TheSurrenderofLacyMorgan (28 page)

The smell of cooking quail filled the stone enclosure. Three
birds skewered on the stakes hung over the cookfire. Dakota rinsed his bandana
in water from the canteen and pressed the cool cloth against the gash in his
forehead. He sucked in air with the sharp pain, at the same time trying not to
worry if Quinn had found Lacy. Or what shape she was in. Or if the outlaw had
gotten the drop on his brother.

He dismissed the last thought immediately.

If something had happened to Quinn he would’ve known it.
Ever since the night they’d slashed their palms with Cap’s Bowie knife and
mixed their blood to seal their bond, he’d always known when Quinn was injured.
A deep ache would well up inside him as if their mixed blood called out in
pain.

Since the only ache he had was the throbbing in his head,
Quinn was safe.

So what the hell was taking him so long to get Lacy and get
back?

Okay, so he knew what was taking Quinn so long.

The vision of how they’d taken Lacy by the river the other
day flooded his senses. Heat immediately surged to his cock as he closed his
eyes to relive the moment. He licked his lips, still able to taste the honey of
her passion on them.

He let the image take over. Her creamy legs spread wide as
he slid his tongue and lips up the inner muscles. Every inch more delectable
than the one before. Until he reached the dark brown curls covering the swollen
pink lips of her pussy.

Dark brown curls?

What the hell?
Dakota’s eyes popped open. His hand
left the hard bulge pushing into his britches. Lacy didn’t have creamy skin.
Hers was more the color of light honey. The curls covering her sex were the
same soft russet as her hair.

Who the hell was the woman he swore he’d just been making
love to in that vision? Why had it seemed so real?

Outside he heard hooves signaling the approach of a horse.

He pulled his rifle butt into his chest and aimed at the
entrance. Then gave the whippoorwill call and waited.

A moment later the answering hawk call came.

Quinn had returned. All thoughts of the sexy vision and
mysterious woman were pushed aside.

“’Bout time you got back,” he said, lowering the weapon as
Lacy stepped into the shelter wearing only her boots and Quinn’s shirt,
followed by Quinn carrying a bundle of Lacy’s wet clothes. “What happened?”

“There’s one less outlaw for us to drug at the valley.”
Quinn laid the clothes out by the fire, then snared one of the three stakes
from the fire and handed it to him. “He planned to rape and kill Lacy, but only
after she told him where she’d hidden the stolen payroll. How’s your head?”

“Head hurts.” He stared at Lacy. “You hid the stolen payroll
from them? That’s why Devil wants you back so badly?”

Lacy nodded, pulling her blanket around her body and
huddling near the fire. Dakota took in her damp hair, her soaked clothes, her
forlorn look.

“How did he plan to kill her? By drowning her?”

“I did that,” she said, pulling a piece of meat off the
other stake Quinn had handed her. “I refuse to wear that piece of cow dung’s
blood on my clothes or body.”

Dakota lifted one brow at Quinn.

“Yeah. Seems our pet doesn’t mind me killing the sidewinder,
but didn’t appreciate getting covered with his blood.” He pulled off a leg from
the remaining quail and ate. “Can’t say as I blame her. He was an ugly
son-of-a-bitch.”

That brought a snort of laughter from Lacy, who grimaced and
wrinkled her nose. “You were lucky all you had to do was look at him. He
smelled like something a buzzard wouldn’t even eat.”

Both men laughed.

They ate silently until the quail had been consumed. Quinn
poured them all coffee from the pot warming in the fire’s embers, then sat near
Dakota.

“Lacy, come here,” he commanded with a pat to his lap.

Wondering what had gotten into Quinn’s craw, Dakota lifted a
brow, but sipped his coffee and kept his silence. Lacy was Quinn’s woman and he
knew best how to handle her, but he knew Quinn. When he got that quiet
authority in his voice, he wasn’t pleased.

Still clutching the blanket around her body, Lacy settled on
Quinn’s lap, relaxing against him.

He held her for a few moments, rubbing his hand up and down
her arm and back. “When exactly were you going to tell us you’d taken the
payroll from Devil?” he finally asked.

Ah!
That was what had him pissed. She’d kept the
secret about the money from him. Quinn didn’t like secrets.

