by Bobbi Smith
Wearily, Alyssa stirred herself to action. She turned up the lamp on the dresser and started toward the bed, ready to turn back the covers, undress and call it a night. She would get up extra early in the morning and pack then. She was reaching for the bedspread when she saw it-a note propped up right on her nightstand, with her name scrawled brazenly across the front in crude handwriting.
Her hand was trembling as she reached out to pick it up. She carefully unfolded it, and as she read the missive, she began to tremble in terror.
Lady Judge
Know thisyou're next!
It's your fault that my men were hanged, and I'm gonna see you pay for it! If you hadn't shown up at the jailbreak, Johnson, Nash and Slade would be alive right now.
I got your daddy, and now I'm gonna get you! You'd better keep watch because you're never gonna be safe from me.
The Dakota Kid
Alyssa's hands were trembling so violently that she could barely finish reading the letter. Icy fingers of fear traced up her spine. The Dakota Kid had been there-in her room! Her terror grew, and her eyes widened in horror at the thought that he might still be there!
She backed toward the dresser where her gun was safely stowed and grabbed it up out of the drawer. If the Kid dared to come after her, he would have a fight on his hands. The note was still clutched in her hand as she ran for the door. She had to find Rob! She had to let him know the Kid was here in town!
She fumbled at the lock in her haste, but finally got the door open and threw it wide. Feeling as if she'd escaped some dreadful fate, she rushed out into the hallway. She stuffed the note in her pocket and hid her gun in the folds of her skirt as she crossed to her mother's and sister's room. She wanted to make sure they were safe before she went in search of Rob.
"Mama? Emily?" she called out as she knocked softly on their door.
"Yes, dear? Has Rob gone already?" her mother asked as she unlocked and opened the door to speak with her.
Alyssa managed to keep her expression calm as she faced her. "Yes, he left a short while ago. He had to go back to the sheriff's office, but I just remembered something else I wanted to ask him about the case. I'm going to walk over there now to speak with him, but I wanted to make sure that you and Emily were all right before I left."
"We're fine, darling. We're just getting ready for bed. You be careful."
"Don't worry," she answered, tightening her grip on her gun. "I will be, and I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Good night, dear."
"See you in the morning."
Loretta went back inside and closed and locked the door.
Satisfied that her family was safe from the Kid's wrath, Alyssa hurried from the hotel. She was watchful as she made her way to the sheriff's office. She cut a wide path around the dark alleys and store entrances. The Kid might be anywhere, just watching and waiting for her. She held the gun down low, but she was ready for trouble if it came. She was glad she'd had the foresight to bring the weapon along. She would not hesitate to use it if she had to.
As she neared the sheriff's office, Alyssa noticed that the shades were drawn and thought it strange. There were lighted lamps inside, though, and so she did not hesitate when she reached the office, but walked right in. Her only thought was to find Rob as quickly as possible.
Sheriff Jones was sitting at his desk, and he looked up, his expression revealing that he was clearly shocked by her unexpected intrusion.
"Sheriff Jones, I-"
"Miss Mason?" he stuttered in surprise.
"I was hoping to-" She moved farther into the office and was relieved to see Rob sitting at a chair before the sheriff's desk. "Oh, Rob, there you are. Thank heaven. I have something important I have to show you-"
Intent on giving Rob the note, Alyssa closed the door and hurried toward him. Rob, who had nervously risen to his feet, quickly tried to head her off.
"I found this on my nightstand. I thought you might want to see it-"
Rob wanted to avoid trouble. He took her arm, paying no attention to the note, and tried to usher her back outside immediately, but she resisted his effort.
"Alyssa, it would be best if we talked later. We're in the middle of something important here and-"
He got no further. At that moment, Ken and Slade appeared in the doorway from the cell area. They were deep in conversation and had not heard her come in.
"No one knows you're alive except us," Ken was saying, "and we want to keep it that way for now."
