He glanced over at it and nodded his head. “Yeah, I saw it a ways back.”
“Aren’t we going to stop?” she asked.
“Nope.”
“What do you mean nope? You couldn’t wait to get rid of me yesterday.”
“I’ve changed my mind.”
“Oh no.” She pulled her horse to a stop as hot white anger, rushed through her blood, shocking her. “Nope, I’m not going any further. First, you told me you would tie me up and leave me on the trail. Then you told me the first farm house we came to, you would leave me and now you’re saying nope. Well, I’m the one who is putting an end to this little adventure we’re on. I’m done. I’m calling it quits.”
He glanced over at her, a daring glint in his emerald gaze. “What happened to getting your five hundred dollar bounty?”
Hot anger roiled inside her like a tea kettle she was just about ready to explode. “I’m still going to get it. But I’m going to wait until my sisters catch up to me and then we’ll go after you together.”
A smile graced his face. “That’s my smart, sassy mouth girl. I knew you wouldn’t give up on getting that reward.”
“Hell no, that reward will make the farm house ours.”
“I’m real happy for you. But I’m not going to leave you with strangers at a farm house that might be attacked by the Harris gang. I’m not having your dead body on my conscience.”
Aargh. She wanted to leave him behind. She wanted to get away from his boyish charm and his sweet, tempting mouth and his hard chest. She wanted to find her sisters and then come after him with a vengeance. But the thought of dying like that farmer and his son was terrifying.
“And that’s better than being attacked on the trail in your company? Don’t you think they’ll kill you and me both if we’re found together?”
“Maybe. But you saw what they did to that farmer. Is that what you want? Do you want to take a chance? I can protect you better than a sodbuster.”
Annabelle’s emotions felt like a broomtail flippin in the wind, in a cornfield, blown in every direction. Part of her longed to stay with the farmer, part of her wanted her sisters to find them on the trail, and part of her wanted to stay with Beau and for his lips to explore hers once again. “I want my sisters to catch up and help me wrangle you to the nearest sheriff.”
He grinned at her. “I can’t wait to meet these sisters of yours.”
“You may regret saying that.”
“Come on, let’s go. You’re going with me.”
Why now and why with this man had she suddenly experienced her first kiss? Why an outlaw, a man her Papa would have hauled into town for his bounty. And why like this out on the prairie?
Because of her own silly pride of thinking, her sisters had all the fun, while she sat at home and talked to the chickens.
Chapter 5
Later that afternoon, Beau’s worst nightmare came true. He glanced behind him and saw the Harris gang riding hard towards them, sending his heart to pounding and his breath straining. He had a choice. Try to get away from them with Annabelle or stop and act like he was glad to see the gang he belonged to and that he’d been busy searching for the outlaws everywhere.
Though he hated the second option, he couldn’t help but think it would serve him better than trying to outrun them and risking either himself or Annabelle being shot.
He pulled his horse to a halt and glanced over at Annabelle. “Listen,” his said his voice stern. “The Harris gang is about half mile behind us. Follow my lead and don’t do anything stupid. You’re my wife. Do you hear me? Don’t disagree or you’ll be servicing five randy cowboys. Are we clear?”
Her blue eyes widened with fear as he watched as she pulled up next to his horse. “You better get me out of this alive or I will haunt you in hell, do you understand me?”
He reached out and ran his fingertips across the smooth skin of her face. “Sugar, just be your usual charming self.”
The sound of horse's hooves brought his attention back to the situation at hand. Beau waved to the riders like he was happy to see them and said a quick prayer that they would not be dead before sunset.
The riders surrounded them with William coming up beside Beau. “Where in the hell have you been?”
“What do you mean? I told you when we split up, that I would hide the bank robbery money and I’d catch up to you on the way to Fort Worth.” God, he hoped they believed that lie. Or else any second now he’d be feeling a bullet entering his brain.
