One-Click Buy: September 2010 Harlequin Blaze

by Lori Wilde

  “We’ll leave now,” Mac said as he turned and glanced at Sam. “The marshal and I. Alone.” He looked at her. “And no, Sam, you won’t come. You will wait in the mine you were talking about. Archie will stay with you. Reese will shadow us, and when he feels we’re clear, he’ll come back for you.”

  “No,” Sam said. “You can’t ride yet.”

  “I can… I will.”

  “Even if it kills you?”

  MacDonald looked straight into her eyes. “It will kill me if anything happens to you.” He then looked at Jared. “Agreed?”

  “I’m not agreed,” Sam said. “If they have a tracker, they can find the mine shaft, and I expect they’ll be very angry that you’re not there. If you think I’ll be safer there, you better think again.”

  “There’s another option,” MacDonald said. “Give myself up to them.”

  “No!” Sam’s answer was as sharp as the sound of a shot.

  Jared was still reluctant to change his mind about the man he’d hunted for so long. And yet it was obvious MacDonald considered Samantha more important than himself. He hadn’t expected that. Maybe he’d been a marshal too long. Maybe he was becoming like the obsessed policeman in Les Misérables. Maybe he had become obsessed with vengeance and the letter of the law rather than compassion.

  He weighed his options, and none of them were good. They could split their very small forces, him with MacDonald, and Sam with Archie. But she was right. A posse often was spurred by bloodlust. Deprived of their expected reward, they could well turn their anger on a woman and an old man.

  He could take MacDonald up on his offer to give himself up to the posse. But he couldn’t do that, either. Not only because Sam would never forgive him, but he could never forgive himself. He’d never lost a prisoner. He didn’t intend to do that now.

  “If you insist on taking Mac,” Sam announced, “I’m going with you. I can use a gun.”

  “I’ve noticed,” Jared said. But he knew she didn’t trust him, that she feared he might push MacDonald too fast. He also realized the only way he could keep her here was to tie her hand and foot. That wasn’t feasible, either.

  She had that fierce look in her eye. Like a mama lion protecting her cub, but MacDonald was no cub. He sighed. “Trust me?” he said quietly.

  He watched the struggle in her face. Despite what she’d said earlier, she didn’t. Not entirely. Not when it came to MacDonald. He didn’t expect the kick in the gut that came with that knowledge.

  “He’s not well enough to ride,” she insisted without answering his plea.

  “I’ve crisscrossed this state many times,” he said. “I know trails no one else knows, and I’ll make sure he gets plenty of rest. I can’t be worrying about you, too.”

  He was aware of MacDonald glancing from his face to hers. The outlaw’s expression was tense.

  Archie entered without knocking. “We have all the ammunition together. And guns. Reese is saddling the horses. He and I talked. We all go together, make sure Mac gets a fair shake. I have a shotgun. If that fancy posse sees a group of five men, maybe seven with Jake and Ike, they might have second thoughts, especially if a marshal is with us. That shotgun’s good to shoot a marshal, too, if needed,” he added, glaring at Jared.

  He fumbled in a pocket and brought out the key to the cuffs and unlocked them. “You betray Mac, and there will be three of us behind you until the day we kill you,” he said.

  Jared rubbed his wrist. “We should leave now,” he said, not wanting more questions.

  Archie nodded. “The horses should be ready. Sam, you grab the canteens and some hardtack and jerky. Best get your gun belt, too.”

  Jared had no more arguments. If Reese was right, they didn’t have a minute to spare, and he had no doubt that Sam would follow them if they didn’t let her come now. She would be in even more danger alone.

  He nodded. Samantha hesitated.

  He took her hand and squeezed it. “Trust me,” he said.

  She gave him a long, searching look, then dashed out.

  SAM STARTED to gather food. Many of the supplies were in the mine shaft, but she grabbed the hardtack and jerky that remained and loaded them in flour bags. She filled canteens from the water pump and left them on the bar, then ran upstairs for an extra shirt and trousers to stuff into her saddlebags. After buckling on her gun belt, she grabbled her rifle and headed back down.

