Arizona Temptress

by Smith, Bobbi

  Although Jake was tense and on edge, his manner, as he rode with the others, was outwardly calm. She was back! He felt as if he was living a dream or a nightmare. How could this be happening? Since his childhood, he had fantasized that his mother would return, and now ...

  Learning the truth about Eve had hurt him badly. Jake realized now that all of his cherished memories of her had been a farce. A deep, abiding pain had been born within him, and he hoped he could keep his emotions under control when he finally met her. Determined not to let the woman know she had any power over him, he girded himself for the upcoming meeting as the outskirts of Mesa Roja came into view.

  Mac took the hotel steps quickly, anxious to tell Eve about the divorce proceedings he’d just started. As he reached the top of the flight of stairs, he heard Ace deep in conversation, and he noticed that the door to her room was open. Knowing the fondness Ace had for gossip, Mac groaned inwardly and hoped the man had managed to keep his mouth shut.

  “Yes, ma’am, you sure do look a lot like Miss Carrie. Why, if I was to see you together, I would think that maybe you were sisters instead of mother and daughter!” The little man chortled, but his amusement was cut short as Mac suddenly appeared in the doorway, his expression thunderous.

  His eyes flinty, Mac stared at Eve, knowing she could have picked no better confidante than Ace if she wanted to start trouble, “You were serious, weren’t you?”

  “About what, Mac?” she asked with seeming innocence, but she knew full well what he meant.

  Ace was avidly listening to their exchange until he felt Mac’s angry gaze upon him.

  “You can finish that up later, Ace. I’d like a few moments of privacy with—”

  “Your wife,” Ace put in quickly, pleased at the look of fury that crossed Mac’s face. “I can certainly understand that. Yes, sir, I sure can. I’ll be going, but I’ll come back later, Mrs. McCaine.”

  “Thank you, Ace,” she called as he scurried from the room, and she turned her attention almost leisurely to Mac.

  “Malo! There are riders coming, and I think it’s them!” Pablo called excitedly from the window.

  Malo snatched up his rifle and moved to join him, staring off in the direction he indicated.

  “There’s four of them, and two of them look to be women.” He smiled evilly.

  “I’m sure Jake must be one of the men.” Lucia came to stand with them. “So, the other one will either be Peralta or Todd Clarke.”

  “Pablo, are you ready?”

  “I’ve been ready for hours.”

  “Good. I want Peralta dead but don’t fire unless you’re sure you can hit him. I don’t want any mistakes, because we’re probably only going to get this one chance.”

  “Right,” Pablo said solemnly.

  “Can I do anything to help you?” Lucia offered.

  “Here.” Malo thrust a revolver in her hand. “Stand guard at the door. I want to know if you hear anyone coming.”

  Lucia nodded her understanding and moved to take up her post.

  Jake glanced at his sisters as they entered the outskirts of Mesa Roja. “Ready?”

  “As I’ll ever be,” Jennie replied, smiling weakly. “Where do you suppose Pa is this morning?”

  “I don’t know, but as soon as we’ve finished talking with Eve, I think we’d better go looking for him.”

  She nodded. “It’ll certainly be a lot easier on Pa once we tell him that we know the truth.”

  “It must have been difficult for him not being able to tell us everything,” Carrie remarked.

  “Well, it’ll all be over real soon,” Jake said as the hotel came into view.

  “It’s Peralta!” Pablo declared as the riders came within full view. “He’s riding with them!”

  Malo didn’t answer. Intent only on wreaking vengeance on the other man, he levered his rifle into position and sighted down the barrel, as he waited for Rick to come within range.

  Unaware of the danger that awaited them, they rode slowly into town, and as they neared the hotel, Rick urged his mount closer to Jennie.

  “Do you want Jake and me to go up first and talk to her?” he asked, concerned about the upcoming interview.

  “No, really, it’s not necessary,” she answered. “But I do want you to come with us.”

  “All right.” Rick wanted to be there for her just in case she needed him.

