Promises Kept

  Wallace instructed his men to stay out of sight until the two riders were at the house. He looked out the window, and as the riders neared the house he could tell one of them was indeed McBride. He turned back to Victoria. “Stay here until I call for you.”

  Colt and T. J. noticed there were no men moving about as they rode in. It was certainly unusual for a working ranch to look deserted at this time of day. They knew they were riding into a trap.

  “I imagine there are some guns trained on us from that stable,” Colt said, and T. J. nodded his agreement.

  Wallace walked out on the porch before they could dismount. “What do you want, McBride?” he snapped.

  “Send out Victoria and the boys,” Colt answered calmly.

  “What do you want with my fiancée?”

  It surprised Colt that Wallace didn’t bother to deny he had Victoria and the boys. Something about Wallace had changed. He had a wild-eyed look about him, akin to a panicked horse. He figured the man had finally snapped. He fought the urge to shoot him where he stood. “The only way you can get a woman is to take her by force?”

  Colt knew he hit the right button to make Wallace angry. His face twisted with rage.

  Wallace didn’t dare pull his pistol on Colt, no matter what the rancher said to goad him. He’d heard how fast he was, and he hadn’t come this far to be killed. “I didn’t take anyone by force.”

  “Either she comes out here, or I go in there. With you breathing or not, makes no difference to me.”

  Wallace shouted for Victoria. When she appeared in the doorway, he told her, “Please tell Mr. McBride our good news, and that you are not here by force.”

  The boys were right. Colt did come for them. She knew he must be in pain even though he was sitting strong and tall in his saddle. It shamed her to think she’d even considered Wallace above him. Her emotions were at war; she was so glad to see him, yet so afraid for his life. It hurt her to say what Wallace wanted her to say, but as long as Wallace’s men were prepared to shoot Colt and T. J., and Nelson was with the boys, she had no choice. Part of her prayed he wouldn’t believe her, but she wanted him safe, so she tried to be convincing. “Yes, we are to marry,” she said, barely above a whisper.

  Colt noticed her visibly shaking hand as she clutched the top of her dress. She said the words Wallace had obviously instructed her to say, but she couldn’t hide the fear in her eyes. “When did you decide this?” he asked, not believing one word she said. It didn’t really matter what she said, he was just stalling for time, trying to figure out his best course of action.

  She stared into his eyes, willing him to ride away and not look back. “Well . . . recently.” She hesitated to take a deep breath. No matter how much she didn’t want him to ride away, she needed to make him believe her. His life depended on how well she lied. “The boys and I discussed it and we came to this decision.”

  Colt arched a dark brow at her. “I find that mighty strange since they said they want me to be their pa. Why don’t you go get the boys so we can sort this out?”

  “That won’t be necessary,” Wallace told him. “Victoria has told you the way of it. Now get off my ranch.”

  At the same time Wallace turned to push Victoria back inside, T. J. whispered, “Look up.”

  Colt casually removed his Stetson and wiped his brow with his shirtsleeve, his gaze casually moving to the window above. He caught a glimpse of Hoyt Nelson standing to the side of the second story window.

  “I still want to see the boys,” Colt said to Wallace.

  He ignored Colt’s demand. “As a wedding present to her husband, Victoria signed her land over to me. You can’t win, McBride. It’s over. I told you before, I always get what I want.”

  “You’re not going to get Victoria,” Colt retorted, his voice deadly calm.

  “I’ve already got her and the land. I’m afraid you have interrupted us in our private time together.”

  Colt had heard enough. He started to dismount at the same time Wallace raised his hand, and total mayhem erupted. Wallace’s men poured from the stable and started firing on Colt and T. J. In unison, Colt and T. J. jumped off their horses and hit the ground with guns drawn. They rolled away from the horses’ hooves, yelling “Ya!Ya!” The animals ran from the line of fire. Colt hit the ground hard, and thought he might pass out from the pain. He felt blood oozing down his back, and knew he had opened his stitches again. Rolling up on his feet, he crouched low, and along with T. J., returned fire as they ran to the side of the house for cover.

