A flash and boom of a gun was the only warning that Gideon’s command had been heard. The shot came from the stairs, which meant it was Jake. Someone fell to the floor with an audible thump to Lee’s right. He felt a measure of satisfaction that Jake had gotten the lousy son of a bitch.
“Light, we need light,” Jake shouted.
Lee tried to stand but found he could only get to his knees since his hand was still cupping the throbbing stones between his legs.
Lantern light filled the room and Lee glanced around to see the man who’d come into the mill with Camille, Willard his name was, lying sightless on the floor, a pool of blood beneath him. Damn, they’d been right all along about her. She’d sent her male whore to steal the granddaughter she’d never even seen before that day. The woman was more devious than any person he’d ever met.
“Gid, oh my God, Gid.” Jake knelt next to Gideon. Blood coated their captain’s light blue shirt. “That bastard stabbed him.”
Lee crawled over, the coppery tang of blood growing stronger as he got to Gideon’s supine form. Jake pulled off his shirt and pressed it into Gideon’s chest. Tears of rage filled the redhead’s eyes.
Gideon’s blue eyes were a haze of pain and confusion. Blood seeped from the corner of his mouth and his throat was a mass of reddened skin where he’d been choked. What had Lee brought upon his family? While he was out getting married and thinking happy thoughts, an intruder had tried to kill the people he loved.
“We need the doc, Lee,” Jake shouted at him. “Dammit, get up and do something.”
No matter the pain from the groin kick, Lee got to his feet and ran out the door. He saw Zeke crouched with Genny and Gabby near the stairs, but he didn’t stop.
“Doc,” was all he managed to get out.
Every second Gideon’s life was ticking away. There was no time to waste.
Gabby was the first to go into the house yelling Jake’s name. Genny stared after Lee. He’d had blood on his hands and shirt, and a look of pure desperation on his face. He must be going to Doctor Barham’s house, which meant someone inside was hurt.
Zeke was the next into the mill, leaving Genny to drag herself up. Her fear had become self-loathing over what had happened. She’d spent most of her life believing she had been a mistake, a person who was never meant to be. Giving birth to Sophie, finding love with Lee, had pulled her from the depths of human excrement.
Now she was right back in there, knowing she was responsible for whatever had happened inside that mill. She’d caused pain and suffering for Lee’s family because her mother was evil incarnate. Genny could ask why over and over, but no answer would ever come. Life had not been too kind to the illegitimate piece of white trash pretending to be an everyday farm wife. Why would it change now?
When she screwed up her courage to go into the mill, the smell of blood hit her first. Her gorge rose, as did the vivid memory of standing over Allen’s body in the alley. She swallowed down the bile that threatened and looked around at the destruction.
The tables and chairs were either knocked over or broken. Gabby was on her knees at Gideon’s head while Jake and Zeke were like bookends beside him. Gabby had helped the doctor with nursing over the years and thank God she had. Naomi was tearing sheets and handing them to Gabby to stem the bleeding in Gideon’s chest.
Jake’s wife looked up. “Genny, get some water boiling.”
Genny ran to the stove, grateful for something to do. As she stoked up the fire, she noticed another body lay on the floor near the stairs. It was Willard, Camille’s newest toy. Genny trembled with the absolute certainty that her presence may have caused Gideon’s death.
“Don’t faint on me now, Genevieve,” Zeke barked. “I told you this wasn’t your fault. Now get your ass moving and boil water so Gabby can save his life.”
Genny nodded, too scrambled to do anything else. She watched as Zeke and Jake picked Gideon off the floor and onto a blanket Naomi had put on the table. Gideon groaned in pain and a sob burst from somewhere to Genny’s left.
She looked over to see a slender blonde woman standing in the shadows. Her hand covered her mouth as her blue eyes welled with tears. Genny had no idea who the woman was, but she was doing what Genny couldn’t. If she let the tears loose, there’d be no stopping them. No, she had to be strong, she had to do something to save this man who had protected her daughter.
