Carol Finch (19 page)

When she noticed the Rangers lingering around the jail she wrung her hand from her sister’s grasp. “I’ll be along in a minute. I need to say goodbye to the Rangers.”

Penny glanced at the hard-bitten group of men, nodded, then headed into the store.

“My sister, Penelope, arrived unexpectedly,” Piper explained as she halted in front of the men.

Commander Butler chuckled as he watched Penny disappear from sight. “So we noticed. Two peas in a pod, I’d say. We were standing here, trying to decide which one of you is the most attractive. Then we gave up and called it a draw.”

Piper smiled impishly. “Unfortunately for both of us we have similar dispositions. Our father swore we were the curses of his life.”

“With two fetching daughters to watch over and protect, I’m not surprised. It would be a daunting responsibility.”

Piper frowned pensively, wondering if Butler had hit upon a fact that she had overlooked. Perhaps their father had gone overboard on being domineering and protective because he felt he had been left to single-handedly raise and groom his daughters to take their place in society. Reason or not, it had been difficult to deal with Roarke’s exasperating decrees and his habit of trying to map out his daughters’ lives.

“Since Quinn hasn’t come downstairs yet, tell him there is no need to escort me to the fort,” Piper requested, tossing aside her thoughts. “Four armed soldiers will accompany us.”

Butler studied her speculatively for a moment. “Are you sure that is what you want?”

“I’m sure,” Piper confirmed before she held out her hand. “It was an honor and privilege to meet all of you.”

That said, she spun on her heels and strode into the store to join Penny. Within a few minutes the freight
wagon headed off to restock supplies in San Antonio and Piper and Penny left town, accompanied by Lucky, surrounded by an armed patrol.

“I want to hear all about your journey west. Your courage impresses me, Pi.”

Piper gaped at her sister. “
My
courage?”

“Heavens, yes. You struck out on your own without a chaperone to face unforeseen difficulties in this wild country. Most women wouldn’t attempt the feat.”

“You were the one with gumption,” Piper contended. “You stood up to Papa and held firm when he rejected
you
and loudly objected to your decision to marry Matt.”

“But I had Matt for moral support and protection, not to mention the patrol of soldiers that accompanied us west,” Penny countered. “What I did was nothing in comparison. But then,
you
always were a bit more precocious and daring than I was. So…tell me about your adventures and how you survived the wreck.”

While they followed the route into another mountain range of jutting stone peaks and deep canyons Piper offered her sister a detailed account of the trip, while disguised as an old crone.

Penny snickered in amusement. “I wish I could have seen your impersonation of Miss Johnson. She is a sour-puss of the worst sort.” She shook her head in dismay. “I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to whack that pucker-face old bat for sniping at me to stand up straight and harping at me to watch my disrespectful tone of voice.”

“The plan worked perfectly to ensure men kept their
distance. Obviously the male of the species doesn’t appreciate Miss Johnson’s sharp tongue and snippy remarks any better than we do.”

Piper went on to describe the stage wreck and her arduous journey to Dead Man’s Canyon to reconnoiter the outlaws’ stronghold with Quinn. However, she didn’t mention her hasty marriage. Piper decided to save that until Roarke showed up to drag her home—which was
not
going to happen, she promised herself resolutely. She had come too far and endured too much not to see her dream of independence come true.

And where was Roarke? she wondered as she glanced back in the direction they had come. Wherever he was, Piper doubted that he had given up, turned around and gone home. She also wondered if Roarke would reverse his decision to disown Penny when he learned that he would soon be a grandfather.

Discovering that Penny was expecting and that Piper was married should set Roarke back on his heels, she predicted. Plus, with Penny’s husband on hand, and surrounded by a garrison of soldiers, Piper was fairly confident she wouldn’t be hauled away against her will.

For once Roarke would be out of his element and unable to wield the power of his influential position in Galveston. Piper smiled wryly at the thought.

Her thoughts wandered back to Quinn while Penny chattered about the new accommodations that had been constructed at the fort and then described the rancher’s wife she had befriended. Hearing that Penny was satisfied with her life on the frontier filled Piper with a sense
of envy. Penny had Matt’s complete devotion and affection. Piper had no one who cared deeply about her. A shame that Quinn wasn’t capable of that kind of commitment. Piper would have gladly compromised her independence in order to share his life.

But he didn’t want her. He might as well have come right out and said so last night.

