The Last Outlaw

by Rosanne Bittner

Annie glanced at his guns. “Are you a hired gunfighter?”

  Jake smiled sadly. “I guess you could say that. But I’m not doing this for money, Annie. I’m doing it because I can’t stand to see a young girl like you, or even a grown woman, abused.” He glanced at the Bible. “You keep that with you all the way home, and you remember what a good person you are. You must remember that God doesn’t blame you for one thing you’ve been through. Promise me.”

  “I promise.”

  Jake sighed and rubbed at his eyes again, still having trouble staying calm. “Annie, I have to make this look good. Someone will probably come around later to see if we want food in here. You’ll need to stay under the covers when they do, and don’t let them think for one minute I haven’t…that you aren’t afraid of me. They’ll want to see the terrified look on your face, because men like that find enjoyment in hurting young girls. I’m going to have to be in my underwear, so don’t be afraid when I undress. If they for one minute realize why I’m really here, I’m a dead man, understand? I’ll have to crawl into that bed with you tonight, but I won’t touch you.

  “We’ll get up and dressed before sunrise, and after that, you have to do everything I tell you, do you hear me? You can’t waver for one minute. And don’t be afraid of Cole. He’s a little rough-looking, but he’s a damn good man. He knows where to take you when you get out of here.”

  Annie picked up a biscuit. “But what about you?”

  “I’ll be with you if things go right. I’m just telling you that no matter what happens…no matter what…you keep going with Cole. I promised your mother I’d get you home, and I’ll damn well do it. In four or five days you’ll be back home in Denver.”

  She shook her head. “But what if they kill you like they did that other man?”

  Jake smiled sadly. “Sweetheart, I’ve lived a long life. Things have happened to me that should have killed me a long time ago. Believe me, dying won’t be such a bad thing.”

  “But you have to go home to Sadie Mae. She’ll cry if you don’t come home. And what about your wife?”

  Jake closed his eyes and looked away. Randy. He’d promised her he’d make it back. “My wife has been through all those bad times right alongside of me, Annie. She knows I’m ready to meet the Good Lord, if that’s how this ends up. She has my son and daughter and all those grandchildren to love her and take care of her. And she knows she and I will be together again, someplace better than anywhere here on earth. Of course, that depends on if God takes me in. He just might order me out of heaven.”

  Annie shook her head. “No, He won’t. You’re helping me. He’ll remember that. He’ll let you go home to your wife and to Sadie Mae.”

  Jake rose, wondering how he’d make it through this night without losing his mind. “I guess that’s for Him to know and for us to find out, isn’t it?”

  “I guess.” She ate a little more of the biscuit. “You really love your wife, don’t you?”

  Jake walked to a window that faced north. He carefully peeked through the curtains. Colorado seemed so far away. “Yeah, I really love my wife, Annie.”

  “I’m not scared of you anymore.”

  “Good.” Jake watched one of the whores walking with Luis. He was laughing. Jake quickly closed the curtain and remained turned away. “Annie, I get really angry inside sometimes at men like Luis Estava, and sometimes it shows in my eyes. I don’t want you to be afraid of that, okay? Sometimes I scare my own family when I get like this. Things have happened in my life that…It just brings out a rage in me, but never at good people, so don’t be worried when I get that way.” He started undressing, and Annie looked away as she ate the second biscuit.

  “It’s okay,” she told him.

  Such innocence. How did a man take advantage of something like that, like what his father did to Santana?

  Jake stripped down to his underwear and hung his gun belt on the bedpost on his side of the bed. “If anybody comes to that door later, you scoot under the covers. Act like you’re crying, make them think something went on in here. They can’t think otherwise for one minute, understand? I can’t stress that enough.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jake propped some pillows against the headboard and crawled into bed but remained sitting up against the pillows. “I don’t intend to sleep much. I’m too worked up, and I don’t trust those men outside the door.”

  Annie scooted back into bed and curled into a ball again, facing away from him. “You’re a nice man, Mr. Harkner.”

