Strong Convictions: An Emmett Strong Western (Emmett Strong Westerns Book 1)

by GP Hutchinson

  The other two—likewise bloodied and sobbing—clung to their brothers. They seemed to be otherwise unharmed.

  Nowhere was Li Xu to be found, though.

  Her father squatted beside the young woman with the burns and stared blankly at the ground.

  Emmett rested a hand on Yong’s shoulder. “Do these girls know what happened to Li?”

  Yong nodded. “They said—”

  The answer Emmett desperately wanted to hear was cut short by fierce shouting in Chinese near the other wagon. When he spun to see what it was all about, he saw Wei and two other Chinese men attempting to restrain some of their neighbors—men brandishing cleavers and knives as they argued back.

  He hurried to the scene.

  Wei glanced at Emmett. “These men want to mutilate the kidnappers’ bodies for what they did to our daughters,” he wailed in English. “And I won’t have it. They may deserve it, but we are not dogs.” He glowered at the men with blades.

  Arms hanging loosely at his sides, blood dripping from his left hand, Emmett suddenly felt spent. Seeing his expression, the clamoring Chinamen gave up their struggle. Those who only a moment before had been set on revenge now dropped to the ground and began to sob.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  Emmett gripped his bandaged left hand. “How many casualties?”

  “Fourteen McIntosh men dead,” Juanito said. “That first dynamite blast must’ve killed half that number.”

  Charlie Blaylock, bound hand and foot, sat on the ground at Juanito’s feet. The Texian nudged him with the toe of his boot. “One alive here. Four got away.”

  Scowling deeply, Blaylock studied his captors in silence.

  Emmett glared back at his brother’s murderer. Having Charlie Blaylock in hand should’ve given him a sense of satisfaction. It should’ve left him with little more to do than escort the outlaw back home for trial. But the game had changed. This murderer had gotten himself attached to a band of kidnapping slavers. And one of the women they had abducted was beginning to mean a whole lot more to Emmett than he would’ve ever thought possible.

  Yes, he was glad Charlie Blaylock’s hide was in his hands. What he would do with it, however, was no longer so cut-and-dried.

  “Wounded or killed on our side?” Emmett asked Juanito.

  “Four dead. Seven wounded, not counting the girls.”

  Having done what he could for the young women, an older Chinese man was now pouring water from a canteen over the bullet wound in Sikes’s leg.

  “You gonna be OK, Sikes?” Emmett asked.

  Sikes bobbed his head. “I don’t think I’ll be putting much weight on it anytime soon, but after a good cleaning it should mend well enough.” In the dying firelight, beads of sweat glistened on his face.

  Emmett eyed Juanito, who in turn pursed his lips and nodded.

  Yong Xu stood close by, one hand hanging from his belt, close to the holster. Wei was at his side.

  “What can I do?” Wei asked.

  Yong seemed lost in thought.

  After surveying the scene once again, Emmett said, “Let’s get the injured into one wagon, hitch up some horses, and get moving for Virginia City.” He pointed his thumb back toward the supply wagon. “Bring along any water they had. And any spare ammunition. Leave the rest.”

  “I’ll see to it,” Wei said solemnly. He patted Yong Xu on the back as he walked past him.

  Emmett stepped over to Yong. “Can I have a word with you, my friend?”

  The two ambled out of earshot of the rest of the crowd.

  “I’m sorely disappointed, too,” Emmett said. He peered at Yong’s dejected face. “I wanted Li to be back in your arms by now.”

  Yong tightened his lips but still said nothing.

  “We may not have accomplished everything we hoped to here tonight, but you and your men…You did yourselves proud. You saved three girls we’d never have seen again.”

  Yong’s gaze finally met his.

  Emmett went on. “And we have Charlie Blaylock as a bargaining chip. Seth’ll want his brother back. I’m pretty sure he’ll talk McIntosh into negotiating with us.”

  When Yong Xu finally spoke, his throat sounded dry. “Min, one of the girls we rescued tonight, told me that monster McIntosh has kept Li-Li for himself. He may already be…” He choked back his emotions, then wiped his sleeve across his mouth. “That filthy man…using my precious daughter.”

