Just the kind of man who’d hang back and sneak around like a vicious coyote.
She’d found out there was a second man to capture, and she was the only one who knew it. Reckless or not, she had a chance now to save the lives of the men she loved. And she wouldn’t let herself regret it.
She listened to him riding up the trail. When he was well ahead and out of sight, she led her horse from the cover of the woods and fell in behind him, mindful to move slowly, even though that chafed, and to keep her horse quiet. She didn’t want to warn the man she was here before she got him close enough to Justin and Heath. Because she needed them to back her up in this fight.
28
Heath spotted the back end of Cole’s horse up ahead. “We’re catching up.”
Everyone else was out of sight, a trail of dust hanging far overhead. Heath hoped that meant they’d crossed the peak of this climb and were well on their way to the ranch house.
At the sound of their approach, Cole whirled, gun in hand. The second he saw them, he relaxed and rode back down the trail toward them. “Where’s Sadie?”
Heath pulled his horse to a stop. “I sent her to you, Cole.” He paused a moment, then said, “She must be ahead.”
“No,” Cole said, wincing in pain. “I let her bring up the rear. I hadn’t even noticed she was gone.” He was all in. One side of his shirt and his pants were soaked in crimson. He had his left elbow clamped to his side to staunch the blood. There’d been no time to tend the wound or even to see exactly where the bullet hit. He was pale as milk. His hand trembled on the reins. Hanging on to the saddle horn was almost too much for him. Heath was shocked by how bad he looked.
Heath wheeled the poor, winded old nag around and headed downhill.
Justin said, “Cole, let me tie this outlaw onto your horse. I’m going with Heath.”
“No you’re not.” Heath turned back, bothered by the delay. “Stay here and I’ll find her.”
“We’ve ridden this whole trail. There was no sign of her. You need help.”
“Maybe she stepped off the trail to have a moment of . . . of privacy, and we just rode right past her. She’s probably coming along right now.” Heath didn’t believe it, no matter how badly he wanted to. “You’ve got to keep moving, Justin. Tend the prisoner. Get over that hump to the CR and send someone riding hard for town to fetch the doctor and the sheriff. I’ll find Sadie and catch up.”
Justin shook his head. “I’m not leaving Sadie out here.”
Heath shifted so that Justin’s body blocked Cole’s view of him, then dropped his voice to a whisper. “Cole needs a doctor. He’s lost too much blood.”
Justin’s jaw got so tight, Heath worried his teeth might crack. Without turning to examine Cole, he grunted his assent. He’d already seen for himself the truth of the matter and knew Heath was right.
Never had a man looked so torn. His stared down the trail so hard he might’ve thought he could conjure Sadie out of thin air.
Justin stuck out his hand. Surprised, Heath reached over and shook it. “There aren’t many men I’d trust with my sister’s life, Kincaid. But you’re one. You’re a man to ride the river with.”
Heath was stunned at how honored he felt.
“I’ll be back as soon as I get everyone home, turn them over to Rosita, and send for the doctor and sheriff.”
“Don’t forget you can’t trust anyone on your ranch, Justin. And don’t let this back-shootin’ coyote out of your sight for a minute. I wouldn’t even turn him over to the sheriff until you get the answers you need.”
Justin jerked his head once, spun around, and said, “Let’s go.”
“No . . .” Cole said, the word coming out slurred. “Sadie . . .” He drooped so far forward over the saddle horn, it poked him in the belly.
Justin grabbed the reins out of Cole’s hands and led them up the trail. He moved out fast, as if he had to go before he started hollering. After his one single protest, Cole went silent, which told Heath just how badly hurt he was.
Heath headed down the trail at a pace that liked to break his neck.
Where was Sadie? Where?
Where should she attack? Where?
Sadie did her best to close in on the man ahead of her. He was a good distance ahead, so she didn’t dare gallop. The noise of it would surely give her away.
