Cowboy Justice

by Patricia Rosemoor

  Even so, before setting off, Reine had called him and left a message on his answering machine as to where she was headed. She couldn’t help wanting to believe that, in the end, Cash really would come through for Gray.

  And for her.

  Her thoughts were so squarely centered on the man she loved and on what might have been between them that she was amazed when she suddenly realized how far she’d come. She also realized that another weather front was imminent as they passed the mouth of the box canyon.

  Reine urged Gold Mine faster toward the hills that she and Cash had already searched that morning. On a small, windswept peak, she stopped and stared at the whole panorama spread out before her.

  The lower hills were covered with chamiza and aspen that trembled with each gust. Behind them lay the nearly barren barrancas. In the distance were the cerros hills—with soil too poor to sustain crops. And in between were the cottonwood-limned arroyos—deep chasms cut by the rivers that connected mountains to valleys and that were the lifeblood of this land.

  Somewhere in all of that, she would find Gray.

  Reine took Gold Mine as far as the terrain would allow the mare easy footing. When it became too difficult, she dismounted and secured the reins to a spindly aspen, then dug into the saddlebags. When the snack bars were stuffed into her jeans’ pockets and flashlights clipped to her belt, she swung the canteen over one shoulder and, hoping she would have no need for it, the first-aid kit over the other.

  Then she climbed over a ridge and started down an embankment toward a curve in the river that seemed familiar. Halfway down, she stopped to get her bearings and noted a rock outcropping off to the south, midway along the slope. The winds kicked up just then, rocking her. The air was heavy and thick. She glanced up at the ever-more-menacing sky and decided she’d better hurry.

  Certain the jagged peñasco was familiar, she headed straight for it. But as she went, she tried not to be too discouraged wondering if a wounded man could really cross this rough terrain on his own. She reminded herself how tough Gray had always been.

  There was no reason to believe otherwise now.

  Reine’s stomach quivered as she neared the outcropping, feeling more certain than ever that this was the place. And as she rounded the rock, she spotted the opening so cleverly concealed by Mother Nature that, if she hadn’t known to look for it, she would have passed it right by.

  The sky opened even before she got inside, rain plastering her shirt to her back.

  She stood there for a moment, watching the torrent beat down, trying to shake off the sudden chill. A wind seemed to blow over her from inside the cave.

  Plucking at the material sticking to her back, she turned toward the dark depths that she really didn’t want to enter, took a deep breath and shouted, “Gray, it’s Reine! If you can hear me, yell or something!”

  As hard as she listened, she only managed to hear the splash of rain against rocks coming from the other side of the cave mouth. She’d have to go farther in.

  Clicking on one of the lights that she left attached to her belt to keep both hands free, she moved deeper into the cave and tried not to let its narrowing confines bother her. Up ahead it would split in several directions, she remembered. The other time, they’d taken the far left fork.

  She yelled again. “Gray! Can you hear me?” Her voice was hollow and scared sounding.

  A moment later, it was time to choose. The left fork too quickly closed around her. A hundred yards in, another split presented itself. Again, she stayed to the left, remembering how the floor of the cave had risen if not the ceiling. Within minutes, she was stooped over, then on her hands and knees, with the swinging light illuminating the rock floor several yards ahead.

  How far to go before she could breathe normally? Reine wondered.

  Small, enclosed places still spooked her and she was a whole lot bigger than she had been the last time she’d tried this. Her stomach knotted and her skin crawled. She lifted the light and flashed it forward.

  Ahead, the tunnel narrowed even more.

  Reine would have liked nothing better than to turn back. She sat on her haunches, trying to decide whether or not to continue on and face her demons.

  “Gray!” she called halfheartedly, suddenly feeling as if she were on a fool’s errand. “It’s Reine!”

  A faint sound ahead took the decision away from her. A voice?

  She scrambled forward on hands and knees, listening hard. hearing nothing more than her own breathing.

