by Jenna Brandt
“Boss, we got to go. The rangers are closing in on us,” Stanley, one of the other gang members said with worry as he burst in on them. “What’s going on?” he asked in bewilderment.
“She’s a rotten bounty hunter, Stanley, and she knows too much,” Gus spat out in anger. “We need to take care of her before we blow the train.”
“How about we tie her up and let the train do the rest,” Stanley proposed.
“Do you see any rope around here?” Gus said, straightening up and gesturing around the small room.
“No, but I don’t rightly like the idea of killing a woman,” Stanley protested. “Robbing trains is one thing, but that’s a whole other.”
“Fine,” Gus stated with irritation, “We can handle her another way. We’ll knock her out, set the dynamite, and let the explosion take care of all our problems at once.”
Before she could react, Gus picked up the gun from the floor and swung it, striking her in the head, causing everything to go black.
“Naomi,” she felt a hand shaking her, “Naomi, or should I call you Sue? Can you hear me?” she heard Emmett’s voice calling her back to the present.
“What’s going on? What happened?”
“You passed out—I think from shock. I caught you right before you hit your head again.”
She sat up, then tried to shake the grogginess away. Quickly, she realized she was no longer on the train. Brick walls surrounded her as she sat on a small cot in the corner of a room. Then remembering her confrontation with Gus, she asked, “Where is he? Where is that rotten, no-good, son of a cactus-eater?”
“I’m assuming you’re talking about Gus Thurlow,” Emmett said, from a position across the small room that she now realized was a jail cell. Emmett’s arms were crossed over his chest and he was leaning against the wall watching her. “We have him in custody. Two other gang members were wounded, one bad enough he couldn’t escape, so we detained him. The other escaped with the remaining members who are still at large.”
She stood to her feet, then made her way over to the exit from the cell. “I’m not sure why you brought me here, but I’m good now. You can let me out.”
“That won’t be happening,” Emmett stated with a coldness she hadn’t heard since the first time they met. “This will be your home until you have your day in court.”
“What are you talking about?” she sputtered out. “Why are you keeping me in jail?”
“You aided in a train robbery, Naomi—Sue—whatever your name is. You helped bring explosives onto a train in an attempt to harm others while helping criminals escape after committing a crime.”
Spinning around to face him, she defended, “I admit, I made mistakes, but I did nothing to help those men hurt other people.”
“How do you know that? You lost your memory, remember?” Emmett accused, almost as if he didn’t believe her. The look of distrust and anger she saw in his eyes nearly made her faint again on the spot. She wasn’t one to go all willy-nilly in the knees just because a man was cross with her.
Wanting him to understand, she explained, “I know because my memories came back while we were on the train.”
“How convenient,” Emmett stated snidely. “Now, suddenly, you remember your past when it helps clear your name.”
“No, that’s not true. I’m telling you that seeing Gus caused my memories to come back.”
“He must have really done a number on you to have that type of power. I hope he was worth it because he’ll cost you the rest of your life.”
“Don’t say that. Gus had nothing to do with why I was on that train, either time. I was trying to help stop the Beckett Gang and find out where Bill Beckett was located.”
“For the bounty, right?” he growled out, grabbing her and pulling her towards him.
She nodded. “Yes, exactly,” but she realized the truth wasn’t helping her in any way. It was doing just the opposite from the wounded look she saw reflected in Emmett’s eyes.
“Like all bounty hunters, the money is the only real motivator in your life,” he said, pushing her away and heading towards the jail cell exit.
“Wait, don’t twist my words. That’s not what I’m saying,” she said, reaching out and grabbing him by the arm. “I was trying to do the right thing.”
He shook her hand off, opened the door, and slipped out, locking it behind him. “I can’t trust anything you say. It was bad enough when I thought you were just a naïve girl who got mixed up with the wrong man. Now, it turns out, it’s much worse than that. You’re a shrewd, calculating bounty hunter, willing to use your looks and feminine charms to get the job done by any means, even manipulating a foolish Texas Ranger who should have known better.”
The words stung, far more than she would have ever thought words from a man she had only known two days could have. She wanted to fix things, but as he turned his back on her, she realized it was a lost cause. Still, she needed him to know the truth. “It wasn’t like that, Emmett. Everything that happened between us was real for me. I’ve changed, Emmett. I’m not the same person I was two days ago,” she yelled after his retreating figure.
The worst part of him walking away without listening to her was that he didn’t believe her when she was telling the truth. She was not only losing her freedom, but any chance of having a relationship with the one man she could see a future with.
Thirteen
The disappointment had seeped deep into Emmett’s heart. He wasn’t sure when it happened, but he had convinced himself that Naomi—or should he think of her as Sue now—wasn’t a bad person. The truth was, she was part of the worst fringes of society. As a bounty hunter, she was a bottom feeder always trying to cut corners and skirt the law to catch their prey to turn them in for a buck. The bigger the bounty, the more ruthless the bounty hunter had to be. Bill Beckett had one of the biggest bounties in all of Texas. What did that say about Naomi? What type of woman was she to be working in such a profession?
