He chuckled. “Maybe,” he said. “But today could be the day the man comes to pay me what’s owed.”
“Who is he? Who is this man?”
“Guess you’ll have to wait to find out,” he said with a low chuckle.
Without another word, Horace turned and left the barn, chaining and locking the barn door behind him. Adeline was plunged into the murky light of the barn once more, with only the shafts of sunlight lancing down from the roof softening the gloom around her.
With nothing better to do – and the fact that she wasn’t going anywhere – Adeline picked up the bowl of steaming oatmeal and began to eat. It filled her belly well enough and didn’t taste too bad. It was certainly better than having nothing more than water to fill her stomach. If there was one silver lining to being held prisoner here, it was that she got to eat. Not that it made up for being kept against her will. But unless she figured a way out of this mess, that was a condition that wasn’t going to change anytime soon – only the identity of her captor was going to change.
After she finished eating, she set the bowl down and tugged on the chain around her ankle as hard as she could to no avail. It held her fast. Moving over to the beam, she kicked at it severally, but it didn’t move an inch. She tugged at the chain once more and let out a frustrated growl when it didn’t move. She picked up the bowl and with a cry of anger, hurled it across the barn. It hit the wood with a loud bang and clattered to the floor.
Please God, let Ernest find me. Let him come for me. I need you now, more than ever.
Slumping back against the pile of hay, she breathed deeply and closed her eyes, trying to think up a way out of her predicament. It wasn’t long though, before her exhaustion took over and she plunged headlong into the darkness of sleep.
* * *
It was the sound of horses that pulled her out of her dreamless sleep. She looked around, disoriented and trying to shake off the cobwebs of confusion that clung to her thickly. She looked up at the roof and saw the sunlight was fading away. The bright gold shafts of light that had lanced through the roof earlier were beginning to fade as the dim, diffused light of the oncoming rush of night reclaimed the world.
She sat up, the hay beneath her crackling and snapping as she moved. Adeline ran her hands through her hair, brushing out the straw and other debris that had gotten tangled within her locks.
The horses in the paddock outside whickered and stamped against the hard-packed dirt. The next thought cut through her mind like a slash of lightning. Horses. Two – at least. The stab of fear in her chest made her entire body tingle with alarm.
There is somebody else here. The man who paid Horace to kidnap me is here to claim me.
She heard the bang of a door slamming followed by the crunch of gravel beneath the boots of the men approaching. She thought they were coming to the barn but she heard the creak of the paddock gate opening and then it too, banged shut. The men were in the paddock and their voices drifted to her though they sounded muffled.
Adeline got to her feet and moved over to the wall that separated her from the paddock.
“Naw, she’s still asleep. The ether I dosed her with did a number on a little thing like that,” Horace said. “But I gotta tell ya, for such a little thing, she puts up one hell of a fight. That little girl is a hellcat.”
“I admire her spirit. I love that fire inside of her,” the other man said. And you sure she’s just asleep? You didn’t accidentally give her too much and kill her, did you? I don’t have to tell you how unfortunate that would be for you.”
The second man’s voice was one she recognized instantly. How could she not? It was Richard. He had come for her!
“Relax. She’ll be fine,” Horace said. “She just needs to sleep it off.”
“Well, I think we may need to dose her again before we get back on the trail,” Richard said. “I want to be sure we’re well away from here before she wakes.”
“Don’t worry about it, boss,” Horace said. “She’s fine. That little girl’s got too much spirit in her to let a little ether take her out.”
They laughed together and Adeline’s mind spun – how could they be laughing together? Horace had kidnapped her! And why was he calling Richard, “boss?”
What is going on here? I don’t understand.
She thought maybe the ether Horace had dosed her with was still affecting her. Making her thoughts hazy. Maybe it was making her hear – or maybe misunderstand – things that weren’t actually being said.
Adeline peered through the cracks between the boards and saw Horace and Richard standing next to one another, looking almost – comfortable – in each other’s presence. It made no sense to her whatsoever.
“I gotta say, when you told me this little plan of yours, I thought you were plum crazy,” Horace laughed. “Not sure that thinking’s changed much.”
“They say there’s a fine line between genius and crazy,” Richard replied. “What I did was capitalize on your brother’s insanity to get what I wanted. What I’ve wanted for years now. And that was to get her out of Frailburg and into my home.”
Horace chuckled, his voice deep and booming. “Insanity?” Horace said. “Like you said, there’s a fine line between genius and crazy.”
“I wouldn’t call slaughtering women by the score to be anything resembling genius,” Richard said. “I’m pretty sure that falls squarely on the insanity side of the ledger.”
“Yeah well, me and my brother only ever been good at one thing – killin’,” he said. “My brother just makes an art form of it.”
