Jake, Devils on Horseback, Book 2

by Beth Williamson

  The memory of her father getting hurt six months ago slammed into her without warning, eliciting a gasp from her throat. She closed her eyes, remembering the sound of his screams as his leg was pulled into the machinery. The blood coated the equipment and it had taken the better part of two weeks to get it all out. She swore there were still stains on the dark wooden floor beside the grinder.

  “Gabby.” Jake cupped her face in his big hands. “Are you all right?”

  Without thinking about what she was doing, Gabby kissed him. It was a quick, hard kiss against his soft, surprised lips. Before he could react, she moved away, covering her face with her hands and breathing like a bellows. What had just possessed her to do that?

  She jumped up and backed away from him, trembling at her foolish actions. Jake didn’t say a word. She assumed he was watching her as she paced in a circle, grasping her self-control with both hands. After she found her balance, she peeked at him. She expected him to be smiling or at worst, smirking at her. Instead, he was frowning, actually frowning at her. Gabby wasn’t feeling stupid anymore, now she was embarrassed.

  “Are you all right?” he repeated.

  Gabby sat back down hard. “I can’t believe I did that.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  “God no.” She sighed. “I feel dumb enough.”

  “There’s no reason to feel dumb.” He touched a fingertip to her lips, sending a shiver of pure need through her, totally kicking aside the embarrassment. “Thank you for the kiss.”

  Gone was the charming, silly flirt, and in his place was a man showing concern for her. At least, that’s what Gabby saw in his eyes. She tended to trust her instincts since they’d saved her more than once. Jake showed her a side she hadn’t seen before, a true gentleman, and for that she started respecting him.

  “I was thinking about my father’s accident,” she whispered. “He nearly died. Between you and me, sometimes I think he believes he might as well have because he’s been a ghost ever since.”

  Jake shifted closer, the heat from his body permeating her cotton shirt. She leaned toward him, a shiver wracking her body. The water and her memories had brought a chill.

  “I’m sorry.” His expression was filled with understanding and a deep recognition of grief. So he knew a great deal about ghosts too. It didn’t surprise her because in her experience, men who’d survived the war had suffered more than their share of sorrow. “I’m not sure if you believe me or not, but I think I know exactly how he feels. You are a loving, devoted daughter from what I see and you’ve kept the family together, kept the mill together.”

  “Thank you.” She cleared her throat. “He lies in bed and watches out the window all day, won’t look at an invalid chair or even speak. The doctor says he’s healed up, just…lost.”

  Jake’s arm crept around her shoulders. “I’ve been there myself. Maybe he just needs a reason to find his way back from wherever he’s gone.”

  Gabby blew out a breath, the pain and frustration of not being able to help her father racing through her. “I wish I knew how.”

  “We can start by fixing the mill. Maybe if he hears her running smooth and sweet, it’ll help.” His deep voice rumbled in his chest, giving her comfort for the first time in so long, she didn’t want to move an inch.

  “That would be wonderful.” She imagined her father smiling again or laughing in his big booming way. Gabby missed him, confused by the shell he’d become.

  Jake tipped her chin up with his finger. He seemed to be asking permission, which Gabby couldn’t refuse. After an almost imperceptible nod from her, he bent down and kissed her. A light, sweet touch danced across her lips, gentle flutters like angel wings. She closed her eyes and savored every second of it as he pulled her into a fog of arousal before he’d even truly kissed her.

  It stopped as quickly as it started. Gabby opened her eyes and locked gazes with Jake. Lord help her, she was in trouble.

  Zeke hadn’t seen Allison since the day they’d shared a meal, but she was never far from his mind. She reminded him of what beauty was, how much he’d lost in the last four years, and the gnawing hunger to get some of it back had grabbed hold of him. He couldn’t shake it off, and he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

  He’d chosen to work on repairs to the church in hopes of seeing Allison again. Pitiful fool that he was, he spent the day trying not to fall off the roof while keeping watch for her. Just a glimpse would do, enough to ease the ache in his chest. Lee kept leveling disgusted looks at him, but Zeke ignored his brother. The church roof needed to be fixed and it was, after all, the spiritual center of Tanger. Zeke’s explanation made his brother roar with laughter.

