Renegade (17 page)

Matt went still. “The nosy fella who has been asking a lot of questions?”

Samantha stiffened. “I sent for him. He was my father’s friend.”

“Your father…the Pinkerton.”

“Sean is a Pinkerton, too.”

Matt did not respond, but his gaze tightened.

“Sean pretended to be an old friend when he saw I was masquerading as a saloon woman, but it’s not wholly true. I’ve always called him Uncle Sean and I sent for him when I was frustrated and didn’t seem to be getting anywhere on the case—before you and I were together. Sean was slightly involved in the investigation until Pinkerton assigned him elsewhere. I knew he would come when I asked, but I regretted sending for him as soon as I sent the wire.”

“Why are you telling me now?”

“I didn’t tell Sean anything. I just asked him to leave because I wanted to finish what I started, but he refused. He knows I’m hiding something. I never could fool him, and he’s relentless. He’ll find out about your brother. He’s a real danger.”

“Is that all?”

“No.”

“What else?”

“Toby Larsen knows you have a twin.”

“You told him?”

“He was your father’s friend when he was younger,” Samantha responded quickly. “He knew about your mother and father and about her pregnancy, but he seems to be the only person who knew she had twin boys.”

“Why did it take him so long to figure out the whole mess?”

Samantha asked incredulously, “Do I hear a note of doubt in your voice, Matt?”

Matt repeated his question: “What took him so long to make the connection?”

“Toby figured your twin was dead, just like your father did. When your father got involved with raising you and trying to save the ranch, years passed and Toby and he went their separate ways. Toby forgot all about it for a while.”

“Why didn’t he say something when he remembered?”

“Because I asked him not to.”

“You asked him?”

“Matt—”

“But now that we’re…close, you’re telling me.”

She didn’t like his tone. It was almost as if he were trying to get her angry as he continued. “You’re telling me about your two ‘friends’ who pose a danger to the secret my brother and I wanted to keep.”

“That’s right.”

“How can I be sure you’re telling me the whole truth now?”

Samantha took a step back. “How can you say that after…after yesterday?”

“You’re a good actress.”

Samantha was astounded at his sudden change of attitude. If she didn’t know better—

“It’s me, all right, Samantha—Matt—just in case you’re wondering.”

And he could read her mind, too.

“You said you loved me yesterday, but you’re a different person today,” she said.

“That was yesterday.”

Momentarily silent, Samantha asked, “What happened to change things between us?”

Matt did not reply.

“What happened?”

Matt maintained his silence.

“Matt—”

When he still did not reply, Samantha said solemnly, “I came out here to tell you about Uncle Sean and Toby. I did what I had to do. I’m going back to town now.”

Samantha remounted and looked down at Matt briefly before nudging her horse forward. She paused after a few minutes on the trail to look behind her. Matt had not followed her. And she wondered—where had it all gone so suddenly wrong?

He had handled it poorly, and Matt knew it, but the previous day had gone badly for him after leaving Samantha. He had spoken to Tucker and realized that he would most probably get involved in his brother’s troubles with the law. It was then that he acknowledged to himself that he needed to put distance between Samantha and himself in order to keep her out of the debacle.

He had not arrived at that decision lightly. Samantha was not a Pinkerton yet. She did not have a Pinkerton shield to protect her. Tucker regretted involving him in his robberies, but the result was
the same. The situation was already complex, but with Sean McGill and Toby Larsen suddenly part of the mix, it was too dangerous to take a chance.

Matt stared at the empty trail that Samantha had followed back toward town. He had accomplished what he wanted. He had forced her to take a step away from him. Somehow he had not realized that the accomplishment would leave him destitute.

He wished there had been another way, but Samantha was stubborn. He had thought the situation through, and simply asking her to maintain a distance until he figured things out would not work.

He was still in the yard when the sound of hoofbeats caused Matt to glance in their direction. Startled, he saw Jenny and Tucker riding his way. He did not speak when their horses came to a halt beside the porch, or when Tucker lifted Jenny down from the saddle. He saw Tucker’s deference when Jenny whispered to him. He noted the look that passed between them when Jenny slipped her hand into his.

The first to speak, Jenny said simply, “I want to tell you that Tucker told me he intended to turn himself in to the law. To be honest, I’m uncertain how everything came about afterward, but—” Jenny’s face flushed and she turned briefly to Tucker for support. “But we’re together now and we realize how we feel about each other.”

Jenny continued in a rush when she saw Matt’s dark expression. “I know it isn’t what you wanted to hear me say for many reasons, Matt. I’m also sorry if it sounds rash to you, but it really isn’t. I feel like I’ve known a part of Tucker all my life—the part that is so similar to you. I’ve always loved that part. The difference is that in meeting Tucker, I finally made the connection to the man within. All the expectations that I ever had for true love were met and surpassed then. Tucker says he feels the same way. I believe him, Matt, because—well, it’s as if we were just waiting for each other.”

