Colorado Bride (47 page)

* * *

“You’re not leaving already, are you?” Carrie asked as soon as the door closed behind her.

“The shipment is going through tomorrow, and I’m going to meet my men first then scout around a bit” Lucas explained, leading her over to the shade of his tree. “I’m going to try to come up on them after dark. They’ll be gathered around the fire then, and sound carries better at night.”

“Please be careful” Carrie begged.

“That’s part of the reason for going in at night. It gives me better cover.”

“What will they do if they catch you?” Carrie asked, knowing all the while that she didn’t want to hear the answer.

“I’m not certain, but I won’t like it whatever it is, so I’m going to make sure I don’t get caught. Now I want you to go about your business like nothing has happened. If anybody should ask about me, you tell them I’ve gone after more mustangs.”

“You know I can’t act like nothing has happened. And if anybody were stupid enough to believe you were going after more mustangs when the corral is full of unbroken horses this very minute, then they wouldn’t have brains enough to know what to do with you if may caught you.”

“That’s what I like about you,” Lucas said, amusement dancing in his eyes. “You’re always so loving and supportive, and you’ve got unlimited confidence in me.”

Carrie hit him in the shoulder with the butt of her palm. “I do love you, you stubborn mule, but I’d rather be supporting you in a lawful endeavour. I also have complete confidence those thieves will kill you if they get the chance. You just make sure you don’t give them that chance, because if you do, well, I don’t know what I will do, but I’ll think of something.”

“Probably clean out the whole bunch with your little pistols,” Lucas said, gathering her into his embrace with a fond smile.

“And don’t you think you can sweet-talk me into agreeing with you by grinning at me like that. You know I can’t think straight when you do.”

“Yes, I do,” Lucas said, still grinning as he kissed her.

“I’ll recover my senses as soon as you let me go.”

“Probably,” Lucas said, and kissed her again.

“You can’t hold me here forever.” Carrie sounded as if she hoped he would prove her wrong.

“I’ve been thinking about it.” Carrie subsided into his embrace, content to remain there even if every minute she was in his arms hadn’t meant one less minute he would be exposed to danger. It seemed incredible to her that after such a long search for the one man she could love, everything should be risked for a few gold thieves. Her mother’s family had already been called upon to make too many sacrifices. Bitter and disillusioned by the Civil War, her Uncle Wesley Cameron had left Virginia to lose himself in the wilds of Wyoming, and Aunt Cornelia had died of a broken heart, leaving Carrie’s Uncle Stuart Cameron to raise his young daughter, Sibyl, alone. Surely no more could be expected of one family.

“When will you be back?” she asked, disengaging his arms reluctantly.

“I hope to come back sometime tonight, but it may not be until after the stage goes through tomorrow.”

“Will you take Found with you? You can send him back with a message telling me what you’re going to do.”

“No. I don’t want to have to worry about anybody else. I’ll be safe enough. Now you go about your work and try not to worry.”

Try not to worry, Carrie thought bitterly as Lucas rode off toward the canyons a little while later. He might as well have asked her not to breathe. She had known him for barely a month, but in the nights they had spent together, she felt as though she had become merged with him, almost as much physically as spiritually. It was no effort to feel his arms around her, to remember the feel of his strong limbs beneath her fingers, or experience the heat of his longing for her. It
was
a near impossibility to remember what it was like before she knew him. It seemed that her life had only really begun the day she stepped off that stage in front of this dilapidated station, and she was determined it was not going to end now.

She headed toward the barn, walking so swiftly and with such purpose that the swish of her skirts caught Pound’s attention before she called his name.

“I want you to follow Mr. Barrow,” she told him. “You can take any horse you want, but I don’t want you to let him out of your sight for one minute. You’ve lived in these hills and you know them better than he does, so you shouldn’t have any trouble making sure he doesn’t see you. He’ll be furious if he ever finds out I sent you after him. If anything happens, you’re to come tell me right away. You’re not to wait a minute, do you understand, but come tell me at once.”

