by Howe, Cheryl
“Even if she were your wife, that doesn’t mean she’s above the law. You either. You better stop and think about what you’re doing. She threatened to shoot an officer of the law. Helping a couple of fugitives will ruin you.”
Braddock untied the kerchief from around Langston’s neck and poised himself to stuff it into his mouth the next time he opened it, which didn’t take long. Braddock had the same things going through his head. He didn’t need Langston to tell him he’d gone too far.
Langston spit out his gag. “You’re going to be wanted, just like them.”
Braddock forcibly stuffed the gag back in Langston’s mouth and cut a length of rope to keep it secure. When he had tied the last knot, he turned his back on the deputy and the last of his sense. He strode toward Lorelei and picked up the bag she had packed with supplies. Staring at the floral, cloth covered valise for a long moment, he wondered, what kind of fugitive loaded supplies in a flimsy bag printed with bright pink roses.
Lorelei touched his arm. “I don’t like this. Maybe we should go to the authorities and tell them this was all just a big mistake.”
Corey spoke up before Braddock could tear his gaze away from her trusting face. “Forget it, Lorelei. They’d throw us both in jail before we could even say ‘boo.’ ”
Braddock knew Corey was right, and he wasn’t going to let Lorelei spend one single moment in a jail cell. Nor was he himself. He’d already had trouble because he looked too much like a dead fugitive named Lincoln Knox. And he didn’t think Langston would be too helpful if the law in Santa Fe got a little confused. Langston would love to see him rot in a jail cell, even if it meant Mulcahy would escape to Mexico.
“Trust me.” The words left Braddock’s lips before he knew what he was saying. Trusting him was the last thing she should do, the last thing he wanted her to do. But somehow he’d landed this misguided woman’s life firmly in the palm of his hand, and he felt relieved when she nodded yes.
“Well, I’m not going to trust you,” said Corey.
Braddock strode toward the door. “Good. ’Cause I don’t give a damn about you, kid. Let’s go, Lorelei.”
He didn’t stop and wait to see if she followed. Maybe she wouldn’t. It would be better that way. He heard her soft steps across the wooden porch. He slowed, unable to help himself.
Corey stomped across the porch ahead of them. He went around the house and returned leading a white pony splashed with various shades of brown. The animal was on the small side, a little too lean. Probably a wild horse, but the way it pranced behind Corey like a thoroughbred told Braddock the kid had at least one thing going for him: he knew how to handle a horse.
Langston’s golden stallion shook its mane and backed away from them, testing the length of the reins looped around the water pump in the middle of the yard.
“Lorelei rides your horse,” said Braddock as he stepped off the porch. “Corey, you ride Langston’s.”
“I’m not a horse thief,” protested Corey with real indignation.
“Your sister’s not riding a stolen horse. That’s final. I don’t have time to argue.” Braddock strode to the barn to retrieve Lucky, knowing his reasoning was faulty. The only one Langston was going to blame for the theft of his horse was Braddock.
By the time he led a saddled Lucky from the barn, Lorelei sat atop Corey’s horse while her brother soothed Langston’s frightened animal with soft words and a scratch behind the ear. Once Braddock mounted, Corey quickly followed suit.
“I’ve got eyes in the back of my head, kid. So don’t even think about it.”
Corey cut his gaze across to the horizon, letting Braddock know he wasn’t making any promises. Braddock contracted his thighs, sending Lucky into a trot.
Lorelei easily caught up with him. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” Braddock used his heels to send the horse into a full gallop.
As they rode hard across the desert, he wondered how soon it would be until she was cursing him. He was already cursing himself.
***
Braddock had a long, hard ride to mull over his situation. Only one solution satisfied him. Beat the truth out of Corey Sullivan once and for all.
When they finally reached the tall red rocks that hid a slowly fountaining underground spring, the sky was stained a bloody pink. The blue canopy of night closed quickly around them as they stopped to make camp for the night.
After Braddock dismounted, he helped Lorelei slide off the pinto’s back. Her knees buckled, forcing her to grab his shoulders to stay on her feet. Once she regained her balance she made a show of straightening her wrinkled skirt. The way she tried to hide her obvious exhaustion fueled Braddock’s volatile temper.
