Luke looked beyond Kelson, hoping for some sign of Russell so he could signal him not to do anything too rash, but he had no luck spotting the young man. In the meantime, Kelson was on the move, increasing the risk it might take him to a position where he couldn’t get at so easily. Luke made the decision to act on the opportunity while it was presenting itself.
Aiming to strike his target silently in order to avoid alerting Craddock, Luke pouched his Remingtons then edged along parallel with the outlaw for a few yards, working his way up onto a high slab of rock that came to a peak directly above where Kelson would pass. He poised, balanced, then launched himself when the man was directly below.
Luke landed on his feet, skimming down mere inches behind Kelson, slamming the edges of his fists hard against the sides of the outlaw’s neck. Kelson’s knees instantly buckled. He emitted a grunt of pain and surprise as he fell back against Luke. The bounty hunter hooked the crook of his right arm under Kelson’s chin, simultaneously twisting and pulling, meaning to drag his foe over his hip and throw him to the ground.
At the last second, Kelson reached back and up, clawing Luke’s ear and then wrapping his fingers around a thick mass of hair. When Kelson went down he also pulled Luke off his feet. Locked together, the two men rolled over and over, pummeling and kicking. Luke was momentarily disconcerted that the outlaw hadn’t been stunned more by the twin blows to his neck, but he couldn’t afford to wonder about the why of that. He had to focus everything on the fight he was embroiled in.
Bumping up against a low, spinelike thrust of jagged rock, the two men suddenly stopped rolling. Before Kelson could take advantage of being on top, Luke slipped an arm free and shot a hard right uppercut straight to the point of the outlaw’s chin. As Kelson’s head snapped back, Luke used the same hand he had thrown the punch with and clamped hard onto the outlaw’s throat, digging his fingers in deep. Kelson made a squawking sound and stopped pummeling and punching with his own two hands in order to grab Luke’s wrist and try to break the hold.
Luke suddenly arched his back and twisted his body, rolling both of them away from the rock spine and shifting himself to the top position. He released his throat hold. Kelson’s hands stayed locked on his wrist and jerked his right arm away. Luke immediately brought his left arm up and around and slammed the edge of the forearm down across Kelson’s throat. Another squawking sound came out, but much weaker. Knowing the outlaw hadn’t been able to catch a breath for some time and that it was taking its toll, Luke ground down harder, working his shoulder and more of his body weight into the pressure.
Kelson threw some desperate, ineffective punches to the sides of Luke’s head, but he tucked his chin and let them bounce off. He sensed Kelson was nearly out of gas, growing incapable of fighting back. Then somehow he managed to get a knee in under the bounty hunter’s hip and made a frantic thrust with his leg that lifted Luke’s body and hurled it to one side.
Luke rolled away, separating them. Luke scrambled to his feet first but got too eager to close in again and missed with a whooshing roundhouse right that almost certainly would have ended the fight.
Kelson ducked under it, dropping to his knees. Thrusting upward and into Luke’s forward momentum, the outlaw landed a punishing uppercut that jolted Luke hard and knocked him to one side where he stumbled over the low spine of rock he had been jammed against just a minute earlier. Unable to keep his balance, the bounty hunter toppled to the ground, the jagged points of the rocks chewing painfully into his legs, his body landing in such a way that his left arm was pinned under it.
Kicking and scrambling frantically to get clear of the rocks and regain his footing, Luke looked up to see Kelson take a hurried step forward and come to a jerky halt, looming over him. The outlaw’s right hand was stabbing downward, clawing for the gun on his hip.
Few men across the frontier were faster on the draw than Luke Jensen. But in his present position—sprawled with his feet and legs tangled in sharp rocks, his body twisted awkwardly, one arm pinned underneath him—while Kelson was already reaching to clear leather, meant impossible odds for Luke to beat, even with the quickness of his draw. Never one to back down or give up, no matter how bad the odds against him, Luke’s right hand went ahead and blurred into motion . . .
A rifle shot blasted.