"Slade?" Alyssa gasped. She took a step back as if physically struck by his completely unexpected appearance. Her eyes grew wide in disbelief, and she paled. Looking from Slade to Rob and then back again, she managed, "You're alive...?"
"Alyssa, I wanted to explain everything at dinner, but-" Rob began, agonizing over how shocking this must be for her. He wanted to calm her.
"But how?" She ignored Rob and stared straight at Slade. "I saw them hang you-" Her shock was so great that she couldn't say any more.
Slade had remained frozen in place at his first sight of her, but seeing her distress, he moved forward now to talk to her. It was time to tell her the truth. He'd planned to seek her out later, after the Kid had been brought in, but fate had dealt him a new hand, and he would play it.
"They used a specially designed harness that made everything appear like a normal hanging, but-"
"I don't believe this!" Her joy, relief and happiness at finding him alive were completely and utterly overwhelmed by her fury at having been so deceived. She had been mourning him. She had cried for him ... and he was alive.
"Alyssa...I told you the truth that day on the trail. I really am a Pinkerton," he explained gently as he came to stand before her. "I was working undercover in the gang to help bring it down."
"But I wired the Denver office like you asked me to! They never answered! I kept checking at the telegraph office and hoping-I even went there again right before the hanging was scheduled just in case word had come-"
Slade was deeply touched. He wanted to reach out to her and take her in his arms, but he restrained himself
"I'm sorry," Slade offered, and knew his apology sounded lame in the face of her very real distress.
Alyssa stared up at him, torn between the desire to cry hysterically in relief that he was alive and the impulse to slap him with all the force she could muster for having lied to her this way. Watching him "die" that very afternoon had nearly destroyed her!
"It's my fault that the Denver office didn't answer your wire," Ken put in. "I've been in touch with them almost daily. When your request came in for information about Slade, I ordered them not to respond."
"But you're a reporter!" She stared at him in disbelief.
Ken's expression changed, and she caught a glimpse of the real man she was dealing with. He looked hard-edged, shrewd, cunning and capable of anything. The change in him was chilling.
"I'm Ken Wiley, the reporter, when it suits my needs," he explained. "Otherwise, I'm Ken Richards. Slade and I work together out of the Denver office."
"But I'm a justice of the peace! And you deliberately kept the truth from me!" She grew even angrier, if that were possible. "You let me go on believing that Slade was a killer and a thief-even when I knew in my heart that it couldn't be true! You let me stand there in that crowd today and listen to the others re joice in the fact that a `cold-blooded killer' was getting what he deserved! You let me believe that I was really watching him die! How could you?"
"It's my-our job to bring in the Dakota Kid," Slade answered simply before Ken could say anything. "If the Kid believes I'm dead, we'll have a lot more freedom while we're trying to track him down."
Still reeling from all that had just been revealed to her, she held up the note that had brought her there in the first place.
"Well, you won't have to track him very far!" she snapped. "Take a look at this!"
She shoved the note at Slade, glaring up at him as he quickly read it. She saw the change in
his expression and smiled in grim satisfaction.
"What is it?" Rob asked, coming forward to read over his shoulder.
"And you! How dare you!" She turned her outrage on Rob, her anger with him showing in her every move. "You knew the truth about Slade when we were having dinner, and yet you said nothing to me! Not one word!"
"I couldn't tell you, Alyssa. I gave Slade and Ken my word that I wouldn't tell anyone of his faked death. They want the Kid to believe he's dead."
"But I thought he was dead, too," she said in a choked voice.
"I'm sorry, but it had to seem real. Slade was convicted of killing your father. If you'd known the truth about him and what was really happening today, you might have acted differently at the execution. Then someone might have become suspicious," Rob told her, trying to make it all seem quite logical.
Alyssa looked at Slade, her regard cold. "If you're innocent of shooting my father, then who murdered him? What happened the day of the robbery? I want the truth!"
