Jake, Devils on Horseback, Book 2 (19 page)

“M-m-m—” Sam struggled to speak with no tongue.

“I’m not sure where Mary is but I saw her earlier today. She was fine.” Jake didn’t want to admit he really didn’t care where Mary was, as long as she stayed away from Gabby and didn’t hurt her anymore. Certainly if Mary was with her lover, Jake wasn’t about to tell Sam that.

Sam huffed out a breath and closed his eyes. “Happuh?”

Jake wasn’t sure he was the right person to tell Sam what happened but figured he owed the father of the woman he loved at least the respect to be honest. “Six months ago, some raiders took your tongue and threw you into the mill.” He swallowed. “The way I understand it you’ve been kind of lost since then.”

Tears rolled down his sunken cheeks as Sam seemed to struggle with what Jake told him. “Who ou?”

“My name is Jake Sheridan. My friends and I were hired by Mayor Wolcott to protect the town. We, uh, cleared out the raiders today.” He didn’t dare tell Sam exactly who was responsible or what had happened. “I know you don’t understand any of this and I’m sorry for that. Sorry for a lot of things actually.”

“Miw?” Sam tried to rise out of the bed and failed.

Jake put his hand on the older man’s shoulder. “The mill’s repaired. Gabby’s been keeping it going these last six months. Nobody was here to keep watch so it’s shut down right now. Let’s get you cleaned up so you can see your daughter.”

After helping Sam wash and change clothes, the older man looked a hundred times better. Jake sat him in the chair, gave him the food to eat and went in search of Gabby. She’d want to know her father had woken from his stupor. He went downstairs and threw the dirty water outside. Two buckets heated on the stove while Lee and Gideon sat at the table talking quietly.

“Where’s Zeke?”

“Downstairs.” Gideon’s tight jaw told Jake that Zeke had gone down to see Veronica against his friend’s advice.

“You seen Gabby? I’ve got something important to tell her.”

“She’s upstairs helping those ladies.” Gideon shook his head. “Crying shame what folks will do for a dollar nowadays. Be easy up there.” Always the caretaker, even when he didn’t have to be.

As Jake raced back up the steps, he thought about Zeke and wished he hadn’t gone downstairs to confront the woman, even if Veronica had been responsible for killing the woman who’d finally crept her way into his heart. Jake understood vengeance all too well, but Zeke didn’t generally put his trust in anyone, man or woman, unless he was absolutely certain of them. Allison’s death must have left a big, angry hole in the blond’s heart.

Zeke circled the couple tied to the beam, and his gut churned. The cellar was a miserable hole beneath the mill. The smell of earth and vegetables permeated the air. The two of them ignored him, only whispering to each other every few minutes, keeping Zeke out of their private little world. He’d never felt so completely bamboozled, so stupid and useless. No woman had ever got the drop on him before. He was always more careful than his friends with his female companionship. He’d had no idea that bitch had crawled into his bed, had taken advantage of him.

Veronica had fooled everyone, including him, a fact that sat hard and heavy on Zeke’s shoulders. The time she’d come to see him in the doctor’s office and pleasured him burned in his gut. He should have known that wasn’t Allison but he’d been blinded by lust and woozy from the laudanum. He simply had to understand
why
she’d used him and the town.

“You know it’ll go much easier for you if you tell me everything.” Zeke resisted the urge to make her look at him. “Gideon already wired the marshal’s office. They’ll be here in two days.” At least he hoped Gideon had already wired the marshal’s office.

Veronica’s response was a chuckle. “You’re better at telling the truth. Stop lying.”

Zeke crouched down and forced her chin up. “You ought to know a lot about lying.” Her eyes appeared translucent in the dim light surrounding them. He didn’t know what he expected, perhaps madness, but what he saw instead was cold calculation.

She stared at him, daring him to do something other than stomp his feet and howl. Zeke’s hands tightened into fists as fury raced through him.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you? In fact, I think you like being hurt and hurting others. You’re a poor excuse for a human being and I’m sorry I had the misfortune of ever meeting you.” With monumental self-control, Zeke rose and climbed up the steps to the trap door. God knows he would’ve become violent if he’d stayed there one more minute.

A gentle chuckle floated up behind him. “You didn’t think that way when I had your dick in my mouth.”

“Shut up, bitch.” Zeke’s teeth clenched together so hard, he felt pain all the way down his arms. He looked around for something to use as a gag.