  Jake snickered and lit yet another cigarette to help keep himself calm. “Call me Jake, and no, I’m not a nice man at all. Even my wife says that sometimes. I like to embarrass her, and when I do, she just frowns and says, ‘Jake, you are a mean man.’ Even my daughter says that sometimes. And my son has been known to call me a mean, stubborn sonofabitch.”

  “They don’t really mean it, I’ll bet.”

  Jake took a long drag on the cigarette. “Come morning, you’ll find out how not nice I can be, Annie. Speaking of which, I want to be sure you understand what will happen.” He explained again what he intended to do, wanting to be damn sure she was ready for the morning. “I wanted to buy you outright, which would have made things easier,” he told her, “but they already sold you to someone else. They will expect me to leave alone in the morning, but I’m not leaving here without you. And the worst thing you can do is hesitate, Annie. Hesitating could cost me my life and maybe Cole’s as well, and leave you a prisoner here. I’m sending you out that window in the morning, and you’re going to run to Cole, and he’s leaving with you. We’ll have the element of surprise on our side, as well as sleepy guards who won’t be expecting what I have in mind. I’ll stay here and create some havoc of my own to take their attention away.”

  Annie lay very still for a few minutes, then jerked in a sob. “What if you get killed and I never see you again?”

  “You just keep that Bible. Think of me when you read it, and pray for me. God knows I’ll need all the help I can get if I’m going to make it to heaven, Annie. I’ve never been very Christian in my ways or my words, but my daughter seems to think I have a good chance of reaching the Hereafter—the cool one—not the hot one.”

  Annie laughed through tears. “You tell funny stories.”

  Jake grinned. “I could tell you a lot of stories that aren’t quite so funny.”

  Annie remained turned away. “Jake?”

  “What?”

  “What’s she like? Your wife, I mean.”

  Jake laid his head back and closed his eyes. “She’s beautiful. She was the most beautiful woman I ever saw when I met her, and she’s still beautiful today. She’s gone through years of hell with me, Annie. When we met, I was a wanted man and we lived on the run. I can’t begin to tell you what she’s been through because of me.”

  Annie turned onto her back and looked at him. “Then she must love you a whole lot.”

  Jake looked at her and noticed she was clinging to the Bible. “I guess she must.”

  “And you love her a whole lot.”

  Jake smiled. “Yeah. A whole lot.”

  Annie sat up, keeping the covers over her bare legs. “I’m scared about tomorrow. Can I sit up by you?”

  Lord, help me. The girl had no idea what she was asking. It was a good thing he was sixty-two and not sixteen. “Sure.”

  Annie scooted against him, nestling her head on his shoulder, much like Randy did practically every night. You come back to me, Jake.

  He’d damn well try. He had to smile, though, at the jabbing comments Randy would think of to tease him. If she only knew he was sitting in bed with a beautiful fifteen-year-old girl wearing nothing but his shirt, and snuggled up against him like he was a damn stuffed toy.

  And I suppose that didn’t faze you at all, he could hear her saying.

  Of course not. She wasn’t yo
u.

  Jake, I’ll never be fifteen again.

  Why would I want a girl-child when I have a beautiful, voluptuous, grateful woman in my bed?

  Grateful?

  Grateful for how I make her feel when I make love to her.

  Could you be any more egotistically confident?

  Isn’t it true?

  Randy would smile at that one. Of course it’s true…and you’re too damn sure of yourself, Jake Harkner.

  I’m sure of how much I love you.

  He leaned back and closed his eyes. He wished he were equally confident about getting Annie out of there come morning.

  Forty-seven

  Jake hurriedly dressed, buttoning his shirt and pulling on his leather vest. He pulled on his boots and strapped on his guns, hoping he’d have time to get to his rifle and shotgun still on Outlaw. “Get dressed, and quick!” he told Annie when she came out of the washroom. “I heard someone out in the hallway talking about making breakfast. They’ll be coming to this door any minute. I want you out the window by then.”

  “Jake, I’m scared!”