Sam Kelson’s eyes bugged in surprise, his mouth fell open, and a bullet exited. After passing through the back of his head, it carried with it a comet’s tail of blood and tissue fragments as the dull report of the shot rolled through the air in its wake. Kelson’s body seemed to fold in on itself like an accordion being pressed shut, collapsing straight down until it came to rest in a lumpy heap.
Looking over his gunsight, past the fallen man he’d been swinging his aim toward, Luke saw Russell standing a little short of twenty yards away lowering the Henry rifle from his shoulder. His face was a grim mask blurred faintly by the haze of powder smoke hanging in the air in front of him.
Chapter 51
“A gunshot!” Craddock exclaimed, his body tensing as his face snapped toward the narrow, vertical slash that was the mouth of the cave. Muttering, he added, “Damn, that can’t be good. That can’t be good at all.”
The new layover cave was a bubblelike cavity within a conical mound of rock. It was barely twenty feet in diameter and only half that at the highest point of its domed top. A pile of meager supplies—blankets, candles, canteens, beef jerky, hardtack—were pushed to the back side. Millie sat on a blanket spread on the hard, cold ground next to them.
The tether previously cinched around her neck had been removed, but her hands were still bound tightly in front of her. At the sound of the rifle shot, she also had gone tense, although with anticipation, not alarm. If Kelson had run into something that resulted in gunfire, it could mean only one thing.
Somebody else was out there, too. Somebody, Millie chose to believe, following the markers she’d dropped. Anybody on the trail of the evil curs who were holding her captive represented a thread of hope for her rescue!
Sidling closer to the cave’s slice of an opening, Craddock was still muttering worriedly to himself. “That fool Kelson. Supposed to know this leftover piece of Hell so good, be so good at findin’ his way . . . What did he find that would’ve caused shootin’?”
“Maybe,” Millie said, wanting to calm Craddock so he wouldn’t do anything too wild or unpredictable, “he saw a jackrabbit or possibly an antelope and shot it so we’d have some fresh meat.”
Craddock turned his head to glare at her. “Don’t be stupid! Kelson went out there to get rid of anything that would lead to us. He wouldn’t draw attention by takin’ a potshot at a damn jackrabbit!”
“Maybe a rattlesnake,” Millie suggested. “Maybe he had to shoot. You know, to keep from getting bitten.”
Scowling, Craddock said, “That might be possible, I guess . . . but it seems awful thin.”
“Still”—Millie pushed off her blanket and slipped closer to Craddock, feigning concern—“if he did get bitten, he might be out there needing your help.”
“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Craddock sneered. “Havin’ me leave to go check on him? As if you give a damn if Kelson got snakebit or not and like you wouldn’t bolt out of here the second you was left alone. How big a fool do you take me for?”
“Where would I bolt to?” Millie argued. “I’ve been dragged out here to this leftover corner of Hell, to use your own words, where I have no clue which way to turn, not even to get back to that other cave. I won’t pretend to like the way things are, but I’m not ready to trade them for wandering off and ending up freezing or starving to death!”
“Well, you ain’t gonna end up doin’ either one. ’Cause you ain’t goin’ nowhere, and neither am I,” Craddock said firmly. “We’re gonna sit right here and wait this out. Kelson’s been gone long enough so’s he must have picked up most of those trick markers you dropped—leastways the ones anywhere close to here. If he ran into those bounty hu
nters and got his wick trimmed tight, there ain’t nothing left to bring ’em the rest of the way. Hell, with the money they’d find around his waist on top of what we left back in the big cave, the greedy sonsabitches oughta be satisfied enough to call it a day and ride off. So, like I said, if we stay right here and keep quiet, we still got a chance of gettin’ through this.”
With a sinking feeling, Millie realized he could be right. Even if Kelson had fallen prey to somebody who would continue searching through the badlands’ endless sprawl of rocks and twisting gullies, they might very possibly never discover that godforsaken hole in the ground.