  It hadn’t taken more than a few minutes. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw Mac leaning on Reese. Jared stood alone, but the lines in his face told her the effort it took.

  Apprehension threatened to overwhelm her. Mac and Reese and Jared were not men easily rattled, but there was no mistaking the worry on their faces. A motley group at best. Only she and Reese weren’t limping.

  Jared wore the guns Archie had returned and Reese wore both a gun belt and carried a rifle. Archie carried a shotgun, and when they got outside she saw his whip on his saddle. Mac alone was unarmed.

  She gave each of them a canteen and a cloth bag of hardtack and jerky. The horses and Archie’s mule were all saddled.

  Jared joined her. She knew from his face that he didn’t want her to go with them.

  “Could you stay if Mac was your father or brother?” she asked.

  “No,” he admitted, and she realized from his expression he was thinking of his wife and child.

  She turned away, but he pulled her to him. His eyes ran over her, and she mentally cringed. She wore a shirt and pants with a hat pulled down over her forehead—the same clothes she’d had on when she shot him.

  “You’re beautiful,” he said.

  It was as if he knew exactly what she was thinking, but then she’d thought that before. His dark eyes told her he wanted to kiss her.

  Ignoring the others, he put his fingers on her cheek. “Trust me,” he said again as his gaze met hers.

  And she did. At that moment she did. He had his gun. He had his freedom. He could have left them to the bounty hunters. She’d watched the change in his eyes as he and Mac had talked. And Reese, who was a fine judge of character, had given his trust, as well.

  Jared was a marshal. He was bound by duty to take Mac in, but in this thing at least, she did trust him. He would get them out of Gideon’s Hope. And then…

  And then she would do what she had to do.

  She moved away from him and toward her horse. She didn’t wait for Jared to try to help her. God knew he could barely stand himself. She tied her saddlebags to the saddle, along with the sack of hardtack, then swung herself up as the others did the same.

  They rode down the abandoned street, Dawg running alongside them. She heard a distant rifle shot, then a roaring noise from the direction of the pass.

  Jake and Ike had unleashed the rock slide.

  The bounty hunters had arrived.

  17

  “WHAT IN THE DEVIL was that?” Jared asked as he pulled up his horse and turned to Samantha.

  “Rock slide,” she said in a flat voice. “After you told me about bounty hunters, we rigged a pile of rocks above the pass. Once you start those going down, they pick up other rocks. Some friends, mountain men, have been watching the pass, ready to start a slide. Benson’s men are here.”

  He remembered passing through on a trail barely large enough for a narrow wagon. He hadn’t much liked the sight of boulders and rocks clinging to the cliffs. Not with the recent rain. “How were you planning to get out, then?” he asked.

  “We thought a rock slide would give us some warning if they came,” she replied. “We hoped the pass would be blocked long enough that they would just give up. If not, we could pick off some from the top of the pass, enough to scare them off.”

  “How long will it delay them?” he asked.

  “Depends on how much rock was picked up on the way down,” she said. “But Archie thinks it could be enough that they would need dynamite to get through.”

  He realized they—Archie and Sam—had thought it all out
and had decided to take the risks for MacDonald. He was humbled by that kind of loyalty.

  He looked around at what was left of the town. The saloon. The livery. A charred brick building on the other side of the street and a small wooden house. The porch sagged and the windows were broken.

  But the buildings could be used as positions for a cross fire. He suspected the mountain men were good shots. Had to be if they’d survived this long. Life in the mountains was as hard as it could get.

  “I want to go to the pass and see what the situation is,” he said, his gaze moving from one man to the other and lingering on Sam’s face. “Maybe I can reason with them. The rest of you stay here and take up positions in the saloon and stable. Maybe the pass wasn’t blocked completely.”

  Reese hesitated. “That leg looks none too steady, and there will be some walking. Maybe I should go with you.”

  Jared wondered whether the gambler was worried he would abandon them. “No,” he said. “If they break through, I want some protection for Sam and MacDonald.” He didn’t have to ask if Reese could shoot. He had the look of a man who could take care of himself.

