She wasn’t sure quite how to interpret that. Was it a commitment? She snuggled closer under his arm. She could feel the strong yet tender muscles in the arm wrapped around her and his ever-quickening pulse. She began to feel urges she’d only dreamt of.
Luke lifted her chin with his fingers and gave her the deepest, longest kiss she’d ever imagined. She was enveloped in a deep warmth as her entire body seemed to catch on fire. He broke away and stood. “I must get back to Nuecestown.”
“You won’t stay?” Her mouth was still warm with the moisture of his lips. It was as though they were still kissing.
“Wouldn’t be right.” He couldn’t miss her look of disappointment. He’d dashed cold water on their ardor. “Your brother asked me an interesting question today.”
“What was it?”
“You’ll have to ask him,” Luke said mysteriously.
And they began to quietly walk back up the path to the corral. Soon enough, Luke had his horse saddled, gave Elisa a good-bye kiss, and was off to Nuecestown.
***
Perez’s Caballeros Negros gang was now reduced to five. His mission of revenge was getting ever riskier. He was familiar with the territory southwest of Corpus Christi, so decided to head there. He needed to come up with a plan. Perhaps the Laredo whore and her lover would be easier targets…low-hanging fruit, so to speak. At least, some Indian wouldn’t be guarding them.
They had ridden hard after escaping from whoever was firing those damnable arrows at them. After about a dozen miles, they pulled up in an arroyo.
A couple of men chortled silently and pointed to Perez’s saddle.
“Qué es?” Perez literally gave them the evil eye. It was designed to silence anyone within sight. He looked behind himself at where they were pointing. A Comanche arrow was sticking in the cantle of the saddle. A couple of inches higher, and Carlos Perez could have been one of the dead men. It was no joking matter, despite appearances.
Perez dismounted and worked the arrow out of his saddle. He realized it was also fortunate that his horse had been spared. He looked at his men and relaxed the air with a toothless smile. “Soy muy afortunado.” Indeed, he had been very lucky.
The Caballeros Negros decided to spend the night there in the shelter of the arroyo. Perez needed to figure out his next steps. He certainly couldn’t afford to lose more men. And, he needed food. The men would get increasingly unhappy if not well fed.
“Mañana vamos a putear en Corpus Christi.” A bit of good old-fashioned whoring would take their minds off any troubles.
They built a small fire and cooked up some frijoles and brewed coffee. It was filling if not nourishing. It made everyone drowsy, and before long they were all asleep.
Perez carelessly forgot to set a watch. Had he done so, he’d have noticed the gathering thunderheads to the west.
Long about two in the morning, the thunderstorm hit. The men were startled awake, but too late. The arroyo that had been so dry and sheltering was swept with a wall of water. The flash flood took saddles, bedrolls, and men a long way downstream from their camping spot. Shouts and curses were to no avail. When the storm finally subsided, it was nearly daylight. They spent most of the morning finding their belongings. Worse yet, one of the hobbled horses had tangled in the tie line, fallen, couldn’t get back up, and drowned. They’d be traveling one horse short, at least for a time.
Finally, they dried out and began the brief trek to Corpus Christi. The heat and humidity were stifling, but they were all alive and the flood had given them an impromptu bath. The ladies of Corpus would be pleased with that.
Perez contemplated how he might find Scarlett and Cav. He needn’t have worried.
SEVENTEEN
Crime Spree on the Strip
Scarlett luxuriated at awakening in a genuine four-poster bed with fluffy feather pillows, satin sheets, cushioned mattress and, of course, Cav. This was a huge improvement over Laredo. There were even sweet-smelling flowers and perfumes on the chest of drawers. The aromas of lavender and lilac filled the air. It was a living heaven for a woman whose dreams of a better life were dashed by her own attraction to ne’er-do-wells who stole her dreams. Wanted man or not, Cav fulfilled her visualization of a man.
The memories of the evening lingered with her. She’d bathed Cav, an experience of erotic sexuality he’d not soon forget. They’d had sex for all of ten minutes before Cav finished and promptly fell asleep. That was all. She hoped against hope for more in the morning. She wouldn’t permit herself to think he was like those who’d gone before.
