New Title 1

by Tabitha Black

  Over the past few days, he and Sapphire had spent every spare moment together, and no one could believe the difference her love had made in his demeanor. Least of all him. He felt like a new man—and must have been behaving like one, for everyone he saw had commented on the change in him. He couldn't stop smiling, he was cracking jokes, and his nightmares hadn't returned since he'd told her all about the cause of those memories. He still felt guilty for what had transpired, but it no longer weighed on his conscience the way it had.

  It no longer threatened to eat him up inside.

  Jebediah had grinned from ear to ear when Crawford had gifted him with the most expensive bottle of whiskey he could find, as a thank you present for forcing him to face his demons and, more importantly, open his heart to the girl who had already begun to settle there.

  "You've been well and truly struck by that arrow I was talking about," the sheriff had said with a wink. "And what a change it's made in you, too. Do I sense a wedding in our near future?"

  "I never thought I'd see the day where I'd ever answer that question in the affirmative," Crawford had said truthfully, "but let's just say… perhaps."

  Jeb had clapped him on the shoulder. "Well done. And sooner rather than later, I should hope. That girl is fantastic. She deserves the world after the difference she's brought about in you. The least you could do is make an honest woman out of her."

  Crawford had smiled enigmatically. What the sheriff didn't know was that he was already planning his proposal. But he wanted to do it right, and he needed something important to do so, which wasn't available in Culpepper. He'd ordered it in San Francisco and was now just waiting for it to be delivered.

  "Deputy Slade, it's so nice to see you out and about!" Anson Norwood's voice broke into Crawford's thoughts.

  "Hello, Doc. How are you doing?"

  "Just wonderful… as are you, I see." The resident doctor gave a sly wink. "Was a time not long ago where folks didn't think you were even capable of cracking a smile. Now it's hard to catch you without a grin splitting your face."

  Crawford sighed. "I'll revert back to my old ways in no time at all if people don't stop commenting on it."

  "Aw, don't take offense. We're all just happy for you, is all." The man's hazel eyes crinkled at the corners with genuine good humor.

  "I know. And I appreciate it."

  "What with Bo leaving town with Coral, not to mention the mayor, Jeb, myself, and now you… those gems are well on their way to bewitching every man in town!" Dr. Norwood chortled. "If Madame Jewel isn't careful, that saloon of hers will wind up empty of women!"

  "Oh, I don't think she needs to worry about that," Crawford said. "After all, some of the girls have stayed on after marriage—working downstairs, mind. And there are new girls arriving all the time, not to mention the ones who have been there since the place opened. Speaking of which, how is Della doing?"

  "Wonderful. Just wonderful. You ought to bring Sapphire over for dinner sometime."

  "I'd like that—"

  "Deputy!"

  Both men swiveled in shock at the sudden, barking sound of Sheriff Justice's voice. They looked up to see him sitting astride his mount, a worried look on his face. "We have to go, now. There's been a sighting of him."

  "Of whom?" Crawford wrinkled his brow.

  "That scumbag, Brewer. Apparently he's set up camp just on the outskirts of town."

  "This town?"

  "No. Fucking London." Jeb gave an exasperated snort. "Of course this town. Go get your horse, I'll meet you at the Petticoat in two minutes. We're going to nail the bastard."

  "It's fine, you go," the doctor said immediately. "We can talk later."

  It took all of five minutes for Crawford to fetch and saddle his horse, and make his way to The Red Petticoat. He strode in to find Jebediah already there.

  Madame Jewel, Gabriel, and several of the girls were all standing, clustered together, in the main part of the saloon area, watching the sheriff with expectant, worried expressions. The cook, Nettie, was there too, holding a handsome, dark-haired young boy by the hand.

  Crawford spotted Sapphire among them and heaved a silent sigh of relief.

  "No-one is to leave the saloon until we return," Jebediah was saying. "No exceptions. If it is Brewer, there's no telling what he might do or what might happen. There could be a chase, it could wind up being in this direction. There could be shooting. He might decide to snatch one of you to use as a hostage if we manage to corner him."

