by Grafford, Jo
“My name’s not important,” the bandit growled. “All you need to do is hand over the necklace, and I’ll be gone.”
Prescott shook his head. “I’ll be needing Daisy Danvers returned first.”
“I can’t do that. There’s a price on her head.”
“One I’m willing to pay.” Prescott lowered one of his pistols long enough to finger the diamond necklace. “No girl? No necklace. It’s as simple as that.” Blood roared through his veins at the lie. There was nothing simple about saving Daisy. Getting her back meant everything to him.
“I don’t take kindly to threats.” The bandit made the mistake of stepping inside the room, or attempting to. He pitched forward when his shin came into contact with the curtain tie. Prescott ducked in the event his gun went off.
It didn’t. The man bumped his head on the way down and went still. One pistol slid harmlessly across the floor out of reach. The other remained clasped in his motionless hand.
To be safe, Prescott strode across the room and nudged it away with the toe of his boot. He kicked both pistols beneath the nearest sofa.
A clapping sound in the doorway had him spinning around. A second robber was standing there. This one appeared unarmed, though Prescott knew that was unlikely.
“If I’d have known this meeting would boil down to parlor tricks, I’d have brought a few tricks of my own,” he said mildly.
“You did.” Prescott nodded at the downed man. “Just not a very clever one.”
“Touché.” The bandit chuckled. Then his expression turned deadly serious. “I want the necklace.”
“I want the moon.” Prescott’s upper lip curled. “But I’ll settle for the return of the girl you took.”
“She has a price on her head.”
“So you’ve said. I’ll double it.”
The bandit’s brows rose. “I read about your winnings, cowboy. They don’t come close to covering what I have coming to me for her safe return.”
Safe return? “To whom?”
“To the man who won her at cards,” the bounty hunter sneered. “I’m to deliver her within the week.”
“As previously stated, I’ll double the price on her head,” Prescott repeated calmly. “I’ll triple it if you bring her no-good father to me to face what he has coming for his many misdeeds.”
The man guffawed. “You haven’t even heard the price yet.”
“It won’t change my offer. Do we have a deal?”
“If you can truly pay up, I reckon we do.” The man named a staggering price.
Prescott withdrew a black velvet bag from his pocket and tipped the contents of it into his hands. Thousands of dollars of yellow diamonds spilled into his palm. He returned the diamonds to their pouch and slid the bag across the room to rest on the glassy patch of floor. “This is for the girl. Return her to me, and the necklace will also be yours. Bring me her father, and I’ll settle up with another bag of diamonds.”
Smirking, the bandit stepped farther into the room. When he reached the glassy patch of floor, his feet shot out from beneath him.
Prescott was standing over him in a flash, his gun trained at the man’s head. “This is to show you I mean business. I could shoot you right now if I wanted to, but I’m a man of my word. Bring me the girl within the hour, and the necklace is yours.”
Glaring and rubbing his bruised shoulder, the bandit snatched up the bag of diamonds and made his exit.
Prescott was left waiting. Again.
Chapter 9: Promises
Daisy
Daisy was furious with herself for being so easy to track down and abduct. What Prescott must be thinking of her right now! He was probably already regretting his marriage proposal. He was probably thinking she wasn’t worth this much trouble. She certainly hadn’t been worth much to her father. He hadn’t hesitated to gamble away every item of value in their home, including her.
That was the real reason she’d left town. There was no way she was being handed over to some wealthy old geezer as the prize pot to a card game gone south. She was fairly certain that wasn’t even legal. She’d put up with the loss of her income and valuables. She let the hired help go one body at a time, and she’d reconciled herself to the fact she and her father would soon be living on the street. But she was not going to give up her very person. Her last shred of dignity. Her freedom.
Frank Danvers had gone too far this time. He was ill in the head and needed help. They had distant family in England. She should have sent an emergency telegram to them, begging their assistance. She should have done something — anything — instead of docilely accepting the crumbling of their existence around her ears. This wasn’t just her father’s fault. It was her fault, too.