As the sun streamed in through the sheer curtains, Cav rolled on his side toward her and smiled. “Are you ready to see Corpus Christi?” There was no tenderness in this man that Scarlett had fallen in lust with. He’d done his duty the night before. In his eyes, she was still the whore from Laredo.
Undeterred, Scarlett stroked his chest. “Must we go?” She pursed her lips and kissed his hand, then his chest. It seemed almost as though her touch repulsed him. She wasn’t ready to resign herself to the fate of simply being his whore. It might take some time.
Cav pushed her away. “It’s late, and there’s much to do.” They dressed. Cav didn’t even look her way as she momentarily stood fully naked before him. At last, he strapped on his holster and checked that his pistol was loaded.
“Why don’t I meet you downstairs?” And, without waiting for her answer, he hustled out the door with nary another word.
Scarlett finished her hair and applied what little make-up she needed or had. She loved his attention last night, so far as it went. She gave a fleeting thought to how that Texas Ranger was treating the young girl he’d spoken of. She quickly put the thought from her mind. Scarlett wasn’t his type of woman.
It got her to wondering what type of woman she really was. She needn’t have wondered long, as her life had been crammed into a couple of all-too-short years. She thought back at how she’d run off with that soldier, the miscarriage, the riverboat gambler, and her eventual arrival in Laredo. She’d found herself a prostitute at the tender age of fifteen. With her long, fiery red hair, blue eyes, and a certain fragile facial beauty, she had been popular with drovers and soldiers from both sides of the Rio Grande. She’d been luckier than most in not getting pregnant or killed. She was only beaten a couple of times and nearly went to jail for shooting one of her customers who had insisted on whipping her. Now she found herself pursuing a man who turned out to have a price on his head. Was it another bad choice? Was there yet hope?
She headed down to the dining room, questions bouncing around in her head still.
***
Scarlett pulled up a chair on the opposite side of the table from Cav. “What have you ordered?”
“Not much choice. All they have is eggs, bacon, and biscuits,” he said abruptly. He twitched nervously like he was in a hurry to get out of the place. “We have a lot to do, Scarlett. I want to find the so-called opportunities in this town.”
“What do you have in mind, Cav?” she asked.
He thought about his sisters Belle and Cora. When he sent the note from Laredo, he’d optimistically left a return address of Corpus Christi. He was anxious to find the local post office. “I have some business to tend to. Why don’t you stay here for now, and I’ll be back this afternoon?”
What was Scarlett to say? She’d find something to do. Maybe she could make a few extra dollars here in Corpus, but she decided not to go down that road just yet. “I’ll be here, Cav.”
Cav left her sitting at the table. No kiss. No good-bye. He just up and left.
Scarlett absentmindedly ran her fork through the eggs. She had lost her appetite.
Cav headed to the post office. It had just opened up for the day, but there was a line of three folks waiting for service. He patiently waited his turn, scraping a bit of mud from his boots. It had rained just enough to turn the dusty streets to mud. When he finally got to the window, he noticed the wanted poster on the board next to it. Th
ere he was for all the world to see. He lowered the brim of his hat, turned, and left the place. He walked at a brisk pace back to the hotel. He decided to get Scarlett to retrieve any mail he might have.
He opened the door to their room. No knock, just walked in. Scarlett was lounging on the bed, repairing a tear in her satchel. “I need you to fetch my mail.”
“Won’t they give it to you?”
Hadn’t she seen the posters? “You know the law is looking for me. Remember that fool Texas Ranger you traveled to Nuecestown with? I just need you to ask for my mail at the post office.”
“Can’t you be nice to me, Dirk Cavendish? I don’t need much, but nice would work real well.”
Cav was taken aback. He’d only thought of her as a two-bit whore. It had never struck him that she could actually care for him. No one had cared for him since he was a little boy.