She glanced at her sister who looked happy, healthy and well-adjusted. She and Quinn might have had the same thing if he could have returned her affection. But he couldn’t. Or wouldn’t. It didn’t really matter which, she supposed.

The humiliating truth was that he simply didn’t want her.

Well, she hoped Quinn was happy that she had ridden out of his life. As for Piper, she missed him already and she had only been gone an hour. She tried to convince herself that a promising new life awaited her, but she wanted more.

Who would have thought that her cherished freedom would become a distant second to what she suddenly wanted in life?

“Good God…” Quinn groaned when he awakened to hear tom-toms thumping against his skull. He swore that a miniature war party was practicing its usual ritual before charging into battle.

His mouth felt like cotton. Even his eyelids ached. Much as he hated to do it, he pried open one bloodshot eye then slammed it shut when piercing sunlight tried to bore holes in his eyeballs.

This, he reminded himself, was why he didn’t drink to excess.

His stomach pitched and rolled as he crawled off the edge of the bed. With extreme effort, he raised his head and opened both eyes. The room spun furiously and he breathed deeply until his groggy senses cleared up. Somewhat at least.

A few minutes later he rose to his feet and scrubbed his hands over his face. He glanced around the empty room, noting that Piper and her satchel were gone. No doubt she had gone over to the café to grab a bite to eat before they headed to the fort.

Sluggishly, Quinn walked over to soak his head in the basin of water Piper had refilled after her unpleasant encounter with the ruffian. Feeling a mite refreshed, Quinn gathered up his clothes and grimaced at the thought of jostling around on the back of a horse with a queasy stomach.

Well, one good thing might come of this, he mused as he fastened his moccasins and leggings in place. If they should happen onto Roarke Sullivan, Quinn would be in the perfect mood for a fight, because right now it wouldn’t take much to aggravate him.

Scooping up his gear, Quinn headed downstairs. When he stepped outside he inhaled a deep, cleansing breath. Then Quinn made a beeline for the café to gulp down a much-needed cup of coffee.

He nodded a greeting to the Rangers who were lounging at a table, and then he frowned curiously when he didn’t see Piper with them. He wondered if the Comanche warriors were dogging her steps to keep a close eye
on her as he had asked. He certainly hoped so. Quinn had certainly fallen down on the job after last night’s losing battle with whiskey.

Commander Butler smiled wryly as Quinn took a seat at the table. “You look like hell.”

“Glad to hear I don’t look better than I feel.” Quinn mumbled a quiet, “Gracias,” when the Mexican waitress set a cup of steaming coffee in front of him. He glanced at Butler. “Are the reinforcements here yet?”

“We’re expecting them anytime,” he replied. “I sent Cooper to alert the townsfolk that trouble might be brewing. I’m hoping Piper’s suggestion of letting those bandits come to us works. I don’t relish the thought of riding through rough terrain to reach their canyon fortress. If they want their Mexican cohorts freed from jail then they can ride into town and try to take them from us.”

Quinn sipped his coffee, then turned his attention to the plate of food the waitress delivered. He was halfway through his meal when Tom Pendleton strode inside, followed by eight Rangers that patrolled the area west of Van Horn. While Butler briefed the men on the situation, Quinn heaved himself to his feet.

“Where are you going?”

“To find Piper. The sooner I deliver her to the fort the sooner I can get back here.”

“She left already.”

“What?”
Quinn hooted then grabbed his sensitive head.

“Her sister came up with the supply wagon and then they headed toward the fort with an armed patrol.” Butler grinned. “It was quite a reunion. Piper and Penelope
nearly hugged the stuffing out of each other in the middle of the street. Oh, and Piper said to tell you goodbye.”

Butler stared intently at Quinn, as if gauging his reaction. “She seemed to think you would be relieved that you had fulfilled your obligations to her.”

The news left Quinn with an odd, empty feeling in the pit of his belly. She was gone from his life? Just like that? She planned to take on her father alone?

Of course she did. Knowing her, she had decided that dealing with Roarke was just another obstacle she had to overcome, another test she had to pass to gain her long-awaited freedom.

Maybe this was for the best, he mused. He and Piper had parted company without any awkward goodbyes. Now he could focus on his vow to see the bandits brought to justice. Taylor Briggs might have paid the ultimate sacrifice, but those bastards were not going to get away with murder, not if Quinn and the other Rangers had a say in the matter.