  It was nearly the end of the day before Zeke saw Allison. She opened the front door of her house and poked her head out. His heart hammered louder than he thought possible. Damn tingles raced down his skin at the sight of her. Was he a lovesick idiot?

  As if she sensed him watching her, she glanced up, her eyes wide with fear. Zeke forced himself to smile, while inside what he wanted to do was scramble down the ladder and kiss her until she didn’t look afraid anymore. He waved one gloved hand, but she ducked back into the house like a scared rabbit.

  Zeke told himself he wasn’t disappointed. A complete and utter lie of course.

  “Your girl already running from your ugly face?” Lee teased. “Maybe I should try.”

  “No.” The force of the denial shocked both of them. Lee’s eyebrows reached his hairline.

  “Well, hell, Zeke, I didn’t know you had it that bad.” Lee squinted at the house, a trickle of sweat snaking down his cheek in the hot summer sun. “Thought you were gonna bite my head off.”

  “Sorry, Lee. I-I don’t know what the hell I’m saying anymore.” Zeke felt dizzy from the unused emotions slamming around in his head.

  “Don’t worry about it. I wish…” Lee didn’t finish his sentence. His eyes clouded with a longing so deep, Zeke felt it in his own heart. “Your girl has come back out.”

  Zeke looked down, sure Lee was funning him, but there she stood like an angel in the sun with a glass of lemonade in hand. Fortunately Zeke didn’t break his neck climbing down the ladder.

  That night the church filled with Tanger residents, eager to hear an update about the strangers and how they’d already helped the town. Gabby stood at the back, watching everyone from one corner while the whore Lucy stood in the opposite corner, also watching.

  Phineas performed for the townspeople, of which ninety percent were women and children, and ten percent men over the age of fifty. It was a lopsided population to be sure. There were plenty of titters and giggles about the new men in town. New blood, new stallions to make babies. It had been more than five years since a baby was born in Tanger.

  The town was dying.

  Gabby realized that even if the mill was repaired completely, there wouldn’t be wheat to make enough flour to last the winter. Of everyone in the room, she and Allison, who sat in front with her father, were the youngest women, the only ones unmarried or not widows, other than Lucy. It had been a few months since the last town meeting and a feeling of helplessness snaked through her at the realization that so many were gone, dead or had picked up and left Tanger.

  Was it worth the effort to save the town? What could the gunslingers do to save them from their fate?

  “Ladies and gentlemen.” Phineas held up his hands and the chatting died down. “I know a lot of you have already met the men I hired from D.H. Enterprises and they’ve already started on repairs. These are fine upstanding Southern gentlemen who’ve come to not only help us, but protect us from those who would do us more harm.” He leveled his watery gaze on Gabby. “Some folks in town may not want them here.”

  Murmurs rippled through the crowd and some even had the nerve to turn and look at her with hostility in their faces. Gabby ignored them as best
she could.

  “I’m here to assure you these men are only here to help the town and will never put any of us in harm’s way. Far from it. They will protect us.” He pointed at Elmer, who scowled from his seat in the front. “I know for a fact that Elmer here has asked them to help him find Cindy.”

  The room nearly erupted at that point. Gabby had the feeling Phineas threw that possibility out there to convince the townsfolk to let Jake and his friends stay. She didn’t know why Phineas would throw out false hope like that and that bothered her. Phineas was tricky and manipulative and Gabby hadn’t ever trusted him.

  “I heard there was an Irish in their group.” Mrs. White, the seamstress in town, was a caustic old woman. Unfortunately, many of the women her age listened to every word that spat out of her mouth.

  “Yes, one of them is Irish, but don’t worry about him.” Phineas scanned the room. “The others are from a prestigious Georgia family, the Blackwoods.”

