by Bobbi Smith
“I’ll make sure Jack finds out,” Steve promised. “You get well.”
“I aim to.”
Steve was proud of Jim. He had once again proven himself to be exactly the kind of man the Rangers wanted. He was brave, courageous, determined and loyal. His injuries were grave. His recovery would be slow, but he would ride with the Rangers again.
Steve bade him good-bye and left. As he stepped out into the daylight, he was ready to ride. He would track down his old friend Jack and warn him that the Sheldons were gunning for him. Then he would go after the Sheldons himself. They had killed two of his friends and had wounded Jim. He wanted to make sure they never hurt anyone again.
Chapter One
Philadelphia
Jack Logan was not in the best mood as he stared out the window of his hired carriage. He’d thought things would go smoothly once he reached Philadelphia. He’d thought it would be a simple matter to go to Margaret Randall’s home, give her Dan’s letter of introduction and then escort Amanda Taylor back to Texas. That done, he would have fulfilled his promise to Dan, and he could get back to doing some serious drinking. But the way things were going, he wondered. It seemed he was on a wild goose chase, and the wild goose he was looking for was one Miss Amanda Taylor.
Oh, he had made it to Margaret Randall’s home all right. Dan’s mother-in-law had been expecting him, and, after reading Dan’s letter of introduction, she’d greeted him warmly. She’d then informed him that Amanda was not there, but was spending the night at a friend’s home. Mrs. Randall had given him the address, and he’d started off to find her.
It seemed, however, that the young woman had lied to her grandmother. Amanda was not at her friend Bethany Wycliffe’s home. The butler at the Wycliffes’ had told him that the two young women could be found at the address he now sought. He’d offered no further information, and Jack had noticed that he’d been a bit nervous about telling him what little he had. Jack had been curious about the servant’s reluctance—until now, as the carriage drew to a stop and the driver called out.
“This is the address you gave me, sir.”
Jack descended from the vehicle and re-checked the numbers just to make sure. He shook his head in disbelief as he realized he was at the correct address. He had no idea what sweet, young, innocent Miss Amanda Taylor was doing in this part of town, but he intended to find out. This was no place for a lady.
It was still light out, and for that Jack was thankful. When night fell, this street would be a dark and dangerous place. There was a bar on every corner and scurrilous-looking people milling about. Not that that bothered Jack; he was used to dealing with unsavory characters. Hell, he’d been one until Dan had asked him to do this job. But he could see no reason why Dan’s daughter would be associating with them.
The particular address the butler had given him was for a bar called The Palace. There was a crowd gathered in front of it, and he wondered why as he reached up to pay the driver. He started to walk away, judged the look of the crowd, then had second thoughts.
“Wait for me, and I’ll make it worth your while,” he called back.
The driver’s eyes brightened at the promise. “Yes, sir. I’ll stay right here.”
“I shouldn’t be long.”
As Jack moved off toward the bar, he could hear shouts and loud noises coming from inside and wondered what he’d gotten himself into. This was supposed to have been a simple trip, but so far nothing about it was turning out simple. He couldn’t imagine what was going on, and he girded himself for the worst—whatever that was.
And it was the worst.
The sight that greeted him when he reached the bar’s doors and looked inside left him stunned. Six wild-eyed, axe-wielding women were systematically smashing every table, glass and bottle of liquor in the place.
“Down with demon liquor!” Their high-pitched, condemning shouts echoed through the male sanctuary.
“Liquor is a bane on mankind!” another woman yelled as she wielded her axe with enthusiasm, sending a group of startled patrons running.
Jack mourned the loss of the liquor as that particular female destroyed the half-full bottle of fine bourbon the men had left behind when they’d abandoned their table. For the first time since he’d left Texas, he regretted giving Dan Taylor his word that he wouldn’t drink. Right now, a straight bourbon would have made all this seem a lot easier to deal with.
“Damn it! What the hell is going on here?” the bartender bellowed, outraged by the hostile invasion. “What do you women think you’re doing?”
“Do not use vile language in our presence, sir! We are here to save souls!” the women of the temperance movement responded as they continued their attack.
Jack pulled the tintype Dan had given him out of his pocket and glanced down at it. If one of these battleaxes was Amanda Taylor, he had to get her out of there fast before she got herself into real trouble. The bartender didn’t look like the forgiving type.
As he studied Amanda Taylor’s picture, he heard more glass being shattered and thought of all the whiskey being destroyed. As much as he wanted a drink, a promise was still a promise. Jack hadn’t promised Dan he wouldn’t cuss, though, and he muttered a curse under his breath. Forcing himself to focus on the picture of the female he sought, he tried to reconcile this dark-haired, dark-eyed, angelic beauty with the fire-breathing hellions who were wreaking chaos in the saloon.
“Quit wasting my good stuff!” the bartender shouted.
The woman standing near him raised her weapon threateningly.
“There is no good liquor!” she returned indignantly as she smashed another bottle.
“Ladies!” he shouted again, trying to be heard over the din.
When they ignored him, he stayed behind the bar to protect his most expensive stock. He snatched up the whiskey that had been on the counter and was about to store it away when a tall, raven-haired Valkyrie confronted him.