She stared around her at the dimly lit shed where she was being kept. Her arms and legs were tied to the chair where she sat. A shattered urn lay in the far corner. If only she could scoot her chair close enough, she might be able to tip it over and reach one of the shards. It was worth a try, anyway. Her days of doing nothing were over. Doing nothing got a person nowhere. She might not survive this latest twist in her path, but this time she was going down fighting.
Before she could hop her chair more than a few inches across the shed, the door flew open. A man stomped in, rubbing his shoulder.
She squinted at him in the blinding sunlight. “Hello? Who are you?” His height and build was different from the two men who’d brought her here.
He ignored the question. “You are one popular little lady, Miss Danvers. Apparently, there’s a price on your head in this part of the country, as well. My apologies if the news disappoints you, but you won’t be heading back to Boston with us after all.”
“Where are you taking me?” she snarled.
“To a very wealthy man. Perhaps, if you’re nice to him, he’ll be nice to you.” He gave her a leer that revealed a black, rotted tooth.
She shuddered and turned her face away from his foul breath as he bent over her to slice away her bonds. “I’m not going anywhere with you!” She rubbed her hands over her bruised wrists where the ropes had been.
He yanked her roughly to her feet and jammed the butt of his pistol between her shoulder blades. “Every time you scream, try to run, or do anything but act natural, I’ll shoot the nearest woman or child on the street. Are we clear?”
She gasped and nodded, trying not to cry. So this was it. This was what her miserable life had come to. She was going to die today. Better her than some innocent woman or child, though. She raised her chin. “We’re clear,” she snapped. “Let’s go.”
The man shrugged out of his jacket and draped it around her shoulders, keeping his hand and his pistol resting beneath it out of sight.
In seconds, it became clear to her they were returning to the Golden Hind. He marched her swiftly down Main Street, past the General Store and the telegraph office.
“You must have found my necklace,” she declared in a dull voice.
“Yes.” His voice was grim.
Then why was he taking her back to the hotel, unless… It must mean Prescott was there! He must have interpreted the hasty message she’d left and found her necklace. No doubt he was demanding her return in exchange for it. Her relief was so profound that she stumbled.
“Pray forgive me!” she gasped. “It was an accident Don’t shoot anyone, I beg you.”
With a growling sound, the bandit merely nudged her forward. They entered the main foyer of the hotel and attracted no small number of curious eyes.
She nodded at them. “Good morning, gentlemen.” She prayed her false smile of assurance looked genuine.
“Well played,” the bandit snarled in her ear as they passed the dining room. He led her down the richly carpeted hall to her hotel room and paused in front of the door. “Open it.”
She twisted the handle and pushed it wide. Prescott was sitting motionless in a chair across the room. For a moment, all they could do was stare at each other. His eyes burned like fire as he anxious
ly scanned her person. His gaze landed on her bruised wrists for a pregnant moment.
He was taking note of her injuries, and he looked quietly livid — a discovery that filled her with enormous waves of joy. He cared! Prescott Barra, her future husband, truly cared about her wellbeing.
He shot to his feet and strode in their direction, unclasping the diamond necklace from around his neck as he walked. “Here.” He held it out to the bandit. “Step forward with her and we’ll make the exchange.”
The man snorted “Do you take me for a fool? After that last stunt of yours, I prefer to remain right where I’m standing. You can bring the diamonds to me and collect her for yourself.”
Prescott nodded slowly, as if mulling on the man’s words. He waited until he got within a few strides of the doorway, then he swung the diamond necklace in the air. “Here. Catch!” He threw the necklace to the man’s left, forcing him to lunge away from Daisy in order to capture the gems as they sailed through the air.
Out of the corner of her eye, Daisy saw several shadowy figures leap to life. They converged on the bandit, knocking him senseless. Perceiving the unidentified men were on their side, Daisy relaxed in the knowledge she was finally safe. She dimly perceived more men entering the room. These were sporting silver badges. In the ensuing minutes, a few arrests were made.