When the commander requested that Quinn add his two cents’ worth to preparations for the upcoming confrontation Quinn tried to concentrate on his duties. But an uneasy feeling kept hounding him. True, things felt unsettled between him and Piper, but something else niggled him.

Finally he shrugged off the unexplainable sensation and chalked it up to the unfamiliar emotions Piper stirred in him. Then he got down to the serious business of planning an attack on the desperadoes who had been creating havoc in southwest Texas.

R
oy Morrell touched his swollen lip, then cursed the spitfire who had defied his amorous advances and clobbered him with the porcelain pitcher and the chair. He spat another curse at that vicious Ranger who had come to the woman’s defense. Both of them were going to pay dearly for the assault, he vowed spitefully.

He had ridden half the night to call in reinforcements from the stronghold that he and his brother had established the previous year in Dead Man’s Canyon. He and his brother, Sam, had amassed a small fortune and their organized ring of thieves had raked in profits galore. But those pesky Rangers constantly caused interference by capturing or killing their gang members.

Now, the Mexicans that were a crucial part of the operation were locked in jail. Two of the Morrell cousins were serving time in the penitentiary at Huntsville. And some of them were dead, their youngest brother Charley included.

“Those sonsabitches will rue the day,” Roy muttered to Sam.

From their vantage point on the hill overlooking Catoosa Gulch, Roy peered through the spyglass. He carefully appraised the group of Rangers that exited the café. Then he glanced south to survey the small army patrol that followed the road to the fort. A devilish grin spread across Roy’s lips, and then he winced at the pain caused by the mind-boggling blows he had sustained the previous afternoon.

“Ah, good fortune is with us,” Roy declared when he noticed the two blond-haired women riding with the soldiers.

“Good fortune?” Sam Morrell snorted derisively. “Not when those devil Rangers have decided to sit back and make us come to them. Curse those stupid Mexicans for getting themselves jailed! We could have used their firepower to battle the Rangers. Now there they sit.”

He scowled in disgust. “Our connections across the border won’t do us any good if we can’t sell the stolen beef in Mexico. We damn sure can’t drive the cattle north to the railheads without inviting more trouble from those roaming bands of Rangers.”

Roy sniggered as he handed the spyglass to his brother. “Our ace in the hole. One of the women with the patrol is that bastard Ranger’s woman. The other one is a soldier’s wife. I’ve seen her before. We’ll have all the bargaining power we need if we take the women captive.”

A wide grin spread across Sam’s stubbled face as he peered at the procession in the distance. Then he
glanced at the well-armed men who awaited his orders. “There are plenty of box canyons in these mountains to serve as a deathtrap for the Rangers. Phantom Springs comes quickly to mind.”

Roy nodded in fiendish delight. “Perfect for our ambush. Even better that half the cavalry at the fort is out chasing a supposed band of Apaches that raided two ranches to the west.”

“Hell of an idea you came up with to impersonate renegade Indians and have some of our men loot the ranches. The Apaches are taking the blame for those robberies.”

Roy smiled, well pleased with himself. “We’ll keep the army confused while we take our revenge on those cussed Rangers.”

“It shouldn’t be too hard since we outnumber the Rangers more than two to one. Plus, the army troops won’t even know about the kidnappings until it’s too late because they are tracking the imaginary Apaches.”

Sam handed the spyglass to Roy, then motioned for his cohorts to follow the ridge that overlooked the road. “We’ll come at the military patrol from three directions at once,” he ordered. “They will have nowhere to run except straight up the stone cliff beside them.”

“I get first turn with that wildcat that tried to claw out my eyes,” Roy insisted as the bandits rode south.

Sam raised a thick brow and smirked. “Think you can handle her? Looks like
she
left her mark on
you
before the Ranger roughed you up.”

“I’ll handle her all right,” Roy growled. “When I’m through with her I’ll pass her around among our men.
That devil Ranger that dresses like a savage won’t want her when we’ve finished with her. Not that he’ll have the chance because he’s the first man I want to see dead.”

Piper marveled at the perpendicular walls of the western cliff that looked to be layered in limestone, sandstone and granite. The steep rise of the mountains beside the trail was every bit as rugged and impressive as the range to the northeast where she and Quinn…

Don’t think about him,
she lectured herself. He preferred to be a closed chapter in her life and there was nothing she could do about that.

