“He wouldn’t make me that angry.”
“Who were you planning to marry, some meek bank clerk or a nervous accountant? I don’t care much for Buc, but I give him credit for some guts.”
“For the last time, I’m not going to marry Buc,” Victoria said.
“You’d better tell him. I don’t think he knows.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I think it does. It’s not right to let a man risk his life for the woman he means to marry when you know all the time you have no notion of marrying him.”
“I didn’t expect him to come after me.”
“Do you mean you told him to stay home if anybody carried you off?”
“Of course not. Buc would never do that.”
“Then you did expect him to come after you.”
“Yes, but-”
“And he knew you expected him to come after you?”
“Of course. Buc wouldn’t stay home if he knew I was in trouble.”
Then you did expect him to come after you.”
“You’ve twisted my words around until I don’t know what I’m saying” Victoria said.
“I’m just making you say what you should have said all along. You know you let Buc look after you all these years.”
“My uncle paid Buc to look after me. He didn’t do it because I asked him to or because I promised him I’d marry him. I told him years ago I didn’t love him.”
“But you didn’t tell him you could never love him.”
“Why would I say that?”
“So he wouldn’t go on pining after you.”
“How was I to know he wouldn’t fall in love with the next girl he met?”
“Men have a way of falling in love with women they rescue, especially if the woman is as beautiful as you.”
“So now you’re blaming me for the way I look.”
“Just for taking advantage of it.”
“If I’d been taking advantage of it, I’d have tried my wiles on you.”
“It wouldn’t have worked.”
“You’re immune to women?”
“Not women. Just you.”
Victoria opened her mouth to ask him about his body’s response to her, but changed her mind. She didn’t know whether she wanted to wring a confession of vulnerability from him. She didn’t trust her own response if he admitted he was interested in her. Despite the fact she should hate him for what he was doing to her, he upset her calculations on just about every score.
“No man is immune to women forever. One day you’ll find a woman who can make you do things you don’t want to do. I hope I’m around to see that day.”
“You won’t be.”
“Do you care to explain that remark?”
He stared into the fire so long she thought he was going to ignore her. Dark emotions distorted his features and caused his fingers to grip his battered tin cup until it bent under the pressure.
“It’s already happened … fifteen years ago.” He threw the last of his coffee into the fire. “I swore then no woman would ever again have that kind of power over me.”
The sheer magnitude of the rage which gripped his body stunned Victoria. She hadn’t anticipated the violence of the emotions that swelled inside him.
“It’s time to get started. We have a long way to go to reach my next camp.”
“You really think you’re going to reach Texas, don’t you? You’ve got your camps laid out, and you know exactly how far you mean to travel each day. Don’t you think my uncle and a dozen men on your heels is going to make any difference?”
“It’ll make things more difficult.”
“You’re the most incredibly stubborn and arrogant man I’ve ever seen. They’re going to kill you. It may take a little while, but it’s just a matter of time.”
“Then sit back and enjoy the show. But you’ll have to do it on horseback.”
He’d never met a woman like Victoria. The longer he was with her, the more his fascination grew. The more he knew about her, the more he wanted to know. The more she struggled to escape him, the more determined he became to keep her with him. She had become part of his thinking and feeling, part of his world, and he couldn’t imagine it without her.
Some alarm went off in the back of Trinity’s brain. He didn’t know whether it was instinct or whether he had actually heard something.
He sprang to his feet, irritated at himself for letting Victoria make him forget to keep close watch on Grant’s camp. He didn’t think they would try any maneuvers until nightfall, but he hadn’t earned a thirteen-year record of success by forgetting for as much as one minute that only his life stood between his captive and freedom. But he’d never had a female prisoner before.
Trinity counted the heads in Grant’s camp. Then he counted them again.
“Damn,” he exploded. “Buc’s gone.”
“I told you he wouldn’t give up.”
“I thought he had more sense than to try to take you in daylight. He ought to know he can’t do it without a shot. And unless he can get close enough for a sure shot, every bullet is as much of a danger to you as to me.”
Trinity picked Victoria up and carried her behind a large boulder, which seemed to have been turned on its side. He laid her flat on the ground.
“Sit me up. I don’t want to the with my face in the dirt.”
“I want you under cover. I don’t know what that fool might do. I wish to hell your uncle had better control over his men.”
“I’m sure Uncle Grant told him to try to get behind you.”
“I give your uncle credit for more sense. It’s Buc who lets his emotions rule his head. A dangerous combination out here.”
Trinity noticed movement in Grant’s camp. Several of the men had moved out of camp and were approaching through the trees. That could only mean Buc had circled the ridge to come up behind him. They meant to draw him out of position. Either Buc would get him from behind or the others would get him from below.
As Trinity picked his way through the rocks above his campsite, he cursed everyone: Buc and Grant for being determined to rescue Victoria, Judge Blazer for having his own daughter-in-law convicted of murder, Jeb Blazer for getting himself killed, and himself for ever agreeing to go after Victoria.
