by Smith, Bobbi
“How could I forget after Luis and Ray?” she returned caustically.
“They’re amateurs compared to Malo, Jennie. The man’s an amoral animal who’d just as soon kill you as talk to you. Stay as far away from him as you can and try not to draw his notice.”
“If he’s so terrible, then why are you riding in there to join up with him? Is it the gold? I told you my father is rich. If it’s money you need, all you have to do is ask.” Jennie was growing nervous now that they were actually nearing the outlaws’ camp.
“No, it’s not the damn gold!” he exploded almost violently, though he kept his voice down. “That gold is the last thing I want or need! Now shut up or I swear, I’ll gag you!”
Completely cowed by his unexpected outburst, she stiffened her back and fell silent.
The armed guard stepped out from behind the rocks, his rifle aimed directly at Rick. “Hold it right there,” he ordered as he eyed them suspiciously.
“I’m Cazador,” Rick said, maintaining a casual seat but moving slightly so that his hand rested near his sidearm. “I’m here to see Malo.”
Jennie felt his body tense and she knew that this was their most dangerous moment.
“I’ve been waiting for you, compadre.” Another shorter, more wiry man appeared behind the guard and swaggered forward to greet him. “I am Malo. Come join us.” He gestured expansively to the cave behind him.
“That’s what I’ve been wanting to do ever since I heard about the gold,” Rick replied easily, swinging down off the horse. “Did Luis and Ray get here?”
“Yes, they arrived a short while ago and told us that you were coming.” He leered up at Jennie for a minute. “Your woman?”
“Yes.” His answer was casual but firm.
“Nice.” Malo moved to stand by Jennie, and he pawed her thigh appreciatively. “Very nice.” Then abruptly he turned back to Rick. “Let’s eat and drink. Then, we will talk. Have your woman go with the others, and Ramon will see to your horse.”
Handing Ramon the stallion’s reins, Rick glanced quickly up at Jennie as he threw his saddlebatgs over his shoulder and pulled his rifle from the scabbard. “Join the women in the cave and make yourself useful.” Then, without a backward glance, he walked off with Malo.
Jennie was tense as she watched them go. Malo had exceeded all of her most terrible expectations. He was a hideous little man, and her flesh still crawled from his touch. Short and dark, with black obsidian eyes and a drooping mustache, she had sensed the evil in him, and it was no wonder just the mention of name could strike terror in the hearts of settlers. Shivering despite the heat of the day, she stared after them until the guard roused her with a curt order.
“Get down. You heard what Malo said. Go join the other women. I’m sure they can find work for you to do.” He smiled lecherously at her. “If not, come back and I’ll find something to keep you busy.”
Jennie dismounted quickly and glared at the desperado as he ran a hand down her arm. “Keep your hands to yourself,” she spat.
Ramon looked at her for a long moment and then, remembering Cazador’s reputation, he shrugged and unhanded her. But even as Jennie strode calmly away from him into the protection of the cave, she could still feel his hungry gaze upon her.
Lucia stood off to the side, watching, as Malo entered the cavern with Cazador, and her eyes widened at the sight of the infamous gunman. It had been said that he was as successful with women as he was with guns and now Lucia understood why. He was the most handsome man she’d ever seen! Tall and dark, with broad shoulders and narrow hips. He moved easily at Malo’s side and had the air about him of a man totally in control.
Lucia sighed, her heart fluttering as she stared at him unobserved, and she wondered what it would be like to make love to him. Her body roused at the thought for he was so magnificent a man that she was sure it would be heavenly. Suddenly tired of Malo’s self-gratifying ways, Lucia determined then and there that she would be with Cazador, somehow, someway.
As soon as Rick’s eyes adjusted to the semidarkness in the hideaway, he visually searched the cave’s natural room for a sign of his grandfather, and joy shot through him as he spotted Juan sitting at the back of the cavern. Any previous worries he’d had about succeeding were dismissed from his mind. Nothing could go wrong now, nothing. He’d found Juan alive and apparently not in too bad shape. All he had to do was figure out a way to free him from the camp and then it would be over. Relief flooded through him for he knew exactly what he had to do.
