Dark Warrior: Kid (Dark Cloth Series Book 2) (7 page)

Out of the Past

Kat woke to the sight of Hawk
leaning well toward her face. Not one of Kat’s favorite places to have him. Even as well as she had come to know him, fought beside him, she wanted to rear back, but the pain in her head made her groan.

“You’re lucky to be alive,” he growled near her face. “That bullet grazed your head. Meg said that if you hadn’t glanced over at Kid when you did—you’d have met your maker.” He scowled down at her. “Now, I know where you got that name. You have more lives than any cat I ever knew.”

Kat stared at him. He had it right. She
had
cheated death three—no—make that—four times—now.

She sensed someone near the other side, and even before she risked the pain to take a peek, she knew it wasn’t Kid.

Her gaze picked up Jake. Great. As if Hawk wasn’t enough, she thought. She licked her lips.

“What’s that make, now? Jake asked, “four times someone tried to kill you?” as if to press the point.

She scowled. She knew they were her family now. She’d never been as close to anyone. But—really—there still had to be a limit to what she’d take—even from family.

As if she
needed
a reminder that she had a bounty on her head.

Kat groaned with the force of the barrel that seemed to be rammed inside her skull. “Where’s Kid?” she whispered.

“That’s what we’d like to know?” Hawk growled, much too close for comfort.

Alarm raced through Kat. Her eyes flew wide, staring at Hawk for conformation. Pain ripped its way deep in the front of her face, stabbing around her eyes, and she fought the urge to vomit. “What do you mean?” she said. She glanced at Jake. “What does he mean?” She tried to move. Violent pain stole through her and blinded her, like having a knifepoint stuck in her brain. “Where’s Kid?” she whispered, unable to wrap her mind around their continued silence.

She opened her eyes, saw Hawk wince. And that did nothing to allay her fears. She glanced wildly toward Jake. But the look in his cold, steel-grey eyes did nothing for her there, either, to help calm her.

Now, in full panic, the pain knifing its way through, blinding her vision, she tried to force her way up, Hawk moved to hold her down.

“No, you don’t,” he said. “I don’t know what full-hardy thing got into your head now, or what made you ride straight into town the way you did, and I don’t care. But you’re going to lie there until you’re well.” His cool hand touched her forehead, gentle now. “We’ll find him,” he promised.

And Kat latched onto that promise—as she descended into darkness.

She had no idea how long she’d been out, when her gaze found Jake’s steely-gaze on Hawk. “Now look what you did?” he said.

She tried to lick her lips. She mustn’t have been out too long, cause Jake sat there watching for her to open her eyes.

Hawk had the grace to glance away. He leaned in, clearly worried, and Jake let up just in time to see Mandy fly into the room, rounding the bed in a fury.

“What happened?” she demanded.

“She damn near got her fool head blown off,” Hawk answered, then actually seemed remorseful.

“Yep,” Jake agreed, “then Hawk, here, tried to scare her to death.”

Mandy glared daggers at Hawk, then turned her glare on Jake. “Nothing could scare Kat to death.” She said, then turned her baleful glare back on Hawk. “But I’ll bet you
did
try to
scare
her to death.”

She turned and lay her hand gently on Kat’s head, examining her bandage. She carefully lifted the edge, trying to peek beneath, to see how bad the wound had damaged her head.

“Doc said it’s just a scratch,” Hawk said. “But he also said she’s going to have a hell of a headache, and she’s likely to be sick to her stomach.”

Jake glanced across the bed and down the hallway. “Yeah. And he wasn’t at’ll happy we insisted on coming in here,” he reminded.

Mandy glanced up, surprised. “You seem worried about that,” she said. That might have been a teasing tone on any other day, but today she only turned back to Kat. “Where’s Kid?” she asked suddenly, her brow furrowing.

Jake scowled. “He’s missing.”

“What?” she said, glancing at Hawk.

This time, Hawk scowled.

