Sweet Savage Heart

by Janelle Taylor

  Clarissa was pushed beyond control. She screamed at him, “I was crazy to lie to you to keep you from making a fool of yourself over Rana Michaels like you did with her whorish mother! That little savage isn’t your child; she’s Nathan’s! That’s right, dear Papa,” she shouted contemptuously when he gaped at her as if she had gone mad before his eyes. She calmly clarified, “Rana is Nathan Crandall’s daughter, not your bastard. Have you conveniently forgotten you were back East for months during that time? And you hadn’t slept with her long before you left. That’s right, dear Papa,” she scoffed again, “I found out about you and Marissa Crandall when I was eight years old. Did you think I was blind and stupid? I knew about her countless visits to your room and I knew what you two were doing. How do you think I learned so much about sex and how pleasurable it is? From spying on you and her. All you cared about was her! You didn’t love me or want me! I was glad when she left, but still you didn’t shower any leftover love and attention on me, love and attention you gave her for nearly two years! I’ve done everything you’ve asked to prove my love and loyalty, but nothing matters to you. I hate you, and I hope they kill you!”

  “My God, girl, you’ve lost your mind,” he decided aloud.

  “Would you like to hear the entire history of your beloved Marissa?” she asked, then shouted the shocking facts at him before he could respond. “You see, dear Papa,” she finished, “Rana is Nathan’s evil seed; and that flaming-haired bitch you loved so deeply was so wicked that she slept with her own father.”

  Harrison glared at her furiously for her deceit, for he knew she was telling the truth this time. “You forget, you malicious bitch, that Nathan isn’t Marissa’s father.”

  “What does that matter? She thought he was!”

  “It was a girlish prank, a terrible mistake, and she paid for it. Are you forgetting how many times you’ve slept with men for a variety of reasons?” he taunted just to punish his malicious child. “Marissa was trying to help a friend, and that friend betrayed her. Nothing is worse than betrayal, Clarissa,” he remarked meaningfully. “Frankly, I’m glad she isn’t my daughter. I much prefer her as a wife.”

  “You wouldn’t dare!” Clarissa screamed in outrage.

  Harrison laughed coldly. “Wouldn’t I? Just as soon as I can lure Nathan into a trap, I’m going to kill him myself. Then I’ll sic Monroe and Hayes on Travis. Yes, I should be a happy bridegroom before winter. You’d best look hard for a husband, girl, because I don’t want you around after I marry. Maybe I’ll have a son this time.” He strolled from the room, his laughter echoing satanically.

  “Over my dead body, you bastard,” she vowed. It was time to locate Wes and end this madness…

  Chapter Nineteen

  Early Monday morning, the fifth of August, Harrison handed Wes Monroe a sealed letter and told him to give it personally to Nathan Crandall without letting anyone see him or the letter. “I’m going to lure my annoying neighbor into a trap and kill him myself. I’ve ordered my hands out of the area of your cabin so Nate and I can meet and talk privately before I put a bullet in his head. I’ll tell everyone he hunted me down and tried to kill me, and I was merely defending myself. Since he hasn’t made any secret of his hatred and accusations, it won’t seem suspicious. After I’m done with Nate, I’ll let you and Hayes take care of Travis Kincade for me; then your jobs will be over.”

  “What about getting control of Crandall’s ranch?” Wes asked, wondering about the abrupt change in plans and Caldwell’s strange behavior.

  “I have another way of carrying out my wishes. I don’t want any more trouble over there until I tell you to get rid of Kincade. When that’s done, I’ll give you two a fat bonus and then you can be on your way to your next job. See me about ten tomorrow morning.” Harrison watched with satisfaction as the cocky gunslinger mounted and rode off. Once Nathan and Travis were out of his way, he would settle matters with Clarissa before claiming Rana as his bride. Evidently she had beguiled Silas Stern into helping her with some plot against him. He was convinced they were working against him, for no one else could have gotten into his safe or known about his plans in time to thwart them. It had been a mistake to let Fargo and Silas fall under his daughter’s spell, but he hadn’t believed she possessed so much sexual prowess and allure, or intelligence and daring. She was a cunning, conniving bitch, and she had been plotting against him for years. Soon she would pay for her treachery and betrayal, he promised himself. He walked to his corral to fetch his horse. He had one task to handle before riding to the cabin, and he had plenty of time.