  “Then take Archie,” Reese said. “He can show you the path up to the top.”

  “I can do that,” Sam broke in.

  “No,” all three men said simultaneously.

  Samantha frowned, and her eyes flashed rebellion. Jared wanted to reach out and touch her, but then he wouldn’t be able to leave. And there was no time for those kind of feelings. Gideon’s Hope could turn into a killing ground with Sam one of the casualties unless he found a way to control the situation.

  He used the one weapon he knew would be effective. “MacDonald needs you here.”

  He watched the emotions play across her face. Then she nodded, and relief flooded him. He looked at MacDonald, at his heavily bandaged right hand. “Can you shoot with your left hand?” he asked.

  “Not as good as the right, but I can get by.”

  Dammit, he had to trust the man. A galling thought after ten years of anger and pursuit. Still, Jared needed him. He turned, saw Sam’s eyes on him and made the decision.

  “You better use a rifle, MacDonald,” he finally said. He realized then he was thinking of the outlaw now as MacDonald. Had been for the past several days. Not Thornton. Not a killer.

  “Take the window on the first floor of the saloon,” he continued. “Sam, you take the second-floor window on the far right. Reese, you take the loft in the stable. Establish a cross fire. Position any extra rifles so they’re poking out the window. I want them to think we have more guns than we do.”

  He didn’t want to give Samantha time to think, to argue. Hell, he didn’t have any time to think. But Samantha was right about the mine. A tracker could easily locate them. There would be no way to cover the tracks with all the mud.

  Jared turned toward the trail. Samantha guided her horse next to him. She turned her face up to his and her eyes had never been quite as bright. “Be careful,” she whispered.

  For the first time in years, he had every intention of being careful.

  Archie led the way up to the path, and Jared followed. Once they left the main trail, they continued on a barely visible path up the mountain. The sound of rifle fire grew louder as they climbed the steep trail.

  Then a whistle sang out.

  “Jake,” Archie explained. “He sees us.”

  At the top of the pass, Jared watched as a grizzled old man dressed in buckskins approached. He showed no friendliness as he studied Jared.

  “That the marshal?” he asked Archie.

  “Yep,” Archie said. “How many?”

  “Fifteen to my count. Kind of hard to say for sure since the rock slide scattered them. They’re regrouping, though, and some are trying to clear the pass. Don’t think they’ll have much success. Saw one riding like hell toward the east. Wouldn’t be surprised if he’s after dynamite.”

  “That should give us another day or so,” Jared said.

  The mountain man directed his attention to Jared. His expression made it obvious he didn’t hold marshals in high regard. “We thought to stop ’em with a few shots, but they fired back, and some of ’em were damned good.”

  Jared dismounted awkwardly. Pain shot through his leg as he put weight on it. He limped to the edge of the cliff and looked down. A dozen men were trying to remove the rocks that blocked the pass. Several others were gathering horses that had been spooked. A bullet hit a rock next to him, and he ducked.

  He looked at Archie’s undershirt visible under his blue shirt. It was white. Or had been at one time. Now it was gray. “Give me a piece of that undershirt,” he said, “and something to hang it on.”

  Archie started to protest, then shrugged as he understood. When he’d slipped out of it, he handed it to Jared, then quickly cut a branch with his knife. He watched silently as Jared tied the undershirt to the branch.

  Jared waved the flag high enough that the men below could see it. “U.S. Marshal,” he hollered down. “What do you want?”

  “We want Cal Thornton,” one shouted back.

  “He’s in my custody,” Jared said. “He’s been arrested and I’m taking him to trial.”

  “We’ll do it for you,” came the reply.

  “I have a posse with me,” Jared bluffed.

  “Haven’t heard of no posse. Just of a lone marshal traveling this way.”

  The men didn’t slow their efforts to clear the rocks, and another bullet whizzed by Jared. He stepped back.

  He had his answer. Still, he tried again. “Don’t believe everything you hear,” he yelled down.