  The way he disparaged Jake made Gabby wince. For all the men they’d lost, to be singling him out because of his heritage was horrible. She was ashamed of all of them.

  “Mr. Sheridan is a good worker and a fine man,” she heard herself say.

  Phineas shook his head. “I’m sure he’s a good worker.”

  Murmurs and pointing from the crowd made Gabby stand up straighter. They could gossip all they want. She had nothing to hide.

  “Are any of them wanting to stay in Tanger?” Veronica Marchison piped up with a snide glance at Gabby.

  That was the question milling around in Gabby’s mind. She wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

  “I don’t know the answer to that, Veronica.” Phineas again pinned Gabby with his gaze, his eyes taunting. “Perhaps Miss Rinaldi or Miss Delmont can answer that question.”

  Allison had sat beside her father in the first pew, making herself as small as possible. When Phineas called her name, her head snapped up.

  “I can’t answer that question and it’s improper of you to suggest otherwise.” Gabby didn’t know what the mayor was trying to accomplish. “Bringing Allison into this is unnecessary.”

  “The way I hear it, you two were cozy with them fellas down at Cindy’s.” Mrs. Marchison’s grin was more like a sneer.

  “We ate dinner in a restaurant they were in.” Gabby’s anger was growing by the minute. “What are you insinuating?”

  “I’m not insinuating anything because I don’t need to.” Mrs. Marchison focused on Allison. “I saw what I saw.”

  Gabby’s temper moved past simmer and into boil. “It’d be nice if we focused on the fact that Mayor Wolcott hired gunslingers with money the town doesn’t have. The fact that they’re unmarried isn’t important.” Gabby looked around the church. “Aren’t any of you concerned that we barely have enough money to keep the town going?” She didn’t understand the rest of the town and probably never would.

  “It’s because we’re concerned about the town that we hired these men.” Phineas shook his head. “It’s very simple, Miss Rinaldi.”

  The crowd grew louder and Gabby felt her self-control slipping. The town just wouldn’t listen to reason.

  “Exactly how are you paying them, Mayor Wolcott? Where is the money coming from?” Gabby shouted over the crowd’s noise.

  The talking ceased and all eyes turned back to Phineas. He smiled and threw another hostile glance at Gabby.

  “Right now they’re working for room and board. Once the town is repaired and money starts coming in to our businesses, we can settle their fee.” He smiled a sparkly white predator’s smile.

  “Do they know that?” She’d bet every cent she had they didn’t know what Phineas was planning. Men like that didn’t work for nothing, especially when there was killing involved.

  Elmer snorted and a ripple of whispers echoed through the room.

  “As I said, there’s no reason to worry about money.” Phineas kept his smile firmly in place. “Gentlemen always take care of their business without any assistance from the weaker sex.”

  Gabby imagined what it would be like to punch the mayor of Tanger. Just once. The nodding heads in the room further incensed her. Women weren’t stupid. Why would they accept Phineas’s pronouncement that they didn’t need to worry about something as important as the town’s future? She clenched her fists and her jaw so hard, her head ached.

  “What about the law, Mayor?” Gabby wasn’t giving up without a fight. “Why haven’t the rangers or a U.S. Marshal helped us?”

  “The law is busy taking care of the rest of the state after the war. I’ve told you more than once, Tanger is too small. They won’t come here.” He spoke to her as if she was a child with a hearing problem.

  “I’d like to see the proof of that.”

  “I don’t answer to you, young lady. In fact, I think you’ve taken up enough of the town’s time at this meeting. I think I speak for all of us when I tell you to hush up now.” Wolcott had never looked so menacing as he did at that moment.

  A shiver flew down her spine. Gabby had underestimated just how dangerous Wolcott was. From her left, Lucy stepped toward Gabby, close enough to talk without being overheard.

  “I think you’re right about this whole thing,” Lucy whispered. “I don’t know what that squirrelly fool is up to, but I’m right proud to hear someone standing up to him.”

  Gabby had never spoken to Lucy but just to know that someone didn’t think she was crazy made her feel better. She turned to look at the titian-haired woman and realized Lucy was only a few years older than she was.

