by Bobbi Smith
"I'm listening," Claire said with cool dignity.
A few minutes later, she was staring at Trace in amazement.
"You're Trace Jackson? But-!"
Trace grinned at her. "I know. Elise felt the same way, but taking up this disguise was the only way I could keep the secret that I'd lived through the ambush by Harris. Now that I've recovered, it's time to go after him, and that's where you and George come into it."
"We do?" George looked up questioningly.
Elise quickly explained their plan. "Don't you think the two of you would make fine British royalty?"
George and Claire exchanged a look of shock.
"You want us to pretend to be some lord and lady?"
"That's right. We going to lure the Harris gang right here to Durango, and then Trace and Marshal Trent can trap them. It will work. I'm sure it will. After all, we got Preacher Farnsworth," Elise told them with confidence.
"But Matt Harris is far more dangerous than Preacher Farnsworth," George cautioned.
"That's exactly why we're doing this, George. We want him locked up, and by bringing the gang to us, we can control the confrontation. Will you help us?" Trace asked.
George looked at Claire, and she smiled and nodded tightly.
"All right," he said. "We'll help you. Whatever you want us to do, we'll do."
Will sat at his desk in the sheriff's office, staring down at the telegram in his hand. It took an effort on his part, but he managed to keep his expression schooled into one of only moderate interest as he read the wire.
"Who's it from?" Fred Carson, his new deputy, asked.
"An old friend I hadn't heard from in quite some time. He's up in Durango now. It's good to know that he's settled in somewhere."
Fred shrugged in response, not really caring. It was just unusual for them to get any telegrams unless there was something important going on. "Well, I'm going to go take a walk around town. I'll be back in a little while."
"I'll be right here."
As soon as Fred had gone and he was alone, Will laughed out loud in triumph. He had been waiting and hoping for just this moment ever since his last encounter with Harris. Now he was going to show the outlaw leader just what he was worth. Since Harris hadn't been able to shoot straight in the first place, he was going to finish the job for him. Not that he would phrase it exactly that way when he finally sent word to Harris that he'd taken care of Trace permanently, but that was what he was feeling. Will was still angry that Harris had blamed him for Trace still being alive. He was going to change all that now. He was going after Trace, and he was going to see him dead. He would notify Harris of that bit of good news just as soon as he returned to Eagle Pass from Durango. He would handle this by himself, and when the time came, he was going to enjoy letting Harris know how he had done it all on his own.
Will's smile was feral as he began to plan the trip. He would have to be gone for almost a week, but Fred could coyer for him. There would be no problem getting away. He was going to take care of this unfinished business once and for all.
Trace lay awake and alone in his bed late that night. He was tired and needed sleep, but memories of loving Elise would give him no rest. He tossed and turned, seeking some kind of comfort, but it eluded him. He had known that giving in to his desire for her would only make things more complicated for him, but he had never realized it would be this difficult to stay away from her. Keeping his hands off her was going to be one of the hardest things he'd ever done.
Trace groaned as he realized just how much he missed her. He wanted her with himbeside him-beneath him.
The last mental image made him smile, but he quickly pushed the thought away. He couldn't dwell on how perfect it had felt to bury himself deep within her. Thinking about it was only going to make his return to celibacy that much more torturous.
Getting up, Trace stalked out of the bedroom and went to stand on the small front porch. The night breeze was cool and helped ease his torment.
As he stared up at the star-studded night sky, he wondered where the Harris gang was hiding out. Only when they'd been arrested and brought to justice would he allow himself to marry Elise. Only then would he feel it was safe to take her for his wife. He knew how much Matt Harris hated him, and he knew the man would stop at nothing to hurt him and anyone who was important to him.
The thought of Harris possibly harming Elise sent a sense of cold dread through Trace. It erased any and all thoughts of desire and focused him on what he needed to do. He would not, could not, rest until he'd caught the gang.
Andy stared at Trace in disbelief as they stood together in the Star's office late the following morning.
"Are you serious?" Andy demanded.
"I'm deadly serious." Trace confirmed what he'd just told him-that he was really Trace Jackson and that they were planning to set a trap for the Harris gang, working with Marshal Trent.
"Damn." Andy shook his head and grinned at his boss. "I liked you as Gabe and I'm sure I'll like you even more now that I know who you really are."
"You're one of very few who know, and we want to keep it that way."
"Yes, sir, Mr. West," he told him.
"We're going to start on a special edition of the paper today announcing the coming visit by the British Lord and Lady Winston. We want to make certain it's widely known that Lady Winston owns a magnificent collection of jewelry."
"But are they really coming to town?" Andy was confused.
Trace quickly explained the deception, and Andy grinned again.
"Your plan is brilliant."
"Let's just hope it works."
"Even if it doesn't, at least we haven't really lost anything. The danger will be only if the gang does show up. Does Marshal Trent know what we're going to do yet?"
"Not yet. Elise and I are still working on the details. Right now, we just need to get the word out."
"The word about what?" Elise asked as she came into the office.
"The Winstons' visit."
She smiled at Andy. "So Gabe has told you the truth?"
