by Tess LeSue
* * *
• • •
ALEX DIDN’T SLEEP a wink. And that lousy bastard didn’t come to untie her, even though she heard him ride in well before dawn. Everyone was asleep, except for Joseph Watts, who was perched on the edge of the wagon with his shotgun clenched in his lap. He chewed on his tobacco and sang bawdy songs to himself under his breath and generally irritated the daylights out of Alex. She saw Joseph straighten when Luke came back, and saw him lean so far out of the wagon he almost fell out as he tried to see where Luke was headed.
Alex lay rigid as she waited. But he didn’t come. She heard the clink of Delilah’s bridle as Luke unsaddled her and settled her. She heard the creak of his saddlebags as he hefted them; she heard his spurs jingle as he strode across the camp. That bastard. Didn’t he realize that her hands were going numb? Not to mention her dignity, which was just about rubbed raw.
She lay there stewing until daybreak. It was only when the sky was lightening to a pearly gray that Luke appeared.
He couldn’t help grinning. The mud had dried, leaving Alex looking like she was wearing a clay mask, and her clothes had stiffened, so they looked like they were made of cardboard. She even creaked when she moved. “See,” he remarked cheerfully, “I made it back just fine.”
She gave a muffled growl through the bandanna and fixed him with a murderous stare.
The sound of his voice woke Victoria. She blinked and looked around. When she spotted Luke she gasped and bolted upright, her hand flying to her hair, which was tumbling from its pins. “You’re back.”
“I am. I thought Alex might want to dig free of all that mud. I’ll give him an escort to the river, if he promises not to cause me bodily harm when I untie him.”
Alex would promise no such thing.
“You’ll take her to bathe?” Victoria echoed dubiously.
“I’ll be at a perfectly discreet distance. But she can’t go alone, it’s not safe.”
There was no way Victoria was going to let that happen. Suppose he happened to catch a glimpse of Alex out of her disguise? She looked at Alex now, unrecognizable beneath the filth. She preferred things exactly as they were. “I don’t think Alex wants a bath,” Victoria said slowly. She was glad to see Alex shaking her head in vigorous agreement.
“You can’t be serious. She looks like a statue made by a bad potter. She’ll have a bath even if I have to throw her in the river myself.”
The sisters exchanged alarmed looks.
“Fine,” Victoria sighed, “but I’ll have to come along as chaperone.” She brightened. Actually, this might be the perfect way to spend some time alone with Luke.
She just hadn’t bargained on how angry her sister really was.
* * *
• • •
“SHE BIT ME!”
“I’ll do more than bite you if you touch me again, you bandy-legged braggart!”
“Bandy-legged?” Luke laughed. “I’ve been called many things, brat, but never that.”
She couldn’t believe he was laughing. She should have bit him harder. “Don’t you come near me,” she warned when he bent over her.
“You want to stay bound?”
“Victoria can untie me.”
“If you say so.” Luke stepped from the wagon and waited, whistling softly to himself.
“Why do you have to be so ornery?” Victoria complained, as she struggled with the knots.
“The man tied me up, Victoria!”
“For your own protection.”
“I’m not a child!”
Victoria blinked.
“Just because he thinks I am,” Alex grumbled.
“I can’t do it,” Victoria sighed.
“What?”
“I can’t get these knots undone.”
Alex scowled. She’d be damned if she’d give him the satisfaction. “Adam!” She kicked her brother, none too gently, to wake him up. “Adam, untie me.”
“No,” he moaned, rolling over and pulling the blanket over his head. “I promised Luke.”
“Luke wants me untied!” she snapped.
Her only reply was a snore. She looked around for the Watts brothers, but found they’d taken their leave now that Luke was standing guard.
“You’re being ridiculous,” Victoria complained.
Alex wanted to scream. Instead she had to swallow her pride. “Fine,” she snapped, “he can come back and untie me.” Alex fixed her gaze firmly on a knothole in the wagon bed and seethed as Victoria called Luke back.
At least the oaf didn’t speak this time. He made short work of the knots and Alex immediately tried to crawl away. But she hadn’t counted on the fact that her legs had gone to sleep. They immediately collapsed beneath her and her face slapped against the floor. She clenched her teeth, bracing for the smart remarks.
But he was silent. It wasn’t until they were close to the river, and Alex was hobbling along on feet shooting with pins and needles, that she heard him say quietly to Victoria, “She’s sure got a temper on her, doesn’t she?” Victoria giggled.
Did no one see? The man had tied her up. And yet they thought she was being unreasonable!
“Be careful,” Luke warned her when they reached the banks. The rain had swollen the river and the current was swift. “Stay close to the edge. And don’t stray out of earshot. I’ll be over here. Victoria, you keep an eye on her.”
“Alex likes her privacy,” Victoria protested. “I’d best stay with you.”
Luke looked dubious.
“She’ll scream if she sees anything, won’t you?” Victoria nudged Alex with her elbow.
