The Wedding Ransom (36 page)

Rafe studied Maggie closely, obviously trying to figure out how she wanted him to answer. Finally he said, “Uh, Maggie. Do you think now is the right time for this?”

She put her hands on her hips. “Well I don’t know when else we might get around to it. Your brother, here, is ready to hang you any minute. For my sake, Rafe, tell us.”

“Yes,” Ben agreed, stopping within arm’s length of a third ranger. He braced his hands on his hips. “Tell us, Malone.” Ben waited until all eyes had shifted toward Rafe, then he said, “Tell us. Go on.” And with that, he lunged toward the ranger and laid a knife against his throat. Snake moved simultaneously with Ben, the gun he’d slipped from the ranger’s holster now pressed against the lawman’s temple. Maggie, not as practiced as her papas with such maneuvers, threw herself at her ranger and knocked him to the ground. Before he recovered from the surprise sufficiently to knock her off, she’d stuck the pointed metal end of the parasol against the thin skin of his lower eyelid.

“Son of a bitch!” Callahan exploded. “Do you people want to get yourselves killed? What do you think you are doing?”

“It is what we like to call a Caribbean cutoff,” Ben replied, twisting his knife so that sunlight glinted off the blade. He slipped the revolver from the lawman’s holster, then gave a little warning whistle and tossed the gun to Maggie, who exchanged her questionable weapon for a sure one. “You can’t get Malone without sacrificing at least one of your men,” Ben continued as Maggie rose to her feet and backed away from the deputy with the gun aimed at his heart. “Not all three of us will lose in a fight.”

“Oh, my,” Luella said, rapidly patting her chest. She gazed helplessly at a fourth deputy and said, “Young man! Help! My heart!” She swayed on her feet and let out a little scream. The young lawman lowered the pistol he had aimed at Papa Snake and rushed over to help her.

And he was surprised with a little pistol in his side to show for it.

“I’m sorry, son,” Luella said, smiling kindly. “I’m afraid I must stand with my friends on this.”

Rafe started chuckling as Callahan let out a stream of curses. “I can’t believe this. How could I let you people get the drop on me again? I should have hanged you immediately rather than let you stand around jawing. I’m a Texas Ranger. I’m better than this!”

“Yes, you are,” Rafe agreed. “You have a fine reputation, Nick. I’ve kept up with you over the years. I have to admit I’m surprised the buccaneers fooled you.”

“Well, I’m not!” Maggie said. “It’s perfectly obvious to me why you delay this stupid endeavor of yours. For all your talk, you don’t truly wish to kill your brother. You understand what I meant earlier about family. You know what else, Mr. Callahan? In many ways you and your brother are very much alike. You both have a highly refined sense of honor.”

Callahan cried, “Honor! The man is a thief!”

“But he’s an honest thief. An honorable thief.”

“He’s Gentleman Rafe Malone,” added Luella Best.

“That’s right,” Maggie agreed. “But he’s something else, too. He’s human, only human, just like you are, Mr. Callahan. And human beings make mistakes. Family members make mistakes. The operative word here is ‘forgiveness.’ We have to learn to forgive one another when we err. Rafe has told me of some of the history between you two. You don’t need to hang Rafe; you need to forgive him. Just as Rafe needs to forgive you.”

“Forgive him?”

The ranger’s scornful laugh grated like sand against Maggie’s ears. With every word he spoke, his tone grew harsher, louder, and meaner.

“It’ll be a cold day in hell before that happens, lady. You say he told you some of our history. Did he mention how he’d raped and murdered my wife?”

For a long, unbearable minute, Nick Callahan’s shout echoed across the land. Maggie saw the shock on her grandfathers’ faces and watched with satisfaction as it faded into obvious dismissal of the ranger’s charge. They believed in Rafe, as they should. As she did.

Then, heedless of the gun against his temple, Rafe whirled on Callahan. “Damn you, Brother! Listen to me. For once in your life, believe what I say, because I’m telling you the truth! Rosa was almost gone when I found her. I didn’t rape her. I didn’t cut her. I held her until she died.”

The gun pointed at Rafe shook with the force of Callahan’s fury. “You did it! You killed her! You were covered in blood!”

“It was a battlefield! People tend to get bloody on a battlefield. Some of the blood on me was Rosa’s, but not most of it. I couldn’t exactly tell you under the circumstances. I avenged her for you, Nick. I took a Mexican bayonet from a corpse and gutted the bastard who’d done it—Colonel Jack Randolph.”

“No!”