“You boys thought you had this town under your control,” she scoffed. “You’re nothing but dirt under my feet.
I
controlled
you.
All it took was a good fuck and you were
mine
. Besides, I liked the looks of you. It’s nice to have another flavor now and then.”

Zeke stared at her, his stomach roiling with the knowledge he’d been intimate with this woman. Granted, he’d been drugged and confused, but his skin crawled at the thought.

“I can’t believe you fucked him,” Alvin shouted. “You’re mine.”

Veronica focused on Zeke and unbelievably a frisson of fear raced down his spine at the malice in her eyes. “Don’t worry, Alvin, I’m done with him, more than done. I just need to take out the trash.”

Zeke swallowed the bile that rose in his throat and ran up the stairs, Veronica’s husky laughter and Alvin’s cursing chasing him all the way up.

Jake knocked on the door lightly. “Gabby?”

The murmur of soft voices stopped, then he heard her footsteps approaching the door. “Jake?”

“Honey, I need to talk to you.” He practically danced in place waiting to show her Sam’s recovery.

“I’m a little busy right now. Can it wait until after they finish their baths?” She sounded annoyed.

“No, it can’t. It’s important.”

She opened the door and slid out so fast he barely had time to react. “What is it?” She frowned at him in the shadows. “I can’t believe you of all people would interrupt me. You know what it’s like to be them right now.”

Jake swallowed the enormous lump of acid that threatened to appear at her comments. “Before you swat me with one more sharp word, I just wanted to tell you that I talked to your pa. He’s eating supper right now.”

He turned, angry with himself for being excited, angry with her for throwing it in his face. She clutched his arm with her newly bandaged hand. “What do you mean, you talked to him?” Her fingers dug into the fleshy part of his upper arm.

“I went to tend to him and he talked to me, like he’d just woken up from being asleep for six months—” Before he even finished his sentence, she ran down the short hallway and burst into her father’s room.

“Papa?” Her trembling voice made Jake close his eyes. The hope, the love she put into that one word would be enough to feed his soul for the rest of his life.

Jake couldn’t hear Sam’s low response, but Gabby’s was loud and clear.

“Oh my God, Papa!”

Ashamed of his need to look, but unwilling to set it aside, Jake crept toward the room. He poked his head around the corner and saw Gabby and her father embracing. They were both murmuring something to each other and tears rolled down their faces. Jake blinked back the sudden sting in his eyes.

He’d searched his whole life for that kind of love and devotion from family. When his own family didn’t give it to him, Jake invented it with any and all women. The Devils became his family, the men for whom he’d gladly give his life. But this was more, much more than that. His heart ached for what Gabby shared with her father, he could practically taste the need on his tongue.

Jake turned away to give them privacy.

“Jake, come here.” She snuffled loudly. “Please.”

He took a deep breath, hoping like hell he would keep his head instead of blubbering like a child. “Did you need something?”

“You.” Her voice, husky from tears, was full of emotion. “Please come in. I owe you an apology.”

Jake couldn’t deny her or his own feelings. He stepped into the room and saw her truly happy for the first time since he’d met her. Gabby’s face glowed with the light of a thousand stars.

“I’m sorry I was rude to you, Jake. I can’t believe, well, it’s so amazing. Papa, I’d like you to meet Jake Sheridan. Jake, this is my father, Sam Rinaldi.” She looked back and forth between them. “I can’t tell you how much it means to me for you two to officially meet.”

“Howdy, Sam.”

Sam nodded, his eyes not straying from Gabby for more than a moment.

“Papa, Jake is…well, he’s the man I love.” Gabby’s simple admission made Jake’s legs almost give out.

He wondered how he’d been gifted by God with such an angel’s love. She was everything he wanted to be and more. Gabby showed him what it meant to give, to never give up and to do everything with her heart. Sweet heaven, he loved her, so much it snatched his breath.

She stared at him until he made it over to her side. With a smile, she brushed her hand on his cheek. When she held up her fingers for Jake to see, they were wet with tears.

“Marry me, Gabby.” He blurted the words before he’d even had a chance to think about them. “I mean, I want to marry you. I’m a little mixed up right now but I do know that I love you. I haven’t always done the right thing in my life, and in fact I started out born out of wedlock. I took the last name of a peddler because my mother couldn’t give me my pa’s. You see, I’m a bastard.” Tears crowded his throat and he swallowed to dislodge them. “I’m not the best man in the world, but I swear to you I will be the best husband.”