  “He’s mine now! All mine!” Malo squinted as he took aim, but just as he would have pulled the trigger, Rick leaned toward Jennie, unintentionally blocking his perfect shot. Lowering his rifle, Malo swore loudly as he watched them dismount and enter the hotel.

  “Damn! I had him in my sights.”

  “Don’t worry, Malo.” Pablo tried to cheer him. “He has to come back out sometime, and when he does, we will take him.”

  Malo smiled and took a deep breath. “You’re right. Before this morning is over, Peralta will be dead and we will be gone from this town.”

  When Mac was certain that Ace was out of earshot, he stepped inside Eve’s room. He attempted to shut the door behind him, but the handyman’s ministrations had rendered it even more impossible to close and he was forced to leave it standing ajar.

  Eve regarded Mac evenly as she gave a throaty laugh and stood up. “Was it necessary to send Ace away? He was a most delightful and informative little man.”

  “Really?”

  “Really,” she said calmly, keeping her manner precise as she approached him. “You know Mac, I’ve been thinking about the conversation we had last night, and it seems to me that we’ve left a lot of things unsettled between us.”

  “Hardly,” Mac replied.

  Jake hurried into the lobby and paused only long enough at the unattended front desk to check the register for Eve’s room number before heading up the stairs with Jennie, Carrie, and Rick following immediately behind him. They had no trouble locating her room and were about to knock on the door when they saw that it was standing partially open, allowing them to hear the angry conversation going on inside.

  “Everything has been settled between us—permanently this time, Eve. I’ve just come from my lawyer’s office where I filed for a divorce on the grounds of desertion,” Mac was saying

  Jake looked questioningly to the others, wondering whether to go in or not, but Jennie and Carrie both shook their heads, knowing that this was not the time to interrupt their father.

  “And what kind of settlement are you giving me?” Eve asked greedily, hoping she wouldn’t have to fight him, but his next words killed that hope.

  “The only thing you’re getting out of me is a one-way ticket to Yuma,” Mac replied smoothly. “I’ve already paid for it, and when the stage comes in early this afternoon, I’m going to see that you get on it.”

  “I don’t think so,” she told him with sly confidence.

  “Oh?” Mac folded his arms across his chest as his cold-eyed gaze never wavered.

  “I want to see my children,” Eve announced calmly.

  “I told you before how they feel about you and—”

  “Mac, they don’t even know about me! Ace told me the truth just now. He explained to me how you lied to everyone and told them that I was dead. Everyone including my own children!” Eve witnessed the play of emotions on his face, and she felt a surge of triumph. “I want to see them, Mac. Jake, Jennie, and Carrie. Ace seems to think that Carrie and I resemble one another. What do you think?” she taunted.

  At her words, Carrie gasped audibly in the hall, but luckily Mac and Eve didn’t hear her.

  Mac’s jaw tightened as he fought down the urge to strangle her. “I will not allow you to upset their lives. You nearly destroyed us once Eve, and there is no way I’d ever let you do that again.”

  “Try to stop me,” she pushed daringly.

  “But you know you don’t care. You know you’re just doing it for vengeance.”

  “Of course, why else?” She laughed lightly.

  Jennie looked at Rick, her
eyes filled with pain. “She’s horrible,” she whispered.

  Rick put a comforting arm about her shoulders. “Don’t worry, I’m sure Mac can handle her,” he said softly.

  “If I’d wanted a family,” Eve went on, “I would have stayed with you after the youngest girl was born, but screaming babies and living in the middle of a desert are not my idea of the good life.”

  “You’re disgusting,” Mac growled.

  She shrugged, unconcerned with his opinion of her. “I know a lot of men who wouldn’t think so.”

  Jake blanched at her words. His mother was no better than a whore!

  “What do you want—to get out of our lives and stay out, permanently?”

  “I want you to support me in the style to which I’ve become accustomed. You can either settle on me in full or send money every month. It doesn’t matter how you do it, just as long as you do it.”