  Emmett’s eyes burned. Kept her for himself…Anger roiled within him. He shook his head to clear away images of that McIntosh bastard having his way with Li.

  “I’ll get her back,” he muttered.

  Yong began to pace. “What if McIntosh won’t give her back? What if he doesn’t care about Charlie Blaylock?”

  “He’ll give her back.” Emmett set his jaw and stared into the darkness toward Reno. Getting Li Xu back alive had just become his life’s sole mission.

  Yong faced Emmett. “And you’re actually going to give up the man who shot your brother? The man you chased all the way from Texas?”

  “Tonight wasn’t about capturing my brother’s murderer, Yong. It was about freeing those girls. The good Lord just gave us an unexpected bonus.”

  Though Yong Xu was trembling, his eyes revealed a glimmer of hope.

  “Charlie Blaylock…” Emmett went on. “Convicting and hanging that no-good skeezicks won’t bring my brother back from the dead. But if his worthless life can be traded to redeem Li and the other girl, then hell yes—I’ll give him up. And I’ll consider my trip all the way up here from Texas more than worthwhile.” He clapped his friend on his good shoulder.

  Yong got ahold of himself enough to say, “I swear an oath to you, Emmett Strong. If McIntosh won’t take your offer, I myself will avenge your brother’s death. I’ll make both Blaylock and McIntosh wish—for the rest of their miserable lives—that they had exchanged Li for Charlie.”

  Emmett shook his head. “Lucian McIntosh will deal. On my terms.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  The brisk breeze that whipped across the open stretch of road fluttered Lucian McIntosh’s dark-gray sack coat. Seth Blaylock stood behind his boss, surveying the carnage from the previous night’s attack. How in the world had he let himself get caught so flat-footed? He’d underestimated the Texans, their abilities, and their determination. Badly. Had it been his preoccupation with Ettie?

  The sight of Thaddeus McIntosh’s corpse lying in a most unnatural position, eyes still open, set him on edge. He cast a glance at the cluster of gunhands near the charred wagon frame, then his gaze returned to his boss. His stomach tensed. Seth didn’t fear anybody—anybody except a livid Lucian McIntosh, that is.

  McIntosh looked up from his slain brother. Hands on his hips, the huge, dark mountain of a man turned. His lips curled back. “To hell with all Texans,” he snarled. “Damn bunch of Mexicans. Comin’ up here, stirrin’ up the damn Chinese against white folk. Slaughterin’ my brother…” Clenching his jaw, he inhaled deeply.

  He poked a thick finger into the center of Seth’s chest. “I want that Texas lawman dead, you hear?”

  Seth gave a sharp nod. He’d learned long ago that when the boss was fuming like this, you kept your head down.

  McIntosh scuffed a charred spot of ground with his boot. “Dynamite. Who the hell has the gall to come at Lucian McIntosh with dynamite?”

  Hardly was the question out of his mouth when he wheeled and snapped at the gunhands over by the wagon, “Will somebody please show a little respect? Get a blanket and cover my dead brother’s body. Now!”

  He turned back to Seth. “Who the hell would’ve ever figured it? Texans allyin’ themselves with the Chinese? The filthy johnnies!”

  Seth tensed for another tirade—a lecture on how he never should’ve raided Virginia City’s Chinatown to begin with.

 
“To hell with all Chinese!” Lucian spat out. “Why, I oughta use them two China girls back home but good…and then when I’m done, take ’em and leave their dead bodies right there in the middle of Chinatown. Teach them damn johnnies they’d damn well better never interfere with the likes of Lucian McIntosh again.” He glared. “Who the hell do they think they are anyway? Chinamen!”

  Seth sensed a chance to deflect his boss’s fury. He put on his most determined face. Narrowing his eyes, he said, “I assure you, sir—them Chinese are gonna get what’s coming to ’em. They got no business acting like a white man’s equals.”

  McIntosh met Seth’s gaze, his expression hard as granite. Several seconds passed when the only sound to be heard was the rustle of the wind through the scrub grass.

  “Bottom line, you know who I blame for this entire mess?” the boss asked.

