Code of the Wolf (16 page)

Yet she hadn't done the actual killing either time. Could she stand before Renier and his men and shoot them in cold blood?

Then again, they would be shooting back. It wouldn't be cold blood then.

“I did what I thought was best at the time,” she said.

Jacob turned away, hooking his thumbs in his gun belt. “That isn't good enough, Serenity. You may think your life isn't worth a damn, but I…” He trailed off and kicked at the dirt with his boot. “You made me a promise to obey without question, Serenity Campbell. One more mistake like this…”

“Would you think it was a mistake if I was trying to save your life the way I did at Avalon?” she snapped.

“I don't plan on making any more mistakes like that,” he said, swinging around to face her. “And I don't want to worry about you every damned minute.”

“I didn't ask you to worry about me. I'm sorry you had to get involved in what happened in the saloon.” She looked away. “I want only one thing from you, and that—”

He seized her by the shoulders and began to shake her. “You listen to me—”

Some sound, perhaps only the jangling of a horse's bridle or a footstep, interrupted his tirade. She and Jacob broke apart like two halves of a lightning-struck cottonwood. Serenity looked over her shoulder. Zora was still slumped against the wall, Victoria on one side of her, Caridad on the other. Neither one was looking toward her and Jacob.

She could only pray they hadn't seen.

“You'd better get Zora to camp,” Jacob said, as if nothing had happened. “I've still got business here.”

Her
business. But he was right. Zora had to come first.

“Is there anyone left to ask about the Reniers?” she asked, echoing Jacob's pretense of composure.

“The saloon keeper will talk to me. There's an old miner in one of the cabins at the edge of town, and a…” He hesitated. “A lady in the other.”

Serenity was fairly certain what he meant by “lady.” Under other circumstances, Jacob's absurd and belated concern for her feminine sensibilities might have amused her.

“I'll take Zora, then,” she said, “and send someone back to show you to the camp.”

“I'll find you,” he said. He took a step toward the saloon, then paused without looking back. “Did I hurt you?” he asked.

Her arms were still tingling, but his words made the discomfort go away as if it had never been. “No,” she said. “You didn't.”

He nodded and continued on his way.

Serenity walked back across the street.

“How is she?” she asked Victoria.

“A little better, I think,” the blacksmith said.

“If only I had been there earlier,” Caridad muttered. She sighed in resignation. “If you are ready, I can take you to the place I found to make camp.” She bent close to Zora. “Can you ride,
amiga?
”

Zora lifted her head. Her eyes were dull. “I can ride,” she said.

“I'll get the horses,” Victoria said.

“I'm afraid you ain't goin' anywhere,” Mordecai Perry said, appearing suddenly with a gun in his hand. “Victoria James, you're wanted for murder.”

J
ACOB MOVED WITH
wolfish speed, sprinting across the street and planting himself between Perry and Victoria before even Caridad could reach for her guns.

“You put that down, Mordecai,” he said. “I don't know what the hell you're talking about, but there won't be any more shooting here today.”

The other man didn't relax his posture. “I don't make a habit of shootin' women,” he said, “and I don't aim to shoot one now, 'less I'm forced to it.”

Serenity had risen and was standing beside Victoria, a look of disbelief on her face. “You must be insane,” she said. “Victoria never killed anyone.”

Perry's eyes narrowed. “What exactly is she to you, missy?”

“She's my friend.”

“That's too bad.” Perry met Jacob's gaze. “I told you I had business in this town. I followed these three all the way from Doña Ana County, and I ain't givin' up now.”

Caridad's fingers hovered above her guns, and Perry casually shifted his aim toward her. “If any of you have a mind to interfere, someone's likely to get hurt, and I don't think any of us want that.”

No, Jacob didn't want that. He'd known Mordecai too long to doubt that he was after Victoria for a good
reason. At the very beginning, Serenity had told him that nearly all the women who had come to Avalon had suffered at the hands of men, and they all had secrets.

Just how many such secrets was the blacksmith keeping? And did Serenity know about them?

“You have obviously mistaken Miss Curtis for someone else, Mr. Perry,” Serenity said. “You are not taking her anywhere.” She glanced at Jacob. “Mr. Constantine told you that I can shoot, and he wasn't lying. Caridad is even faster than I am. I don't think I need to tell you of Mr. Constantine's skill with a gun. You may disable one of us, but there will be two more to stop you.”

Perry looked hard at Jacob. “That right, Jacob? You gonna stand in the way of the law?”

A few weeks ago Jacob would have had a ready answer. A few weeks ago, before he had lost his head, he'd still had a little sense left.

“Right now I don't know what the law is,” he said. “I've known Miss Curtis a little while myself, and I've never seen anything to suggest she's capable of killing anyone.” He looked at Victoria, who was trembling and seemed to be on the verge of tears. “You know what this is all about, Miss Curtis?”

“I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me,” she whispered, gazing at the dirt between her boots. “I'll go with him.”

