by Taylor Lee
He looked down on Chao Li’s ranch. From the distance, he could see the way the impressive compound blended into its surroundings. He wondered how Chao had stood up to Penelope over the years. Not let her put her stamp on the place. He could imagine the arguments between the two. Somehow Chao had managed to keep Penelope from “civilizing” his compound. There were no garish buildings, no unnatural colors, just carefully conceived structures that looked like they emerged from the landscape, through God’s hand, not one sophisticated Chinese man’s vision. Hell, he could have enjoyed the ride if the knot in his gut would loosen.
The trail flattened out and Gabe thought he smelled water. The distinctive sound of water cascading over the rocky outcroppings confirmed that he was nearing the waterfall promised by Clem’s scratches in the dirt. At the same time, he heard the water, he heard voices. Ana’s voice. And men’s voices.
Gabe swallowed hard, marveling at how tension dries up your spit. The itch on the back of his neck made his nerve endings shriek. The knot in his gut tightened. He hadn’t become the most feared poker player in the west by ignoring his intuition.
Ana was in danger.
~~
Chapter 12
Ana sensed the conversation had changed. She’d managed to cover her surprise when Jake and Marty appeared from the brush. She was startled when she saw them, but more annoyed than afraid. Damn, what brought the ranch hands this far up in the canyons? Their claim that Clem sent them to seek out the mountain lions that were frightening the horses at night didn’t ring true. She didn’t contest their story. Maybe like everyone else, they needed a break from the dawn to dusk work on the second biggest spread in California. But why did they have to choose her haven, her refuge?
She barely knew the two men. She’d nodded to them, been polite as always. But unlike the hands who had been at the ranch since she was a child, these two were virtual strangers. They had the familiar markings of men who lived a hard life. Hours in the blazing sun had darkened their skin and etched deep lines around their eyes and mouths. Their hands were chapped, rough. Years of dirt and infrequent showers had blackened their nails beyond repair and left ground in dirt on the skin above their collars. Their clothes were stained, dust covered, their boots caked with mud. Even from a distance, Ana smelled the familiar odor of horses, grasslands, and mown hay. But it was the tangy stink of their sweat mixed with an odor she couldn’t place that caught her attention.
Not for the first time, Ana was grateful that Kai had taught her to shoot and throw a knife. She wasn’t afraid. Her daily sparring with Kai and the other Chinese fighters had strengthened her body and boosted her confidence. She knew she could handle these men. But she didn’t like the shifty looks they exchanged or the way they seemed to be closing in on her.
Jake, the taller of the two, sidled over next to her. He took off his sweat stained cowboy hat and ran his fingers through his lank stringy hair. Looking over the canyons into the distance, he whistled.
“Man, this is quite a place, girl. I swear to God you can see San Francisco from here. No wonder you come up here every day.”
Ana frowned at his knowledge of her habits, but didn’t respond. Instead she took a few steps back, avoiding Marty, who appeared on the other side of her.
Jake inquired. “How much of this land does your father own? ‘
Ana met his gaze and gave a noncommittal shrug. “Enough.”
A smirk twisted Jake’s lips. He turned to his friend as though she wasn’t there.
“You ever wonder, Marty, how these Chinks managed to gobble up so much of the good land? Must be that they are just smarter than the rest of us.” “Or,” he mused, “maybe they’re sneakier, more devious.”
Marty made an ugly sound. “Or they bought off those Lilly-livered fuckers in Congress who care more about money than takin’ care of their own race.”
Ana had heard the arguments all her life. Sometimes, in the whispers of the house maids or in the overt drunken complaints at the saloon. The only difference was that she didn’t know these men. She didn’t know if it was the usual grumbles of disenchanted, overworked men or if they posed a real danger. She felt for the knife strapped to her thigh and acknowledged the one in her boot.
Jake glanced over at her and gave her what she presumed was a smile. Only it wasn’t friendly, it was sinister. It sent shivers down her spine.