“Prescott!” She launched herself into his arms, laughing and crying at the same time. “I was so worried about you.” She ran her hands up his arms and over his chest. “Please assure me you are unharmed.”
He caught her hands and raised them to his lips. “My heart is full of jagged holes from worrying about you, darlin’.” He kissed the insides of her wrists next. “They tied you up.”
“Yes, but that is all,” she declared with a damp laugh. “I was working on my escape when that-that horrid creature returned.”
“I am so sorry.” He buried his face in her neck. “I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.”
“For what?” She stroked a hand through his hair to offer comfort.
“I had no idea there was a price on your head, sweetheart. If I had known, I swear I would have never left you alone. Not even for a second!” His voice was fiercely muffled.
“I suppose I should have told you,” she confessed ruefully. “It was simply too shameful to repeat. Even Meg doesn’t know I was gambled away by my own father.”
“She doesn’t have to find out. Nobody else does.” His arms tightened around her. “You are mine now. That’s all the world needs to know. We’ll deal with your father in our own way and our own time. Just tell me what you want me to do.”
“Wherever he is, he is ill, Press. He needs our help.”
“So I gathered.”
“I’d like to find him and get him to a hospital.” She burrowed closer, so happy to be back in his arms she thought her heart might burst.
“Consider it done,” Prescott declared thickly, raising his head. “But first, I need to fortify myself with a kiss.” He dipped his head, found her lips, and devoured her.
“I love you so much, Press,” she murmured between kisses. She didn’t know what the future held, but she didn’t want another day or hour to pass without him knowing.
“I love you, too, my little dare-devil bride.” He dipped her back over his arm for another long, cherishing kiss.
The sound of a male clearing his throat made her jolt in his arms. Her eyelids shot open. “I don’t think we’re alone,” she whispered.
“It’s only my brothers. Nothing to worry about.” He raised her upright once more but swooped in for another kiss. “Lord knows, I’ve had to watch them slobber all over their brides for the past many months. It’s their turn to watch.”
“Press!” she moaned. She had to fist both hands in his hair to make him raise his head. “It’s our first meeting. I want to make a good impression.”
“Spoken like a true woman,” he growled, but he didn’t sound the least displeased. Quite the opposite. He was beaming with pride as he swung with her in his arms to face his brothers. “The biggest brute is Levi. He’s the oldest and the meanest. Been bossing the rest of us around for as long as I can remember.”
Daisy drank in the sight of the enormous man. So this was the brother who’d raised the rest of them. His hair was darker than Prescott’s, more blue-black than brown. But his size was misleading, because she soon learned he was the shyest of the four brothers.
“Pleased to meet you.” He bashfully held out one large paw.
Before she finished shaking it, Prescott was introducing her to the next tall and handsome man with blue-black hair. “This tiresome fellow is my second oldest brother, Tennyson. He thinks he’s the smartest and—”
Tennyson knocked his brother’s waving hand out of the way and leaned in to embrace her. “If you can put up with this blowhard long enough to marry him, I’ll welcome you to the family and gladly.”
She joyfully hugged him back. “He’s not so bad after you get to know him.” She smiled gayly over her shoulder at Prescott. “And if you want a few moments of silence, all you have to do is kiss him.”
Their youngest brother, who’d been waiting silently behind Tennyson, made a gagging sound. “I could have lived a long and happy life without that mental picture.” He stepped forward. “I’m Dodge. The youngest and the best looking.”
She instantly adored all of them. There was a mischievous sparkle in Dodge’s eyes and a welcoming light in the older brothers that warmed her heart. They were Prescott’s family, and they would soon be her family. She had never before felt so rich nor so blessed as right now.
“Madge is waiting for us at the ranch.” Levi plopped his Stetson back on his head. “Said she’d have dinner ready for the whole lot of us when we return.” He produced a black velvet bag and tossed it in Prescott’s direction. “I believe these belong to you.”