Something must have shown in her eyes. Suddenly Craddock reached out and grabbed her by the throat with his right hand. Shoving his face close to hers, he hissed out through clenched teeth, “And if you’re thinkin’ of screamin’ out or makin’ a ruckus to give away this position, you’d better get it out of your pretty little head. I ain’t ever yet got what I’ve been wantin’ so bad from you but, by God, I’ll throttle you right here and now and settle for never gettin’ it before I let you betray me again!”
He’d gotten too close and made the mistake of believing he was too intimidating for Millie to put up any resistance. He couldn’t have fathomed all the humiliation and rage and determination that had been building in her. When he shoved against her, choking and threatening, and his body pressed close enough for her hands, even though bound at the wrists, to touch the revolver on his hip, there was no fear or hesitation when it came to what she did next.
Tugging on the gun to lift it out of its holster just far enough for her to slip a finger through the trigger guard and wrap a thumb over the hammer, Millie cocked and fired. Twice.
The roar of the discharges was deafening in the small cave. Craddock’s scream of pain and surprise only added to it. The first shot passed close to his leg, burning a bullet gash the length of his thigh. The second slug was angled more inward and tore a large chunk out of the same thigh, just above the knee.
Craddock hurled Millie violently away, sending her crashing hard against the wall of the cave as he rolled in the opposite direction, grabbing at his injured leg and cursing. “Damn you! Damn you, you did betray me again!”
He struggled to his feet and wheeled to face her. He drew the revolver she had been unable to seize completely that had settled back into its holster. Extending it to arm’s length, he centered the muzzle directly on her lovely face. “You’ve set me up good this time, haven’t you? Giving away our location and leavin’ me to make a run for it on a bum leg.” The words came out between puffs of pain-quickened breathing. “Well, you’ve made sure it might be curtains for me, but by damn you’re not gonna be alive to get any satisfaction from it!”
Pressed against the stone wall where she’d been slammed, Millie glared back at him, showing no fear.
Craddock stood there, his shoulders rising and falling with his rapid breathing. He continued to hold his arm extended. But slowly, his gun hand began to waver unsteadily, uncertainly. “Damn you!” His words came in a hoarse whisper, his teeth bared as if in disdain. “You’re a witch, that’s what you are. A witch who’s had me under her spell from the first time I laid eyes on you. I never got the chance . . . and now I can’t even—”
Abruptly, he lowered the gun and shoved it back into its holster. Then he made another awkward, jerky turn and moved toward the cave opening. A moment later, he’d pushed through and out . . . and was gone.
Millie stayed pressed against the wall, motionless. She kept her gaze locked on the vertical slit through which Craddock had disappeared. A belated tremor passed through her.
And then, from somewhere outside, she heard the sound of gunshots. Three in rapid succession, a slight pause, then two more.
And then silence.
Chapter 52
Millie emerged tentatively from the cave, blinking and squinting against the transition into sunlight. As her eyes adjusted, she was able to make out the forms of two men moving slowly toward her. Both were only a short distance away, coming at her from separate angles. Though she wasn’t able to immediately make out the features of either one, she sensed no need for fear or a feeling of threat.
Raising one hand to shade her eyes and focusing on the taller of the two, Millie was able to recognize him as Luke Jensen. Her pulse quickened. He was the man she had at one time liked and romanticized over only to have him act so cold and say such dreadful things when he showed up to speak with Kelson.
She shifted her gaze to the other approaching figure. When she recognized him it seemed impossible to believe. Nevertheless, her feet were suddenly carrying her toward him. He also quickened his pace and they met in a mutual embrace.
“Russell! Oh, Russell,” Millie said breathlessly. “I thought you were dead!”
“There was a time I believed I deserved to be, for my foolish behavior that placed you in the hands of that treacherous Craddock,” Russell replied in an emotional rush, burying his face in her golden hair. “But I had to live. I had to, in order to make amends by helping get you back.”
Millie tipped her head back and gazed up at him. “Oh, no. You had no reason to punish yourself with such thoughts. No one but Craddock was to blame for what happened!”