“One minute I spotted him moving along the wall near the mercantile,” Jake said, “and the next, he was gone. We’ve turned the town upside down, but he’s gone.”

“Where’s that gunman?” Mandy demanded.

Hawk swore under his breath. “He’s gone too,” he said.

Mandy stared at Hawk, on fine brow arched in question, then turned to stare at Jake, making him shift under the weight of it.

“Well,” she said, clearly as confused this could have happened, as they were, “did Kid follow him out of town?”

Jake glanced down at Kat, then back at Mandy. “No, ma’am. There are tracks of that no account gunslinger’s horse, just outside of town, but no sign of Kid.”

Mandy looked up from where she fussed around Kat. Throwing her hands in the air, she said, “What? Then he has to be here, somewhere....”

Hawk shook his head, heading toward the door.

Jake’s steely-grey gaze followed him. “How’d you know that turning toward Kid saved her life?” he asked him.

Hawk turned back, meeting his gaze with his own golden one. “It was the first thing Meg said, when Cord came upon her cradling Kat’s bloody head in her lap,” he said. “He thought she was dead at first—so did Meg.” He put his arms around his wife, as she trembled at his words. “Cord was the one who followed the gunslinger out of town. He sent a man to come get me. I was out on the range searching for cattle.” He glanced down at Mandy. “How’d you know to come here?”

She tipped her head back, gazing up at her husband. “Cord, himself, came and got me, when he lost the trail. But he didn’t know anything about Kid—or he’d have told me.”

They both turned to Jake, wanting to fill in the blanks, wanting to understand what had happened.

Kat fought not to black out. She needed to hear this—had to hear it, no matter how bad it seemed. She focused on Jake’s face as he nodded.

“I was on my way to town, when I ran across Kid. He told me he’d followed Kat into town, but then, I was on my way over to the sheriff’s office, when I heard the shots.”

“Shots?” Hawk asked. “As in more than one? Meg said Kat never got the chance to shoot back.”

Kat swallowed.

“Yep, it was Kid who apparently shot back. Winged him, too, so I hear, and from all accounts, Kid’s apparently uninjured.” Jake glanced at Mandy, then Hawk. He turned his head, staring down at Kat. “So, we know Cord went after the gunman, but lost him, and I went to find Kid—and haven’t been able to figure out what had happened to him.”

Hawk frowned. “Let me get this straight—you were there, right after the gun-fight, and he still managed to vanish?”

Kat felt the tears that slipped down her face. She could only hope that her friends wouldn’t notice, as they talked.

“Yep,” Jake hissed. “And that bothers me more than the damn gunman.”

Hawk eyes lit in question. “What are you thinking, old man?”

This time, Jake frowned. “That either one thing has nothing to do with the other,” he seemed to watch as the light dawned in his friend’s eyes, “—or perhaps, one was staged to sidetrack us—so they could
pull off
the other.”

Kat’s head pounded. She fought to stay conscious.

Mandy’s face went pale, and Hawk’s gaze took on a deadly glint. “Taking Kid alive isn’t an easy thing to do,” he pointed out.

“True. It would take a hell of a plan,” Jake said. “But then, again, they wouldn’t have much reason to make him disappear if he were dead.”

Mandy had turned back to Kat, brushing the hair from her face, masking her fears. Kat saw Jake frown, and when she shifted her gaze, she noticed Hawk saw it too. He put his arms around Mandy in silent comfort, then he headed out the door. Jake hard on his heels.

“It’s going to be okay,” Mandy whispered.

Kat tried to fight the tears that filled her eyes, making her world watery as more tears broke free and fell silently down to land on her pillow.

Mandy took her hand and gently squeezed it. “You know we’ll get them, right? We won’t rest until we get them.”

Kat tried to nod, but it hurt too much. “How can I possibly get out of this bed, to make that kind of a trip?”

Mandy smiled, gently. “Perhaps,” she said, her tone hushed, “you should consider letting Hawk and Jake go?”