  Wes rode off to find Nathan and carry out his curious assignment. As soon as it was done and Caldwell left his house, he would sneak in to see Clarissa and find out what was going on. He wasn’t ready to leave the area, the job, or settle for only a “fat bonus.”

  Wes slid off his horse near Nathan’s house. He hadn’t noticed anyone nearby during his cautious approach, nobody except the graying blond man sitting on his front porch reading. Wes said, “Here’s a message from Mister Caldwell. He wants a private meeting with you. He gives his word on your safety, so don’t be afraid to go, old man.”

  Nathan stared at the villainous hireling who had delivered Harrison’s surprising and mystifying message. Then he read: “Meet me in one hour at the shack near my eastern boundary and we’ll settle our problems once and for all. I’ll make you one final offer and if you reject it, I’ll make certain you aren’t troubled again. There are some secrets between us, Nate, and it’s time we aired them. If you want to know the truth about why Marissa left home with Michaels, come alone and come quickly. Once you hear the truth, you’ll know why I’ve hated you for years and sought revenge. I’m tired of all our fighting, and this is a better way to settle matters. I’ll be waiting, if you’re brave enough to face me.”

  Nathan watched Caldwell’s man depart and read the message again. He wondered what Marissa had to do with their conflict. She had often visited Clarissa to help her with her studies or to watch her… Had something happened to his daughter over there? Was Harrison responsible for his child’s running away? What “secrets"? he asked himself.

  Rana and Travis were out riding. Neither Mace, nor Todd, nor Cody was nearby this morning. Harrison had told him to come alone, but he had not said to keep the meeting a secret. If Caldwell were planning to harm him, he wouldn’t have sent a written message for others to see. Evidently Harrison wanted to play some clever word games. Why not? he speculated. Maybe he could withdraw some important information. After all, he had been letting others take all the risks and do all the work of saving his ranch. And that crude animal of a messenger had taunted him about being afraid, singeing his manly ego. His side had been winning all the victories lately; maybe Harry wanted to capitulate in private.

  He stuffed the letter into his pocket and retrieved his gun belt. Strapping it on, he walked to the corral, saddled his horse, and left, carelessly forgetting to tell anyone where he was going or why. He wanted to be early so he could hide and study the meeting area. If Harrison were setting a trap, he would be very careful and not fall into it. Besides, he needed time to locate the cabin.

  Silas entered the house and took the stairs by twos to see what Clarissa wanted. She was still standing at the window after inviting him to enter the room. Turning, she smiled seductively. “Silas, we have some business to discuss. I need your help with a little problem. How would you like to help me get rid of Papa so we can marry and take over this ranch?” she asked calmly as she removed her dressing gown and let it float provocatively to her feet. “Close the door and lock it. I’m sure you don’t want to be disturbed while you’re… talking to me.

  Silas Stern gaped at the naked beauty who had made such astounding suggestions, unable to move or speak. He watched her come forward gracefully, then step behind him to close and lock the door herself. She moved before him and smiled enticingly as she began unbuttoning his shirt. “Relax, Silas. Papa will be gone for at least an hour. Sure
ly you’re tired of him bossing you around and treating you as if you had no brains or feelings. He’s threatening to kick me out if I refuse to marry this old friend of his. I can’t, Silas, because I want you. But if I tell Papa, he’ll laugh at me and punish both of us.”

  When she started pressing kisses on his throat and chest, he shuddered and groaned. Once she had his shirt off, his hands went to her breasts and began to fondle them. Clarissa knelt to pull off his boots, then unfastened his pants and sensuously removed them with a wanton smile. As she slowly rose, her hands played ticklishly over his eager body. She drew him to the bed and pushed him down upon it. “You will help me so we can marry, won’t you, my love?” she wheedled.

  Silas smiled happily. “I’ll do anything for you, Clarissa.”

