The Angel's Devil (Savage Series)

by Lisa Rae

  “Great. Whose place are we getting together at?” Angel inquired.

  “It is Mr. Brook’s turn to host. We get together at 7pm,” McKnight replied.

  Nodding her head she said, “I’ll be there.”

  During the rest of dinner they talked about the arrival of Utter’s wagon train and all the new people and businesses in Deadwood. After Angel said her good byes to McKnight, she walked over to the bank to make a withdrawal so she would have plenty of money for tonight’s game. She couldn’t have been any luckier with the game being at Mr. Brook’s home. He was the man high on the list of her suspicions of being involved in something. She just wasn’t sure what?

  Lost in thought, Angel wasn’t paying attention as she shut the bank door and turned, running right into Diablo. She said, “Excuse me,” before she even realized who it was that held onto her arms to steady her from losing her balance.

  “It’s alright Angel,” Diablo said smiling, happy to see her.

  As soon as he spoke, she knew the voice before she even looked up into his face. “What are you doing here?” She asked in an irritated voice.

  Laughing, he couldn’t help teasing her. “I was depositing all that money I won from you. What are you doing here?” He asked, not about to tell her he was making a deposit for Mr. Brook.

  Reminded of how he had made a fool of her, her temper did not improve as she replied, “Since you cheated me in cards, I have no choice but to withdraw more money from my account.” Angel raised her head in defiance. She wondered if he knew it was the government’s money that he cheated her out of, would he then feel guilty?

  He laughed as she withdrew from his grasp and walked past him to the teller counter. He liked the fire and sand in her, and he loved her passion. Last night had been amazing! He had never known a woman like her. Just thinking about last night made him want her again now. Hurriedly he walked out the bank door before he made a fool of himself.

  When she walked into the saloon later that day, she saw Diablo standing at the bar drinking and talking with some of the men from the wagon train. Angel motioned to the saloon keeper for him to bring her a beer, and she went to a far table in hopes that Diablo wouldn’t come over to join her.

  She hadn’t been sitting there long when her brother walked in with a couple of the outlaws he was now riding with. After they drank a couple beers, Roark excused himself from their company and walked over to Angel. “How ‘bout playing a few hands?” he asked.

  “Sure.” Angel shuffled the deck of cards she had on the table and dealt. After they had played a couple hands and no one was paying attention to them anymore, Angel said, “I was worried. There were signs that some of the outlaws had been shot in the hold up.”

  “Yes, I wasn’t with them, but two were injured pretty good and died last night back at camp.” Roark said.

  “It’s been quiet here, other than Utter’s wagon train coming into town the other day. And I’ve got myself in on a high stakes poker game tonight out at Mr. Brook's ranch,” commented Angel. She instantly noticed a reaction in her brother when she mentioned Mr. Brook’s name. “What is it?” She asked.

  “Our hideout is at some mine shacks on the back of Mr. Brook’s place,” Roark answered.

  “He’s involved then?” Angel stated as much as she asked.

  “I don’t know if he is or not. He has never been back to the mine that I know of. So you be careful out at his place tonight. Don’t let him catch you nosing around,” Roark warned.

  “What have you learned about this gang? Are you planning on arresting them at the next hold up?” Angel asked.

  “I’m hoping to be ready to arrest them at the next stage robbery. By then they should allow me to go along. But first I want to find out who the ring leader is. He has a second man in charge who handles the men, but that guy is answering to someone in charge who knows when the shipments are scheduled. I want to learn who all the players are before we take them down,” Roark explained.

  “I agree. If we don’t get the men at the top, they’ll just recruit new men and start over,” Angel replied.

  “Well I better get back with the gang so they don’t get suspicious.”

  “Be careful Roark,” Angel said as he stood up from the table and nodded his head, before turning and walking away.

  Diablo had been watching Angel and Roark talking as they pretended to play cards. He could tell Angel was relieved when she saw Roark walk into the saloon. He was pretty sure Roark was involved in the Treasure Coach robbery, but what he wanted to know was Angel involved? She obviously had to know Roark was. Did that make her just as guilty if she knows, but is not involved? Diablo pondered those thoughts while he drank another beer.