“Well, he ended up paying for it. He’s dead. Him, Kelson, and the rest of the Legion of Fire,” Luke said as he strode over to the pair.
Millie pressed more tightly into Russell’s arms and turned her head to glare at Luke. “You! I’m surprised to find Russell and his selfless feelings mixed up with the likes of you.”
“Millie!” Russell was quick to admonish. “If not for Mr. Jensen, it’s almost certain none of us would have made it this far. And nobody’s been more selfless when it came—”
“Hold on, kid. Don’t sell yourself short,” Luke interrupted. “Nobody pushed himself harder—not to mention the rest of us—than you. Plus, you saved my neck twice when I almost certainly would have been a goner.”
Millie’s eyes returned to Russell. “You, Russell?” she said, gazing up at him. Her gaze lingered for several beats and then she added, “Yes . . . Yes, I can see it. You’ve changed.”
Luke could see a fierce blush flooding up the sides of Russell’s neck, his ears turning beet red. Luke wanted to urge the bashful young pup to go ahead and kiss the girl, but of course that was up to Russell.
Before anything could happen, Millie swung her attention once more to Luke. “My father! What about him? You said—”
“Your father’s not dead,” Luke interrupted. “I deeply regret making that claim in front of you and for the rest of the way I acted that day. It was all meant to put Kelson off balance while your father and Russell were getting into position to deal with the men waiting in ambush.”
“Your father is fine,” Russell said reassuringly. “He’s wounded, but not critically. He’s back at the big cave with Miss Lucinda and the rest of the ladies. They’re preparing to take him back to Arapaho Springs for medical attention, but I’m pretty certain they haven’t had time to get headed out yet.”
Luke nodded. “We can be back there to join them in no time.”
“Oh God! That’s wonderful news,” Millie exclaimed. “After so much that seemed hopeless—everything is looking wonderful!”
Gazing down at her beaming, beautiful face so close to his, Russell murmured, “Yeah. Things do look pretty wonderful.”
Luke smiled. He considered himself neither a romantic nor a fortune-teller, but it looked like his words to Russell earlier that morning might actually come true. Seemed there was a good chance of something deeper possibly blossoming between the young man and Millie. It was a thought that made Luke feel kind of glad.
Then the less sentimental, more practical side of him kicked in and he thought of something that made him feel even more glad.
Though he’d have to share them with Russell, the bounties on Craddock and all those Legion of Fire hombres meant his trip to Arapaho Springs was going to result in
a mighty nice payday after all!
Keep reading for a special early excerpt!
A REASON TO DIE
A PERLEY GATES WESTERN
From bestselling authors William W. and J. A. Johnstone—the explosive adventures of Perley Gates, who’s carving out his own legacy in the violent American frontier . . .
Restless cowpoke Perley Gates wanted nothing more than to track down the grandfather who abandoned his family years ago. What he found was a crazy old sidewinder barely hanging on after a Sioux massacre. The old man’s dying wish was to make things right for deserting his kin—by giving his strong-willed grandson Perley clues to the whereabouts of a buried fortune in gold.
Finding his grandfather’s legacy will set up his family for life. But it won’t be easy. The discovery of raw gold in the Black Hills has lured hordes of ruthless lowlifes into Deadwood and Custer City—kill-crazy prairie rats, gunfighters, outlaws, and Indians—armed with a thousand glittering reasons to put Perley six feet under. All Perley wants is what was left to him, what he’s owed. But with so many brigands on his backside, finding his grandfather’s treasure is going to land Perley Gates between the promise of heaven and the blood-soaked battlefields of hell . . .
Look for it wherever books are sold . . .
Live Free. Read Hard.
www.williamjohnstone.net
“It’s a good thing I decided to check,” John Gates said to Sonny Rice, who was sitting in the wagon loaded with supplies. They had just come from Henderson’s General Store and John wanted to stop by the telegraph office on the chance Perley might have sent word.
Sonny was immediately attentive. “Did he send a telegram? Where is he?”
“He’s in Deadwood, South Dakota,” John answered. “He said he’s on his way home.”
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