"Your father came running toward the bank just as we were making our getaway. I tried to block the shot, but Zeke gunned him down," Slade answered, remembering far too clearly that fateful morning.
"And Zeke is the one who is still alive and riding with the Kid," she finished for him.
"Not for long, if I have anything to say about it," Rob declared, his determination to see the gang completely destroyed growing even stronger.
Slade looked down at the note he held, then back up at Alyssa again. His expression was deadly serious as he spoke. "You found this note in your room just now?"
She nodded. "Yes, I found it when I went back upstairs after having dinner with Rob."
Rob was furious as he took the note from Slade to show it to Jones. "The bastard was actually in her room tonight and no one saw him! Her room's the last one down the hall. He had to walk past at least six other rooms to get there, not to mention take the stairs! How could he do that? He was right here in town under our noses, and we couldn't catch him. Thank heaven Alyssa wasn't in the room when he went in. God only knows what the bastard might have done to her."
"He would have killed her," Slade answered tightly, unable to look away from the blond beauty who stood so proudly and defiantly before him.
Alyssa was still furious with him, and he knew she had every right to be. The thought of her in danger, though, sent a shaft of pain through Slade. He led a mostly solitary existence, but since she'd come into his life like a soft breeze on a hot summer night, she'd haunted him.
"We're going to have to put a round-the-clock guard on Alyssa," Slade said. "Her life's in jeopardy as long as the Kid and Zeke are on the loose."
"No problem," Rob agreed. "She's taking the stage home tomorrow. Once we're back in Black Springs, it'll be easier to keep a close watch over her."
"The Kid thinks I'm dead, so I've got the edge of surprise on my side. I'll stay with her. He won't be expecting me."
Rob resented Slade's intrusion in making the arrangements to safeguard Alyssa. "I can stand guard, too."
Slade and Rob regarded each other solemnly, each recognizing the unspoken claim of the other.
Alyssa was standing there beside them, torn between fury at the two men and terror over the Kid's threat. She wanted to slap Rob and Slade for daring to discuss her safety right in front of her, as if she didn't have a brain or a say in the matter.
She turned an icy glare on them both, wondering whom she hated most right then-them or the Dakota Kid. She lifted her gun for emphasis as she said, "Gentlemen, I'll have you know that, right now, I feel perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Thank you very much for your concern!"
Slade gave her a slow, appreciative grin as he remembered the last time she'd held a gun on himand where she'd held it. "I'm well aware of just how good you are with your gun, ma'am."
Heat flamed in her cheeks as she remembered, too. "Good, and don't you forget it either, Braxton!"
For an instant, she was caught up in the power of his smile. His very presence there-alive and welltore at her. She'd thought him dead, yet he was alive!
Tom by conflicting emotions, Alyssa turned her back on them all and stormed out of the office.
The small group of men stood dumbfounded, staring after her.
"I'm going after her." Rob spoke up first. He took advantage of the situation, for he knew Slade couldn't walk the streets of Green River openly.
Slade, Ken and Steve remained in the office, stunned by all that had just happened.
"As dangerous as this is for her, it's just the break we needed," Ken said, thinking only in terms of the cold, hard facts.
Slade looked over at his friend, his gaze deadly. "This kind of break I can live without. I don't want her hurt in any way."
"It's perfect. Alyssa's our bait now-our lure. We know the Kid's after her. We know he'll make a move to take her at some point in time. We just have to wait it out and see what he tries. My guess is he's probably on his way to Black Springs right now. He'll be there ready and waiting for her return."
"Sometimes you're a cold bastard," Slade remarked without emotion.
"In this business, you have to be."
"Alyssa! Wait!" Rob called out as he followed her from the sheriff's office.
But Alyssa had had enough. She did not slow her pace, but marched on, heading straight toward the hotel.
Rob lengthened his strides and finally managed to catch up with her.
"I'm sorry," he said immediately, wanting to put things straight between them. He valued her friendship and didn't want anything to ruin it-especially not anything involving Slade Braxton.
