by Bobbi Smith
Walker was furious that Ben would dare to speak of Roni that way. "Leave Roni out of this!"
"Well, did you hear that, boys? I think the 'breed here has something going with the new doc in town. And if she likes you, she'll really like me and the boys—won't she, fellas?"
The men all hooted in agreement with him.
"Yeah, she's so pretty, we won't mind too much that your filthy hands have been on her. I bet she's a wild one to ride—what do you think, boys?"
His men laughed and continued to make lewd comments about Roni as Walker fought desperately to break loose.
Walker wanted to defend Roni's honor, but Ben kept beating him. Pain jarred Walker as he felt his ribs crack. He sagged against their brutal restraint while Ben continued his abuse.
Chet and Stacy had been enjoying themselves to the fullest at the dance, and they were sorry when the evening came to an end.
"When will I get to see you again?" Stacy asked him as they left the hall and made their way to the hotel.
"I'll try to make it over to the Dollar next weekend."
"You know, you don't have to ride home tonight. You could spend the night here. I'm sure they've got extra rooms available at the hotel, and then you could go home tomorrow," she said hopefully, wanting to spend as much time with him as she could. "We could go to church and have breakfast together."
"I have to get back," he told her regretfully.
"Are you sure?"
"You know there's nothing I'd like more than to stay in town longer with you, but I can't—not this trip."
He drew her into the darkness to steal a quick kiss, and then they moved on toward the hotel. Chet kept a possessive arm around her as he escorted her inside the lobby. He bid her good night and watched her until she'd started up the stairs before taking his leave.
Chet went back outside and stood there for a moment, smiling broadly into the night. Things in his life were finally going good—real good. And now that Stacy was out of the way, he could do what he really wanted to do—and that wasn't ride for home.
The Ace High was calling him, and so was a pretty little gal named Suzie.
He paid regular visits to the buxom, dark-haired beauty, and she was expecting him tonight. He was looking forward to being with her. She really knew how to please a man. He started off eagerly in the direction of the saloon.
Chet hadn't gotten very far when he heard what sounded like a fight between some of the buildings near the hotel. He hurried over to see what was happening. He was shocked to find Jim lying unconscious and bloodied on the ground, and Ben's men restraining Walker while Ben pummeled him brutally.
Chet was stunned by the fact that his future brother-in-law couldn't seem to come into town without ending up in trouble. First, the fight at the dance and now this . . .
Chet wanted to run, but he knew he couldn't. He could tell Walker couldn't take much more beating, and since he was marrying Stacy for the Stevenson money, he was going to have to help Walker—whether he wanted to or not.
But even if he went to Walker's aid, Chet knew they were still outnumbered. There was only one way he could stop the carnage. He drew his gun and stepped forward to confront Ben and his men.
"Let him go and back off!" he ordered in a loud voice.
Ben was startled by the unexpected order. Seeing that it was only Chet standing there, he started to go for his gun, but Chet was ready. He got off a shot, hitting the ground right in front of Ben and stopping him cold in his tracks.
"I said back off!" Chet repeated.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Ben snarled.
"I'm the man who's holding a gun on you—that's who I am," Chet returned. "Now, let Walker go before you force me to use this!"
"We outnumber you."
Chet stayed calm as he coolly replied, "Yes, you do, and one of your boys might be able to get my gun away from me, but not before I end your miserable life."
"Why you—" Ben seethed.
"Let Walker go and get out of here while you still can. I'm not going to ask again."
Ben was furious, but knew there would be another time to deal with Chet; a time when Chet didn't have the upper hand. "Let's go, boys."
The ranch hands wasted no time. They threw Walker violently to the ground and took off with Ben into the night.
Once he was certain they were gone, Chet raced to Walker's side. He took one last look around before holstering his gun.
Walker was on his hands and knees in the dirt.
"Walker, let me help you." Chet pulled him to his feet.
Walker swayed unsteadily for a moment, but he immediately looked around for his friend. "Where's Jim?"
"He's over there."
They hurried to check on Jim and found he was still unconscious. In the dark of the alley, it was difficult to tell how serious his injuries were.
"He needs help. We'd better get him over to Roni's," Walker said.
They managed to support his weight between them, and they started over to the doctor's office a few blocks away.
Chet was furious as he helped get the unconscious Jim to the office. Suzie was waiting for him. He realized Jim was badly injured, but that had nothing to do with him. He was beginning to regret ever setting his sights on marrying Stacy, for it meant he was going to have to deal with Walker for the rest of his life.
After leaving the dance with the frantic mother, Roni had hurried to the office to get her medicine bag and then had gone straight to the woman's home to tend to the sick little boy. A sense of fear and dread had filled her, for a high fever could be a symptom of several dangerous diseases, diphtheria being one of them. She still remembered how, some years before, her father had tried to help a family stricken with diphtheria. Despite his best efforts, six of the family's seven children had suffocated from the horrible disease within days of each other.