“Put that bottle down and step back! I don’t want to hurt you!” she ordered as she took aim at the bar. “We’re here to destroy this terrible evil! This blight upon our land!”
He saw the fierce determination in her righteous expression and stumbled backward out of harm’s way just as she brought her axe down with unerring accuracy. She destroyed the half-full bottle of whiskey he’d put back on the bar, leaving him staring at the remains, horrified.
“You swing that axe again and I’m sending for the law!” he snarled.
She did.
And he did.
“You men!” he called out to his patrons, who were standing around in shock. He dodged more flying glass and the spray of wasted whiskey as he continued, “Call the constable! Get some help in here! I want these women arrested and put in jail!”
Several of the men needed no further encouragement. They bolted for the door, eager to go for help.
Jack stepped farther inside the saloon to get out of their way as he took one last look at the picture. He recognized Amanda now. She was the hellcat attacking the bar. He jammed the picture back into his pocket, ready to do what had to be done. If the other men were going for the law, he had to make his move now. The last thing he wanted to do was bail Miss Amanda Taylor out of jail.
“Damn it, woman! I’ve had enough! Stop it! Right now!” The bartender lost his temper. He advanced on the young woman who was destroying his liquor, intent on doing her bodily harm.
Jack saw the fury in the man’s face and knew Miss Amanda was in big trouble. He strode forward, ready to disarm and overpower the woman he’d crossed half a continent to find. He was going to fulfill his promise to Dan. He was going to see Amanda safely home, in spite of herself. True, she was armed and might prove dangerous if he wasn’t careful, but he’d dealt with worse than her before and survived.
“She’s mine,” Jack stated arrogantly. “I’ll handle her.”
His tone was so deadly and so serious that the bartender stopped his advance. He looked between them and was more than ha
ppy to let him handle the axe-wielding maniac. “I want all of them arrested! I want them to pay for the damage they’ve caused! I want—”
“Will you pay for the damage you’ve caused in the lives of the countless women and children who were victimized by the evils of drink?” one of the other women cried.
Jack paid no attention to the others. He was single-minded as he stalked his prey. He scowled blackly as he watched Amanda lift the axe again and aim for what looked like the last full bottle of whiskey in the bar. He wasn’t about to let it go the way of the others. In one deft move, Jack saved the liquor from certain extinction by snaring her around the waist and jerking her back against him. He twisted the weapon out of her grip.
“What are you doing! Unhand me, you fiend!” Amanda cried out in alarm as she found herself pinned against a hard male body in an unyielding grip. She’d been concentrating so hard on breaking whiskey bottles that she hadn’t paid attention to what was going on around her. She didn’t know who this man was, and she had no intention of suffering his abuse. “Let me go!”
“Shut up, you little fool!” he ground out. He tossed her axe aside in disgust and started toward the door, dragging her along with him.
“How dare you!” She was fighting tooth and nail to free herself, but it proved impossible. Fear filled her. His hold on her was iron, his strength overpowering.
Jack had been irritated to start with, and his exasperation grew as she continued to struggle, hampering his attempt to get her out of the bar before the law came. Time was of the essence, so he gave up the effort to treat her like a lady and did the simplest, most effective thing. He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of grain. She went still, and he smiled grimly. He might have knocked the wind out of her, but at least he’d shut her up for a little while.
The other women were so busy wrecking The Palace that they didn’t react immediately to the sight of Amanda being carried bodily away by the tall stranger. By the time they realized what had happened, Jack was already disappearing out the door with her.
“Wait!”
“Amanda!”
They rushed to follow, emerging from the saloon just in time to see him put Amanda in a waiting hired carriage, yell something up to the driver and climb in after her. The other women ran toward them, fearing something terrible was going to happen to Amanda.
“Go!” Jack shouted to the driver as he slammed the door behind him.
The temperance ladies had almost reached the carriage when the vehicle rumbled off. They would have given chase, but the police arrived right then and complete pandemonium broke out.
Jack was feeling quite satisfied with himself as he sat back on the carriage seat. Dan would be pleased that he’d gotten his daughter out of there just in time. He started to relax, believing the worst was over. He had finally found her. Now, all he had to do was get her home to West Texas.
Leaning back, Jack folded his arms over his chest. He glanced across the carriage at Dan’s daughter and tried not to smile. She was a pretty young woman, but he wondered if his friend knew what a spitfire she was. It would be interesting to see what kind of sparks flew once he got her home to her daddy and he found out what she’d been doing in Philadelphia.
Amanda could feel her kidnapper’s gaze upon her and was terrified. She had to escape this man! She’d never seen him before in her life and could only imagine what he wanted with her. She studied him from beneath lowered lashes as she huddled on the opposite side of the coach. He was a big man, and he was obviously strong. How else could he have carried her from the bar with so little effort? His very presence dominated the carriage, and she knew he was a man to be reckoned with.
Had she been more calm, Amanda might have noticed that her captor was wearing a Stetson, a rather uncommon sight in Philadelphia. Right then, though, she was not being logical. She was struggling not to panic. She had to keep her nerve. This was no time to turn into a sniveling coward.