Following Malo to his pallet, he sat down beside him. “You chose your hideout well.”
Malo smiled, pleased at getting a compliment from him. “I wanted to be protected from everybody, Indians and whites.”
Rick kept his expression carefully blank at the thought of the cutthroat Apache. “Have you seen any Apache? They’re usually pretty thick around here.”
“No. None yet,” Malo said as he handed Rick a bottle of tequila.
“We didn’t either on our way in.” He drank deeply of the fiery liquid and handed it back.
“So Luis told me,” Malo responded and then changed the subject. “I had heard that you were familiar with this area. Is that true?”
“Yes, I know it.”
“Good. I’m sure I’ll need your help before we’re through here.” He swallowed deeply of the liquor and wiped his arm across his lips before bellowing, “Chica!”
The woman who’d been tending the fire hurried toward him.
“Chica, this is Cazador. He is one of us now. Treat him right.” Malo chuckled suggestively.
“Yes, Malo.”
“Now, bring us something to eat. We have much to discuss.”
Chica didn’t bother to answer but hurried to do his bidding.
“She is a good woman. She takes care of my men for me. If you want her, take her. I’m sure she’d be good to you,” Malo said in an expansive tone.
“Had I not brought a woman of my own with me, I would take you up on your offer.”
“Ah, yes. Your woman.” He glanced over to where Jennie had just entered the cave and was standing hesitantly in the opening. “She’s lovely. You must enjoy her.”
“She’s a woman, Malo.” Rick did not want to attach too much importance to Jennie’s presence. “Like all others.”
“Luis tells me that she’s Mac McCaine’s daughter.”
“That’s what she says, but who knows? She could be lying.”
“Perhaps. But maybe she is telling the truth and if she is, she could be worth a lot of money.
“When I tire of her, we’ll talk of ransom, but until then, Malo, she’s mine.” Rick’s tone was steely.
“Fine,” he replied indifferently. “Lucia!” He called as he spotted her entering the cave behind Jennie. “Bring the girl here.”
Lucia heard Malo’s call and pointed Jennie in their direction. “Malo wants to see you. Let’s go,” she said coldly, resenting her and feeling that her presence would interfere with her own plan to have Cazador.
Leading the way, Lucia didn’t speak again as she kept her gaze fixed on Malo. She knew she could not afford to look at Cazador for she might not be able to disguise the surging sensual desire she was feeling for him.
“Cazador, this is Lucia, my woman.”
Rick nodded to the young Mexican girl and wondered why a female as pretty as this one would be mixed up with Malo.
“Lucia,” he continued, “take care of his woman. Put her to work, but keep an eye on her. We don’t want anything to happen to her.”
“Yes, Malo,” she replied respectfully.
“You’ve chosen well again,” Rick said selecting his words carefully.
“Yes, I found her a few months back working in a cantina in Mexico and I’ve had her with me ever since.” He smiled leeringly, revealing blackened, snarled teeth.
“I can understand why you’d want to keep her.”
“So,” Malo said, drinking again from the tequila, “where hav
e you been? There had been no news of you for so long that some rumors had it that you’d been ambushed and killed.”
Rick smiled thinly. “No one ambushed me. I tried ranching for a while.”
“Ranching?” He was astounded at Cazador’s admission and he laughed heartily. “If I hadn’t heard it from you, I wouldn’t have believed it. The fastest gun in the territory pushin’ cows?”
Rick shrugged off Malo’s amusement, answering with a reply that he knew the other man would believe. “You’re right. It grew boring. I needed some action and that’s when I heard what you were doing. It sounded pretty challenging, plus the money should be good.” He let the sentence hang.
“When I heard from the men that you wanted to ride with us, I was surprised. From your reputation, I never pegged you as one who needed money.”