“Where’s Sophie?” Genny suddenly realized there was one person not present.
“Cindy, is the girl still asleep upstairs?” Jake asked the blonde.
She nodded and put her palms together, pressing them against her cheek with her head cocked. Sleeping. She was saying Sophie was sleeping.
Genny went over to the sink to pump water into the bucket as the fire grew hotter. She managed to catch the woman’s gaze. “Thank you.”
The blonde shook her head and pointed at Gideon. Genny wondered if there was a relationship between the strangely quiet woman and Gideon, but now wasn’t the time to ask. She put the bucket on the stove and grabbed another.
Naomi came over and opened the hot water reservoir, ladling out the last of it into a bowl. “Put some fresh water in here too, Genny. We’ll need as much hot water as we can get I think.”
The next ten minutes were a blur as Genny filled two more buckets and started on a fourth. Her arms were screaming in agony from pumping the water so hard and carrying what was probably forty pound buckets to the stove. It didn’t matter though, not one little bit. None of it mattered if Gideon was dying.
Lee burst into the mill, a frazzled-looking Dr. Barham in tow. Genny looked at her new husband and felt the depth of his agony over Gideon’s dire wounds. She wanted to pull Lee into her arms and weep with him. She sucked back the weakness of her own grief and kept her focus on helping.
“Everyone but Gabby, stand back.” He set his bag on a chair. “Tell me what’s happened.”
“He was stabbed twice, once below the ribs and the other right through the fifth and sixth ribs on the right side.” Gabby spoke cleanly and crisply, focusing on the job, no doubt, instead of the copious amounts of blood on the bandages. “I think it missed the lungs, but there might be organ damage. I’ve slowed the bleeding, but he’ll need to be stitched immediately.”
“I assume the gentleman on the floor doesn’t need my help.” Doctor Barham waited for Gabby’s confirmation before continuing. “Good, then where’s the hot water?”
Everyone turned to look at Genny. She felt their pain, their worry and pushed her guilt aside. “The first bucket is ready.”
Naomi brought her a clean bowl, and Genny ladled in piping hot water with shaking hands. It would be the first of many that night.
As the doctor ripped open Gideon’s shirt, he shooed the men out of the room. “Go outside and pace. You’ll only distract us.”
Genny would stay and help all she could. While Naomi ran back and forth for water, more bandages and whatever Gabby and the doctor needed, Genny kept the water boiling for the next two hours. The surgery was gruesome and gave Genny an appreciation for what doctors do. As she stood guard over the water, deep down all she could do was pray that Gideon would survive.
If he didn’t, she knew her marriage was over before it had begun.
After washing off his hand in the river, Lee wrapped a handkerchief around the bite marks from the bastard Willard. The remaining three Devils were gathered in back near the wheel, their favorite spot to talk and think out loud. The man lying on the table inside should have been there with them, but God willing, he would join them the next time.
“That mother-in-law of yours is a fucking bitch.” Zeke stood with his hands on his hips, glaring at no one in particular.
“Genny warned us Camille was up to something. Now we know what. Fucking bitch is a kind way to describe her.” Jake sat on the stone wall, a piece of grass in his mouth. “I can
’t believe that sweet woman in there came from that vicious cunt.”
Lee walked over to Jake and held out his hand. “Tie this, would you?” He was surprised to find he felt no embarrassment about asking for help tying. Used to be he’d use his teeth and anything else he could to avoid asking for help. The expression on Jake’s face confirmed he was just as shocked.
As Jake tied off the bandage, he frowned at Lee. “You saved him, you know? I couldn’t figure out who was who in the dark.”
Lee sat next to his friend. “I don’t know if I saved him or not. Willard was choking Gideon, so I just beat at the bastard until he let go. Maybe if I’d just shot him, Gid wouldn’t be in there bleeding to death.” Guilt was a familiar companion for most soldiers, and he’d had his fair share of what ifs.
