Arizona Temptress

by Smith, Bobbi

  Mac and Jake looked on happily as they kissed, and by the time they finally broke apart, the rest of the posse had managed to catch up with them. Todd kept a guiding arm about Jennie’s waist as she turned to speak with all the men and thank them for coming to her rescue. For a moment, he felt almost relaxed until his gaze accidentally collided with Carrie’s.

  Carrie had deliberately not ridden ahead with her brother and Todd. She had no desire to be a witness to Jennie’s triumphant homecoming and even less an interest in welcoming her back personally. Riding at the back of the posse, she’d maintained a low profile as they’d followed the others, and no one bothered to question her lack of excitement at her sister’s recovery.

  Carrie was glad now that she had stayed back, for when she’d seen Jennie go willingly into Todd’s arms, the pain she’d felt was as if someone had stabbed her and viciously twisted the knife in her heart. And then, when Jennie had reached up to kiss him lingeringly, tears of outrage and sorrow had threatened to spill forth. How dare Jennie!

  It took all of her acting ability to meet Todd’s happiness and relief-dazed glance with mocking indifference, and she could have sworn that he’d been shocked by what he’d seen reflected in her eyes. Forcing her trembling lips into a semblance of a smile, she turned her attention to her sister, relishing for a moment the fact that her sibling looked rather worse for the wear.

  “Jennie, I’m so glad we’ve found you. Everyone was so worried.” She mouthed the usual platitudes, trying to give the impression of immense relief.

  “Carrie?” Jennie was totally startled to see that her sister was among the posse. “You came, too?”

  The thought that Carrie cared enough about her to come along with the posse touched Jennie deeply, and she felt a sudden tenderness for her.

  “I couldn’t just stay home. It would have been terrible to wait there and not know what was happening,” she lied artfully, ignoring Todd who was staring at her intently.

  “And she’s done very well, too.” Mac put in, shocking both his daughters as he smiled up at Carrie proudly.

  “How’d you manage to get away?” Todd finally asked, wondering how she’d managed to escape from three armed desperadoes. “If there were three of them—”

  “Oh, there were more than three of them. The men that ambushed you were on their way to join up with another gang—Miguel Malo’s.”

  “Malo!” There was a collective gasp, and Jake’s expression was suddenly intense. “The man’s an animal. How’d you manage to stay alive?”

  “It was your friend, Cazador, who helped me,” Jennie told him quickly.

  “My friend? Cazador? I don’t understand. I don’t know any Cazador.” He tried to sound confused.

  Jennie stared at him. “But he said he knew you.”

  Jake shook his head. “Maybe from years ago, but I sure don’t remember him. All that really matters is that he took care of you. I’m certainly grateful for that.” He tried to shift the focus of the conversation.

  “He protected me from the others by telling them that he wanted me for his own woman,” she explained. “And then, the first chance I got, I ran off.”

  “Thank heaven.”

  “Where were they headed?” Todd asked, trying to piece her story together.

  “They had kidnapped an old man down in Sonora, and they were forcing him to guide them to some abandoned gold mine.”

  “What was his name?” Jake’s tone was suddenly sharp.

  “Peralta—Juan Peralta,” she answered and then turned to her father. “Pa, we’ve got enough men here. Could we go after them and try to rescue him? I know they planned to kill him just as soon as they got to the mine.”

  “We’ll go,” Jake answered for his father. “I know Peralta.”

  “You do?” Mac looked at him in surprise.

  “From years back,” he acknowledged. “How far are they ahead of us?”

  “About a day’s ride, I guess. It just depends on how much progress they made yesterday.”

  “I’ll go scout the trail,” Steve offered, riding on ahead with a few of the men.

  “Are you hungry, Jennie?” Mac offered as he took some food out of his saddlebag.

  “Famished! When I ran away, I didn’t think to take any food. I only grabbed a canteen.”

  “Here, take the time to eat and then we’ll start out again. Hopefully, we’ll catch up with them before they have a chance to harm the old man.” He handed her some dried meat.

