by Lana Dare
They had to be mad as hell that she’d gotten their brother shot.
She couldn’t say that she blamed them.
She’d brought a lot of trouble to the ranch they loved, and threatened the only people they cared about.
Taking the gold to Willy was the only way to make sure that the outlaw didn’t hurt anyone else.
Aware of Hawke and Blade watching her from the other side of the sturdy wooden building, she glanced toward the doorway again, anxious for Phoenix to reappear.
There hadn’t been any loose floorboards in the sturdy cabin, so she’d hidden the gold in the back of the drawer they’d given her to use.
She knew she couldn’t get to it without waking Phoenix. Just the thought of looking at the anger in his eyes—anger she knew she deserved—made her stomach knot and her eyes burn with tears she didn’t dare shed.
Forcing a smile at whatever Savannah seemed so happy about, Sarah looked straight ahead again, her smile falling at the purpose in Hawke’s strides. Keeping track of their progress, she stiffened, fighting the urge to run.
“Sarah, come with us. We need to talk.”
Gulping at Hawke’s harsh tone, Sarah lifted her gaze to his, the knot in her stomach turning to ice when she saw his expression.
Hawke had a hard glint in his eyes that sent a chill all the way to her bones. His features appeared to have been carved in stone, so set and cold that she began shaking.
“Uh-oh.” Savannah’s voice, filled with amusement, barely penetrated through the roaring in her ears. “I know that look. Someone’s about to put his foot down.”
Savannah patted her arm, her voice lowering. “Don’t look so scared. They’d never hurt you. You can handle them. They’re probably just scared that you almost got hurt last night.”
Maggie nudged her. “Go with them, honey. You need them right now and they need you.”
Not wanting to get her new friends involved, or cause any more trouble than she already had, Sarah nodded and got to her feet, holding onto the edge of the table to steady herself.
Her knees shook so badly that she feared they wouldn’t support her, and she found herself leaning heavily against Hawke as he led her away from the others and through the doorway.
Realizing what she was doing, she straightened, pulling away from him, only to bump into Blade who came up on her other side.
Whipping around to meet his steady glare, she swallowed heavily. “I understand why you’re angry.”
“Do you?” The silkiness in Blade’s voice couldn’t hide the simmering anger underneath.
Chilled despite the blaring heat of the sun directly overhead, Sarah rubbed her arms. “Yes. I don’t blame you.”
One of Blade’s dark brows went up. “Well, that’s a relief.”
Grimacing at the dripping sarcasm, Sarah clamped her mouth shut and kept walking, noticing that ranch hands rode in the distance in every direction.
Rubbing her arms again, she glanced at Hawke, her stomach tight with nerves. “Stupid, huh?”
Still, she couldn’t deny that coming here had been the best thing that had ever happened to her.
Hawke’s jaw clenched. “On that, we agree.”
Her breath caught, the agony of knowing she’d lost them so sharp that it took several long seconds to fully penetrate.
When it did, only willpower kept her from falling to her knees. Taking several deep breaths, she locked her knees and kept walking, fighting to hold back tears.
Suddenly, a strange calmness overtook her.
She’d already made her plans anyway.
She just needed to carry them out.
She’d cry buckets later, but for now she had something to do.
She opened her mouth to tell them that she would make her way back to Tulsa, when Hart and Gideon came riding hell bent for leather in their direction.
Gideon brought his horse to a stop only a few yards away, the horse rearing at his abrupt stop. “Tracks. About a mile out. They’re close.” Turning, they headed back in the direction they’d come from, their features hard and filled with determination.
Phoenix came running out of the cabin, blinking at the bright sunlight. “Son of a bitch!”
Hawke took off toward the stables, with Blade running hard beside him, Phoenix at their heels. Glancing over his shoulder, his features lined with fury, Hawke gestured toward the cabin. “Get inside and stay there!”
With her heart pounding in her throat, and her stomach churning with fear for them, Sarah raced into the cabin, rushing to the drawer they’d given her to use.
Blinking back the tears burning her eyes, she grabbed the blanket she’d taken from her room in Waco and started throwing her clothes inside.
She didn’t know how long they’d be gone, and had to hope that she could find Willy before one of them got hurt.
Please, God. Don’t let them get hurt.
Gathering the small bags of gold, she stuffed them into her pockets, not wanting Willy to have an excuse to look under her skirt.
A sob escaped as she jumped to her feet again, her hands shaking so badly that it took her several tries before she could tie the rope around the top of the bundle she’d made, a sharp reminder of the terror she’d felt when she’d escaped Waco.
Hearing the sound of pounding hooves, she looked up in time to watch Hawke, Blade, and Phoenix riding hard after Hart and Gideon.
Please, God. Keep them safe. Let me find Willy first.
She started to run out of the cabin, when the material lying across the back of one of the chairs caught her eye. Pausing just long enough to run her hand over the buckskin dress Hawke and Blade had spent nights making for her, she swallowed a sob.
It had all seemed so perfect. Too perfect. She should have known that a woman like her could never have that kind of happiness.
Another sob escaped, one that seemed to come from her soul, and then another as she forced herself to turn away from the beautiful dress.
