Jed, Jacob, and William continued shooting.
Another of McCabe’s men clutched his chest. His mouth agape and his eyes wide, he fell from his horse and thudded onto the ground. His horse reared up. It cried out in terror and circled the camp aimlessly with the others, kicking up clouds of dust and adding to the chaos.
The last two riders, realizing they’d been ambushed, hurriedly made for the trees but Jed and William had already anticipated their move and ran ahead of them. They fired from opposite sides of the track. One man crashed straight down into the thick undergrowth. The other slumped over his horse’s back. For a moment, he lay there very still. As he finally slipped slowly down its flank, his foot caught in the stirrup. His horse, terrified by the commotion going on around it, bolted and dragged his lifeless body along the ground and through the trees.
Jed and William stopped firing and listened. The only sounds they now heard were those of the horses, crashing through the vegetation. Soon, even that stopped and silence reigned over the forest once more. Guns still clutched tightly in their grasp, they stepped into the clearing to survey the damage, and the bodies strewn on the ground.
But where was Jacob? There was no sign of him.
Their eyes met anxiously.
Quickly, they rushed to where Jacob had taken up his position. A pair of boots poked out from beneath the undergrowth.
“Fuck!” William swore. The two men exchanged fearful looks.
William took a step closer to where Jacob lay. Nervously, Jed stepped up behind him. Both men stopped dead as they stood over him. Jacob wasn’t moving. Flat on his back, blood covered the front of his shirt.
“Fuck.” Jed whispered, echoing William’s expletive. It looked like he’d failed in his mission, after all.
But even worse, McCabe had won.
Jacob wouldn’t be returning to pay off his father’s debt—or to save Hannah from a life of hell.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Dawn broke. It held all the promise of a beautiful day. But, other than the weather, Luke knew there’d be nothing beautiful about what today would bring. He placed a rifle by each window and a pile of ammunition within easy reach. McCabe’s men would most likely attack from all sides. Hannah would cover the back and he the front. They’d be prepared for any eventuality and move to wherever the fight took them.
Fully resigned to the fact that Jacob wouldn’t be coming back, Hannah still protested that he didn’t need to get involved. It wasn’t Luke’s fight. She’d honor her bargain, however repulsive it was.
Luke wouldn’t hear a word of it. The only way she’d surrender to McCabe would be over his dead body, although he hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Nevertheless, time was running out fast.
He thought Jed would have made it back by now, with Jacob and Hannah’s brother. Yet, even allowing for any delay, he started to think Jed might be cutting it rather too fine. Fear gnawed through his chest until its icy fingers clutched painfully round his heart. Perhaps Jed hadn’t succeeded after all, in more ways than one.
He tried to banish the negativity of his thoughts. He didn’t care to think about a world without his little brother. Instead, he focused on Hannah, trying hard to ignore the cauldron of mixed emotions that had embroiled him for the past two days.
At first, anxiety had engulfed him as he waited for Jed to return with Jacob. Sadly, he contemplated that he might never be able to compete with the man for her long-term affections. He told himself that at least he’d been given the opportunity to meet and make love to such an astonishing, brave woman. He’d be forever grateful for the happy memories he would have of her.
Later, guilt haunted him. After Hannah had made such wonderful, gentle love to him, remorse suddenly gripped his heart. She was another man’s woman, for God’s sake. With that man on his way home, he shouldn’t be letting her do all this to him.
After she’d finished performing such delicious oral sex on him, Hannah had lain beside him and gently held and nursed his hurting body. That night, she begged him to sleep in her bed. He told her his wounds felt too tender. He slept in the guest room instead.
He hadn’t lied. A mass of cuts and bruises, his face and body hurt like hell. He was lucky McCabe’s men hadn’t killed him. He also foolishly said that he didn’t want to disturb her rest with all his moaning and groaning every time he moved.
Hannah said she didn’t care if he did disturb her rest. She wanted to feel his body next to hers but she did accept his explanation. He was glad she didn’t suspect his true reason. He didn’t want to put her in an even more impossible position when Jacob got back. She would have enough to deal with.
However, as Luke continued to plan for their stand against McCabe, a tiny part of him secretly hoped that Jacob’s long absence might, at least, have lessened her affection for him. However, he didn’t hold out too much on that score. He remembered the saying, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Then, after tossing and turning alone in his bed the past two nights, he began to wish he was less noble. With still no sign of either Jed or Jacob, maybe he should have taken her up on everything she offered. It certainly looked like only the two of them would be here to face McCabe and his gang, after all.
Through the window, he saw a cloud of dust rise up on the horizon. It came from the direction of McCabe’s ranch. High in the air, the dirt polluted the cloudless, blue sky with its swirling patterns of choking filth. Like an angry monster, it filled the landscape with impending doom.
Luke knelt by the window and clutched his rifle. He checked the bullets. Hannah, who’d been sitting, nervously drumming her fingers on the wooden tabletop, stood, as he said quietly, “They’re here.”