  “Sir,” Seth ventured, “let me repeat myself. I made it clear to Mr. Thaddeus that he shouldn’t dirty his own hands with this affair. I tried to convince him to stay in Carson City. To let me lead the men back up here.”

  McIntosh waved his hand dismissively. “I lost my brother on account of that damn Texan. And you don’t know if Ettie’s gonna pull through yet. I don’t blame you. You didn’t lead them Texans up here. As much as anybody, I blame Charlie. Now how bad do you want that good-for-nothin’ brother of yours back?”

  The question was unexpected. And it was surprisingly difficult to answer. To Seth it seemed as though Charlie had arrived with a whole trainload of trouble hitched to him, plus a caboose full of bad luck. On the other hand, letting that Texas lawman determine his brother’s fate…That’d constitute an insult to his blood and a blow his own reputation.

  He answered his boss cautiously, “Don’t wanna let that Texan have the final say about both our brothers.”

  “What if your brother gets beefed in the process of us takin’ down the Texan?”

  Seth shrugged. “You have somethin’ particular in mind?”

  McIntosh stared across the landscape. “Virginia City is the one town around here that can match my resources and my influence. Can’t go ridin’ into Virginia City demandin’ they turn over the Texans and the Chinese that did all this. Hell, the way things are goin’, I wouldn’t be surprised if somebody in Virginia City—somebody already nursin’ a grudge against me—actually gives them Chinese a hearin’ and accuses me and Thaddeus of thievin’ their girls.”

  “So what do we do?”

  “What do you think, son? You think them Texans are satisfied? Are they gonna pick up and leave now? Take Charlie back south for justice and leave the Chinese to finish business with us all on their own?”

  Seth thought about it for a minute. Why wouldn’t they? It’s what they came here for to begin with. They’d save themselves a whole lot of trouble.

  “I don’t know about you,” McIntosh said, “but I’ve got an inklin’.”

  Seth watched Lucian’s gunslicks hoist and carry away another dead body. “What kind of inklin’?”

  “That them Texans have gone and gotten themselves all righteous for a cause all of a sudden. I expect they’ll come callin’ on us real soon, wantin’ to make a trade. Just may wanna offer up your brother Charlie for them last two China girls.”

  “You think so?”

  “Like I said—just an inklin’.”

  “Based on?”

  “Based on the way they went and pulled together that little Chinese army. I’ll bet they cut themselves a deal with the only folks around here stupid enough to go toe-to-toe against us McIntoshes like that.”

  Seth nodded. “They help the Chinese get their little girls back if the Chinese help them jump Charlie Blaylock. Damn! That’s like makin’ allies of Indians.”

  McIntosh pulled a cigar from his inside coat pocket. “Long history of white men usin’ one tribe against another when it served their purposes.”

  The gunhands had gathered all the corpses and laid them out side by side. Only one body had been placed in the wagon. The fine boots sticking out from the end of the blanket told Seth it was Thaddeus’s remains.

  “Just in case the Texans don’t have a deal with the Chinese,” Seth said, “or just in case they ain’t so righteous…Maybe now that they’ve got Charlie, they break with the Chinese and try to head on home. I think we oughta have men watchin’ the rail stations round about.”

  McIntosh nodded. “Meanwhile, we sit back a day or two and wait for ’em to come offerin’ us a trade.” He started toward the wagon.

  “And you’ll make the trade?” Seth asked, following along.

  “Of course. And of course we’ll also set an ambush between Reno and Virginia City.” The dark gleam came back to McIntosh’s eyes. “We’ll teach them Texans a lesson. And them Chinese, too. We’ll ravish those girls top to bottom right in front of their eyes. Then put a bullet in the belly of every one of their blasted Mexican and Chinese friends. Let ’em die slow and painful.”

  “Be done with the whole lot of them,” Seth said with a smirk.

  “Except the China girls,” McIntosh said. “We keep them alive. Bring ’em back with us to keep or to sell. All depends on my mood by the time we’re finished with all this blasted folderol.”

  “Just let me be the one to put the bullet in that law dog’s belly,” Seth said. “He’s the one responsible for sendin’ Ettie to death’s doorstep.”