“I’m sorry, Scarlett. I’ll try.” Somehow, sincerity had been driven from Cav long ago. He had long since forgotten how to handle any feeling that resembled intimacy. “I do need you.” Wrong word choice. “I mean, I want you with me.” He was going to be a slow learner.
They strolled together from the boarding house. He waited across the street from the post office while she went in to inquire.
“Mr. Postmaster, I’m here to pick up a letter to personally take to my cousin in San Antonio,” she told the man at the window. “He is unable to be here and asked for my help.”
“What’s the name, Miss?’
“Cavendish, sir. Dirk Cavendish.”
“Let me look in the back room.” The postmaster found a letter from Cora Cavendish and brought it out front. He’d already recognized the name from the poster. “You say your cousin is in San Antonio?” He started to hand over the letter. He was only supposed to hand mail to the addressee.
“Why, yes. That’s indeed what I said, sir.” She smiled sweetly at the man and gave him a peek at her cleavage.
“Do you know that your cousin is in a bit of trouble with the law?” Distracted by her sexuality, he looked over her shoulder into the street and right at Cav. “Apparently, they want him to account for a murder. I’d be careful, even if he is your cousin.”
Scarlett took the letter from the postmaster’s hand. “Thank you, sir, I’ll be real careful.”
She headed out the door and up the street a bit before crossing, annoyed that the hem of her dress dragged a bit in the muddy street. She joined Cav.
***
The postmaster locked the front door and left via the rear of the building. He didn’t have to go far to reach Sheriff Whelan’s office. He knocked, but there was no response save the sound of furniture being moved and an iron jail cell door being closed.
“Come on in.”
“Sheriff Whelan?” The postmaster tried not to notice the half-clothed woman in the cell. “Sheriff, I think Dirk Cavendish may be in town.”
That got Whelan’s attention. “How can you be sure?”
“A woman claiming to be his cousin came into the post office to pick up a letter for him. She said he was in San Antonio, but I’d swear the man standing across the street met his description.”
“Thanks, Harry. I’ll look into it.” Whelan shooed the postmaster out of the office. He had to finish his personal business before dealing with a lawbreaker. “Damn,” he muttered, “Just what I don’t need.”
***
“Did you get the letter?” Cav pulled her close to him. He saw it in her hand and snatched it. He saw her hurt look. She’d not been appreciated for her effort. “I’m sorry, Scarlett. Thanks. I’m just anxious to hear from my sisters.” He tore open the envelope and began reading the letter.
He was distraught, and thought for a moment that he might cry and embarrass himself. He inhaled deeply.
She stared at him. “What is it? Bad news?”
Cav handed her the letter. Cora had shared the news about Belle’s murder and her own pregnancy. Apparently, whoring had taken them down a road to sad, undesirable ends.
“I’m so sorry, Cav,” Scarlett said. She ever-so-gently placed her hand on his shoulder. “I can’t imagine their pain, your pain.”
For once, Cav accepted her offering of comfort. “They are all the family I have.”
They walked down to the dock by the water’s edge. Cav told her his story of abuse, and how he’d ended it with a pitchfork through his father’s back. He described how he’d been on the run ever since, traveling from town to town, learning to gamble at cards, killing a man or two, and eventually wound up meeting her in Laredo on his way to Corpus Christi. He told how he’d hoped he’d be able to escape his past in Corpus, but that was apparently not to be. The postmaster had likely already told the sheriff of his suspicions.
“Where can we go?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” he said grimly, “but we can’t stay here in Corpus.”
“What about Mexico?”
“I don’t think they like me after something I did in Nuevo Laredo. I’m wanted south of the Rio Grande.”
“Could we head north?” He could see Scarlett’s brain churning, trying to come up with ideas for escape. “Maybe Missouri or Kansas?”
Cav had begun to truly appreciate her caring about him. After all, she had the option of escaping before further trouble came.
“You don’t have to stay with me, Scarlett,” he told her. “There’s likely to be danger for you.” He was conflicted between her going or staying. She may have been a mere whore, but he cared enough to want to protect her. And now, she was his whore.