  “I sure hope so. I felt so sorry for him, being forced to go back to the mine that had brought such disaster to his family,” she told them as she began to eat hungrily.

  “All of his sons were killed in an Apache attack when they were on their way out of the mountains with a pack load of gold. Only his grandson survived the assault.” Jake explained to the others. “It was a long time ago, but I rode with his grandson, Rick, for a while. And there were times when we stayed at the Peralta ranch.” His thoughts turned to Rick and the dangerous game he was playing with Malo. Jennie had said that one of the outlaws had claimed her for his own, and he wondered if it had been his friend. “What was the name of the man who protected you?”

  “Cazador. Why?” Jennie glanced at her brother nervously. She didn’t want to think about Cazador, not while she was standing, comfortable and secure, with Todd’s arm around her.

  “Just curious.” Jake shrugged and his expression didn’t change, but inwardly he smiled, knowing that she, indeed, had been safely guarded from the other outlaws.

  “Mac! Jake!” Steve’s call as he rode back toward them drew their attention.

  “Did you find it?” Mac asked as his foreman reined in beside him.

  “Yes. We’re ready to ride whenever you are.”

  “Well, I’ve finished eating, so we can go now.” Jennie didn’t want to risk not arriving in time to save Juan Peralta. “And I’m pretty sure I can direct you to where they camped the night before last.”

  “Good,” Steve told her admiringly. “That’ll save us a lot of time.”

  “Bring up one of the extra mounts and adjust the stirrups for her,” Mac ordered, and one of the ranch hands hastened to comply. Then, going to his own horse, he pulled out his rifle and handed it to Jennie. “This could get dangerous and I don’t want you unarmed.”

  “Thank you.” Jennie felt much more confident of her ability to face Malo now that she was armed. Shoving the rifle into the scabbard, she mounted easily and rode to the head of the posse to direct Steve to the campsite.

  “Let’s ride,” Jake called and they started off in search of the outlaws.

  Rick cursed the dawn savagely as they took shelter behind a barrage of massive rocks. “If only we’d had a few hours more.”

  “Ricardo, we have done our best.” Juan soothed him with confidence and more than a little boastful bravado. “And I think that, between the two of us, we can outshoot any of those outlaws.”

  As exhausted as he was, Rick had to smile at his grandfather’s sense of adventure. “You’re right of course,” he said.

  “I can shoot fairly well, too,” Lucia offered, wanting to help as much as she could. Cazador had just saved her life by allowing her to come with him, and she wanted to do all within her power to help him.

  “Here.” He handed her one of the rifles. “Just be sure to take careful aim. We can’t afford to waste any ammunition.”

  “I’ll be very careful.” She met his eyes solemnly. “Cazador?”

  “What?” His tone was flat, revealing no emotion.

  “Thank you for bringing me with you. If you hadn’t, I’d be dead by now.” Her words were heartfelt, and Juan reached out to pat her hand.

  “Everything will be just fine, Lucia, you’ll see. We won’t let Malo have you.” He gave her a fatherly smile.

  “You’ll be safe,” Rick told her firmly.

  Lucia felt an inner peace sweep through her, and for the first time in years she felt good about herself. “Thank you
.”

  Rick searched through his saddlebags and, finding some dried meat, gave Juan and Lucia a share. “We’d better eat now while it’s still quiet. I figure, since they’re on horseback, they’ll catch up with us within an hour or two.”

  Juan nodded in agreement. “I’ll take first watch for them. You two go on and try to get some rest. An hour is better than none at all.”

  Rick acquiesced without comment, knowing that he was near the point of exhaustion. He’d gotten little sleep the night before, and the day just passed had been a tense one, fraught with constant frustration. Quickly finishing off his food, he checked their weapons and then tried to seek a comfortable position that would not leave him at a disadvantage should he need to come awake in a hurry.

