The Bride Series (Omnibus Edition)

by Bittner, Rosanne

  “But why would Jason have my place attacked?”

  Brand shook his head. “I don’t know.”

  “Do you think he’d have us all killed just to get Rachael?”

  Brand held his eyes. “Now do you understand? Jason Brown will do anything he has to do to get what he wants. Marrying Rachael was all part of it. It would make him look better married to a bright and beautiful woman like…Rachael.” His voice broke at the name and he turned away. “We have to find her,” he groaned.

  Joshua frowned. “You really love her, don’t you?”

  Brand turned, his eyes red and watery. “I would die for her. That just might happen before this is over, but we have no choice. If we go to other Rangers for help, they will not believe us. Besides, there isn’t time. Wherever Rachael is, Jason is probably with her by now. It tears at my guts to even think of it!”

  Joshua got up, wincing with pain. “Let’s get going then.”

  Brand breathed deeply, turning away and wiping his eyes. “What about your wounds?”

  “I’ll make it somehow.”

  Brand noticed a spot of blood on his shirt at the side. “You are still bleeding a little. We had better keep an eye on that. I had to ride off with no supplies, but if the bleeding gets any worse, I can make a poultice from plants that will help stop it and will help keep the wound from being infected.” He looked Joshua over. “You must be in a lot of pain. Are you sure you can do this?”

  “I don’t have any choice. I’ve got to help my brother and sister. And don’t worry about supplies. I’ve got plenty. You want something to eat before we leave?”

  “No.” Brand turned to look again at the smoldering ruins. “I am too full of hatred and worry to care about that.”

  Joshua studied the half-breed, wishing he had been right about the man but realizing he had been totally wrong. “I reckon you’re a good man, Selby. If you can prove to me you’re right about Jason Brown, I reckon I’ll have to blame myself for what’s happened to Rachael and Luke. But I hope you understand I thought I was doing what was best for Rachael. I do love her.”

  Brand turned back to face him. “That makes two of us.”

  Joshua blinked back tears. “I’m sorry about what happened here.”

  “There are many things for both of us to be sorry for. I am sorry I did not turn away from Rachael the moment I knew that I loved her and just ride away from here forever.”

  Joshua breathed deeply, rubbing his eyes. “I’ll never forgive myself if—”

  “We will find her, Joshua.”

  Joshua just nodded, unable to speak.

  Brand walked over the ridge to get his horse. He wanted to throw back his head and scream out in agony. Rachael had surely suffered some terrible fate, and all because she loved him.

  It was nearly six o’clock in the evening when Jason and his men reached Hell’s Canyon, an ancient chasm among a maze of canyons and crevices and rock formations set curiously amid a vast sweep of rich plains carpeted green and yellow. There was no explanation for the several thousand acres of buttes, mesas, and low, spiked mountains in this area, other than it just being another odd result of nature’s hand. Jason couldn’t care less about the geological aspect of the area. All he cared about was that this area provided an array of places where hunted men could hide. He had routed out many a horse thief from this area, as well as renegade Indians. But Lobo and his men were never bothered.

  Sam Greene whistled out a signal to four men who stood guard atop the canyon, signifying that those who approached were friends. Jason’s heart pounded with anticipation as he headed his horse down a rocky escarpment. Jules should have gotten here by now with Rachael, if he had her. Jason figured it a sure bet that Rachael would try to go and warn Brand Selby. If she did, she would be waiting for him below. If not, he would deal with her when he got back to Austin. Rachael Rivers would pay, one way or another.

  The men who stood guard waved their rifles in the air while Jason, Sam, Dan, Hank, and Wendel headed downward, rocks slipping and sliding before them. The open plains led to a confusing mingle of rocks and buttes that led to this canyon, and outlaws who used it seldom worried about getting trapped inside. For one thing, no one ever got past the guards. And if one needed to make a quick exit, it was a simple matter of stampeding stolen horses or cattle through the entrance Jason now used, chasing back any would-be intruders and opening the way for the outlaws to escape. And there was another exit, narrower and harder to reach from the outside. But Lobo and his men knew about it and felt perfectly safe in the canyon, which was so deep that smoke from their campfire dissipated so much by the time it floated out the top of the canyon that it was seldom detected by outsiders. Besides that, the whole area was so rocky and desolate, few people ever came into the vast, confusing land of rocks and heat.