  He turned to the man called Jake. “You got more loose rocks?”

  The man nodded. “Sure. Enough to jar some more boulders loose and mebbe hurt some of them. Not enough to block the pass again if they get dynamite.”

  Jared nodded. “Just give me what time you can.”

  Archie stepped closer to Jake. “You two skeedaddle if it looks like they’re coming through. Warn us, then disappear up into those mountains.”

  “Hell you say,” Jake said, and Ike nodded. “We owe Mac. When we roll out the next rock slide, we’ll ride back down into town. Both of us are real good with rifles.”

  Mac the damn saint again.

  Jake speared Jared with a glare as if he’d read his mind. “Make no mistake. You try to take Mac in after this is over, you gonna have trouble, and there’s more of us than there is of you. And don’t you go blame Sam none. She did what she had to do.”

  For a moment, Jared thought the man might take his rifle and shoot him right then.

  Maybe he deserved it. Probably deserved it. He’d allowed his penis to override his good sense. He’d bedded a virgin, even knowing that he would take in the person she so obviously loved. There was no way she would forgive him for it, even if MacDonald agreed to go with him. The man faced serious charges even if he were cleared of murder. The army wasn’t forgiving of payroll robberies. Prison was a certainty.

  He thought of Sam back in that sorry excuse for a town she loved. She’d been ready to die for MacDonald. She still was ready. His heart thumped painfully in his chest.

  He saw Archie watching him. Probing.

  He took a step toward his horse, and his leg almost buckled. He had to be careful. The pain had receded as his mind concentrated on finding a solution, but his wound wasn’t remotely healed and he was weaker than he’d thought.

  “Need help?” Archie asked.

  “No,” he said. “Let’s get down.” He paused a moment. “You sure the creek is too dangerous?”

  “Yep. We have a raft but it would be torn to pieces against the rocks.”

  Jared had to trust him on that. Archie had lived here for years and he wanted to get Sam and Mac out. If he said it was impossible, then it was. No one was going out that way, especially not an injured man.

  He and Archie exchanged glances, then turned their horses toward the tiny cluster of buildings that was all that was l
eft of Gideon’s Hope.

  Jared dismounted in front of the saloon and went inside. MacDonald tried to rise from a chair, but was none too steady.

  “Stay down,” Jared said. “Where’s Sam?”

  “Loading rifles and positioning them in rooms above,” MacDonald said. “We have four extra rifles.” He looked at Jared and raised an eyebrow in question. “How many men out there?”

  “Fourteen…fifteen, maybe. A few looked like they were injured in the rock slide. One of your people up there says someone rode like hell toward Central City, and the others are digging. He thinks the rider probably went after dynamite.”

  “Unless they know what they’re doing, they’ll make things worse,” MacDonald said. “If they do know how to handle explosives, they can get through pretty quick, but the nearest dynamite is about twenty-five miles away.”

  “We could try to pick them off,” Archie said.

  Jared had thought about that. But to shoot down they would have to reveal themselves, and the posse was composed of skilled gunmen. He also wasn’t sure how much value Archie and MacDonald would be. That left the mountain men, himself and Reese. And Sam. She wouldn’t be left behind. He knew that.

  He didn’t want wholesale slaughter. Nor did he think they had enough ammunition.

  MacDonald stood. “That’s it, then. I’m going to ride out to them. I’m not putting Sam and Archie in danger. They want me. No one else.”

  “You couldn’t get through, either,” Jared countered.

  “No, but we could let them know I’ll surrender when the pass is cleared.”

  “Hell you will,” Jared said. “No one takes a prisoner from me. No one ever has, and no one will.”

  “What about Sam?” MacDonald replied tersely.

  “You think she would ever have a good day again if you walked out of here to God knows what?” He hesitated, then added slowly, “I’ve lived with that kind of guilt for nigh onto ten years. It’s not something I want Sam to carry.”

  MacDonald’s eyes sharpened. “Better than her dying.”

  “I don’t think she would agree,” Jared said. “And maybe I can figure out a way to keep us all alive.”