“Right,” Richard laughed. “Well, whatever you want to call it, it all worked out to my benefit.”
“Fair enough,” Horace said. “Now, about the business side of our arrangement…”
Richard turned away and dug into his saddlebag, pulling out a small white bag that was tied at the top. He tossed it over to Horace who snatched it out of mid-air with a ringing metal on metal sound. Shotgun Ford opened up the bag and poured some of the contents into his big, meaty hand. Even from where she was, with her eye pressed to the cracks in the wood, Adeline saw that what the outlaw was holding were gold coins. And judging by the bulk of the sack he was holding, quite a lot of gold coins.
Had Richard purchased my freedom? But if that was the case, what situation did he take advantage of? And how did Horace Ford fit into the mix? What in the hell was going on?
“Enough gold to provide you a good life to the end of your days,” Richard said. “There’s another bag for you in my wagon.”
Horace grinned. “Yeah, this’ll keep me in whiskey and women for quite a while,” he said. “But what about my brother? Where’s his gold? I mean, he did start this whole scheme of yours in motion and all.”
Richard straightened up and the expression on his face was one Adeline knew well – he was displeased. She knew Horace was treading on uncertain ground, even if he didn’t. And one push the wrong way would send him toppling over the edge and start a chain of events one of them wouldn’t survive. Richard could be a hard man and although Adeline had never seen him do violence before, she knew he was a man capable of it if push came to shove.
“My arrangement was with you, Horace,” he snapped. “Not your brother. Do not get greedy and do not test me.”
The two men squared their shoulders and stared at one another for several long, tense moments. The air between them crackled with hostility and barely disguised contempt. But then Horace smiled and chuckled in that deep, gruff voice of his.
“Relax boss,” he said. “I’m just funnin’ ya. My brother’s on his own. He and I ain’t really that close.”
Though Horace certainly acted as if he and his brother were not close, the tone in his voice told Adeline otherwise. To her, he sounded like a man who admired his brother – not one who held him in any sort of contempt.
“That’s good to know, Horace,” Richard replied, visibly relaxing.
“How is he doin’, anyway?” Horace asked
.
Richard shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Last I heard, he was doing well,” Richard said. “I set him up in a place a ways outside of Frailburg. Nothin’ fancy but it’s nice enough. He seemed to like it.”
“Hell, a pig pen and a barn woulda been good enough for the Wild Hog,” Horace laughed.
Together, the two men laughed like it was the funniest thing they’d heard. There was an ease between the two men she found as upsetting as it was disturbing.
“Why in the hell did he choose that name anyway?” Richard asked. “What does it even mean?”
Horace shook his head. “No idea,” he said. “My brother’s always been a little touched in the head. Got certain quirks to him and ain’t really all that bright.”
Richard scoffed. “He’s certainly bright enough to kill and evade capture for as long as he has.”
Horace inclined his head. “That’s fair.”
Adeline’s eyes widened at the mention of Frailburg. Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle began to organize themselves in her head, the whole story starting to come together. Richard wasn’t here to save her or pay her ransom. He was in business with both Horace Ford and his brother – the Wild Hog. This had been a set up from the very start.
“So what now?” Horace asked.
Richard pursed his lips. “Now nothin’. You go and spend your newfound wealth, your brother keeps doing what he’s doing,” he replied.” And I get the undivided love and devotion of a beautiful young woman who will be eternally grateful that I saved her from such a vicious killer.”
Adeline’s stomach lurched and her head spun as she put together all the different pieces of this web of deceit. When Richard learned of the Wild Hog – Horace Ford’s brother – he pried her away from her family in Frailburg and brought her to his ranch in Talon Peaks. Once there, he went into business with Horace. Richard had paid him to kidnap her, believing that by “rescuing” her, he would earn her eternal love and gratitude. He expected her to fall into his arms and be his forever, mistaking her gratitude for love.
Monstrous. Truly monstrous. And it might have worked had I slept through this and not heard the words directly from Richard’s own lips.
“So how are you gonna convince ‘em you killed me?” Horace asked.
“Thought about actually killin’ you,” Richard said.
Adeline saw Horace visibly tense at Richard’s words as a frown crossed his face. But Richard just laughed and clapped the man on the shoulder.
“Relax,” Richard said. “I’m joking with you. I’ve already taken care of it.”
“How?”
“There’s a body in the back of my wagon,” Richard explained. “It’s roughly your size and age. I, of course, had to destroy the face with a shotgun to avoid identification.”
Horace laughed. “The shotgun was a nice touch.”
“Poetic I thought,” Richard said.
“We’ll just lay the body out in the yard somewhere,” Richard said. “It’ll be here for the Sheriff to find, the case will be closed, and I will be the hero of Talon Peaks.”
“Sounds like you’re gonna get everything you want, boss.”