  Below Jason could see herds of cattle and horses, many of which he knew had been stolen from Joshua Rivers. A wagon of hay stood beside a canyon wall, also stolen for temporary feed until Lobo could leave and herd the animals south into Mexico. Then they could feed on buffalo grass as they made their journey. There was some grass below, at a place where a few pine trees clustered around the bottom of a waterfall. The water splashed out of the middle of one wall of the canyon, from some mysterious source. It splashed over smooth rock and into a stream that ran through one corner of the canyon, then disappeared underground, probably reappearing outside the canyon in a stream somewhere, but no one really knew. The water made Hell’s Canyon a perfect hiding place, providing nearly everything needed for men like Lobo and his kind.

  To anyone else, the canyon would be beautiful, secluded, peaceful. But men like Jason Brown and the outlaws he was riding in to greet cared little about such things.

  “Greetings, Señor Brown!” Lobo called out when he saw Jason coming. He waved his arm, and Jason removed his hat and waved back. He saw Jules walking toward Lobo and his heart quickened. He was here! Surely that meant Rachael was here, too! He rode a little faster, dismounting before his horse even came to a full halt.

  “Lobo, my friend!” he said, putting out his hand.

  The handsome, mustachioed Mexican shook his hand. “Hey, amigo, it is about time you came. We must get going in no more than two days. There is not enough feed for the cattle and horses. And with all this raiding, other Rangers might be searching for us—ones who want to kill us, no? Not ones who are our friends, like you.”

  Lobo laughed, displaying even, white teeth.

  “You’re probably right about others being alerted, Lobo,” Jason answered. “But I am glad you waited.”

  “Ah, your friend Jules, here, he tells me I should wait so that you can see the white woman he brings before I take her to Mexico.” He grinned even wider. “Señor Brown, that one—” He made a kissing sound. “She bring much gold in Mexico. Jules say you want to marry her, now you want to sell her.” He frowned. “He say she sleep with the half-breed, Brand Selby? This is true?”

  The hatred came back into Jason’s eyes. “It’s true. And she’ll pay.” He looked at Jules. “She tried to warn him then?”

  Jules nodded, grinning. “Just like you said she would. I had to knock her around a little to get her to cooperate, though. She’s a feisty one.”

  The other men with Jason rode past him, hooting and hollering, greeting Lobo’s men, who offered them whiskey. A white woman sat tied to a wagon wheel, her dress torn open from the waist up, the skirt of the dress in shreds. Her face was bruised and dirty, her hair hanging in strings. Her wrists bled from the rope around them and her fair skin was burning from the Texas sun.

  Jason looked over at her, feeling no sentiment for her, seeing her merely as part of the spoils of Lobo’s raids. She was apparently the woman settlers claimed had been stolen away, and she obviously had already been the brunt of pleasure seeking by Lobo and his men. They were good at using a woman just enough to get what they needed from her, but keeping her alive and healthy enough to get good money for her in Mex
ico. Seeing her made Jason ache with anticipation. Soon it would be Rachael’s turn. He turned his eyes to Jules Webber. “I hope you kept your hands off Rachael Rivers. I told you to save her for me.”

  Jules robbed his privates. “I saved her.”

  Jason moved his eyes to Lobo. “You keep your men away from her?”

  “Sí, señor, just like you ask.”

  “Well, you didn’t do a few other things I asked. You were supposed to kill Joshua Rivers, and Luke, too.”

  Lobo frowned. “The young one, he is good and strong. We can sell him. My men told me the other one was dead.”

  “Well, they didn’t check to be sure. He lived. Where is Luke?”

  “He’s tied to a tree by the stream,” Jules answered. “He’s a might beat up, but none the worse for the wear. He’ll make it to Mexico. Right now he’s plum wore out—fell asleep awhile ago. What happened with Selby? You get him hanged?”

