Since she’d moved to Tanger five years earlier, Eloise Simpson and Sarah Thomas had constantly looked down their noses at her because Gabby worked at the mill. Now Eloise was gone, and Sarah refused to leave her house, along with a lot of other women, including Gabby’s best friend Allison. Life in Tanger had become a level of hell none of them had ever experienced.
She sighed and realized she’d lost sight of the strangers. With a soft curse, she stepped out of the alley and walked down the street with as much nonchalance as she could muster. In the restaurant, Elmer was sitting at the table by the window with a red-haired man. Must be another one of the hired guns, so she didn’t give him a second glance. Instead, she walked toward where she’d last seen the strangers, by the post office.
Men’s voices floated on the air from beneath the cottonwood tree in front of the building. Gabby ducked behind the trunk, grateful for its girth. She tried to hold her breath, knowing the men were only six feet away and God willing, unaware of her presence.
“What do you make of the buildings that were damaged?” asked one.
“It’s random, no reason to shoot up any of them. Did you notice there wasn’t a lot of damage at the general store though? They are smart enough to not destroy things they were trying to steal,” answered the second one.
“Bunch of fucking idiots,” grumbled the third.
Gabby swallowed the chuckle that threatened. She agreed with the grumpy one, the marauders were idiots, evil vicious ones.
“Lee, stop being such a whiner and help,” the first one ordered in a voice used to command. “Talk to your brother.”
“What the hell am I supposed to do?” the second man sounded as frustrated as the first. “He does what he wants to when he wants to.”
“I am standing here.” The whiner sounded a bit annoyed by the exchange.
“Then focus, Lee. We need you.”
Gabby heard real affection in the first man’s voice, a deep respect that sounded like a lifetime’s worth.
“Hey there, darlin’. I’m wondering why you’re eavesdropping on my friends.”
Gabby’s head whipped around so fast, her neck shouted in pain. Standing in front of her was the redhead from Cindy’s restaurant, sporting the most beautiful pair of blue eyes and charming smile she’d ever seen. Her mouth went cotton dry as her lips opened and closed without a peep. The stranger’s grin widened and Gabby felt the ground beneath her feet tremble. She’d never felt so off-kilter by just looking at a man. It was frustrating and maddening, but she couldn’t seem to grab her breath back.
“Although as beautiful as you are beneath those men’s trousers, I think it probably still ain’t polite.” He stuck out his hand. “Jacob Sheridan, at your service. Please call me Jake.”
Jake.
Gabby swallowed although her mouth couldn’t possibly get any drier than it was. Dammit to hell, had she taken leave of her senses?
She finally got her breath back. “I’m sure you understand from the look of Tanger why I don’t trust strangers much anymore.”
His eyes reflected understanding, but they were like the sky, constantly changing with the wind. He looked down at his hand with a wry grin.
“I guess I can put this away.”
His three friends appeared behind him, deathly looks and menace clearly written on their faces. Gabby backed away, her heart pounding like a bass drum.
Oh God, help me.
She didn’t want to be afraid anymore. Gabby wanted to live her life like any normal girl, free to wear a skirt and be safe on the streets of her town. It seemed unlikely that would happen anytime soon judging by the looks on their faces. She reached into her pocket and fingered the pistol that had become part of her. The worn wood grip felt like an old friend to her fingers.
“You’d do best to pull your hand out of that pocket, miss. We’re not going to hurt you, but if you pull a gun on a man, you should expect him to shoot back.” The man who spoke had the looks of a leader. He had curly brown hair and kind blue eyes. The pistol resting beneath his palm spoke of more than kindness though.
The two others had blond hair and brown eyes. One was missing most of his left arm and his expression spoke of fury and pain. The other, Gabby assumed was his brother since they had a similar look to them, had eyes as cold as a mountain stream in January. He kept his razor-sharp gaze on Gabby, making shivers snake up and down her skin. That one scared her even more than the redhead’s charm did.
“Who’s your friend, Jake?” the first man said.