Emmett was sitting at a desk in the Rockwood Springs jail, watching the three members of the Beckett Gang he had captured so far.
Naomi was being held in one cell, while Gus and Stanley were being housed in the other. Stanley’s shoulder wound had been patched up by Dr. Ramsey, but the man was continuing to complain that he was in pain. Good, he deserved it, for all the awful things he, along with the rest of the gang, had done.
Tired of looking at the smug face of Gus, who kept insisting the rest of his gang would be by to help them escape, Emmett turned away from their cell. Stanley at least seemed less sure of the fact and was sulking in the corner when he wasn’t complaining about his wound. Though the two of them irritated him to no end, it was watching Naomi cry in the corner of her cell that was about to be Emmett’s undoing. It was all he could do to keep himself from throwing the cell door open, gathering her into his arms, and kissing the tears away.
Emmett decided he needed to get some fresh air before he separated the men and interrogated them about the location of the rest of the gang. He was certain there was a hideout somewhere, and both of them knew where it was. He needed a clear head to question them but watching Naomi’s body heave up and down with sobs made that impossible.
As he rushed out of the jail, he nearly collided with Levi coming the other direction.
“Whoa, there, partner. Slow down before you nearly knock a fella over.”
“Sorry about that, Levi, I just need to get out of there.”
“What’s got you so upset?” Levi probed, almost as if he already knew the answer.
“She’s in there, which means I can’t be,” Emmett stated with frustration.
“You should know, I have a history with Clyde Forester. We used to be partners back when I bounty-hunted. It’s how I ended up in Rockwood Springs. Clyde is a low-down, dirty, sneaking polecat, which makes him a great bounty hunter, but little good at anything else. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like for her to end up being raised by him after her parents died.
He doesn’t have a paternal bone in his body, and will use anyone, and I mean anyone, to cash in on a bounty. I’m certain he only saw his niece as a way to further his bounty hunting jobs.”
“I understand what you’re saying about him, but that doesn’t explain why she went along with all of it.”
“It’s hard to be alone, especially as a woman. I’m betting she was scared to strike out on her own and thought she could handle the life. I know I did until it became too much for me. By then, I was in so deep, I didn’t know how to get out. When I parted ways with Clyde, he did everything in his power to dissuade me. I nearly lost the chance to be with my wife, Abigail, over it. I’m betting it was even harder for his niece to get free from him. Before you judge her too harshly, you should think about what she has been through. Would God want you to stay angry with her, or would He want you to forgive her? Think about it, Emmett, before you make a decision you’ll regret later down the road.”
As Levi entered the jail, Emmett contemplated what the deputy said. Was Emmett being unfair to Naomi? He considered himself a just man, but did justice mean doling out punishments without weighing the circumstances? He didn’t think so, but he still couldn’t make sense of his mixed emotions.
Deciding he needed clarity, Emmett made his way over to the little white church on the south corner of Main Street. He made his way up the steps and through the doors of the building. Once inside, Emmett made his way down towards the front of the church. He sat in the second row, bowed his head, and prayed.
“Dear Lord, I need Your help. I’m in quite a bind between doing what I believe to be my duty versus what my heart wants. Help me know what the right decision is, and how to live with it once I make it.”
A thin man with greying brown hair and glasses came to sit next to Emmett. Once Emmett was finished praying, the stranger said, “Good afternoon, young man. I’m Pastor Gable. Is there anything I can do to assist you?”
Emmett shrugged. “Are you good at figuring out answers to impossible questions?”
“No, not so much, but who I serve is. God can do anything. He can answer every question and fix any situation.”
Before he knew it, Emmett was spilling out the entire story to the pastor sitting next to him. As the final words crossed his lips, he took in a deep breath, waiting to hear what the pastor had to say.
“In my many years of giving advice, I think the biggest truth I can impart is that it takes more work to hold on to a grudge and stay mad than it does to let go of a slight and forgive.”
“I want to forgive her, pastor, but I’m not sure how—and even if I do, it’s my job as a Ranger to enforce the law.”
“Another fact I’ve come to realize being out here in the West all these years, the definition of what defines the law isn’t measured by arbitrary rules set by man, but rather what God would want us to do according to our faith. If someone ended up trying to do the right thing, even if they didn’t start out that way, why punish them for the beginning when what matters is what they did in the end.”
The pastor’s words penetrated Emmett’s heart, making him accept the truth he had known all along. Naomi was a good person, and she deserved Emmett’s loyalty and protection.
“Thank you, pastor, for talking with me. I think I have somewhere I need to be,” Emmett stated, standing to his feet and taking off towards the exit.
“Go with God, Ranger, and rest in the peace the Lord freely offers,” he heard the wise man shout after him.
Fourteen
A sullen Sue sat on the cot in her jail cell, wanting to erase the past two days. Correction, she wanted to change the decisions she made after her parents died. Why had she agreed to become a bounty hunter in the first place? She had always been a good girl, listened to her mama and papa, gone to church, and obeyed the law. Why did she change after they died? Easy, she was scared. Scared to be alone, scared to be without food and clothes, scared she would never have a home again. When her Uncle Clyde offered to take her with him and teach her how to make a life with him, she thought it was the best she could do. She was too afraid to strike out on her own and take a chance that could potentially end in disaster.