Amanda began to tremble as she realized how helpless she’d been against this man once he’d taken her axe away from her. But afraid or not, she had to save herself. Nobody else was going to do it! She might be unarmed, but she could use her wits and outsmart him—whoever he was.
Without a thought, she made a grab for the carriage door. If she moved quickly enough, she could throw herself from the vehicle. She might get a few bumps and bruises, but nothing she wouldn’t get over, and at least she’d be free of him. She threw the door wide, ready to reclaim her freedom at whatever cost.
Jack had just begun to relax when Amanda suddenly opened the door and tried to jump out. With no thought of anything but saving her, he reacted instinctively. He grabbed Amanda just in time and hauled her back onto his lap in a bone-jarring move.
“Idiot!” he snarled, thinking how close she’d come to possibly killing herself.
“You animal!” Amanda was not used to being thwarted. She swung out at him with all her might. She was no weakling. Her slap was hard and caught him fully on the cheek.
Moments before, Jack’s mood had almost been light-hearted, but not anymore. He was furious. He crushed her against him. When she would have swung at him again, he caught her wrist in an almost bruising grip.
“Are you trying to kill yourself?”
“Let me out of this carriage! How dare you take me against my will?” she demanded, her eyes ablaze with anger. “Do you know what they do to kidnappers? You could be hanged! You could be shot! You have no right—”
“I have every right!” Jack growled in a tone that would have cowed any man.
But Amanda was not any man, and she was past being afraid. “I’ve never seen you before in my life! You just walked right into that bar and abducted me! There were witnesses! You’re going to be arrested and—”
“Your father gave me the right,” he said, cutting her off.
“My father?” She went suddenly still, blinking as she really looked at him for the first time. Under other circumstances, she might have found him attractive, but at that moment she saw only the fury in his glittering, dark-eyed gaze and in the hard set of his jaw. Her tone was cautious as she spoke again. “What’s my father got to do with this? How do you know my father?”
“My name’s Logan, Jack Logan. Your father sent me here to bring you home.”
“My papa sent you, after me?” Amanda scoffed, finding that difficult to believe. Her father would never have sent such a barbaric man after her, and he certainly wouldn’t have approved of such uncouth actions. “I don’t believe you,” she said indignantly. “If my father had wanted me home, he would have come for me himself.”
Jack shrugged indifferently. “It doesn’t matter to me whether you believe me or not. Your father asked me to escort you home, and since I owed him, I said yes.”
“You’re lying.”
Jack shot her an ugly look. He didn’t take well to being called a liar. “I’ve been a lot of things in my life, but I’ve never been a liar. I’ve got a letter from him right here that explains everything.”
“Why didn’t he come himself?” She still didn’t trust this Jack Logan.
He was growing even more exasperated with her mule-headedness. “All your father told me was that he couldn’t leave the stage line right now and that he wanted you back home.”
When she wriggled against him trying to free herself, Jack suddenly realized that he was holding her far too tightly. He’d been too irritated with her to notice before, but her breasts were pressed against his chest and her hips were snug in his lap. Immediately, he let her go.
The sudden release, coupled with the jolting of the carriage almost sent Amanda sprawling. She quickly took advantage of her freedom, though, and shifted to the other seat.
Jack ignored her difficulties as he dug Dan’s letter out of his pocket and handed it to her. She snatched it from him, still skeptical of his honesty. When she recognized her father’s handwriting, though, she knew he’d been telling the truth, and she was s
tunned.
“Papa did send you.” There was amazement in her tone.
She didn’t say any more, but ripped open the missive and began to read it to herself.
Daughter,
I have been notified by your grandmother and by the school that you have been suspended for your “unusual” activities. The news distresses me greatly, and I fear your actions bring shame upon our family name. I would make the trip myself to retrieve you if I could, but the situation is such that I cannot leave the stage line for even a few weeks.
I am sending in my stead Jack Logan. He is a friend of many years and an ex-Ranger. I trust him completely and know that he will keep you safe on your trip back home.
Needless to say, I am greatly disappointed at this turn of events. I had set great store on your getting the same fine education your mother had. It pains me sorely to know that you have failed in this endeavor.
We will speak of this more upon your return.
Your father
Amanda fought back tears as she carefully refolded the letter. It seemed she had let her father down yet another time. She wondered vaguely if the day would ever come when she would do something that would please him. Her father had been disappointed in her from the day she was born for he’d wanted a son, not a daughter. She forced a smile, refusing to let Jack Logan see her distress.
“Do you believe me now?” Jack asked, seeing that she’d finished reading.
“Yes. I believe you.” She took a minute to put the missive back in the envelope.
“And?”
“What if I say I won’t go back with you?” Amanda looked at him challengingly. She had known that her father would be upset by the news of her suspension, but she’d thought she’d be able to continue living in the East. She wanted to keep working with the woman’s suffrage movement. Never in her wildest imaginings had she thought that her father would actually force her to return to Texas.
“I’d say you don’t have a choice,” Jack said tightly. He would never have guessed that locating Amanda and taking her back to her father would be such an ordeal. But she was turning out to be one contrary female.