The Outlaws: Rafe (21 page)

"Good, because we're almost there.
 
Try to smile or the preacher will think you're unwilling.
 
This should be a happy occasion for both of us."

Looking directly into his eyes, Angela said, "I hate you, Brady Baxter."

Inside the bleak darkness of the mine, Rafe had worked his gag free but had little luck with the ropes.
 
His mouth was dry as dust and his stomach rumbled.
 
He couldn't recall when he'd eaten last.
 
He supposed it was the lunch he and Angel shared before Baxter came pounding at their door with that damn wanted poster in his hand.
 
After that all hell had broken loose.
 
He was still angry at himself for becoming careless and letting himself be taken by a bastard like Baxter.

Rafe worried more about Angel than he did himself.
 
He feared that Baxter had some vile plan in mind for Angel and he was in no position to help her.
 
He wondered why Baxter hadn't turned him over to the law.
 
The fact that he hadn't troubled him excessively.

The waiting and wondering were driving him crazy.

Angela was a bundle of nerves by the time the buckboard pulled up in front of the parsonage that squatted beside the First Baptist Church of Canyon City.
 
Situated beside the modest wooden church sporting an impressive bell tower, both structures appeared to have been newly painted.

Baxter jumped down from the driver's seat and went around to hand Angela down.
 
Spurning his help, she scampered down before he reached her.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were anxious for us to get hitched," Baxter smirked.

"But you do know better," Angela retorted.
 
"Shall we get this over with?
 
The sooner I carry out my part of the bargain the sooner you can set Rafe free."

Reverend Porter wasn't too happy about performing a hasty marriage.
 
But the color of Baxter's gold soon persuaded him that the couple was eager to be married.
 
Calling his wife from the kitchen to act as witness, he opened the Good Book and read the brief ceremony that joined Brady Baxter to Angela Abbot.

Angela took neither the words nor the vows seriously for in her heart she knew this ceremony was nothing but a sham in which she was forced to participate to save Rafe's life.
 
The real test of her mettle would come when Baxter tried to claim his marital rights.

When it came time to sign the church register, no one noticed that Angela signed it Angela Gentry.
 
She didn't know if it would make a difference but it certainly made her feel better.

Baxter paid the preacher, then ushered her out the door.
 
He literally dragged her down the front steps, then came to a screeching halt when they met Desmond Dexter and Anson Chandler coming toward them.

"What in the hell are you two doing here?" Dexter demanded to know.

Baxter gave him a cocky grin.
 
"You just missed the wedding, boys.
 
Congratulate us.
 
Angela and I were just married."

"Wh...what!" Dexter sputtered.
 
"Are you crazy, girl?
 
You know what this means?
 
Baxter now owns the Golden Angel.
 
This can't be.
 
You're supposed to marry Chandler!"

"Too late," Baxter crowed.
 
"You two may as well turn tail and go back to where you came from.
 
Everything is under control here."

"Under
your
control," Chandler spat.

Then he directed his venom at Angela.
 
"Bitch!" he bit out.
 
"Two disastrous marriages and neither of them to me.
 
I'll teach you!
 
I've gone through a lot for you and your inheritance."

Angela didn't expect the blow.
 
The force of Chandler's open palm across her face sent her spinning to the ground.

To his credit, Baxter's justice was swift and deadly.
 
Blood spurted as his heavy fist smashed into Chandler's face.
 
Another fist to his gut sent Chandler writhing in pain.

"I'm the only one with authority to discipline my wife," Baxter said.
 
"It's not your place to tame her.
 
It will my pleasure to see that she toes the line."

Angela shuddered.
 
If she wondered whether Baxter would treat her with respect, she no longer had any doubts.
 
Men like Baxter didn't respect anything but gold.
 
Baxter would treat her no better than Chandler.

Baxter shot Chandler an ominous glare as he helped Angela to her feet and hustled her into the buckboard.
 
Angela didn't even look back to see how badly Chandler was hurt as they careened down the street.
 
All she cared about was getting back to the Golden Angel and setting Rafe free.

Neither Baxter or Angela heard Chandler's words as they drove away.

 
"That bastard will pay for what he's done to me," Chandler pledged.
 
"I don't know how, but I'll find a way to get what I want.
 
Then the last laugh will be mine."

"Whatever you have in mind, Chandler, count me in," Dexter said.

The trip up the mountain seemed to take forever.
 
Angela chafed impatiently until she saw the mine looming ahead.
 
Only then did she deign to speak to Baxter.

"We're here.
 
I've kept my part of the bargain, now it's time for you to keep yours.
 
Take me to Rafe."

Baxter frowned.
 
"You look like hell.
 
I should have killed Chandler for marking my wife.
 
I may yet."

Angela shrugged aside his words.
 
"I'll heal.
 
About our bargain..."

"There's plenty of time to set your lover free.
 
Right now I'm hankering to sample what Gentry found so irresistible."
 
He halted the buckboard in front of the cabin and reached for her.

Nimbly she slipped from his grasp and leapt unaided to the ground.
 
Hands on hips, she faced him squarely, her expression mutinous.

"Try it and you'll find you've bit off more than you can chew.
 
You're stronger than I, and you might have your way, but the first time your back is turned, or you fall asleep, watch out.
 
