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“Come now, Mr. McBain. Do you take me for a fool? The map is safely hidden where nobody will ever find it.” She tapped the side of her head. “It’s all up here though. I’ve got it memorized, just like a tintype photograph. The problem is, the trail leads across some dangerous territory. That’s why I need someone to go with me. Someone who knows how to ride and how to shoot.”
“Your father did it alone.”
“My father wasn’t a man to be taken lightly. He lived with the Apaches for a time, back before I was born, and he knew this country about as well as anybody.”
Tanner leaned back in his chair and rested his boots on the railing at the front of the theater box. He reached into the pocket of his coat, took out a pouch of tobacco and papers, and started building a cigarette. He could feel Shannon Duffy’s turquoise eyes watching him impatiently.
“So?” she said at last.
“So what?”
“Are you interested in helping me or not?”
Tanner gave the cigarette a lick to hold it together, then he stood up and lit it using the oil lamp mounted on the wall of the box. He exhaled a cloud of smoke.
“I’m interested, Miss Duffy, but your story doesn’t add up. Not completely, anyway. There’s something you’re not telling me.”
He sensed her stiffen with fear.
“What do you mean?”
“Whynow?You said your father passed on a long time ago. That means you’ve had that map for a while. Why’re you all of a sudden deciding to put it to use now?”
The woman seemed to relax a little, as if she’d been expecting a different question.
“I need the money,” she said. “I own a ranch, which I inherited from my father. Over the years, my father took several loans to expand the ranch. When he passed away I inherited his debts, which were considerable. The man to whom I originally owed the money was generous and forgiving about the payments. Unfortunately, for financial reasons, he was forced to sell the debt to another creditor who is not so lenient.”
“Who?”
“A man named Ned Flarity. Have you heard of him?”
Tanner nodded. He’d heard of Flarity alright. He was one of the wealthiest ranchers in the region. A few thousand head of hucattle wore his brand. As a businessman, he had a reputation for ruthlessness, and he was known to employ some particularly nasty men to do his dirty work for him.
“So, you’re indebted to Ned Flarity, huh?
“Yes,” Shannon Duffy said. “And I’m behind on my payments. The past year has been particularly difficult. The ranch has been losing money, and I’ve barely been able to make ends meet. If I don’t pay Flarity off within a fortnight, he’ll take the ranch.”
“Well, I reckon that’s about as good a reason as any to go galavanting across the desert in search of some firestone ore.”
“So you’ll help me?”
Tanner took a long draw on his cigarette and slowly bled the smoke out through his nostrils.
“I’ll help you, Miss Duffy. But you have to agree to my terms.”
CHAPTER 5
Shannon had gotten herself into some uncomfortable situations over the years, but this one really took the cake. She was alone in the confined space of a theater box with an alpha. And not just any alpha, but the biggest and most handsome alpha she’d ever laid eyes on.
Thank God her suppressant was working.
That wasn’t to say she was experiencing no arousal whatsoever. She was—any woman would be in the presence of such raw masculinity—but at least her arousal was at a reasonable level which she could control.
And it was balanced by an equal amount of fear. More than once during the past few minutes, she had considered excusing herself from the alpha’s presence and looking for a less intimidating man to accompany her on her expedition.
But then, intimidating was what she needed. Her journey would take her through some of the most unforgiving parts of the Arizona wilderness, a region populated by all sorts of dangerous creatures—centaurs, snakepeople, and more.
Shannon decided she would at least listen to what the alpha wanted in return. Then she would make up her mind how to proceed.