Pausing for a response from Matt that did not come, Jenny continued. “I was willing to go away with Tucker to escape the law for selfish reasons—that I loved him, that I didn’t want us to be separated for whatever time the law commands—but Tucker wouldn’t have it. He said I would become a part of his past that way, and he didn’t want that. He said he wants to get his debt to the law paid once and for all so we don’t have to hide anything anymore.”

When Matt still did not reply, Jenny said hopefully, “I hope you understand all this, Matt. Tucker wants to put the past behind him before he goes on, so we can face the future together.”

Matt’s response was to look at his brother and ask, “Do you think that’s fair—asking Jenny to wait however long the law figures in your future?”

“No, but—”

Cutting Tucker short, Jenny whispered, “It’s fair for me, Matt. I love Tucker. I’m willing to wait however long it’ll take because I know I can look to the future only with him. But I love you, too, and I want you to wish us well.”

“Jenny—”

“Please, Matt.”

Matt took a deep breath. He saw Tucker’s hand tighten around Jenny’s. It was a subtle gesture with great significance—proprietary, supportive, and loving.

Matt said abruptly, “If you’re asking for my blessing, you have it. You know I want your happiness—but my blessing comes with a condition.”

Tucker asked hoarsely, “What condition?”

“I want you to wait before you turn yourself in.” Glancing toward the trail where Samantha had disappeared a short time earlier, Matt hesitated and then said, “I need to handle a few things first.”

“You mean with your Pinkerton?”

“Pinkerton?” Alarm flashed in Jenny’s gaze. “What Pinkerton are you talking about, Tucker?”

“You know I’d never do anything to hurt you or my brother, Jenny,” Matt answered in his stead. He held Jenny’s gaze reassuringly and said, “Tucker can explain everything he knows to you when I leave.”

“Everything I know—which isn’t much.”

Matt did not respond to Tucker’s comment.

Tucker said, “All right, Matt. I’ll wait.” Then turning to Jenny, he continued. “In the meantime, we have a lot of explaining to do to your father.”

Matt watched as Jenny and Tucker rode back in the direction of the Circle O without another word.

“Who are they?”

Helen glanced at Jim, waiting for his response, and then back at the two riders who had arrived at the Trail’s End earlier. She didn’t like their looks. Both men were dirty, as if they hadn’t washed off the residue of the long trail behind them. Their hair hung in oily strands from underneath wide-brimmed hats that were stained with sweat. Vicious spurs were attached to boots covered with dried mud and other, more offensive substances. Their pants were baggy and discolored, and the guns on belts slung low across their hips appeared to be the only accessories that were paid the attention due them.

Maggie and Denise had approached them dutifully, but both men had turned the women down, apparently as disinterested in them as they were in the casual conversation at the bar. The only thing that seemed to hold any appeal was drinking and obtaining information—about Matt.

Helen looked at Jim where he sat beside her. His only reply to her question was a negative shake of his head when he said, “I don’t know who they are, but I don’t like the looks of them one bit.”

Jim was sitting closer to her at the table than was necessary and he had gripped her hand reassuringly. That gesture heartened Helen, but it did not eliminate her concern.

She had noticed a change in Samantha. Samantha’s frivolity—always seeming to be a natural part of her personality—had become too intense and her quips too strained, as if she was having difficulty maintaining a veneer due to crack at any moment. Helen couldn’t bear the thought of that. Samantha was still special to her—the person who had sent her the man of her dreams.

Helen felt Jim’s grip tighten, and she flushed. She didn’t mind being second choice with Jim, especially since he had said he liked her—and especially since she believed him.

“You’re worried about Samantha, aren’t you, Helen?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Me too. I figure those two are asking too many questions about the only fella that Samantha’s really interested in.”

“Then you don’t care that Samantha—?”

Helen halted abruptly and Jim smiled. “No, I don’t care about Samantha in that way anymore. But that don’t mean that I don’t care about her at all.”

“I care about her, too.”

“I know.”

Suddenly aware that their mutual caring was another bond they shared, Helen smiled. But that smile fell when the two men sauntered arrogantly toward the Trail’s End’s swinging doors with satisfied sneers and an obvious destination in mind.

“Where do you think they’re going?”

Jim shook his head.

“I don’t know what to do.”

Jim’s response came slowly. It was accompanied by a deep frown as he said, “Right now I don’t think we have any choice but to wait and see what happens.”

Samantha walked across the lobby of the Sleepy Rest Hotel in full saloon-woman regalia. She had donned her gold satin dress and the heavy makeup of the trade. She had reviewed her confession to Matt about Sean and Toby in her mind again, but could not truly account for the reaction she received.