“It’s too early,” she whispered back softly. Unable to hide her distress, Luke heard the fear tremble in her voice. “We’ve been such fools to think we could break McCabe’s stranglehold on the town.”
Long before dawn arrived, Luke had held her in his arms. Unable to sleep, Hannah had spent the night pacing the floor, telling him that Jacob had abandoned her, or worse, had died.
He’d stroked her hair and kissed her forehead and beautiful, bewitching eyes. He told her, over and over again, that he wouldn’t let McCabe take her. She kissed him too. Her lips, like gentle feathers, brushed his lips and they’d laughed a rare laugh when he tried not to wince. Despite her delicate touch, the bruises to his mouth and face still hurt like the devil. It also gave him an excuse that his body still hurt too much to make love to her. Under any other circumstances, he would have willingly gone through the pain barrier but his conscience still played havoc with his feelings. He wondered if she realized just how fond of her he had become. He hoped not.
“We agreed midday,” she explained.
Luke nodded. “Then we have to remind him of that,” he said reassuringly, although a few more hours seemed irrelevant now. One way or another, the shooting and killing would soon begin.
Hannah stepped onto the front porch. Luke stood beside her. Both clutched rifles firmly in two hands, ready to commence battle.
McCabe dismounted and strode up to the house. His spurs clinked ominously in the silence. He stopped at the bottom of the three steps that led up to the porch. He tipped his hat politely at Hannah.
“Good morning,” he greeted civilly. “I believe it’s time to call in a debt.”
“Not till noon it isn’t,” Hannah replied, equally civilly, as though their discussion concerned cattle or crops and not her impending fate.
McCabe gave a short laugh and glanced back at his men. Still astride their horses, they joined in his laughter. Luke saw Hannah shudder. He knew McCabe’s men were more than eager to capture their boss’s prize because that prize would one day find her way to them too.
Luke did a quick headcount of twelve.
The odds were definitely stacked against them.
McCabe fixed Hannah with a cold smirk. It sent a bolt of anger shooting down Luke’s spine. It curled and twisted into a huge knot that sat omi
nously in his gut. He wouldn’t let the bastard have her.
McCabe tipped his hat again. “You drive a hard bargain, ma’am,” he said. “But you’re right. Noon it is.”
Then, turning his attention to Luke, he said, “You still here? I hope you’re not planning on causing anymore trouble. We have a real bone fide deal. Don’t we, Hannah?”
The way he turned to her and spoke her name now sent a shiver of dread coursing through Luke. He could only imagine how Hannah felt. However, the way she shrugged in response, belied any fear she might be suffering. Luke was proud of her.
“If you say. Your lawyer drew up the papers.”
A corner of McCabe’s mouth curled sardonically.
“And what might you be meaning by that?” he goaded.
She tilted her head defiantly and looked him straight in the eye.
“That if it’s anything like the rest of your scheming, cheating ways, it’s probably not even worth the paper it’s written on,” she sneered.
* * * *
A short, intimidating silence followed. McCabe’s lips turned up fully. His smile exuded pure evil. He always felt at his best when he had his prey cornered, and he had Hannah well and truly cornered, despite, the brave act she put on. His men hadn’t returned yet but that fool Jacob hadn’t come back either. That meant only one thing. They’d successfully, and permanently, dispatched him and her brother to that big graveyard in the sky for any idiot who dared to cross him. His men were probably still on their way back, along with Jacob’s little fortune in gold that he’d worked so hard to gather. Just wait until he screwed her in his bed, making her beg him to stop hurting her. After he’d done with her, he’d show it all to her.
Hannah’s Gold. That was what Jacob called it in his letters.
His imagination ran riot, thinking of how he’d taunt her with it. He’d crow in delight, boasting how he knew everything about Jacob in those months he’d been away. That he’d written to her and told her how well he was doing. How the fool had described how hard life was but that he would soon be home to pay off his father’s debt and release her from hers.
Hadn’t he realized he would never let him pay it off?
These people were so weak and such pushovers.
He could have taken Hannah any time he wished but he’d enjoyed the little games he’d played with her this past year, cruelly taunting her and whispering crudities in her ears. Frightening her, he hoped, with thoughts of what would become of her. Yet, at the same time, he’d let her hold on to that sliver of hope that her shining knight would one day return to rescue her.
So, let her think she had a little more time. Let her think the two strangers would protect her and save her from her inevitable fate. He’d put a bullet through this one now but his brother probably skulked inside, waiting to shoot him if he tried. He’d ride a little way off first and get out of harm’s way before pulling the trigger.
He climbed back on his horse.
“Midday, it is then, ma’am,” he said, before turning to Luke, “And I hope you and your brother will have come to your senses by then and gone.”
He turned his horse and indicated for his men to follow him. Their horses trotted idly behind. None of them displayed a hint of a hurry in them. McCabe knew Hannah and the strangers were watching them. He also knew they’d never shoot a man in the back. Let them think they’d won this round. The fools. It only delayed the inevitable.
