by Ivy McAdams
“Of course I do. That’s not the point.” Clay’s voice was getting gradually louder. A couple others around the circle looked up.
“I shot a man for you,” Sadie scoffed. “I know how to use a gun.”
“I don’t care if you’re skilled or strong enough to shoot people, Sadie. I don’t want you going.”
The hay bale Clara sat on rocked when Sadie leapt to her feet. Clara nearly toppled off and had to reach a hand out to the log next to her to keep herself upright. She stared at the couple next to her in surprise.
“You can’t keep me locked away like a toy, Clay Pearson. What has gotten into you?”
Clay was on his feet too, his hands reaching out for her arms and pulling her in with a hard grip.
“It’s what’s gotten into you that’s got me worried.” His voice carried over the entire camp now.
Sadie’s brow furrowed. “What the hell are you talking about?”
His hands eased on her arms. The edge of his hat cast his eyes in shadow, but they were still lit with compassion that made Clara's heart thump.
“I’m sorry, Sadie,” he murmured. One of his hands slipped down her arm to rest against her belly. His hand was large on her still small stomach, and he spread his fingers wide to encompass it all. “This is my entire world. Right here. You, this baby. It just so happens you’re both contained in this body, and I’m going to do whatever I damn well need to do to keep it safe.”
Sadie’s lip trembled as she stared at him and down at his hand in turn. When her eyes lifted to his again, tears rimmed them.
Clay’s free hand slid up her neck to rest against her cheek, and he wiped a tear that trickled free.
"I know I've been crazy the last few weeks, but this is hard for me. You're so strong, and I'm so worried what might endanger you."
Sadie’s hands wrapped around his at her face, and she leaned into it, kissing his palm.
“Oh, Clay,” she murmured with a watery smile.
He leaned into her, and she tilted up to press her lips to his. He wrapped her in his arms, and they turned to head out of the circle like the entire camp hadn’t been sitting around watching them.
Clara blinked wide eyes, an odd ache in her chest, and without anything left to look at, her gaze drifted across the fire pit and landed on Ace’s. He was staring at her, the flicker of orange flames dancing across his face. His expression was rigid, eyes trained on her and difficult to read. She swallowed as the pain in her chest intensified. Then she closed her eyes and looked away.
Chapter 16
“You can stay here and that’s that.”
Clara threw the rest of her breakfast plate on the ground as she leapt to her feet. “That wasn’t part of the plan!”
“Plans change,” Ace growled.
He strode away from the fire pit, but Clara was hot on his heels, hopping over the log she’d been sitting on and rushing after Ace.
“You can’t go changing the entire plan the morning of your heist,” she shot back. “Just because you’re having a tantrum of some sorts.”
He swung around so fast that she nearly ran into him. “I’m having a tantrum? You’ve been avoiding me since yesterday.”
She clamped her teeth down and tried to strangle him with her eyes. “Well, you did a stupid thing and you deserved not to be spoken to for a while.”
“I did a stupid thing to save your life.” His eyes flashed, and she fought all her inner voices that demanded he looked good riled up. “I’m doing another stupid thing to save your life now. You’re not going.”
He spun on his heel and continued his march to his tent.
She shouted in frustration as she followed him. “I am going to help, and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”
He lifted a hand dismissively in the air without turning around. It irked her more than his yelling. She didn’t slow down.
“I’m going to watch the back alley as I was instructed, and that’s that.”
He turned when he reached the front of his tent, filling up the opening with his tall, lean body, and pointed a finger at her.
“Why the hell do you even want to go anyway? You told me before it was a dangerous, stupid mission.”
“That may be so,” she said, straightening her shirt and holding her chin high. “But if you idiots are going to attempt it anyway, I’m going to help.”
He narrowed his eyes, shaking his head. “What do you even need―”
“I don’t,” she snapped. “I’m doing this for Sadie. If anyone deserves an inheritance from the grave, it’s her.”
Ace’s eyes fell, and he let out a long breath. “I know I won’t be able to stop you, but know this.” His eyes came back to hers. “I think it’s a bad idea, and you’d be better off staying in camp.”
Her face hardened, even more so because his had softened. She didn’t want him relenting on her. She wanted to win fair and square. She clenched her teeth. “Your concern is noted, but I promise to keep a good watch of the alleyway while you’re inside.”
He stared at her in silence a moment, then nodded once before disappearing inside his tent.
She stomped a foot into the ground, unsatisfied with her forfeited victory, and stalked away from his tent and over to the horses.
She’d gotten her red roan horse half-saddled when Sadie approached.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” the woman whispered, running her fingers along Ira’s neck.
Clara looked up as she finished cinching the saddle in place. “Of course I do. It’s part of the plan. We all play our part to pull this off.”
Sadie grimaced. “But surely the men can handle things. Maybe you should stay here with me and Bridget.”
Clara frowned. “I won’t let him push me around and tell me I can’t go.”
Sadie’s eyebrows lifted, frozen as she stared.
Clara waved a hand. “Not that Clay pushed you around. It’s just―”
“I’m no pushover.”
Clara waved more frantically. “That’s not what I meant. I know you’re not. You’ve...proven yourself that.”
