He halted and peered into the dark. He didn’t speak, just waited, staring. The intensity of his gaze made her heart feel as if it rose in her throat and fluttered. Her pulse seemed to quicken in her fingertips that gripped the rope. She didn’t know whether to show her position and make herself more vulnerable to him or run as fast as she could away from him. What the devil was she getting herself into?
All of a sudden, someone hurled himself from atop the roof of the sheriff’s office.
“Watch out, Mr. Rivers!” she yelled.
Both men went down and a fight ensued. Fists connected with flesh and the crunching of bone echoed through the alley. Blow after blow landed hard and deadly, filling the night with grunts and the sound of feet scuffling.
Dust stirred up from all the scuffling. Odessa’s nose suddenly itched and she had to wiggle it to ward off the coming sneeze that would give away her hidden location. Her eyes blinked and she felt them tear up. She had to get out of there, away from the stirred-up dust. But she couldn’t just leave Rivers.
Without a moment’s hesitation, her hands formed a loop on the rope and she threw, praying it would be long enough to reach the jumper. Before she could see where it landed, a shot rang out. Then another. Odessa braced herself for the impact, her eyes shutting away the image of her coming death. Something whizzed past her.
“Missed, damn it!” someone shouted. “Now the sheriff will be on us.”
Racing feet warned that she couldn’t wait to see if they were headed toward her or away. Her eyes sprang open, blurring as she yanked as hard as she could. The two combatants jerked apart. One went down, groaning. The other fought like a wildcat to remove the rope.
A third man raced from the dark, a flash of metal warning that he was one of the shooters. Just as he reached the struggling men, the roped fighter’s legs flew up and landed a gut-bending blow to the new threat. Metal flashed, then thudded hard against the jail wall and fell to the dirt. The kicker sprawled backward from the momentum, and Odessa grimaced at the sound of him cursing as he hit the hard-packed ground.
“Damn it, lady,” Shadow complained, “you roped me, not him! Stop pulling or you’ll choke me. Now, run! Get out of here!” He scrambled to his feet, wrestling to remove the rope that was still tangled halfway up his shoulders and in the flap of his trail coat. “Before they decide to call in their brothers.”
Of all times to hit her mark. How many times had she missed when she’d practiced with a rope? Now she had lassoed the wrong man. Stranger or no stranger, Shadow Rivers had gotten into trouble trying to make a deal with her. She refused to leave him. “You don’t know where to meet me,” she argued. “I can’t go.”
“A lame excuse. Now run, lady. Better find a horse and get to riding it. If this is going to work between us, you need to listen and listen good.”
Shadow hoped Odessa Kilmore was as smart as she was desperate. Otherwise, he’d gone to a lot of trouble to give up a comfortable bed for the night and would endure more than a few bruises on her account. Maybe she’d been wise enough to hear the double meaning in his command and understand that he meant her to go where she would find a lame horse. It was nearly three in the morning and the livery was no place to be milling about if she wasn’t there. The mountain of a smithy that ran the blacksmith shop and livery was no man to tangle with.
Creeping silently past some hens that were roosting and a couple of stabled horses that whickered softly, Shadow managed to find his own mount located in the third stall. The bay immediately sensed his presence. The animal raised his head and moved over to the edge of the gate. Shadow reached up to stroke him and whispered, “Sorry, Dollar, it doesn’t look like we’re going to get to stay long enough to give you that rest I promised. Maybe next time.”
At least the blacksmith had repaired the horse’s shoe, given him a good brushing, and saw that he was fed properly. More than Shadow could say he’d gotten for himself. His stomach grumbled, reminding him that he should have kept that last coin for some grub in case this thing with Kilmore didn’t work out. Good thing he’d paid Dollar out in advance and had saved a little beef jerky in his saddlebags.
“Ahh-choo!”
Shadow’s eyes jerked upward to focus on the hayloft that rose above the stables. “Is that you, Miss Kilmore?”
A slow rain of straw filtered down from above as the hay shifted once, then twice. Suddenly a face peered over the edge. A heart-shaped face, high cheekbones, and plush, bowed lips promised pretty features, but he couldn’t take his focus from the puffy eyes that looked swollen almost shut.
“It’s m-me, all right,” the pretty lips answered. “And I hope you know that I’m highly sensitive to all this . . . this . . . achoo! All this hay. Couldn’t you have thought of somewhere cleaner?”
The hens cackled at the sound, stirring the other animals. One of the horses whinnied, making the chickens squawk even louder.
“You want to wake up the smithy?” Shadow warned. “We’d be hard pressed explaining what we’re doing out here before dawn. Besides, I didn’t tell you to get up there.”
It had taken him a while to deal with the shooters who had given chase in the alley. Then he’d turned over the other two he had fought with to Pickens. Rafe hadn’t been real happy with him until he found out the pair were two of the men in the lineup of posters wanted in Kasota Springs up in the Panhandle. Close to where she was in trouble. “He’ll be mad getting woke up so early this morning. And from the size of the man, I’m not looking forward to messing with him.”
“It’s morning? Sunday?” She immediately bolted upright and turned around, climbed down the ladder as if the hay had caught fire.
