Sorrows and Lace (10 page)

Her attacker
was Sonny, there would be more.

T
he silhouette of his dark Stetson-knockoff and the bandanna he wore around his neck reminded her of an outlaw picture she’d seen at her grandmother’s house so long ago. But her eyes adjusted to the minimal light. Judging by his wide-shit-eating-grin, his crooked teeth with specks of chewing tobacco promised her things were just getting started.

She whimpered. Fear racing down her spine, calling on all of her strength to keep her calm.

Ronan, where are you?

The pre-dawn light started out silver and peach along the edges of the trees past Colby and beyond the boundaries of Clearwater County.

Ronan drew in a long appreciative breath of the cool intoxicating scent of
the fresh Montana morning. He wrapped the reins tighter around his hands as Redbird carried him carefully down the rock and debris strewn mountain.

He’d parted from Robbie and Slate hours before. The agreement had been to search along the river shore for any sign of Caracus’s gang. They’d split up and come at it from their own properties which took Ronan up the steep Lacey Falls face. But at the caverns where Robbie had initially rescued Amelia and where they’d expected to find the gang, there was nothing.

Robbie and Slate waited for Ronan at the old entrance to where they’d all played house years ago – back before debt, family responsibilities, and other adult issues ripped apart their playtime.

Ronan
, standing in his stirrups, tried to see as far as he could. But just the calm beautiful river valley greeted his search. They’d agreed to continue searching some more and the night was almost over when they’d concurred on calling it a night.

Sleep would be a welcome relief, but so would seeing Kelsey.

Oh, that woman infuriated him. Ronan’s jealousy with Slate so close to his woman would have made him run and tackle the bastard, if Kelsey hadn’t been so calm about it. Something about her body language screamed disinterest. Small placation when Ronan had told her she didn’t have to love him, that their situation could be on a trial basis. Hell, he’d pretty much given a purely business status. He’d pushed her away before she could reject him.

Fresh pine assailed his senses. The early morning mist coated everything in a fine layer of moisture.

A low whistle pulled Ronan from his thoughts.

Through the many tree trunks and low hanging branches, Ronan could just make out Robbie and Slate coming toward him. He whistled in response.

At a copse of trees framed by moss-covered large rocks and fallen logs, they gathered together.

Robbie
nodded, his black hat a few shades darker than the shadows behind him. “Your guys ever show up?”

“Yeah, but I asked them to wait for the police to arrive, show them where we were. My guess, they’re still waiting. Lazy ass town cops.” The two on Colby’s payroll had less ambition than a pig in mud. Even fat bribes did little to get them off their asses. Obviously.

“Let’s call it a night. We’ll keep an eye out for any stragglers the rest of the day.” Slate reined in his horse to stand beside Ronan’s. “Do you really think they’re still in the area? When they went over the mountain, I could’ve sworn they’d be gone for good.”

Ronan shrugged as they nudged their horses forward down the incline to the prairie. “I don’t know. There’s a lot here in their interest. Amelia said they’d mentioned the treasure in the caverns legend. Robbie owes them a ton of money. And now… well, with Kelsey in residence at Lacey Caverns, I think it’s a bit naïve to think they aren’t around.”

Silence fell over them like a shield, even muting the horseshoes as they landed on moist bark and leaves. Each lost in their own ideas and plans.

Slate was the first to hold up his hand. “Whoa, guys. Stop.” They stopped halfway
between Ronan’s house and the tree line. Slate whispered again. “Did you see that?”

Robbie and Ronan
studied the house, in the direction Slate pointed. Fog had settled on the valley, making plain vision difficult but not impossible. Slate slid off his horse, ducking behind the saddle. Ronan and Robbie copied him.

Wh
ispering, Ronan moved himself to a better vantage point. “What’d you see, Slate?”

“I could be wrong, but it
looked like someone checking your windows. Do you ever leave any open?” Slate’s low tone carried the few feet between them all and then faded under the cloak of heavy, moist air.

“I leave the laundry window open because it gets too hot in there
with the dryer running. Come on.” Pulse speeding along at an unhealthy rate, Ronan walked Redbird as slowly as possible to a point in the field where the far side of the house would be in view. Robbie and Slate ambled their horses along to different positions. No three horses would ever stand toe-to-toe in a field.

Peeking from under the neck of his mare, Ronan’s eyes narrowed. He couldn’t be sure that the faint edges of shadow that he could see were actually someone moving around at the base of his house and not just his paranoid imagination.

Robbie’s voice came next. “I saw it. Right there, beneath the deck lattice. Did you see it, Ronan?”

And damn, Ronan gritted his teeth in irritation. He peered harder. How the hell had the MacAllisters — “Wait, yes, I see it. Guys, we have to get in there. Kelsey’s alone.” Fear scuttled up his chest like ice particles, cold and sharp. What would Sonny do, if he finally got Kelsey alone?

The shadow slid up and disappeared inside his house.

If he hurt her, it’d be all Ronan’s fault. Ronan should have left her at her
parent’s home. Damn selfish side. Damn Lacey Caverns for always demanding to be more than anything or anyone else in his life.

True agitation sharpened the bite to his words. “I. Need. Help. Can you stay?”

“You need to ask?” Slate shot back.

“Like hell he does.” Robbie maintained his crouch and started running toward
the deck, pulling his trotting horse along behind him. A slight limp gave away the still-present pain from his recent beatings, but he didn’t let it stop him.

In
a similar crouch-run, Ronan and Slate overtook the injured Robbie with little effort, passing him by as they straightened and full out ran the remaining thirty yards to the house. Dropping the reins to their horses, Slate and Ronan threw their backs against the wall on either side of the still-open window, barely breathing heavy.