Richard pointed at the bag of gold in Horace’s hand. “Looks like you did too. So help me move the body into the yard and let’s conclude our business together.”
“Sounds good to me,” Horace said. “The sooner I can put this town behind me, the better.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
The chain rattling echoed through the barn, sending a flash of fear through her heart. Adeline threw herself back down on the pile of straw and feigned sleep. She knew they were coming for her and that to get her to Richard’s wagon, they’d have to unshackle her – which meant she had an opportunity to escape.
But the only way she was going to be able to exploit that opportunity was if they thought she was asleep. Adeline knew she was no thespian but knew if she didn’t give the performance of her life, she might not have the chance to get away from the monster that was Richard.
She did not want to go back to his ranch. Did not want to be anywhere near him. All she wanted was to get away from him as soon as she possibly could.
He is repellent. Disgusting. A true monster and I cannot bear to be in his presence a moment longer.
With her eyes closed, she feigned the small breaths of sleep, not daring to stir as she heard the gravel crunching beneath his boots as he approached her. He grabbed her ankle roughly, then twisted a key on the lock. A moment later, the shackle fell away and Adeline was free.
She had to fight to keep from giving herself away by jumping up and running right then and there. And she had to fight even harder to not scream or react at all when Horace picked her up and slung her over his shoulder. It was harder for her to be as limp as a sack of laundry as he carried her over the barn.
“There’s my beautiful, soon to be blushing bride,” she heard Richard call from somewhere ahead of them. “She looks a fright. What did you do?”
“I told you she put up one hell of a fight,” Horace grumbled. “She didn’t make this little arrangement easy on me.”
Bouncing up and down and being jostled about as Horace carried her, Adeline opened her eyes to sneak a quick peek. She had to stifle the scream that threatened to explode from her throat when her eyes fell upon the bloody corpse, its face nothing more than pulp from the shotgun blast Richard had spoken of. She managed to keep herself limp and silent but only just barely.
“I’ve spread some blankets and mats in the back of the wagon,” Richard said, far closer now. “Lay her on top of them – gently.”
Horace grunted as he eased her off his shoulder and then softly set her down on the mats and blankets in the back of the wagon as Richard had requested. Adeline continued her fiction, feigning sleep even as she heard Richard’s boot steps crunching through the dirt and gravel.She heard him stop walking and knew he was standing at the rear of the wagon, looking in at her.
Revulsion washed over her as she felt his eyes on her. They slithered over her body like greasy snakes and it was all she could do to suppress a shudder.
“You are an exquisitely beautiful woman, Adeline,” he says softly. “And we are going to have an amazing life together.”
There was a moment or two of silence before Horace cleared his throat.
“We’re almost outta daylight boss, so if there ain’t nothin’ else, I’m gonna hit the trail,” he said.
She heard the both of them turn and walk away, their boots thumping and crunching across the yard. Their voices faded as they walked away and Adeline took the opportunity to open her eyes and raise her head slightly. They stood with their backs to her at Horace’s horse, speaking to each other as the outlaw prepared to saddle up and ride away.
Adeline hoped they were so distracted that they would not turn around. Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, she eased herself up and slipped over the side of the wagon and gently lowered herself to the ground. Adeline looked around, searching for a way to escape unseen. But there was nothing except open ground around her.
All that was left for her was hope Richard and Horace remained engrossed in conversation with one another. Moving as quickly as she dared while taking care to be as silent as possible, Adeline headed away from them, thinking to circle around the back of the house and head for the forest behind the barn again.
When she heard Richard shouting for her though, her heart leapt into her throat and when she turned and saw him running toward her, she cried out. A primal fear surged through her as Adeline started to run. But her foot found a small hole in the ground that tripped her up. It sent her sprawling to the ground, the breath driven from her lungs when she landed with an undignified grunt.
Richard was on her in a second, his large hands clamped around her upper arms like iron vices. He hauled her to her feet like she weighed nothing as tears welled in her eyes. Adeline’s heart thundered in her breast –
she had never been so terrified before in her life.
“P – please don’t hurt me, Richard,” she begged.
An inscrutable expression crossed his face as he looked at her. “Hurt you?” he asked, sounding genuinely puzzled. “I never want to hurt you, Adeline. I love you.”
She shook her head, trying to shut out his voice. She didn’t want to hear it. She didn’t want to be near him. She hated him and just having his hands on her repulsed her. She reached deep inside of herself and summoned every ounce of strength and courage she possessed.
“Let go of me, Richard,” she hissed. “I know you’re working with Horace Ford. I know you two are –”
“Adeline, I think you may have the wrong idea about what’s happening here,” he said. “I – I think the tribulations you’ve suffered here have muddled your thinking. I think you just need some rest.”
The Cowboy's Stolen Bride (Historical Western Romance) Page 25