Now, a year later, she paid the consequences for not doing what was right back then. Her life as Sue, the bounty hunter, destroyed the life she wanted as Naomi, Emmett’s gal. There was no way he would overlook all the despicable things she did in her past to cash in on a bounty.
“How are you doing, little lady? Want some company?” a crackling voice bellowed from beside her.
She debated about ignoring the old man who had been brought in a couple hours prior for causing a drunken spectacle down at the local saloon. They had placed him in her cell because the other one was already full. She had known he would be nothing but trouble in his condition.
Sue didn’t want to talk to anyone, but she also knew that he might become more insistent if she didn’t respond. “I’m fine. As for company, I’m quite all right on my own.”
“You don’t seem all right. You seem downright miserable if you ask me,” he slurred out.
“Well, no one asked you,” she snapped back, “and I’d like to be left alone.”
Turning to face the wall, she crossed her arms over her chest and let out a humph sound under her breath.
“You sure seem uppity for being in here,” the man mused beside her. “No good girl ends up behind bars.”
Though she knew he was simply drunk and trying to get a rise out of her, the truth behind his statement made her guilt worse. He was right, she could try to blame her parents’ death, her uncle, or even the Beckett Gang, but the real reason she ended up in jail was all on her. The decisions she made put her here.
“Why don’t you show me how much of a not good girl you are,” the drunk stuttered out as he came up behind her, then yanked her up by the arm. “I’m sure you can teach me a thing or two.”
“Unhand me,” she spat out, glaring at him. “You’ve got no right touching me.”
“No, I don’t think I will. There ain’t no one around here who cares what happens to you,” the older man said with a lecherous grin.
“That’s not true,” she heard Emmett’s familiar voice say from the outside of the cell. “I would take your hands off of her if I were you.”
The man’s head snapped towards Emmett as his eyes grew wide with fear. Quickly, he let her go and stepped back. “I didn’t know anyone had a claim on her.”
“Well, you do now,” Emmett warned as he came up to the cell door.
The man retreated to a corner of the cell, obviously trying to hide from Emmett’s wrath.
“What are you doing here?” Sue asked with surprise. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“I’m here to get you out,” he stated as he opened the cell door and let her exit.
“Not that I’m ungrateful, but why?” she inquired, still shocked to have him in front of her.
“Let’s talk somewhere a little more private,” he stated, escorting her outside where no one was around. Once they were alone, he turned to her and continued. “I need your help. Will you assist me in finding the hideout location for the Beckett Gang?”
“How do you expect me to do that?”
Leaning towards her, he said, “You’ll convince Stanley to give you the information. He’s been a nervous nelly since he got here. I think with just a little prodding by the right person—namely you—he’ll crack open like a melon.”
Sue wanted to prove herself. She owed it to Emmett to make up for all that happened, and this would be a step in the right direction. With a nod, she agreed. “How do I do it?”
“I’ll pull you both out like you are being taken to a different jail because of overcrowding. While you’re waiting for your pretend ride, you’ll have time to coax the information out of him.”
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes. Once I help you capture the rest of the gang, I’m done with bounty hunting for good. I plan to spend the rest of my life
staying on the right side of the law.”
“That’s between you and God; I just want to catch the rest of the gang.”
Emmett brought her back inside and had her sit at the desk furthest away from the jail cell where Stanley and Gus were being held. He went over and pulled Stanley out, bringing him over to sit next to Sue.
“You both are being moved to another jail. This one is too crowded.”
“It won’t be once the gang comes back to get me and Gus,” Stanley said, trying to sound confident, but the wavering in his voice gave away how scared he was.
“Just because you tell yourself that doesn’t make it true. No one is coming for you,” Emmett stated adamantly, before walking away to the other desk.
“He’s right you know,” Sue leaned over and whispered to Stanley. “Bill Beckett isn’t known for showing loyalty. He figures if you’re stupid enough to get caught, that’s your problem.”
“Be quiet, Naomi, or whatever your name is. You’re not getting in my head. All you bounty hunters are the same. Gus warned me about your type.”
“Gus is just mad at me. He doesn’t like it when anyone can think for themselves. I think he’s also angry because he couldn’t see what was going on under his nose between you and me.”
Stanley’s head snapped to the side as he croaked out, “What are you talking about, Naomi? Nothing was going on between us.”
“What do you mean? Don’t deny you felt it,” she said, placing her hand on his arm. “There’s always been an underlying spark between us. I think it made Gus extra cranky a lot of the time.”
He let out a small cackle as he nodded. “I knew it, I knew it. I could always tell you liked me, but Gus was always in the way. Frankly, he scares me.” Then a sad look came over his face as he added, “It doesn’t even matter now. We’re both going into a dark hole for the rest of our lives.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way. If we had something to trade, some sort of information they wanted, we could use it to buy our freedom.”