Maggie’s heart stuttered as he aimed the gun inches from Rafe’s face.

“The colonel didn’t do it,” Callahan cried. “He was killed during the battle.”

Rafe looked down at the gun, then up at his brother. He spoke in a quiet, controlled voice. “Listen to me. For once in your life, listen to what I’m saying. I. Did. Not. Hurt. Her. I was drunk, yes, because I’d just heard about Luke’s family. But seeing Rosa sobered me up fast. Randolph still had his pecker hanging out, for God’s sake. Randolph is the one responsible. Not me.”

Rafe’s tone rang with honesty and anguish as he added, “I wasn’t responsible, Nick, and despite the blame I’ve tried to load on your shoulders ever since, neither were you.”

Maggie held her breath, her gaze locked on Nick Callahan. The moment drew out silent and long as his inner struggle shone on his face.

“It wasn’t your fault, Nick,” Rafe said softly.

All the fight seemed to drain right out of Callahan. He lowered the gun and closed his eyes. A shudder racked him. “Yeah, it was,” he said, his voice cracking. “I didn’t send her home. I should have sent her home.”

“You botched it, true,” Rafe said, glancing upward toward the thick branch—the hanging branch—on the old oak tree. “Just like you bungled it by not sending a man back to protect Rachel Prescott when you told me you would. But as far as your killing either one, well, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have blamed you. Randolph killed Rosa, not your poor judgment. It was my own guilt talking where Rachel is concerned. I broke my promise to Luke, and that’s no one’s sin but my own.”

“Sins,” Callahan muttered. “So many people and so many sins.” He slowly turned his head and looked at Maggie. “Maybe you were right, Miss St. John. Maybe forgiveness does need to be the motto of the day, but it’s not that easy to do.”

“I understand,” Maggie said. “You’ve held hatred in your heart for a long while, and it takes time to let it go. But it’s the right thing to do, Mr. Callahan.”

Slowly, hesitantly, the ranger captain returned his gun to its holster. Relief flooded Maggie like a tide. It would be all right. Rafe would be safe. Her lips began to lift into a smile until Callahan’s next words stopped her cold.

“The problem is, forgiveness and understanding don’t negate the fact that a crime has been committed.” He pinned his brother with his gaze. “Rafe, you stole something from the safe at Triumph Plantation, not to mention the fact y’all drew guns on lawmen. You broke your parole. It’s my job as a ranger to deal with it.”

Snake harrumphed. He jabbed the gun against his deputy’s temple, drawing a squeal from the frightened young man, and grumbled, “Like we told you before, ranger, he didn’t steal it. He repossessed it on our account.”

“You stubborn old goats!” Nick Callahan exclaimed, rolling his eyes in frustration. “Can’t you see this Caribbean cut-off of yours is likely to get at least one of you killed?”

Ben twisted his lips wryly. “It might come to that, true. I certainly hope it doesn’t.”

Coming from somewhere behind Maggie, a new voice entered the fray. “I don’t see why it should.”

Snake sucked in a sharp breath. Ben’s posture grew rigid. Making sure to keep the lawman pinned down with the parasol, Maggie glanced over her shoulder and froze. Papa Lucky and Papa Gus had stepped out of the trees, pistols pointed and expressions fierce. But the man who demanded Maggie’s complete and total attention was a stranger, someone whom she recognized at once.

The gun slipped from her hands and the deputy rolled out of harm’s way. Maggie stood frozen, her mouth as dry as a west Texas July.

Looking into the stranger’s eyes was like looking into a mirror. Andrew Montgomery.