The anger that filled Kat must of have shown in her green eyes because Mandy winced. “I know, Kat. But you just admitted—it will be nearly impossible in your condition.”

Kat closed her eyes.

When Kat opened her eyes again, Jake and Hawk were coming through the door. Kat’s gaze shifted to the window and realized that it had grown dark outside. Terror swept through her at the realization that it had taken so long to pick up Kid’s trail.

Jake came to stand near her bed, and Hawk came over to take Mandy into a gentle hug.

“They’ve put him on a train,” Jake said. “And they didn’t bother to hide him.” He stopped and scowled. “Actually, they’ve arrested him.” His gaze narrowed into the razor slits he’d become known for. “That’s why we couldn’t find him,” he snarled. “While we were searching all over creation for a trail—they’d just marched him two blocks over, to put him on the train.”

Kat let out the painful breath, she realized she had been holding. She saw the same surprise light up Mandy’s face that she knew must mirror her own.

“That’s good news, right?” Mandy said. “That means they won’t kill him, right?”

Kat felt herself go weak with relief. The room still spun, but she felt as if she could survive it, now that Kid lived.

Hawk nodded. “Though I can’t imagine what trumped-up charge they’d come up with, to get him onboard that train.”

“We won’t worry about that now,” Jake growled. He leaned down close to Kat. “They bought tickets for Philadelphia, then Richmond. We’re catching the next train in the morning.” He held up a finger when she opened her mouth. “Don’t try to speak,” he said. “We’re getting you a berth on the morning train. You will be going with us.” His gaze moved over her face. “Good thing, too. You’d have still tried to go—even if it had been on a horse. And it likely would have killed you,” he growled.

The relief that swept through Kat made her giddy. Hawk and Jake weren’t going to leave her behind, after all. And her condition wasn’t going to prevent her from going with them. She couldn’t ask for better than that.

She tried to nod, but Jake gave her a rare smile. “Get some sleep, Kat. We’ll be back in the morning.”

Kat nodded and let herself slip back into oblivion.

Much later, Kat fought once more to open her eyes—but she couldn’t seem to come around. She fought to the surface. Yet, every time she thought she could manage to wake, something pulled her down into the blackness. She struggled against it. She felt heavy—sleepy. Her eyelids felt weighted. Why couldn’t she wake up?

Kid, she thought. He’d disappeared. She remembered that now. Panic seized her, but that only caused her to descend deeper into oblivion. Her limbs seemed leaden, like she were swimming in a pool of mud. The thickness pulled at her. She wanted to scream, but something hurt her head too much—and she couldn’t seem to open her mouth.

After what seemed like forever, she succeeded in forcing her eyes open. Yet, only just barely, and she had to fight not to sink back down into the dark hole, beckoning her….

Kidnapping

Kat winced and groaned out loud at the pounding in her head.
She glanced up in time to see Hawk frown at her, and the sight of that frown quickly erased all signs of her pain from her face—but did so too late.

“She is not ready for a trip like this,” he growled at Jake, “not even on a train.”

Jake frowned.

The train would be here, Kat realized, and they’d come for her. She knew he had the right of it. That she was nowhere near ready for this trip. Every time she moved, the room spun. But she wouldn’t be left behind.

“We’ve already lost a day on account of me,” she said through cracked lips, still trying to match his tone.

Jake raised his brows at Hawk. “Try and tell her that,” Jake said back to Hawk, as if she hadn’t spoken. “We both know it won’t do no good.”

Hawk stopped, mid-stride, across the room—and turned to stare at Jake. “We could always tie her to the bed.”

“Try,” Kat hissed, “and I’ll skin the hide off ya.”

Hawk grinned at her. “That’s better.” He raised one of those damn brows at Jake. “What’da ya think?”

“Don’t matter none. Like I said—she won’t pay you no mind,” Jake growled back, his steel-grey eyes narrowing into slits. “Damn women don’t listen, no how.”