  Bullets splintered the wood near their heads, pelting them with sharp slivers. “How many?” T. J. yelled above the gunshots.

  “Could be twenty, maybe more. Looks like he hired every man he could find.”

  T. J. laughed. “Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better.” He saw Colt was returning fire with both guns, ignoring the pain, and quickly picked off two men. “Guess you can use your right arm just fine,” he said, astonished at Colt’s accuracy in his condition.

  “Yeah, but I need to reload.” Colt stopped firing and hurriedly inserted cartridges in the cylinders.

  “We can’t hold them off for long. What’s the plan?” T. J. asked.

  “Keep them occupied for a while. I figure the men will be here soon.”

  T. J. chuckled. “Is that your best plan?”

  “All I can think of at the moment.”

  “I have to reload. I only have enough for another round.” T. J. reloaded and started firing again. “Wish I’d grabbed my rifle.”

  Colt looked around for Razor, but he didn’t see him. He handed T. J. one of his pistols and a handful of cartridges, then ran to the back of the house. He spotted Razor some distance away, and when he gave a loud whistle, the horse quickly trotted over to him. After pulling his rifle from the boot, he smacked Razor on the hindquarters to send him away again.

  Colt tossed the rifle to T. J. “Now hit something besides the barn.”

  “Yessir. I wish you would teach that trick to my horse.” T. J. handed Colt his pistol, and aimed the rifle, wounding one man with a single shot.

  Colt smiled. “You were always better with a rifle. If we make it out of this alive, I’ll teach your horse to bring you breakfast in bed.”

  “Just teach a woman to do that.”

  “Aw hell.”

  T. J. stopped firing. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “They’re going around behind us. Stay here, I’ll go to the back corner.”

  They were getting blasted from two sides, but Colt managed to keep Wallace’s men pinned at the other side of the house to keep them from advancing from the rear.

  “Boss, I’m hit!” T. J. yelled.

  Colt turned to see the rifle falling from T. J.’s hands as he slumped to the ground, his back to the house. Colt ran to him, but he couldn’t stop shooting to find out how badly he was hurt. He crouched down with his back to T. J., protecting him as best he could while he continued firing in both directions. “How bad?”

  “I’m hit in the shoulder, but I can shoot a pistol with my left hand—not as good as you, but maybe I’ll get lucky.”

  Colt quickly reloaded and passed him a pistol. The odds were getting better since Colt had wounded so many men. Problem was, he was running out of cartridges, and the remaining men were advancing.

  Wallace’s men started ducking for cover when gunfire erupted from another direction, and Colt turned to see his men thundering in under a rain of gunfire. Perfect timing, he thought, since he couldn’t have held Wallace’s men off much longer. When a gunshot hit the wood next to his head, he turned to fire, but the man who fired the shot slumped to the ground. A man Colt didn’t know stood over the dead man. When he spotted a U.S. Marshal’s badge on the man’s chest, he nodded his thanks. The man tipped the brim of his hat in response. Colt’s men quickly surrounded what was left of Wallace’s men. Colt yelled for Lane to take care of T. J. while he stormed up the front porch, stopping short of the large window.
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br />   “Wallace, come out now! It’s over!” Colt yelled.

  “It’s not over! I still have what you want,” Wallace countered through the door.

  Colt ran past the window and a shot shattered the glass, missing him by inches.

  “I’ll kill her!” Wallace threatened.

  “Let them go. This is between you and me,” Colt growled.

  “The only way you get her alive is to ride away now.” Wallace hadn’t considered what would happen if his men were defeated. His only hope now was to use Victoria and the boys to get out of this dilemma.

  “So you’re not man enough to come out and face me?”

  He heard Wallace laugh. “I don’t profess to be stupid.”

  “I’ll ride out of here with Victoria and the boys. There’s no need for more bloodshed.”

  The door opened, surprising Colt and his men. Colt backed up a few feet, thinking he was finally going to have his showdown with Wallace. Instead of Wallace, Victoria charged through the door and ran right into his arms. Seeing a shadow in the doorway, Colt tried to push her behind him. But it was Wallace, walking through the door with his hands in the air.