Despite her initial anger, she had hoped Matt would regret sending her away. She wanted to start over without influences of the past if that was possible, but she was only too aware that she could not afford to make any drastic changes in the masquerade she had established. Uncle Sean could not be found at the moment, and Toby would probably show up at the Trail’s End to see her sooner or later. Only at the Trail’s End bar—where nothing in town
passed unnoticed or unreported—could she be kept current on whatever was happening without becoming obvious.

Samantha continued toward the Trail’s End with a smile and a confident walk that she did not feel. Yet she sensed something was wrong.

Samantha entered the Trail’s End to the gratified calls of the fellows at the bar. Her responsive smile was immediate, but it was Helen and Jim’s advance toward her—the two friends she had firmly established—that caught her eye. Their expressions stopped her cold.

Halting at the doorway when they reached her, Samantha listened as Helen spoke and Jim supported her comments. Refusing to react outwardly to their obvious concern, she dismissed their anxiety, but sauntered to the bar to speak a necessary word to the bartender and fend off the protests of the men there before leaving.

Rushing directly from there to the livery stable, Samantha was annoyed when the hired man that Toby had left on duty didn’t seem to know where Toby had gone. Still wearing her saloon costume, she mounted with difficulty, knowing she could not take time to change.

Matt paced with indecision. The sound of his booted footsteps echoed in his silent ranch house as confused thoughts continued to deluge his mind. Tucker and Jenny had left together. Their appearance
as a couple had stunned him almost as much as Jenny’s decision to wait however long it would take for Tucker to pay his debt to society. Yet they now faced the even more difficult problem of explaining that situation to Jenny’s father.

Matt shook his head in silent distress. The old man would find it as hard to comprehend as he did. Adding to that problem would be his automatic anger. It would all take a heavy toll on the aging man who had become almost a father to Matt since his own father’s death.

Yet his reaction to Samantha’s confession about Sean McGill and Toby haunted him. He had known the situation was dangerous for her and had made the decision to remove her from its complexities in the only way he could. He had done what was necessary in light of the obstinacy so typical of Samantha’s personality—but that didn’t mean he liked it.

In truth, Samantha’s confession that Sean McGill was also a Pinkerton and that she had sent for him had taken him by surprise. He could not allow McGill to take Tucker in before his brother could do it himself.

With that reality darkening his brow, Matt realized that everything depended on whether Samantha had been completely honest with him about Sean McGill—whether she was working with McGill. Despite everything between them, he was still unsure.

He also needed to warn Tucker that although he believed their birth had been a secret to everyone, Toby was aware of the truth.

He was certain of only one thing. However it turned out, he would keep Samantha safe.

With that thought in mind, Matt checked the gun in his holster, grabbed his hat, and slammed the ranch house door closed behind him as he moved toward his mount and the Circle O.

Samantha’s casually upswept hair fell into moist ringlets that bobbed against her neck as she urged her mount forward at a gallop. Her satin gown was ringed with sweat, and the high-heeled shoes she had worn to the Trail’s End fit poorly in the stirrups as she drew up in front of the Double S ranch house at last.

Ignoring the ripping sound that accompanied her descent from the saddle, Samantha felt only distress when she saw no movement inside the house. Still hopeful, she rushed in and called Matt’s name. When there was no response, she ran to the barn, stumbling on the uneven ground and ignoring the mud that stained her dress when she did. She went still when she saw Matt’s mount was gone.

Panic surged higher. From the descriptions Helen had provided, the two suspicious strangers had obviously traveled hard, had too many notches on their guns to ignore, and were too interested in Matt for safety. Without her knowledge, Helen had also perfectly
described the two men reported to have aided Tucker in his bank-robbing spree prior to coming to Texas.

The strangers had left the saloon obviously satisfied with the information they had obtained. That caused her the most concern. If they were indeed Tucker’s former cohorts, if they had come to find Tucker about some unfinished business, and if they were as threatening as they appeared to be, she needed to warn Matt that they were looking for him or his brother.

It occurred to Samantha that in warning Matt, she ran the risk of helping Tucker escape, the same felon she had come to Winston to apprehend. Yet she knew she needed to warn Matt as quickly as possible.

Matt was not at his own ranch now, and she somehow doubted that he was working in the north pasture. In order to find out where he was, she needed to ask to the only woman Matt had ever asked to be his wife.

Jenny.

A torturous ride later, Samantha reached the Circle O Ranch, her appearance disheveled and her mount heavily lathered. She saw horses tied up in front of the house when she drew closer, immediately recognized Matt’s mount among them, and was suddenly unwilling to wait a moment longer.

Samantha jumped down from her horse, pushed open the door, and burst into the house—only to stop short at what she saw:

Two Matts, dressed almost identically, with Jenny standing pale and silent in the corner of the room near a thin old man.

Uncertain, Samantha stared. Which one of them was Matt? Which was Tucker?

They were both silent.