“Why don’t we just forget the whole idea?” Alex suggested. She wasn’t sure how she was going to explain dirtying her face straight after bathing anyway. Although, the water looked so inviting, she thought wistfully. Dawn was breaking and the dreamy pink sky was reflected in the rippling surface.
Luke rubbed his face. He was too tired to argue. “I’ll be over there,” he told the ladies. “I don’t care whether you bathe or not.”
They watched as he settled himself with his back against a rock, his face tilted to take in the pastel sky. “Stop being so difficult,” Victoria hissed at Alex. “At least give me half an hour with him.” She turned with a snap of her skirts and advanced on her prey.
Exhaustion hit Alex like a wave. The last twenty-four hours had been so draining. What she needed was to clean herself up, eat a hot meal and sleep for the entire day. She didn’t suppose she’d be allowed to sleep, not with the Gradys out there; she’d have to drive that wretched wagon all day. Maybe she could coax Victoria into taking the mules for a couple of hours . . .
Alex shook herself. She was practically dozing on her feet. Oh well. Maybe she wouldn’t get a nap, but at least she could scrub herself off. She headed for a small twist in the river, which was screened by a low wall of shrubs. She pulled her boots off and waded in. She had every intention of bathing fully clothed—she wasn’t about to risk Luke finding out who she really was, especially after that stunt with the ropes—but as soon as the water rushed over her bare feet she changed her mind.
It was deliciously crisp and cold. She peered back toward Luke. There was no way he could see her through the screen of shrubs. Besides, Victoria was with him, and there was no way she’d let Luke out of her sight. With a naughty thrill, Alex tore off her stiff clay-coated clothes and dropped them on the shore.
The feel of the strong current against her naked body was wonderful. She could feel every particle of dirt being swept away. She scrubbed her face and hair and then drifted happily to the shore and dealt with her clothes in the shallows. She was enjoying herself so much that she didn’t even realize she had company.
It was only when he cleared his throat nervously that she looked up.
Silas. Her eyes flew wide and she opened her mouth
to scream. Silas shook his head and held a finger to his lips. He looked as terrified as she felt.
“Hush,” he whispered frantically, “you have to listen to me. Gideon doesn’t know I’m here.”
“You leave me alone,” Alex hissed, ducking under the shallow water and wrapping her arms across her chest. How long had he been there? What was he going to do to her? She looked back toward Luke. All she had to do was scream and he’d come running.
“Don’t,” Silas pleaded, reading her thoughts. “I’m trying to help you.”
“Help me?” Alex said in disbelief.
“You need to give me the money—the gold and the bonds. If you give me the money Gideon will head back home and leave you in peace, I swear.”
“And what about you?” Alex demanded. “Will you leave me in peace?”
“He won’t stop at killing animals,” Silas warned, avoiding her question. “Once all your mules are dead, what do you think he’ll do then? Who do you think he’ll take a knife to next?”
“I’ve got a gun,” Alex retorted, her bravado undermined by the tremor in her voice.
“You’ll never see him coming,” Silas said darkly. “One morning you’ll wake up and that feeb will be spread across your camp, just like the horse.”
“Don’t call him that!” Alex’s voice broke. She kept backing away from him, until she was deep in the river.
“And after him Gideon will come for your sister. And he won’t just cut her.”
“Stop it!” Alex was close to the far bank. As soon as she reached solid ground, most importantly solid ground on the opposite side of the river to Silas Grady, she was going to scream. And then she’d smile as she watched Luke shoot him down like the dog he was.
“Just give him the bonds. Give them back and it will all be over.”
“I don’t have them.” Alex hurled the words at him like daggers. “I burned them. You go back and tell your maniac brother that! I burned them. Every last one!”
The blood drained from Silas’s face. He looked like a man staring down the barrel of a gun. “Come with me,” he cried desperately, lunging into the river for her. “Come with me! We’ll head south to Mexico. We need to get you where he’ll never find you!”
Alex panicked as he surged through the river, reaching for her. She shrieked and threw herself up the riverbank.
“Alex!” Silas cried.
“Luke!” Alex screamed.
She dove at the bushes, tearing her skin to ribbons and landing face-first in the mud. She struggled to rise, looking behind her in panic. Silas wasn’t there. He was standing limp in the current, watching her mad flight with enormous, haunted eyes. She met his gaze and was frozen to the spot.
“Run,” he said. “Run for your life.”
And then he was gone.
“Alex!” Luke came flying, the cold iron of his gun flashing in the morning sun. He stopped dead at the sight of her muddy face rising out of the bushes.
“Silas,” she stammered, shaken. She pointed in the direction Silas had fled, and Luke was off.
“What happened?” Victoria squeaked as she skidded to a stop. She registered Alex’s nudity and gave a choked squeal. “Did he . . .?” She fumbled for Alex’s sodden clothes.
Alex shook her head, she couldn’t speak. She sank down into the mud, her heart hammering in her ears. Dear Lord, what had she done? She was a dead woman.
“Quick, get dressed.” Victoria nudged her with the wet clothes. “Before Luke comes back.”