When Roni had arrived at the home, she'd found the boy's fever to be dangerously high, but she'd been relieved to discover there was no inflamed diphtheritic membrane in his throat, threatening to block his windpipe. She had given the child some willow bark tea to drink and then after a tepid bath, had wiped him down with alcohol to lower his fever. It had taken some time, but once he'd finally been resting more comfortably, she'd returned home to her rooms above the office to get some sleep.
Roni had gone to bed, knowing she'd done all she could to help the sick boy. As she'd tried to relax, her thoughts had gone to the events of the night just past and sleep had proven elusive. She'd found herself thinking about dancing with Walker and then the ugliness of the fight with Ben. She remembered all her parents' warnings about not having anything to do with Walker Stevenson. They'd warned her that he was a half-breed and a savage. Even so, she hadn't ever thought of him as savage, not even during the fight. During his confrontation with Ben, she'd thought of him as fearless and brave.
A sudden, unexpected pounding at the office door below startled her; from the urgency of the pounding, she knew it had to be an emergency. Jumping out of bed, she quickly got dressed. She remembered how many times when she was a child her family had been awakened in the middle of the night by folks in dire trouble, and she wanted to be ready to help them, just as her father had been.
"Roni! It's Walker! Hurry! Jim has been hurt!" Walker called out to her when he finally heard her moving around inside.
Roni did just that. She quickly lit a lamp and started down the narrow staircase to the main floor to let them in. She hurriedly unlocked the door and threw it wide to find Chet and Walker standing there, supporting the unconscious Jim between them, one of his arms around each of their shoulders.
"What happened?" she asked as they carefully maneuvered him into the office and managed to lay him down on the examining table in the back room. "Has he been shot?"
"No," Walker answered tersely. "Ben and some of his men jumped us in the back alley. Jim didn't stand a chance."
Roni lit another lamp, washed her hands and began to examine Jim'
s injuries. Then she glanced up at Walker, who was standing nearby with Chet, bloody and obviously in some pain.
"What about you?" she asked, concerned.
"Don't worry about me," he said dismissively. "Take care of Jim."
"All right. Here." She got several clean towels and handed them to him. "You two can go wait out front."
"No," Walker refused. He wasn't going anywhere. "It's my fault this happened to him. I'm staying."
"Do you want me to go tell Stacy?" Chet asked Walker.
"No. There's no need." There would be time to tell her of the fight tomorrow. Right at this moment, all that mattered was Jim.
Chet nodded and left the room. He closed the door behind him. He was thoroughly disgusted as he sat down heavily in one of the two wooden chairs to wait.
He really wanted to leave.
He didn't care about the banker.
He wanted to get over to the Ace High.
Suzie was expecting him.
Not that he could let anyone know what he was thinking. He had to play his part, but he was beginning to wonder how long he would be able to keep up the charade once he and Stacy got married. It'd be interesting, that was for sure. He was going to find out just how good an actor he really was.
Chet stared out the office window into the night, wondering how long he was going to be stuck there.
Roni felt Jim's scalp for any swelling and then, holding the lamp close, lifted his eyelids one at a time to check his pupils' response to light. She was relieved when their response seemed normal. Carefully, she bandaged his head injury.
"How is he?" Walker asked. "Is he going to be OK?"
She looked up at him, her expression serious as she told him honestly, "I don't think he has a concussion, but I won't know for sure until he regains consciousness."
"Is there anything more you can do?"
"The only thing we can do right now is wait." She went over to Walker, watching him closely. He'd wiped the blood from his face, but she could tell he'd taken quite a beating. "Let's get your shirt off. The way you're moving, I think you may have some broken ribs."
From the pain he was in, Walker knew she was right. He unbuttoned his shirt and started to painfully shrug out of it.
Roni stepped up to help him finish getting it off. She had known he was a fine specimen of manhood, and seeing him partially unclothed this way left no doubt of his masculinity. She frowned as she saw the savage bruises already darkening his skin, and her touch was gentle on his broad, muscular chest and back as she examined him. Walker remained stoic as she worked on him. He didn't utter a sound as she tightly bound his chest, but she could see that his jaw was locked against the pain that was racking him from his cracked ribs.
"There, that should hold," she told him as she finished. "You need to get some rest now."
"I told you, I'm not going anywhere until I know how Jim is." Walker got up and shrugged back into his shirt as he watched his friend. "Why did they have to do this to him? I was the one they were after."
"Are you going to go get the sheriff or Deputy Davis?"
"No."
He looked down at her, and the fierce emotions she saw in his eyes frightened her.
"Ben Thompson's going to pay for what he's done! He's gonna pay."
The tone of his voice and the threat in his words sent a chill of foreboding through her.
Chet knocked quietly on the closed door then, and Roni went to open it.
"Is there anything I can do?" He had heard what Walker had just said, and he looked past the two of them to where Jim still lay unmoving.
"No," Walker told him. "There's no reason for you to stay, too."
"Are you sure? I can go get Stacy and—"
"Go on home. I'll tell Stacy what happened in the morning."
"You'll let me know how Jim is?"
"I'll send word. And Chet?" Walker met his gaze straight on. "Thanks."