“Hey, Ana, don’t look like that. We’re just joshin’ you. We’re good men and we like all kinds of peoples, even Chinks.”
His pal chipped in. “But honey, you ain’t’ all Chink, are you? Nah, you look like your daddy branched out a little. Who was your ma, Ana? One of them chamber maids?”
Ana drew herself up and turned on the two men.
“I want you to leave. Clem will be angry that you are here. There’s plenty of work for you to do at the ranch. And even though my father is a “Chink,” he is a generous one and pays you well to do your work. He will be displeased to learn that you are shirking your duties. . Please go.”
The overt threats only seemed to encourage the two men.
Jake sidled up close enough to her that she could see the blackened stumps of teeth in his mouth and smell the fetid odor of his breath.
“Now, now. Ana. Don’t you go gettin’ your dander up. Marty here and me, we wus thinkin’ how nice a swim in that waterfall would be.”
He leered at her. “Do you ever swim in that nice cool water, Ana? I’m bettin’ you do.”
He grinned at Marty. “What do you think, Marty? You think you and me and Ana here should go for a little swim? Hell, we could get out of these filthy duds of ours and get clean all over.”
Marty gave a lewd chuckle and reached for Ana. “Hell, Jake I can only think of a couple of things that would be better than a nice cold swim with this pretty young thing. Damn, Eli and Slade were braggin’ you is quite a little poker player. I’m bettin’ you got all kinds of skills nobody knows about.”
Ana’s stomach clenched. She managed to stifle the rush of fear that made her knees shake. She concentrated on the man threatening her and planned her next move. Like Kai taught her, she twisted to the side, then drove her knee in Marty’s groin. The unexpected move caught Marty off guard and he sprawled to the ground with a surprised grunt. Ana took off in a dash, not looking back. Her horse was tied to the tree. If she could make it over to him, she could escape.
Marty yelled out when he landed on a sharp rock and leapt to his hands and knees. Ana ran as fast as she could, adrenalin driving her forward. She heard Jake’s shout and felt his breath as he closed in on her. In her haste, she tripped over a tree root and stumbled. A sharp pain tore through her ankle. Blessedly, fear deadened the pain. She beat off Jake’s grasp and made a last desperate effort to reach her horse.
A gunshot rang though the crisp air, echoed by Jake’s scream. A volley of shots mixed with men’s shouts and her high piercing screams echoed through the canyons.
Ana hovered on the ground where she fell. In the confusion, she didn’t know if one of the shots hit her. Her ankle was screaming with pain. She looked up to see both Jake and Marty writhing on the ground. Jake was clutching his bloody elbow. Marty rocked back and forth, cradling his knee, blood seeping through his fingers. Both men were white with shock. She followed the path of their eyes terrified to see who was trying to kill them.
Her relief when she saw Gabe was so intense, she almost fainted.
~~~
Gabe crouched in the brush, watching as the men advanced on her. Although her words were calm and her voice strong, he saw the fear in her eyes. Years of training kicked in. His breathing slowed, his gaze narrowed. Calm settled over him like a protective cloak. Killing was never easy, but it got less problematic with practice. He’d had lots of practice. As much as he wanted to, as much as every muscle fiber in his body cried out to kill them, squeeze the life out of them with his bare hands--Gabe resisted. These animals were too stupid to have engineered the plot against Chao and his fami
ly. But whoever sent them was not. Gabe needed these stooges alive. He needed to send a message to the men who hired them that it was only a matter of time before they felt his wrath.
Advancing on the two men cowering on the ground, a pistol in each hand, Gabe shot one round after another. Dirt spit up showering the screaming men with dust and shattered rocks. Each shot came perilously close to one vulnerable body part or another.
Finally, Jake threw up his hand begging him to stop.
“Jesus Christ, Angel! Can’t you see we’re down? What the fuck are you trying to do?”
