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“You’ll have to make it up to him when you get home,” my kidnapper told me almost gleefully. “The whole town knows you left him, you realize. He was quite upset. He’s a very proud man, as I’m sure you know, and he doesn’t take well to being crossed. John promised you to him, and he means to have you.”
From the little I knew of Mr. Yates he didn’t take well to anything, but I held my tongue. It would do no good to bring up his reputation now.
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to make sense of everything. It seemed Mr. Yates’ cruelty knew no bounds. I struggled to understand why he wanted me so badly he would order the death of a man he didn’t know, just to prevent my marriage, stop my escape. If he was willing to go to such lengths, what would he do to me when he discovered he’d lost; I was already married?
“But why?” None of this made sense. “Why does he want me so badly? There are plenty of other women who would marry him, with all his money. Why me?”
The despicable man at my feet looked me up at down, perhaps deciding how much to tell me. He shrugged carelessly. “You’re pretty,” he said, as if that explained everything. But it didn’t.
“So are other women,” I pointed out.
“Your brother owes Mr. Yates a lot of money. You’re payment for that debt and Mr. Yates means to collect.”
I stared at him, aghast. “So he would order the killing of an innocent man?”
My captor didn’t reply.
“Why does he not just shoot John? Even things up?”
“Your brother is worthless. It’s you he wants.”
“How is he going to get any money out of me?” My head was spinning. None of this made any sense. My brain was fuzzy and I knew I wasn’t thinking clearly but thinking straight or not, I didn’t understand why Mr. Yates wanted me so badly. Surely this wasn’t just about his damn foolish pride? Would he really go to such great lengths just to prove to the world that he got whatever he wanted? The people of Philadelphia already knew that. Hunting me down and forcing me back to Philadelphia wasn’t going to change anything for him. “I don’t understand,” I mumbled.
There was a chuckle above me, like the answer was really obvious and he couldn’t believe how stupid I was that I couldn’t figure it out.
“Oh I do believe he will get his money’s worth out of you,” he told me, licking his lips lasciviously.
Bile rose up in my throat and I felt sick to my stomach, like I wanted to vomit. Now I understood. Mr. Yates wanted me in the same way my husbands had claimed me. Except I had willingly given myself to my husbands, I’d enjoyed their attentions, delighted in the feel of their fingers, mouths, and cocks doing delicious things to me. I would not give myself to Mr. Yates. Not ever. But as I looked up at the man shadowing me, I knew that it would not matter whether or not I consented. Mr. Yates would do with me as he wished and there wouldn’t be anything I would be able to do about it. Everybody knew a wife was to do her duty. Except that I wouldn’t be his wife.
I looked up at my captor, squinting my eyes against the bright sunlight.
“How much is Mr. Yates paying you?” I asked.
“Five hundred dollars” he told me proudly. “To be delivered the day you become Mrs. Roger Yates.” He folded his arms across his chest and looked down at me arrogantly, as though he was already a rich man. What was he going to say when he found out all his efforts had been in vain?
“You’re too late,” I told him. “I’m already married.”
He looked at me in horror for a fleeting second then, with a roar, he rushed at me. I shriveled back against the tree, desperate to protect myself, needing to get away. But there was nowhere to go. I was held fast. He raised his hand above my head then slapped my cheek. My head slammed back against the trunk of the tree. Stars swam in my eyes. Then I saw nothing but blackness.
15
ROSCOE
* * *
I reined my horse up, signaling to Shane to stop. I held a finger to my lips, telling him to be silent, and pointed. I could see something just up ahead but I couldn’t make out yet what it was. There were two horses, hobbled, grazing some distance apart from each other, heads down eating without a care in the world. I froze. We were completely out in the open with no cover at all. So far, the horses hadn’t raised the alarm but that would happen soon enough. Behind them stood a solitary tree. A makeshift camp had been erected nearby, smoke curled from a fire. Someone squatted by it. We edged closer.
The person by the fire stood up. Even from this distance, it was clear he was big. Tall. Solid. And then I saw her – Elise. Sitting against the tree, slumped sideways, looking for all the world like she was just having a rest. Was she hurt? Was she tied up? Relief and anger fought for dominance inside me.
I nodded to Shane but he could see her too. Anger darkened his features and his body stiffened. I watched as he pulled one of the Colts from its holster and cocked it, resting it against his leg. Slowly, I eased the rifle from the scabbard and held it across the front of my saddle, ready to aim and fire, if needed. Together, we rode side by side into the camp. There was nowhere to hide, no way to ambush him, so we just rode straight in. His back was to us and so far he was unaware of us,
so we had the element of surprise on our side.
There was no time to come up with a plan of attack. Not here, out in the open, with no way to avoid being seen. I swallowed angrily, annoyed at how woefully unprepared we were. We had to lure him away from camp somehow. If we went storming in, all he had to do was run to Elise, use her as a shield and we would be powerless. There was no way we would risk harming our bride, and he would know it. If he held a gun to our wife’s head we would do whatever he asked to save her life. Even if it meant letting her go.
The horses! They would be our distraction. Right now the man who had Elise hadn’t seen us, and he wouldn’t know who we were. He’d figure it out soon enough, but right now he wouldn’t be certain. No hail had fallen out here, the ground was dry, so he would think we were still fighting that fire. We would be too, if the hail hadn’t saved us. The hail that ruined my crop, I thought bitterly, but I pushed that thought away. Now was not the time for bitterness.
Silently, I slid down from my saddle and ran towards the hobbled horses. There was no time to explain anything to Shane, I would just have to trust that he understood. Somehow, I got to the first one without being seen and I crouched beside it and undid the hobbles. I sent it on its way with a slap on the rump. The second horse whinnied, disturbed by the commotion and a shout rang out from camp. “Hoi! You there!”