"Yes, he has, and it's wonderful news."
"That it is," she agreed, her gaze meeting Trace's across the room.
She'd passed a long, sleepless night wanting him and missing him. Given half a chance, she would have ridden out to his house and begged him to take her back to Canyon Creek so they could be alone together. The thought had appealed to her in those dark hours of the night, and it was even more appealing now that she was staring at him. He was so handsome. He was everything she'd ever dreamed of in a man.
The urge to back Trace into his office and shut the door so they would be alone was very tempting. She wanted to-
"Well, let's get to work on our special edition!" Andy said. "What kind of jewelry is Lady Winston famous for? Any ideas? We need to know the who, what, when, where and why of their visit."
Andy's journalistic musings interrupted Elise's erotic daydream. She gave Trace a quick smile as she followed Andy to his desk. It was time they went to work on the story.
Trace had just started back to his own desk when the main door opened and Julie swept in.
"Gabe! I'd heard that you'd gotten back, and I just had to come and see you!" she exclaimed. Her gaze was focused solely on Gabe as she marched into the office, a big picnic basket on her arm.
"Hello, Julie," he greeted her, surprised by her unexpected appearance.
"I've brought you a surprise. Do you have a few minutes so we can talk?" she asked, looking up at him and smiling.
"Well, I-uh," he began.
She didn't bother to wait for his invitation, but walked right past him and on into his office. Elise looked up, watching Julie's brazen entrance with keen interest.
"Wait until you see what I've got for you," Julie said as she put the basket in the middle of his desk and turned toward him, giving him a look that spoke volumes.
Mentally, Trace groaned. He could just imagine what she had in mind, and he wanted no part
of it. "We're putting out a special edition of the paper today, so we are very busy."
"Oh," she said with little interest. She was not about to be put off from her goal of being alone with Gabe for a while. "I promise not to stay any longer than you want me to."
Trace didn't even glance toward Elise and Andy. He just mentally squared his shoulders for the encounter to come and followed after her.
"She sure is something, isn't she?" Andy remarked, staring after her. He'd long thought Julie was one beautiful woman, but she'd never given him a second look.
"I think that describes her very accurately," Elise agreed, making sure to keep her tone sweet.
Sweet was not what Elise was feeling, though. Especially not when Julie closed Trace's office door behind them. It was all Elise could do not to throw the offending portal wide and go in after her. She wanted to drag the other woman out of there by her hair.
Control yourself, Elise dictated to herself, and she managed not to act on her impulse. It wasn't easy.
"Let's get to work," she finally said, turning her attention to the matter at hand. Try as she might, though, she could not ignore the fact that Julie was alone with Trace.
"We missed you at dinner the other night," Julie purred as she stood with her back to the closed door. She finally had Gabe West right where she wanted him-alone!
"I'm sorry I had to miss it, but it was important that I get to Canyon Creek as quickly as I could," Trace said.
"Did you find out anything new about the Harris gang that will help you?"
"I wish I had. I was hoping to get a good lead from the sheriff there, but he'd lost their trail in a bad storm two days after the robbery and ended up calling off his posse."
"Pity," she said dismissively. She was actually glad that the lawman had failed. If they had know where the gang had gone, Gabe would probably have tried to go after them, and she didn't want him out running around, tracking down outlaws. She wanted him safe and sound right there in Durango with her.
"So what brings you here to the office?"
"I wanted to see you-and to bring you this picnic lunch, since we didn't get to have dinner." She opened the basket as she was talking and began to take out the food, arranging it on his desk. "I remembered how much you seemed to enjoy the pie at the social, so I made one just for you."
Julie didn't tell him that her mother had actually been the one who'd baked it for him. What mattered was that she'd brought it to him. After they married would be soon enough for him to discover that she didn't know how to cook and had no desire to learn.
"I appreciate the thought, Julie. It's very sweet of you, but I really don't have time to do this today," Trace told her, knowing he had to be firm with her.
She looked up at him, almost shocked. "You're that busy?"
"Yes, we are. In fact, Elise and Andy are working on the final draft of our special edition. We have to start the press just as soon as they're done."
Her expression altered to a pout as she moved toward him. Pouting always worked with her father, and she believed it would work on Gabe, too. "You're going to have to stop and eat sometime, you know."
Trace had always suspected that Julie could be persistent, but he hadn't realized just how persistent until she closed in on him. He realized she was much like a predator, and he was the quarry she was after.
"You know, Gabe, if you don't have time for lunch right now, that's all right. There was something else I wanted to ask you." She stopped before him, gazing up at him with an undisguised look of hunger in her eyes-and what she was hungry for wasn't the food in the picnic basket.
"What's that?" he asked cautiously, not wanting to encourage her. If he was going to be locked in his office all alone with a woman, it was Elise he wanted to be with, not Julie.
"Well," she said softly, moving even closer and running one finger along the front of his suit coat. "Weston's Wild Texas Stampede is coming to town next week, and I was wondering if you'd like to go with me. I've never been to a Wild West show before, but I think it would be fun."