“That’s a load of horse shit.” Jake looked at Zeke. “Lee jumped in there like a wildcat, as always, and the bad guy ended up dead. Sometimes your brother’s antics are for good instead of evil.”
“That true? He was choking Gid and you stopped him?” Zeke peered at Lee with that intense stare of his.
“I did what I had to. Bastard bit me but I pulled off half his scalp, then he kicked me in the balls.” Which were currently still aching and probably would for at least another hour. Nice wedding night this had turned out to be. “Jake here shot the son of a bitch dead, not me.”
“How the hell did you manage not to kill the wrong person?” Zeke sat on the other side of Jake. Lee could almost see his brother shaking with the need to go find Camille and strangle her.
“I am a crack shot.” Jake raised one brow. “And I knew Lee was down judging by the groans, and Gideon was definitely on the floor. That left the only person standing the one I needed to shoot.”
Zeke nodded. “Good thing your aim was true, Sergeant, or I would have blown his head clear off his body if he had come out that door.”
Lee’s anger was always hotter than the sun, burning so fast and fierce he usually didn’t have a moment to think before he acted. Zeke’s was more like a smoldering vat of embers, ones that would kill you before you even realized how hot they were. In that respect, they were different as could be, but the need for revenge was a different story.
“We’re going to go find her, right?” Lee asked.
“Damn straight. That bitch is mine.” Zeke patted his pistol as if making sure it was still strapped to his thigh.
“I hope you mean to arrest her and not shoot her.” Jake was the calmest of the three. “Ain’t no way that idiot Willard broke into the mill on his own. She was behind it and she needs to be arrested and put on trial for attempted murder and kidnapping.”
Zeke plucked at his badge. “I don’t know if I can do that. Right about now all I want to do is see her blood on the wall behind her.”
Lee tasted the same need for vengeance. That woman had put her own greed above human life, and when those lives were his family, there was no way he’d let her get away with it. The only thing holding him back was Genny.
It seemed like days ago they stood in front of Gregory and said their I dos to become man and wife. The memory was bittersweet considering the violence and death that had followed.
“We need to bunker down for a few days.” Jake, unbelievably, was the voice of reason in Gideon’s absence. He was usually the Devil looking for the backdoor way to get things done, not the most logical. “Let her know she didn’t beat us, that we’re all standing guard over Sophie. Gideon can heal while we figure out what the hell to do with this woman and her threat.”
Lee hadn’t spoken to Genny since the attack, since he’d almost lost one of the four men who were closest to him in the world. As quiet settled over the group, he thought about exactly how he did feel. He knew it wasn’t Genny’s fault and she was more surprised than he was to see her mother in Tanger.
God, he definitely loved her, just the thought of holding her made goose bumps march down his skin. Genny was a flower in the middle of a manure pile, and he was the lucky son of a bitch who got to call her wife. If she lost the farm, possible considering she never had legal control over it, they’d have to find somewhere else to live. Hell, maybe it was time he really did become an accountant and support his new family.
“She’s not to blame, you know.” Zeke’s quiet words were loud in the night air.
“No, not at all. Genny is an angel and has always been good folk. She couldn’t choose her parents any more than I could.” Jake’s crooked smile hid the pain of being illegitimate himself, a bastard Blackwood never acknowledged by the once mighty family.
Lee was grateful for their acceptance of Genny’s innocence in the debacle that just occurred. Now he would probably have to convince her of that fact. Judging by the way she looked at him earlier, guilt had already thrown its shroud over her heart.
Chapter Eleven
Her eyes felt as if someone had poured sand in them. Genny rubbed at them, knowing they would only hurt more but unable to stop herself. It had been one of the longest nights of her life, wondering if Gideon would survive. The doctor was amazing, as were Gabby’s nursing skills. Genny would trust her life to either one of them.
While the women stayed in the kitchen, keeping watch over Gideon, the men patrolled the outside of the mill. They’d gotten rid of Willard’s body right after the doctor had arrived, thank God.