As far as he was concerned, there would be only one outcome from this, and one winner—Ethan McCabe.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
A bullet crashed into the door jamb. It missed Luke’s head by inches. Wood splintered. Both he and Hannah ducked. Rifles at the ready, they backed into the house and slammed the door firmly shut. Another bullet thudded dully into the wood.
“Get to the other window,” Luke ordered, as he settled himself beneath the one by the door. “And be careful. Although it’s me he wants to kill. Not you.”
Despite the brush with the bullet, he grinned.
“At least you don’t need to worry anymore about breaking your agreement with him. He’s done it himself. He’s determined to get you before the deadline. To do that, he’s got to get rid of me and Jed. He still doesn’t realize there’s only the two of us here. He must have thought Jed had his gun sights on him.”
He peered through the window. The horses had scattered. McCabe and his men had taken up positions by the stable and behind the wagon that Hannah always left close to the house. He noticed one man scoot round the corral and head toward the back of the house. Hannah saw him too.
She gathered up her skirt in one hand and hurried to the window in the bedroom.
“There may be some more out back already,” she called out, as she made her way.
She broke the glass with the rifle butt, rested the barrel on the sill and fired. The man took cover. Hannah scanned the property for others.
Luke saw a hat bobble above a stack of wooden boxes by the stable.
Gunfire rang out again. Bullets thudded into the wooden walls.
Luke fired back, his eyes alert for the tiniest of movements. Hannah still shot from the bedroom. He rolled to the window at the other side of the door. If McCabe thought there were three of them, he had to keep moving. It wouldn’t take a genius to realize that only two guns fired.
One of McCabe’s henchmen fell in the dust.
“Luke, there’s more coming round the back,” Hannah cried out anxiously.
He joined her and they fired together. A couple more men went down. The others took cover. There were more gunmen than he’d originally thought. While McCabe had spoken with them at the front, others had approached quietly from the rear of the property.
Shit. He should have known he’d do that.
Her mouth set in a grim line, Hannah’s aim was true as one bullet followed after another.
Luke moved quickly from window to window, firing at everything that moved.
He slid more ammunition toward her when she ran out of bullets.
“Promise me one thing,” she said breathlessly, her cheeks flushed as she lay for a moment against the wall beneath the window. The look she gave him said they would both be out of bullets soon.
“If I can,” he said, between shots.
“Save one bullet for me. Don’t let him win. I never thought it would ever come to this. It was all just a ruse to keep him at bay until Jacob came back. I don’t want to be his whore. I’d rather die than let that happen.” She paused for a moment as she looked him straight in the eye. She meant every word. “Will you do it for me?”
Luke hesitated for a second, and then ran to her, catching her by the arm. He slipped his arm around her waist as he pulled her to him. He pressed his lips hard against hers. He wasn’t sure he could do what she asked but he nodded anyway. How could he look her in the eye and pull the trigger and snuff the very life out of her? However, he didn’t have time to reflect on the problem. On their feet again, they fired at every movement, and heaved a sigh of relief every time one of McCabe’s men fell to the ground.
Yet still they kept coming.
A fire torch hurtled through the front window. It landed in the middle of the kitchen floor. Luke stamped it out. Another flew through the bedroom window straight onto the bed. Hannah hurled the basin of water, with which she’d washed her face that morning, over it. Turning, she shot a man attempting to climb in through the window between the shards of broken glass. He fell backward into another of McCabe’s cronies. She fired again and turned to look through the doorway at Luke. He glanced up and gave her a reassuring smile as he stamped out yet another fire. He could see the panic written on her lovely face as if wrestling her thoughts, as well as her fears.
She checked there were no more following him, and joined Luke in the kitchen. Her face was flushed and she paused for a moment before she spoke. Luke watched her tremble as she took a deep breath. He heard it quiver in her throat. Tears pooled on her lower eyelids.
Luke grasped her upper arms at the sound of defeat in her voice. This wasn’t the time for arguing, so he gave it her straight.
“There was help,” he said. “Jed found out that for months McCabe’s been taking letters intended for you. Jacob’s. He’d almost made it home but McCabe sent men out to kill him and your brother. Jed went to stop them and to make sure he got the two of them back here before McCabe came for you.”
Hannah’s eyes widened. Still glistening with unshed tears, a mixture of anger and despair crossed her face.
“You never told me.” She couldn’t hide the recrimination in her voice.
“I didn’t want to raise your hopes in case he didn’t make it,” Luke explained gently. He paused for a moment. “Even so, I would have expected them back by now.” His voice trailed off. He didn’t need to spell it out. He thought Jed had become a casualty, too.
“Oh, Luke,” she cried. She now wore her despair like a mantle. Luke drew her to him and gave her one last hug as he pressed his lips to her forehead.
The door burst open.
Luke spun around. He fired at McCabe’s henchman.
Just in time, Hannah also shot one who’d finally succeeded in crawling in through the bedroom window. They were closing in fast. They could hear them on the other sides of the walls. Their eyes met one more time. So, this was it. One last stand. At least they’d die together. They turned, standing back to back, ready to face their fate.
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