  "Should I come with you?" Gabe asked, his arm wrapped possessively around Jewel's slender shoulders.

  Sheriff Justice shook his head. "You need to stay here and look out for the women."

  "Surely Charlie can do that," Gabe protested.

  "No. I want you both to stay here and look after the girls. Like I said earlier, this is just a precaution. Deputy Slade and I are merely going out to verify whether it's even the outlaw we're looking for. We've received false information before. So no one needs to be unduly worried. I just want to make sure you're all on your guard, and to reinforce the fact that you ought to stay here until we know for sure whether there even is any danger. Understood?"

  The assembled group nodded and murmured their assent.

  Jebediah went to find his wife, Rebekah, and Crawford turned to find Sapphire standing beside him, gazing at him with huge, worried eyes. "You will be careful, won't you?" she said.

  He leaned down and pulled her into his arms, kissing her soundly. "I'll be fine," he said once they'd broken apart. "Like the sheriff said, it's probably not even him. In the meantime, you stay here, you understand?"

  She nodded. "Of course."

  "Good girl." He brushed her lips with his own. "I love you."

  "I love you too."

  * * *

  "Well, that was a whole heap of fuss over nothing," Jeb said as he and Crawford rode back into town. "Just some vagabond traveler, camping out there instead of coming into Culpepper and taking a room at the boarding house, like a normal person."

  "Some people prefer to sleep under the stars," Crawford said reasonably. "And others don't have the money to spend on a room." With a jolt of tenderness, he thought of Sapphire, and felt a wave of relief flood through him at the thought that she would never again have to go hungry or be cold. Not if he had anything to do with it.

  "Probably spent all his money on grog," Jeb said dismissively. "Anyway, let's get back to the saloon and tell everyone they can breathe easy. Poor Red is probably worried sick."

  "And Sapphire."

  The moment he entered the saloon, however, Crawford knew something was wrong. The girls were ashen-faced and trembling. Some of them were in tears. Scanning the group, searching desperately for a head of midnight blue curls, his stomach dropped through the floor when he couldn't see her.

  He didn't dare ask. He couldn't. His throat had constricted as surely as if a python had wrapped its thick, scaly body around his neck and squeezed.

  "Sapphire is missing," Gabriel Vasquez spoke the words Crawford had somehow known were coming, but had been dreading all the same.

  "How?" he croaked. His knees suddenly turning to water, he sank into the nearest chair.

  "She went to use the outhouse," Opal said, her eyes red-rimmed and already swollen from crying. "She didn't ask anyone. Didn't tell anyone. She just slipped out."

  "She must have thought it was safe, as it's only a few yards," another dark-haired girl volunteered.

  The room was spinning; the bar, the tables, chairs, draperies, the sea of faces watching him… all whirled around and around until they were just a blur of colors, textures, horror. Crawford gripped his knees and forced himself to take deep breaths. He couldn't fall apart. He needed to be strong. For her. For them.

  "So I assume you weren't able to catch Brewer," Gabriel went on.

  How can he remain so composed? Crawford thought furiously. I suppose it wouldn't be so if it were Jewel who had disappeared… although I guess staying calm is
the best way to find her—and fast. At a second glance, he could indeed see the lines of worry drawn across the Mexican's forehead.

  "It wasn't Brewer," Jeb said curtly. "Just some vagrant. Those composite sketches aren't always reliable. So as far as we know, Brewer's not the culprit."

  "Then who?" Jewel blurted out. "Sapphire may have a willful streak, but she's not a fool. She wouldn't have run away or simply gone wandering off, not when she was aware of what was going on and how worried we'd be. Someone must have taken her."

  "All right, ladies and gentlemen," Jebediah drew himself up to his full height and spoke in a calm, clear voice. "We all need to take a moment and think, hard. If someone has indeed taken Sapphire, we need to find out who it was so that we can find her. Do any of you know anyone who might intend to do her harm? Anyone who might be angry with her, for whatever reason? Don't worry about getting her into trouble, there'll be none of that. We just need any information you can give us."