The image of the way they’d smiled at her—the memories of the way they’d talked and teased her—would be impossible to turn away from, though.
She’d really believed that they loved her.
Never again.
She’d never again fall in love.
It hurt more than she could bear.
Brushing tears from her eyes, she opened the cabin door, looking around to see that only a handful of men stood in the distance, all of them looking in the direction the others had ridden.
She eased out, closing the door behind her and made her way across the porch and to the other side of the cabin, her heart pounding nearly out of her chest. Not taking her eyes from the men, she circled to the other side.
Pausing, she waited, and watched them glance toward the cabin. With a gasp, she pressed her back against the wall, tightening her arms around the bundle. Forcing her breathing to slow, even though she knew they wouldn’t be able to hear her from this distance, she counted to fifty before daring to peer around the corner.
Holding her breath, she watched them head in the opposite direction, and with a silent good-bye to her new home, she started to run—determined to find Willy before they did.
* * * *
Holding the reins of his horse, Phoenix walked behind his brothers with the rest of the ranch hands, looking into the distance, and across a field where Hart and Gideon also tracked Willy and his increasingly smaller gang.
They’d caught another member of Willy’s gang just a short time ago, when the outlaw’s lame horse had kept him from escaping with the others.
Wyatt and Hayes had recognized him at once as a train robber from back east, and after questioning him, had tied him to a tree while everyone else tracked the others.
No one spoke, all eyes trained on Hawke and Blade.
Hawke straightened from where he’d crouched to investigate the tracks he’d found. “They’re not far ahead of us. A few minutes.” Grim-faced, Hawke mounted again and started out, every line in his body st
iff with fury.
Phoenix mounted and closed in behind him, angry that tracking made their journey frustratingly slow.
Each step, though, took them closer to the deadly threat to their wife.
Her safety meant everything.
They rode for several miles, the tension in the small group growing when they realized that they’d begin to circle the ranch, getting closer and closer to the homes there.
Closer and closer to the women.
Closer to Sarah.
Even the knowledge that men remained at the ranch to watch out for them didn’t ease Phoenix’s fears.
Judging from the looks on Hawke’s and Blade’s faces, it didn’t ease theirs, either.
Fighting the urge to race forward, he saw Hawke stiffen, sharing a look with Blade.
“What?” Leaning forward, he looked past them, his jaw clenching when he saw horses. “It’s about time.”
Hawke motioned for silence, and leapt from his horse without a sound, racing for the grove of trees to their left. “No. Hell.” The fear in his voice sent a chill through Phoenix, the chill growing colder when he saw what Hawke saw.
Blade ran after him, holding up a hand, not taking his eyes from the sight of Sarah standing at the edge of a grassy field, holding the bundle in front of her that she’d brought from Waco. “We’ve got to move fast, and your boots will make too much noise. We need you all to stay here. We’re going to be counting on your rifles.”
Phoenix started after them, stopping abruptly when Hawke held out a hand again.
“No, Phoenix. We need the element of surprise. Your boots will make too much noise.” He glanced at the other men, his eyes filled with terror. “Don’t worry about us. Protect Sarah. She’s trying to give the gold to Willy to keep us safe.”
Phoenix cursed and moved into the trees, searching for the perfect position while Wyatt and Hayes hurriedly led the horses deeper into the trees and out of sight, coming back in only seconds.
Conal glanced at Phoenix, his expression grim. “She’ll be all right. That bastard’s not gonna get the chance to hurt her. I’m going to make my way into the rocks over there with Hayes.”
Phoenix nodded, dropping to the ground with his rifle, aware that Adam and Wyatt moved to his left for a different angle.
His chest got tighter as Willy and the others approached Sarah on horseback. He counted four other riders beside the outlaw he suspected was Willy. To his surprise, one of the other riders appeared to be a woman.
Knowing how terrified Sarah would be of both Willy and the horses, he clenched his jaw, fear and pride at her bravery waging a war inside him.
Once they rescued her, he’d spend the rest of his life showing her how much he loved her—and never let her out of his sight again.
* * * *
Blade concentrated on speed and silence, while inwardly running through every prayer and curse word he knew. “I swear, once we get her, I’m gonna turn her over my knee until she can’t sit down.”
Hawke didn’t even glance at him as both men crouched low and raced toward Sarah, their position behind the trees making it possible for them to remain unseen. “I’m gonna kill him with my bare hands. Christ, what the hell does she think she’s doing?”
Blade kept running beside his brother, every step the outlaw took toward his wife striking terror into his heart. “You know damned well what she’s doing. That little thing is going against an outlaw to protect us from him.”
The idea that any of them needed protection from a man like Willy would have been amusing in other circumstances, but could prove deadly in this one.
It was something he had to make abundantly clear to his wife as soon as he got the chance.
Please, God, let me have the chance.
The outlaw and the others rode slowly toward Sarah, as if enjoying her fear and wanting to drag it out as long as possible.
Vowing to make the other man pay for scaring his wife, Blade clenched his jaw and reached for the war club strapped to his back, a curved wooden club wrapped in buckskin that he and Hawke always carried.
Running side by side, they burst through the tree line, coming up on the outlaws from behind.