  Lucia, too, ate without further comment. She still wondered about the relationship between Jaun and Cazador, but she knew it would not do for her to ask again. When they were ready to tell her, they would.

  Lucia let her gaze roam over Cazador as he lay resting with his eyes closed. Where before Lucia had thought him as just simply handsome, now she was certain that he was the most wonderful man in the world. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for him, she swore to herself, nothing!

  Feeling Juan’s knowing eyes upon her, she smiled at him softly and then curled up in her own place to nervously await the upcoming confrontation with Malo and his men.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The solemn determination of the outlaws this morning was at distinct odds with the wild gaiety that had possessed them the night before when they’d prematurely celebrated their arrival at the gold mine. When Malo ordered them to break camp, they moved quickly and efficiently, anxious to be after Cazador and to reclaim their captive guide.

  Malo was inordinately pleased with himself, though, as the sun’s dawning brightness dissolved the night’s repressive gloom. The hours they’d just passed waiting for sunup had been tense and frustrating for them, but he was glad now that they’d been patient. For, having had no time to cover his tracks, Cazador’s trail was easily followed, and it would be a simple matter for them to track him down in the daylight.

  Filled with an undying hatred for Cazador, Malo watched as his men saddled their horses and made ready to leave. Cazador would not get away with this. His thoughts were vicious as he dreamed of the revenge he would wreak on the gunman who had dared to betray him.

  And Lucia—Her name was a curse in his mind. She would pay, the little puta, he would see to that! And he would enjoy every moment of her torture! Leave him for Cazador, would she? An evil, leering smile distorted his face as he imagined the terrible things he would do to her as she begged for mercy.

  Dismissing all thoughts of Lucia from his mind, Malo concentrated instead on Cazador’s ambitious plan to kidnap Peralta and have the gold all to himself. No wonder he hadn’t been eager to agree to Malo’s double-cross of the other men.

  Malo had to admire Cazador for taking the chance, but it was a gamble that he was going to lose. He had worked too hard to let the gunslinger take what was rightfully his. He would have that gold yet!

  As he swung up into the saddle, Malo glanced at Luis who had approached to ride beside him. He was not quite sure if he trusted him or not. There had been something too easy in the way he had handled the scene with Cazador and Lucia last night. And if there was one thing Malo hated more than a double-cross like Cazador had pulled, it was a sly treacherous snake in his camp. He would keep an eye on Luis, just in case.

  “Let’s ride,” he ordered, urging his horse forward up the incline in the direction Cazador had fled, leaving Luis to follow behind in his dust.

  “Ricardo.” Juan’s insistant call was hushed yet urgent, and Rick came awake immediately. “They are coming.”

  Rick moved to kneel beside his grandfather, his body tense as he watched their approach.

  “If only we’d had more time to cover more of our tracks,” Lucia whispered, terror gripping her as she was sure that she faced certain death. There were only the three of them against Malo and all his men!

  “Have faith, Lucia,” Juan answered softly, giving her hand a reassuring squeeze. “There are only five of them, and we have the element of surprise on our side.”

  She smiled tremulously and, remembering the religion of her childhood, she crossed herself and said a quick Hail Mary under her breath.

  “We’ll wait until they’re almost directly beneath us before we fire. We don’t want to waste any ammunition. We’ve barely got enough as it is.” Rick’s tone was curt as he mentally calculated their odds. He knew that if they could end the confrontation quickly, they would have a very good chance of winning. But, if it dragged on for any length of time, there would be little hope of victory for them. Their water supply was limited to the three canteens that Lucia had brought along and they had no food. Accuracy and speed were the two factors that would determine if they were to live or die, and Rick prayed that he would have both when the time came.

  Lucia watched as Malo and his men rode ever nearer, and she shivered in spite of the early heat of the day.

  “Cazador!” She grabbed his arm nervously. “Please, don’t shoot Chica!” Lucia pointed to where her friend rode at the rear of the column.

  Rick nodded but didn’t speak. Levering his rifle into position, he waited for just the right moment to fire. Bracing himself beside Rick, Juan also took careful aim.