  The pause seemed endless to Crawford, who sat, turned to stone, still gripping his knees so hard his knuckles had turned white. There was something niggling at the back of his mind but he couldn't think straight, couldn't focus…

  "Joe Harris has always been a bit too taken with her," someone said at length.

  "Who?" Jebediah frowned.

  "Mr. Harris. He was a regular visitor before…" the girl shot a quick glance at Crawford, "before she and the deputy started to see each other, and Saph started only wearing a pink petticoat and working downstairs."

  Crawford leapt to his feet, a series of images suddenly flashing through his mind with an almost blinding clarity. A red tie. A mop of greying curls. A yellow ribbon held to a nose. "What does he look like?" he asked the girl, already knowing the answer.

  "Short. Beady eyes. Heavyset. Curly hair. He likes to wear brightly colored ties," Opal said. "He got pretty angry with her last night when she told him yet again that she wasn't offering private dances anymore."

  Oh, Christ. This is all my fault. If she hadn't met me, if she were still working upstairs… oh, God, what if he's done something to her, something terrible, oh Lord help me please—

  "Crawford."

  He turned his head slowly, trying to focus on the sheriff's sympathetic face.

  "Joe Harris. Apparently he has a rundown little shack out east, only a short ride from here. If he has her, that's where she'll be. We need to go, now."

  Gabriel was already shrugging into his coat. "I'm coming with you."

  Crawford didn't have the strength to argue, even if he'd wanted to.

  "Please bring her home safe, Gabe," Jewel begged, her beautiful blue eyes brimming with tears.

  "We will."

  Gabriel sounded so confident, so sure of a positive outcome.

  Crawford could only pray that the man was right.

  * * *

  "So high and mighty… think you're some kind of princess, with the right to turn me down… making me feel all special, but only because you want my money… nothing but a little fucking whore!"

  Sapphire had never known such terror. Her wrists were bound tightly in front of her with a length of rope that was digging into her skin. A foul-tasting cloth had been stuffed into her mouth and tied in place around her head. Her temple throbbed where he had struck her. And she was completely and utterly naked.

  He's going to kill me. He's going to rape me, and then he's going to kill me. Oh God, Crawford, I'm sorry. If only I'd asked someone to accompany me to the outhouse. If only I hadn't been so rude to Joe. If only—

  "… you even listening to me, you fucking tart? Bet you're sorry now, ain't you? Look at you lying there in the corner, covered in filth like a broken damn doll. Bit different to prancing around at the Petticoat in your fancy clothes, treating honest, hardworking men like me like scum just for finding you pretty, ain't it? Not so pretty now, are you?"

  The man was ranting, pacing up and down the shabby, dirty little hut with his hands behind his back, as though he were a headmaster delivering a scolding.

  Her mouth was so dry that even if she hadn't been gagged, she wasn't sure she would have been able to talk to him, coax him into letting her go.

  "But now you're here." Joe Harris approached her, slowly, with menace.

  Sapphire shrank away, but her escape was irrevocably blocked by the wall at her back.

  "Now you're here, with me. And what's more, no one knows you're here. That dumb sheriff, that ridiculous, glowering deputy who keeps staring at me as if he fucking owns you—they're off on a wild goose chase, huntin' for something that ain't there."

  Her eyes widened in understanding. Joe had been the one to suggest that the outlaw Brewer was camped in the hills.

  "And now I have you here, in my home, all to myself, and for the first time since I met you, I can do anything I want to that beautiful body of yours."

  He reached out to caress her cheek, and she forced herself not to flinch. She didn't want to anger him further.

  "I asked nicely. I begged. I fucking pleaded with you, time and time again, give me another dance, let me go upstairs with you… but oh, no, you suddenly got airs and decided you were too good for the likes of Joe Harris." He let out a derisive snort. His beady eyes had a maniacal gleam in them that terrified her. "You! Too good for me! When you're just a common little slut who will be anybody's if the price is right!"

  His grimy, calloused palm found her left breast and squeezed it, hard. "Oh, the things I'm gonna do to you… No time limit. No price limit. I can barely decide where to begin!"