“Why so glum, Pi?” Penny questioned perceptively. “Having second thoughts about living in the middle of nowhere?”

Piper gave herself a mental shake and flashed a smile. “No. I’m exactly where I want to be,” she said, although her first choice would have been to be with Quinn.

“Then what’s bothering you? And don’t tell me
nothing.
We might have been separated for two years, but I
know
you.”

Piper had intended to delay her announcement about the marriage, but she suddenly felt the need to confide in her sister. For a time Quinn had been her confidante, but the closeness they had shared was over and done and she had to accept that.

“There was this man,” she began.

“Ah, isn’t that the story of a woman’s life.” Penny snickered as she swept out her arm in an expansive gesture. “Just look where my handsome prince brought me. My castle is the mountain range and my knights are sol
diers.” She shrugged lackadaisically. “Ah, well, my fairy tale might be a bit off the mark, but I’m not disappointed.”

Piper grinned. “This region seems to agree with you.”

“It does,” Penny said, then frowned curiously at Piper. “Did this man you mentioned jilt you? Is that why you decided to head west?”

“No. I met him on the stage and he has saved my life several times since then.”

Penny raised her brows in surprise. “This Callahan character? The Ranger looking for the bandits’ stronghold?
He’s
the one?”

Piper fidgeted beneath her sister’s probing stare. “Yes, we sort of made a bargain.”

Penny’s gaze narrowed warily. “
Sort of?
What does that mean
exactly?
”

Piper inhaled a deep breath then said, “He agreed to marry me for protection against Papa’s inevitable attempt to drag me home.”

Penny’s astounded gaze dropped to the plain silver band on Piper’s finger. “You married the Ranger you had only just met?” she croaked.

Given Penny’s shocked reaction Piper could only imagine Roarke’s response. No doubt, he would erupt like a volcano.

“It is a marriage of convenience that provides me with a legal document,” she explained. “Plus, spending days on end together in the wilderness is more intense than your courtship with Matt. I observed the best and worst of Quinn’s moods. I was also impressed by his skills and learned a great deal about survival from him. How long did it take
you
to gain that kind of insight about Matt?”

Penny chortled at the challenging question. “Okay, Pi, you’ve made your point. We did face a period of adjustment after our wedding. But
really,
a convenient marriage? I thought that was exactly what Papa had planned for you with that dandy named Foster.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “Well, at least you didn’t fall in love with Callahan. That would have been a disastrous complication.”

When Piper stared straight ahead, refusing to meet her gaze, Penny frowned suspiciously. “Please tell me that you don’t have romantic feelings—”

Piper never had the chance to reply. A volley of bullets erupted from out of nowhere and she sprawled over her horse as Quinn had taught her to do. Penny had the good sense to do the same. The soldiers encircled them as gunfire rained down from three different directions. Piper muttered in dismay when she saw the band of desperadoes, a few of whom she recognized from the stage holdup, pour down from the tumble of rocky hills.

When one of the soldiers grabbed his shoulder then toppled from his horse, Piper dismounted to grab the pistol he thrust at her.

“Head to the fort as fast as you can!” he said with a pained grimace. “We’ll try to provide cover.”

To Piper’s way of thinking there was no holding off these banditos. The hapless patrol was woefully outnumbered and surrounded. Clutching the reins to her jittery mount, she pulled herself back into the saddle then fired the weapon wildly.

She wasn’t sure who was more surprised when the discharging bullet caught one of her attackers in the
thigh. But it gave Piper time to dig in her heels and thunder down the road, with Penny matching the swift pace she set.

Piper cursed in frustration when ten scraggly outlaws appeared to block her escape route. Ten loaded pistols were aimed at her chest and she had only one firearm aimed at the vicious-looking group of banditos who held her and her sister at gunpoint. She growled under her breath when she recognized the greasy-haired scoundrel who had tried to attack her at the hotel the previous afternoon.

“So we meet again, bitch,” Roy Morrell snarled hatefully. “Wanna guess how our next encounter turns out?”

Despite the lopsided odds, Piper kept her weapon trained on her nemesis. She glanced at the outlaw beside him—the one she had nicknamed Silver Spurs during the stage robbery. The family resemblance between these two men was striking. Brothers, she guessed. Same greasy hair and beady black eyes. Same beaked nose and nonexistent chin.

“I’ve heard about you,” Silver Spurs said. “Roy had nothing good to say, of course.”