  After her brother left town with the outlaw gang, Angel headed back to the hotel to order a bath before going to the café for supper. While soaking in the steaming hot tub of water, she thought about what all Roark had told her. It sounded like Mr. Brook was possibly involved somehow in the stage robberies. She couldn’t see the outlaws being on his property without him knowing about it. His cowboys, that kept watch over his herd of steers, would travel over that part of his land, even if he did not. Then her mind wandered to Diablo. How did he fit into all of this? She saw Mr. Brook pay him for a job. But a job doing what?

  Why do I keep falling for the outlaw type? Angel asked herself. Granted her husband had been a good honest man who hunted outlaws, but he still lived an extremely dangerous life. Then she was smitten with Barry, a wanted outlaw, who was hunted down and killed after they busted up the Phantom Outlaw Gang. And now she had gotten herself involved with Diablo, a notorious gunslinger who may be involved with the Treasure Coach Gang she was hired to help bring in, dead or alive. She was tired of losing the men in her life that she cared for . . .

  Standing up in the bath tub and reaching for the towel she left sitting on a chair nearby, Angel dried off as she climbed out of the tub. Determined now that she was going to convince Diablo to hang up his guns before he became a wanted outlaw or was killed. But she would have to wait till tomorrow to talk to him. Tonight after she had supper, she was riding out to the Brook’s ranch for a game of high stakes poker with some of the prominent business men here in Deadwood. In hopes of learning more about who was behind the Treasure Coach robberies.

  Having finished her supper, Angel saddled up her red roan gelding and headed north out of town towards Mr. Brook’s ranch. After riding a ways, she caught up with John McKnight, the assayer; Charles Wagner, the hotel owner; and Ross Wielder, the banker, all riding in the banker’s buggy.

  “Good evening Angel,” Charles greeted her with a warm smile.

  “Good evening gentlemen,” Angel replied back, smiling.

  “I forgot to tell you Angel, when we play at Howard Brook’s place, his brother, who lives with him, will be joining us,” McKnight said.

  “Oh? I didn’t realize he had a brother living here,” she replied.

  “Yes, I believe he is only a half-brother because they have different last names. He is friendly enough, but a bit of a recluse. He never comes to town, and he has Howard take care of the legal side of his mining claim,” McKnight explained.

  “I see . . . Well, I look forward to meeting him,” Angel said, her suspicion growing rapidly. This may be the man behind the stage robberies. It made perfect sense with him not showing his face in town, and few men knowing he even existed. Her suspicion did nothing to prepare her for when she met him though . . .

  Howard Brook had invited them into his parlor for a drink of brandy while they waited for his brother to join them from his room upstairs. When the brother entered the room, it was all Angel could do to not drop the glass of brandy she held in her hand. Age and living an outlaw’s life had not treated him kindly, but she still recognized him. Christopher Wolfe, the man who shot her husband, killed her unborn baby, and tried killing her.

  Stunned, it took Angel a moment before she grabbed for her six-shooter, but Wolfe had already pulled
iron the moment he recognized her.

  “Well if it ain’t Angela Sutherland! I almost didn’t recognize you in those clothes. Looks like you’ve come a long ways from wearing dresses and being a lawman’s wife,” Wolfe commented with an evil grin.

  Angel knew now was not the time to lose her temper, not if she wanted a chance at staying alive. “I don’t go by that name anymore,” she said roughly. “I go by ‘Angel’, and as you can see . . .” Angel referred to her choice in clothes and wearing a six-gun hung low on her hip, “I’ve changed.”

  “So you’re the ace poker player and marksman that I’ve been hearing about for the past few years now,” Wolfe said smiling. “Well let’s see how good you really are.” He motioned for her to sit at the card table. “But first, remove your gunbelt. I don’t want to have to worry about you shooting me while we play a friendly game.”

  Slowly Angel removed her gunbelt and set it on a side table. Her only hope was to convince him that she was an outlaw now too. She doubted he would ever believe or trust her, but it was her only shot.