“Chingados!”
Caridad exploded. “What is this foolishness? You have done nothing!”

“Maybe you'd like to talk in private,” Jacob suggested quietly to the women. “I'll hear what Perry has to say.”

Serenity obviously saw the wisdom in such a course.

She caught Caridad's eye, and the Mexican woman helped Zora to her feet. Serenity took Victoria's arm, and together they walked away.

Perry looked as if he might protest, but he held his tongue. Once the women were out of hearing, he faced Jacob with a mixture of disbelief and hostility.

“What in hell's happened to you, Jacob?” he demanded, holstering his gun. “I never seen you try go against the law or cater to any woman.”

“I don't cater to anyone,” Jacob said coldly. “I just want a few more facts before you go carting Miss Curtis off to some jail.”

Muttering under his breath, Perry returned to his horse, opened one saddlebag and withdrew a stained piece of paper. “This here's a warrant for Mrs. Walter James's arrest. You can see it's genuine.”

Jacob took the warrant out of Perry's hand. It looked genuine, all right, and there was no reason Perry would be after Victoria if it wasn't. The charge was murder.

“What exactly did she do?” he asked.

Perry took the paper back. “Killed her husband. Knifed him in the belly. He died slow, they say.”

If they'd sent a bounty hunter after her, it must have been pretty bad. “Who saw this supposed murder?” Jacob asked.

“She was seen running away from the house with blood all over her hands and clothes just before they found the body. She went on the run after that and managed to keep hidden until I went after her.” Perry smoothed his mustache again. “I heard tell a woman of her description was seen at a ranch on the east side of the Organs. I was on my way there when I saw these
females ride out. Pretty easy to recognize the murderess.”

“You know why she killed her husband?” he asked.

“It ain't my business to know why. I only bring 'em back for trial. Maybe she found out he was gettin' a little on the side.” Perry's lips thinned in an unpleasant smile. “I can understand why any man would want to get away from her. She's got shoulders like a buffalo bull.”

Jacob smiled just as unpleasantly. “You ever seen her before that day in New Mexico?”

“Can't say as I have.”

“She might have those shoulders because she's been working as a blacksmith.”

A guffaw burst from Perry's chest. “A female blacksmith?”

“At the ranch you were looking for.”

“I'll be damned.”

Jacob had a feeling one of them would indeed be damned by the time this was over. “I think we should let her speak for herself before you take her into custody.”

“I ain't no judge or jury. I'm here to do a job. Ain't nothin' personal in it.”

“Then do it as a favor to an old friend.”

A heavy silence fell between them. Perry clearly didn't like where this was going, not one bit. Jacob didn't, either. But he couldn't get Victoria's scared, hopeless expression out of his mind any more than Serenity's trusting look when she'd warned Perry that Jacob would be on their side.

He didn't want to see that look change to shock when she realized he wasn't.

“They're coming back now,” Jacob said, keeping his hands well away from his gun. The women—including Zora, who seemed steadier on her feet—clustered protectively around Victoria. Serenity whispered something in Victoria's ear and embraced her, then marched directly up to Perry, Caridad on her heels.

“I've heard Victoria's story,” she said. “She admits she killed her husband, but she says he was going to kill her. It was self-defense.”

“That's for a judge and jury to decide,” Perry said.

He wasn't smiling anymore, and Jacob knew the situation was getting trickier every second. “Go on, Miss Cumberland,” he said.

Serenity glanced back at Victoria, then faced Jacob. “I'd like to speak to you alone.”

Caridad folded her arms and took a wide stance in front of Victoria. Keeping one eye on Perry, Jacob let Serenity take him aside.

“Victoria told me everything,” she said under her breath. “I always knew she'd had an unhappy marriage, but I never realized…” She looked up into Jacob's eyes. “Did you ever know a woman whose husband mistreated her, Jacob?”

The question hit him hard. He'd never mistreated Ruth. He'd only neglected her, too intent on his work to notice if she was unhappy, never loving her quite enough.

“Victoria was badly hurt,” Serenity said, before he could find an answer. “She was beaten again and again
by a man who took pleasure in hitting her with his fists until she couldn't stand or even crawl.”

It never occurred to Jacob to doubt Victoria's story. He knew it played out a hundred times every day, all over the West. But that didn't mean anyone else would believe her. Victoria had admitted she'd done the crime, and eyewitness testimony about her bloody flight would stack the odds against her from the start. No justification in the world would seem good enough to the men who would sit in judgment over her.

“She had to defend herself,” Serenity went on, grabbing Jacob's arm and holding on as if he might walk away before she was finished. “He had already beaten her nearly to death. She picked up the nearest weapon she could find. She wasn't even trying to kill him, just to stop him from killing her.” She shook him. “It's true, Jacob. I swear it!”

He found it harder and harder to meet her gaze. “If it was up to me,” he said, “I'd let her go. But Perry has the law on his side.”