“Whoa there, surefoot. You’ll kill yourself in the dark.” Shadow grabbed some matches from his coat pocket and struck one on the side of the stall. The lucifer flared red, then blue, sending a sulfuric odor wafting through the livery and offering the light he had meant to lend her safety. The sight of a nicely rounded bottom backing its way down the ladder in a stretch of nankeen trousers was a pleasant surprise. Only then did he realize she was missing something that had afforded him the view. “What did you do with your duster?”
“It’s thrown over that stall there, near the horse with the new shoe. I figured he was yours, what with the instructions you gave me. The other two aren’t lame so I figured it had to be him. Lucky for you the shoe was all he must have needed.”
Yeah, she’s plenty smart. Shadow swung the match to see where she pointed, but he had forgotten the flame and it burned his fingers. “Ye-ouch!”
A chuckle a few feet away said she had crossed the distance that separated them and knew she’d caught him staring at her backside a moment too long. “Serves you right for having me hole up in a place that’ll make me look like a strawberry patch for days. Everybody’s going to think you’ve beaten me to a pulp, and that’ll hurt my plan. I’ve got to get my hands on some water, quick. If I don’t get this off me, I’ll start breaking out in lumps.”
“Was that the only place in here you could hide?” Shadow could spot a handful of dark havens. “Was the smithy still around when you got here?”
Her hair was golden, that much he could tell. Moonlight shone through the slats of the boarded livery wall and her hair could have matched its shine. He’d have to wait till daylight to see its true color and the color of her eyes. That is, if they weren’t swollen shut. He’d bet they were full of piss and vinegar, no matter what the color or condition.
“I waited till his wife called him into their house and then I snuck in. I bet I wasn’t here ten minutes when a couple of men came in. I thought they were going to search the place, but the smithy suspected them up to no good since none of the horses must have belonged to them. He ran them off. While he was out there warning what he’d do to them if he caught them back around his place without business for him, I thought it best to hide up there under that haystack just in case he decided to look around the stalls and see what they were searching for
.”
“Do you think they were after you?”
“Who else?” She sounded confident in the matter. “It was probably some of those men after me in the alley.”
It wasn’t the men from the alley. He would let her know what had happened to them and who they were once he got her somewhere she felt safe. The fact that the two he’d fought with were near neighbors of hers suggested that they might also have been after her instead of him. But he couldn’t be sure until he asked what she knew of them.
“They were smart to go on.” Shadow tried to calm her. Her breathing was a little rapid and he could tell that she still felt threatened. “Any man who could lift an anvil like it was an empty carpetbag is nobody to rile. So unless we want to deal with the smithy ourselves, I suggest we find a better place to hole up until we can figure out if I’m going to take your offer.”
“You mean you might not?”
“Didn’t say that.” He could sense her stiffening, just by the way her shoulders went back and her chin lifted. She had to be about four inches shorter than him, not nearly as little as she’d looked in the confines of the dark alley. “I’ve got to know what the work is before I agree to it.”
“So you’re a man with a code.”
Was she taunting him? Not a wise thing for her to do since she didn’t know his temperament yet. She couldn’t have been a desperado for very long or she wouldn’t be so quick to challenge a man.
“I mean, I didn’t know hired guns were so choosy.”
“Like I said, I don’t use my gun much anymore. I’d rather settle matters other ways if I can.”
“Oh . . .” She sounded almost disappointed. “Then I don’t know if I can hire you after all.”
“You need someone shot, do you?” He’d never shot a man who hadn’t drawn on him first. Not even during the holdup that had put him in prison at fifteen. He wouldn’t do it now.
“Not exactly. At least I hope not, but maybe.”
“Do you know what you really want, Miss Kilmore?” Shadow’s patience was wearing about as thin as his last meal. He wanted nothing more than to get on with his payback to Rafe and put her on a safe road back to a decent life.
“I’d like you to start with taking me over to the church.”
Of all the places he’d expected her to want to go, church was not it. “Well, ma’am, I’m not exactly familiar with the house of worship here in Longhorn City, and I expect that you could have done a sight better than breaking me out of jail to take you.” Maybe he was the one who needed to walk a little cautiously here. The woman was beginning to sound a few stitches loose from a full seam.
“Look, Mr. Rivers, I know I’m not making any sense, but if you’ll just give me time to get rid of this itch, I’ll explain. Then if you decide to walk away, I’ll buy that lame horse from you so you can get yourself a better one.”
“You saying money is no object?”
“I’m not made of it if that’s what you mean, but I’ve got some put away for better times. I figure this is about as good a time to use it as any.”
“You got it with you?”
“Do I look like a fool? How do I know you wouldn’t rob me blind?”
“Well, lady,” Shadow chuckled, “with all that swelling, I couldn’t honestly say what you look like and, near as I can tell, you’re about half blind now. And just to set the record straight, you’re the one on the wanted poster. Not me.” Despite her grit, she was getting more interesting by the minute to him, loco or not. “And just so you make no mistake, Dollar isn’t for sale. We’ve rode too many trails together.”