Gabby glanced at her father, then threw herself into Jake’s arms. As he enfolded her in his embrace, Jake met Sam’s gaze and saw approval, acceptance and gratitude.

Jake felt his entire world shift and suddenly he held everything he’d thought he’d never have in his hands. Love had finally found the lonely charmer.

Chapter Ten

It was midnight before the Devils ventured out to snoop around town. The plan was for Lee and Zeke to head for the saloon’s back entrance while Gideon and Jake went to the mercantile to talk to Matthew. They were about to split up by the ruins of the restaurant when Lee stopped them.

“Son of a bitch.” He squatted down and peered at the road, which was exceptionally bright in the light of the full moon.

“What is it?” Jake’s heart pounded, certain whatever Lee was about to tell them was not good news.

“Army horses have been through here. I can tell by the crappy horseshoes. See this here? They are regular army issue iron.” He looked up at them. “I’d say Nessman’s caught up to us.”

The shaking began somewhere near his feet and traveled up Jake’s body until his teeth began to smack together. He had the world in his hands and that bastard Yankee was going to force him to leave it behind. The fear he expected didn’t come, instead, fury swept through him. He would
not
let that man ruin the rest of his life.

“Bastard,” Jake spat. “Why can’t he just leave the war behind?”

“Good question.” Gideon looked off toward the center of town. “I wired General Anderson last week to try to get help for Tanger. I don’t know if he can help us or not, but we need to get word to the closest marshal’s office about Veronica and Alvin, and I’d say we need to talk to Matthew Marchison too. God knows we need to tell him about his wife.” He pointed to Zeke. “You get to the telegraph office, maybe Lucy can help. I’ll go pay Marchison a visit. Lee and Jake, get back to the mill and lay low. The two of you stick out like a sore thumb in town.”

“Thanks,” Lee snapped. “I’ll go hide with the women and Jake.”

“It ain’t hiding, Lee,” Gideon said quietly. “We’re protecting our own. By my estimate, Gabby Rinaldi is one of our own now.”

Jake nodded his thanks, grateful Gideon had wired their former commanding general for help. He’d have never thought of it. “Let’s get back then.” Tension vibrated through his body. “Lee, for once just do as you’re asked instead of complaining about it.”

“Fine.” Lee stomped away.

“That man is due for some good woman to set him straight.” Gideon shook his head. “Too bad most of the women in town are gone or are too old for him. You got lucky, Jake.”

“I know, Gid. That’s why I’m not gonna let Nessman take me away from her. I don’t care what I have to do.” Jake meant every word of it. No way in hell was he running again.

“We’ll do what we need to,” was Gideon’s only response before he and Zeke took off into the darkness.

Jake walked back to the mill with his hat pulled firmly down over his red hair. Nessman had no idea what he was up against.

Nate Marchand prided himself on being prompt, groomed and well-prepared. As he rode into Tanger in the early morning hours with his wife Elisa by his side, he was concerned he was a day late. They’d expected to arrive on Tuesday, but an emergency at the ranch in Grayton delayed their departure. When Gideon had wired him the week before to ask him to check into Phineas Wolcott, Nate knew something was very wrong. It was the first time his friend had contacted Nate since the Devils disappeared four months earlier.

Nate had sent a telegram with information about Wolcott back to Gideon but hadn’t received a response. That worried him immensely and he convinced his wife Elisa to ride with him to the town the telegram had come from, Tanger.

His former captain was nothing if not reliable. If Gid didn’t reply to a telegram, then something was wrong. Judging by the looks of the town, including the remains of a burned building, something had definitely gone awry. Many of the buildings sported fresh lumber, but there was still a lot of damage to be repaired. The streets were nearly deserted, which just served to make Nate more convinced something had happened to his friends.

“Somebody’s been shooting up this town.” Elisa spoke in a low voice. “It’s spooky.”

Nate shot a sidelong glance at his fire-haired bride and once again counted his lucky stars she’d become his. The sassy-mouthed, gun-toting woman was everything he’d ever need in life, and then some.

“We need to find the Devils.” He turned to face the two men behind him. “Thanks for the company during the ride. I’m certain we’ll see you later.”

