Matt (The Cowboys) (43 page)

But it would be so much easier if he didn’t smile at her. If the kids didn’t love him so much. Matt lifted Noah from the buggy and let him ride double. Much to her surprise, Toby let Tess ride with him. In the buggy by herself, she had nothing to keep her from seeing how wonderful he was. How could she love any man after Matt? No one could measure up to him.

She tried to direct her thoughts to the hat shop she would open in San Antonio, a shop called Mabel’s. It didn’t interest her anymore. Neither did independence. Neither did having her own home. Everything she wanted was on the ranch with Matt, and she couldn’t have it.

Ellen gave herself a mental shake. It was pointless to continue torturing herself. She had to think of what to fix for supper. What kind of contract terms she could hammer out with Mabel Jackson. Ellen meant to pay off the debt as quickly as possible. She had no intention of being permanently trapped in a partnership with Mabel Jackson.

They had turned down the trail that ran along the creek to the ranch house when she saw Orin riding toward them. He was weaving in the saddle, something he’d never done before. Ellen hoped he hadn’t been hurt or fallen sick. Matt and Toby rode ahead to meet him. She cracked the whip and urged her horse into a trot. “What happened?” she asked when she reached the tense knot around Orin.

“Hollender kidnapped Hank.”

Chapter Twenty-five

Ellen had followed Matt to the corral, where he was saddling a fresh horse. “You can’t go by yourself. This is a job for the sheriff.”

“I know how to find his ranch. The sheriff may have to ask around first. Who knows what that man will have done by then?”

They both knew what he would do. The horror of it made it even more imperative that they find Hank as soon as possible.

“You can’t go alone. As angry as you are, you might kill him.”

He turned on her. “What does it matter if I kill another man? Will it keep you from leaving?”

She couldn’t answer that question.

“I’ll go with you,” she said.

“Stay here. That man is dangerous. He’ll try to kill anybody who takes Hank from him.”

“How can he be that desperate?”

“He’s that sick. Try to reassure the kids and don’t worry.”

“How can I not worry when you’re going after a sick killer? What’ll happen to the boys if he kills you?”

“Isabelle and Jake will see someone takes care of them. I’m not the only one in this family who takes in orphans.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about. I’m sure everyone would do their best, but these boys love you.”

“I’ve discovered love is a very unstable commodity. It can come and go without warning.”

“That’s not fair. I can’t—”

He finished saddling his horse and turned to her with one of those smiles that made the world seem all right even when she knew it wasn’t. “Don’t worry. I have no intention of letting that son of a bitch kill me.” He sobered. “But if I don’t come back, here’s something I want you to remember.” He enfolded her in his smothering embrace and kissed her until she thought she would faint. “I love you,” he said as he swung into the saddle. Then, with another smile that tore at her heart, he rode off.

For a few moments Ellen couldn’t do anything but stand there and watch him recede in the distance. She felt like her heart had been torn out of her chest. Everything had changed. Again. The possibility that Matt might be killed made everything else seem unimportant. Matt had been a desperate and frightened child seventeen years ago. He was a different man now. Besides, did her thirst for revenge make her any better because it had failed? Would she have killed Anthony Howard if she’d found him? She’d avoided answering that question for all these years, had even denied what she’d done. But she had to face it now, face what she might have done. If she didn’t, she might discover too late that she’d lost the only truly dependable man in her life.

“Do you think that man will hurt Hank?” Orin asked.

She wanted to reassure the boy, but she couldn’t bring herself to lie to him. “I don’t know. Matt will get there as soon as he can.”

“He’ll shoot Matt,” Orin said. “He said he’d kill anybody who came after him.”

“Does Matt know that?”

Orin nodded.

It was just like Matt. He hadn’t given any thought to his own life, just Hank. He didn’t seem to understand how important he was to other people.

That’s because after what happened to him, he doesn’t think he’s worth anything. And you proved it all over again.

Ellen didn’t want to shoulder any of the blame, but she couldn’t avoid it. She couldn’t have kept Matt from going after Hank, but she could have given him a reason to want to come back.

“Saddle a horse for me,” she said to Orin. “Make it the fastest one you’ve got. I’m going after Matt.”

Matt rode with a sense of urgency. He’d been following the trail of two horses that hadn’t been running comfortably together. It looked as though one was being forced to follow the other. Matt wished Hawk or Zeke were here. They’d be able to read the trail as clearly as if it could speak to them.

He preferred to think about his brothers rather than what might lay ahead. He blamed himself for the kidnapping. Isabelle would never have let Hank ride over to the ranch if she had known Matt wasn’t there. He hadn’t told anybody where he was going because he didn’t want Wilbur getting to the judge before he did.

Hollender must have guessed the judge would decide to wait on the results of the examination once he knew the nature of the charges. In hindsight, Matt wondered if Hollender hadn’t gone to the judge knowing Matt would head straight for San Antonio once he learned of the decision. Matt kicked himself for trying to do everything himself. He should have talked to the sheriff. At the very least he should have told Jake and Isabelle what he meant to do.

He hadn’t wanted to go to the Broken Circle because he couldn’t hide anything from Isabelle. He wasn’t sure she’d ever really believed he and Ellen could make their marriage work, but it would be easier on him if he didn’t have to explain their failure. He needed time to accustom himself to the fact that he’d come so close and lost. Just thinking about it brought the pain back. Sometimes stronger than ever.

He didn’t know how he could endure the remaining weeks before the adoptions were final. Maybe if he got Hank, helping the boy regain his confidence and self-respect would occupy his time until the sharpness of his loss dulled a little, but it would never go away. This had been his one chance, the only chance he wanted.