“I’ve spent the last three days looking for you,” William said, his dark eyes glowing with hatred. “I’ve half a mind to shoot you right now.”
Beau shrugged his shoulders pretending it didn’t matter, remembering the man William had shot and left for dead on the trail. “If you don’t ever want to see that bank money again, that’s your choice.”
Silence filled the air as William stared at Beau his eyes searching his face.
“Once I lost that posse, I hid the money. Then I was passing by Zenith and I stopped and married my childhood sweetheart. Gentlemen, meet my lovely wife, Annabelle.”
Maybe since he’d brought his wife, they’d believe he wasn’t trying to steal the money away from them. Though in a sense he did plan on keeping the cash from them.
The men whistled, but William didn’t look convinced. He shook his head. “Why in the hell did you bring your wife out on the trail?”
“Now, I know what you’re thinking, William, but it’s not true. I wouldn’t have brought Annabelle if I was trying steal the hold-up money. My plan was to get the money. Find you and put Annabelle at Crockett where your family is waiting for you. That way she’d be safe while we’re out earning a living.”
William growled like a ravenous beast. “Where did you hide the money?”
“We’re two days’ ride away,” Beau said, trying to act surprised at the outlaw’s reaction. “It’s near the Red River. Right on the way to visit your wife and family.”
“I should kill you right here for disappearing with the money.”
Beau expected to see the flash of the gun’s nozzle any second. William hadn’t hesitated when he’d killed that poor man for being drunk. The only thing working in Beau’s favor was the missing money or he knew he would have been dead by now.
He shrugged like his life meant nothing while he held his breath. “That’s your choice, but with that posse breathing down our neck, I didn’t want to take a chance of getting caught and all of us losing the money and hanging from a tree.”
Refusing to back down, he stared at William. The man was a killer. A murderer of innocents and yet evil men seemed to flock to him. Did malevolence attract more evil?
“You’ll take us to the money tomorrow. Then we’ll take your wife to join the other women,” William said, though his voice was cold.
They had until Beau located the money and then he felt certain William would put a bullet in their brains. Sometime between now and the time they reached the Red River, he had to get Annabelle and himself out of this man’s clutches.
“Sounds like a plan.”
William signaled to his men and they all fell into line. Beau glanced over at Annabelle, who hadn’t said a word during all this time.
She pulled her horse alongside Beau and they rode side by side with the Harris gang surrounding them. Oh no, they weren’t letting Beau out of their sights again.
“What did you say your wife’s name was Samuels?” William asked.
“Annabelle.”
Beau held his breath, fear stealing over him like a bad drunk. If she didn’t answer William’s questions to his liking, the grass could soon be waving over them.
“You never mentioned no childhood sweetheart,” William said, gazing at Annabelle suspiciously.
“Well, I hadn’t exactly planned on marrying her right away,” Beau admitted, his nerves stretching taut as William stared at Annabelle.
“How’s married life treating you, Mrs. Samuel?”
“How do you think? This is supposed to be our honeymoon and so far all we’ve done is search for you guys. I’m ready for us to settle down, spend some time together, and begin a family. Hell, I didn’t even get a proper wedding night.”
She sighed and her eyes looked dreamily at Beau. God, the woman was incorrigible. She was telling a bunch of outlaws that she wanted the two of them to start working on getting her pregnant. What the hell was she thinking?
William chuckled. “Why did you marry Beau so quickly?”
A smirk filled her beautiful full lips and her sapphire eyes twinkled. “Well, my Pa caught us kissing in the barn and the next thing I knew we were standing before a preacher.”
“You got caught, Beau,” William said, with a smile. “It happens to the best of us.”
“That’s why I’ve been missing. It was get married or be put to bed with a pick and shovel.”
Lord, this woman was good. Damn good at twisting a story to fit her needs. He’d have to remember that or he could find himself caught.
“What’s your Pa’s name, Annabelle?”
“John McKenzie,” she said innocently.