  Jason glowered with a mixture of hatred and worry as his eyes scanned the rim of the canyon. “No. The bastard got away.”

  “Got away! Jesus Christ, Jason, he’ll be looking for Rachael Rivers. When he finds out she’s gone, he’ll put it all together and come looking for us.”

  “He’s just one man!” Jason snapped, moving his eyes back to Jules. “There are six of us and ten in Lobo’s gang.”

  “Eight,” Lobo corrected him. “That Joshua Rivers, he killed two of my men. We buried them on the way here. Another was wounded, but he will live.”

  Jason checked the canyon walls again. “It doesn’t matter. That still leaves us fourteen men counting the wounded one. Whatever option Brand Selby takes, he’s a dead man. He won’t get any help from his Comanche friends because you and your men sell weapons to them. They don’t want you dead. If Brand Selby comes here for Rachael, he’ll take so many bullets you’ll be able to see through him. My guess is he’ll keep right on riding north, the direction he lit out in the night we burned him out. In the meantime, I’ll have had my turn with the bitch and after that she’s yours.”

  He glanced at the white woman who was tied to the wheel. Sam Greene was untying her. She made weak, whimpering protests as he half dragged her toward a rock, carrying a blanket under his arm. The woman glanced at Jason and her eyes widened.

  “Ranger Brown!” she blurted out through lips swollen from the sun. “It’s you! Help me, please!”

  “Shut up!” Sam told her, giving her a jerk. “Can’t you see we’re friends of these men, you stupid woman?”

  “But…I don’t understand—”

  “You’ll understand soon enough, when I get you behind this rock.”

  Her eyes widened with shock as reality hit her. Jason Brown was helping these outlaws! A look of pitiful disappointment moved through her eyes before Sam pulled her behind the rock. Jason and the others heard a sharp crack as Sam slapped her hard. They heard no more protests from the woman.

  “I can’t wait ’til you’re through with that uppity bitch of yours,” Jules told Jason. “It’s gonna feel good watching her cry and beg. She always treated me like I was scum.”

  Jason met Jules’s eyes. “Well, now she’s scum!” be answered. “She’ll pay for humiliating me in front of the whole town of Austin!”

  There was laughter and drinking among the other men as they spoke. Jules nodded toward a canvas-covered wagon. “Lobo and his men stole that in one of their raids. I put the bitch in there so’s the sun wouldn’t get to that pretty skin.”

  “Did you tie her good so she can’t get her hands on any weapons?”

  “Didn’t need to. She give me such a fight when I was puttin’ her in she cracked her head good on the wagon gate. She’s out cold.”

  “Out cold!” Jason shoved him aside. “You idiot!” he shouted as he headed for the wagon. “I want her conscious.”

  He jumped up onto the wagon gate and peered inside. Rachael lay there on her side, her dress slightly torn, her hair a tumbled mess. Jason climbed inside, pushing her onto her back and shaking her. “Wake up, you bitch!” She made no sound or move. He grasped her by the hair. “Wake up!” He threw her back down and ripped open the front of her dress. “You’ll wake up, my pretty Rachael,” he hissed. “And when you do, you’ll be begging me to stop hurting you. Before I’m through I’ll know every inch of you, inside and out! There will be nothing left hidden from Jason Brown!”

  He stared down at her, his whole body on fire for her. He wanted her badly, but he wanted that first time to be as humiliating for her as possible. He wanted her awake. He climbed reluctantly out of the wagon, storming up to Jules. “How long has she been out?”

  Jules shrugged. “Since we got here—maybe six hours.”

  “Six hours! My God, man, she might never come around! She might die before I get to have my way with her, you sonuvabitch! Can’t you do anything right?”

  “I couldn’t help it. The little bitch fought me like a wildcat. It was an accident. I didn’t hit her or anything.”

  Jason hauled off and landed a fist into the man’s face, and Webber flew backward, landing hard on his rump. The rest of the men laughed.

  “One of these days I’m going to get tired enough of your mistakes to kill you, Webber!” Jason growled. He looked at Lobo. “Have somebody dump water on her, slap her around a little, try to get her to come around.”