The men nodded and rode into town as if they were coming to visit friends, not like the U.S. Marshals they were. Nate thanked God they’d run into them on the way to Tanger. They were tight-lipped about where they were going, but eventually Nate obtained the information he needed. With Gideon’s cryptic wire about Wolcott and two marshals on their way there, he knew the two had to be connected.

“Where do you want to start looking?” Elisa looked around. “Did Gideon say where they were?”

“No, but I’m sure we can find them. Let’s see what we can find.”

Jake sipped the black coffee and looked out the window at the still waterwheel. In a perfect world, he’d marry Gabby and stay here and learn to be a miller. It sounded perfect, exactly what life should be—predictable and happy. However, it wasn’t a perfect world and there was still so much to be resolved, starting with the whereabouts of her mother, the prosecution of Veronica and Alvin for their crimes, and the price on Jake’s head. It seemed like a canyon existed between him and his perfect life.

He sensed Gabby before she appeared next to him. Every hair on his body stood up, reaching for her.

“Good morning.” She wrapped her arms around his belly. The soft press of her breasts on his back was incredible. He could get used to that every day.

“You’re up early.” She took the cup of coffee from his hands. “And you made coffee.” One dark eyebrow rose. “I didn’t know you were handy in the kitchen.”

“I’m the oldest of a passel of Irish children. I had to learn to cook. I didn’t say it was any good though.”

She took a sip of the coffee and made a horrible face. “I’ll make the coffee from now on. What did you do, use an entire bag?”

He laughed and pulled her close for a hug. Being with her was so easy, so right, he could definitely get addicted to it.

“Where is everyone?” She handed him back the cup.

“I’m not sure. They came back last night after scouting around.” He swallowed the lie that rose to his lips. He owed her the full truth. “I have to tell you something, Gabby. For the last six months a Yankee army captain has been chasing us, me in particular. He’s fixated on it and no matter what we do, we can’t seem to run far enough to get away from him.”

Gabby listened with an intense expression on her face. It took Jake a few moments to realize it was worry,
for him
. That gave him the courage to finish what he had to say.

“A few months ago, he arrested me on a false charge and has been ghosting us like a damn bloodhound across Texas. Last night Gideon found out Nessman is here in Tanger, just outside town.” He let the anger again wash through him, instead of fear. “According to Lucy, someone in town sold him information about us.”

Her brows slammed together. “How would they know how to contact him?”

“I’m not sure. My guess is that Nessman put out a wanted poster on me. We’re trapped here, out of sight, until we can find a way to get rid of him.” He turned and stepped a few feet away from her, hanging onto his control and trying to keep his head on straight. “I’m tired of running, Gabby. I’m going to make my stand here in Tanger no matter what happens.”

“You could die,” she snapped. “I thought you didn’t want to die. Now you tell me you don’t care what happens to you? Was that all a lie last night when you asked me to marry you?”

“No, none of it was a lie.” He took her in his arms. “I love you and you’re not getting rid of me. I’m just saying that I might have to go to prison or jail for a while, until we get this sorted out. I just can’t run anymore. Jesus, Gabby, I hope you understand because this is what I have to do.”

Jake had come to town as a confused, scared mess. Now, he was a man in love, ready to begin the rest of life, which meant he had to close the book on his past. That included getting rid of the threat Nessman represented.

A shout sounded from outside. “Sheridan! I know you’re in there. I’ve got Mary Rinaldi right next to me telling me you’re in there fornicating with her daughter.”

Jake met Gabby’s gaze. “Nessman,” he whispered, his heart beating a rapid tattoo against his ribs.

“Hide.”

“I can’t, Gabby. I’ve got to face this.” He started toward the door.

“No, you can’t.” She yanked on his arms. “The marshals should be here in a couple of days for Veronica and Alvin. We can hide you until then. Please Jake, please.”

Jake had decided to give himself up to Nessman, he couldn’t change his mind. He’d told her the truth—he needed to be free of the stress of hiding and running.

“I have to.”

“No!” She pulled a pistol from her skirt pocket. “You’re going to go down to the cellar until the rest of your friends come. You do everything together. I won’t let you make this decision alone.”

Jake stared at the gun in her bandaged hand and then at her determined, scared face. “Gabby, please let me do this.”

“No. Get downstairs.”

He glanced at the trapdoor. “I don’t think I can.”

She set the gun down on the table and wrapped her arms around her stomach. “Please, Jake. I can’t lose you today. I can’t, not when I’ve just found you.”