“I haven’t rightly discovered yet, but I know she’s carrying a pistol and a healthy dose of gumption.” Jake gave her a small smile. “I don’t think she’s out to do us any harm, Gid.”
“Says you.” The one-armed man snarled. “I don’t trust anybody in this crazy town.”
Gabby pulled her hand out of her pocket and stood straighter. If they had wanted to harm her, they would’ve done so already. She had to trust her instincts, which told her if Jake had been talking with Elmer not five minutes ago, he wasn’t imminently dangerous. If anyone in town had a reason to kill strangers, it was Cindy’s grandfather.
“My name is Gabrielle Rinaldi.” She was proud that her voice didn’t shake as badly as her hands were trembling. “My father owns the flour mill in town.”
“Pleased to meet you, Miss Rinaldi. My name is Gideon Blackwood. These are my cousins Zeke and Lee, and you’ve already met Jake.” The brown-haired man tipped his hat. “We were hired by Phineas Wolcott to service the town.”
Phineas had hired them, certainly no surprise, but to hear it said out loud still affected her. Gabby digested that bit of information like the taste of a lemon, it went down but not easily. Even if they were mannerly, and obviously Southerners, these men were hired with money taken from the mouths of people in town. That simple fact made Gabby’s stomach churn, knowing how tough times already were.
“How much is Wolcott paying you to kill people?” she asked with a ferocity that surprised even her.
“We’re here to protect you, not to kill anyone.” Gideon seemed to be the diplomat of the group, the one who assured folks of the strangers’ good intentions.
Gabby couldn’t stop herself, she snorted, a very unladylike noise in the quiet afternoon air. “I don’t believe that any more than you do. I just want you to know that I spoke out against hiring you. The town doesn’t have enough money to feed itself, much less to hire gunslingers.”
“Just don’t get in the way of a bullet.” Jake’s eyes glittered with a remembered grief so deep, it was like a punch in the stomach. “I’d hate to see someone as precious as you be hurt because of an ideal.”
“Ideals are all I have left, Mr. Sheridan. If you had any, you’d refuse the job and leave Tanger the way you found it.” With that, she spun on her heel and walked away, desperately controlling the urge to run like hell, hoping she wouldn’t feel the burn of a bullet in her back. Gabby knew she’d likely just made four enemies who were armed and very dangerous.
As if life hadn’t already been complicated enough.
* * * * *
“Who the hell was that?” Lee harrumphed.
“Little spitfire.” Jake’s heart stuttered from the five minute conversation with Gabrielle. She was full of life and beauty, along with a pair of balls to rival any man.
Jake was utterly intrigued with the tall, voluptuous Italian woman with curly black hair and bottomless black eyes.
“She’s trouble, that’s what she is.” Zeke scowled at her back. “We don’t need townsfolk fighting us too.”
“I agree.” Gideon turned to Jake. “You need to stick to her like a cocklebur. Charm her, confuse her, whatever the hell you need to do, just keep her out of our way.”
Jake didn’t think that was going to be a hard task, or maybe he was wrong, and it would be the most difficult thing he’d e
ver had to do. Either way, it was bound to be one of the most memorable experiences of his life, and that was saying a lot. Jake had enough memories to haunt two lifetimes. A romp with a beautiful woman and danger would replace some of those nightmares with hot dreams.
“…do you understand?” Gideon had been speaking to Jake. He looked expectantly as if he wanted Jake to answer him.
“Sure thing.” Jake smiled, completely clueless as to what he was agreeing to.
“Don’t let us down, Jake.” Lee’s eyes narrowed. “Think with your head, not your dick for once.”
Jake raised one eyebrow. “Take your own advice, Cornelius. Think with your head, not your stump for once.” He was tired of being thought of as simply a ladies’ man without a thought in his head but for pleasure. God knows there was more going on in his mind than he could bear to think about.
Lee was a true Blackwood, not like Jake, who had always been thought of as an illegitimate one, the get of his faithless mother and a once wealthy Blackwood. It had been an unspoken fact they accepted as children, although no one ever spoke of it.
