by Jenna Brandt
Tired of his antics, she decided to point the gun directly at him to get him to stop. “Look, I don’t want to hurt you, but all the noise you’re making could tip off your associates inside. I can’t have that happening. If you don’t stop flailing around right now, I’ll just have to knock you out with the butt of this pistol like they did earlier.”
The man eyes widened, and he did as she commanded.
“Good, that’s better.”
Gwendolyn turned back around and scanned the area a third time. Still nothing, which was good. She knew what she was supposed to do if someone showed up, but she really didn’t want to have to do it if she could avoid it. She didn’t want to run away and hide during the most crucial part of her first case. If any other agents heard about that, she was sure it would spread around the agency in no time. Then no one would take her seriously.
The rapid volley of gunfire echoed out from the cave, prompting Gwendolyn to look towards the mine entrance. She sent up a quiet prayer, asking God to protect Bradley and the rest of the men inside.
“Hmm, hmm,” the watchman started up again.
This time, she’d had enough. Knowing it didn’t matter now if he screamed, she bent down and yanked the gag from his mouth. “What is it?”
“Your man thinks he’s the smartest fella around, doesn’t he? But he’s not. He might be the stupidest person in the whole world.”
“Is that really what you wanted to tell me?” she asked with irritation. “You might as well quit babbling on with your nonsense. Any minute, they’re going to come out here with the rest of your entire gang.”
“I don’t think so,” a deep, threatening voice said from behind her. Suddenly, she felt a hand come over her mouth as an arm wrapped around her waist, yanking her backwards against something firm.
The man on the ground laughed with smug pride. “Your man thought everyone was inside the mine, but what he didn’t know was that the boss had gone into Rockwood Springs a couple of hours ago.”
“Now that we have you, we’ll trade you for the rest of my men,” the boss whispered into her ear. “I’m betting your man will trade just about anything to get you back, pretty as you are. Not sure why he brought you out here, but his mistake.”
Gwendolyn tried to raise her hand that was holding her gun, so she could fire it at the man holding her, but he knocked it away with little effort, causing it to go flying in the air and land by one of the nearby trees.
“Feisty and pretty,” he said with a wicked chuckle. “I can see what the appeal is.” He pushed her forward, then made her bend down in front of the other man. “I want you to take the knife out of my pocket and cut my associate free. He’s coming with us to make sure you don’t have any ideas about escaping.”
Gwendolyn wanted to fight against the man, but she knew that he was much stronger than her. She’d only make him angrier, and that was the last thing she wanted to do. He seemed like the sort of man that liked it when he got angry and liked it even more when a woman was the one who made him get that way.
She pulled out the knife and did her best to cut the ropes. The other man jumped up from the ground and raised his hand to hit her. Gwendolyn closed her eyes and waited for the flash of pain that was about to come. Instead, she heard the boss say, “No, Abe, you’re not going to do that. You’re going to keep your hands off the little lady, at least for now.”
The boss pushed her forward, making her move in a way that caused her to stumble as they walked towards the rustlers’ nearby steeds.
“Hold onto her while I mount my horse,” the boss ordered, handing her off to the watchman, who gripped her tightly by the upper arm. The watchman leaned towards her and whispered in a lecherous voice, “He said I can’t touch you right now, but I want you to know, before our time together is through, I’m going to touch you in every place you never wanted anyone to touch you.”
Gwendolyn forced herself not to react to the threat. He wanted to upset her, and she refused to let him see that it had worked. She closed her eyes and forced herself to concentrate on Bradley’s face.
“Give her to me,” the boss barked out. She was roughly pushed up onto the horse. He wrapped his arms around her to keep her in place, while holding onto the reins at the same time. “Take her handkerchief and secure it to that tree with a knife. We want them to get the message that we have her, that way they’ll be willing to make the trade for her return.”
“Why don’t we just wait out here for them to come out?”
“That’s why I don’t pay you to think. I’m the brains of this operation for a reason. We need to be gone before they get out here. We can’t take them on, just the two of us, without risking getting the other men killed. No, she’s going to be the way we get them back, and we’ll do it without firing a single bullet.”
Chapter 7
Bradley emerged from the mine feeling victorious. They’d managed to capture all of the men inside the mine without a single person from their posse being hurt. The elation dissipated and turned to terror, however, when he couldn’t find Gwendolyn outside.
His eyes darted around the clearing in front of the mine entrance. The watchman was gone, too. Had he gotten free somehow and taken her to aid in his escape? Bradley had been certain that he had bound the other man tight, which meant something else must have happened to his wife.
He spun around and yanked one of the gags down from the nearest rustler’s mouth. “If your watchman got free, where would he go? Where would he take my wife?”
The other man shrugged. “Abe isn’t the brightest fella, but it’s not him that you need to worry about.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You were so impressed with yourself for capturing those of us that were in the mine, you never stopped to count how many you actually caught.”
“Tell me where my wife is, right now,” Bradley said, shaking the other man.