Jake was torn between his love for Gabby and his need to be done with Nessman. In the end, he knew he couldn’t refuse her. With a tight nod, he headed for the trap door. He hoped like hell he could stay down there without losing his mind.

* * * * *

Gabby had never been so scared, not even when the raiders were six feet away and shooting at her. This army captain wanted to take Jake and likely let him rot in jail or hang at the end of a rope. She would not let that happen, ever.

She took a gulp of Jake’s awful coffee, squared her shoulders and grabbed her shotgun. Outside the mill stood a mixture of people she didn’t recognize, except one. Gabby stepped onto the porch and held the gun in front of her.

“Mama, what are you doing?”

Mary crossed her arms and started tapping her foot. “Saving your life and getting us a reward to boot. Captain Nessman here has been looking for that redheaded thief for some time. He’s offered us a five hundred dollar reward.”

Gabby took a moment to swallow the angry retort that sprang to her lips. She studied the army officer and recognized the determined, obsessed look in his eye. The man had only four soldiers with him, and they looked ragtag and tired. The captain regarded her slowly from her toes to her head and back again. Her skin crawled with revulsion at the way he made her feel.

“Some things aren’t worth any amount of money.” Gabby tightened her grip on the wooden handle of the gun. Pain shot up her arm from the healing blisters, but she welcomed it.

“That’s where we agree, Miss Rinaldi.” The captain resembled a weasel with his pointy face and beady eyes. “A man’s pride and honor cannot be purchased for any price, and therefore must be protected at all costs. That thieving bastard in there took my honor and I have ridden in the bowels of hell to get it back.”

“Are you saying Tanger is hell, Captain?” Gabby noted another well-dressed man and a woman in trousers mounted on horses behind the soldiers.

“I’m saying I’ve come through a lot to get here. One gun-toting female isn’t going to stop me.” He walked toward her and a frisson of fear snaked down her spine. The man intended to force his way into the mill.

Gabby raised the shotgun and pulled back the hammer. “This is private property. Step one foot inside this mill and I’ll kill you.”

The air between them hung heavy with tension and fear. Nessman slowed his approach but didn’t stop.

“I don’t think you’ll do that, Miss Rinaldi. You don’t want to go to prison either, do you?” A frightening grin split his face. “Although I’d be happy to escort you there, provided I’m not dead.”

“You’re not escorting her anywhere, Captain, and you’re not taking Jake either.” The handsome man in the nice clothes nudged his mount forward.

Nessman whirled around. “Marchand, what the hell are you doing here?”

Gabby wondered who Marchand was and how he would help Jake because he obviously wasn’t in the captain’s good graces.

“I’m here to stop a travesty, of course. Good day to you, Miss Rinaldi. My name is Nathaniel Marchand, my friends in D.H. Enterprises call me Nate.” He tipped his hat to Gabby, and she was struck by how beautiful he was, and how well spoken. “You do not have any legal rights to arrest Jacob Sheridan or anyone else for that matter.”

“Go back to your whore and get out of my way.” Nessman kept his gaze on Nate, apparently ignoring the woman Nate had arrived with.

He should have paid more attention. Lithe as a cat, she jumped from her horse and stuck a pistol in the captain’s back, all without his knowledge. Gabby liked her immediately. “You’d best stop right there, you stupid Yankee bastard, or I’ll give you a hole you didn’t have this morning.” The woman’s fiery hair matched her personality.

“Ah, the manly Mrs. Marchand. Elisa, right?” Nessman laughed, even as she pressed the nose of the gun into his back. “You and Miss Rinaldi will be a treat to have in my care.”

“Never gonna happen.” Gideon stepped out from behind the mill, Zeke and Lee behind him, the fierce, angry expressions identical on their faces as they stood beside her, guarding the mill and Jake. “Get out of Tanger, Nessman.”

Nessman laughed. “What makes you, any of you, believe you have the right to order an army captain around? I’m taking my prisoners and no one can stop me.”

“We can.” Two more men stepped forward from the back of the group. “Marshals Whitney and Johnson from Houston.”

They wore nondescript black trousers and blue shirts, but the shiny badges on their shirts marked them as lawmen. Finally someone in Tanger who was actually an officer of the law. The fact that it took six months for the town’s pleas to be heard left a bitter taste in Gabby’s mouth. Too late in her book. More than twenty women were missing or dead.