  As his other hand dipped between her legs, rummaging clumsily in her most private place, Sapphire looked around wildly, trying to find some—any—way to escape, to stop him, to distract him, at the very least. But all she could see were dirty pots, plates and mugs, a cold stove, a pile of clothes in an untidy heap in one corner, a small cot, a flash of yellow…

  The pristine length of buttercup yellow ribbon stood out in such stark contrast to the overall grubby feel of the place that, once it had caught her eye, she was unable to look away.

  Joe realized she wasn't paying any attention to him, paused in his manhandling of her, and followed her gaze.

  "Oh, yes," he said proudly. "Dropped that in town, one day, didn't you? I was following you, so I picked it up."

  He's been following me?

  "I love to watch you going about your daily business sometimes, you know." His eyes took on a faraway look. "See you dressed up all demure, like you're a proper lady. It's a lovely sight, and knowing what you really are seems to make it all the sweeter. The day you dropped that ribbon felt better than my birthday. I been sleeping with it under my pillow every night since."

  Utterly revolted, Sapphire tore her eyes away from the ribbon, dug in her heels, and tried to back further into the wall.

  The resounding crack of a gunshot rent the air. Joe scrambled awkwardly to his feet, his eyes wide.

  "Joe Harris! This is Sheriff Jebediah Justice. We know you're in there. Come out immediately or believe me, you will not like the consequences!"

  At the unmistakable sound of Sheriff Justice's voice, a tear of sheer relief slid down Sapphire's cheek, soaking into the coarse material of the gag. Oh, praise the Lord. They've found me. I'll be all right. I'll see Crawford again.

  "It's not possible. I planned all this so carefully! They should still be out searching for that outlaw fellow! And even if not, how would they know it was me? How would they know where to look? I've been so careful…"

  Joe was pacing once more, muttering to himself, pushing his stubby fingers through his hair again and again in panicky, jerky movements.

  Sapphire took the opportunity to scramble awkwardly to her feet, using her back against the wall as leverage, thanking God for the fact that the evil bastard hadn't thought to tie her ankles, as well. Unable to think about anything except seeing Crawford again, she crept past the still pacing and muttering Joe as silently as she could.

  Then her foot touched a c
reaky floorboard and he whirled around at the sudden noise.

  The expression on his face made the blood in her veins turn to ice.

  * * *

  Crawford was trembling with rage and terror. He was glad Jebediah and Gabriel were flanking him, one on either side, their steadfast and comforting presence the only thing keeping him from riding straight into that little fucker Joe's hut.

  So far, not a sound had come from the place. Not from Joe, or from Sapphire. Praying fervently that she was all right, that they weren't too late, Crawford jumped when Jebediah called out again.

  "This is your last chance, Mr. Harris. Please come outside where we can see you. If you cooperate, no harm will come to you."

  Like hell, Crawford thought. If that man had touched so much as a hair on Sapphire's head, he would tear the sonofabitch's limbs off with his bare hands.

  His fingers clenched convulsively on the reins as the door to the shack opened slowly to reveal a naked woman. It was her. Her wrists were bound, she was gagged, and—oh, dear God, no—there was a long, glinting dagger blade at her throat. Standing right beside her, shuffling her awkwardly along in front of him like a shield, was the man Crawford had seen following her on Main Street. Red Tie himself.

  It felt as though an icicle was dripping down Crawford's spine.

  "Let her go!" Gabriel called out, his voice every bit as furious as Crawford felt.

  "Fuck you!" Joe spat. "If you don't turn those horses around and ride straight on back down to town this instant, I will cut this girl's throat from ear to ear. Right here, right now."

  Sapphire remained perfectly still. Her eyes were wide with fright, but other than that, despite being naked in front of four men, despite the chill of the air on her skin, and despite the fact that she had a knife to her throat, she met Crawford's gaze and he could see the defiant determination in her eyes. Don't let him win, she seemed to be saying. Don't go. I need you. I love you.

  Just the sight of her gave Crawford renewed strength and he raised his pistol with a perfectly steady hand. "You let her go this instant, Mr. Harris, and I won't blow your ugly troll head off. Otherwise…" He cocked the gun.