How long had she lingered here? How far ahead had Heath gotten? Once Heath and Justin reached the others, they’d know she was missing. Unless they’d reached the top and crested the canyon wall. Then who knew? If the woods were thick over the hill and the trail twisted, they might not notice she was gone for a long time.
Her stomach lurched to think of being left out here alone with that furious, fancied-up man. He wasn’t anyone she wanted to face. Yet she knew he was the enemy and had to be stopped. And if the job fell to her, so be it.
She saw the whipping of a horsetail far overhead. The motion drew her attention. She realized the trail had twisted back on itself, and though she was a lot lower, she wasn’t too far from the man if she could somehow cut through. She studied the tail and was sure the horse wasn’t moving.
Why not?
Sadie decided to go find out.
Heath rounded the trail and came face-to-face with a man holding a rifle. He was waiting. He’d heard Heath coming. Heath saw how he was dressed and thought immediately of the man Ramone had called Dantalion. The man who’d terrorized Ramone and was behind all that had happened at the ranch.
And now one wrong move and he’d be riddled with bullets and of no use to anyone.
The man smiled and kept the gun dead center on Heath. “Turn around. We’re riding right back to where you came from, and if you say one wrong word or try to warn them, I’ll let loose with this rifle.”
With a sickening twist of his belly, Heath figured this man already had Sadie. She might well be dead, though there’d been no shooting lately, so he clung to hope. God, please don’t let any harm come to my sweet Sadie.
And if he led the man to the Bodens, they might all end up dead, not just Heath.
All Heath could think of to do was to buy some time. Time for the Bodens to get home to the ranch where they could defend themselves. To give this vermin time to make a mistake.
“You’ve finally stepped out in the open,” Heath said.
The man smirked. “No, I didn’t. You may have found me, but you won’t live to tell anyone about it.”
“That gives me precious little reason to lead you to my friends.”
The man shrugged a shoulder, looking smug. “I know how men think. You want to stay alive. You’ll do what I say because you’ll think it’s not betraying your friends. You’re hoping I make a mistake so you can get the drop on me.” The man laughed. “But I never make a mistake.”
Heath took a chance that he was right about the man’s name. “Sure you do, Dantalion.”
The man’s eyes narrowed. “How did you know my name?”
Heath managed a laugh to match his enemy’s. “You honestly think I’d tell you that? Give you more folks to hunt? You don’t give me much reason to cooperate with you. And if you think you can shoot me and that ends things, then you’re a fool, Dantalion. Even now, your name is out and the story is spreading that you’re a killer and a coward. You look too slick not to be an important man, but before the Bodens are done with you, you’ll be in prison and all your powerful friends will avoid you like you’re carrying the plague.”
The man’s cool sneer twisted into something malevolent. His hands tightened on the rifle. “I don’t need your cooperation. The Bodens can’t get off this trail, and you’re the only thing standing in my way.”
“If you pull that trigger, they’ll have all the warning they need.”
“No one beats me,” Dantalion growled. “As you lay dying, remember it’s not just the Boden men I’ll kill. Their sister has to die, too. Only, once I have her, I might keep her alive for a bit. She’s a pretty little thing.”
Words that should have sickened him instead made his heart soar. Dantalion didn’t have Sadie. That changed everything. He had to get out of this alive so he could spend the rest of his life with a woman he now realized he loved more than life itself.
And considering he was facing death, he thought he was a pretty good judge of what he loved more than life itself.
His finger itched to go for his six-shooter. At this range he couldn’t miss, but neither could Dantalion. And with that rifle raised and leveled, Heath wouldn’t get his shot off first.
He was fast, he knew that. If this low-down coyote could be distracted for just a second, Heath might have a chance of getting his gun into play.
As he tried to think of what might throw the man off from his single-minded aim, an object flew out of the forest and smacked the rump of Dantalion’s brown thoroughbred. The horse reared. Heath drew his six-shooter, aimed, and fired.