  Mac looked at her contemptuously. “And what if I refuse?”

  “Oh? You aren’t interested in working out an agreement? Would you rather I stay here and fight the divorce?”

  “What guarantee do I have that you’ll stay out of our lives, once I’ve given you the money?”

  “Have your lawyer draw up whatever documents are necessary, and I’ll sign them. Believe me, the last thing I want to do is stay here with you in this pitiful excuse of a town.”

  “And you’ll make no effort to contact our children?”

  “Heavens, no! If I didn’t want to see them before, why should I now?” She shuddered at the thought. “I thought it might be amusing to see Carrie since Ace was so certain that we looked alike, but believe me, I can live without the thrill. No, you just go ahead and get the money for me, and I’ll leave town very quietly right away.”

  “It’ll take me a while to get the paper work drawn up and to get the money from the bank.”

  “I’ve got all the time in the world.” She sighed contentedly and Mac cursed under his breath. “Come, come, Mac. It’s not all that bad. Why, once I have all the money, I’ll be gone and you can go on with your life as if nothing ever happened. Now, run along and get it for me.” Her voice hardened toward the end, and it was that tone that spurred Jake to action.

  Violently, he pushed the already broken door open and entered the room.

  “You don’t have to pay her one cent, Pa,” he declared, staring at the woman who stood so defiantly before his father.

  “Jake! What are you doing here?” Mac was surprised to see his son and even more so when Carrie and Jennie followed him into the room. “Girls—I don’t want you here.”

  “Never mind, Pa. It’s too late. We know everything.” Jennie went to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

  Carrie didn’t speak but stood back, almost gaping at the beautiful woman who was her mother.

  “Well.” Eve looked at each of her children. “You must be Jake. And Jennie, you did have the dark hair, didn’t you? And this must be Carrie.” She moved closer to her youngest daughter and regarded her with open interest. “Ace certainly was right. We are quite alike. Your hair and figure—”

  “I might resemble you physically, but that’s where the resemblance ends.” Carrie resented the implication after overhearing their conversation, and she suddenly understood Mac’s attitude toward her all those years. “We’re nothing alike. Believe me! You’re selfish and money hungry and—”

  Eve slapped her viciously. “You don’t know anything about me! How dare you say such things?”

  “We just overheard your entire conversation. So I think I know everything I need to know about you—now,” Carrie told her with dignity. “I don’t think we have anything else to say to one another. Jennie? Jake? Pa?”

  Jennie and Jake joined her, and they walked slowly from the room as Mac turned to Eve in a rage.

  “You’ll be getting no settlement from me, Eve. Your little game is over and you just lost.” He smiled crookedly at her as he thought proudly of how Carrie had just handled the confrontation. “I’ll be back to get you when the stage arrives.”

  “Mac!” Eve pleaded, suddenly realizing that it was finished. “Mac, I have no money. I have no where to go.”

  “And you expect me to care?”

  “Please, I’ll starve.”

  Mac quirked an eyebrow at her. “Somehow, I truly doubt that.” And then turned and left the room.

  “Malo! Look! They’re coming back out!” Pablo’s call drew his attention down to the street below.

  “I’ve got him now!” Malo gloated as he stood up to take better aim in Rick’s direction.

  They had paused on the sidewalk in front of the hotel to wait for Mac to join them, and Malo stood, finger on the trigger, waiting patiently for the perfect shot.

  “I’m glad we got to meet her, but I’m sorry she slapped you, Carrie.” Jake put an arm around her.

  “So am I. I wanted her to be special—to be the woman we had always thought her to be, but I guess it was too much to hope for.”

  “We were all hoping for that.” He hugged her gently. “But I guess it’s time we put away our childish dreams.”

  “And face the truth,” Jennie added as she went into Rick’s arms.

  “The worst is over. Mac will take care of it from here,” Rick reassured them as he saw Mac coming through the lobby.

  “Let’s go to the restaurant and have something to eat. Silas said the stage isn’t due until this afternoon, so it’s going to be a while,” Mac said calmly.