Do we free Rafe now or are you willing to risk your life the first time you close your eyes?"

"You drive a hard bargain, Mrs. Baxter.
 
A little thing like you doesn't frighten me, but I can see you're going to fight me all the way unless we do it your way.
 
Very well, I'll take you to Gentry."

Baxter had no intention of setting Rafe free.
 
Not now, not ever.
 
He'd thought about it long and hard and decided that Gentry was a vindictive man, the kind who demand retribution.
 
It occurred to him that the outlaw wouldn't rest until he found a way to exact his pound of flesh.
 
No way, Baxter decided, was he going to allow Gentry to live.

Of course Angela wasn't going to be easy to handle, but he'd contend with her after the deed was done.
 
Either she bent to his will or suffered the consequences.

"He's in the mine, bound and gagged so he can't cause trouble," Baxter said.
 
"I'll light a lamp and take you inside."

"You've left him in there all this time?" Angela blasted.
 
"In the dark?"

"He's a big boy."

"Bastard," she hissed.
 
"Take me to him."

Baxter lit the lamp and entered the mine.
 
Angela followed close on his heels.
 
He turned down a narrow side tunnel and stopped at a blank wall.

"Where is he?" Angela asked on a note of panic.

"Right here, Angel," a raspy voice replied.

Angela's breath hitched.
 
She followed the sound of Rafe's voice and saw him lying on the damp tunnel floor, bound so tightly she knew he must be in terrible pain.
 
He was blinking repeatedly, as if blinded by the light.

"So you worked the gag free," Baxter growled.
 
"For all the good it did you.
 
I take it you're not pleased with my hospitality.
 
You should thank me for not turning you over to the law."

Deliberately ignoring Baxter's taunts, Rafe asked Angela, "Are you all right, Angel?"

"I'm fine," Angela choked out.
 
She couldn't stand to see Rafe this way.
 
It reminded her of Ordway, where he'd almost lost his life at the end of a rope.
 
She shuddered, recalling the defeated look on his face as he sat beneath the hanging tree with a rope around his neck.

"Cut him loose," Angela ordered.
 
Baxter made no move to comply.
 
"You promised!"

"You didn't really think I'd let your lover go free, did you?" Baxter crowed.
 
"You have a thing or two to learn about human nature.
 
Men lie to get what they want."

Baxter's words chilled Rafe's blood.
 
What did Angel do to obtain Baxter's promise to let him go free?
 
She should have known better than to trust a bastard like Baxter.

"What did you do, Angel?" Rafe softly asked.

Baxter forestalled her answer.
 
Placing a possessive arm around her waist, he pulled her hard against him.
 
"We got hitched this morning."

Color leached from Rafe's face.
 
His gaze bored into Angel, his brows raised in disbelief.
 
"Is that true, Angel?"

Angela dropped her gaze, unable to meet the riveting challenge of Rafe's gaze.
 
"I had no choice.
 
Baxter holds all the cards."

"There are always choices," Rafe bit out.
 
"You should have told Baxter to go to hell and let him do his worst.
 
This is my problem, not yours."
 
His gaze shifted to Baxter.
 
"You entered into a fraudulent marriage, Baxter.
 
Angel already has a husband.
 
You're looking at him."

"She won't have a husband for long," Baxter grinned as he set the lamp down and pulled out his gun.
 
Steadying it with both hands, he aimed it at Rafe.

"No!
 
What are you doing?" Angela cried, lunging at Baxter.

Without missing a beat, Baxter backhanded her, sending her flying against the tunnel wall.
 
Momentarily stunned, Angela slumped to the ground.

"Bastard!" Rafe hissed.
 
"I'll kill you for that."

Baxter cocked his gun.
 
"Dead men's threats don't frighten me.
 
I can collect the same reward whether you're dead or alive.
 
All I have to do is drag your body down the mountain and collect my money.
 
Before I pull the trigger I want you to know I'll be enjoying Angela in every way a husband enjoys a wife.
 
I'm anxious to discover for myself what you found so fascinating about her."

Rafe considered his options, which were damn few.
 
Trussed up like he was, there was little he could do to save himself.
 
He could lunge at Baxter and perhaps deflect the bullet, but it would only prolong the inevitable.
 
He was utterly defenseless against a man with a six-shooter on his hip.
 
Though he still wore his own guns, they were absolutely useless without the use of his hands.

Then he saw Angel stirring and realized Baxter was paying no attention to her.
 
He had to keep Baxter talking.
 
Angel was a resourceful woman, and the only person he could count on right now.

"As long as I'm going to die," Rafe said, "you may as well tell me the truth about the mine.
 
It's not played out, is it?"

Baxter gave a snort of laughter.
 
"Played out?
 
That's a good one.
 
I just uncovered a new vein.
 
There's thousands of dollars buried in there, just waiting to be taken out.
 
I got rid of Simon before he found out about it and it all belongs to me now, every single nugget and grain of dust."

From the corner of his eye Rafe saw Angel sit up and scrabble in the dirt for something, but he didn't dare look directly at her lest he alert Baxter.
 
What was she trying to do?
 
Then he saw what she held in her hand and stifled a groan.
 
He knew intuitively what she intended and fear welled up inside him.
 
If she failed, he knew Baxter wouldn't go easy on her.
 
And he wouldn't be around to protect her.