Jodi Thomas (12 page)
Authors: The Lone Texan
The man seemed intent on playing a grand death scene. “Help me,” he cried. “It appears I will follow my brother to the grave.”
“Bonnie!” Sage cried again. When she moved to go get the nurse, Shelley’s hand grabbed her wrist and begged her not to leave a dying man.
She’d been so occupied with Shelley, Sage hadn’t noticed what was going on in the room beyond the French doors. The six men she’d seen in the boat a few minutes before were moving through the room toward her, their rifles pointed and ready to fire. A few of the dealers who hadn’t moved fast enough at the sound of the bell were now dead on the floor between the gaming tables.
She managed to stand as two of the robbers crashed through the doors. “Get up, Lander,” one yelled. “If I’d wanted you dead, you would be.”
They pushed past Sage and jerked Shelley to his feet. One man pointed the barrel of the rifle against his throat, while the other one said calmly, “We want you breathing so you can open the safe. If you cooperate, we’ll leave you alive to make more money so we can rob you again one day. If you don’t cooperate, we’ll kill you and your little lady friend right here and torch the place. That grand safe of yours will sink in the gulf of no further use to us or you.”
“I’m not his lady friend,” Sage said before she thought to stay quiet. “I’m a doctor, and this man needs medical attention.”
They both looked at her as if she were completely mad. And she was more mad than frightened. Shelley, no matter how much of an idiot, was her patient, and these robbers were interfering with her care.
The one with the gun against Shelley asked, “Is that true? Is this little woman a doctor?”
Shelley was too frightened to think of anything but himself. “Yes, it’s true, and she’s trying to keep me from dying. I’ve got a weak heart. I could go any second.”
“Then open the safe fast,” the other man yelled as he kicked Shelley hard enough to push him to his knees.
Shelley followed orders, whining and swearing with every move.
As soon as the safe’s door swung out, the man with the gun hit Shelley over the head hard with the butt of his gun. “That’ll help you forget about dying.” He laughed.
Sage dropped down by Shelley’s body. Now the poor man had two wounds she’d have to deal with. As soon as he woke, he’d not only complain about being robbed, he’d probably think he was dying of brain damage as well.
One of the men shoved all the cash in the safe into an old leather saddlebag.
“Got it,” he said as he stood. “Wave for the boys to shoot up the place and let’s get out of here.”
The second man turned to the shattered French doors, waved, and turned back. His black eyes looked straight at Sage. “You’re really a doctor?”
“Yes,” she said as shots rang out.
“Then you’re coming with us.” His black eyes danced. “Grab her bag, and let’s get out of here.”
The other man agreed and, before Sage could fight, they’d each grabbed one of her arms and started back through the shambles of what was left of the gaming room. She almost called for Bonnie, then stopped, suddenly hoping the nurse was still hiding in the shadows of the darkened hallway. Maybe she’d even managed to run free to get help.
When Drum heard of this, he’d kill them all, if the Rangers didn’t find them first. She wasn’t just some woman in port they were kidnapping, she was Sage McMurray. These two-bit crooks had no idea of the hell they were pulling down upon them.
Sage kicked and screamed and tried to bite her kidnappers, but neither seemed to notice as they shoved her out the back door onto a rain-slippery dock. One held her while the other tied her hands behind her and added another rope at about knee level around her skirts, then they tossed her in the boat with the bag of money. As she drew in air to scream, one of them strapped a gag around her mouth.
“Hush up, little doc,” came a low whisper from behind her. “We ain’t gonna hurt you. We’re just gonna keep you.”
Wiggling and kicking at everything and everyone crowded into the boat, Sage barely saw the oar rise above her head. A moment later she watched it fall, and all went black.
Her last thought was that she wasn’t going to make it back to the hotel before dark.
CHAPTER 10
B
ONNIE HEARD THE SOUND OF THE BELL AND SHOUTS. She took a step toward the office and Sage.
ONNIE HEARD THE SOUND OF THE BELL AND SHOUTS. She took a step toward the office and Sage.
Tony’s thick arm blocked her way. “Not so fast,” he muttered. “The boss is real big on rules.”
“Something’s wrong.” She started to explain why she had to go to Sage.
Angry shouts exploded and echoed through the room and down the hallway.
“No,” the man whispered. “The bell means trouble in the big room. Mr. Shelley will handle it.”
Shots sounded close enough to have hit the study. Bonnie stretched her neck to see into the room.
“Gunfire,” she said as if the stout man beside her might not know what the sound meant.
He pushed her backward down the hall, knocking off her glasses when he rushed into the study to investigate.
Bonnie steadied herself and prepared to barge her way past the man just as a hand slapped around her mouth and another about her waist, pulling her backward.
“Quiet,” someone said from behind her. “Or you’ll end up in the middle of a robbery.”
She thought of trying to fight but realized the body against her back was taller than her. She twisted enough to see his hat and knew it had to be the cowboy. He’d come to her aid.
“We got to get out of here, or we’re liable to be dead.”
“No,” she struggled. “I’m not going anywhere without the doc.”