  “Gray?” she called again.

  And swore she heard something. Her name?

  “Hold on, I’m coming!”

  Rock walls were touching her so she had to keep her head bent as she drove forward, nearly having to get on her belly. The swinging light showed the tunnel widening into another alcove ahead. She sobbed with relief as the rock walls lifted away from her and she was able to get to her feet. She practically fell into the chamber, ecstatic at hearing footsteps that weren’t her own.

  “Gray, I found you.”

  “Sorry to disappoint you, sweetheart.”

  The voice wasn’t Gray’s.

  Reine flashed the light upward, and was horrified when it revealed a familiar, churlish snarl.

  JASPER HAD GIVEN THAT pocket watch of his the evil eye so many times in the last hour that Marlene was surprised it hadn’t stopped ticking.

  “Maybe you’d better call,” she suggested again from her spot on the sofa.

  This time, he nodded. “Maybe I’d better.”

  She was trying to stay calm, but considering the circumstances...

  Sunset would be here all too soon.

  Jasper swore under his breath as he waited for Bixler to come to the phone. Marlene wrapped her arms around her middle and held on as best she could.

  “Bixler!” he finally said in a tight voice. “I expected your man to be here by now.”

  If only he would soften his tone, Marlene thought. Cajole the man instead of riling him. Why couldn’t he learn to deal with people as he should?

  “What do you mean there’s been a hitch?”

  Her breath caught in her chest. She staggered to her feet and toward her husband.

  “Tomorrow will be too damn late!” Jasper yelled. “It has to be right now!”

  Noticing her distress, Jasper pulled her to him and held on tight.

  Marlene clutched at his shirt and tried to listen to the other end of the conversation. But all she could hear was the rushing of her own blood in her ears.

  “Then you can take your money and...”

  Trembling with rage, Jasper slammed the receiver into its cradle.

  “I—I don’t understand....”

  “Neither do I. Bixler assured me he could have the money today.” Cursing a blue streak, Jasper first hugged her, then let her go and raced toward his office. “I’m delivering what money I already have, anyway. Maybe a couple hundred thousand will buy us time.”

  Marlene was shaking as she watched him reemerge from his office, saddlebags slung over one shoulder. He stopped briefly to kiss her, then flew out the front door.

  She’d never before prayed so hard that he was right.

  ACTING ON INSTINCT, Reine grabbed the leather strap from her left shoulder and swung her body and the canteen, all in a single, smooth motion.

  Its impact when smacking the snarling man square in the throat jarred her whole arm. He gave a strangled oath, and in the beam bouncing from the light at her belt, she saw something go flying. From the sound of it, he’d just lost both his breath and his gun.

  Wasting no time, she flew back the way she’d come.

  “Stop, you bitch, or I’ll shoot!”

  “You’ve got to get your gun first,” she muttered.

  It seemed he already had, for she heard a scrabbling sound behind her. But no shots rang out. He must want her alive for something.

  Her relief was short-lived. What felt like a vise clamped around one of her ankles.

&n
bsp; He jerked and she fell.

  Again, on instinct, she rolled to the side, counted—to make certain he was close enough—and on three struck out with her free foot. Her boot heel made contact, this time with a loud crunch.

  “My nose!” he screamed. “I’ll get you for this!”

  But, adrenaline pumping, Reine was back on her knees and scrambling away fast, this time savoring the feel of the rock walls closing snuggly around her; her attacker was far bigger than she and would have a more difficult time getting through the tunnel. That should be good for a few seconds’ head start, at least.

  Even over her own labored breathing, she heard him squirming and cursing as he forced his way through.

  Then the tunnel loosened its grip on her and she moved even faster...rushing to her feet...running in a stooped position... straightening barely long enough to catch her breath—when she was grabbed from behind, her mouth instantly covered so she couldn’t yell out.

  “Quietly,” the man whispered in her ear even as he swung her into another tunnel.