  “There’s no time to be scared.” Jake turned, and she had underpants on and was struggling with the camisole. He hurried over and quickly laced it up for her. “My wife is always fussing over these things.” He helped her pull on the dress, and he buttoned up the back of it as fast as he could. “Sit down on the bed, and I’ll help you button the shoes I brought. I hope they fit.” He put one on, and she pulled on the other.

  “They’re kind of big.”

  “Better than barefoot in case you need to run over hard ground full of prickly plants.”

  She buttoned one shoe, and he buttoned the other.

  “You go out that window…now! Walk casually through the courtyard out there. Hang your head like you’ve just been through the worst night of your life, and don’t talk to any of those guards. Let them think it’s okay for you to be walking outside. I can’t be with you. I’ll attract too much attention. Aim for the front gate. You’ll see a man standing there with a packhorse and two that are saddled. You head for him. He’ll put you on the packhorse, get on his own, and take off at a hard run. You hang on for dear life, you hear me?”

  “Yes.”

  Jake met her gaze, and she threw her arms around his neck. “I’m scared for you.”

  “Just go. Like I told you, if you hesitate now, this will all be for nothing. I paid for a night with you, but they expect me to leave you behind for Don de Leon when I leave here. Once they realize I’m taking you with me, all hell will break loose, because they don’t want to have to answer to de Leon, who’s probably on his way here right now. If you don’t want to end up in that man’s bed, you do what I told you to do.” He pulled her arms from around his neck, and she kissed him smack on the lips.

  “Thank you.” Tears forming in her eyes, she grabbed the Bible. “I don’t want to leave you. I’ll be scared without you.”

  “Cole will do just as good a job getting you out of here. There’s no time for tears or arguing, Annie.” He gave her a quick smile and kissed her forehead. “Go on. I’ll be all right.” He helped her climb through the window, then closed his eyes and said a quick prayer for her and Cole.

  “Don’t worry about my worthless hide, Lord. Just save those two.” If not for Evie’s constant preaching at him, he wouldn’t pray at all. He waited, peeking through the curtains to see Annie making her way toward the gate. She suddenly bolted.

  “Hey!” someone yelled.

  “La muchacha! Ella está escapando! Ella está escapando!” one of the guards shouted.

  Jake waited for the sound of horses galloping away, then charged out the bedroom door, not even taking his remaining supplies. Most of his valuables were with Cole anyway. He headed down the hallway. He needed to draw the attention of the guards away from Annie and Cole. And he was not about to leave without killing Sidney Wayland and Luis Estava.

  “Sidney Wayland!” he roared. “Show yourself!”

  Guards were running into the main living quarters as he got there.

  “You!” one of them shouted to Jake. “You let that girl get away!” He pulled a gun. It had barely cleared its holster when Jake shot him in the heart.

  Another came at him, and Jake fired again.

  Sidney and Luis ran into the main room from two different doorways. Sidney had a gun, but Luis didn’t.

  “What’s going on here?” Sidney demanded.

  “You’ll not kidnap any more innocent young girls, that’s what!” Jake shouted the words and fired, then turned his gun on Luis.

  “Señor Harkner! I am not armed!”

  “You’re a fucking rapist!” Jake shouted. “That’s good enough for me!” He fired again, making sure his bullet hit Luis in the mouth and shattered those pretty teeth. Luis squirmed, blood pouring from his mouth. Jake walked up and fired again, putting a hole in the man’s forehead.

  “Oh, my God!” A woman screamed, and Jake whirled at the sound of men running down the hallway. A couple of whores stuck their heads out the doors of their rooms, then ducked back inside.

  Men ran toward Jake, and he raised both .44s and fired three more times, killing another man with each bullet.

  One gun empty. The other had five bullets. Jake moved into a dark alcove near the front door and quickly reloaded the empty gun. He charged for the doorway, guns blazing when two more guards tried to stop him.

  “Get the horses!” someone shouted from the rooftop as Jake ran through the courtyard toward Outlaw. He had to stop and duck as more bullets whizzed past him.

  “He is stealing one of the girls!” someone yelled. “Don de Leon’s promised!”