Her father.

~~~~~~~~~~

When Maggie had thrown her arms wide and yelled about her broken toe, Rafe had gotten his first sneaking suspicion that he wouldn’t die that afternoon. When the pirates swashbuckled their way into surprising Nick’s motley crew of deputies, he’d upgraded his survival chances to pretty darn good. Then, when Gus and Lucky burst into view with Patersons at the ready, he’d silently declared himself home free.

That was before he got a good look at the fellow who tagged along with them. The minute he spied the masculine version of Caribbean eyes, he realized the dynamics of the situation had taken a drastic change.

Andrew Montgomery had come to call at Hotel Bliss.

Rafe’s gaze immediately went to Maggie. Had she guessed the stranger’s identity? The pasty appearance of her complexion told him yes, she had. Rafe ached to go to her, he wished one of her papas would wrap her in his arms. But the tableau of lawmen and defenders remained frozen, weapons pointed and ready, as Montgomery stepped into the circle. He walked toward Maggie and stopped directly in front of her.

Rafe whipped his head around and glared at his brother. “She needs me.” Then, with his hands still tied behind his back, he strode past Montgomery and took position behind the woman he loved.

Montgomery asked, “Did you mean it?”

Rafe clenched his jaw when he spied a shudder rippling down her back. She cleared her throat before asking, “Mean what?”

“Forgiveness. We listened from the trees. You said family members make mistakes and must learn to forgive one another. Can you do it?”

Rafe couldn’t see her expression, but the stiffness in her spine gave him a clue as to what she was thinking. He moved closer, fitting his chest to her back, offering her his silent support. She leaned against him just slightly enough to let him know she needed him; then her shoulders rose with a deep breath. “Why should I?”

Montgomery dragged a hand across his mouth. Anxiousness shone in those eyes so similar to Maggie’s as her father flicked his gaze upward to meet Rafe’s.
Careful
, Rafe silently warned him.
Hurt her any more at your own peril.

Montgomery gave a slight nod, then returned his gaze to his daughter. “Because, Mary Margaret, I love you. I regret how I failed you, and I’m begging your forgiveness.”

“You love me?” Maggie said with a disbelieving laugh. “How can you love me? You don’t even know me!”

Gus stepped forward. “I think now might be the time for you to offer up your good-faith gesture, Andrew. Right now before this nonsense goes any further.”

Montgomery nodded and seemed to tear his gaze away from Maggie. Addressing Nick, he said, “Captain Callahan, you and I are a long way from home.”

“Yeah,” Nick replied.

When he didn’t elaborate, Montgomery continued. “My friends tell me you are under the impression that Mr. Malone here is guilty of burglarizing my study.”

“I caught him red-handed.”

“How convenient you were present at Triumph at that particular time. How did it come about?”

“Triumph Plantation is in the center of my territory. It’s natural that I visit it on my patrols.”

“I see,” Montgomery said, nodding. “Of course, I also see that you didn’t see what you think you saw, Captain Callahan.”

“Come again?” Callahan cocked his head and folded his arms. “What sort of scam are you playing, sir?”

“No scam. I’ve been told you found Mr. Malone, a known thief, in my study late at night with the safe open. I can easily see how one might believe the man to be in the process of committing a crime.”

“The bag of jewels in his hand was a good clue, too,” Nick replied dryly. “So was the fact that the gems were there when he coldcocked me and missing when I woke up.”

“Perhaps Mr. Malone should have handled that aspect of the situation a bit differently. However, I had given him a directive and time was very much of the essence. I needed that bag of gems here at Lake Bliss as soon as possible.”

“How much are those pirates paying you for this, Montgomery?” Nick asked.

“I’m telling you the truth. Rafe Malone didn’t steal from me. He was delivering a gift from me to my daughter. Captain Callahan, he didn’t break his parole. You can’t hang Rafe Malone.”

Nick glanced at Rafe, then thumbed his hat back off his forehead. “You’re lying. Rafe stole the jewels and the packet of letters. I know it as sure as I’m standing here.”

“Uh, Captain?” one of the deputies asked. “Could I make a suggestion? If we’re not gonna hang Malone anytime soon, don’t you think we should bid these folks good day and let them put their guns away?”

“ ‘Fraid this old man’s palsy will accidentally trip a trigger, son?” Lucky asked, grinning wickedly as he exaggerated a tremble in his hand.

The deputy grinned sickly. Nick snorted. He sauntered over to where Rafe stood behind Maggie and reached for the knife sheathed at his hip. “Give me your wrists.”

“It’s over?” Rafe asked.

“I need to gnaw on it a little bit, put it all together in my head. Your lady’s argument about family and forgiveness makes some kind of sense. And, since her father’s lies have let us both off the hook, I think perhaps we’d be foolish not to explore the possibilities.”

Rafe felt the knife sawing the rope, and then his hands swung free. He rubbed his wrists as he turned around and faced his brother. “I can live with that.”

Nick extended his hand. “Better than hanging, anyway. Right?”

“You said it, Brother.” Rafe gave his brother’s hand a shake and they shared a crooked, hesitant smile.

Nick turned and spoke to the pirates and Luella. “If y’all would be so kind as to put your weapons away, I’d like to pay my men so they can return to their homes.”

“Excellent,” Luella piped up. “And, boys, I’ve some sweet tea up at the hotel if you’d care for some.” She tucked her hand through Nick’s arm and began to lead him away.