When Corey came trotting up behind them, Braddock wrapped his left hand around the palomino’s reins and gripped Corey’s shirtfront with his right. He dragged him to the ground before the kid could grunt a protest.
With feet braced, hands balled in fists, Braddock willed Corey to stand and take a swing at him. “You’d better start spilling your guts, kid. Where’s Mulcahy?”
“Get away from me, you crazy bastard. I didn’t ask for your help.”
Braddock hauled him up by his leather vest. He gave Corey a teeth jarring shake to let him know he was serious. “Where’s Mulcahy?”
“I don’t know.” Corey remained limp. He didn’t even try to fight back. He was smarter than Braddock gave him credit for.
Braddock reared back his fist.
Lorelei clutched his arm before he could follow through with the punch. “What are you doing?”
Braddock tried to gently shake her off. “Let go. He has it coming.”
Corey closed his eyes tightly, preparing himself for the blow. For once he kept his smart mouth shut.
Lorelei wrapped both hands around the bend in Braddock’s cocked arm and tugged with all her body weight. “I’m not going to let you hurt my brother, no matter what he’s done.”
Braddock dropped Corey to the ground. He could easily shake her off, of course, but he couldn’t see slinging her into the dirt. As soon as Lorelei released him, he paced in the other direction. She would stick by Corey no matter what he’d done, nor how much it cost her. Braddock had to admit he admired her loyalty, even if it was stupid. Apparently his West Point lessons were harder to shake than he imagined.
Braddock took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. His schooled code of honor wasn’t what had gotten him in this mess—running from the law, tied up with a bumbling outlaw and a vulnerable woman. His own personal code of ethics, tarnished as it was, had finally been forced out of retirement by his bad behavior. He had used Lorelei, and he didn’t like his actions. She had filled a hole in him, if just for a little while, and he had opened up a wound in her she had just gotten closed. He would fix the mess in her life if it was the last thing he did. Then she was on her own. He couldn’t save her from all the harsh realities of the world if she refused to let go of her worthless ideals. Ideals got you killed.
He stomped back over to Corey and Lorelei.
“You’d better tell me everything that happened from the moment you met Mulcahy.”
Lorelei draped her arm around her brother’s shoulders. “I told you what happened. Corey didn’t know what they were going to do.”
Braddock stared hard at Corey. “Not that load of shit. The truth.”
“Why are you so angry?” Lorelei asked.
“Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in? You pointed a rifle at a U.S. marshal. As far as the law’s concerned, you’re as guilty as he is. And I stole a horse, for Pete’s sake. You do know that’s a hanging offense, don’t you?”
She had the good sense to pale and drop her arm from around Corey. “I wouldn’t have shot him. I just didn’t want you to get hurt.”
“From now on, don’t worry about me or him.” He jabbed a finger in Corey’s direction, aching to do so much more. “Worry about yourself, Lorelei, ’cause right now we’re
all in the same boat, and it’s sinking.”
He clasped Corey’s shoulder. “You will tell me what happened, or I’ll beat you until you do.” He glanced at Lorelei. “Even if I have to tie your sister up to do it.”
Lorelei gazed at him as if she didn’t know him. “Why are you doing this?”
“I have to get the truth out of him so I can figure out what to do next. I’m trying to save all our necks.”
She glanced at Corey. He plastered a pleading expression on his face but remained silent.
She turned away from both of them and unstrapped her flowered valise from the pinto. “I’m going to get dinner started. Just don’t break any bones.”
Braddock gripped Corey’s arm. “I’ll take him far enough away so you can’t hear him scream.”
“Lori,” the boy called before Braddock could drag him behind the tall rock shelter. “Don’t leave me alone with him. He’s crazy. Lori!”
When Braddock had him far enough from Lorelei so that she couldn’t overhear their conversation, he shoved Corey, sending him sprawling. “Start talking.”