  “Siguelo! El mato al Señor Wayland!” another yelled.

  “Andale! Traigan los caballos!” someone else yelled from inside the courtyard.

  Jake mounted Outlaw and took off at a hard gallop. The last order was about getting horses. They would soon be on his heels. He could see Cole and Annie far ahead—they had a good head start. More bullets whizzed past him as he galloped for the border, a good two miles away. He didn’t need to look to know that a small posse had quickly gathered and was after him. He turned and fired. One man went down, and that was a pure miracle, because he was firing at random. He kicked Outlaw into a faster run. His hat flew off. More bullets whizzed past him. Seconds seemed like minutes and minutes like hours.

  He glanced back. He had a decent lead now, but he felt sorry for Outlaw. The horse was already wheezing and sweating. The temperature seemed too hot for early morning. Ahead of him, dust swirled from Cole and Annie’s horses. Get her across that border, Cole. Don’t stop for anything!

  Ten minutes turned to fifteen, and then there it was. The Rio Grande! Cole and Annie were already splashing across the river and headed up the other side.

  Then it happened. A bullet hit Outlaw. The horse screamed. His hooves slid for several yards before the horse went down hard, catching Jake’s left leg under it. Jake cried out with the pain, knowing without even looking that his leg was broken. The horse whinnied wildly and struggled to get up, but it couldn’t, and every time it tried, it smashed against Jake’s leg again. Excruciating pain enveloped him. He tried to pull free but couldn’t. It was then he noticed Cole riding back in his direction.

  “Go back!” he screamed.

  “Jake! Jake!” He could hear Annie screaming from somewhere.

  Cole reached him. “Jake! Goddamn it!” He dismounted and tried to get Outlaw to move off Jake’s leg, but the horse wouldn’t budge.

  “Shoot Outlaw and get the hell out of here!” Jake screamed at Cole. “I told you not to stop for anything. Get back across the river! They won’t follow you into the States!”

  Outlaw screamed and squirmed again. Jake cried out at the pain in his leg. Cole shot the horse in the head, then fired a few times at the o
ncoming riders to keep them at bay. “I can’t leave you here, Jake!”

  “You have to! Get back across that river and take her home, or they’ll come for her! Goddamn it, Cole, go, or this is all for nothing!” Jake handed him his .44s. “Give these to Little Jake. I promised them to him! And tell Randy…I love her.”

  More bullets whizzed past as the riders came closer.

  “Damn it, Cole. Go! Get the hell out of here! Hurry up! Annie’s coming back across the river! Don’t let her!”

  “Fuck it, Jake, I can’t leave you here for them!”

  “You don’t have any choice! Get over there before they kill you and force that child into a living hell. Don’t make this all for nothing! Get the hell out of here!”

  His eyes tearing, Cole stumbled backward. “Damn you, Jake!” He shoved Jake’s guns into his belt, then mounted up and headed for the river, meeting Annie halfway across and grabbing the packhorse’s bridle. “Get back across!” he roared at her.

  “Jake! No! We can’t leave him!”

  “We have no choice!” Cole forced her horse back to the United States side of the river as more bullets flew past both of them. He charged both horses up the bank and behind huge boulders on the other side. They ducked behind the boulders as more bullets came at them.

  Cole grabbed his rifle off his horse and began firing at the men who were circling around Jake. He managed to get two of them before three others began a volley of shots that pinged and sang against the rocks and kept him behind the boulders. When he looked again, men had tied ropes around Outlaw and dragged him off of Jake. He was surprised when Outlaw moved and whinnied. A shot was fired. Cole knew they’d just shot the horse again. Outlaw had been the best horse a man could own. He wanted to vomit then at the sound of Jake’s chilling screams of pain.

  “Jesus God, I think his leg’s broke,” he groaned.

  “Oh, dear God, Cole, they’re tying a rope around Jake! They’re dragging him away! They’ll kill him! They’ll kill him,” Annie wept. “Oh, my God, he did this for me!” She broke into uncontrollable sobbing. “Jake! Jake! God help him! God help him!”