  “Lucia, I want you to stay down and out of sight for now,” Rick ordered as she started to pick up her firearm and join them.

  “But I want to help!”

  “You heard me. I don’t have time to worry about you. If you stay down, I’ll know you’re all right.”

  Huddling down miserably, yet pleased that he cared enough to be concerned about her, she held her breath as she heard the sound of the horses’ hooves clattering over the rocks below.

  Luis and Malo studied the abrupt ending to Cazador’s tracks.

  “They’re somewhere very close by. I can feel it,” Malo growled as he looked up, his eyes scanning the ridges and outcroppings of rock on the mountainside above them.

  “See anything?”

  “No, but I think we’d better split up.” He studied the narrowing passage of the canyon ahead of them. “This is the perfect place for Cazador to attempt to ambush us. It is the place I would choose if I was the one being hunted.”

  “He’s not that good!” Luis scoffed, and had they been standing on the ground, Malo would have backhanded him.

  “He is very good and you would do well to remember that, fool,” Malo fired back. “He has Peralta, does he not? We are done with underestimating him.”

  Luis bristled at Malo’s insult but knew better than to cross him, and he held his tongue.

  “Ray—Pabio—I want you two to search this section,” Malo ordered, and they quickly began to ride forward, their eyes constantly on the abruptly rising hillside. “Chica will ride down the middle.” He smiled at her derisively. “Since Cazador liked Lucia, maybe he would like Chica, too.”

  The men all laughed at his comment and watched as she kneed her horse on, her knuckles whitening as she held onto the reins in pure terror. Chica had never considered her life useless before, but she knew now that to these men, she was less than human. Vowing to herself to get away from Malo at the first opportunity, Chica lifted her head almost regally and rode forth to face the unknown.

  “Ramon—Luis—You two check the far side.”

  Luis stiffened at the order. He did not like being shunted off like some underling, but he went along with Malo for now, knowing that is was the only way he could get to the gold.

  “Damn!” Rick cursed. “They’ve divided up. There’s no way we’ll be able to get them all at the same time.”

  “We will take these two, first.” Juan gestured to Pablo and Ray. “And that will even the odds considerably.”

  He nodded in agreement, knowing that there was no other alternative open to them, and he took careful aim with
his rifle, squeezing the trigger with professional ease.

  The sound of the shots reverberated through the canyon, echoing far across the countryside, alerting all within hearing distance to the shootout.

  Though they had aimed as carefully as they could, when the volley was fired everyone below headed for cover. Ray, alone, was hit, knocked from his mount by the force of Rick’s bullet, and he sprawled lifelessly in the dust, blood seeping from the death-dealing wound in his chest.

  “There were two people firing at us!” Luis gasped as he leaned breathlessly against the boulders that formed a natural bulwark, below and across from where Cazador had hidden.

  “And Lucia must be one of them!” Malo’s expression was malevolent as he fixed his gaze on Cazador’s hideout above them, gauging its strength and hoping to find a breech in its defenses.

  “How is Ray?” Luis asked Pablo as the other man joined them.

  “He is dead. The bullet took him through the heart.” Pablo was sweating and his hands were shaking. “That could have been me.” He nodded toward where Ray lay in the dirt.

  “Malo!” Ramon called from the far end of their protective cover where he stood sentry, rifle in hand. “Do you want me to try to work my way up behind them?”

  “No. Not yet.”

  “But we could get this over with in a hurry.”

  “Ah, but wouldn’t it be much better to let them suffer a while?” Malo’s lips thinned in a satisfied smirk. “They have no food and very little water.”

  “We just don’t want anything to happen to Peralta,” Luis began and Malo’s sharp look silenced him.

  “It is much more likely that the old fool would be killed in a wild shootout.”

  “That is true,” Ramon agreed.

  “We will wait for now and see what they intend to do next.” He seemed to relax a bit. “For, after all, we have plenty of food and water enough to last at least a week.”