Tracker cupped her cheek. Taking the flower, he tucked it in her hair. “When you go, remember that moment of betrayal. But you might want to remember all this, too.” He handed her the lantern, then took her by the shoulders and turned her in the direction of her twin. “Go talk to your sister. I’ll stand guard.”
She started walking. So did Desi, and the hope in her expression tore Ari’s heart. Tracker was right. This was a hard land that took a toll on everything, but her sister had taken on the challenge and made it beautiful.
Nothing will ever come between us. Sisters forever.
Ari pulled the daisy from her hair and stared at the petals—so many coming together to make something simply beautiful. Whatever happened that day, she knew Desi hadn’t left her willingly.
She handed the flower to her twin. “We promised to always be there for each other.”
“I was.”
“How?”
“If it had been you instead of me, what choice would you have made? What would you have done?”
“I wouldn’t save myself, leaving you to suffer.”
Desi crushed the flower in her hand. “What the hell makes you imagine I did? For heaven’s sake, Ari, think. We did everything together, were everything to each other. What makes you think anything could possibly lead me to leave you like that?”
“I cried for you to come back. For months I waited for rescue. I held on, and I believed in you. No one ever came.”
“That’s not true. I sent Tracker. I sent them all.”
Yes. She had. She couldn’t stop the flow of words. They’d been trapped inside her for too long. “I didn’t save myself, Ari. They said whomever I chose would be saved. I chose you, but then they turned around and said it didn’t matter what I wanted. And they took me. It wasn’t a rescue. They bought me for their personal use. Chained me naked to the bed when I escaped too often.”
Her hand shook when she reached out. Ari grasped it, feeling Desi’s pain as if it was her own. The trembling spread to her, and her own tears choked her voice, a harsh gasp of sound.
“I didn’t know.”
“How could you know anything? You were a prisoner.”
“So were you.”
“But I knew what you thought. Knew what you suffered. For almost two years I’ve had one goal—finding you. I sent the Hell’s Eight after you even though I knew it would jeopardize Caine’s dream, because the men couldn’t be here, at the ranch. Even though I knew others would suffer because without the Eight there’s no law. You were my sister. You needed to come home.”
Ari couldn’t stand it anymore. She hugged her. The tears poured harder. Hers, her sister’s—who could tell? What did it matter? “I thought you were happy and free.”
“I was. Eventually.”
“Thinking that kept me sane.”
“But you resented it.”
“I hurt so much. I had to put the pain somewhere.”
“So you put it into hating me.”
Ari hugged her harder. It hurt so much to admit that, knowing how much it was going to pain Desi. “Yes.” Her sister flinched. “But only because I knew there was nothing I couldn’t forgive you for,” she hastened to add.
Desi took a step back, still holding Ari’s arm. “Tell me you forgive me.”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
Desi gripped so tightly that her nails bit into Ari’s skin through her clothing. “Tell me so I have that memory, too.”
The words came easily. “I forgive you.” It wasn’t so easy to ask for herself. “Can you forgive me?”
“Oh, yes. That’s the easiest thing I’ve ever done. After years of not knowing if you were alive or dead, I’ve finally got my sister back.”
Desi wiped her face with her sleeve. “When the note came from Zach that Tracker had found you, I just collapsed. I’d sent you that letter so you’d know who he was. I planted this field of daisies so you’d have a place to return to.” She wiped her face again. Ari wiped hers. The tears wouldn’t stop, for either of them, but the pain was subsiding.
“Tell me about Caine.”
“When Caine found me, I was little more than an animal fighting and running, tempting death and defying it. My world was such chaos that some days I didn’t even know who I was. Caine stepped into that chaos and did what he does best—sorted through it. When the padre backed him into a corner and told him he couldn’t take me from the man who had me then, without benefit of marriage, Caine agreed. In one fell swoop he gave me respectability and a future. It took him a long time to get through to me. Even longer for me to believe that he wasn’t tricking me, too, and that I was worthy.” Desi shook her head. “It took a long time. But all that time I never stopped thinking of you and looking for you.”
“I know.” Ari believed her. When her sister’s arms came around her, Ari started to cry again. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
“Me, too.”
Desi shook her head. “Sometimes you need to be angry to stay alive. I know that.”
“I’m so glad Caine found you.”
“I’m glad Tracker found you.”
She scrubbed her cheek. “He’s high-handed.”
“But a good man. You’ll forgive him?”
Already her anger was fading. “Apparently I have a big heart.”
“You do.” Desi crossed her hands at the wrists and held her arms out in front of her—a memory lingering from childhood. Ari crossed her own wrists and held on tightly to her sister’s hands. She didn’t know whether she started to move or if Desi did, but suddenly they were spinning the way they had back in the old days, faster and faster, until the stars in the sky blended together into streaks of white.
For a brief moment, they were ten again and it was just her and Desi against the world, playing in a magical place where nothing could touch them. Where they were immortal. Where their parents were still alive.
She stumbled. “Mom and Dad…”
“Are dead.”
“I know.”