* * *
• • •
“COME WITH ME,” Luke demanded when he returned. By then she was dressed in the heavy wet clothes, shivering from the chill as well as the shock of seeing Silas. Luke took Alex’s hand and led her toward the chuck wagon.
“Did you find Silas?” she asked numbly, unable to dislodge the memory of his haunted eyes. He’d been terrified. Her shivering turned to shaking. She’d just seen her own death reflected in Silas Grady’s gaze.
When Alex had refused to move from behind the bushes, Victoria had dressed her in the sopping clothes and led her back to the wagon. But Victoria couldn’t get a word out of her. She toweled Alex dry, careful to leave the mud on her face, and dressed her in a pair of Adam’s clean overalls. Then she fretted as Alex sat like a bump on a log, staring blindly ahead and not uttering a sound.
“What did he do to her?” she whispered to Luke when he came back. Victoria felt like the world had been turned upside down. Alex was the strong one. She needed Alex to be the strong one.
Luke reassured Victoria, and then he took Alex to the chuck wagon. He didn’t answer her question. He simply handed her up onto the bench and climbed up beside her. He gathered the reins, flicked the whip at the oxen and they were off.
Alex blinked. “What are you doing?” She finally began surfacing from her daze.
“Driving.”
“I can see that,” she said tersely. “But why are you driving? Where’s Sebastian?”
“I sent him on ahead to Laramie,” Luke said. “They’ll have plenty of warning to prepare a nice little cell for our friends the Gradys.”
“If we get to Fort Laramie,” Alex told him faintly. Run for your life. Silas’s words echoed in her head.
“I think we need to talk, runt.”
“I told you not to call me that,” Alex said absently, out of habit. Then she looked around, straightening in her seat. “Why am I here?”
“That’s just what we need to talk about. You said you stole his gold. Just how much gold was it?”
“No, I mean, why am I in the chuck wagon?” She leaned around the side of the wagon to see the vehicles behind. “I need to be with Victoria and Adam.”
Luke yanked her back, worried she’d fall and be crushed under the wheels. “Victoria and Adam are fine.”
“No, they’re not. Not while Gideon’s out there.”
“I thought he was after you? For his money.”
“He is. But he won’t come for me, not yet. It’s not his way. First, he’ll kill everyone I love, and then . . . then it will be my turn.”
Luke couldn’t believe the change in the kid. All of the fire was gone, replaced by a cold expression and a toneless voice. She was giving him the creeps.
“Let me down,” Alex ordered. “I have to ride with them.”
“I told you they’re fine,” Luke snapped. “Victoria’s riding with the O’Briens and Joseph’s riding shotgun with Adam. I wanted to put Adam with the Crawfords, but he wouldn’t leave those mules. They’re as safe as we can make them.”
Alex’s stomach twisted. They would never be safe. Not until Gideon was dead. And it was her fault.
Luke took her chin in his fingers and turned her to face him. “I need to know what’s going on.” He bent his head until he captured her gaze.
Alex felt herself being sucked into those familiar black waters. There was such concern there, and such strength.
“Trust me,” he said gently, his voice husky. It was more than Alex could bear. Her eyes swam with tears. His fingers loosened on her jaw and reached up to stroke her cheek. “Trust me, love.”
Oh, how she wanted to. “He’s going to kill me,” she said helplessly.
“Not while I’m here.”
The tears tumbled down Alex’s cheeks, dampening the dried mud. Dear Lord, what if Gideon killed Luke too? What would she do then?
“I’ve had my share of men try to kill me,” Luke told her, reading her thoughts, “and none of them have managed it yet. I’ll be damned if I’ll let the honor go to that little weasel.”
Oddly, it was the twinkle in his eye that calmed her. “I bet it’ll be one of your women that kills you in the end,” Alex sniffed.
Luke laughed. “You’re probably right,” he agreed. He dropped his arm around her shoulders and hauled her up against him, gi
ving her a brotherly pat in the process. “It may even be you, brat.”
“Maybe. If you ever tie me up again.”
“If I apologize, will you tell me why that madman is after you?”
“If it’s a good apology.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Very sorry.”
“Very sorry,” he agreed.
“And you’ll never do it again.”
“Never ever.”
“Are you crossing your fingers?” she asked suspiciously, leaning around him to check. He gave her a sour look. She settled back into the jolting seat, grateful for the weight of his arm around her shoulders. Somehow, she wasn’t quite sure how, he had managed to drive her fears into the background, and she felt a little more like her usual self.
It was a relief in the end to tell him about the bonds, and the slaves, to let the truth replace the lies. Well, most of the lies. As far as Luke was concerned, Silas Grady was obsessed with her sister, Victoria, and not some runt of a beanpole with a muddy face.
“So he came to warn you?”
“I think so,” Alex said, still bewildered. “You should have seen him. He looked terrified. I think . . .” Alex paused for a moment, grappling with an unbelievable thought. “I think he must really love . . . her.”
“That’s my impression,” Luke agreed, going on to tell her what he’d seen at the Grady camp.
“Poor Silas,” Alex sighed, feeling a pang of sympathy.