  “Well, big brother, do you want me to shoot this son-of-a-buck, or what?”

  Colt could hardly believe his eyes. His brother, U.S. Marshal Jake McBride, was holding a gun in Wallace’s back. “Jake, what are you doing here?”

  “Looks like I’m saving your sorry butt, big brother,” he joked. “Cole!” he yelled.

  “Right here.”

  The other U.S. Marshal walked from the side of the house. He was the man who’d saved Colt from getting shot a second time.

  Jake shoved Wallace toward Cole. “Will you tie him up since it doesn’t look like my big brother will let me shoot him?”

  “The sheriff will hear about this,” Wallace threatened.

  “Well now, that has me real concerned since your sheriff is locked up in his own jail,” Jake said. He walked toward Colt. “Your men told us what was happening when we got to the ranch.” He pointed to the other marshal. “This is Cole Becker.”

  “Cole, I’m glad you arrived when you did,” Colt said earnestly. He pulled Victoria into his arms and looked her up and down. When he saw that her dress had been ripped, he flew into a rage, pushed Victoria toward Jake, and stalked to Wallace.

  Cole glanced at Jake to see if he should intervene. Jake nodded, so he released Wallace’s hands and pushed him forward toward Colt. Judging by the murderous scowl on Colt’s face, Wallace was about to face a well-deserved, old-fashioned ass-kicking. Wallace fisted his hands as if he intended to fight, but Colt landed his massive fist in his jaw, which ended the fight before it began. The only sound was the loud crack of bones breaking and Wallace flying through the air, landing in an unconscious heap several feet away.

  “Why didn’t you just let me shoot him? Could’ve saved yourself some sore knuckles,” Jake teased.

  Colt grabbed his brother’s shoulder with one arm and squeezed. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?”

  “We were sent here because we got a telegram saying the judge was ambushed and murdered. We have reason to believe Wallace was the one who hired the killer. We’ve been tracking him for a while. He’s left a trail of trouble, and he’ll spend the rest of his life in the territorial prison.”

  “I’m glad to see you.” Colt found himself becoming emotional at seeing his brother. He was just like an old woman, he thought. He pulled Victoria to him and looked down at her. “Did he hurt you?”

  Clutching her dress to her chest, Victoria knew what he was really asking. “No, I’m fine, but that man . . . he shot Bartholomew.”

  Her lips started trembling, and Colt said, “Bartholomew is with Mrs. Wellington. He’s alive.” He saw no reason to tell her Bartholomew was in bad shape.

  “He has the boys upstairs,” Victoria said.

  He didn’t need to ask her who. He knew. Hoyt Nelson.

  Colt walked toward the porch and Victoria saw the blood on the back of his shirt. “Colt, you’re bleeding again,” she cried.

  “Again?” Jake asked, catching up to Colt at the doorway. “What happened to you? Who is in there? Let me handle it.”

  “This is my fight, Jake, and it gets settled today.”

  Jake had seen that determined look on his brother’s face before. It wouldn’t do a bit of good to argue with him. “Just tell me you’re okay.”

  “I will be when Nelson is dead.” Colt stepped inside the house just as Hoyt was walking down the stairs with his gun pointed at the boys in front of him.

  The boys tried to run to Colt, but Hoyt grabbed Cody by the back of his shirt. Cade stayed by his brother’s side and took his hand. “We knew you would come,” Cody said to Colt.

  “We told Victoria you would,” Cade added.

  Their tearstained faces broke Colt’s heart. He wanted to pull them to him and tell them no one would ever hurt them again. But he couldn’t console them right now; he was going to dispatch Holt Nelson to Hell. He made a mental note to tell Cade later what a brave thing he did by staying with his brother when he could have run. He winked at them. “You’re okay now. Go on outside and meet one of my brothers.”

  His dark eyes turned to Nelson, and he said the one thing he knew would taunt him. “You wanted to see how fast I am. Now is the time—or would you prefer to shoot me in the back again?”

  “Outside. I want everyone to see this,” Hoyt boasted. He motioned with his pistol for Colt to precede him through the door. “I’m glad I didn’t kill you now.”