“You’re not getting me near Mulcahy. You can beat me all you want. Mulcahy will kill me.” Corey pushed himself to a sitting position. He locked his hands protectively around his knees.
Braddock folded his arms over his chest. “So you were in on the robbery.”
Corey stared into the night as if looking for help to ride up from the darkness. “I guess.”
“Either you were or you weren’t.”
“You gonna tell Lori about this?”
“It depends. I doubt she’d believe me anyway.”
Corey turned back to him and cocked his head. “She might. She’s pretty trusting.”
“So why’d you let her believe you’re innocent?”
“ ’Cause I care about her. I care about what she thinks.”
“I don’t care what she thinks as long as she stays safe. Thanks to you, she’s far from that.”
“You don’t know anything about us. You’re just like the others. You take what you can get while you can get it. You might fool Lorelei, but you’re not fooling me.”
Braddock had been grinding his teeth without realizing it. He had to unhinge his jaw to get his words out. “Tell me smart ass, what the hell am I getting from being out here with you? Tying up a marshal and stealing his horse makes me a goddamned outlaw. So what’s in it for me?”
Corey rocked, bringing his legs closer to his body. “Me. Mulcahy, whose bounty is triple mine. And Lori, when you’ve a mind to. I might have picked the wrong bunch to hook up with, but what I did, I did to myself. I didn’t get some poor woman all twisted up in the process.”
Braddock took three deep breaths through his nose. “Don’t forget who sent her to me in the first place.”
Corey pushed piles of soft sand around with his boot. “I met Mulcahy in a saloon outside Santa Fe. I’d been catching wild horses and selling them once I got them trained. It kept me fed, but it wasn’t enough to send for Lorelei.” He glanced up, checking for interest, seeing how his story was going over.
Braddock nodded. If he kept Corey talking long enough, he was bound to stumble onto some part of the truth. He nodded again for the boy to continue.
“Lorelei wrote to me when our ma died. She’d been taking care of her, and I promised Lori we’d be together after she passed on. Kentucky had too many bad memories. The war was—”
Braddock interrupted. “You can skip that part. I was there.”
Corey picked up a rock and tossed it. “I didn’t have enough to bring Lorelei out, so I took what I had and got in this poker game. I’m usually lucky with cards.”
“Yeah. I heard you cheat.”
Corey glared, but didn’t deny it. “Anyway, I lost that night. This fella heard my name and decided to buy me a drink ’cause I was Irish. Or at least my parents were. I didn’t bother telling him my pa dropped the O from O’Sullivan because he didn’t have any use for Irish or Ireland. That man was Mulcahy, and he said he could use a hand like me for this job they had.”
“So you knew you’d be robbing the stage.”
Corey hesitantly nodded. Night had pushed out the last of the sunset, but the quarter moon and stars were as bright as white fire in the desert’s black sky.
Braddock could see Corey’s bottom lip jut out and tremble slightly. “I didn’t know they were going to kill people. That I won’t do. When the shooting started, I put my gun away. Mulcahy got hit, and he blames me. He said he was going to kill me, but I just ran away.”
Braddock rubbed the stubble on his chin. It made sense. None of Mulcahy’s jobs had ever gone so wrong. “Looks like you got a hell of a lot more trouble than the law. If Mulcahy said he was going to kill you, he will.”
When Corey swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbed, his fear reminding Braddock that he really was just a kid.
“He was hit pretty bad. Maybe he died.”
“I don’t think you’re that lucky, Corey.”
“Nope. Guess not.”
Braddock squatted to face him. “Seems to me you’d be better off in jail than running.”
“They’ll hang me.”
“Not if we give them Mulcahy and the gold. I’d say it’s your only chance, ’cause if the law doesn’t get you, Mulcahy will. I know the man. You’d rather be hanged than have him get his hands on you.”
Corey narrowed his gaze as if trying to see into Braddock’s soul. “What do you want?”
Braddock didn’t flinch under his scrutiny. There was nothing to see. “I want Lorelei someplace safe so I don’t have to worry about her. I want Mulcahy to hang and the gold returned. Then I’ll clear my name. In that order. If you get a lesser jail sentence in the process, that’s fine, but it’s not a priority.”