  Grasping his head, she pulled it to her breast. “We’ll make plans later, my future husband. Right now, I want you too much to think clearly,” she lied provocatively, having decided that Wes was too dangerous and she was not sure she could depend on him or trust him. But Silas was weak and bewitched. He would aid her and then she would find a way to kill him.

  Wes tied his reins to a corral post and walked to the Caldwell house. No one was around, so no one saw him or questioned him. He slipped inside the house and went looking for Clarissa. He stood outside her door and listened to the revealing sounds coming from within. Having heard enough, he returned to the front porch to await Jackson, who arrived shortly to meet him.

  “It’s time we had some fun around here, Jack, then moved on. That money’s gone, so we can’t get much from Caldwell. When he gits back home, we’ll take what he has, kill the son of a bitch, then ride out. While we’re waiting, I thought we could have us some fun with his whore of a daughter. She’s in there now humping Silas.”

  “You ain’t joshing, Wes?” the man asked excitedly.

  “Nope. Fact is, old friend, you can have her first and last. Unless this stick gets hard and hot, I’ll pleasure myself watching you hurt her real good,” Wes Monroe told him, rubbing his taut groin.

  “Let’s go git her,” Jackson Hayes urged in rising anticipation.

  “Be real quiet. We don’t want to give them no warning. Yessiree, Jack, you’re gonna enjoy yourself today,” Wes told him, grinning malevolently.

  “Say that again, Rachel,” Travis coaxed in disbelief.

  “Some awful man came to the door and gave Mister Crandall a letter from Harrison Caldwell. He read it, got his gun, and left. I heard some of what the man said,” she began, then repeated Wes’s words. “I went to check on my stew, and he was gone before I could speak to him.”

  Travis and Rana hurried to the corral to claim their horses, which had just been unsaddled and rubbed down. They mounted bareback and raced toward Harrison’s house. Anticipating trouble and danger, they dismounted a distance from the house and moved toward it stealthily. Peering through the parlor window, they saw the obviously dead body of Silas Stern on the floor and Clarissa being tortured and raped brutally by Jackson Hayes while Wes Monroe watched and laughed. Before Travis and Rana could come to her aid, Jackson Hayes began stabbing her repeatedly as he climaxed.

  Rana screamed uncontrollably as she witnessed the horrifying murder. Travis grabbed her arm and yanked her away from the window, knowing it was too late to save Clarissa’s life and fearing that the noise had alerted the outlaws to their presence. Travis used Indian sign language to communicate silently with her. She nodded her understanding and hurried to obey, ashamed that she had committed such a terrible error in crying aloud.

  When Wes and Jackson bounded from the house, Travis pounced on them. They struggled fiercely. To the cutthroats, Travis seemed to be nowhere and everywhere at the same time. “Where’s Nathan Crandall?” he demanded as he struck one and whirled to deflect a blow from the other. “I’ll kill you dirty bastards if you’ve harmed him!” He tripped Jackson and kicked Wes in the abdomen.

  As the two men circled Travis, Wes taunted, “You’ll never reach him in time. He’s dead by now. Harrison lured him to our cabin to kill him. Come on, tough man, show me how you can whip me and Jack.” Wes was too cocky and arrogant to draw his pistol. He assumed he could beat this man, especially when it was two-on-one.

  “Then why don’t you tell me where your cabin is?” Travis mocked. “I’ll lick you both and be gone in a flash.”

  Wes tauntingly revealed its location as he drew his knife and began to wave it threateningly in Travis’s face. Travis grinned sardonically. He ventured, “I bet you don’t remember where you got that knife and pistol.” When Wes glanced at both, then back at the man between him and Jackson, Travis replied, “You took them off me seven years ago near St. Louis, when you were working for Elizabeth Lowry’s father. Right before you raped and murdered an Indian girl, then tried to beat me to death. Then you went back and murdered Lowry and his daughter. You must make it a practice to kill your bosses and their families. The initials on the handle stand for White Eagle; that’s me.”

  Wes hesitated as he listened to this incredible tale. That instant gave Travis the edge, and he delivered a stunning blow to Wes’s gut and jaw. As Wes staggered backward, Jackson attacked Travis. Rana appeared with the horses, knowing they would have to hurry to save her father. As Travis spun to miss Wes’s next blow, Rana lifted her gun and fired at Jackson, striking him in the chest and killing him. Within moments, Wes was dead and Travis had recovered his pistol and knife. He flung himself on Apache’s back and they rode toward the cabin.