Found nodded his understanding, and Carrie felt a little better. She might not be able to protect Lucas from the danger that threatened him, but she wouldn’t be ignorant of what was happening and unable to help him either. She might be from an old Virginia family, but some of the pioneer spirit was still alive in her veins. Together, she and Lucas would carve a place out of this wilderness for themselves, and if he wouldn’t protect himself while he did it, then she would do it for him. Lucas moved through the birch grove with the stealth of an Indian. He had been unable to hear anything from the canyon rim and was coming up to the gang through the trees that lined the sides of the canyon. He had to be careful not to make any noise that would attract their attention, Jason Staples probably wouldn’t kill an unknown wrangler, but Lucas didn’t want to stake his life on it. The cover was sparse and grew even more scant as he neared the end of the canyon; he would never have tried this approach except during the dark of night.

There had been no difficulty in finding signs of their presence. The gang had evidently thought itself safe in the canyon and made no attempt to hide the evidence of their activity. And Lucas knew that if he hadn’t already known of the hidden canyon, he would have lost their trail on the rocky ledges and sandy patches of ground that led to the mouth of the canyon.

He had already met with his men, and by now they should all be settled into their positions for the next day. He figured Staples would try to stop the stage on a steep incline about seven miles from the station. The stage would have to slow down and there was plenty of cover close up to the road which would make an ambush easy. There was also plenty of cover for Lucas’s men, and by being in position before the outlaws arrived, their presence would not be detected.

Lucas reached the edge of the thicket and paused, looking around for some cover he could use to get closer. He could see the fire and the men garnered around it, but he still could not make out what they were saying. He remained perfectly still and stared into the darkness around him. He had had an uneasy feeling from the minute he had come into this canyon that eyes were following his every move, but he had paused to listen every few yards and he had failed to detect a sound. Even a bat makes some sound as it flies through the air, and these men were not bats. In fact, the men around the fire were making an unusual amount of noise. Lucas wasn’t concerned with what they might be arguing over, only with getting closer, and after making sure there was nothing in the darkness around him, he sprinted on silent feet for the cover of a large bolder about thirty yards closer to the camp.

He paused a moment to catch his breath and look for his next cover. He could catch some snatches of their convenation, but he had to get even closer if he was going to be able to understand everything they said. He also had to be extremely careful. It was not a dark night and the light from the fire was illuminating some of the shadowy corners of the canyon. He sighted another boulder and was almost in the act of dashing for it when the sound of a familiar voice at the campfire caused him to freeze in his tracks, unfortunately setting his foot squarely on a twig that broke with a loud crack. Brian Kelly was standing at the fire with his back to Lucas. He had to be the one who was leaking the information.

“Mighty thoughtful of you to step on that twig,” a voice spoke out of the darkness, a voice that belonged to Jason Staples himself. “Me and the boys have been watching you ever since you got here, but it was right convenient to have your location pinpointed so exactly. Now you rise up and come out from behind that rock. And if you’re thinking about going for your gun, you just look around.” Lucas did, and he could see at least two other men not counting the men at the fire who had stopped talking and were now looking in his direction. Lucas didn’t have any choice. This was no time to attempt to escape.

“You don’t seem to have left me any choice, Staples,” Lucas said as he stepped from behind the rock.

“Naw. I don’t like people having choices” Jason said, coming closer to Lucas. “It tends to make things a mite too complicated.” He motioned Lucas toward the fire with his gun, and they moved as a group toward the light.

“Good evening, Brian,” Lucas said when he approached the young man, who was obviously horrified to come face to face with the owner of the company he had just betrayed. “I see they’ve captured you too.”

Jason shouted with laughter. “You might say gold fever captured him.”

“Apparently it captured you as well,” Lucas said to Jason.

“I’ve got it terrible bad,” Staples said with a bark of alaugh. “So bad I’m going to take that gold off your stage tomorrow?