  “Sí, señor. We will try.”

  Jason looked over at the stream, then walked closer. He could barely see Luke by the light of the distant fire. He approached the boy, who lay awkwardly on his side at the base of the tree to which his hands were tied. Jason kicked him and Luke groaned, slowly coming awake. Even in the darkness Jason could detect bruises on the boy’s face.

  “Jason!” Luke cried out when he realized who was standing over him.

  Because of what Rachael had done, Jason hated her brothers, too. They were too much like their father, and Joe Rivers had never had much use for Jason Brown. When he was alive, Rivers was a big, solid, hard-working man who never seemed to quite trust Jason, and Jason blamed the man for Rachael’s initial dislike of him.

  Jason was glad the Double “R” was destroyed. Josh had always been friendly enough, but he was still a Rivers, and in Jason’s mind they all thought they were better than everyone else.

  But, Rachael Rivers had proven that the Rivers name was no better than scum.

  Tears stained Luke’s freckled, dirty face, and his dark hair stood out in all directions. “Untie me, Jason,” he sniffled. “You gonna take in those bad men? You gotta get Rachael out of the wagon before they do bad things to her! That one man hit her, and—”

  “Shut up!” Jason snapped. He looked Luke over as the boy sat there in wide-eyed shock. “They keeping you fed?”

  Luke nodded, more tears coming as he blinked in confusion.

  “Good,” Jason told him. “If they keep you good and strong until they get you to Mexico, you’ll be worth more.”

  Luke shook his head. “Worth more?”

  Jason grinned. “When they sell you—maybe to work in a gold mine—or as a slave to some rich family—or maybe to a ship’s captain, where you can swab decks all the way to China.”

  Luke blinked, watching the strange, dark eyes of Jason Brown, a man he had called friend, a man he had trusted, a Texas Ranger who used to come by and check on them to be sure they were safe. And Jason loved Rachael—wanted to marry her, just like the half-breed Brand Selby wanted to do. Surely Jason wouldn’t want her to be hurt.

  “Aren’t you gonna untie me, Jason? Aren’t you gonna help us? These men are bad. They killed Matt and Josh and stole all our horses and cattle and burned down our house. Now they’ve got Rachael!”

  Jason leaned closer. “You don’t understand, son. I’m working with these men. I told my own man to bring Rachael here—” He grinned. “For me. Now when your sister comes to, I’m going to that wagon, and I’m going to have some fun with your sister. Then the other men will have their fun with her while they herd you and R
achael and all these cattle and horses to Mexico. Understand?”

  Luke swallowed and sniffed again, feeling like he was going to throw up. Jason Brown was a bad man. He could hardly believe his eyes and ears, and he tried to tell himself this must all be an act on Jason’s part, maybe to win the confidence of these men before he attacked them. But when Jason reached out to tousle his hair, then pulled at it painfully, Luke knew he was wrong. This was no trick on Jason’s part.

  Luke didn’t want to cry like a baby, but he couldn’t help the tears as Jason walked away, heading straight for the wagon where Rachael was tied. He remembered that Rachael used to say she didn’t like Jason, that he frightened her. She had been right. He tugged harder but fruitlessly on his ropes as Jason returned to the campfire, laughing and joking with the hated outlaws. He cringed against the tree, overwhelmed with the reality of what was happening. Yesterday and today had been a rude awakening for Luke Rivers to the evil side of man, and he wept harder at the realization that if Jason Brown was working with these men, there was absolutely no one to help him or his sister. He had seen the other white woman raped right out in the open. Would they do that to Rachael? She was so pretty, so good. The thought of the men touching his sister brought a rage to his soul that made his chest hurt. He hung his head and wept as the men at the fire joked about Rachael being unconscious.

  “You got a need, Jason?” Sam Greene asked, coming out from behind a rock and buttoning his pants. “The white woman behind that rock there will take care of you.”

  “Shut up, Greene!” Jason snapped. He glowered at Jules again, who slunk back into the shadows with a bottle of whiskey. “There’s only one woman I want. And she’d better come around pretty soon or Jules Webber will pay for screwing this up for me!”