The sob came out of nowhere, wrenched from deep in her gut. Oh, God, would the tears never end? She’d never had the luxury of grief before, but now, under the stars in a meadow created from hope, she couldn’t stop. She fell to her knees. Desi went with her, holding her close, crying with her, sharing the pain that both of them had bottled up for so long.
“We didn’t even get to bury them. We just left them out on the plains.”
“I put a tombstone up for them,” Desi said quietly.
“Where?”
“The graveyard here. We can visit the site tomorrow.”
“I’d like that.” Ari wiped her eyes again. The tears were finally slowing. On the other side of the pool of lamplight she could see Tracker watching. But he didn’t come near. She held out her hand, but for the first time, he didn’t come.
“I placed it beside the gravestones that represent the other Hell’s Eight families. Caine’s parents, Tia’s husband and baby.”
“So much death.”
Desi nodded. “Yes, but there’s also so much life.” She smiled. “I have a son.”
“I’m an aunt.”
“Yes. His name is Jonah and he’s a hellion, just like his father.”
“Don’t let Caine hear you say that,” Tracker called over. “That’s one man who dotes on his boy.”
“He does.” Desi smiled and wiped at her cheeks.
“I have a son,” Ari stated.
“I know. He’s the sweetest child.”
Desi didn’t mention his beginnings and neither did Ari. She preferred not to think of it. Miguel’s life started with her.
“Thank you for taking care of him for me.”
“You needed time to heal.”
Ari shook her head. “Maybe. There were just so many memories coming at me so fast, so many bad things, I couldn’t find the good anymore. In me or anything else.”
Desi took her hand. Ari couldn’t help but wish it was Tracker’s.
�
�No matter how he came to be, Miguel is good.”
Ari nodded, but bit her lip. “I worry because he looks so Indian.”
“That’ll be a problem if you go back East.”
Ari looked over at Tracker. He didn’t say a word. Had he changed his mind about her staying?
“I don’t know what I’m going to do yet.”
“You’re welcome to stay here.”
“Thank you.” Ari swatted at her leg at the same time Desi slapped at her cheek.
“Are you ready to go in?”
“Yes, I think I am.”
“Jonah’s probably hungry. He and Miguel are already best buddies. When one wakes up, so does the other.”
“Thank you for accepting him.”
“He’s my nephew.”
Another mosquito bit her arm. A third went for her ankle. She swung at both. Desi was swatting them, too.
“Time to go.” Desi picked up the lantern, hooked her arm with Ari’s, the way they had many times before, and walked back with her to the house.
“The one thing that I found out here is that it’s easy to start over. No questions. No explanations. You just go forward.”
Ari looked back to where Tracker stood, watching but not following. “One step at a time.”
“Yes,” Desi agreed. “One step at a time.”
15
“Looks like she’s home,” Shadow said, stepping out of the dark beside him.
Tracker watched the two women walk off, oblivious to anything else, anyone else. The sense of doom came crashing down.
“It took long enough,” he muttered.
“She was well hidden.” From her sister, from herself.
“Yeah. But she’s back now.”
“Does this mean we’re finally going to get back to what we do best?”
The best thing he’d ever done was bring Ari and her son home. His methods might not have been the most highbrowed, but they’d got the job done. Desi had her sister and they were going to be all right.
“Looks like Ari got over hating her?”
“Ari never hated Desi. She was just hurt.”
“You’ll defend her to the grave, won’t you?”
He probably would. “Yes.”
“And Desi?”
“She got what she wanted.”
Shadow reached into his pocket, handed Tracker a flask. “Special occasion,” he said wryly. “Their finding each other is what everyone wanted, but it doesn’t make it any easier for you.”
Tracker shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“Hell, man, she’s not even looking back.”
No. She wasn’t. Tracker snatched the flask from Shadow, popped the cork and took a drink, welcoming the bitter burn as the alcohol made its way to his gut. “I got what I wanted.”
Shadow took the flask back and took a swig. Tracker was surprised. Shadow wasn’t much of a drinker, either.
“Shit. What you got was a taste of a heaven you’ll never have.”
“Since when do we need more than a taste?”
“Since you fell—”
Tracker cut him off. He didn’t need it put into words. “You going to hog the whole thing?”
“Nope.” Shadow handed the bottle over. “But you might want to hold off on drinking.”
Tracker paused with the flask halfway to his mouth. “Why?”
“We got word from Caden.”
Tracker put the cork back in the flask. “What did he have to say?”
“Harold Amboy came in with the army.”
“How many men?”
“Not an army. The army. He’s got the fucking U.S. Army guarding him.”
Shit. “How did that happen?”
Shadow shrugged. “The man’s got friends in high places.”
“I don’t care if he’s the devil’s own. He’s not leaving San Antonio alive.”
“That’s what Caine said.”
Tracker wasn’t surprised. Desi had suffered as much as Ari, and Caine had a few scores of his own to settle. “He’s going to have to get in line.”
“I’ll let you two work out who kills who, as long as in the end the bastard is dead. He’s got too many contacts here, and now the stakes are too high. Now he’s got to remove the women and the children. The next time he makes an attempt, he’ll likely succeed, for the simple reason he can’t afford to lose. His plan is getting too complicated to pull off.”