The air between them hummed with tension. He expected Lee to let the fist fly he had clenched by his side. His eyes were as hard as an oak, full of anger and self-pity. Jake understood most of what Lee was feeling, however, losing an arm wasn’t an excuse to be belligerent for the rest of his life.
“You’re a bastard,” Lee hissed before he turned away, as stiff as a board.
“There was no need for you to say that.” Zeke pinned Jake with a fierce look. “He does the best he can.”
“No, he uses that damn stump as an excuse to bite at the world day in and day out. It’s time he stopped being bitter and started living again.” Jake watched his friend’s retreat, remorseful for what he’d said to hurt Lee, but knowing he wouldn’t have changed a word of it even if he had the chance.
“That might be true, but you could have been nicer about it.” Gideon glanced up and down the street. “We haven’t finished checking out the town yet. Lee shouldn’t be alone. Zeke, go with him.”
Without a word, Zeke trotted after his brother, leaving Gideon alone with Jake. He had a feeling his friend was about to give a lecture Jake didn’t want to hear so he headed it off by offering information of his own instead.
“Elmer told me something very interesting.” Jake cleared his throat, dredging up the feelings of disbelief and fear when he’d heard about the missing women. “The raiders did more than shoot up the town, they took women.”
Gideon’s eyes widened. “They took women?”
They started walking again, leading all four horses behind them. “Apparently they took every woman under the age of thirty-five they could find. The first time they did it, there was so much confusion, no one realized six women were missing. Then they came back and did it again and again. They’ve come through town eight times, and took women each time. According to Elmer, there are twenty-two women unaccounted for, including his granddaughter.”
Jake remembered the desperation in Elmer’s face as he spoke of hearing Cindy scream as she was taken. “I have a feeling Phineas wants more from us than strong backs. I think he wants a rescue mission.”
Gideon shook his head. “I can’t believe no one has done anything about this. Jesus Christ, twenty-two women? Didn’t they ask the law for help?”
“Yes, but with so much going on after the war, there just isn’t enough lawmen to go around.” The job in Tanger had just become much more complicated. The Southern gentleman who existed deep inside Jake bellowed with rage at the injustice the town and its women had suffered. God only knew what they’d had to endure in captivity, if they were still alive. More than likely most of them had ended up sold as slaves in Mexico or dead.
“What do you think we should do?” Gideon secured two of the horses to the hitching post outside the saloon, his expression as grave as a battlefield. The sound of bees, birds and a chattering squirrel echoed through the empty silence of the town, a normalcy that seemed out of place.
Jake thought long and hard on his answer. Gideon respected everyone’s opinion in the Devils, and for that he had everyone’s devotion. They were a team, a team with a leader, but they were all equal. If he felt they’d be risking their lives for the right reason, then Jake would be more than willing to die. So many wrong things had been perpetrated during the war in the name of victory. For once, he wanted to risk his life for something he knew was right, something he could be proud of.
“I think we should stay, help the town however we can and find those women.” After the words left Jake’s mouth, a weight lifted from his shoulders. It had settled there after he found out about the women of Tanger, and he knew it wouldn’t go away until the Devils had either rescued the missing ones or found them. So many folks had no idea what happened to their loved ones after the war. Perhaps helping the folks in this small Texas town would ease some minds and hearts.
“They might have already been sold in Mexico.” Gideon swiped his finger under his nose. “Do you think the townsfolk realize that?”
Jake nodded. “Elmer surely does. He’s truly afraid for Cindy because she had blonde hair.” There hadn’t been any need to discuss what would happen to a young, blonde white woman sold into slavery in Mexico. There wouldn’t be anything left of her to find.
“It might be a lost cause.” Gideon helped Jake tie up the other two horses, his movements deliberate and slow. “We could be agreeing to a suicide mission.”
“That’s the God’s honest truth.” Jake had had the argument with himself a dozen times on the walk from the restaurant, then upon seeing Gabrielle, he’d momentarily forgotten everything but her. He knew he had to help the town of Tanger, regardless of his new obsession with one of the few women left in town.
