Once an Outlaw

by Raine Cantrell

  Monte started to throw up his hands and back out of the door.

  “Don’t move,” Logan yelled.

  But Monte’s move had been a ploy. His arm snaked out and he snatched Kenny up against him. Holding the boy in front of him, Monte drew his gun. Kenny stopped struggling the moment the gun barrel touched him.

  “I’ll give you three seconds to throw down your gun and start talking before I shoot.”

  Logan dropped the gun. Slowly he brought his arms up and out from his body. Any man who claimed there was nothing that he feared was a liar. Logan wasn’t one. He thought he had experienced the kind of stomach-lurching fear that brought a man to his knees earlier. He found out it came back, in a stronger, bitter dose.

  “Let the boy go. This is between you and me, Monte.”

  “I heard the kid call you Logan. You’re a Kincaid.”

  He wasn’t asking, but Logan answered him. “That’s right. But you already knew that, didn’t you?” Logan voiced his suspicion. If he had not been watching Monte, he would have missed the barely formed frown and the slight tightening of his mouth. Excitement filled him at having his suspicion confirmed. And if Monte knew that he was a Kincaid…“It’s why you left me to die. And if you know about me, you know there isn’t a crack in a rock where you can hide if you kill me. My brothers’ll tear this territory apart to find you.”

  “Big talk for a man who’s about to die. Get over in the corner. I ain’t standing here with my back open.”

  “Afraid, Monte? Someone on your tail? Someone see you meet with Riverton?” It was another shot in the dark, but a damn lucky one. Logan caught the fractional narrowing of Monte’s eyes. “You didn’t think we knew?”

  “I told you to move or I’ll shoot the kid.”

  “Sure, Monte, sure. Anything for the man with the gun.” A cold, deadly calm settled over Logan. He didn’t know how he’d do it, but he’d kill this bastard for the fear that he made Kenny feel. The boy’s head hung down as if he had no hope left. Logan wasn’t sure he had any to spare.

  He moved slowly in a half circle, avoiding the bodies on the floor behind him, and not really going deeper into the cabin. It seemed to satisfy Monte, for he inched his way inside and stopped when he felt the wall at his back. Logan noticed that Kenny’s body appeared to sag almost as if he had passed out. If he had, his deadweight was straining Monte’s arm. Kenny wiggled his fingers.

  That’s it, boy, play opossum. Get him to set you down, thinking you’re no longer any threat.

  Logan forced himself not to react when Monte did just that. He lowered Kenny’s body, then let it slide to the floor.

  Immediately Logan started talking to keep Monte from looking at the boy. “We figured out the whole operation, from the stealing of our cattle to the way you managed to change our brands. The money from the mine robberies goes to pay Riverton’s way for land—”

  “Who the hell told you? None of them knew. I’m the only one he had contact with.”

  Logan smiled.

  Monte realized his mistake. “You son of a bitch! You tricked me!”

  Logan made a rolling dive for his gun.

  Monte’s shot sent chips of wood flying. “It ain’t gonna do you any good to know. You’ll be dead.”

  Kenny crawled out the door and took off running.

  Monte fired again. His bullet splintered the corner of the crate that Logan flung at him.

  There was no time to take aim. Logan started to return Monte’s fire. His shot went wide. The second sent Monte’s gun flying as he screamed, grabbed his wrist and bolted for the door.

  Firing from a prone position, Logan aimed his gun over his head in warning. A simultaneous shot sent Monte staggering back inside, where he fell.

  For a moment the silence was absolute.

  Logan stared in disbelief. Monte lay dead. The one man he needed to link Riverton to the rustlings and the robberies was dead. And he couldn’t say a word to Kenny for shooting him.

  Only it wasn’t Kenny’s voice that shouted his name.

  It was Conner.

  Logan dragged himself to his feet. “Hold your fire, I’m coming out, Conner.”

  It was over.

  The moment he stepped outside, the two boys flung themselves at him, clinging to him. Logan dropped his gun. He cradled the boys against him, but his gaze locked on the woman running toward him, throwing aside her rifle.

  “Jessie!”

  It was a good thing that the boys were clinging to him, bracing his legs with their own bodies, because she cried out and flung herself into his arms.

  “Oh, my Lord, what have they done to you?”