At that point, Kat’s hand dropped down to where she’d hidden her skinnin’ knife. If two men ever needed skinnin’, these two did.

Lucky for them, Mandy chose that moment to arrive. Within a second, or two, she seemed to grasp exactly what had been going on in the room, and she laughed.

“Hawk, you better stop teasing her,” she said. “You’re bound to get more than you bargained for, judging by what Kat, here, looks like she’s thinking of doing to the two of you.” She included Jake in her gaze, grinning.

Hawk grinned back at her, and Kat relaxed. Damn, no-account, man had been ribbing her—again. Why couldn’t she get used to their teasing? He always seemed to catch her unawares.

She knew they didn’t mean her no harm. She guessed that it had something to do with another feeling she’d never get use to—fear. The same fear she’d been fighting, ever since she’d first woke, and they’d told her Kid had gone missing.

Taking her hand off the knife, Kat tried for a smile—and knew she’d failed miserably, when she saw Hawk’s grin widen.

Damn the man. What had gotten into him, anyhow? Teasing her at a time like this. Kid was like a brother to him. How could he joking, knowing they held Kid prisoner?

At that reminder, Kat said, “That’s how they got him?” She let that sink in. Kid really was alive. “They’d had to arrest him?”

Hawk nodded. “Did you think they’d get their hands on him any other way?”

Kat knew that’s why she’d been so afraid. That had occurred to her. She’d known how difficult it would have been—to take him prisoner. She’d known it would be near impossible—to take any of these men while they had a breath in their body left to fight with. She’d been terrified that they’d taken Kid—by killing him.

She couldn’t help but feel relieved to know he’d actually been arrested.

Jake frowned, and Kat glanced at him sharply.

“You do know that whatever they came up—wasn’t legal?” he asked, his gaze narrowed into the steely-slits that become part of his reputation.

Mandy shooed the men out of the room. It took some doing, but with her help, Kat accomplished getting dressed. Standing up, she headed out of the room, and when she reached the front of Doc’s office, she opened the door and stepped out into the bright sunlight.

The sun’s piercing light sent pain stabbing through her head, like someone had taken her skinnin’ knife and sank it through her temples. She fought not to groan, swallowing the bile that rose up in her throat.

Hawk caught her just as her knees buckled. He turned and crossed back in through the door—depositing her into one of the chairs that Doc kept in his front office. “You’re not going anywhere,” he ordered.

He waved any argument she could give him—not that she could give him much at that moment.

Mandy took her husband’s hand. Gazing up into his golden gaze she smiled. “Carry her, Hawk. She won’t like it, but we both know she has to go.”

He stared down at her. Finally, he nodded. “Ride out with Cord, one more time, and tell him to see if he can pick up that gunman’s trail,” he told her. “Have him take Ned, Pete and Old Charlie with him. If he does pick something up, have him send one of them to wire me—but tell him not to let up on the trail.

In the end, it was Jake who picked Kat up and headed for the door. She didn’t have to open her eyes to know who’d done so, and she actually felt more than a little relieved that it hadn’t been Hawk. She’d never felt so small and helpless, and she knew she’d regret letting it happen, when she’d fully recovered. But, dammit, being carried like a helpless, broken invalid—beat the hell out of being left behind.

He leaned his head down near her ear and said in low tones. “Try to relax, Kat. I won’t let them get away.”

Kat swallowed away the tears that those simple words brought to her eyes. She could only nod. She couldn’t open her eyes, and she couldn’t manage any words. But none were needed.

She kept her eyes shut, both to ward of the pain that the light of the sun caused—and to block out the humiliation of having to be carried. She could only imagine what the town’s people must have thought. They’d seen her fight—now she had to be carried like a baby.

Within ten minutes or so, she felt him swing her up onto her feet, so she could manage the tiny stairs leading onto the train. He kept hold of her arm, as he took her to her berth and helped her to lay back onto it.