“You missed one,” the rustler said, letting out a loud cackle. “And as luck would have it, you missed the most important one of all, our boss. The one who makes the plans, the one who’s smart enough to know that taking your wife will get him whatever he wants, including our freedom.”
Even though he wanted that to be true, Bradley knew better. The deputy wasn’t going to trade all of the criminals for one woman. If Bradley was going to save his wife, he was going to have to find her and do it himself.
“I found something,” the bounty hunter shouted from a nearby tree. Bradley rushed over and found the clue left behind for him. He pulled the handkerchief free, gripping it tightly as he looked at the silk square with delicate lace and the embroidered flowers along the edges. It was his wife’s; a clear message that they’d taken her.
“Are any of you trained in tracking?” Bradley asked, shoving the handkerchief in his pocket.
“I am,” the bounty hunter said, “And I can help you find your wife.”
“We’ll come with you, too. We can’t let one of Judy’s friends get hurt. She’d never forgive us,” Logan said, looking over at his older brother, who nodded in agreement.
“Thank you,” Bradley said to the group of four men.
“We’ll take the rustlers back to Woody and wait for you there,” Deputy Greystone said, guiding the men towards where they left the other group of horses. “This gang’s going to regret ever coming to Taylor County to steal cows.”
The bounty hunter moved around the area, inspecting different sections of the ground. Bradley knew he had to be patient, but it was hard just standing there waiting for the man to figure out what happened. “There were two of them, along with your wife. The first man made your wife cut the other man free from his restraints. The uneven slices in the rope show that whoever did it was under duress. Once both men were free, they moved over to where the horses are, grabbed two of them to ride, and took off that way.” He looked up and pointed east.
“Then that’s the way we’re going,” Bradley said with steely resolve. “I won’t rest u
ntil I get my wife back.”
“They have about a half hour head start on us. If we push our horses, we can catch them since one of their horses has added weight from your wife.”
As the quartet mounted their horses and took off towards the fleeing abductors, Bradley sent up a silent prayer, asking God to protect his wife. He tried to push away the fear that had formed in the pit of his stomach. It was paramount that he focus solely on finding and rescuing his wife before it was too late.
Gwendolyn was terrified; she’d never been so scared in all her life. Since moving out West and becoming a Pinkerton agent, she had faced down a snake, put out a fire that nearly burnt down her house, stood up to a trio of men that tried to attack her in the streets, and tricked a doctor into letting her find a criminal. Of all the things she did, though, letting herself admit she was falling in love with Bradley was by far the scariest thing she’d ever done. If she could face all of that and come out stronger for it, she could handle being taken hostage by the cattle rustler boss and his henchman.
“You’re a rather quiet one,” the boss observed.
“Being held against my will kind of takes away one’s desire to be social,” she snapped out in anger. “I’m sorry if you’re displeased with my lack of friendly banter.”
“You know, if you found a way to be more pleasant with me, it would incentivize me to keep from turning you over to Abe when we finally stop to rest.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” she gasped out. “He’s detestable.”
“I know, he really doesn’t have a way with the women, but I didn’t hire him for his tact with the ladies. He’s a good and loyal worker. He does what I say, when I say it, no questions asked.”
“Is that so? Then why did he tell me that the moment you weren’t paying attention he was going to try to take advantage of me?”
“Did he, now? I guess I was right about you. A pretty face can make a man turn stupid really quick.” The boss slowed his horse up, then ordered the henchman to do the same. “Our guest here just told me some interesting news, Abe. She said that you threatened to go against my orders and molest her. Is that true?”
Abe shifted in his saddle as he looked down at the ground. “I was mad at her when I said that. She made me feel like a fool back there, and I wanted to make her pay. I wasn’t going to do it, honest, boss. I’d never go against you.”
“I know you won’t,” the boss said, and before Gwendolyn had a chance to blink, he lifted his gun and fired at Abe. The man’s eyes widened with stunned shock, right before he fell from his saddle and onto the ground.
“I can’t believe you just did that,” she whispered in disbelief.
“I don’t tolerate insubordination in my gang. Once word gets out that you don’t stop that kind of behavior, you’ll viewed as weak. It’s like blood in the water, and the sharks will feed once they get a taste.”
The boss pressed his spurs into the side of the mare, urging her to move on. They traveled in silence for about another hour before he finally spoke up. “Let’s try this again. I want to ask you some questions. If you answer them to my liking, then I won’t hurt you.”
“What kind of questions?” Gwendolyn asked with apprehension.
“I didn’t say you could ask me questions; we’re not here to discuss me. Here’s my first question: why would your husband bring you with him on such a dangerous job?”
“How do you know he’s my husband?”
“I noticed your wedding band earlier. My ignorant friend back there kept calling him ‘your man’ but I knew it was more than that. You’re his wife, which means he’ll do just about anything to get you back. Now, quit trying to distract me and answer the question.”
“I insisted he bring me.”
“And why would you do that?”
“If you haven’t noticed, I’m stubborn.”
“There’s no doubt about that, but there’s plenty of stubborn women out there. Believe me, I’ve met my fair share. What I don’t understand is why he, let alone any of the other men in his posse, would think it acceptable to bring a woman along on such a dangerous excursion.”