  “Thank you.” Gabby stepped away, squaring her shoulders. “Mr. Wolcott, I for one don’t believe this is the best choice for the town, but since I’m just a woman, I know my opinion doesn’t matter. You’re all fools if you think these men will work for nothing but Elmer’s bad cooking and a flea-infested shack.”

  Before she said something she’d really regret, Gabby left the church. The cooler night air didn’t do much to cool the anger that pulsed through her. Something told Gabby the dire straits the town was suffering from were about to get worse.

  The raiders came the following night, when folks were relaxing after supper, when all the chores were done. The thunder of hooves echoed through the nearly empty streets like a death knell. Then came the shouts and yelps, followed by gunfire, and finally, screams.

  When it began, the Devils had been home, discussing their day’s work. Within seconds they were outside the house without having to speak a word. Jake’s pulse beat a steady tattoo and his breathing was even, however his stomach cramped up like a fist. God, he hated the sound of gunfire, but he didn’t say a word, just bit back the bile in his throat and did what he had to do. They didn’t bother with the saddles, instead they vaulted on their horses and rode bareback as they’d done throughout childhood.

  Jake held onto his horse’s mane with one hand, the other held his pistol, cocked and ready. They rode down the main street as fast as they could push their steeds, the wind whipping at them. They tracked the sounds and found what had been left behind by the raiders—plenty of bullet holes and one burning house. While the old men in town frantically used a bucket brigade to douse the hungry flames licking the front porch, the Devils rode past, eager to find those who would do Tanger harm. The tang of battle spread across Jake’s tongue against his will.

  The deepening darkness hid much from them, but they pressed on, following their instincts. One woman sat on the steps of a house next to the general store, screaming and sobbing. Jake wanted to stop to talk to her, but he knew there was no time. If they didn’t keep chasing the raiders, they might lose them and Jake couldn’t let that happen.

  As they rounded the corner, Zeke and Gideon split to the right while Lee and Jake rode ten feet apart on the left. Crouching low in the saddle to make themselves small targets, the Devils spotted their quarry a quarter mi
le away, pulling a woman from a home near the hotel.

  “Son of a bitch!” Jake cursed under his breath. He spurred his horse on faster, pushing the gelding to his limits. They flew through the air toward the kidnapping, desperate to save whoever was being taken. It didn’t really matter who it was, she didn’t deserve whatever fate awaited her at the hands of the raiders. No one, man nor woman, should be forced to do anything. He had to save her, and perhaps save himself.

  Of course, Jake prayed like a madman the woman wasn’t a tall, curvy Italian named Gabby. God help him, he might completely lose control again if something happened to her. Yesterday afternoon they’d found a common bond, an understanding of each other he’d never had with a woman before. Most were put off by his red hair or his mannerisms or his poor beginnings. Gabby was different—he felt different when he was around her.

  Lee let loose a rebel yell just as they were closing in on the raiders. The two men dragging the woman unceremoniously dropped her and leapt onto their horses. There were four of them by Jake’s count, and they rode prime horseflesh, more than likely stolen. They also knew how to ride as well as, if not better than, the Devils. The raiders disappeared into the inky blackness, but not before the biggest one turned and shot at them.

  The bullets went wild and the Devils scattered, a trick they learned during the war to avoid shots by Yankee rifles.

  “Devils!” Gideon shouted, their code word to sound off. Each responded, hale and hearty.

  The woman lay on the ground still screaming. Jake was torn between helping her and chasing the raiders in the darkness with his friends. Gideon took that decision away from him.

  “See to her. We’ll see to them.” He, Zeke and Lee spurred their horses on while Jake pulled up on the reins. His horse snorted and bucked, his blood running as fast and hard as his master’s. However, Jake was used to the temperamental gelding and knew what to do. He vaulted off the horse, landing next to his great neck and grabbing hold. After a moment or two of fighting Jake, the horse blew out a disgusted-sounding breath and stilled.