Chet nodded and left the office, deep in thought. Because it was so late, he decided to walk to the stable to get his horse and then ride over to the Ace High from there. He still had something important to take care of: Suzie.
After retrieving his horse, he made his way to the saloon and tied up around back so no one would see him. Confident no one had noticed his arrival, he knocked on the back door.
"I've been waiting for you!" Suzie said as she let him in.
"Good." He grabbed the voluptuous beauty and kissed her hungrily, openly groping her lush curves. "Let's get upstairs."
"You're in a hurry tonight."
"You're right. I am."
"What about your sweet little Stacy?" she asked hatefully. "Doesn't she know how to please a man?"
"Not like you do," he said, leering at her as they hurried up the steps together.
Chet wasted no time once they'd locked themselves in her room. He threw her on the bed and lifted her skirts, eager to have his way with her.
Suzie was used to his wild ways and matched him in his driving passion. It didn't take them long to slake their desire.
Chapter Five
Roni finished checking on Jim again and then went into the outer office to find Walker standing there in silence with his back to her, staring out the window into the darkness. She paused for a moment to study him. He was a powerful presence, so tall and strong.
For a moment, Roni could see the fierce warrior who lived deep within the heart of him, that part of himself he kept so carefully hidden from everyone. It was the warrior who had saved her and Jim's dog all those years ago; the warrior who had rescued Stacy tonight from Ben Thompson's drunken abuse and had battled him on the dance floor. A shiver of sensual recognition trembled through her.
Without speaking, she went to stand beside him.
Walker had sensed her presence as soon as she had appeared in the doorway. He turned to her. "Has there been any change?"
"No, not yet."
His expression darkened even more. He said nothing for a moment as he looked back out the window again into the blackness of the night. He almost felt as if he were gazing into the depths of his own soul. Ben's vile words about Roni echoed in his thoughts, haunting him, and he knew he had to warn her.
"Roni, I want you to stay away from Ben Thompson. After the way he acted tonight, I wouldn't put anything past him."
"Do you think he's still in town?"
"I hope not, but there's no way of knowing."
Roni went to the door and secured the lock, then pulled down the window shade so no one could see in to the office. "There. Just in case he is still around."
She was standing close to him and started to move away, but he reached out to draw her back to him. He gazed down at her, seeing her beauty and kindness.
"Good," he said softly. "I want you safe."
"Oh,Walker—"
There was no need for either one of them to say more. He kissed her. His mouth moved over hers in a sensual, possessive caress that left her breathless.
When the kiss ended, Roni stayed there in his arms and treasured his nearness and his strength. It surprised her that after all he'd been through that night, he was worried about her safety. She wanted him to be safe, too.
"Are you sure you don't want to let the sheriff know what happened?" she asked, looking up at Walker.
Remembering the ugly threats Ben had made about Roni, Walker answered, "I'm sure."
"But he could go after Ben and his men, and arrest them. Then you wouldn't have to worry—"
"What happened with Ben tonight was personal. I'll handle it." He stepped back and moved away from her. He needed to distance himself from her so he could think clearly.
She sensed the sudden change in his mood and heard the steel in his voice, and knew there was nothing more she could say to make him change his mind.
"I'd better go back in with Jim."
Walker followed her to maintain his vigil by his friend's side.
Chet collapsed back on the bed, smiling. Suzie sure knew how to pl
ease a man.
Suzie stretched out next to him and ran a seductive hand over his bare chest.
"I wish you could stay longer," she said huskily. He always paid her handsomely.
"I wish I could, too, believe me. There's nothing I'd like better than to spend a few days and nights locked up in this room with you."
"Your little fiancée would miss you," she taunted.
"What she doesn't know . . ."
"Does she please you like I do?" Suzie had to admit she was envious of the other woman—to be so rich and to have Chet, too.
"Nobody pleases me like you do," he told her, pulling her beneath him for another heated coupling.
And Suzie earned her pay.
Less than an hour later, Chet was on his way out of town. As he thought about all that had happened that night, he realized that this was his chance to get what he really wanted: the Dollar Ranch all for his own. During the course of his time with Suzie, he had told her about breaking up the fight, and she had mentioned that some of Ben's hands had come into the saloon to drink not long before he'd shown up. When the bartender had asked where Ben was, the ranch hands had said he'd already left town.
Chet smiled to himself.
This was the perfect opportunity.
In a matter of months, he'd be married to Stacy, and if he found a way to use this fight with Ben Thompson to get rid of Walker, things would be perfect.
All he had to do was figure out how to pull it off.
Instead of going to his own ranch, Chet rode toward the Thompson place.
Walker was sitting in a chair next to the table where Jim lay, his head resting in his hands, when Jim gave a low groan and began to stir.
"Roni!" Walker got up and rushed to the doorway to let her know Jim was coming around.
She hurried back into the room and was relieved to find her patient was regaining consciousness.
"What the—" Jim muttered as awareness returned, and with it near blinding pain. He lifted one hand to his aching head.