He didn’t curse Queenie because he’d been doing that for thirteen years. He didn’t curse Victoria because he didn’t want to. He never had.
After a quick glance to assure himself the others wouldn’t come into firing range for several minutes, he turned his attention to the hillside above. Even though he couldn’t see Buc, Trinity knew he had to be up there. A careful inspection of the mountainside showed no sign of Buc.
Trinity studied his campsite. Was it vulnerable from another direction?
He had chosen a promontory to make his stand. It offered an excellent view of the mountain above, below, and most of the trail. All except the last hundred feet. That was hidden by a large outcropping of rock, part of the very outcropping Victoria sat on at this moment. Buc could come over the ridge. But instead of dropping down from above, which anyone would expect him to do, he could drop down to the trail before reaching the camp.
And Trinity would never see him.
Trinity scrambled down the mountainside so quickly he slid the last several yards.
Victoria had not been able to lie still while Trinity searched the mountainside for Buc. She had to know what he intended to do. Her uncle was out there with eleven men who would willingly give their lives for her. She had to do something. Rolling on to her stomach and pulling herself forward by her elbows, she crawled from behind the rock. She saw Buc and Trinity before they saw each other.
It horrified her to know her first thought was for Trinity. How could she be so unnatural as to think first of the man responsible for all her grief? If he hadn’t arrived with his lying tongue and soft assurances, she would still be in Mountain Valley, safe in her own bed, and her uncle and Buc would be out of the reach of his guns
.
These thoughts barely flashed though her mind when she realized Buc had his gun drawn. Trinity’s gun was still in his holster.
Before she knew what she did, she cried, “Look out!”
The two men saw each other as the two words hung in the air. Faster than she believed any human could act, Trinity rolled to one side, drew his gun, and fired.
Buc’s first shot buried itself harmlessly in the ground where Trinity had landed. His second tore through Trinity’s shirt, grazing his arm.
Trinity’s only shot hit Buc in the chest.
Buc sank to his knees, his gun sliding from his loosened grasp. Then he toppled over and lay still.
Trinity came to his feet with the agility of a cat. Two quick shots at the men converging on him from below brought them to a halt.
“I got Buc,” he shouted at them. “Anybody else want to try, come on.”
Stunned and shocked, Victoria crawled frantically on her hands and knees. She had to reach Buc. He couldn’t die, not because of her. She wouldn’t let him.
Trinity was right. She was responsible. She had expected him to come after her. She had expected him to try to rescue her. She had expected him to risk his life for her. She had known it and done nothing to stop it. She had also known she didn’t want to marry him. She had known he expected to marry her anyway.
She had brought him up here. She might as well have shot him. If he died, she would be the murderer they believed her to be.
No matter what she had to do, she couldn’t let Buc and the others die because of her.
His breathing was ragged but steady. She got up on her hands and knees and managed to sit up.
“Buc,” she called, “can you hear me?”
“He’s not dead,” Trinity called from the rock.
“You don’t know where the bullet struck him. It might have hit his heart.”
“Just like he could have hit my heart if you hadn’t warned me. Why did you do that?”
“I don’t know,” Victoria said, too dazed and upset to pretend. “He had his gun drawn. I was sure he’d kill you. You are hurt!” She noticed the blood on his shirt.
“It’s only a scratch.”
“How do you know?”
“I thought you wanted me dead.”
“I don’t want anybody dead,” Victoria said. “I never did. None of this is my fault, but it seems to be getting worse with no way to stop it.”
“If you go back …”
“So many have died already. Somebody killed three of our men. I’m afraid to ask what happened to the second bounty hunter. Now Buc’s lying here dying.”
“He’s not dying. It’s only a shoulder wound.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I hit what I aim for, and I aimed for his shoulder.”
“My God, you’re heartless. He’s nothing to you but something to be shoved aside.”
“You can look at it that way.”
A burst of gunfire ended their conversation. The wicked zing of a bullet ricocheting between the boulders turned Victoria’s blood cold.
“Trinity, how’s Buc?” It was Grant Davidge.
“He took a bullet in the shoulder, but another ricochet like the last one could kill him.”
“We’re coming after you.”
“You can’t take me in this position,” Trinity called back.
“You’re surrounded. We’re closing from all sides.”
A bullet smashed into the rocks above Victoria’s head. The angry whine of a ricochet pierced her ears just as the flattened piece of metal sheared off a length of leather from the sole of her boot. It surprised a cry out of her.
“If you can’t control your men, you’re going to have a dead niece,” Trinity shouted, fury giving his voice conviction. “That last bullet took off part of her boot. Make them hold their fire, or I’m going to kill the first one who lifts a rifle.”
“Hold your fire,” Grant ordered.
“He’s lying.” It was Red. “I say we charge him. He can’t get all of us.”
“The bounty is paid whether Victoria’s dead or alive,” Trinity called out. “Judge Blazer would be happy if one of your bullets killed her. It would save him trouble and preserve his reputation.”