“I’ve come a long way to catch up with you, Cav. I don’t plan on letting you out of my sight.”
“Let’s go back to that boarding house,” he said. “In the morning, we can pack our things and get away from this town. I think heading north makes sense.”
***
Sheriff Whelan finished his personal business and decided it was time to tend to the threat at hand. He shooed his friend out the back door, buttoned his trousers, pinned on his badge, strapped on his gun and holster, grabbed a rifle, and headed out the door. He’d start with the post office, and then try to track Cavendish from there.
***
Perez left their encampment, headed east, and soon happened upon a ranch on the outskirts of Corpus Christi. Before him was a corral with perhaps a dozen horses. They were fine mounts, too. Obviously breeding stock, to his practiced remaining eye. He and a couple of his men rode up to the corral and scanned for any sign of human life. There was a small cabin, but no one seemed to be stirring. One of Perez’s Caballeros opened the gate and walked toward one of the horses. Of a sudden, the horse was attacking him. Its hooves cut through flesh and bone as the man tried desperately to escape.
A gunshot brought everything to a standstill. The crazed horse backed away from its attack. “What you boys lookin’ for?” A man on horseback with a large-bore rifle was staring at Perez. “You’re lucky that horse didn’t kill your man. None of these broncs have been broken. If you were of a thieving mind, you’d have made a poor choice.”
Perez backed away. In halting English, he offered apologies. “Señor, I am…I am sorry.” As he spoke, he unholstered his pistol and shot the man clean through the throat. The cowboy gagged, grasped his throat, fell off his horse, and sprawled in a puddle of mud. He bled out in a matter of seconds.
Perez turned to his remaining man. “Ayuda a Juan y toma el caballo muerto mans.”
Perez’s man helped the injured bandit to his feet, grabbed the dead cowboy’s rifle and the halter of his horse, and headed back to their camp as quickly as possible. They’d need to find another route into Corpus Christi, but at least they’d replaced the mount lost in the flash flood.
***
Sheriff Whelan was about to head up the street to track down the wanted man and his accomplice. He’d only gone a couple of steps when a rider brought his steed to a skidding halt before him. “Sheriff, come quick. Seth Parks has been shot and killed. It’s them Mexi
can bandits.”
Whelan found himself confounded. In a town of less than two hundred people, there was suddenly a lot of action. It was as though the town had been hit with a crime wave. “Hang on, Pete. I’ll get my horse.” Cav and his whore would have to wait.
***
Cav watched Whelan and the cowboy who’d ridden in leave town. It created an opportunity. Perhaps he would find his fortune in Corpus Christi after all.
“Pack your things, Scarlett. We’re going to give this town a time it won’t soon forget.” He checked his two Walker Colts to be sure they were fully loaded. He put one in his holster and the other in his waistband. “Scarlett, do you have a gun? Can you shoot?”
“Yes, sweetheart, I do and I can.” He could see she was beginning to grasp what he had in mind. Across from the post office was the town’s first and only bank of sorts. It was not exactly a bastion of security.
They walked briskly to the livery stable to fetch their horses. Once there, they saddled them and began to lead them from the corral.
“Pardon, sir…ma’am. That’ll be two bits for stabling yer mounts fer the night.”
Cav pulled the Colt, aimed, and said, “bang.” He smiled. “If you care to live, boy, forget the two bits.” Then, he and Scarlett turned and walked up the street toward the bank.
It was plain from the way Scarlett carried herself, head high and skirts swishing, that she was proud of Cav. He’d shown her he was certainly a man not to be trifled with. He hoped she had overlooked that he’d bluffed down a very young, unarmed stable boy. He picked up the pace, and she walked a bit faster to keep up with her man as they walked the horses to the bank.
As they approached the bank, a well-to-do-looking man in a fancy dark grey suit walked in ahead of them. Moments before, Cav had taken note of the man as he hit a young boy. Old memories of his abusive father welled up. Cav became so angry that he began to tense up and his hands literally shook. He fingered the handle of the knife at his waist.
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