her. Maybe he was another cop chasing her for stealing. Even cops wanted treasure and it wasn’t like she stole a lot of things worth much. Mostly food and small amounts of money here and there, oh and a sleeping bag once, but she’d returned that.

  She would be brought up on charges of petty theft. Nothing more. Would any law enforcement agency think she was big enough game to chase after?

  Oh, yes, when they tacked on having knowledge about the largest collection of stolen money in the state of Montana, she was worth a heckuva lot more than petty theft.

  “It means for today, I can be just me and not worry about the badge.” He reached up and carefully placed a dark brown cowboy hat on her head, settling it carefully on her crown. He turned. “Let’s take the horse. This guy needs some time to cool off.”

  Unable to find another reason to keep her from going with him, Jenny nodded, falling into step beside the first real memory from her past. A soft touch at the small of her back startled her and she jerked forward, glancing quickly at his face as he helped lead her to the horse.

  Standing at the side of the saddle, she inhaled deeply and met Jason’s questioning gaze. “I remember you.” More tears welled in her eyes. He was the last good thing she remembered before she ran. “How did you survive… your father?” The last time she saw him, his right eye had been swollen shut and his lip split from his dad beating him.

  Jenny reached out and grabbed his hand. He’d always been there for her – a silent protector – and she… she left him.

  Lifting his free hand, Jason brushed his knuckles down the side of her cheek.

  “I followed you.”

  Chapter 6

  Jason

  He didn’t expect a reply when his words fell from his lips.

  Jason wasn’t stupid.

  But when Jenny’s cheeks flushed and she turned to the stirrups, he rolled his eyes. Why couldn’t he keep his feelings to himself? Back when he was younger, he couldn’t say a word to her, he was so nervous. Now, he couldn’t keep his thoughts to himself.

  It would be okay if he didn’t tell her exactly what he was thinking or what he was feeling. For so long, he’d hidden his true emotions and didn’t speak much to anyone.

  So what did his sudden lack of control with her mean? Now that he finally had Jenny in his grasp, he had to spill every miniscule, emotional thought because he might not get the chance to later?

  Pretty much.

  He looked so long for her. Too long. Eternity would be a shorter time frame for his heart.

  His hands at her waist, Jason helped Jenny up into the scuffed leather saddle. She unhooked her foot from the stirrup and Jason mounted behind her, his arms tight around her waist. Tucking her pack into the large saddlebag at the horse’s side, Jason regretted giving her the hat. He couldn’t see around it and it stopped him from being closer to her on the horse with its wide brim.

  As if reading his thoughts, Jenny reached up and pulled his hat from her head. “Can you put this in there, too?” Wordlessly, he put the hat in the other saddlebag as well.

  Free to claim the reins, Jason carefully steadied her between his legs, his feet stable in the stirrups.

  She smelled like vanilla and soap. Not an unpleasant combination. A few stray hairs from her braid tickled his cheek and his chin as the gold strands lifted in the breeze.

  Bear Claw’s horse didn’t need much direction as Jason wheeled it toward the well-traveled path Jenny planned on following. The trail cut diagonally down the hill into the rich green valley. Trees parted and cleared and golden plains thick with waving wheat and yellow corn stalks spread before them.

  Stealing a horse was a big deal, especially a tribal one. A list of illegal things Jason was doing lately would read like a bucket list for the reckless.

  The Salish community took more pride in their land than ever before, with the elders directing and teaching the youth to care and maintain their holdings. In the distance, buildings speckled the vast skyline, one of which stood above all the rest with its glitzy exterior and showy signs of western entrapments.

  “Are you sure you want to go to the Redbirds’?” He tilted his head to hear her answer, and if he wanted to be honest with himself, to inhale her scent deeper.

  She turned her face slightly toward him, throwing her profile in relief. “Yeah, why?”

  He shrugged, not that she could see him. “I heard Kelsey’s brother was killed a while back. Rumor has it, the family hasn’t been the same since. Kelse
y hasn’t been home in a long time because of the rift his death caused.”

  “How terrible…” Jenny shook her head the smallest amount, the movement pushing her scent around him.

  Not for the first time, he found himself wondering what her lips tasted like. He cleared his throat, trying to protect her but still tell her the truth. “The Caracus gang murdered him.”

  Jenny stiffened, pulling away, her back tight and reed straight. Her shoulders lifted.

  Jason closed his eyes for a moment. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but her need to know superseded his desire to protect her. Quietly, he murmured. “Jenny, are we going to talk about it?”

  She lifted her chin. “Talk about what?”

  Slowing the horse to a stop where the path widened, welcoming a few well-placed trees, Jason dismounted and jerked the reins to the side. The horse followed, like she was bored and didn’t really care what they did. He reached up and yanked Jenny from the saddle.

  “Hey!” She tried jerking back, but his hold was too tight.

  Moving them all into the shade of a large tree, Jason twisted the leather straps in his hands. He clenched his jaw, unable to look directly at Jenny for a moment. When he finally focused on her, he softened at the sight of the proud tilt to her jaw and the shiny glint to her eyes.

  Jason sighed, but his anger didn’t disappear, but dimmed to a waiting simmer. “Enough, let’s face our past, okay?”

  “Okay…” Her lips barely moved and she folded her arms across her chest. “But you ever manhandle me again and I’ll start cutting parts off your body, do you understand me?” Anger flushed her cheeks, sending more attention to the brilliant blue of her eyes.

  “Deal.” Nodding, Jason recognized her bravado as protection. He did the same more than once over the years. “You’re Devlyn’s daughter. His firstborn, too. But you’re not his only child.”

  Something evasive crossed her features, darkening her forget-me-not blue eyes and tightening the smooth skin at the corners of her mouth. “What? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  Jason pulled back to study her better. “You know, don’t you?”