Dantalion tumbled off the back of his horse, and his rifle went flying. The horse blocked Heath from taking another shot for a crucial second, then the frightened animal sprang out from between Heath and his target. The horse charged up the trail, and Heath had to jump out of the way or get run down.
Another rock struck the back of the outlaw’s head.
Dantalion lunged for the side of the trail, looking for cover. Heath fired, then fired again, and Dantalion reeled back and landed in a cloud of dust flat on his back, his head bleeding, and two bullet wounds in his chest.
Sadie charged into view with another big rock in her hand, and three more cradled in her non-throwing arm.
Seeing her unhurt and heavily armed, Heath almost laughed. No time now, but he’d get around soon enough to telling her she was the finest woman he’d ever known.
Heath rushed for Dantalion before Sadie got close enough that the man could grab her. He lay on the ground, unmoving, but with his teeth bared like a rabid wolf.
“Heath, I’m so glad to see you!” Sadie ran to his side. He hugged her and smiled, not taking his eyes off Dantalion for long.
Dantalion made a move for his sleeve, but Heath dropped to his knees and stopped him cold.
“We need to search him for hideout weapons, Sadie.”
Sure enough, Heath found a gun up the man’s sleeve. There was a knife in his boot, another in a sheath under his waistband at the small of his back. There were also some papers in the inside pocket of his coat, along with a leather pouch of gold coins, and something wrapped in oilcloth in the pocket of his pants. Heath took it all.
With a feeble swipe of his hand, Dantalion tried to reach for Heath’s pistol.
Heath dodged the effort easily and said in disgust, “Do you see where my bullets landed, Dantalion? You’re dying. You’ll stand before your Maker before this day is out. Do you want your last act on this earth to be murder? You have a few minutes before you reach the Pearly Gates. I suggest you spend those minutes confessing your sins and trying to make right all that you’ve done wrong in this life. You can start by telling me why you’re trying to kill the Bodens.”
“You think your troubles are over?” The man smiled, and the evil of it sent a chill up Heath’s spine.
Heath stuffed the papers and gold in his own pockets to study later, then looked at the gray in the man’s hair and asked, “Did you kill Frank Chastain?”
The man laughed and it set off a fit of coughing. Blood tinged his lips, but finally the coughing ceased. He breathed raggedly in and out. “I did indeed kill that arrogant old man. And I ran that coward Ramone out of the country so I could blame him.”
“You mean after you cut his face open? Blinded him in one eye? You call him a coward for not staying to fight when he was wounded and disarmed?”
“Stopping me won’t keep any of you alive. Your days of having the Cimarron Ranch as your legacy are over. My death stops nothing because more will come. It’ll take time to find someone as helpful as me, but they will. You’ll regret not letting me run you off.”
“Don’t die with a monstrous sin on your soul.” Heath wondered how a man could face death while spewing evil. The devil truly had a claim on this man, but didn’t the moment when eternity was in front of you force you to turn to God?
Sadie caught the man’s arm. “If you’re afraid of the others who want to harm the Bodens, they can no longer harm you. You’re beyond that. Why aren’t our troubles over? Are there more men in this with you? Who sent you? Does this have to do with the Bodens’ land grant?”
“You’re the worst kind of invaders. I will tell you nada.”
Heath glanced at Sadie. He had no idea what he meant by invaders. He saw confusion on her face that matched his.
Then Sadie, being kinder than Heath would have managed, told the man, “Then don’t tell us. But won’t you please ask God to forgive your sins? No matter what you’ve done in this life, all God asks is that you believe in Him. God loves you, and He doesn’t want any of His children to spend eternity in flames. It’s not too late to repent.”
The man shook his head. “God wants no part of me, and I want no part of Him.”
“That’s not true. He’s your heavenly Father.”
Heath was afraid she was wasting her time. “The shots look bad, but let’s get him to a doctor. I’ve seen men survive some terrible things. Maybe we can patch him up and ask our questions a little harder.”