“After you took Devil prisoner. I buried the gold in the
valley. It was too heavy for me to carry out alone.” Eyes focused on her metal
cup, she sipped her coffee.

Silence hung in the air. Dakota and Quinn exchanged glances.
They knew there wasn’t just gold in the payroll.

“What did you do with the paper money? Is that how you
bought your frilly underwear?” Tension edged Quinn’s voice.

Dakota fought his own rising anger. They’d assumed her
purely innocent in the robbery, but could they forgive her using stolen money
tainted with their father’s blood to buy frivolities?

Lacy lifted tear-rimmed eyes to look at them. “You really
think I would take blood money for my own use? That’s why I stole it from Devil
and his men. That’s why I hid it. No one, not even me, should profit from
murder. Stealing is wrong, but that…that…it’s just evil.”

She swiped at the tears running unchecked down her cheeks.
Her back ramrod straight now, lips pressed into a thin line, she looked over to
Dakota and finally back at Quinn. “How could you think I would do that? How
could both of you think that?”

“You told me at the river today you’d bought the camisole
yourself. What money did you use?”

She tried to rise out of his lap but Quinn held her still.

She shot him another glare. “If you must know, I sold my
horse once I got to Denver. I had enough money for a few nice things and a few
days in the city. I knew I couldn’t stay long as that’s the first place Devil
would look for me, then I saw the ad for a teacher for Beaver Run. The rest you
know.”

Quinn studied her face a few moments, then nodded as if he
believed her.

“If you didn’t use the cash from the robbery and you didn’t
bury it with the gold, what exactly did you do with it?” Dakota asked,
intrigued by her actions.

“I don’t know why I didn’t bury it with the gold. Maybe I
thought I could return it when I reached the city.”

“But you didn’t,” he finished for her.

She shook her head. “No. I did use it for my own gain.”

“I’m confused, Lacy,” Quinn asked, stroking semi-damp curls
from her face. “If you didn’t buy anything with the money, what did you do with
it?”

Tears flowed again. “Please don’t hate me. I left the valley
just a day ahead of a blizzard. It was so cold. My horse Cesar and I nearly
froze to death.”

A sinking feeling settled in Dakota’s gut. He looked at
Quinn, who had the same expression on his face.

“What did you do, Lacy?”

“I burned it.”

Chapter Fourteen

“You burned nearly ten thousand dollars?” Quinn couldn’t
keep the astonishment out of his voice.

“I didn’t count it when I took it. And Cesar was nearly
frozen to death. I had to keep him warm.”

The passion for her animal’s well-being eased some of his
shock. She
would
put her horse’s needs above her own safety.

“I know you need to return the money, and I’ll show you
where I hid the gold as soon as we capture Devil. I really don’t want any of
it.” She finished her coffee and hugged the blanket closer. “I only took it to
keep Devil and his men from gloating over their blood money.”

Dakota leaned in and took her hand in his. “Is that how you
got the whip marks on your back?”

She nodded and Quinn pulled her up against his chest once
more, cradling her head into his shoulder.

“Devil was angry that I’d taken it. He wanted to hurt me and
humiliate me.” The words rushed out of her like the mountain runoff from the
spring thaw. “When he found out I’d taken the payroll and wouldn’t tell him
where I’d hidden it, he dragged me to the post in the center of camp by my
hair. He tied me to the post then ripped my clothes off me, so every one of his
men and any other outlaws in camp could see me.

“I knew he meant to punish me. I’d hoped he wouldn’t use the
whip, but then I heard the whistle in the air and I knew there was no hope. I
screamed when it hit me. I screamed and screamed. And I could hear the men
laughing and saying what they wanted to do to me.” She gulped and swallowed,
tears pouring down her face.

Quinn’s anger grew with every word. He wanted to stop her
pain, but he had a feeling there was more.

“I don’t know how long he kept striking me with the
horsewhip, but finally it stopped. I remember him pulling my head back and
asking me where the money was. When I refused to answer, I thought he’d start
the whipping again.”

“What did he do, pet?”

Quinn wanted to hit Dakota for making her continue the tale,
but figured she’d best tell it all now. Still, he was pretty damn sure he
wasn’t going to like what she said next.