  McIntosh flicked cigar ashes. “For Ettie? Yeah, I’ll let you finish him off for Ettie. But not before we make him pay dearly for what he did to my brother.”

  They were now beside the wagon. Lucian reached over the sideboard and rested his big hand on the blanket. He was silent for a long while. Then he murmured, “Don’t you worry, Thaddeus. They’ll bleed for doin’ this to you.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  “Ettie…Miss Main. It’s OK. It’s just a dream.”

  Whose voice? She struggled to make sense of everything. So much blood. So terrible. All the blood. That poor girl. She heard herself moaning.

  “Ettie, it’s just a dream. It’s me—Doc Monroe. I’m still here.”

  She felt the cool, damp cloth mopping her forehead. The left side of her abdomen hurt something awful. But why? Her eyes fluttered. She turned her head side to side, searching. Where was the girl? And Seth?

  “You’re due for another dose of laudanum. Here you go.”

  A bitter medicinal scent assaulted her nose. She winced. “No. I don’t…”

  “It’ll ease that pain. Help you sleep.”

  Sleep. Have I been asleep? The poor girl. A bullet in the back. So much blood.

  “Here, drink.”

  Ettie’s eyes were fully open now. They focused on Doc Monroe. The smell of the medicine made her shudder. “No, Doc. Not right now, please.” Her own voice sounded strange to her.

  “OK then, Ettie. For now we’ll wait. You feeling a little better?”

  She didn’t answer. The pain was bad, but at the moment, the things she had just seen were more upsetting. So vivid. And Seth’s reaction…

  It dawned on Ettie that she was in a bedroom at Thaddeus McIntosh’s place. In Carson City. She’d spent a night or two here before. With Seth.

  When she closed her eyes again, there was that unfortunate girl once more. An unbelievably huge, gaping bullet hole in her back. Blood that wouldn’t stop flowing. Pooling on the hardwood floor. The girl still trying to get up. People yelling and screaming. A deafening blast and a flash. Ettie jumped, her eyes flying open.

  It was daylight now. The doctor was gone.

  She was thirsty. The pain wasn’t quite as bad. But she couldn’t get the rest of the vision out of her mind—Seth, smoking Schofield revolver in his gloved hand, laughing. Laughing!

  “China girls. Damn fun sport, ain’t it Ettie?” That’s what he’d said.

  Had he really said that? Bac
k at that Chinese restaurant maybe? Or was it only in the nightmare?

  Ettie licked her dry lips. No more laudanum for a while. She needed to think.

  She envisioned the real Chinese girl at the restaurant. The bullet hole was much smaller. There was less blood. But she was no less dead. Ettie saw the girl’s youthful face, soft and lovely, eyes still open.

  One part of her wanted to push it all out of her mind. But she couldn’t. Not yet. She forced herself to recall that night.

  Seth hadn’t shot that girl. “No shootin’ unless the Chinamen come runnin’,” he’d said.

  On the other hand, she remembered his eyes. With the Chinese girl lying dead only steps away, they had shown not an ounce of remorse. “You wanna live? You stay put and keep your mouths shut,” he’d snarled at the rest of the petrified girls.

  A tear rolled down Ettie’s cheek. How had she become so inured to this kind of life—to this man?

  In her mind’s eye, she saw another Chinese girl—beautiful costume, shining hair—running toward the arroyo. Stopped cold by a bullet to the stomach. Seth’s bullet.

  Ettie’s hand moved carefully over her own punctured abdomen. She deserved this, didn’t she? That pretty Chinese girl didn’t.

  As her gaze drifted to the cord that tied back the luxurious burgundy curtains, she recalled her last minutes with Li and Ping—the girls Lucian McIntosh had decided to keep for himself. Wasn’t that the way it had started for her? Kidnapped four years ago. A deal between Seth and Lucian so Seth could keep her for himself instead of sending her to one of the big man’s bed houses. A chill swept through her as she relived the terror. Just like the China girls.

  She wiped away another tear. I did try to run away from all this. Once.

  Only once. McIntosh had had too many men. When they’d caught her and left her alone with Seth again, that had been the turning point. With his knife at her throat, she had determined to survive and make the best of it. That night she had become an actress.