“Before I tried ranching, I didn’t. But I lost everything I had on that damned ranch,” he growled, in a good imitation of a frustrated gambler. “I figured it was time to cut and run, so here I am.”
“I’m glad.” Malo sounded content with his explanation. “I think you’ll find that we have a lot in common.”
And they were exchanging measuring looks when Chica returned with plates of hot food for them. They ate the stew hungrily and then sat back to share the tequila once more.
“You had to bring Peralta with you?” Rick gestured toward Juan as he took the proffered liquor and lifted the bottle to his lips.
“It was the only way. There was no map,” Malo assured him, taking back the tequila and drinking deeply.
“Did he give you a lot of trouble?”
“Only in the beginning. After a few days, he came around. I have very effective methods for dealing with stubborn people.”
“So I’ve heard.”
Malo lifted his shoulders in a gesture of helplessness. “A man does what he must do. Come, we will see just how cooperative he is tonight.”
Rick was taut with anger, but he was careful to keep his outward appearance calm. What had Malo done to Juan during the past weeks? The thought of the anguish his grandfather had suffered made him want to kill Malo right now and put an end to the charade, but he knew the chances of freeing both Jennie and Juan safely in a shoot-out would be nonexistent. Controlling his desire for quick revenge, he got up and followed Malo across the camp.
Juan watched as Malo headed in his direction with Rick by his side, and he wondered what the outlaw had in store for him tonight. Schooling his features into a mask of indifference, he met Malo’s eyes in unspoken challenge, taking care not to even give Rick a second glance.
“Am I to be the entertainment for your men again tonight?” he asked brittlely.
“There is no need. Tonight we are celebrating,” Malo proclaimed most jovially. “With Cazador’s arrival, all my men are in camp.”
“So.” Juan eyed Rick scathingly. “You’re the famous gunfighter?”
“I am.” Rick kept his tone cold.
He swung his gaze back to Malo, saying cuttingly, “One fast gun is not going to save you if the Apache decide to attack.”
“Shut up, old man. We haven’t seen any Indians and we’re not going to.”
“As you say.” Juan shrugged his indifference to the man’s foolish attitude.
“We will be heading out tomorrow. Be ready.”
“Malo, I am at your constant disposal.” His sarcasm was obvious as he gestured to his bound feet.
He snorted in irritation. “How many days until we reach the mine?”
“Two, maybe three. It depends.” His answer was deliberately vague.
“Depends on what?”
“Landslides. If the terrain has been altered it may take me longer to find it. It’s been a long time since I ventured here, Malo. A very long time.” Juan’s words were full of subdued grief.
“Cazador.” Malo turned away from the old man’s mental wanderings and beckoned for Rick to follow him. “Let’s join the men. I’m sure they want to meet you.”
“All right.” Rick, who had remained stoically silent during their conversation, cast Juan a reassuring glance as Malo started to walk off.
Juan was only able to meet his beloved grandson’s eyes for a brief moment, but it was long enough for Rick to see the tears of gratitude and love that shone there. Nodding slightly to comfort him, he followed Malo to where the men had gathered a distance away.
Chapter Eleven
“Here, have something to eat.” Lucia handed a plate of the hot, steaming stew to Jennie as they sat by the cooking fire.
“Thank you.” Jennie took the plate gratefully. “It looks good.”
“Enjoy it. It may very well be the last hot meal you have for quite a while.”
“Why?”
“Well, now that Cazador’s finally here, we’ll be heading out again and once we’re in the open, it won’t be safe to have any fires. We don’t want to do anything that will draw anyone’s attention, especially not the Indians,” Lucia told her as she settled down next to her to eat.
“Where are we going?”
“Didn’t Cazador tell you about the mine?”
“Mine? What mine?”
“The Peralta gold mine.” Lucia sounded proud and excited. “Malo’s plan is perfect. See that old man over there?”
Jennie noticed for the first time the gray-haired man who was bound and under guard at the far side of the campsite. “Yes.”
“That’s Juan Peralta. He’s the only one who knows the exact location of the diggings.”