William frowned. “I once had a bounty hunter named James McKenzie chasing my ass. Any relation?”
She smiled and nodded. “That’s the crazy branch of the family. My father’s brother. Those people are as loony as sheepherders and since there have been times we’ve had to straddle both sides of the law, we avoid them like an outbreak of the plague. We don’t need that kind of trouble.”
Beau held his breath as he watched William thinking about what Annabelle had just told him. If the man didn’t believe her, they were as good as dead. And he didn’t know if he could outdraw William. The man was fast as lightening with a gun.
William smiled at Annabelle. “Nice to meet you, Annabelle. As long as Beau can find the money, we’re good.”
A quiet sigh of relief whooshed from Beau’s lungs. It appeared the man was buying her story. Once Beau made it to Fort Worth, he was going to check out the McKenzie’s and see what he could learn about Annabelle’s family.
“Oh, he’ll find that money. Our share is going to set up our home. And then he’ll have to earn more.”
The men all laughed. “Welcome to married life.”
Beau nodded and took the good-natured ribbing. Annabelle had done well. For a moment there he’d been afraid that they would recognize her family, but she’d turned that into their advantage. He was pleased with how well she’d done. Even he was beginning to believe her sisters were bounty hunters.
“I guess I’m hogtied with matrimonial ropes,” Beau said, giving Annabelle a teasing smile.
“Oh, honey,” she said. “You’ll be doing good if those ropes aren’t real.”
The woman could play the game. Now if he could just get the two of them out of here safely.
Darkness had fallen and Annabelle hated the fact that she didn’t move more than five feet away from Beau. The men gazed at her like they could see right through her clothes and knew the size and shape of her pantaloons. The situation was making her nervous and she knew that Beau was watching them closely so she’d stayed close to her make-believe husband.
She’d added some canned peaches to the outlaw's meal and they’d looked at her like she was a goddess for about five minutes and then the mood had returned to them watching her and Beau. A chill had spread itself into her bones leaving her jumpy and as nervous as a dog dreaming of catching a rabbit.
She feared that once they located the money, they’d both be dead.
“Annabelle, do you have any sisters?” Tom asked.
She licked her lips, fear for them chugging through her veins like whiskey. “Nope, I’m an only child.”
Beau frowned and she smiled. “My maw she died when I was real young and my pa, he never remarried. So I’m alone.”
Her sisters couldn’t be far behind, but she wasn’t about to endanger her family. She’d lie to protect them and hope they rode in and saved her from the Harris gang, but most of all Beau. He was tempting as sin on a Sunday morning. And she was doing her best not to let her heart think about the contours of his muscles and the way he smiled when he was pleased or his large emerald eyes. He was heartache with a side dish of misery.
“Darn shame. We’d go back to Zenith and find your sisters if they’re as pretty as you are.”
She smiled. “Sorry to disappoint you gentlemen. Tell me about your wives. What can I expect when we get to Crockett?”
Anything to keep them from talking about her or noticing her. Maybe by thinking of home, they would remember their own wives and girlfriends.
William shrugged, his eyes lingering on Annabelle. “Only two of us are married. Now three,” he said glancing over at Beau. “You’ve never lived in Crockett with the rest of us, have you?”
“No, the time we’ve been together has always been on the trail.”
The discussion swung away from wives and girlfriends. Still, Annabelle didn’t feel any better about the conversation. Why did it seem to revolve around her and Beau, just like the outlaws gaze seemed to focus on the two of them, a tingly sensation of danger never far from her.
William laughed, but his smile didn’t reach his cold, dark eyes. “Tell me again, what banks you robbed. I’ve forgotten.”
“I told you when I first joined the gang,” Beau said his voice tough.
“So remind me,” William said. “I want to hear it again.”
“Dublin, Wichita, Fort Griffin and Tyler. That last one about got me killed. It was either join up with a group of men or die trying to make a living,” Beau said, staring at the fire.