Sadie nodded slowly, though neither woman dared to mention the man she’d shot to save Clay’s life.
“But I’m no pushover either,” Clara insisted. “I don’t have a baby to worry about. I don’t want to be cut out of the plan because Ace is uncomfortable around me.”
Sadie leaned her face into the horse’s neck. “I can see that. Though maybe there’s something else. What if he really is just trying to protect you?”
“No one asked him to do that.”
Sadie shook her head with a faint chuckle. “No one asks for someone to fall in love with them.”
Clara’s eyes widened a little, then tilted as she lifted a brow high. “Ace is not in love with me.”
Sadie smiled sweetly and rubbed her hand up and down Clara’s arm. “Ace is a good man and doesn’t like sending his guys out to do dangerous things, but he’s never told one of them they couldn’t go.”
Clara opened her mouth to protest, but the words were stuck in her throat. She licked her lips, flashes of Ace whipping through her mind. The spark in his eyes when he looked at her. The way he’d watch her across the crowd as if she were the only one there. The way his hands moved on her body as if she were the only one that could quench his thirst.
“Maybe he just doesn’t want to take me because I’m a woman,” she whispered.
“He was going to take you a couple days ago.”
Clara rested her hand over her mouth as if it'd block the surprise oozing from her body.
Sadie’s hand landed on Clara’s shoulder and squeezed. “Men do stupid things when they’re in love. Though, so do women.”
The pointed look Sadie gave her made her mouth go dry, and Clara swallowed an uncomfortable lump of humility.
“What do I do?” she murmured, feeling as if she were lost in the clouds. She didn’t know which way was up and which was down. Nothing made sense, and yet eve
rything made sense all at once.
Sadie shrugged. “Whatever you think is best. You’re smart enough to figure your way.”
* * *
The ride into town was quiet, and the tension hovering over them was thicker than lard in a grease pan. Clara rode near the front, eyes sharp and watchful as they drew closer to Emerald Falls.
Ace and Clay rode in front of her, mostly silent, but with an occasional hushed comment and point of fingers. Reiterating their return route to camp if she had to guess. Thankfully Ace had chosen a path back that was winding and went far out of the way before coming about. He knew better than to lead the Law back to their hideout.
“You think any of this is gonna pan out?” Nelson’s old, hoarse voice croaked in hushed tones behind her.
She peered over her shoulder discreetly to find him and Otis riding side by side.
Otis shrugged his thick shoulders. “I don’t know, but sounds like there’s a heaping pile of money at the end of this trail. Suppose it’d be dumb not to check it out.”
“I suppose. But a bank?” Nelson blew a breath out of floppy lips. “Sounds like Ace’s gettin’ too big for his britches up there.”
Clara turned farther in her saddle to look back at him. Nelson’s eyes met hers, and he scowled, adjusting his reins until his horse dropped back a pace and moved farther away from her. She drew an irritated breath, turning back to the front.
It was one thing to be nervous, but completely another to second-guess the leader. If someone wasn’t properly focused, things could get dangerous. She didn’t want an insubordinate lurking on her team.
When the train tracks came into view, Clara’s stomach clenched. Town was approaching. They’d split ways soon and hope for the best. She slid her reins through moist palms and sat taller in her saddle.
She could do this. All she had to do was stay alert and watch the alley. She nudged the shotgun slung in her saddle with her knee. She had her weapon. She had her eyes. And best yet, she had her brain.
They’d be just fine.
“Right here, fellas,” Ace said as he pulled his horse to a stop.
The rest of them fell in line behind him as he nodded his chin to the west.
“Clara, take your group that way. Come in along the west roads. My guys―”
“Ace, are you sure you don’t want to reconsider using this woman?” Nelson piped up from near the back of the group.
Ace turned black eyes on him. “Pardon?”
"Even you've been mad as a hornet at her since yesterday. We can hear, you know."
“My decision still stands. We have a solid setup.” His eyes slid over the group to meet hers. “I trust her.”
Clara’s heart fluttered a little. Enough that Nelson’s grumblings didn’t bother her.
Ace went back to addressing the rest of them. "My guys will go east. We'll take the main entrance, then the south road to come along the backside of the bank. Try to make as little contact with the Emerald Falls citizens as possible. No eye contact. Blend in."
“I’m sure we blend in just fine,” Otis cackled. “Big group of dirty outlaws.”
Ace’s eyes leveled with him. “You can stay right here if you’d prefer.”
Otis’s lip stiffened, and he closed his mouth.
“And if you failed to wash yourself recently, that’d be your own predicament. Luckily, you are not in town today to attract a woman. Be sure to stick to your position, and you’ll be just fine.”
Clara’s mouth tilted up at the corner, then she stared off at Emerald Falls in the distance. Even if the worst were to happen, she felt an odd sense of pride attempting such a feat alongside Ace. He truly was a brilliant, beautiful man.
“Alright, fellas,” he said with a tilt of his hat. “Let’s ride.”
* * *
Clara’s fingers dug into Mason’s sleeve, her arm wrapped through his as she strolled at his side. He patted her hand reassuringly as they rounded the corner of the doctor’s office and continued their way down a back alley street. The very one she was in charge of overseeing while Ace and his boys were inside the bank.
