Mail Order Prairie Bride: (A Western Historical Romance) (Dodge City Brides Book 1) (34 page)

BOOK: Mail Order Prairie Bride: (A Western Historical Romance) (Dodge City Brides Book 1)

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All of a sudden, Zeb bent forward. Jo froze. She watched transfixed as he drew a pistol from under the counter, the steel barrel rising up as if in slow motion to confront her.

A surge of clarity sliced through her mind. She had come here tonight to kill Zeb Stone. If she was going to plunge into hell in the attempt, she would take him with her.

Jo cocked both her guns. She raised her arm in a flash and aimed at her enemy, then shut her eyes and pulled the trigger. The gun blasted, kicked back in her hand, and she heard a body drop to the floor with a dull thud. Feeling almost sick, she opened her eyes.

Oh, dear God.
Jo stared numbly at the man lying in front of the counter. She felt as if her heart had stopped beating.

She’d shot the lawman!

A thunderous boom sounded and a bullet from Zeb’s gun ripped painfully through her shoulder. The impact knocked her off balance and she stumbled back.

Nausea weaved through her stomach. She clenched her pistols as she staggered about in disbelief, fighting the reality of what was happening. Dazed, she felt warm blood stream down to the top of the corset she wore beneath the disguise. Jo heard a
click
and recognized the sound—the hammer of Zeb’s gun. Her eyes darted up to that dark barrel again, and she knew he wanted her dead. No mistakes this time.

Determined to save herself, Jo leaped through the air just as Zeb fired. The gun boomed like a thunderclap, and behind her, a bag of flour exploded in a cloud of white dust. Jo hit the floor and rolled, pain stabbing her in the shoulder with each frantic breath.

Rising to her feet, she saw a window, her only escape. She heard Zeb cocking his gun again. There was no time to think. Fighting panic, Jo yanked her hat down over her face, took off in a run and threw herself into the glass.

Panes smashed and shattered all around her. She flew through the air and landed hard on the dry dirt in the alley, scrambled to her feet and ran around the back of the buildings, brushing the glass off herself as she went.

Panting uncontrollably, Jo fought the pain where the bullet was lodged. Her stomach burned with fear. She heard Zeb yelling after her, heard his pistol fire two more times, but she was out of range.

She hugged her arm to her side to steady her aching shoulder and ran through the darkness like a hunted animal. Her boots pounded over the hard ground. Her frenzied breaths matched the rhythm. She had to reach the privy before anyone saw her.

She skidded to a halt, swung the door open and spun inside. A turn and a
click…
the door was latched. The thick stench of stale excrement assaulted her senses. A grunt escaped her. Thank God, the lantern she’d left there was still burning.

Jo dropped to her knees and felt around for the loose board, raised it and pulled out her bag. She ripped off her coat and pain sliced like daggers down her arm.

Within seconds, she was fastening the tiny buttons on her bodice with shaking fingers. “Faster, faster,” she whispered, trying in a panic to hurry, trying to ignore the blood that had soaked her chemise and was now staining her bodice, the blood that would drain the life from her if she did not somehow get out of there.

Voices echoed in the street, ricocheting off buildings like bullets. Jo tied her muslin bonnet ribbons under her chin, but pushed the bonnet back from her face to rest on her back. She swiftly stuffed the disguise into her bag, set it back into the compartment beneath the floor and lowered the boards.

She took a quick glance around the privy, then blew out the lantern. Blackness enveloped the fetid, makeshift haven, which would have been as silent as the grave, if not for Jo’s small, frantic breaths.

Outside, desperate screams cut through the dark night. Footsteps. Hoofbeats. The town was alive in a mad search for the outlaw. They would not find him, she told herself, and tried to gather some courage from that fact.

Suddenly aware of the sick feeling in her stomach, Jo felt her head begin to spin. She tried to lean on the splintery wall, but toppled back onto the bench. An icy chill seeped into her veins and she began to shiver. She tried to calm herself, to take deep breaths to stop the shaking, but it was no use. She’d never felt so out of control.

She needed to get to a doctor. She stood, then staggered in the darkness, her trembling hands fumbling over bristly wood in search of the door latch.

Please, someone help me. I’m not going to make it.

Suddenly the door whipped open and she stared into another gun barrel.

“Mrs. O’Malley! You’re bleeding!”

Jo couldn’t look up until the gun lowered and dropped easily into a holster. A pair of hands were reaching out to her. Where was she? What was happening?

Arms encircled her and she fell into them. “Help me,” she mumbled.

“I’ve got you. It’s Deputy Anderson.”

Relief poured through her as he hoisted her into his arms and carried her into the night.

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About the Author

Julianne MacLean
is a
USA Today
bestselling author of over thirty novels, including The Highlander Trilogy with St. Martin’s Press and her popular American Heiress Series with Avon/Harper Collins. She also writes contemporary mainstream fiction, and THE COLOR OF HEAVEN was a
USA Today
bestseller. She is a three-time RITA finalist, and has won numerous awards, including the Booksellers’ Best Award, the Book Buyer’s Best Award, and a Reviewers’ Choice Award from
Romantic Times
for Best Regency Historical of 2005. She lives in Nova Scotia with her husband and daughter, and is a dedicated member of Romance Writers of Atlantic Canada. Please visit
Julianne’s website
for more information and to subscribe to her mailing list to stay informed about upcoming releases.

Other Books for your Kindle by Julianne MacLean

The American Heiress Series:

To Marry the Duke

An Affair Most Wicked

My Own Private Hero

Love According to Lily

Portrait of a Lover

Surrender to a Scoundrel

The Pembroke Palace Series:

In My Wildest Fantasies

The Mistress Diaries

When a Stranger Loves Me