In a sudden flash, Samantha realized silence on their parts was a deliberate ploy in light of their uncertainty about her reason for being there.

Suddenly angry, Samantha snapped, “I don’t have time for games! One of you already knows that a Pinkerton is on Tucker’s trail at my request. Whatever the reason for your silence, I’m telling you now that Tucker is facing more danger than anyone realizes.”

The two Matts still did not reply.

Matt maintained his silence with pure strength of will. If he were to judge from her trail-worn appearance, Samantha had ridden hard to get there, yet he dared not speak. He knew she would recognize him the moment he did and he would lose any advantage her confusion temporarily granted him.

In the few moments that passed, inevitable questions harangued his mind: Could he take the chance that Samantha was telling the whole truth? He had already endangered his brother by allowing desire to overwhelm common sense. He owed his brother a second chance, yet Samantha’s plight called to him in a way that was difficult to ignore.

“Which one of you is Matt?” she demanded again.

Matt’s heart pounded when Samantha drew closer. Scrutinizing them both more carefully, she then walked up to him and whispered, “Tell me now, was it all a lie, Matt?”

Matt looked down at her, revealing the hunger in his light eyes. Everyone in the ranch house was so intent on Matt’s response that they failed to hear a scraping sound before the door broke open to reveal two armed men.

The taller man warned, “Stay where you are, but drop your guns—now!”

Sidearms thudded to the floor and Samantha cursed under her breath. She immediately recognized the men from Helen’s description. She had arrived too late to warn Matt after all.

Mason addressed the brothers with a touch of incredulity. “You two fellas really do look alike!” He then added more threateningly, “Which one of you is Tucker?”

Tucker responded coldly, “What are you doing here, Mason?”

“I’m here, too, Tucker. I ain’t invisible, you know.”

Tucker ignored Reggie’s comment and addressed Mason. “I thought I left you behind in Oklahoma.”

“You did, but Reggie and me figured you was up to something too good to miss out on, considering what you left behind, so we followed you.”

Jenny whispered, “Tell them to go away, Tucker.”

“I didn’t ask for your comments, lady!”

Tucker responded stiffly, “She wasn’t talking to you.”

“Well, ain’t that something?” Mason appeared amused. “Tucker is all protective of the lady. Damned if that don’t beat all!” His expression suddenly sobering, Mason sneered. “Whoever she is, she ain’t got nothing to do with us and I don’t want her to say nothing. If she don’t shut up, I’ll shut her up.”

Tucker took an aggressive step. “You’ll have to shut me up first!”

“I’m holding a gun, too, Tucker,” Reggie added.

Mason turned with a snarl. “Shut up, Reggie. Tucker ain’t talking to you. Besides, it’s your fault that we got lost coming here. I ain’t forgetting that.”

“Don’t tell me to shut up.” Reggie flushed with obvious embarrassment. “And you only asked me where the ranch was after you was already lost. Besides, if it wasn’t for me, we never would have heard about Matt’s betrothed and wouldn’t have come here.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

“It’s true, ain’t it?”

“No, it ain’t true, but this ain’t no time to argue the point, neither!”

Reggie replied hotly, “I’m getting sick and tired of you always acting like you’re smarter than me.”

“Well, I am, ain’t I?”

Reggie’s finger tightened on the trigger of his gun as Tucker broke in opportunely. “Shut up, both of
you. Let’s get something straight. You wasted your time coming here. The only reason I came was—” He hesitated, shot Jenny a glance, and continued. “I didn’t come to Winston to make money. I’m going to give myself up.”

“What?”

The single word erupted in unison from his two former cohorts as they stared at Tucker incredulously.

“You heard me,” he replied.

Mason shook his head. “Wait a minute. You ain’t Tucker. You can’t be.”

Tucker smiled. “You’re not so sure anymore, are you?”

Mason replied, “No, I ain’t, but there’s one way to find out. Turning his gun, he pointed it at Jenny.

Both men jumped forward.

Mason warned them back and said, “I can see that ain’t going to work. I guess I chose the wrong woman.” He turned his gun toward Samantha.

“Wait a minute!” both men shouted simultaneously, but the panic in Matt’s gaze turned Mason toward him to say, “So all the rumors about Tucker’s brother and his saloon woman are true.”

“But you still aren’t sure,” Matt replied.

“Yes, I am—now.”

The conversation progressed heatedly, too heatedly for Mason to notice at first that Matt was maneuvering Samantha behind him protectively until he warned, “I told you not to move.”

“What are you going to do, shoot me?” Matt responded arrogantly. “If you do and my body is discovered, everyone will know that Tucker and I are twins.”

Mason laughed. “Smart, ain’t you? Except who says anybody will find your body?”

“Wait a minute!” Tucker interjected.

“Shut up! No, I take that back,” he corrected. “I want to know why nobody knows about you two being twins.”