Her throat squeezed shut, and she fought to draw in a ragged breath.
“You’re okay, Miss Clara,” Mason whispered.
She glanced up at him, but his eyes were on the path ahead of them. Calm, casual. He'd done this sort of thing before.
She turned her gaze to the end of the alley, steeling her nerves. A lot was riding on every one of them. She had to keep her composure.
A cool breeze swirled down the path, kicking a handful of dirt up around her ankles and into the lacy hem of her skirt. She’d swapped her normal outdoor attire for a simple dress, in hopes that she’d blend in a little better in town. Mason wore a long brown duster jacket over his normal clothes, under which he’d stashed two rifles. One for her and one for him.
As they neared the bank, her pulse quickened. She pulled out a dainty paper fan from her belt and cooled her face. Mason chuckled as he nudged her toward the bank. She moved as he indicated, and they walked in a diagonal to the corner of the building, where he pressed her up against the side wall near the rear door.
Even though she knew it was a scripted part of his role, she couldn’t help but stare up at him with big doe eyes as his body covered hers, and he gazed down at her from the shadow of his white hat.
His eyebrows bounced, and he gave her a dashing grin. “Morning, little lady,” he drawled.
She fanned herself harder. “Why, sir,” she murmured, her nerves breaking into a soft giggle.
His grin grew larger, and she could see how he charmed so many women.
Behind him, someone moved by at a quick clip. Even though she couldn’t see past Mason, she knew it would be Jack. He was moving into position. Nelson should be on the other side of the bank. Ace and his boys would be behind the buildings across the alley, along with half the horses.
“Are you ready?” Mason whispered.
She stared up into his green eyes and drew in a final breath. “Yes.”
He nodded once and leaned off the wall far enough to check around the side of the bank. Clara peered under his arm to watch the front of the building and the main street beyond.
“All clear this way,” she whispered.
“This way too.”
“Give them the go ahead.”
Clara kept her eyes open and alert as Mason motioned over her head. She gave a single peek back to find the rest of the gang on the move.
Ace led his group across the alley. He wore a black duster coat and a red bandana over his face. He held his rifle tucked in against the front of his chest as he moved low and silently. Like a predator. She watched in a moment of awe, and when his eyes caught hers, her heart stopped.
Over the top of the red cloth, his eyes glowed and snagged her gaze right out of the air. There was so much confidence and power in those eyes. It seared into her brain, demanding her utmost attention. His chin lifted a small fraction, a nod in her direction, and her cheeks burned.
When his eyes went back to his target, she remembered she had her own mission and tore her gaze away. She drove all her focus back on watching for interruptions from the front of the bank, even though her pulse had kicked up a notch.
“They’re all at the back,” Mason said. “Let’s move.”
He leaned off her, wrapping her arm in the crook of his elbow again and pulling her off the wall. She followed with the best flustered female smile she could manage, fanning her face furiously.
He grinned, leading her to the back of the doctor’s office, where they stood casually along the wall. He lowered his head as if whispering in her ear, but they both kept their eyes on the bank.
The hardest part of getting in would be the armed guard at the side door. Ace had described his silent surprise attack, but it’d made Clara’s stomach turn flips and she’d tuned out most of it. He at least sounded like he believed it would work.
She stared at the door as the men huddled around
it. All eyes were on Ace. He motioned to them with his fingers, pointing at himself and the door. He must have been telling them to pay close attention to him because she sure felt compelled to watch him blindly.
Until Mason’s hand come up over her face. She jerked back.
“What are you doing?” she hissed.
“Don’t watch,” he whispered.
She frowned, peering around his hand. “Ace has a plan to get through. He’s got this.”
The deep, masculine sound in Mason’s throat drew her eyes, and she stared up at him.
“Ace is a skilled man, and Lord knows, if anyone can pull this off it’s him and you.” She blinked in surprise, but he kept talking. “But there ain’t no predicting what’s going to happen in there. There might be some shit waiting on us we’re not prepared for. Best to just turn your eyes away.”
His gloved hand came up over her face again, and she stared at it, a sinking feeling settling in her stomach. There was nothing she could do for Ace out there in the street. All she could do was pray and hope for the best.
She turned her head to rest her cheek to Mason’s chest and stare off down the alley and through the buildings on the other side. A church, a gun shop. Behind them, a set of hitching posts where her group had left their horses, ready to go for when they fled.
The north road heading out of town lay beyond that, a cloud of dust settling where a group of riders was coming in. She watched them, allowing them to distract her from what was going on in the bank behind her.
Five men dressed in dark coats and carrying large guns. She frowned as she took in their dirty, disheveled look, more rifles and one with a machete. Alarms went off in her head.
“Mason,” she gasped, grabbing for his arm and pointing in their direction.
He twisted against her and cursed when his eyes landed on the group. “Croakers.”
Her pulse tripped. “What are they doing here?”
He held her tight against him. “It could be nothing. Those assholes are always stirring up trouble somewhere. Maybe they’ll just pass on through.”