  So it was Hoyt who had killed Tate, Colt thought. He was going to pay.

  Once outside, the boys ran to Victoria, and Colt said, “Victoria, take the boys to the side of the house and get Razor.” He figured that would give the boys something to do and keep them from seeing him kill Nelson.

  She was torn between not wanting to leave Colt and not wanting the boys to see what was about to happen. “Please, don’t do this,” she pleaded softly.

  In that moment Colt saw how much she loved him; it was written all over her beautiful face for all to see. He felt invincible, and wanted to pull her into his arms and tell her to have faith in him. But he couldn’t be distracted; he needed to stay focused on Nelson. He said three words to her. “He killed Tate.” Glancing at his brother, he said, “Jake.”

  Knowing what Colt was asking, Jake ushered Victoria and the boys to the side of the house. He didn’t know who she was, but she was obviously important to his brother and that was all he needed to know. “Trust me, he’ll be fine. Stay here,” he instructed. She nodded her head in understanding, and he walked around the house to see Colt and Hoyt stepping away from each other until they were some distance apart. He was confident Colt would win any gunfight; he didn’t want to even think it might end another way. But if it did, he’d kill Nelson for him.

  Watching Hoyt’s eyes, Colt knew the moment he was going to draw.

  Hoyt hit the ground before his pistol was completely out of his holster, two bullets lodged between his eyes.

  “He hit him with both guns! I didn’t even see him draw!” Cole exclaimed, totally in awe of Jake’s brother.

  “I never could,” Jake replied.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Colt, there is a . . . woman here to see you,” Helen announced.

  Colt had been back in bed for two days, threatened by the doc that he wouldn’t sew him up again if he broke the new stitches, because he was running out of skin. Colt assured him he wasn’t going anywhere. Why should he? Bandit and the boys were on one side and Victoria was on his other side. His brother was slouching in the chair beside the bed. He gave Victoria a sheepish grin at Helen’s announcement, and she gave him that wide-eyed innocent look. He knew what that meant. He was certain to catch holy heck if Maddie was visiting again. She hadn’t said much about the last visit, but he had the feeling he wouldn’t be that lucky a second time.

  “I guess T. J.
can’t carry her out, since he’s laid up,” Colt mumbled.

  Jake looked at his brother and raised a brow. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Victoria smile. “What’s this about T. J. carrying a woman out?”

  “A long story for another day,” Colt told him.

  “Oh, it’s not that . . . woman,” Helen interjected.

  Colt looked surprised and relieved. “Good. Well, who is it?”

  “It’s L. B.,” Helen answered.

  Colt looked at the boys, thinking it was best that they didn’t stay in the room for her visit. “Why don’t you two take Bandit outside so he can do his business? Then you can give him something to eat.” He glanced at Helen, hoping she got his message. “Maybe Helen will find a treat for you.”

  L. B. was walking into the bedroom as the boys were leaving with Helen. They stared at her with eyes wide, awestruck by her flaming red curls.

  Jake was almost as bad as the boys. The woman had the reddest hair he’d ever seen. He quickly jumped up from the chair. “Have a seat, ma’am.” He didn’t know what this was about, but he was as anxious as Colt to find out what she wanted.

  “Thank you.” L. B. took the offered seat. “Colt, I hear you are on the mend.”

  “Yes, ma’am, I’m doing fine.”

  “T. J.?” she asked.

  “He’s on the mend,” Colt replied.

  “And I hear Bartholomew is doing well.”

  “Thanks to Mrs. Wellington,” Colt replied. “He was too afraid of her to die.”

  “You’ve got that right. That woman would make one heck of a marshal,” Jake added.

  After everyone stopped laughing, L. B. said, “I hear congratulations are in order.”

  Colt took hold of Victoria’s hand and squeezed. “Yes, she’s finally agreed to make an honest man of me.”

  “That’s a fine thing.” L. B. could see they were crazy about each other. “When’s the big day?”

  “Next week,” Colt said. “I can’t take the chance she will change her mind.”

  L. B. was silent for a moment, trying to decide how to go about asking the question she came to ask.