“I don’t have an answer for you.”
“I think you do, but I think you’re purposely not telling me. I told you if you answered my questions, I wouldn’t hurt you. I think you’re smart enough to know, that if you don’t answer my questions, the opposite is going to happen.” He pulled his horse to a stop near a creek, then yanked her down from the horse. “I need to know what I’m dealing with. Who are you? Why were you at my hideout? What’s your connection to all of this?”
“I’m just his wife, nothing more,” she cried out, as he pulled her along until they were standing next to the streaming water.
“I don’t believe you,” he seethed out, his brown eyes narrowing into slits of rage. “If you don’t tell me right now, I’ll drown you right here in this creek.”
“You…you wouldn’t,” she stammered out, glancing down at the water with fear. “You need me for leverage; you said it yourself.”
“I thought I did, but the more time I’ve had to go over everything in my head, I’ve come to realize that there’s something I’m missing. I don’t deal in unknowns. It might be smarter for me to cut my ties with my gang, and start over somewhere else, which means I don’t need you, after all.”
He wrapped his hands around her shoulders, then shoved her down towards the water. Gwendolyn screamed, kicking and pushing against him. She twisted back and forth, her hands flying out in an effort to defend herself. Her fingernails connected with his face. She scratched, clawed, dug in with every inch of power she could conjure up. He might be stronger than her, but she wasn’t going to let him drown her without a fight.
Her face was only inches away from the water now, the musty smell and the sound of the babbling brook filling her senses. She didn’t know how much resistance she had left in her. Just as she resolved herself to accept that it was the end, she heard a thunk and a grunt from the rustler, and suddenly her attacker’s hold on her evaporated. She stumbled forward; her balance uneven from the sudden departure of his weight against her. A hand reached out and steadied her, keeping her from hitting the rocky ground below.
“It’s all right, I’ve got you,” Bradley’s soothing voice said from behind her. She spun around and felt relief flood through her when she saw her husband. She buried her face into his chest, uncontrollable sobs bursting free from her, drenching his shirt and making endless trails down her face.
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” he whispered over and over as she continued to cry.
“He was going to kill me,” she whispered in disbelief. “I thought I was going to die.”
“I’d never let that happen,” Bradley said, stroking her hair with one hand while he patted her back with the other. “I could never let that happen, because I love you.”
“You do?” she asked, looking up into his eyes with hope. “I never thought I would hear you say that.”
“It’s true as the blood running through my veins. I love you, Gwendolyn, and I never want to be without you.”
“I love you, too,” she said, leaning up and placing a kiss on his lips. “More than I thought I could ever love anyone.”
“Does that mean we’re going to give this marriage a real try? No annulment at the end of this?”
She nodded. “You’re stuck with me, for better or for worse.”
“Good, that’s exactly how I want it.” Bradley wrapped his arms around his wife, pulling her in as close as possible. His head dipped down until his mouth claimed hers as his own. The kiss was a promise that no matter what, this was for keeps.
Epilogue
Nine months later
Bradley finished putting the final log in the wood stove. He rubbed his hands together, grateful for the warm fire during the cold winter months. It was his job to keep his pregnant wife happy, and he took great pride in doing an excellent job.
“Reginald thanks you for the
fire,” Gwendolyn said, coming into the room and taking a seat on the couch in front of the hearth, as she placed her canine companion in her lap. He nuzzled up against her round belly, as if he knew his new brother or sister was inside, growing until the day it was time to come out and greet them.
“Just Reginald?” Bradley asked, as he came to join his family on the couch.
“Of course not, the baby thanks you, too,” she teased, leaning over until her head was resting on his shoulder. “This is the perfect night.”
“Agreed,” Bradley said, kissing the top of his wife’s head. “I’m glad we decided to make our home here in Rockwood Springs. I never really saw myself as a small-town person, but it’s really grown on me.”
“It helps that everyone has been really welcoming, despite the fact that we lied to all of them when we first met them.”
“It was for the right reasons, though,” Bradley defended, “and that’s behind us now. Everyone knows who we are now.”
“True, at least here in Rockwood Springs. When you’re off solving mysteries, and tracking down bandits for the agency, Ben Hampton is alive and well.”
“Gail will be, too, if you want her to be, once the baby is old enough to be left with friends.”
“We don’t need to make any decisions about that right now,” she said with a smile. “There’s plenty of time to figure all of that out. For the time being, I just want to spend my time with my husband before the baby comes and takes over both our lives.”
“It won’t be much different than having this one around,” Bradley said, reaching over and rubbing Reginald’s head, causing him to bark in acknowledgement. “He makes us jump through hoops for him all the time. I never thought I’d see the day that I would have my life dictated by a dog.”
“But he does it so adorably,” Gwendolyn said, picking up Reginald and rubbing her nose in his face. “You can’t help but love him.”
“It kind of helps that I’m madly in love with his mother,” Bradley confessed. “I’d do anything for her.”