“But why is he tied up?”
“Malo has had to force him to lead us to the treasure. Surely you’ve heard the stories of the Peralta gold?”
“The name sounds familiar, but I don’t remember anything about a gold mine.”
Lucia sighed in exasperation. “The mine belongs to the Peralta family, but they haven’t worked it in years. It seems that both of his sons and some workers from his ranch in Sonora were massacred by the Apache during their last expedition, and Juan swore never to return to it or to reveal its location to anyone.”
“Until Malo,” Jennie put in.
“Until Malo.” Lucia nodded her agreement. “Malo convinced him otherwise.”
“You mean Malo beat it out of him.”
“Convinced, beat.” She shrugged. “It’s all the same, because the important thing is we’re all going to be rich just as soon as we find it.”
“And what’s going to happen to him once he leads us to the gold?” she asked, suddenly growing concerned about the helpless victim of Malo’s lust for riches.
Lucia was about to answer when Chica joined them.
“Your Cazador is some man.” Chica smiled in friendly appreciation. “Que hombre!”
Jennie couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm, and she missed the quick flash of jealousy that flared on Lucia’s pretty features. “That he is.”
“You are one lucky woman,” she continued as she fixed herself a plate of food.
And Jennie couldn’t help but agree with her as she glanced over to where Cazador stood in conversation with Malo and the other men. Her heart beat faster as she watched him, admiring the wide set of his shoulders and the way his dark trousers clung to his hips and muscular thighs. It seemed almost as if Cazador had felt her gaze, for he suddenly looked up in her direction. Their eyes met for a long, heated moment across the width of the cave before he turned his attention back to the men around him.
His earlier harsh words were forgotten as the memory of his ardent embrace swept over her like a caress, and Jennie sighed inwardly, wishing that they were back in their haven, alone.
Lucia had seen the look they had exchanged, and she vowed silently to herself that one day, Cazador would look at her in the same way.
Though he appeared to be listening, Rick was actually paying little attention to the verbose bragging of the half-drunken outlaws. His thoughts were focused, instead, on finding the safest, fastest way to free Juan and make their escape. While
they were camped in the cave, Rick knew there was no point in even trying to get away. His best opportunity would be later, when they were on the trail.
Sensing someone’s eyes upon him, Rick glanced up and saw Jennie watching him. As their gazes locked, he was stunned by the power of the emotion that flowed through him. He had hoped to put her from his mind while he was in camp with Malo, but he was finding it an impossible task. God, how he wanted her!
Shaking himself mentally, he forced himself back to the present and took the bottle of whiskey that was thrust at him by Ramon.
“Your woman is some beauty. When you get tired of her, give her to me! I’d like to lose myself between her thighs.” He clapped Rick on the back in a gesture of male camaraderie.
A violent rage surged through Rick as he thought of Ramon touching Jennie, and it took all of his control not to punch the man out. With a casualness he didn’t feel, he smiled.
“When I get done with her, I’ll let you know.” Drinking from the bottle, he handed it back and the men all laughed.
Though the remark, in reality, had been a harmless one meant for men’s ears only, Jennie had overheard it and terror seized her. Had Cazador really meant it? Would he really turn her over to those animals? But in the midst of her panic, she remembered their earlier conversation and his entreaty to trust him no matter what. Hanging on to that memory, she dismissed her fears.
Lucia was pleased and encouraged by what she’d just heard, and she gave Jennie a sidelong glance. “I guess Cazador plans to share you the same way Malo does Chica.”
“Only after he tires of me,” Jennie answered with calm confidence as she remembered their rapturous loving. “And I plan to make sure that that won’t be for a very long time. Does Malo share you?”
“No. I am his woman alone,” she boasted, needing to assert the importance of her position in camp. “He would not want others to have me,” she asserted, wanting Jennie to know just how valuable Malo considered her to be.
“Lucia,” Chica interrupted. “I found a small pool this afternoon, after the rain.”