  “It’s all right, Jess. It’s all right.”

  “No. No. I thought they killed you. The boys…Oh, my love, I wanted to die, too.”

  He rocked her, burying his face against her shoulder, too spent to talk.

  Conner slipped around them and went inside the shack. Ty coaxed Marty to let go and held the little boy while he beckoned Kenny to his side. He took them off a little way to give his brother some privacy. Seeing Conner come back out, Ty waved him over.

  It wouldn’t have mattered. Logan had eyes for no one but Jessie. Her tears soaked his shirt, but her whispers were less frantic now. And still he held her until the shudders running through both of them stopped.

  Very gently he cupped her chin and lifted her head so he could see her face. Wiping the tears with his fingertips, he brought them to his lips.

  “I never want to see you cry again,” he whispered.

  She tried to stem the flow, truly tried, but the tears kept coming as she gazed at his battered face. She longed to touch him, and was afraid to.

  “Ah, Jess, what am I gonna do with a woman who won’t obey me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  He angled his throbbing head and brushed his swollen mouth against hers.

  “Guess that’s all you’re getting in the way of a kiss for now. But I’ve the rest of the answer to your question, Jessie. Remember last night? You asked who I am. Logan Kincaid of the Rocking K ranch and the man who wants to marry you. Come home with me, Jess.”

  From the hope that blended with the love glowing in her eyes to her trembling mouth, she was too much of a temptation for him to resist. He needed to bring his lips to hers, needed the sweet, glorious taste of love to chase the moments of death away.

  When she broke the kiss to answer yes, he looked up and found a grinning audience of males.

  “My brothers, Jess—”

  “We’ve obviously met. The boys—”

  “Are ours, no question about that.” But he looked at her. “You want them, don’t you?”

  “I don’t think I’m the one to ask. I want the choice to be theirs, Logan.”

  He wrapped one arm around her waist and walked over to where the group stood. If either of his brothers was impatient to hear what had happened, they hid it well. Logan directed his attention to the boys.

  “Jessie has agreed—”

  “To marry you. Figures. With all the kissin’ you two do. Now she won’t be mopin’—”

  “Kenny!” Jessie protested.

  All bright-eyed innocence, he looked up at her. “Didn’t you want him to know how much you missed him?”

  “He already knows, thank you.”

  Logan ignored every pain in his body and hunkered down to talk to the boys. “Before I ask you two a very important question, I need to thank you.”

  “See? See, I told you, Kenny. I told you he wasn’t gonna whop us.”

  Logan tousled Marty’s hair. “For being disobedient you deserve a tanning that won’t let you sit for a week. I bet Jessie’s gonna find gray hairs come morning for all the worry you caused her. Not to mention that I’m likely to turn white for the scare I’ve been through. But all that aside, I’m proud of you. Your folks must be watching from heaven and smiling to put the sun to shame to know how you’re turning out. There’s not a man walking this land that wouldn’t be hono
red if you carried his name.”

  Marty leaned into him, and Logan hugged him tight. Kenny, however, stood silent, his eyes watching and weighing.

  “You’re troubled, Kenny?”

  “Yeah. Sounds a lot like you’re goin’ off with Miz Jessie.”

  “Not just her. That’s the important question I’ve come, no, we’ve come to ask you and Marty. We want you both to come home with us, to be part of our family.”

  “You mean that? You’d just take us in—”

  “Not just take you in, boy, we want you to be family. Our spread—”

  “Guess Marty an’ me be acceptin’ your offer.” Kenny stuck out his hand. “You ain’t jus’ doin’ this ’cause I helped you?”

  “No,” Logan answered, shaking his hand. “That’s a debt I’ll never be able to repay. You’re a boy full of man-size courage whom I’m proud to call my friend.”

  Conner cleared his throat and drew Logan’s attention.

  “Ty’ll ride back with you. I’ll clean up here. Figure to bring them in to the sheriff.”

  “Monte confirmed that Riverton’s the one who’s given him his orders. But with him dead, my word is all we’ve got.”

  “And we still don’t know who has fed information to him,” Ty added.

  “Maybe not, but let me show you what I discovered.” Logan shifted Marty so he could scratch their brand in the dirt. “Rocking K, right? Now watch how easy it is to make this a Circle R brand.”