“We won’t allow it.”
“No, we won’t.” Shadow’s expression took on a calm that translated that “we” to an “I.”
Tracker eyed him warily. “You’re not planning anything stupid, are you?”
“Nope.”
Tracker knew stupid was a subjective term to Shadow. Others might think taking on seven Comancheros alone was stupid. But to Shadow, who likely knew the families in their raiding path, it was stupid not to. The sad truth was that Shadow didn’t fear death. Tracker wasn’t even sure he didn’t court it. He’d thought he’d accepted that part of his twin’s personality, but watching Desi and Ari’s reunion, he wasn’t so sure anymore. He didn’t want to lose his brother. But he didn’t know how to stop it. Unlike Desi and Ari, they didn’t have a field of daisies to fall into. They only had each other. And their demons.
“Just don’t do anything rash. I’d hate to have to drink alone.”
“No worries. Like a bad penny, I always turn up.”
“Well, do us both a favor and don’t turn up dead.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
“What does Amboy know?”
“He doesn’t know you have Ari. He’s coming for Desi.”
“Desi’s married.”
“Apparently he’s got papers to set the marriage aside, claiming she wasn’t in her right mind.”
“I’m surprised Caine hasn’t gone after them already.”
It had been a year since Caine’s marriage. The man still hadn’t gotten over the miracle of Desi’s love. She and their son were his greatest treasures. And woe to the man to tried to take them from him. The entire U.S. Army wouldn’t be enough.
“He’s working on it. The army complicates things. Plus, he needs to be sure Amboy is the one. He wants the threat to the twins removed once and for all.”
“We need to keep Desi and Ari in the house.”
“I’ll tell Ed and Tia.”
Tracker passed the flask back to Shadow.
“Are you all done?”
Yeah, he was. Ari was where she belonged, so half his promise was fulfilled. The second half would be finished when Harold Amboy was dead. The rest of Ari’s life would be up to her. He wasn’t worried whether she could handle it. She had her sister to help. If Ari stayed on Hell’s Eight, Miguel would be accepted. If she went East, he’d still be accepted, because Ari would see to it. She might not see her strength yet, but Tracker could. She was Hell’s Eight in the way she loved.
There was a pause and then Shadow said, “I’m sorry, brother.”
“For what?”
“You lost the girl.”
“But I got the prize.”
“And was that enough?”
He’d been touched by love. “Yeah.” He’d make it be enough.
“Well, I’ve got to tell you, if I can’t have the whole, I don’t even want to taste the part.”
“You’ll fall in love someday.”
“If I do, feel free to bury me in that lot you’ve got reserved up at the cemetery.”
“You serious?”
“Yes.”
“Remind me when the time comes.”
Tracker looked back at the meadow, all but invisible as the moon faded and darkness took over. He remembered Ari’s trust, her tears, the way she’d walked away complete, with her sister, the way she’d never been with him.
It was time to go. He started walking. Shadow fell into step beside him. “You just going to leave the picnic stuff?”
“Someone will get it in the morning.”
“All right.�
� Shadow paced him for a few more steps. “If you don’t mind my saying so, you’ve got the look of a man who’s planning on doing something stupid.”
Tracker moved to pull his hat down over his brow. It wasn’t there. Shit, he’d left it at the house. He angled his steps to the right. “Just going to get my hat.”
“Uh-huh. And then?”
He was going to hunt down Harold Amboy. “Then I’m going to do something stupid.”
“Then I guess I’m tagging along.”
The stage stop was one day outside San Antonio, but only four hours from Hell’s Eight. A miscalculation on Amboy’s part. Tracker was familiar with the station. It was the last in a long line of uncomfortable stops. And probably the worst. The wall boards had gaps between them, and the water tended toward briny rather than fresh. Inside there were two beds, one chair and quite a few families of mice. Usually the stage pressed on, preferring an open camp at a clean water hole a couple of hours west. The change this time was more than likely due to the Easterner. He’d probably shot off his mouth and Foul-Mouth Hank, the stage driver, had decided that was where he would sleep. The army might have wanted to change the location, but they didn’t have any say over Hank, and he was an ornery cuss when pissed.
Tracker mentally reviewed the location. The hut was set at the bottom of a small hill. The horses would be in a separate corral to the right. Depending on how many men the army had sent with Amboy, they’d either be complacent because of numbers, and have minimal guard, or the guard would be heavy. Either way, Amboy was going to need more than an army to keep him safe.
Tracker opened the tack-room door. The hinge squeaked. Shadow picked up the can of oil from the ledge and oiled it.
Tracker grabbed ammo and guns from the boxes lined up against the wall and started shoving them into his saddlebag.
Shadow looked at the amount and cocked an eyebrow. “We going to war?”
“With the U.S. Army, if they’re stupid enough to protect that son of a bitch.”
Shadow tossed some dynamite into the mix. “Never been real fond of the army. Too many people given too many orders from too far away.”
“So maybe, while they’re sitting and waiting to figure out what they need to do, we’ll slip in and invite Amboy over for a visit.”
Tracker’s Sin Page 22