The mill felt like a fort with soldiers watching over them. In a way, it was, although Genny didn’t like the feeling one bit. Thankfully Gideon didn’t get a fever and he seemed to be resting comfortably.
She had to talk to Lee, see him, touch him, kiss him, if only to reaffirm life and their love for each other. After murmuring to Naomi and Gabby that she’d be back in a few minutes, Genny went out onto the porch. The muted light of dawn painted everything an eerie shade of gray. It looked lifeless and gloomy outside.
Jake was on the front porch, shotgun cradled in his arms. He gestured to the side of the mill and she smiled at him in thanks. Genny stepped onto the grass, the dew immediately washing her feet and ankles. Her shoes had been nearly ruined with the night’s activities so she’d left them to dry by the stove, hopeful the blood would come out of the leather.
Lee stood on the low stone wall, pistol strapped to his thigh, and hat pulled low on his forehead. He spotted her immediately and jumped down. Genny couldn’t stop herself if she tried. She ran toward him and when he opened his arm wide, a sob burst from her throat.
She burrowed into his warmth, her tears soaking the collar of his shirt. He didn’t say anything, but he held her tight and let her cry until her inner storm had passed. Genny pulled a handkerchief from her skirt pocket and blotted her eyes, then blew her nose. She let out a honk that made Lee snort.
“Are you all right?” She finally looked at him and saw the love on his face. Love for her.
Genny managed to swallow the lump in her throat knowing he wasn’t angry or disappointed with her, not to mention there was no blame for what happened. It was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders.
“My balls hurt, son of a bitch kicked me, but otherwise I’m good.” He held up a bandaged hand. “He bit me too. Should’ve known that Willard was a sneaky street rat. How’s Gid?”
“He’s sleeping. The doctor said he lost a lot of blood, but he’s strong and healthy. No fever either, which is a miracle.” She laid her head on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry, Lee.”
He pulled her over to the wall and sat her down. “You have nothing to apologize for. Your mother is fucking loco, and I thank God you left her at twelve or you’d probably be the same way.”
Genny’s reminder that Lee knew exactly what lay in her past made her cringe. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you the whole truth about me.”
He squatted in front of her and cupped her cheek. “You did what you had to, Genny. You were a just a girl when you had to become a mother. You�
��re sure Sophie isn’t Henry’s, right?”
“No, she’s not.”
“Thank God. Henry was such an ass.” Lee’s comment made a chuckle bubble up inside her.
“That he was. Is everything going to be all right between us?” She held up her left hand, the gold band bright against the pale skin.
He took her hand and kissed the finger holding the wedding ring. “Darlin’, there ain’t nothing in this world that could keep me from being your husband. I love you and I meant every word of that vow we said last night.”
“Thank God.” Genny dropped on the ground next to him and hugged him so tight, she heard her own bones crack.
“I hate to interrupt, and I mean that, but we have a problem.” Jake’s voice permeated Genny’s happy bubble.
“What is it?” Lee stood, hauling Genny to her feet more quickly than she thought possible.
“Margaret came over to let us know there was a stranger at the restaurant asking for Genevieve Boudreaux.” Jake pointed at Genny. “That’s you, right?”
Genny’s heart began thundering again. “Yes, until last night anyway.”
Lee squeezed her arm. “Where is he?”
“Zeke went and fetched him, put him in the jail. You need to take Genny over and find out what this man wants. Zeke sent Martin over to relieve you.” Jake turned to leave as Martin, the burly blacksmith, appeared with a shotgun in hand.
With only a nod to the big man, Lee led Genny toward the jail. Her stomach clenched with fear over whoever she’d find at the jail. More blood could be spilled over her past coming back to cast its dark shadow over her new family. She just wanted it all to go away so she could start her new life with Lee. That wasn’t going to happen of course—Genny had to face down and conquer her own demons.
“Are you sure you want to stay married to me?”
Lee stopped short and hauled her against him. His lips were hard, almost bruising in their intensity. “Until the day I die.”
Devils on Horseback: Lee, Book 4 Page 17