She heard him leave the room, and seconds later she heard the door to the berth bang shut behind him. She heard his boots along the hall outside, the complete opposite of the silent steps of Hawk or Kid.

She hadn’t realized Mandy had followed them onto the train until she came into the berth. She’d never been so relieved to have her friends—her new family—by her side. She knew Mandy would have to get off of the train before it took off, but Kat felt more than a little relieved that she’d succeeded in getting on the train, anyway it took, before it took off.

Kat knew she couldn’t have a better man tracking the gunman’s whereabouts, than Cord. The moment they’d figured out that someone had put Kid on the train—they’d begun widening their circle on him too.

Cord might not be Indian, but he could track damn near as well as one. There were a few things that this town didn’t know about that man. Not bad for a man who ran a mercantile.

Kat felt Hawk come into the berth and lay a reassuring hand on her arm. For the second time that day, she felt tears threaten to fall. These two were setting everything she’d thought she’d known about people on its ear.

Not that she hadn’t valued them both already—she did. How could she not? They’d both commanded respect—had led men who followed them with high regard—in that last war they’d gotten themselves in the middle of with Hawk’s half-brother, Ashley McCandle. What, with Hawk being a feared warrior, and Jake—well, he’d gained a pretty fearsome reputation of his own—hunting the men who’d killed his wife—but none were more feared than Hawk.

Kid had been quite the opposite, she thought, tears once more filling her eyes.

What had gotten into her anyway? She felt like such a girl, fighting not to cry all the time—had been feeling like that a lot lately—even before all the fancy dresses and the fancy shoes.

She knew love made her feel this way.

It was just that—as good as Kid could fight, he’d never lost his sense of humor. He’d always had a quick smile or a joke—and Kat needed that, right now. She’d had too much seriousness in her life. She’d had too much sadness too.

She loved Kid’s quick wit and easy smile. He’d even managed to keep it up with bullets flying all around them, on more than one occasion. She couldn’t help but fall in love with him.

And she didn’t know what she’d do—if anyone succeeded in taking him from her.

Kat felt Mandy lean close to her. “Now, none of that,” she heard her quiet command. “Kid is fine. Jake will find where they’re taking him, and then you’ll be hot on their trail. Besides,” she said, and Kat heard the smile in her tone, “you’ve really got to feel sorry for anyone stupid enough to take Kid without his permission.” She laughed out loud.

Kat almost laughed with her—and winced as pain tore through her skull.

“Oh, dear,” Mandy sobered. “I’m so sorry, Kat,” she said.

Kat raised her fingers in reply—the only one she could give.

She turned and stared out the window at the bright sunshine outside—and winced as the pain stabbed through her head.

She wondered how the sun could be shining.

She didn’t even know if Kid knew she lived. Was he looking outside at the sunshine—thinking that she’d died? After all, he’d seen her get shot in the head. And he’d likely assumed the worst.

And that put him at more risk than anything else. Cause if he thought she was dead, he might do something reckless, and she might not be able to get to him—before it was too late.

A single tear broke free, and she couldn’t even lift her arm to wipe it away. Angry, she turned her head away. Time seemed to crawl. She knew Hawk would be as frantic as she was—and she took solace in the knowing.

That knowledge felt like the only thing that kept her from flying straight over the brink of a panic, like nothing she’d ever known.

Only yesterday, she’d considered going back East—and leaving him behind. Now, she knew that nothing could get her to think such reckless things again.

Here she sat—ready to head to Richmond, Virginia—and she swore that if she found him alive—and unharmed—she’d never consider being apart from him again.

She didn’t know who’d done this—and she didn’t know what they could possibly want. She didn’t know what this had to do with her dreams—but these old, long-buried memories wouldn’t leave her alone—now that they’d started to surface.

But if she found Kid—she vowed to find out. And when she had—she’d go home and live that life on their ranch, raising horses—raising their own children—and she’d never allow anything to come between them again.