Dantalion moved then and got to his hands and knees. With a wicked laugh, he dove for the trees in a desperate attempt to escape. The laugh turned to a scream of terror.
Heath leapt toward the woods and plunged into thin air.
He caught hold of a narrow aspen that bent down, completely in half, its roots clinging to the edge of a cliff that was concealed by the thick trees. His grip held solid just as Dantalion’s scream ended with a dull thud.
Heath glanced down to see that his legs dangled over some sort of cliff. How far down it dropped, he couldn’t tell.
“Sadie! Stop!” He looked up to see her skid to her knees and throw out her arms to let the trees stop her.
Steadying herself, she called down to him, “Hang on. I’ll get a rope from your saddle.”
But Heath had spent a good portion of his childhood dangling, mainly in the cavern on the Kincaid property. He climbed hand over hand up the aspen tree, bent over like a rainbow. He got himself over the arc of it, then back down, and swung his feet to solid ground.
He landed right next to Sadie before she could get busy saving him, which no doubt she’d have done. Then he dropped to kneel at her side, and as long as he was in the proper position, he said a prayer of thanks.
Sadie hurled herself into his arms, and they clung to each other. Heath had never been so happy to be alive.
Heath turned to the cliff and pushed the branches aside. “He didn’t know there was a cliff here.” Heath looked at Sadie. “If he’s still alive, we need to get him. We need to question him.”
Heath, with Sadie beside him, inched forward. About a foot past the trees was a ledge, held there by the roots of the aspens and the underbrush, and then a sheer cliff. Heath gazed a long way down.
Dantalion lay sprawled, faceup on a pile of jagged stones over a hundred feet below. A pool of blood ran from the back of his head. His neck was bent at an unnatural angle.
Heath turned back and pulled Sadie away. He regretted that she’d seen it, because it was a sight she’d have to live with.
“He can’t be alive.” Sadie swallowed as if fighting the need to empty her belly.
“No, he’s dead. There’s no point in climbing all that way down.”
“I don’t know how we could get down there even if we wanted to.”
They stood there staring at each other, neither one saying anything. The silence stretched on, and then Sadie’s eyes filled with tears.
“I killed a man,” she said.
Heath pulled her into his arms again. One hug wasn’t near enough. He’d been dying to hold her ever since he’d caught sight of her, but he’d
been sidetracked by having a man to shoot.
“Neither one of us killed the low-down varmint. He bought into more trouble than he could handle, and when things went bad, he ran like a yellow-bellied coward and fell over a cliff. If one of my bullets or your rock hit a spot that might end a man, he was alive enough to jump. I’d say that means neither of us killed him, no matter how hard we tried.”
Sadie had a grateful look on her face, which didn’t at all match the woman who’d come charging out of the woods, slinging rocks at an armed man. But her ability to be the softest kind of female one minute and a warrior the next was a big part of why he never wanted to let her go.
Just in case she didn’t know that, he moved to kiss her. She must’ve had the same thing in mind, because she was already pulling his head down.
The kiss went on until Heath’s head was spinning. Finally, with the worst regret in the world, he eased her away. “We have to catch up with your brothers. It about killed Justin to let me come back for you alone.”
“Because he doesn’t want us being alone together?”
“Nope.” Heath thought of the words of respect he’d heard from Justin, and his heart warmed. “He was mad with worry about you, thinking about outlaws and shooting. He was scared to death. I’m sure if he’d had more time, though, he’d’ve gotten around to not wanting me to get you alone.”
Then Heath’s head cleared enough that he remembered what he’d known the minute he heard Dantalion threaten her in such an ugly way. That she was alive and he had too much to live for not to survive himself.
“Sadie, there are a lot of reasons there’s trouble ahead for us.”
Sadie’s pretty brow furrowed.
“I want to go home—to Rawhide. So bad I ache.”
“I can’t leave here, Heath, without costing my brothers everything.”
“I don’t want to take you with me for fear I’ll find myself taking orders from the bossy big brothers I love. It’d make me feel like a failure.”
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