  The rest of the men were speechless. They didn’t know what to think or say on the matter as Wolfe motioned for them to sit down at the card table too.

  Trying to act like it was no big deal . . . smiling, Angel picked up the deck of cards on the table and started shuffling. Wolfe sat down directly across from her, while two of the other men sat to each side of her. She dealt the first hand and won with two pairs.

  As the night went on, the men around her relaxed and enjoyed the game, forgetting that Wolfe had pulled his revolver on Angel. And her pile of money kept growing. At quarter till midnight, Wolfe declared as he dealt, “This next hand will be the last for the night.”

  The stakes were high as Angel and Wolfe kept bidding. All the men playing had dropped out except for Angel and Wolfe. With $500 sitting in the pot, Wolfe was over confident when he laid down his hand of all four aces and a king.

  As he started to reach for the pot of money Angel calmly spoke, “Not so quick Wolfe.” She then laid her cards down one by one . . . Three of spades, four of spades, five of spades, six of spades, and the seven of spades. After that you could hear a pin drop in the already quiet room.

  Finally Wolfe laughed and spoke to Angel, “You are good!” Then turning to his half-brother, “Howard, why don’t you show your friends to their buggy. Angela─ I mean Angel, and I, have some more catching up to do.” He then smiled reassuringly.

  The men all looked at each other, but did not question it as they took their leave and bid Howard farewell. Thinking that the tiff between Angel and Wolfe was probably no more than a woman scorned. They had no idea that Wolfe had killed her husband, or that he was a wanted man.

  When Howard came back into the room he asked Wolfe, “Is there anything I should be concerned about?”

  “No, you go on to bed. It’s been such a long time since we’ve seen each other, I just wanted to visit with Angel some more before she leaves,” Wolfe replied smiling.

  “All right. Well goodnight Angel. I enjoyed having you over. I hope you will come again?” Howard asked.

  “Thanks Mr. Brook. I would love to,” Angel replied sweetly.

  Christopher Wolfe was all smiles until his brother left the room. Then with a serious look he asked, “Okay Angela, what are you really doing here?”

  Putting on her best poker face she replied with a beautiful smile, “Pretty much the same as you Wolfe. Laying low and scamming people for every penny I can get.”

  “Well I have to admit, you’re pretty durn good at poker. How fast are you at drawing iron?” Wolfe asked curiously.

  She answered him honestly, “I’m not a fast draw, but give me my Sharps rifle, and I can down a buffalo at a distance of a thousand yards!”

  Wolfe whistled and then said, “No way, you’re pullin’ my leg.”

  “Come daylight I’ll prove it to ya,” Angel replied acting tough, hoping for a chance to have a gun in her hand to kill him with.

  He thought about it for a moment . . . Having her on his side could be helpful if she could really shoot that good. “All right, come sunrise. And if you miss, I’ll be standing behind you with my Colt, and I won’t miss.”

  It was all Angel could do to not falter as she looked Wolfe in the eye and said, “Don’t worry, I never miss!”

  Wolfe laughed heartily at her braveness. When he was able to speak he said, “Angel, if you was a man, I’d say you have some big cojones.”

  “Big enough that I could come to work for you?” Angel asked with another smile.

  “What makes you think you can handle being an outlaw?”

  “Ever hear of the Phantom Outlaw Gang?” Angel asked.

  “Ya, I’ve stayed at their hideout a couple times when I was passing through the Colorado area. I heard their hideout was raided by U.S. Marshals and the Calvary last year.” Wolfe commented.

  “They were. I know because I was there when it happened.” She wasn’t about to tell him the real reason she was there though. “Me and a Phantom outlaw named Barry Zimmerman sneaked out a back way when the fighting was going on. We split up later and he was caught and killed. I was his woman.”

  Wolfe was impressed. He knew of the Phantom Gang’s reputation for many years. They wouldn’t have allowed her into their camp without checking her out first. He tilted his head to the side and asked, “How will I know you won’t shoot me the moment I turn my back? I did shoot your husband.”