“What am I trying to do, Jake? Hmm, a little target practice. I like to see how close I can get to a man’s nuts without shooting them off. Haven’t been practicing as much as I should. Hope I don’t miss.”
He aimed a round at the narrow space between Jake’s legs and shot. The rock bounced up smacking against the crease in his pants. The only sound more horrific than Jake’s scream was Marty’s.
Marty was blubbering now. “You, you don’t understand, Angel. We was just joshin’ her. Havin’ a little fun. We never would hurt her, would we Jake.”
“Christ, no. Goddamn us to hell if we’re lyin’, Angel. We wus just havin’ a little fun.”
Gabe’s chuckle was dry, menacing. “I imagine your transport to hell has been at the ready for some time, Jake. But I gotta say, you two men have a strange way of joshin’ a young girl.”
Jake got a little of his courage back and muttered. “She ain’t a girl, Angel. And you ain’t the only one that’s noticed.”
Gabe moved up closer to the two men, a gun in each hand pointing at the space between their eyes.
His voice was cold, a hard layer of anger undergirding it.
“Once you stop bawling like suckling pigs, you’re gonna notice that your “injuries” aren’t nearly as bad as you are making out. Sure, Marty, you’re gonna walk funny for the rest of you life. And Jake, you better learn to hoist that booze with your left hand cuz your right one isn’t gonna do you much good.
“Now, both of you. Throw down every last weapon you have you have hidden on those cowardly bodies of yours. A warning. If I find one you missed, I will strip you naked and tie you to that tree. Then I’ll show you how I engage in target practice in earnest.”
Minutes later, both men were on their horses, their hands tied behind their heads. Gabe engineered a series of clever knots around their necks connected to the rope binding their wrists. If they moved too fast or in the wrong direction, the ropes would tighten. There was a good chance the men would choke to death. After a few suggestions as to how they might make it out of the canyons alive, Gabe added another “request”.
“I want you to go to the cowardly men that sent you ignorant assholes to do their dirty work. Give them this message from me. Angel’s Avengers are on to them. It’s only a matter of time, fellows. A matter of time.”
~~
Chapter 13
It had been ten minutes at the most, but it felt like a lifetime before Gabe walked over to her. Rigid lines creased his brow. His eyes were cold, dangerous. His lips were pressed together in a hard white line. Without speaking, he scooped her up in his arms and held her tight against his chest. She struggled against him, then gave in to the surge of relief that shot through her body. To her surprise, she started shaking as though she was in a strong wind. Every muscle in her body cried out at the fierce tremors buffeting her.
For several long moments, he said nothing, just held her tight, murmuring soft crooning sounds, words that meant nothing and everything.
Finally, he spoke. His voice was calm, controlled, different from the hard anger blazing in his eyes.
“You’re in shock, Princess. Let me hold you for a minute and then we’ll take a look at your ankle.”
She tried to push him away. She was frightened by how tightly he held her but wished she could stay like this forever.
“You heard me, Princess. Stop fighting me. That’s one fucking nightmare that you went through. You’re gonna feel shocky for a while. The more you let go, give into it, the quicker it will pass.”
She allowed herself to give in to her need to hold him, burrow against his chest, feel the strong muscles corded beneath. When she could breathe again and stopped shaking, she pushed herself up and said in as firm as voice as she could manage, “I’m okay, now. You can put me down.”
He nodded and set her on the ground up against the tree. To her surprise, he took a knife out of his boot.
She frowned, “What…what are you doing? “
“I’m going to look at your ankle, see how bad it is.”
She shook her head. “No, don’t. I’m fine. Let’s go back to the ranch.” His closeness and her desire to reach out and touch him, crawl back into his arms, was unnerving her. She needed to get away from him.
He seemed to sense her conflicting emotions. He caught her chin and tipped her face up next to his. She saw the determination in his eyes and knew it was futile to resist. She saw another emotion that she didn’t understand, but whatever it was, it was raw, unfiltered. She closed her eyes at the intensity.