Lucas was thinking rapidly. Brian had obviously told Staples about Lucas’s presence, had probably even trailed him out to the canyon, and that meant he knew about the men stationed along the road. Now they were useless to Lucas and to the stage. “And I suppose you invited me here because, knowing where the gold is, I can get it more easily for you.”

Jason laughed again. “I like a man with a sense of humor, especially a man who’s about to die.”

“I doubt that,” Lucas said, gambling for time. “You may get several thousand dollars from that gold shipment, but you can get a whole lot more for me.”

“What do you mean, several thousands,” Jason demanded suspiciously. There’s over a hundred thousand on that stage.”

“We divided it up,” Lucas said. “We didn’t dare risk the loss of a whole shipment again. I don’t precisely know what part of it is on this stage, but it’s not more than fifteen or twenty thousand. You can get much more by holding me for ransom.”

“You lied to me,” Jason bellowed, grabbing Brian by the throat before he hit him. “You said they’d be over a hundred thousand in that shipment.”

“He had no way of knowing my uncle changed his plans,” Lucas said, not wanting Jason to beat Brian too badly. Right now Brian looked like his only chance for escape, and he didn’t want to lose it. “It was done at the last minute.”

“Where’s the rest of it?”

“I don’t even know myself, but I think most of it has gone through already.”

Jason was furious, dangerously so. He hammered Brian again, sending him to the ground unconscious, then kicked him viciously in the side. From the sickening crack of impact, Lucas guessed he broke several ribs.

“I ought to kill you right now” Staples roared at Lucas, pointing the gun right at his forehead.

“It won’t make you one penny richer,” Lucas said, knowing that remaining calm and outthinking Staples was his only chance. “I might be worth a great deal to you alive, but I’m worthless dead.”

“Tie him up,” Jason shouted to one of his men. “Watch that sneaking liar while I’m gone and don’t let him leave,” he said, pointing at Brian. “I’ve got plans for him when we get back.”

“You’re leaving?” Lucas asked. The stage didn’t come through until tomorrow. Why would he be leaving now?

“Of course I’m leaving,” Jason growled, and backhanded Lucas across the face. “Kelly here told me who you were, and he told me it’s you who’s been running the company for some time now—”

“He’s wrong there.”

“—so I figure you’ve got something planned besides those men you’ve got sitting out in the bushes. While I’d like to stay and beat it out of you, I can’t wait that long. Get mounted up,” he shouted to his men. “We’re riding out in fifteen minutes. And take your bedrolls. We’re not coming back.” His men grumbled, but minutes later they had mounted up and ridden out, leaving a very unpleasant-looking man to guard Lucas.

“I’m pulling my bed in the shadows so I can get some shuteye,” the man said sullenly. “I don’t want no talking, and if you leave the fire, you get lead in you,” he said to Brian, but Lucas figured Brian was still unconscious.

The hours passed slowly and Lucas had plenty of time to think of Carrie and his promise that nothing would happen to him. But how was he to have guessed Brian Kelly was the informant, or that Brian would come to the station at the very time he was setting out to spy on Staples in the hidden canyon? And there
was
over one hundred thousand dollars in gold on that stage. His uncle had talked about dividing it up into several shipments, but they had decided it would expose too many passengers to danger. Instead they had hired extra guards, and Lucas had volunteered to find Staples and set a trap for him. Now thanks to Brian somehow learning his identity, it had all come undone.

Try as he might, Lucas could not keep his thoughts from straying to Carrie. He never doubted that he would find some way out of this tangle, but neither could he entirely banish the fear that he would never see Carrie again, and all night long he was tortured by memories of the kind of love he had just begun to experience and might never enjoy again. It was pure agony, and he forced himself to rework his plans for escape again and again. But he could not keep his fears buried in his subconscious, and they emerged like dark phantoms to rob him of any measure of peace.