  “Whether it was you or someone else, it was just a matter of time before someone shot him,” Angel said and shrugged as if she didn’t care.

  “I’ll think on it. First I need to see if you can really shoot, so you can earn your keep. Now head up the stairs, I want to get some sleep.”

  Wolfe followed Angel upstairs and down the hall. “Go in that room on your left,” he ordered.

  Angel was worried that he would now try to rape her as he ushered her into a bedroom. The thought made bile rise up in her throat as he lit the oil lamp in the room.

  “Get some sleep, and don’t get any bright ideas of trying to escape. I’m a light sleeper and I will be locking your door,” Wolfe told her as he pulled the door closed, then she heard the skeleton key turn in the lock . . .

  Chapter 9

  Walking out of the saloon, Diablo spotted Angel riding north out of town on her gelding. Damn, what is she up to now?

  Hurriedly, Diablo went to the livery stable and saddled his gruello stallion. He headed out following her at a far distance so she wouldn’t know he was there. He watched as she caught up to the banker’s surrey, and visited with the men as they all headed for Mr. Brook’s ranch. What was she doing with them? It didn’t make any sense. He followed them cautiously, stopping on the ridge that overlooked the ranch house. He watched as the three men and Angel entered the house.

  When the sun set behind the Black Hills, Diablo moved in closer to the ranch house with little fear of being seen. The cowboys had all retired to their bunkhouse by then. Diablo left his horse tied at the forest edge in a thick gathering of trees, while he snuck up to the house undetected. Crouching under a lighted window, he listened . . . Were they playing cards? It now made sense. Angel enjoyed a high stakes game. Smiling, he wondered how much she would take them for? Going back to where his horse was, he sat down wishing he had had the sense to have brought a sandwich or something along to eat. Normally he kept some jerked meat and hard tack in his saddlebags, but he hadn’t replaced it after finishing off the last of what he had.

  Diablo thought about going ahead and riding back to the café in town for some supper. Surely Angel would safely make it back to town riding along with the banker, assayer, and hotel owner. But something just didn’t feel right, so he stayed and watched.

  The full moon rose, and by its position, Diablo guessed it to be around midnight when he saw the town’s businessmen take their leave in the banker’s buggy. With the full moon he could see clearly, and there was no sign of Angel. Her hors
e stayed tied to the hitching rail out front of the house.

  He watched the house closely, looking for any sign of trouble. Moving in for a closer look, he saw an upstairs bedroom light up as someone walked into the room. Crouched under the parlor window again, he took a chance and peeked into the window. He saw Angel and a man he did not know, still sitting at the card table talking. The man started laughing at whatever it was that Angel had said to him. Diablo was instantly jealous when he saw Angel give the man a big smile, before he ducked back down out of sight.

  He knew he had no right to be jealous. Spending last evening with her didn’t make her his woman. Especially considering she didn’t let him stay the night. But it didn’t stop him from wishing she was his . . .

  Just then the light disappeared in the parlor and reappeared upstairs in a different bedroom than earlier. He watched as the room got even brighter as another lamp was lit in the room. Then Diablo let out the breath he didn’t realize he was holding, as he noticed the room dim again as one light left the room and appeared in the next room over. He was relieved to see that she was alone in the room. But why was she staying the night? And who was that man she was so friendly with?

  After both lights went out upstairs in the rooms, Diablo silently traced his steps back to where his stallion was tied, and bedded down himself. As he finally fell asleep, he was still too angry and jealous to remember he had not had anything yet to eat.

  It wasn’t long after he woke up the next morning that Angel and the unknown man walked outside. Everything appeared to be normal, but something just didn’t feel right to Diablo as he watched them from the trees. Angel untied her horse and walked with the man to the barn. When the man had his horse saddled, they left the barn and mounted their horses to ride off. Just then it dawned on him . . . Angel wasn’t wearing her ivory handled Colt Peacemaker!

  Diablo instantly tensed, knowing Angel didn’t go anywhere without her pistol. Now he knew something wasn’t right as he mounted his own horse to follow them.