At Daisy’s puzzled look, Dodge explained. “Diamonds.” He rolled his eyes. “Not sure why, but he always travels with a pocketful.”
“They proved mighty useful this afternoon,” Prescott retorted. He nuzzled Daisy’s temple.
She cupped his cheek. “You ransomed me with them?”
“Maybe.”
“Thank you.” She tipped her face up to his and kissed him. Catching Dodge’s eye afterwards, she teased, “See? Perfect silence.”
He snorted and turned on his heel.
Tennyson held out her diamond necklace with a look of awe. He shook his head. “I’m not even going to ask where you got this.”
“It’s mine, actually.” Daisy tugged Prescott across the room. “It’s all I have left of my family’s legacy.” She caught Prescott’s eye. Father gambled the rest of it away.
He nodded. “That’s why I wanted so badly to get it back for you, darlin’.” He retrieved the necklace from his brother and reverently clasped it around her neck.
“It belongs in a museum,” Levi noted in a serious voice. “I’m sorry to dampen the festivities here, but it’s not safe to showboat around in something so flashy.”
“I should probably sell it,” Daisy confessed sadly. “Lord knows I could use the money, though the thought of parting with it breaks my heart. It belonged to my mother, may she rest in peace.”
Tennyson made a scoffing sound. “If you truly intend to marry that brat…” He hooked a thumb in Prescott’s direction. “Money is something you’ll never have to worry about again.”
“What about that safe room out at Hope’s Landing?” Prescott asked quickly. He slid his arms around Daisy from behind. “It’s as secure a place as any.”
Levi nodded. “I know Hannah and Gabe Donovan won’t mind.” His dark gaze flickered to Daisy’s. “That’s where they store all the uncut diamonds,” he explained.
“I like the sound of that.” Feeling nostalgic, she reached up to tuck her mother’s precious necklace beneath the mounds of lace around her neck. “Let me wear it one last time, and you can lock it up with my blessing when we
reach Headstone.”
In true Barra style, the brothers had ridden nothing but their horses into Rattlesnake Junction, so Daisy got to ride side saddle in front of Prescott back to Headstone — a state of affairs she didn’t mind one bit. She slid her arms around his middle and treated him to a sunny smile that earned her another kiss.
“It’s finally over, isn’t it?” She leaned her head against his shoulder in sheer contentment.
“The bad stuff? Yes. The good stuff, on the other hand, is just beginning, darlin’.” He kissed the top of her head. “We’ve a wedding to plan, a home of our own to build, and a family to grow.”
She leaped on his last words. Gripping two handfuls of his shirt, she squealed. “Does that mean you want children, Press?” With me? The thought of bearing his babies took her breath away.
“I want it all, darlin’. Every possible ounce of happiness we can eke out together this side of glory.”
She wrinkled her nose at him and giggled. “That doesn’t sound at all like the Prescott I know. Did you get religion or something back there while I was tied up?”
“I might’ve cut a bargain or two with the good Lord.” He tipped her chin up to his. “I’d say my negotiations were a roaring success.”
“There’s the cocky man I remember.” She cuddled closer, breathing in the warm desert breezes and his clean, male scent.
“Speaking of getting religion…” Tennyson trotted his horse closer.
“Eavesdropping again?” Prescott drawled lazily.
“Isn’t that the new reverend up ahead?” Tennyson pointed.
Daisy followed his finger with her gaze and fell silent at the sight of the gilded carriage rolling slowly towards town. It was moving much slower than they were traveling on horseback. They would catch up to it in minutes.
“Did you say reverend or prince?” she inquired, brows raised. The last time she’d seen a carriage like that was back in Boston when a duke from London was visiting. He’d specially commissioned it with his family crest, real gold trim, and hand-tooled leather seats.
“It’s the new reverend, alright.” Tennyson sounded amused. “He’s some young buck from New York who just inherited a boatload of cash. Still insists he plans to serve as a man of the cloth. I suppose it’ll simply be a finer cut of cloth these days.”