His jaw twitched and for a moment she wasn’t certain he was telling the truth. There was something about his story that didn’t seem right. Or was that just wishful thinking on her part? Did she want him so badly she hoped this was all just some big misunderstanding?
God, she was a hopeless romantic and it would serve her well to remember that Beau Samuel was a man wanted by the law for robbery. A man she intended to turn in and collect the ransom for, if they made it out of here alive.
“That’s quite a record. How come I’d never heard of you before?”
“I don’t know. A wanted poster is hanging in almost every town I go in, offering a five hundred dollar reward.”
Yet, the Beau she’d come to know was different from the rough and rugged men who sat around the campfire. These men’s eyes were cold. Their dark expressions never changed and if any man had a sweetheart waiting for them, she’d be surprised. What had made them the cruel, ruthless killers they obviously were?
Maybe she didn’t want to know. Sometimes there were things that were better left alone and these were the type of men she avoided. Their souls were so damaged that only God could salvage them. She only hoped that Beau could get them out of here before these callous men decided they no longer needed them.
“The wanted poster is in my saddle bags,” Annabelle volunteered and then quickly realized there were other posters besides Beau’s in there. She didn’t need them finding those posters.
“No sugar, I used it to start last night’s fire,” Beau said, with a smile that told her he had read her mind.
“That’s right. After that downpour, we couldn’t find any dry kindling.”
“Five hundred. That’s impressive,” William said, an evil grin spread across his face and Annabel felt a shiver go through her. “That would make a nice haul along with the bank money if we were to turn you in.”
Beau shrugged like it meant nothing, but Annabelle could see the way his body tensed. He was trying to keep calm. It was all she could do to keep from running, jump on her horse and ride away. She didn’t like these men. She didn’t want to stay here a moment longer.
“It would. But I figure it’s best we all stay out of jail. That way, no one is sp
illing the beans about locations, and who all is involved in the hold-ups,” he warned.
William picked up a stick and pulled out his knife. In less than a minute, he’d fashioned himself a toothpick. “Keeping information to yourself is always good if you want to live.”
Silence hung dark and heavy around the campfire. Annabelle noticed that one of the men was staring at her more than the others, his dark eyes piercing her like he’d like nothing better than to knife her. It was almost as if his gaze was stabbing her with his hatred and suspicion.
“Where did you get those peaches?” he finally asked, the frown on his face filled with loathing.
“My pa has peach trees on his farm. He sent them with me for our new home,” she said, trying to keep the nervous tremor out of her voice. Why would he be angry about peaches?
“That farmer we killed last night, he served us canned peaches with our dinner. Those peaches tasted exactly like these.” He spit onto the ground at her feet.
Annabelle’s heart skipped a beat and then she smiled at the man. “Really? I couldn’t tell you the first thing about canning peaches. My pa refused to let me in the kitchen after I burned it down. He did all the cooking and he loved canning peaches.”
The men around the campfire chuckled.
“You see what you’re getting yourself shackled with, Beau. The woman can’t even cook,” William said, as he pulled out his gun, pointed it at Annabelle and pulled back the trigger. “Where did you get those peaches, girl?”
Her heart slammed into her chest and she gasped. Within thirty seconds, anger flooded her. Annabelle put her hands on her hips and stared at William’s gun. Her heart was galloping as fast as a race horse. Her hands were shaking, but she’d hidden them by putting them on her waist.
“Good grief,” she said. “If this is the kind of thanks, I get for sharing my Pa’s peaches, then I’ll just keep the next jar to myself. What farmer are you talking about?”
Though she’d seen Beau move his hand to his gun, he hadn’t said a word. She glanced at him, his eyes had darkened and she knew he was angry. If he lost his temper, then they were just as good as dead. Oh, they’d keep him alive until they found the money, but they’d kill her in a second and he wouldn’t be long afterwards.
Lipstick and Lead Series: The Complete Box Set With a Bonus Book Page 40