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“You don’t really think you’re going to get away with this do you?”
“I do.” He settled and crossed his feet at the ankle, propping his arms on his knees. “I have something that will assure me I’ll come out of this without a blemish to my name.”
“And what would that be?”
He grinned and pulled the edge of his vest away from his shirt. “This.”
The shiny sheriff badge hooked to his shirt caused the air to leave her lungs in one long whoosh. She met his gaze, stunned as he grinned. “You’re a lawman?”
“And an outlaw. Ain’t life grand?”
Twenty-Five
He couldn’t getthe thought of her out of his head. She’d been gone a full twenty-four hours and knowing she was out there alone with Jack was killing him.
Listening to Lewis and his buddies laugh and make crude jokes about what Jack and Alex were probably doing at that very moment was wearing on his nerves. The inside of his mouth was raw from chewing on his cheek and tongue to keep from saying something that might get him killed but Jesse knew Lewis was trying to get a rise out of him.
And it was working.
Every mile they traveled was a testament to his patience. If it wasn’t for the thoughts of Alex alone with Jack, he would have already done something stupid. She was the only reason he’d remained quiet.
They had more miles than he cared to think about to go yet and every hour that ticked by gave him one more hour to think up a new way to kill every one of these bastards. If it was the last thing he did, Lewis would know he’d made a fatal mistake letting Jack come into their camp and take Alex. He’d never killed a man but every time he looked at Lewis, that’s all he could think of.
“Your intentions are showing again.”
Ben was giving him a curious look when he glanced his way. He knew everything he felt could be seen with nothing more than a simple look in his direction but it was hard to hide it all. He was responsible for Alex, even more so since he made a vow before God and a preacher, and he was failing miserably. He’d lost his wife and the cattle Holden had left him responsible for and didn’t see a way to get them back. Well, not one where he walked away in the end. Something had to give and soon.
He looked to Ben. “How many men do we have not counting Lewis and his bunch?”
Ben scratched his jaw. “Fourteen, maybe. Why? You have a plan?”
“Yes. A stupid one, but it’s a plan.” He turned to see if anyone was near enough to hear him talking before saying, “I can’t think of anything other than just taking them out, one at a time until they’re no longer a problem.”
Ben raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by taking them out?”
“I don’t want to kill them.” He sighed. “Not unless we have to. I’m not sure I could live with that on my conscious. If we can just get them out of the picture, we can get this herd to Dodge, get paid and get Alex back.”
“You don’t think Jack will notice his men are gone when we get there?”
“Yes and I don’t think he’ll care. He wants the money. He could care less about this lot.”
The next hour was spent hashing out the details. Once they were in agreement, Ben rode to the back of the herd to let the ones they trusted know the plan. Hopefully, by nightfall, half of their problems would be solved.
He sought out Lewis, spotting him not far from where he rode. He was laughing as if he didn’t have a care in the world. That was about to change.
Twenty-Six
The grueling paceJack set was doing her in. Sitting on the horse for so long with little to no breaks was making every muscle ache and her joints stiff. Everything hurt, the dried beef and biscuits were sitting like led in her stomach and the open prairie was thin on privacy. Having Jack watch her so closely was unnerving as well.
They’d ridden for days on end, every mile taking her that much further from Jesse. She shook her head. Who would have thought she’d ever miss him? Or that her chest would ache with wanting him nearby.
She’d had time to think about everything that had happened since sneaking off to follow her pa and given the outcome, she wouldn’t change a thing. Not even the parts where Jack showed up and stole everything away from them. It forced her to see what deep down she’d always known. Jesse may have forced her hand and blackmailed her into a marriage but it all felt—right. As if this was the way it was always meant to be.
The sun was still a few hours from setting when Jack called a stop. Alex eyed him wearily as he jumped to the ground and said, “We’ll make camp here tonight.”
They’d been riding what looked like a worn patch of dirt for a while now. She could see a river off in the distance and a road of sorts had sprung into life. It had to end somewhere. She looked toward the horizon and could make out hazy shapes in the distance.
“Is that Dodge City?”