The tracks veered off into the brush, then returned to the trail rather quickly. Apparently Hank had broken away and Hollender had caught him and forced him back on the trail. Matt told himself he couldn’t imagine a man forcing himself on a boy who fought as hard as Hank must be fighting, but then he remembered his own uncle. Nothing had ever stopped him.

Except death.

He tried to hold back the rage that boiled inside him. He must not lose control. No matter what Hollender had done, he must not take the law in his own hands. Killing his uncle had cost him Ellen. Killing Hollender would cost him the boys. Matt didn’t think he could endure two such blows.

He was approaching Hollender’s ranch. The fences needed repair and the corral rails needed to be replaced, but the barn and house seemed solid. A quick search revealed that Hollender hadn’t brought Hank here. The only other possibility was Hank’s parents’ ranch. He had passed that figuring Hollender wouldn’t go to a burned-out wreck. Now he realized Hollender had gone there because he knew Matt would come here first.

He had lost valuable time. He urged his horse into a fast canter, agonizing over every lost minute, wondering if he could have been in time if he’d just thought to check the abandoned ranch first.

When he reached the turnoff, he remembered why he’d passed it before. The trail led past the turnoff. Hollender must have continued well past the cutoff, then doubled back, figuring Matt wouldn’t look for any more tracks once he eliminated the abandoned ranch. Matt felt like a fool. He’d let his anger at Hollender and his torment over losing Ellen cause him to miss important details. People always complained he was too controlled, too emotionless. Now, when he needed those very traits, he’d allowed emotion to overcome him, and Hank would be the one to pay the price.

A short distance down the road to the farm, the hoof-prints of two horses entered the trail. The fire of anger began to warm his blood. The house itself had been burned, but the sight of two horses in front of the barn spurred him on. Matt dismounted more than a hundred feet away. He didn’t want Hollender to hear him coming.

He raced across the yard, the soft soil muffling the sound of his boots. He slowed as he approached the barn, then rushed in through the open door. After the bright sunlight, he was unable to see anything in the shadowy inside of the barn. But he heard the sound of running feet, someone escaping through the back.

“Matt.” The voice was weak and unsteady.

“Hank, where are you? I can’t see.”

“I’m over here. Go get him, Matt. Kill him. He said no matter where you took me, he’d come after me again.”

“Are you all right?”

“Get him, please. Kill him.”

Trusting Hank was truly all right, Matt ran through the bam and out the back. The sunlight momentarily blinded him, but he could see Hollender running down a path toward some live oaks that grew along a dry wash. Matt paused. He had a choice. Hollender would either cross the wash or attempt to circle back and get his horse. Matt didn’t know the ranch, but he expected Hollender would try to circle back. Matt’s best choice was to conceal himself in the brush and wait.

He’d hardly hunkered down behind a mesquite bush when he saw Hollender working his way back to the barn under cover of the clumps of grass and cedar that dotted the range. Matt tried to stay hidden, but it wasn’t long before Hollender saw him. The man ran with the speed of a deer. He was barefooted and in long johns. Matt was slowed down by high-heeled boots, but he was determined Hollender wouldn’t beat him to the horses.

“Stay away from me,” Hollender shouted. “I’ll kill you.”

Matt concentrated on running.

Hollender stooped down, grabbed up a rock, and threw it. The man had a strong and accurate arm. Matt had to change course to avoid being hit in the head, but he gained a few steps on Hollender.

“You can’t arrest me. There are no charges against me.”

Matt didn’t waste time arguing. He sat down and wrestled his boots off. He lost precious time, but now he could run as fast as Hollender. Thinking he had outdistanced Matt, Hollender made straight for his horse. Taking a chance he could catch Hollender off guard, Matt came around the far side of the barn. Hollender had already mounted his horse and was leaning out of the saddle, trying to catch up the reins of Matt’s horse. With a final effort, Matt leapt through the air, catching Hollender by the shoulders before he could straighten up. He pulled Hollender out of the saddle and pounced on him the moment he hit the ground.

Hollender fought like a tiger, quick and elusive, but Matt was bigger and stronger. Knowing Matt’s greater strength, Hank’s uncle put all his effort into staying out of reach. He managed to keep Matt from getting a grip on him until he slipped, made a sharp turn, and fell to his knees. Matt threw himself on Hollender and pinned him in the dirt with his body.

Taking him by the throat, he slammed Hollender’s head against the ground. “That’s just a taste of what I’m going to do,” he said between gasps for breath.

Making a superhuman effort, Hollender threw Matt off, but he didn’t get away.

“I want you to experience what it must have felt like to Hank to know he couldn’t get away,” Matt said once he had him down again, “to know you could abuse him as long as you wanted.” He slammed Hollender against the ground again. “I’m just sorry I can’t make you feel his humiliation, can’t make you hate yourself.”

He slammed him against the ground again.

“What kind of man would abuse his own nephew?”

Wham!

“A child without parents, without family.”

Wham!

“Do you understand what it’s like to wake up trembling with fear every day, not knowing when it’ll happen, but knowing it will?”

Wham!

“It’s like living in hell.”

Wham!

“And no one will help. That’s the irony. No one will believe that an uncle would do such a thing.”

Wham! Wham!

“And after a while you can’t leave because you’re so dirtied, so foul, so putrid no decent person would have anything to do with you.”

Wham! Wham! Wham!

Hollender’s eyes had rolled back in his head. His tongue lolled out the side of his mouth. A voice inside Matt shouted at him to stop, but his blood was up.

Wham! Wh—

“Matt, stop! You’re killing him.”

He felt hands on his arms, pulling at him. Through his rage he heard Ellen calling to him. But Ellen was back at the ranch.

“Matt, he’s not worth your life. If you can’t think of yourself, think of all the people who love you.”