Julie ever so slowly ran her hands up the front of his chest until she had linked her arms behind his neck. She gazed up at him, knowing exactly what she wanted from him.
Trace stiffened at her ploy. "Julie, this isn't-"
"Shhhh," she whispered as she stood on tiptoe to press her lips to his.
The contact startled Trace. He immediately took her by the forearms and put her physically away from him.
"Julie, I appreciate your kindness in inviting me. I am very flattered that you thought of me, but I won't be able to make it. We're very busy here at the Star, and I can't just take off whenever an opportunity comes along."
"Why not? You're the boss," she asked, her logic simple and direct.
"That's precisely why not. I have to be here to make sure everything is running smoothly. I'm sure there are a lot of young men in town who would be delighted to escort you to the Wild West show, but I am not going to be able to make it."
Julie took his refusal with good grace. "It would have been fun, but maybe we can go another time. By the way, what is this special edition about that you're working so hard on? Did something exciting happen that I haven't heard about yet?"
"As a matter of fact, it did. We just got word that British royalty will be coming to town. A Lord and Lady Winston will be arriving in the next few weeks."
"How exciting! Perhaps we can attend one of the social functions for them. With luck, you'll be all caught up with your work by then."
"Well see how things work out. I don't know the details of their visit yet. We only know that they are planning to come through town. Now, Julie, you'd better be going. It really isn't proper for us to be in here unchaperoned this way with the door closed."
She smiled archly at him as she ran the tip of her tongue over her lower lip. "I was hoping you wouldn't prove to be such a gentleman."
"I respect you too much not to be," he said gallantly.
Her heart fluttered at his words.
"I'll leave all the food for you. Come see me when you get time," she said sweetly as she picked up the basket.
"Good-bye, Julie," Trace said, relieved that he'd managed to get rid of her without a scene.
Julie practically floated out of his office. She didn't bother to speak to Elise or Andy as she passed them. She was smiling too widely. She adored Gabe West and was too caught up in her fantasies about him to even think of acknowledging the others. She had kissed Gabe! Her day was almost perfect!
Elise watched the other woman go, but said nothing. At that particular moment, seeing the ecstatic expression on her face, Elise was not wishing Julie any good things in her life.
"She didn't stay very long," Andy remarked.
"She would have liked to, but we've got too much work to do," Trace said, coming to stand by their desks. Then, changing the topic, he asked, "How's the story coming?"
"We're almost done," Elise told him. "I'll bring it in for you to proofread just as soon as we finish the final draft."
He nodded and went back into his office. The scent of Julie's perfume lingered, reminding him that she'd been there, adding to his irritation with his whole situation. He cleared her food off his desk and sat back down.
It was only a few minutes later when Elise and Andy appeared in his doorway.
"We've got the story ready for you," Elise told him.
"Good, come on in and sit down," he said, gesturing to the two chairs before his desk. "And if you want any of the food that Julie left, help yourselves."
They both declined to eat any of it. They were too excited about seeing his reaction to their article to worry about food. They sat before his desk watching his expression as he went over their story.
BRITISH ROYALTY COMING TO DURANGO
Lord and Lady Winston of London, England, will be arriving in town next week. They will be passing through as part of a cross-country tour that has included stops in New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, De
nver, and now Durango.
The Winston family made their fortune in the diamond trade. Their jewels are legendary and second only to the Queen's.
Current plans call for them to stay in town for at least two nights. We will keep you updated as we learn more about their itinerary.
"It's fine," Trace told them. "Let's go with it."
"Good. Now all we have to do is brief the `Winstons'," Elise said with a slight smile.
"I wonder how the public is going to feel when they discover that we made this all up?" Andy said thoughtfully.
"When they realize we used the paper to help set a trap for the Harris gang, I believe they'll be glad," Elise said, feeling certain that the ends justified the means. "It'll be worth it, you'll see."
He nodded, wanting to believe her. Certainly, Elise's plan to catch Preacher Farnsworth had worked, and her expose on the saloon girls had seemed to help them. He knew for a fact that Mrs. Martins church group had established a fund to help the working girls, should they decide to leave their chosen profession. If this false story about the Winston jewels did draw the Harris gang in so Trace and Marshal Trent could catch them, he supposed it would definitely be worth the risk.
"What are we going to tell the other papers in town? They'll want to print articles about the visit, too."
"We'll tell them everything we know-which, right now, is just what's in this article. We'll worry about the last-minute details early next week, when we figure out exactly how we want to set everything up," Trace told him. "If anyone pressures you for more details, direct them to me or Elise. Now, let's get these run off. The sooner we get the word out, the better chance we have of making contact with Harris."
Andy took the handwritten copy and hurried out to start typesetting the edition, leaving Elise and Trace alone in the office.
"Do you really think this will work?" she asked, lifting her gaze to his.
"It has to. We've got to stop them some way," he said fiercely. Then, realizing that they were actually by themselves, he gave her a half smile and moved close enough to her to touch her cheek in a gentle caress. "I'm sorry about Julie."
"There was nothing you could do about it." Elise trembled at that simple touch of his hand, but she tried to sound as if Julie's visit with him hadn't bothered her.