The cowboy appeared deaf. He locked one arm around her and lifted her up against his side. In what seemed like very few steps, he was out the door and halfway down the dock. With no pause, he dropped off the pier into the fading light of a golden sunset. His arm still held Bonnie so tightly she couldn’t breathe. Landing in the soft, damp sand, he whistled, and a horse bumped against them from the shadows beneath the dock.
“Easy boy, easy,” he whispered as he grabbed the reins with his free hand. “How about taking the little lady for a ride?”
“No,” she protested as gunfire went wild inside the gaming house. “I’m not going anywhere.”
He lifted her up onto his horse and swung up behind her in one fluid movement. Before she could build a grand scream, he tapped the mount, and they were at full gallop. In panic, Bonnie stopped yelling and hung on for dear life. She’d only been on a horse a few times in childhood and never a thundering beast like this one.
She was too scared to cry, too near panic to think. All she could do was hold on as the damp air streamed past.
They rode away from the lights of town into the night so dark she couldn’t make out a single landmark. Rain fell, but she hardly noticed. The cowboy slowed enough to pull his coat over her shoulders. She rested her head against his chest, needing the warmth of his body. They rode on along a road she couldn’t see but he seemed to know well. She could feel as well as hear his heart pounding, and it calmed her enough that she could think.
“You have to let me go,” she said with enough force that it sounded almost like an order. “You can’t kidnap me. You can’t. I can’t go with you. I’ve a responsibility to the doctor.”
“I saved your life, lady,” he said against her ear. “That doctor is probably already dead.”
“No.”
He tugged her closer. “I’m sorry. But I’d say it’s an even bet that she’s dead.”
“No,” Bonnie whispered. “She can’t be.”
This cowboy could never understand that she’d had no one on earth when she found Sage. She couldn’t even think about losing her. Some people needed wealth or power or love. All Bonnie Faye ever wanted or needed was a reason, one reason why she was put on this earth. Sage gave her that reason. “The doc’s not dead.”
“You got a look at those men shooting up the place. They’ll probably kill everyone in that hellhole before they leave.”
She shook her head. “No! You’re wrong. You don’t know that. I didn’t see anything. They’ll let me go.”
“They’ll kill you,” he said flatly.
Bonnie fisted his shirt in her hand. “You can’t be sure.”
“I know. I’m sure,” he said holding her tight. “I know, because I was one of them.”
CHAPTER 11
R
OAK LOADED THE LAST OF SAGE’S MEDICAL EQUIPMENT and headed back to the hotel. He had one quick stop to make at the Ranger station before grabbing a few hours’ sleep then setting off at dawn. He wanted to check with the captain to see if there was any word of relatives who might be claiming the boys or leads about who killed their father and mother.
OAK LOADED THE LAST OF SAGE’S MEDICAL EQUIPMENT and headed back to the hotel. He had one quick stop to make at the Ranger station before grabbing a few hours’ sleep then setting off at dawn. He wanted to check with the captain to see if there was any word of relatives who might be claiming the boys or leads about who killed their father and mother.
He’d be glad to get out of Galveston. The dull rain this time of year made him feel cold down to the bone. He decided to order a bath at the hotel after everyone else had bedded down for the night. He knew he wouldn’t sleep soundly until they were on Whispering Mountain property.
Stepping into the station, Roak’s senses heightened at the stillness. This time of night, Rangers usually checked in to pass the evening over coffee. He’d hung around in the shadows a few times to listen to the stories the old guys told of trouble in the early days, when Texas was little more than a settlement of three hundred. In a strange way, the tales gave him a sense of the history of the place.
He hadn’t been born when Houston and his men won independence from Mexico, but the battles were in his blood, a part of him as they were everyone who grew up on Lone Star soil. He wasn’t around when the Alamo fell or the men were shot at Goliad, but a few of the Rangers still yelled the battle cries of “Remember the Alamo” when they rode in, fighting.
Roak made it through the main office with one wall lined with rifles and the other with shelves of coffee mugs. He was well into the bunk area before he heard a sound. A dog’s yelp and a cat’s hiss. Then, the laughter of a child.
Drum’s tired muscles relaxed. Nothing could be too bad if the boys were laughing.
“Look, Mr. Roak,” Andy shouted. “Bullet’s trying to box Mutt.”
Turning full into the room, he spotted Daniel Torry playing checkers with Andy Smith. Will was curled up on one of the bunks, trying to read a book Sage bought him. All three were watching Bonnie’s cat and Mutt fighting out round one.
“My money’s on the cat.” Daniel laughed. “That dog’s been pestering her all afternoon.”
“Anything else going on?” Roak kept his voice low, conversational.
Daniel did the same. “There was some trouble down at one of the lowlife poker houses on the dock. A robbery turned murder. The captain and everyone else hanging around decided to go have a look.” Daniel leaned back in his chair. “I decided beating this little fellow at checkers was far more fun than going sloshing through the rain and mud.”
“You drew the short straw?”
Daniel smiled. “Something like that.”
Drum sat down on an empty chair. “Any idea where the ladies are?” If the boys were here, they had to be out somewhere.
“Captain said they had an errand to run before dark. Must have got to talking. They said something about visiting the doctor’s brother-in-law.”
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