  “All right,” they said and they started off across the street.

  Eve had never thought that things would turn out this way. She had been so sure of herself in the beginning, but now she knew that there was no future for her unless Mac helped her.

  “Mac! Wait!” she cried, chasing after him into the street, uncaring that there were others watching. “I need to talk to you!”

  Malo watched as they moved off the sidewalk and, after directing Pablo to start firing when he did, he took careful aim and pulled the trigger.

  The instincts that had saved Rick’s life many times before served him well again. He would never know what caused him to glance up as he stepped into the street, but he caught sight of the rifle barrel just as the outlaws began to fire.

  “Get down!” he yelled as the first slug blasted into his shoulder, and he dove to the left, shoving Jennie safely out of the way behind a watering trough.

  “How could he have seen me?” Malo screamed in agonized frustration as he realized that Rick had escaped. “Damn!”

  “We’d better get out of here!” Pablo urged as he saw the townspeople running down the street in their direction. “The law will be coming any minute!”

  “I want him dead!” He kept firing indiscriminately in Rick’s direction, his actions seeming almost crazed. “He will not get away from me again!”

  “Malo!” Lucia cried desperately as she heard a commotion below in the bar. “We have to go—now!”

  With great reluctance, the outlaw turned from the window and followed the other two out of the room. Staying together, they raced down the back stairs, but just as they reached their horses, Todd came charging down the side street with the men from the ranch, blocking their escape route. Desperate, they tried to run back inside, but as Pablo reentered the building, shots rang out and he fell backward, dead, into the street.

  Lucia dropped the gun she’d been clutching and looked around, fearful that one of the men would shoot her, but Todd reined in at the head of the small posse. “Don’t move, Lucia, and you’ll be safe,” he ordered. “Malo, drop the gun.”

  Malo was staring at the group of men who surrounded him, wildly contemplating trying to shoot his way out, when he heard the sound of Mac and Jake behind him.

  “We’ve got him covered from this side. Drop your gun, real slow, Malo.”

  And with burning bitterness, Malo realized he was cornered. Knowing that they would hang him if he was taken alive, he made a run for it, dashing hopel
essly away as he fired rapidly and haphazardly in all directions. Though they were surprised for a moment by his brazen move, it was only a matter of seconds before their return volley mowed him down, and he fell, crumpled and bloody, in the dust.

  Mac and Jake were relieved to know that, at last, the ordeal with the bandits was really over, and they headed back to check on Rick, leaving Todd in charge. As they emerged from Dolly’s, they were surprised to see a small crowd gathered by what looked to be an injured woman.

  “Who was shot?” Mac looked worriedly for his daughters, and he was relieved when he caught sight of both of them, kneeling by the wounded woman.

  “Pa, I think it was Eve,” Jake told him as they drew nearer.

  “Eve? Oh, God.” Racing to her, with Jake at his side, he elbowed his way through the crowd. “Did anybody send for the doctor?”

  “Yes, he’s coming,” someone answered quickly.

  “Eve.”

  “Mac.” She managed to say his name in a pain-filled whisper.

  “Don’t try to talk. The doc will be here in a minute.”

  “No.” She gasped as agony pounded through her. “Mac, I’m sorry. So sorry.”

  “Please, Eve.” Mac choked, trying to encourage her to hang on, but she somehow knew that the battle had already been lost.

  “I’m sorry, Mac, but it just wasn’t enough”

  “Eve,” he began, but it was too late. He stared down at Eve with disbelieving eyes. She was dead. A wave of pain rushed through him at the remembrance of their time together before she’d deserted them, and only Jennie’s soft call penetrated his haze of grief.

  “Pa?”

  “She’s gone, Jennie.” He stood up and looked at her, his eyes dark with emotion.

  “Oh, Pa.” She sighed. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I think we all are,” he answered dully, watching as the doctor quickly examined Eve and then, after pronouncing her dead, he covered her with a blanket.