She heard him, but did not slow down or even look over at him.
"Alyssa, listen to me. The last thing in the world I'd ever want to do is hurt you. Braxton needed to keep his identity secret. They asked me to give my word that I wouldn't reveal what I knew. I had no choice."
"I know that, Rob. It's all right," she said stiffly, still walking without pause.
Her emotions were in such turmoil that she wasn't sure exactly why she was so angry. She'd been devastated at first, because she'd thought Slade had been executed. But now that she'd discovered he was alive, she was furious! She'd been torn apart because there'd been no answer from the Pinkertons when she'd been trying desperately to prove Slade was innocent and save his life. She'd wanted him to be an operative-and not the cold-blooded killer who'd gunned down her father. And yet, now that she'd learned he was on the right side of the law, she was angry about that. Nothing she was thinking made any sense to her.
They had reached the hotel, and she stalked inside, ahead of Rob.
"I'm walking you up to your room, and I'm going to check every square inch of it before I leave you tonight," Rob declared, determined not to take no for an answer.
"Fine." She did not pause in the lobby, but kept on walking straight for the stairs.
"I'll stand watch all night down here, once I know you're safely locked in your room."
"Thank you."
Alyssa still did not look at him, and she did not stop until she reached the door to her room. As she drew her key out of her pocket, Rob took it from her and opened the door.
"Wait here."
She stood in the doorway, watching as he started a thorough search. He checked in the small closet and under the bed for her, and then made sure her window was securely locked.
"All right," Rob announced. "It's safe."
Some of the tension drained from her as she entered the room.
"I'll be close by if you need me," he told her as he went to her. "Alyssa...I want you to know that I would never do anything to hurt you...Never."
She looked up at him then and saw the true depth of his devotion in his eyes. The intensity of his feelings startled her. She'd known that he wanted to court her for some time, but she'd never guessed he felt this strongly.
"Rob-"
Unable to help himself, he took her in his arms. "Alyssa, I love you."
<
br /> He hadn't meant to declare himself so openly so soon, but the thought of the Kid trying to harm her terrified him. He could only imagine what might have happened if she'd walked in on the outlaw in her room earlier that night.
His lips sought hers in a devoted kiss. He would protect her with his life. He would keep her safe. The Kid would not harm her as long as he had a breath in his body.
Alyssa accepted his kiss quietly. It was pleasant and he was kind, but his embrace stirred no deeper emotion in her. She would have liked to love him. Rob was a good, strong man who took care of his own, but she knew that there could never be more than friendship between them. When Rob released her and stepped back, she could see the fierceness of his desire for her in his expression.
"Keep this door locked, Alyssa. If you need anything-anything at all-I'll be right downstairs."
She smiled at him. "Thank you."
He nodded tightly and left the room. He stood outside the door until he heard the lock turn. Satisfied that she was safe for now, he went downstairs to check out the rest of the hotel. He would be vigilant this night. No harm would come to her. He would see to it.
Alyssa undressed and got ready for bed. It seemed she had not known a moment's peace in weeks. She longed for quietude. She doubted it would come any time soon, though, with the Kid vowing to come after her.
She lay down, wanting and hoping to rest, but sleep would not come. Memories of Slade kept returningtheir dance, the way he'd kissed her that night in the moonlight and how he'd saved her on the trail. The image of the way he'd stood on the gallows was burned into her consciousness, and it preyed upon her unmercifully now.
Alyssa doubted she would ever forget that awful moment when the trap door had sprung beneath him. She'd believed he'd fallen to his death and was lost to her forever. The sight of him this very night standing resurrected before her had shaken her to the very depths of her soul. Even now, she found it difficult to believe that his execution had been an elaborate pretense. Slade was alive-alive!
Alyssa tossed and turned, and finally, in frustration, she got up and went to stand by the window. She stared out at the dark street, trying not to think about the man whose kiss haunted her days and nights.