Blade knew the moment Sarah saw them, and prayed that he and Hawke could reach the outlaws before they had a chance to get to her.
With his brother matching him step for step, they ran faster, the distance between him and the outlaw closing with every stride.
Hawke already had his club in one hand, his tomahawk in the other.
Neither one of them drew their guns, knowing that Phoenix would have his rifle at the ready.
His little brother never missed.
With so much at stake, he ran faster than he’d ever run before, every yard seeming to take forever. He ran past the other men, ignoring their shouts.
“So, you thought you could get away from me. You really think you’d get away with stealing my money? You’re gonna pay for that, bitch. You’re gonna pay on your back. You’re gonna pay on your knees.”
A fresh wave of fury raged through him, and with a scream of rage, he leapt at Willy.
* * * *
Sweat trickled down Sarah’s back. She’d dropped her bundle to stick her hands into her deep pockets, closing her fists around the bag of coins in each one.
The thought of facing Willy hadn’t scared her as much when she’d been with her husbands, but facing the outlaw now, she realized what a mistake she’d made in coming here.
Only the knowledge that giving him the gold would keep the others safe kept her from running.
Sarah spared a glance for the other riders, horrified to see that her mother rode with them.
Her mother’s dress was torn, and she looked haggard. Her cheek had a mark on it as if she’d been hit, and the bruises on her arms and other cheek were plainly visible.
He threw his head back and laughed. “We’ve been talking about all the things we want to do to you. Your ma kept us satisfied on the way, but we’re gettin’ a little tired of her.”
Blinking back tears before they could fall, Sarah lifted her chin. “I’m not a virgin anymore, Willy. I’m married. I don’t think my husbands would appreciate your plans for me.”
She wished things had been different, and her husbands would ride to her rescue, but Willy had ruined everything.
She’d ruined everything.
Willy’s eyes narrowed. “You’re lying.”
She took a steadying breath and pulled the two small pouches from her pockets. “Take the gold and just go away. Leave my mother here with me.”
“Not a chance. You’re both coming with me.” He pointed his gun at her. “As a matter of fact, I want to see what I’m getting. Strip. Right now.”
“No.”
Sarah gasped at the sight of Hawke and Blade running toward her, moving so fast she could only stare in shock.
Willy laughed. “Yes.” He moved forward, his eyes gleaming. “So, you thought you could get away from me. You really think you’d get away with stealing my money? You’re gonna pay for that, bitch. You’re gonna pay on your back. You’re gonna pay on your knees.”
The roar of rage that came from Blade sent a chill down her spine, the shouts and unmistakable gunfire that followed stilling her into immobility.
Willy turned to her, jumping from the horse and raising his gun. “You’re gonna die for this, bitch!”
Something hit her hard in the leg, making it buckle, but before she could fall, she felt herself slammed back to the ground when something simultaneously hit her shoulder and side.
It knocked the air from her lungs, making it impossible to draw a breath.
Seconds later, fire seemed to explode in her shoulder, leg, and side, increasing her panic.
Screams of rage and pain.
Feet pounding on the ground and coming closer.
She tried to lift her head, to fold herself into a ball against the pain, but she couldn’t seem to make her muscles work.
; She needed to see them. She needed to know that the men she loved were safe.
A tear trickled from the corner of her eye.
And then, nothing but black.
* * * *
Hawke ran to Sarah’s side, fear gripping him by the throat and nearly choking him.
Willy had managed to get a shot off before Blade tackled him to the ground, while two of Willy’s men shot at her even as Phoenix and the others opened fire.
Hawke had killed the other man with a hard club to the head, preventing him from firing his gun again, but the damage had already been done.
They’d failed her.
They hadn’t been fast enough.
If she died, a part of him would die with her.
Kneeling over her, he resisted pulling her hard against him, forcing himself to remain calm to see to her injuries as Blade and Phoenix closed in on her from either side. “She’s breathing.”
Phoenix circled to her to her other side, and carefully worked her shirt free of her skirt. “Christ, she’s covered in blood.” He ripped off his shirt and pressed it against her side, grimacing when she moaned. “I didn’t get them in time.”
Hawke ripped her shirt from her shoulder and took Phoenix’s bandana with hands that shook, and secured it against the wound in an effort to stop the blood. “You got them. She’s alive.”
Wyatt yelled from behind him. “Is she all right?”
Blade cursed and half turned to see Wyatt holding on to the woman who’d been riding with them. “She’s alive. How about them?”
“They’re all dead, except for the woman. She says she’s Sarah’s momma. Damn it, stop wiggling. She wants to come see her.”
Hawke took the bandanna Phoenix had soaked from his canteen. “No.” He felt too protective of her to allow anyone else near, especially someone whose motives he didn’t trust.
Wyatt appeared at his side, but Hawke’s focus on Sarah was so intense that he hadn’t even heard the lawman approach, or seen him turn the woman over to Adam. “Oh, hell. Duke and Hayes are riding hell bent for leather to town for a doctor. Duke’ll bring him back while Hayes explains what’s going on to the sheriff in Tulsa. In the meantime, Eb went to get Will Prentice.”