“The law!” She let go, took a step back and regarded him as if she'd never seen him before. “You've talked about justice. There's precious little of that for women in this country. They'll want her to be guilty, because men can't abide the thought that women might have their own minds and don't live just for their menfolk. They'll be afraid what happened to Walter James could happen to them someday.” She wiped her palms on her trousers. “You've been a lawman for years. Can you deny what I'm saying is true?”

He couldn't very well deny it when he'd just been
thinking the same thing himself. “Serenity, you don't know—”

“Are you going to let Perry take her?” she demanded. “Just sit by, and let him tie her up and carry her off, even though they'll probably hang her?”

“Do you want her to be on the run for the rest of her life?”

“We can protect her.”

“What you're suggesting is dangerous, Serenity,” he said. “You'll make yourself a partner in Victoria's crime.”

“But
you
don't have to be.” She set her jaw and looked away. “We're not letting Perry take her. If you don't want to help us stop him, I understand. But don't try to get in our way.”

“Serenity.” He caught her chin with two fingers and turned her head toward him. She was flushed and angry and ashamed, her gaze accusing and pleading at the same time. She'd presumed on his loyalty to her and her women, and was beginning to realize how hazardous that assumption had been. If he turned his back on her and Victoria now, any friendship or trust between them would be gone. And he would be responsible for whatever happened to her and the other women.

The Code gave him a clear answer, but he couldn't accept its verdict.

Serenity jerked her chin out of his hand and spun to walk away.

He grabbed her arm.

“Can you trust me, Serenity?” he asked.

Her eyes widened with hope. “You'll help us?”

“If I can.”

“What are you going to do?”

He had an idea, one he didn't like at all, and he didn't want her to know ahead of time, just in case she might get herself into worse trouble. “You'll have to trust me.”

Serenity wet her lips, began to speak, then fell silent again.

Maybe he was asking more of her than he had any right to. They might have become friends, but any loyalty she felt for him couldn't stand against her commitment to her women.

“I can't,” she said, her voice breaking. “Victoria is under my protection. No one will ever abuse her again.”

She turned again and left him standing there like a man who had just lost his last nickel in a crooked card game. She rejoined the other women and stood silently beside Caridad, facing Perry with a look that could have stopped a speeding railroad train in its tracks.

Perry's fingers twitched. He was obviously ready to draw his gun the second anyone so much as fluttered an eyelash.

“Mrs. James,” he said, “I plan on gettin' a little ridin' in before the sun sets. You got anything to pack up, you'd best do it now.”

“I'm afraid we can't permit that, Mr. Perry,” Serenity said. “You'll have to shoot all of us first.”

Armoring himself against Serenity's contempt, Jacob walked up behind her.

“You can't stop the course of the law, Miss Cumberland,” he said. “And I won't let you try.”

Caridad spat a curse and went for her right-hand gun.

Jacob was faster. He drew, aimed and shot it out of
her hand, careful to hit the barrel instead of her fingers. She jumped backward, shaking her hand furiously.

Serenity stared at Jacob, stunned by his interference in spite of her decision not to trust him.

He couldn't bear to look at her.

“It's no use, Serenity,” he said. “Mrs. James, you'd best step out if you want to keep your friends safe.”

To her credit, the blacksmith didn't hesitate. She left the others, ignoring Serenity's muffled cry of protest, and walked straight to Perry.

Zora held Serenity back when she would have followed.

“You done the right thing, Mrs. James,” Perry said, taking Victoria by the arm and wrapping a rope around her wrists. “I don't like to have to tie you, but if you try to make a run for it, I wouldn't want to shoot you.”

Victoria hung her head. “I won't try to escape.” She looked at Serenity, who was weeping silently, and then to Caridad and Zora, who showed no expression at all. No one interfered until Perry began to lead Victoria toward his horses.

That was when Serenity pulled her Peacemaker again and ran after them. Without conscious thought Jacob intercepted her. He wrapped his arms around her and let her struggle, kicking and swearing, while Perry threw Victoria up into the saddle of his spare mount and untied his own horse from the rail.

Jacob closed his eyes and rested his cheek against Serenity's hair. It was soft and smelled of sage. He tried to imagine he was holding her for very different reasons, feeling her melt in his arms and whisper that she trusted him. That she loved—

The unexpected blow to his stomach so surprised him that he almost released her before he realized what she'd done. She knew she couldn't hurt him, but she'd counted on catching him off guard so she could get free.

“Don't,” Jacob said, pressing her face into his shoulder. “There's nothing you can do.”

She wept with grief and rage, her arms trapped uselessly at her sides. Over her head, Jacob could see Caridad cradling her stunned right hand tightly against her chest. She wouldn't be using that hand any time soon. Zora had mounted her horse and was riding south out of town, slumped in her saddle like a woman already dead. Whatever had happened in the saloon had drained every last bit of spirit out of her.