  Logan rose. “One step closer to nailing his hide to the wall. We either catch his men doing it, find the brand or spread the word to anyone that buys from him to—”

  “You must have already figured out that Riverton will deny having anything to do with it. He’ll say his men acted on their own. There’s one sure way of getting him.” Conner paused and took a deep breath. This wasn’t the way or the place he would have chosen to tell his brothers his plans now that they had come home to stay.

  To their credit, they heard him out. Even the boys quietly listened as he told them they would run the ranch without him.

  “This is something I’ve wanted to do and couldn’t until you both were ready to assume your rightful places. I never wanted to take over. I never was given a choice.”

  “But a sheriff, Conner?” There wasn’t so much demand in Ty’s voice as there was a plea to understand his brother’s decision.

  “I believe in the law. I’ve been studying. And I know that if this territory is going to be civilized to where a man can raise his family and keep what is rightfully his, then we need to work within the law. Without it, we’ll have more gangs like this one running wild unless there are men willing to uphold the law.”

  Logan and Ty shared a long, thoughtful look. They had seen their oldest brother in the role of ramrod, protector and law on the Rocking K, but never as a man who had shared his dream with them.

  There was a moment of confusion as Ty and Logan acted as one and both offered their hands to Conner, pledging support. Laughter eased the seriousness of the moment, then Logan turned to Jessie.

  “How would you feel having a sheriff for a brother-in-law?”

  “Logan, please. Let me get used to the idea of having you for a husband before you ask.”

  “Are you gonna have a badge?” Marty asked, tugging on Conner’s pants. “Can I have one, too? Can I?”

  Conner scooped him up and held him. “You get the first deputy badge. But first we go home so I can win the election.”

  “Oh, boy! Kenny, did you hear? Did you? I’m gonna be a dep-uty!”

  “Home first,” Conner instructed, handing him over to Ty. “And when I pin that badge on, I’ll show how to skin a polecat named Riverton and nail his hide to the gate of his Circle R spread.”

  “Sounds like we got more trouble ahead,” Kenny said. “Guess you’ll really need me around, won’t you?” He looked up at Logan and shyly clasped his hand.

  “No guessing about it, son. I’ll need you right there. Jess?” He held out his hand to her, and as she took it, he thought of the months he’d ridden the outlaw trail.

  “There’ll be whispers about me,” he told her. “To make it real, I rode with them and stole—”

  Her fingertips silenced him. “I love the man I trusted, be he rancher or outlaw.”

  “That simple?”

  “Love, I have recently learned, often is.”

  Once Jessie had mounted, Ty handed Marty up to her while Kenny settled himself in front of Logan. “Go on. I’ll help Conner. We’ll meet you down at Jessie’s place.”

  Logan leaned over his saddle and held Ty’s gaze with a hard, level one of his own. “Tell Conner that you found the man who ordered Dixie’s father’s death. Word spreads, Ty. I know you’ve been looking for a man named Charles who hired a vicious killer who died in Ajo. Word was, a fast gun put him to rest and a kid named Cobie with him.

  “You were a maverick, Ty, and Dixie put a brand on you, so you’re ready to settle down. Me, I’ll look over my shoulder for years to come after riding the outlaw trail with these men. I’d hang up my gun in a minute for the chance to love my Jessie and live in peace.

  “You’ve had your differences with Conner, and Lord knows he can be a hard man. But be fair with him. Let him know how the deck is stacked against him, and who’s sitting on his side of the table.”

  Logan shook his head when Ty started to speak, and touched his heels to the horse’s sides, anxious to catch up with Jessie, anxious to leave death behind him.

  “How come you didn’t tell Jessie that you loved her?”

  Logan was caught by surprise at Kenny’s question. The boy missed nothing, yet didn’t ask about what he’d said to Ty. “You know, son,” he said, the word slipping easily off his tongue, “you have the makings of a fine man.” He caught sight of Jessie up ahead and called to her.

  “Jessie! Our boy Kenny just reminded me that I forgot to say I love you.”

  “Can’t hear you, Logan,” she shouted back, laughing as she bent her head and cuddled Marty.

  “I said I love you!” he yelled.

  “Know something, outlaw? I love you, too!”

  More from Raine Cantrell

  The Kincaid Series

  Novels

  Novellas

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