  For awhile, Nathan remained hidden and observed Harrison as the man paced and fretted. Nathan wanted to make certain his foe was alone. He had never seen Harrison look so edgy or insecure. When he was certain no one else was around, he left his hiding place and joined him.

  “You wanted to see me, Harry?” he asked as he walked to him.

  Harrison turned and slowly eyed Nathan. “It’s over, Nate. I finally win everything, your ranch and Rana.”

  “How do you see that, Harry?” Nathan argued insolently.

  Harrison freely revealed his scheme to rid himself of Nathan. “I’ll bet my ranch nobody knows you’re here. So when I claim you came looking for me and tried to kill me, who’s to prove me wrong?”

  “Why didn’t you hire one of your gunslingers to handle this?”

  “Because I wanted the pleasure of killing you myself.”

  “Mind telling me why?” Nathan asked, stalling for an opening.

  “Because you let Marissa marry that mean bastard and leave home. You’re to blame for her suffering and death. You were too weak to control her and too damn stubborn to protect her. I was in love with her and I wanted to marry her, but that fancy gambler stole her while I was gone. You should have stopped them, Nate. She would be alive now if you had had the gumption to stand up to her or kill Michaels. You knew she was terrified of that bastard. Every time she came home, you saw she was in trouble, but you did nothing.”

  “You and Marissa?” Nathan murmured in disbelief.

  “That’s right, you fool. She should have been mine. Since she’s lost forever, I plan to take Rana in her place.”

  “Like hell you will!” Nathan shouted in alarm, drawing his pistol and firing as Harrison simultaneously did the same.

  Travis and Rana slipped from their horses and ran toward the fallen body of Nathan Crandall. He opened his eyes and smiled weakly at them. “I let him trap me,” he confessed with remorse.

  “Do not speak, Grandfather,” Rana entreated with misty eyes and in a choked voice. “You must rest so your wound may heal.”

  “It’s too late, girl,” he murmured, then coughed as blood filled his lungs. As his strength and life began to ebb, he coaxed faintly, “Marry and be happy, like me and my Ruthie. I’ll see her soon.”

  “Do not speak so, Grandfather,” she scolded him in panic.

  “Travis knows I can’t make it, girl. He’ll take care of you. Harry said he wanted you like he wanted Marissa,” Nathan told them. With lagging strength, he re
peated what Harrison had said.

  “He lied, Grandfather. He wished to hurt you before he killed you. Mother did not know… my father was bad when she married him. Afterward, she was too proud to confess her mistake. She caused her own suffering, Grandfather, but she was going to change things. That last trip home, she had decided to leave… my father and return to you. She knew you would love us and protect us. It was not to be. Do not blame yourself. You are innocent. This I swear.”

  Nathan smiled at her. “You’re a good girl, Rana. I love you.

  “As I love you, Grandfather. Do not worry. We will save you.”

  Nathan grasped Travis’s hand. “You’ve been a real son to me, Travis. These past years would have been empty without you. Take care of Rana. I know you love her and want her. The ranch belongs to you two.” He coughed again and grew paler.

  Travis looked beyond Nathan and saw that Harrison Caldwell was dead, and in that moment he understood that there was no hope for Nathan Crandall to survive. He held the dying man’s hand tightly and vowed, “Don’t worry about her, my father. You saved us all from Caldwell’s evil. We’ll be married under the white man’s law very soon. We’ll name our first son after you, Nate. You changed my life, and I won’t ever forget that. I love you.

  Nathan smiled again. “I love you, son. It’s all over now, and you two can be free and happy. Don’t mourn for me. I had a good life, a full one. You two made my last days happy. I can die in peace.”

  Nathan began to fade rapidly. His eyes fluttered and he called out, “Marissa, where are you, girl? Forgive me,” he pleaded.

  Rana glanced at Travis through tear-filled eyes and their gazes spoke. He nodded understanding, and she replied, “I am here, Father. I love you. I have come home to you.”