“So why should I help you?”
“I’m the only chance you have to keep the skin on your neck.”
“I could go it on my own.” The boy lifted his chin, letting Braddock know it was what he wanted him to believe he preferred.
“Or you could help me find Mulcahy in order to clear your sister’s name. As long as he’s free, you’re going to have to sleep with one eye open.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“And I don’t trust you.”
Corey shrugged. “I don’t even know where Mulcahy is.” Braddock didn’t believe him, but saying so wouldn’t get him the information. Fortunately, he had something else in mind. “You know where he’s been. We’ll start there. I’m a pretty decent tracker.”
Corey stood. “You stay away from Lorelei.”
Braddock wished he could tell Corey the same thing. The girl would be better off without either one of them. “I’ll leave that up to your sister,” he said instead.
Corey walked back toward camp as if he hadn’t heard. Braddock rubbed the back of his neck, relieved Corey had dropped the subject. Unfortunately, he knew continuing his relationship with Lorelei was wrong. He also knew that wasn’t going to stop him.
Corey turned back before he was out of earshot. “She’ll hold you responsible if something happens to me. She won’t forgive you.”
Braddock folded his arms over his chest, glad it was too dark for the kid to see his arrow hit its mark. He regretted not slapping him around while he had had the chance.
Corey quickly turned away again, but not before Braddock saw he was smiling.
Braddock shifted his weight. His right thigh throbbed in protest, reminding him he needed to take a look at the graze Langston had given him. He reluctantly followed Corey back to camp.
A golden glow flared out from the dark outline of the rocks. Instead of moving toward the fire, Braddock veered into the darkness, longing for a drink. Just one good shot of strong whiskey to shake the feeling of unease he was carrying around. He walked farther into the distance, away from Lorelei and her brother, hoping the desolate landscape would seep into him, return him to his old self.
All these different emotions—compa
ssion, guilt, longing—tightened his chest and throat. Even the small scratch on his thigh pulsed with the pain of being human. He couldn’t say he liked being thrust back into the thick of things. After the war he had become numb. The only thing he felt was dependable sense of indifference.
Once the war ended and civilization took hold again, he couldn’t pretend that all those rules people set up for themselves and everyone else mattered. Couldn’t be polite when he didn’t feel like it. Couldn’t act like he cared when he didn’t. His parents had been horrified when their celebrated son came home and couldn’t be shown off properly. Braddock had lost his ability to be respectable, or so he had thought.
Well, he couldn’t say his intentions toward Lorelei were exactly respectable, not by most people’s standards, but he did have a strong desire to please her. He wanted to show her how good a man could make a woman feel.
The night had turned sharply cool, but the day’s heat still radiated from the ground. Thinking of the things he wanted to show Lorelei made the earth’s warmth shoot through the soles of his boots and pool in his groin. The last woman he had made love to whom he hadn’t paid was well before the war, a widow who enjoyed tutoring the boys from West Point in things other than academics. She had been his first real lover.
He hadn’t thought of that time in years. Hadn’t needed the widow’s special instruction. Whores didn’t care. They just wanted you to be quick or they charged extra.
On the long ride, knowing he’d have Lorelei close by tonight, he’d thought of the widow and what she had told him about women, what they liked. Hell, the damage was done. He had taken Lorelei’s virginity. Not that it mattered much out here. Lorelei could have her pick of husbands, and with her beauty, they wouldn’t care what she’d done in her past.
Braddock dropped the hand he’d been absently rubbing over his chest. Finding Lorelei a husband sounded too much like a good idea. What better way to appease his flickering sense of honor than to find her a husband?
He stared up at the stars, feeling betrayed by his own good sense.
He strolled back to the camp, sure of only one thing. His best chance of finding Mulcahy relied upon keeping the Sullivans close. But this opportunity to finally get Mulcahy came with a price. He’d be forced to live again. Meeting Lorelei, giving a damn, both made him as vulnerable as every other bastard out there. He shouldn’t be surprised at the cost. Everything had one.