“Santos stepped in. He convinced Devil to cut me loose. I
must’ve fainted because the next thing I knew I was in my little shack and
Santos was pouring whiskey over my back to clean the cuts.”

She shuddered at the memory and Quinn pulled her a little
tighter to his chest. The sadistic bastard! God, how that must’ve hurt! Even
though it was old pain for her, he planned to string both those bastards up and
horsewhip them.

“He told me to think about what had just happened and tell
him where the payroll was hidden. He even tried using that sweet-talking voice
he’d used on me before. But I wasn’t stupid enough to fall for it a second
time. I knew he’d betray me in a heartbeat.”

“What happened when you refused?” Dakota asked, still
holding her hand, his gaze fixed on hers as if drawing the memories from her
like rattlesnake poison from a bite.

“He told me what Devil had planned for me the next day.”

“What was that, pet?”

“He’d tie me to the bed and rape me. Then he’d line up every
man in the camp to rape me until I couldn’t walk.”

“Son-of-a-bitch!” Quinn shoved his brother hard enough to
hit the rock wall behind him. “Enough, Dakota. She’s had enough.”

She wrapped her arms around his body and held on, long sobs
shaking her body. All he wanted to do was take her away from this, from here.
Make her forget.

“It’s okay, darlin’. You don’t have to tell us any more.
It’s over now,” he whispered into her hair as he rocked her back and forth.

After a moment or two, she slowly pulled back. Wetness from
her tears shining on her cheeks, she searched his face. “You think all that
happened? That I stayed and let him use me like that?”

Her question surprised him because he’d thought just that.
“You didn’t?”

“No. I knew they’d do exactly that, and after I gave them
the location of the payroll, they’d just continue to use and abuse me. I’d be
lower than a whore. I wasn’t about to let that happen.”

She sat up and brushed her hands over her eyes to wipe away
the remaining tears. “I waited until dark, then I crawled out of my bed and put
on my shirt and trousers, the same outfit I wore the day of the bank robbery
and murders. Then I gathered my things, what few there were, and sneaked out of
my shack to the corral. After I saddled Cesar, I dug up the paper money and
headed out of the valley. The snow started falling before dawn. Before I knew
it, I was riding through a near whiteout.”

“So you burned the paper money, but the gold’s still buried
in the valley?” Dakota asked.

She nodded.

“That’s why Devil sent his men after you instead of coming
for you himself, isn’t it?” Quinn asked, a tightness forming in his chest once
more.

Again she nodded. “I told him I buried it where he’d never
find it. I know him. He’s been looking all winter, still is. That’s why he’s
sent his men after me. But since Devil hasn’t been able to find the money,
pretty soon he’ll be planning another bank raid. We have to stop him now,
before more people die.”

And the longer it took Devil to find it, the angrier he’d
become. He’d want to take that anger out on Lacy once he had his hands on her
again.

Quinn looked at Dakota and read the same conclusion he’d
just come to. “We can’t do this.”

Lacy sat straighter, looking at him, then over at Dakota and
back at him again, her brows furrowed. The hairs on his neck bristled and his
blood heated in response.

“What do you mean you can’t do this? Can’t do what? Can’t
take me back to the valley? Can’t capture Devil? Can’t make him pay for
destroying my mother? For killing those people? For murdering your father?”

He smoothed the loose curls from her face and stared into
her jade green eyes. “You were right that first day, darlin’. If we take you
back to that valley, he’ll kill you.”

“Things have changed now.” Her eyes softened and she tilted
her head as if she wanted him to understand something.

“Damn right they have. He’s had the whole of winter to hunt
for that gold and hasn’t found it. That’s going to make him one mean bastard.
He’ll torture you worse, then kill you.”

He lifted her off his lap and settled her on the ground next
to Dakota. Without another word he rose and walked outside the cave.

Damn, he should’ve left Maddocks alive. At least he’d have
something to slam his fist into right now.

Lacy stared open-mouthed at Quinn’s retreating back. Where
was he going? This discussion wasn’t over.

She turned to Dakota for support. Instead she found his eyes
closed, his lips compressed into a thin line, jaw firm. He agreed with his
arrogant brother.