“You still want to do this?” Gideon’s gaze had softened just a bit.
“Yes.” Jake’s voice was firm and clear.
“Then we stay.”
Chapter Three
“Who are those men, Gabrielle?”
Gabby turned to find Veronica Marchison on the front steps of the store, her arms folded across her chest. Their relationship had been odd since Gabby moved to town. After getting close to Veronica’s son, Christopher, it became obvious Gabby was unwanted in the Marchison family. Veronica treated Gabby as if she were beneath her, unworthy of a position in her elite circle. In fact, Veronica hadn’t spoken to Gabby in nearly a year.
Christopher had been a sweet man. Numbers and ciphering were what drove him. They had professed their love for each other and had acted it on it, three times to be exact. However, sweet Christopher had been too afraid to ask for her hand in marriage against his mother’s wishes. Gabby had wept when he had gone off to war, and now he was gone forever, just like most of the young men in Tanger, lost to the bloody battlefields a thousand miles away.
“Gunslingers.” Gabby watched Veronica’s face carefully, satisfied to see fear then anger cross the cold blonde’s expression.
“What makes you think they’re gunslingers? Perhaps they’re just strangers passing through town.”
Gabby shook her head. “They’re wearing guns and Phineas hired them.” A heated debate at the last town meeting had ended with the town voting to hire gunmen since they didn’t or couldn’t find a sheriff for Tanger.
“Phineas hired them?” Veronica frowned at the retreating men. “What are they doing now?”
“I don’t know, getting to know Tanger I guess.” Gabby started walking on, eager to get away from Veronica. “Why don’t you talk to them yourself?”
Veronica’s eyebrows snapped together. “You’re not being very polite, Gabrielle.”
“Believe what you want.” Gabby needed to leave before her runaway tongue got her in trouble. Veronica inspired her to a level of anger Gabby had never known she was capable of. “I’ve got to get home.” Her mind whirled w
ith images of the strangers, of Jake, and she had no room in there for Veronica’s nastiness.
She walked home as quickly as possible, grateful for the trousers that gave her freedom of movement. When she got there, she ran around the side of the mill. Gabrielle pumped the handle as fast as she could until the cold water from the bottom of the well gushed forth. Her arms screamed from the effort, but she needed to splash water on her heated face. Cold, cold water to bring her temperature down. Holy God, she’d never been so hot in her life. Her skin felt tight and her cheeks felt as red as beets.
Jacob Sheridan.
Just the thought of his shining blue eyes brought the flush back to her cheeks even as she cooled them down. Gabby had met handsome men in her twenty-three years, some of them charming too. Jake was both, and although Gabby was intelligent enough to run a mill, her stubborn body refused to listen to her head.
Love had been a fickle emotion for her. First there had been Christopher, then her huge mistake with Alvin Carmichael earlier this year. Not something she cared to ever repeat. The bastard had stolen more than her trust. Shaking off the anger that arose each time she thought of Alvin, Gabby tried to focus on being calm.
The last six months had been the hardest of her life, not as if things were better before then, but since the raiders had targeted Tanger, Gabby had to dig deep to keep strong. Jake threatened that control. Her immediate, unquestionable physical reaction to him told her in no uncertain terms, he was dangerous.
She cupped her hand under the cold stream and swallowed a mouthful, then a second. After wiping her mouth on her sleeve, Gabby took a deep breath and looked around. The muddy puddle in front of the pump was the only indication she’d been there. No one saw her lack of control or her frantic need for water. It was embarrassing enough and she was the only one who knew. God forbid Jake or one of his friends had seen her.
That thought was enough to make her stomach rebel as it sloshed full of water. Gabby reined in the urge to vomit by kneeling down and putting her head between her knees. Self-control had always been a hard animal to ride for her. It was a familiar battle she fought each day. God help her if she got any closer to Jake Sheridan and lost the war with herself.
Jake, Devils on Horseback, Book 2 Page 3