Another burst of rifle fire. Victoria saw Trinity’s hat go flying through the air as she fell to the ground. A bullet had come within inches of killing him. Trinity rolled away from the low rock where he had been crouched and scrambled to a position higher on the mountainside. Taking careful aim, he put a bullet through the leg of a man too anxious to be the first to reach him.
“Hold your fire” Grant shouted.
“We can’t just let her stay up there.”
“We can’t get him without endangering Victoria.”
“I’ll get behind him “
“He’s already got Buc.”
“He won’t get me.”
Victoria recognized Perez Calderon’s voice before another burst of gunfire pinned them down.
“Give him cover.”
Fire from a dozen guns echoed off the mountains. Victoria saw Trinity holster his gun and pick up his rifle. As he took careful aim, she realized he would shoot to kill. There would be no more talk, no more bluffing, no more jockeying to see who had the better position or who would back down first. From here on, everyone would be trying to kill him.
And he would be trying to kill everyone from the ranch.
Her uncle, the only relative she had in the world, at least the only one who cared about her except for her money. He ought to be home enjoying the comforts of his long years of work and sacrifice.
Perez Calderon, a man who loved her as much as his own sister.
Buc who only cared for two things in life: Victoria and the ranch.
Red, a lanky, rangy teenager on the threshold of life whose unquestioning loyalty was to the man who paid his wages.
And all the rest of the men who had taken oaths to defend her with their lives.
Victoria called out, but Trinity couldn’t hear her over the noise of the gunfire. She had to get to him, to stop him before he killed Uncle Grant. She pulled herself along on her elbows. She ignored the pain as the rocks cut deep into her skin. She had to reach him before he killed anyone.
Trinity, stop. Don’t shoot,” she called desperately. “I’ll go back with you.”
Trinity spun around, disbelief in his eyes. “Do you know what you’re saying?”
“I’m saying I’ll go back to Bandera with you. I can’t let you kill my uncle. Or anybody else. Not because of me. But I have one condition.”
“You’re not in a position to make conditions.”
“You’re not in a very good position yourself.”
Trinity looked at the eleven men determined to fill him full of bullet holes. That was unarguable. “What is it?”
“Before you turn me over to Judge Blazer, you’ve got to try to prove I didn’t kill Jeb.”
“You don’t expect me to believe—”
“You’ve got to find Chalk Gillet. He was a hired hand on the Judge’s ranch. He was a loner, a journeying man, but he’s my witness.”
“What if I can’t? What if I’m still convinced you killed your husband?”
“If you can’t find any evidence in two weeks, you can turn me in.”
Trinity didn’t like her offer, but he liked the prospect of a gunfight even less. No matter who won, too many people would die.
“And you’ll go?”
“Yes.”
“What about your uncle? He’ll try to stop you.”
“He won’t have to if you find Chalk Gillet.”
A great weight lifted from Trinity’s soul. Not until this moment did he realize how much he wanted the chance to prove Victoria’s innocence. Until now he hadn’t let himself dunk beyond the moment he would turn her over to Sheriff Sprague. Everything would end there. But if she weren’t guilty, if she didn’t hang….
Trinity struggled to keep himsel
f from useless speculation. First he would deal with Grant and then with finding Chalk Gillet. Then if she were innocent….
He’d better not think about that just yet. There were still eleven men down there determined to kill him.
“You’re going to have to convince your uncle.”
Victoria almost collapsed with relief. “Untie me. I’ll go talk to him.”
“You’ll have to talk from here.”
“I can’t.”
“And you’ll have to convince all those cowhands. Davidge,” Trinity shouted, ignoring Victoria’s objection, “tell your men to hold their fire. Your niece wants to say something to you.”
“If this is some trick …”
“You’ll see it’s not in just a minute, but for God’s sake, hold your fire. Victoria’s not under cover. Tell your men to stand up. I’m not letting her close to the edge until I count eleven heads.”
Grant gave the order, and the men reluctantly rose up from their hiding places. A chill ran down Trinity’s spine. They were well scattered and close. They would have surrounded him soon.
“I don’t see Red. Tell him to stand up or no dealing.”
“Red, you heard the man.”
“I don’t trust him,” Red called out.
Trinity spun, about. Somehow the boy had gotten farther up the mountainside. It would have taken him only a few minutes to have found a position above him.
“Stand up,” Grant ordered. “He can see now we’re not fooling.”
Red angrily kicked a rock loose as he stood up. The stone tumbled down the mountain taking a dozen larger stones with it. Several men were forced to take cover to avoid being struck by the tumbling rocks.
“You young fool,” Grant called out. “You nearly killed me”
“Talk,” Trinity ordered Victoria, “and make it good. If that young carrot-top is anything to judge by, they’re in a rotten mood.”
“I suppose you’re proud of yourself.”
“No. I’d much rather have gotten you back to Texas before anybody noticed you were missing.”
Victoria stepped forward until she could see the men scattered below. In their upturned faces she saw many stripes of the rainbow: youth, lovers, wives, children, the hope of a nation. They were ready to die for her, and she had done nothing to deserve it. She had to stop it.
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