  CASH FLEW OUT OF THE Jaguar, cursing the fates and the weather that had delayed him. He sloshed through puddles rapidly disappearing into the sievelike soil. When he got to the front door, he took a minute to pull himself together. His fingers tightened on the well-worn leather saddlebags he was carrying. He hadn’t stepped foot in Jasper Matlock’s house since he was a teenager, and then it had been without the old man’s permission.

  He wouldn’t be doing so now, except...

  Banging a fist against the door, he nearly shot right on through. Someone had left it open.

  He could feel the surge of his vitals as he stepped inside the foyer, yelling, “Anyone home?”

  There was no answer.

  His pulse quickened. “Reine?” Where else would she be? He took another few steps.

  And then he saw her. Marlene. She was sitting on the couch, head bowed, hands clasped before her. And she was rocking to some inner rhythm that scared him. He approached her carefully as he would a wild animal he didn’t want to frighten away.

  “Marlene,” he said as gently as he could manage. He knelt before her. “It’s me, Cash. Has something happened?”

  She raised her head. Her face was grief-stricken, but her eyes were unnaturally dry, as if she’d already cried out her soul and had nothing left to give.

  “My boy’s going to die, Cash. I have to face it. Gray’s going to die and I can’t stop it. No one can, now.”

  “Yes, we can, with—”

  “Jasper didn’t get the money,” she cried. “He did try. But at the last minute, Bixler didn’t come through.”

  “Evan Bixler was going to give you the two million, no strings attached?”

  He’d already considered Bixler’s possible involvement in the kidnapping.

  “One very big string,” Marlene said. “The ranch. But something went wrong.”

  “Something’s going right. Finally.” Cash pulled the saddlebags from his shoulder and handed them to her. “I’m giving you the money.”

  “I don’t understand. Just yesterday, you refused to buy my share—”

  “Not buy. I’m giving it to you. Really, no strings attached.”

  Wonder and hope now shining on her face, she said, “Cash, I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “No need. Gray is my brother, after all.”

  He rose and started to back away.

  “Wait. Jasper’s already gone to the mill to leave what money he could raise. And I have no idea where Reine has disappeared to. She left hours ago. Rode out on Gold Mine. She hasn’t come back.”

  Which didn’t sound good at all, Cash thought, a sick feeling filling him. She’d probably gone charging to the drop-off site, as well.

  Marlene rose, saddlebags in hand. She held them out to him. “Would you take the money to the abandoned mill? Please. For Gray.”

  Cash nodded. He had a feeling Reine was there anyway, and he wasn’t going to leave her to her own devices.

  “I’ll do it, Marlene,” he promised. “For all of us.”

  THE LIGHT WAS ALREADY fading by the time Jasper got into position up on the ridge. Even as he raised his binoculars, he caught a hint of movement below.

  He focused, but what he could see was limited by the deepening gloom and the drizzle that was coming down again. Nevertheless, he couldn’t miss the man who rode straight up to the chile mill. There was something familiar about the horse. And about the figure who dismounted and went directly for the stoop and the saddlebags.

  Jasper quickly checked the surrounding area to be certain. No sign of anyone else.

  No Gray!

  “Son of a bitch!” he muttered.

  He’d stop the bastard from taking off. He’d torture the information from him about where he could find his son. And then he’d turn over what was left to the sheriff.

  Trading the binoculars for his rifte, he hefted it to his shoulder and took aim even as the man got back to the horse. Fury and grief roiled together, but purpose steadied his weapon. Even as his chest squeezed tight, so did his finger on the trigger.

  It was a direct hit.

  The man flew back, his dark hat flying from his head, saddlebags falling to the ground—one set from each of his hands.

  “What the hell?”

  Plunging to his feet, Jasper grabbed up his binoculars. Two sets of saddlebags. And the horse was one of his own. Then he got a better look at the man on the ground, whose pale shirt was now stained dark with blood.

  No wonder he’d seemed so familiar.