“We’ve met before,” Piper surprised him by saying. “Obviously you have forgotten the old widow from the stage holdup.”

Silver Spurs’s bushy brows shot up. “Should’ve known. Same smart mouth.” He glanced at his brother. “I’ll be next in line after you take your turn with her, Roy.”

Piper refused to react to the intimidating threat. Neither did she drop the pistol when ordered to do so. She
knew she couldn’t shoot her way out of here, but innate defiance wouldn’t allow her to meekly submit.

“Sam, take her pistol. If she so much as blinks I’ll blow her out of the saddle.”

Piper waited until Sam was directly in front of her before she gouged her heels into her mount’s flanks. The two horses collided. Her forward momentum caused Sam’s horse to rear up. Then Piper headed directly for Roy.

Penny was right behind her, plowing into the other horses, causing them to bolt skittishly away.

Piper and Penny might have had a sporting chance, too, if one of the nearby riders hadn’t lunged sideways to club her in the back of the head with the butt of his rifle. Behind her, she heard Penny’s outraged shriek, but there was nothing Piper could do to help her sister. The blow to her head caused her to wilt forward in the saddle. Piper battled valiantly to remain conscious while Penny’s railing voice sentenced every last desperado to the farthest reaches of hell.

Piper tried to upright herself when Sam jerked the pistol from her fingertips. But her body slumped again and she blacked out, serenaded by her sister’s colorful curses.

Her last thought was that Roarke would suffer apoplexy if he could hear Penny swearing like a soldier.

After lunch, Quinn was beginning to feel human again. He had met with the reinforcements from Van Horn twice, then returned to the jail with Commander Butler on his heels.

He had heard firsthand from one of the Mexicans that
there was indeed a plot to lure the Rangers into a deathtrap—to retaliate against the death of the ringleaders’ younger brother. Roy Morrell was the rascal Quinn had tangled with in Piper’s hotel room. According to the information Quinn gleaned, Roy and his brother, Sam, had blamed the Rangers for Charley’s cold-blooded murder.

“Never heard such a twisted version of that showdown at Wolf Creek,” Butler said as he came to stand on the boardwalk beside Quinn. “Hell, I was there last year. Same as you were. Horse and cattle thieves, every last one of them. We had the branded animals as evidence. If memory serves that gang of outlaws fired on us first. That young outlaw fell off his stolen horse with his pistol still smoking in his hand.”

“My recollection exactly. One of the bandits winged Tom Pendleton and he has the scar to prove it. Of course, you can’t expect a gang of liars, murderers and thieves to get their story straight. Haven’t met one of them yet who didn’t crow about a case of mistaken identity and swear on a stack of Bibles that he was completely innocent.”

Butler snickered. “That is a fact, Cal. I—”

His voice trailed off when he noticed two men from the army patrol riding into town. He jerked upright, then darted toward them.

An uneasy sensation skittered down Quinn’s spine as he followed in the commander’s wake. “What’s wrong?”

“These men escorted Piper and her sister to the fort. Damn it, where is the rest of the group!”

Quinn forgot to breathe as he surged past Butler to
reach the soldiers who had been tied to their saddles. His heart plummeted to his belly when he noticed the padded black gown Piper had worn while charading as Widow Agatha. The garment was draped over one of the horses.

Fury blazed through Quinn’s veins and curses exploded from his lips. He had sworn all manner of vengeance after these bandits killed Taylor Briggs. Quinn promised even more wrath now because what he had felt for his friend didn’t compare to the intensity of emotions that riddled him now.

Knowing how daring and defiant Piper could be, Quinn cringed at the prospect of her response to being captured.

He didn’t even have to ask to know that Piper and Penelope had been adducted as bait for the trap. The grim expression on the soldiers’ faces told the tale.

“Cap’n Duncan will have our heads,” the injured corporal muttered. “His wife is with child and the cap’n didn’t want her to make this trip in the first place. But she’s a determined lady and wouldn’t be refused her request.”

If Quinn hadn’t been so worried, he might have smiled at the comment. He had the unmistakable feeling that Penelope was as headstrong as Piper.

“I swore that daredevil sister of Miz Duncan’s was gonna get herself killed when the bandits surrounded her,” the dark-haired sergeant spoke up. “She charged directly toward the ones named Sam and Roy. She might have pulled off the unexpected attack if one of those hombres hadn’t knocked her over the head with his rifle.”