“Listen up. Princess. I’m gonna’ tell you what we are going to do. And you know what? You aren’t going to argue. Think you can do that? Do what I tell you to do for the next five minutes?”
She felt the heat creep up her cheeks. She was embarrassed. He had saved her life and she hadn’t even thanked him.
“I…I’m sorry, Gabe. I…um, thank you. I ‘m glad you…you came when you did.”
He raised an eyebrow and something akin to rage flashed in his eyes. He gave a heavy sigh, as though forcing himself to breathe.
“Uh, yeah, sweetheart. We’ll have that conversation later. The conversation about why you were here by yourself and what would have happened if I hadn’t come when I did.”
She bristled and sat up straighter.
“I…I’m sure I could have handled them, Gabe. If I hadn’t tripped on that tree root, I would have made it to my horse just fine. And… and you heard them. They said they were just joshing me, trying to frighten me.”
Gabe’s expression hardened. When he spoke his voice was cool.
“I’m gonna make a suggestion, Princess. Make a little deal with you. You stop talking for the next five minutes and I won’t turn you over my knee and paddle your bare ass.”
She gasped and started to answer but he pressed his finger against her lips and shook his head. She closed her eyes and settled back against the tree. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She couldn’t seem to stop arguing with him when all she really wanted was for him to hold her – for a very long time.
When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her.
“Are we agreed?”
She nodded.
“Good. Glad we have that settled. Now, for the third time, I want to look at our ankle.”
She started to resist, “I…I’m sure it is….”
Her words trailed off at the warning look he threw her.
He lifted her foot and probed and prodded her ankle from various angles through her boot. She winced. It was painful, but not like it felt when she fell.
“That’s good, sweetheart. I think you are in luck. It’s not broken, but sometimes a sprain can be as bad as a break. I’m gonna take your boot off now. Let me know if I hurt you.”
He tugged gently at her boot, easing it inch by inch off her foot, then removed her stocking. When her foot was free, he began poking and probing again, looking up at her, testing to see where it hurt. A slight purplish bruise tinged the skin around her ankle and he was especially careful when he touched the discolored places. When he seemed satisfied, he stood. To her surprise, he reached down and scooped her up in his arms and headed to the waterfall.
She started, twisting around in his arms to see his face. “Now what are you doing?”
He gave her an ironic grin. “As opposed to what Jake and Marty were suggesting, which you apparently thought was ‘joshing,’
we are not going to strip and swim naked in the pool.” His grin widened when she gasped. “But we are going to soak your ankle in that cold water and see if we can keep it from swelling.”
He climbed up on a rocky ledge and positioned her close to the edge of the water. He took off her other boot and stocking and rolled her pant legs above her knees. When he eased her feet into the still pond, the cold water covered her legs almost to her knees. She jerked back against the startling cold, but once she got used to it, she had to agree, it made her ankle feel better.
Gabe crouched down beside her and settled in next to her.
She looked up at him, then looked away when she saw he was staring at her.
She tried to cover her confusion. His strong body, the muscles in his thighs straining against his trousers as he crouched beside her, frightened her. He was so big, so powerful. She felt small, vulnerable. From long habit, she raised her chin and narrowed her eyes.
“Now, if it isn’t too much to ask, may I talk?”
He threw back his head and laughed. “I’m impressed, Princess. I think you went a whole two minutes without arguing with me. Yeah, you can talk. That is exactly what we are going to do now. Just so you know, we have a hell of a lot of things to talk about.”
She wasn’t sure she liked that answer, but when he drilled her with that intense stare, she knew she had no choice. They were going to talk about things she didn’t want to think about, much less discuss.
~~~
Gabe watched her for a moment, seeing the conflicting emotions warring across her face. Reaching for his cigarette case, he took his time choosing a cigarette, then lit it and took several deep drags. The fragrant smoke settled over them. For the first time since he left the ranch looking for her, he allowed himself to relax.