They both checked in either direction for other men trying to get in. Robbie reached them, scooping up the dropped reins and pulling the horses closer to the deck. He tied them off to the wooden post of the wide porch, glaring at Slate and Ronan as he did so.

Ronan straightened and turned, glancing as fast as he could inside the laundry room before spinning back to his position against the wall. Robbie joined them, crouched on the ground. He pointed to the deep-set boot tracks that trailed through the dew-moistened grass around the patio into the dirt of the flower bed beneath the window.

Speaking just below a whisper, Ronan almost
breathed out his words. On the silence of the early morning, Robbie and Slate heard him like he was yelling. “They’re not in the laundry room. The doorway’s open. It’s never left open. We need to —”

A scream cut him off.

Ronan didn’t wait to talk out a plan. Instead, he scrambled up and over the windowsill, hefting himself onto the ground. Robbie and Slate clamored up as well. For three large guys, they didn’t make too much sound as they landed on a pile of barn rags Ronan had wanted cleaned for a while now. Thank goodness for sick housekeepers.

Grunts and groans mixed with sobs and whimpers from deep in the house, closer to the bedroom Ronan had placed Kelsey.

Having left his shotgun on his horse, Robbie held out his hand and Slate passed over one of his Colts.

“S
o far it’s just one. Robbie, can you stay here in case any more come through the window?” Ronan palmed the butt of his own pistol, extracting it from the side holster under his jacket.

Robbie
nodded and Slate moved to stand beside Ronan.

Ronan continued. “We need to draw him out somehow. I
don’t know where they’re at – sounds like Kelsey’s room? I’ll get to the front door and open and then slam it shut like I don’t know he’s in there. Maybe I can draw him toward the door. Wait a minute, and then you come from here, it will put you at his back. I don’t know for sure where Kelsey is or what condition she’s in, but if she
is
still in her room we might have a chance at separating them.” He didn’t wait for any kind of agreement.

That was Kelsey in there and she was his responsibility. Hell, he’d promised he wouldn’t let the bastard hurt her anymore.

He winced when another scream reached him.

So far he wasn’t doing very well on his promises.

Kelsey couldn’t breathe. She stopped making noises to conserve the shallow gasps she could draw in through her bruised and swollen throat.

“No good, red-skinned whore. You thinkin’ ‘bout leaving me for this?” Sonny
’s mirthless laugh told her he was just getting started. He reached down and roughly fisted her hair. “I’m gonna teach you, bitch.” 

Spittle fell on her cheeks and neck. Pulling her up, so her upper body cleared the ground, he dragged her toward the bed.

The sound of the front door opening made him freeze.

Kelsey focused on breathing and ignoring the pain in her hip where
his boot had landed a couple times. If she could draw enough breath, she could scream.

As if reading her mind, h
e jerked her face toward his with his grip on her hair. Hot breath bombarded her skin. “You keep your mouth shut or I’ll do him first while you watch. Got me?”

She closed her eyes and
nodded. Sonny never lied. He’d kill Ronan without a second thought. And she’d never get to tell him how she felt.

Sonny’s anger finally broke something inside her.

Maybe she
was
only an Indian, not white. But judging by the mess abusing her at the moment, did she want to be white? Did she want to abandon centuries of culture and honor because of the opinions of white people who’d never done anything for her but cause her pain?

Sonny kept hold of her hair, dragging her to the door. She raised her hands and gripped his wrist, trying to take her weight off the leash he’d made of her hair. He pulled and she tried getting her feet under her but he moved to
o fast.

Her roots screamed for relief
, pain ripping at her scalp.

She struggled with each step
when he relented as if giving her a break before he stepped forward and tugged. She opened her eyes and maneuvered her feet to get ready to lunge upward when he paused again in his weird cadence. Step, pause, drag forward, step, pause, drag forward. Step – she braced herself – pause – and there it was!

Kelsey thrust her body up and twisted, taking him by surprise. He released her hair, stumbling to the side.

She ran.

Holy hell, did she run.

Two steps into the great room where the front foyer emptied, Sonny caught her. Grabbing her around the waist, he slammed her to the ground, pushing the air from her body.

“Oomph.” Her chin struck the edge of the table leg and they rolled.

Suddenly, the weight was off her and the oddest sensation of fresh air gushing over her took her by surprise. She blinked. Had she just dreamed the attack? No, she was too sore for that. Never before had he just disappeared mid-onslaught. What the hell?

Grunts and thuds redirected her thought process. Dazed, she
looked to her left where Ronan and Sonny sidestepped face-to-face with fists and shoves. Ronan obviously outmatched the smaller man who shifted and wiggled around Ronan’s frontward attack.

Slate watched from the hallway, unmoving, but clearly ready for anything in the half-crouch way he
held himself.

As if in slow motion, Kelsey moved her eyes
to watch Ronan and Sonny in some weird cowboy and outlaw dance as old as the West.

Ronan slammed Sonny’s cheek
with a right cross. The thud oddly satisfying. Sonny stumbled back, landing against the wall. He pulled himself forward using the side of a large walnut grandfather clock.

W
aiting for his return, Ronan popped Sonny with a couple fast jabs. With absolute control, Ronan seemed to be corralling his opponent toward the front door as if to make him leave or at the very least get his sorry ass outside.

Another hook to the side
of Sonny’s stomach, bringing forth an oomph from him, and Ronan advanced. Having fallen back, Sonny recovered and turned to the side. Pulling out a knife from his pocket, Sonny’s face twisted with malice.

The glint of light on the knife caught Kelsey’s attention from her position on the ground. She
croaked with tight, sore throat muscles. “Knife!”