  Bile rose up into Jasper’s throat as the realization hit him.

  He’d just shot his own son!

  “Cash! Oh, my God, what have I done?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Gray,” she said in barely more than a whisper. Reine hadn’t said a word until they’d zigzagged through several tunnels and stopped in a chamber where she was certain the man Tobiah had identified as Lloyd Rynko wouldn’t be able to find them. But she couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “I was so scared for you.” When she tried to hug him, he flinched. “How bad is it?”

  “I’m alive.”

  But not looking too good, she decided after flicking on a flashlight and checking him out. His eyes were bright. She put her hand to his face. It was feverish. Half his shirt was stained red, and he was hugging his left arm to his side.

  “You’ve lost so much blood. Sit down and let me tend to you.”

  “Gotta keep going or he’ll catch up to us.”

  “Sit!” she hissed.

  Even as Gray did as she demanded, Reine was rifling through the first-aid kit. She pulled out a couple of painkiller/fever reducers and an antibiotic. She handed over the pills and held the canteen for him. He couldn’t seem to get enough water.

  “How long ago were you shot?”

  “Don’t know. I’ve lost track of time down here in the dark. But it was just after dawn.”

  More than half a day.

  With dread, she said, “I’d better take a look at that shoulder.”

  “You’ve gotten some doctoring skills I don’t know about?”

  “I’m not going to try removing a bullet with my teeth, if that’s what’s worrying you.”

  Gray’s shoulder was a mess. She tried to detach herself as she cleaned him up with alcohol pads and got a better look at the wound. Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as she’d feared.

  “Scar won’t be too big,” she guessed. “Just enough to impress the ladies. Grit your teeth so you don’t yell.”

  As Reine cleaned the actual tear in his flesh and applied some antibiotic salve, Gray stiffened but didn’t make a sound. Wanting to cry for him, she dressed the wound carefully.

  “That’s the best I can do.”

  Gray caught her hand. “Thanks, Reine. I should have known you wouldn’t give up on me.”

  Tears sprang to her eyes. “Of course I wouldn’t, you dope. Not any more than you would give up on me. We’re family.�
�� Which reminded her... She took a big breath. “By the way, neither has Cash. We’ve been together on this.”

  They had been until now, anyway, and Gray didn’t need to know anything else.

  “‘All for one,’” Gray murmured, sounding pleased if equally astounded. “I’ll be damned.”

  She pulled out the snack bars from her jeans pocket and handed him two. “Eat.” Then she ripped open a third for herself. For the first time in days, she had a real appetite.

  “Too bad snarl-boy followed you in here,” she said, still keeping her voice low.

  “I think he’d be long gone if he could only find his way out.” Having finished the first bar, he started on the second. “He never got close to me.”

  “When was the last time you were in these tunnels?”

  “Not since Cash...left. But we’d done enough exploring that I knew them like the back of my hand. Memory’s pretty good. Didn’t even need a flashlight.”

  “Which is good since you didn’t have one anyway.” She took another bite. “And I knew the two of you were sneaking out here without me!”

  Gray didn’t comment.

  It was amazing that he was so alert, considering the wound. She touched the backs of her fingers to his forehead—he seemed a little cooler. And she swore his eyes didn’t seem quite so bright. She took a swig of water to wash down the remains of her bar and handed him the canteen.

  “Drink deep.”

  He emptied the container and she knew he would feel better for it. But well enough to get out of the tunnels and to someplace safe?

  If they could get to Gold Mine, her mare could carry them both back to the house. But they still had Rynko to deal with and neither of them was packing a gun.

  “So what’s next?” she asked. “How do we get out of here alive?”

  RAIN SPLATTERING HIM brought Cash instantly awake. Vitally awake. He was aware of a pain ripping through his chest like none he’d ever experienced.

  “You’re alive!”

  He blinked and Jasper Matlock came into focus directly above him. Water was rolling off the old man’s hat and directly into his face.