“Good. You’re a better man than I hoped.” Her tone had softened. “Go ahead and bring him along. I’ll figure out some other way to thank you for taking on those men in the alley.”
“You so sure you were their target?” Shadow moved to the stall and handed Odessa her duster.
“Like you said, I’m the one currently wanted. Why? Do you think they were after you?” She accepted the duster but didn’t put it around her. “I didn’t want to get this all full of hay or I’d have been sneezing from here to Jerkwater.”
“They could have been chasing me,” Shadow admitted as he began saddling the bay. “Are you planning on heading back to where you’re in trouble? Most known criminals run the other way.”
“That’s just it, Mr. Rivers.” She lent him a hand so they could be quick about leaving. “That’s why I need you. The harder I try to go back home, the more men come after me and the faster I’m chased away. Somebody plain and simply doesn’t want me to return to Jerkwater bad enough that they’ve hired men to stop me. I want to hire you to figure out why.”
“Why me? Why not a lawman?” He expected her to say she’d picked him because of his reputation, but then she hadn’t known whom she was actually rescuing from that cell.
“They tend to help only the innocent.”
“Are you guilty?” He stopped what he was doing and looked straight at her. Her head shot up and, to her credit, she met him swollen eye to eye.
“No . . .”
She did the one thing that he hoped she wouldn’t do.
She blinked. “. . . but sort of.”
Great, now he would have to “sort of” figure out whether or not he was willing to work for a liar.
Chapter 3
“Rein right.”
Shadow guided Dollar down the street away from the white building with a steeple. Snuff-clop! Snuff-clop! The sound of the bay’s hooves against the dirt kept time with the slight squeak in the saddle. “You decided not to head for the church after all?”
“I mean rein left. And you ought to whisper in case anyone hears us.”
“Sorry, Dollar.” Shadow tugged the reins the other direction. “Seems the lady can’t make up her mind where to go. And sorry, lady, but this is me whispering.”
“I am half blind at the moment if you remember . . .” The feminine curves that had felt pleasantly distracting bouncing up and down against his back moved away, cooling the snug cocoon Kilmore’s body had plastered against him. “And I can’t see with a wall of muscle and coat in front of me.”
“Muscle, huh?” His chuckle exited husky enough to reveal that he found her description flattering and the nearness of her body against his more than a little distracting. “Left or right looks pretty much the same whichever direction you’re headed. Don’t want to confuse the poor beast, do we? Better hang on tight in case he decides to bolt.”
“Don’t let him wake up anybody. I want some time at the church.”
Just as Shadow hoped, her arms shot around him like two iron bands and she pressed her body against his once more. He was peeved earlier when he had learned she didn’t have a horse of her own. How in the blazes did she think they were supposed to make good use of daylight with one horse? But the press of her body against his had instantly taken away the irritation. It had been one hell of a forever since someone had been this close without expecting payment of some kind. Since anyone had been near enough to touch him. He felt like a man dying from thirst without knowing what it was he needed to drink. He didn’t want to reach that church anytime soon.
At least now he understood why she’d been alone in the alley. This particular outlaw didn’t know how to sit a horse. It might be a long ride to Jerkwater later on, but it was becoming more appealing by the bounce.
A few minutes later, he reined to a halt behind the sanctuary. “Better I tie him up back here in case someone spots him.” Shadow looked up at the position of the moon. Dawn would break in a couple of hours. “Someone might recognize my horse.”
Her arms unbound themselves from his waist and he grabbed her hand to help her down.
“Thanks,” she said, looking up at him, her smile suddenly turning downward as she caught sight of his grin.
He couldn’t help it. He’d gotten a pretty good feel of her ample breasts as her body slid down his leg. He was still rogue enough to admit his wayward thoughts.
�
�You have a dirty mind, sir.” Her brows knit into an angry vee.
If you only knew. Yes, ma’am, there’s a real sweet possibility of you being pretty damned good-looking once your eyes get better, he thought. “I’m not the saint needing church this morning, miss. You are.”
She bustled off around the corner and disappeared from sight. He jumped down and wrapped Dollar’s reins around one of the hitching posts that had been provided to help the overflow of congregational needs out front. “Don’t know how long I’ll be, fella. Maybe she’ll just send me on my way.”
Shadow wasn’t surprised to find the church unlocked. Most left their doors open night and day to offer sanctuary to souls in need. In his years of riding the hard trail, he had spent many a winter or rainy night stretched out on a pew to keep warm. Without fail, each collection plate had soon contained some of his coins to express his appreciation. Better to sleep there than have to keep watch for the inevitable man wanting to challenge his gun in a boardinghouse or hotel.
Church was the farthest place to look for a man who made his living in questionable ways and tended to deter all but the most hardened of those wanting to test Shadow’s fast draw. Maybe Kilmore had the same experience and she intended for them to get some sleep before the preacher showed up.
He stepped inside and saw her about to light one of the candles near the altar. When she turned, he noticed that two now burned. Had she lit one for him? The thought touched Shadow and he was surprised that such sentiment still dwelled inside him. He couldn’t remember the last time anybody had included him in a prayer.
She walked toward him and said nothing, then took a seat at the back pew. Bowing her head she began to pray.
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