  “Know what?” She didn’t even change her tone as she glanced away from him, indifferent.

  “About your sisters.” He couldn’t help the accusatory tone. If she knew, why wasn’t she with them? If he had siblings, he would seek them out and share a life with them, get to know them. Family. Nothing was more important than family.

  Jenny stilled, her gaze flicked back to him; her only movement. “Sisters? How many?”

  A sign that she felt emotions. Finally. “Yeah, you have four sisters.” Was she tricking him? Did she know before? Maybe she hadn’t known about more, but she definitely knew about at least one of them. But which one or ones?

  “Four…” Jenny stared off into the distance, eyes brimming and finally overflowing. “Sisters.”

  Had Jason just tipped his hand?

  Chapter 7

  Jenny

  Four sisters was a lot to take in. Remounted on the horse, Jenny couldn’t snap out of the daze Jason’s revelation pulled over her.

  Four? She knew about Mary and another, but four of them? When did Devlyn have time for four more children and why didn’t Jenny know about them?

  Guilt ate at her. Of course she didn’t know anything because she never settled down in one place for longer than a week or two and she didn’t dare ask around. The Caracus gang had spies all over.

  Except when she stayed with the Redbirds.

  Thomas Redbird III, or Big Red, was like an older brother to her for the short time she stayed with the family. If she weren’t so messed up, she might have come back and tried dating the gorgeous Salish man.

  The horse’s clip-clopping steps paced evenly with her heart beat. She slowly became more aware of Jason’s hands past her waist and the heat of his breath on her neck. Her heart rate soon doubled and outpaced the rate of the animal’s steps. Lovely, just what she needed, a body that wouldn’t do what she wanted when she needed it to.

  She rolled her eyes, grateful Jason couldn’t hear her heart or her shallow breaths. Jenny licked her lips, trying not to focus on the soft dark brown hair sprinkled over his forearms or the J-shaped scar etched into the base of his thumb.

  Looking closer, Jenny couldn’t help herself from reaching out and tracing the white mark on his skin. He jerked from her finger, but calmed and returned to where she could touch him again. Even a straight line to finish the J-shape scarred across the top like maybe he harmed himself on purpose.

  “How did you get that?” She wasn’t sure her murmur reached him because he didn’t answer for a long while.

  After a significant hesitation, his warm voice finally cascaded around her. “I did it with a ballpoint pen.”

  Jenny winced. A pen? To make such a deep scar in such a tender spot, he would have to be determined to do something damaging. As much as Jenny had gone through and lost in her life, she never felt the need to hurt herself.

  She didn’t pull away. Instead, she reached further, encasing the marked part of his hand with her palm. “I’m sorry you felt you had to hurt yourself. How old were you?”

  “Thirteen.” The year after she left. After she ran away from her life with her dad which had changed too quickly into no life at all.

  They turned onto the street where the Redbirds lived, the modest home vastly different compared to the extravagant holdings of the casino lording over the reservation.

  Jenny dropped her pursuit of understanding the boy behind the scar of the man. She lowered her hands to the pommel and straightened from her position of leaning into his broad chest. The sudden separation left a chill along her back in the warm summer air. But she didn’t return to press into him. She would do best to abandon that comfort, no matter how desirable.

  On the driveway, Jason helped her dismount and slid from the saddle himself. He tied the reins to the mailbox with its cement filled bucket holding it in place. Retrieving her bag, Jason handed it to her waiting grasp.

  Jenny trailed her fingers along the metal mail-holder, suddenly nervous but excited. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw the Redbirds. Certainly more than ten years.

  Thomas and his wife made a big deal once about how she was always welcome and they thought of her as family. She was the youngest in the house at the time. Big Red and Kelsey played with her and helped her feel like part of the family as well.

  She couldn’t get over how cautious Jason was. He watched the house and the street like he expected something or someone to start attacking.

  For the first time in weeks, heck, months and years, Jenny didn’t have true fear sitting on her shoulders, weighing her down. Sure, she was worried, but there at the Redbirds, she would be able to rest her head and not worry that cops or Caracus men were going to get her. She didn’t have to worry about where her next shower would be or her next meal.

  Ignoring the fact that she’d brought a cop along with her – probably one she should be scared of – Jenny smiled. “Come on. They’re going to be so happy to see me.” She pulled her backpack on her shoulders.

  Walking the simple path to the front patio and the steps to the door, Jenny studied the house. A curtain moved. They saw her. The surprise was ruined. Jenny quickened her pace. She was home – at least as home as she would find.

  The door opened as she reached the middle step, her hand on the railing.

  Thomas Redbird II, stepped out of his front door, arms crossed over his chest and a glower deepening the wrinkles around his eyes and mouth. His long dark hair with streaks of silver she didn’t remember draped over his shoulders. His stance was more intimidating than before.

  He must not recognize Jenny. Of course. She smiled. “Hi, Mr. Redbird. It’s me, Jenny Ellsbeth.” She shook her head, remembering she changed her name after she left. “I mean, Caracus. I can’t believe how long it’s been.”

  “I know who you are.” Thomas’s face darkened,
turning a ruddy brown. “You’re not welcome here.”

  Jenny halted, blinking rapidly. The sting of disbelief and sinking in her chest burned. “But you said —”

  “That was before your father killed my boy. Big Red is dead because of your family. You are tainted. Cursed.” His eyebrows tight together, he glared at Jason. “I know you, Mendez. Neither of you will escape who you are. Stop running. And get off my land.” He turned, disappearing inside the unassuming screen door.

  Dazed, trying to take in the last few seconds, Jenny stared at the doorbell. What had happened?

  Big Red was dead – killed by her father.

  She gathered that much. Sadness tore through her. What else would her father destroy? Even from the grave, Devlyn Caracus tormented her.