Ride The Wind (Vincente 3) (5 page)

Mrs. Miller's eyes widened with naked fear,
and she lowered her head. "Noble Vincente's sister would not have gone willingly with my
boys not a lady like her." She shook her head
as tears choked her voice. "Lord have mercy,
what've they done?"

"There is a witness who says Miss Vincente
was kidnapped out of a hotel room by your sons,
ma'am."

"Will you promise me that iffen you find them,
you won't shoot my boys down? Iffen you'll give
me your word, I'll tell you what I know, which
ain't much. My boy Sam's young. He ain't mean;
he just follows his brothers."

"Mrs. Miller, I can promise you that I won't
draw on them first. But if they draw on me, I'll
defend myself."

There was acceptance in her expression, and
she seemed to age before Reese's eyes.

"I really don't know where they are, Mr. Starrett. They was here three weeks ago, and I heard
them talking about meeting up with a Mr. Felton
at some saloon in Dallas."

"Would that be Graham Felton, ma'am?"

"I don't know, Mr. Starrett. The man's a
stranger to me, and I gathered he's not known to my boys either. I think they was going to work
for him." Her voice trailed away. Then she
glanced into his eyes. "I hope they haven't hurt
the Vincente woman. I've heard enough about
Noble Vincente to know he won't stop until my
boys are dead."

"Then it might be better for them if I find her
first." He touched his hand to the brim of his hat.
"Thank you for your time, ma'am. I'll see if I can
find them. Good day."

"Mr. Starrett, watch out for my Sam. Iffen he
comes home to me, I'll tan his hide and see that
he don't ever get in trouble again."

"I'll do my best, ma'am."

Reese felt pity for Mrs. Miller. She seemed an
honest, hardworking woman who knew her sons
were trouble. She probably had known for a
long time that they would come to a bad end. He
imagined he'd have to kill one or all of them, and
she must have known that too.

His mind rushed ahead. He had to decide
what his next move was going to be.

It was early morning, and Saber had spent another sleepless night. Eugene came into the
room, and she cringed at the way he stared at
her. He walked slowly toward her and pulled her
upward, pressing her body against his. She
struggled and tried to get away, but he held her
fast.

"You make me sick," she said, turning her face
away when he attempted to kiss her.

"Do I, little fancy piece? We'll just see about
that."

She fought and struggled as he pushed her
down on the cot and covered her body with his.
At that moment the door burst open, and Earl entered. When he saw what was happening, he
leaped across the room and tore Eugene off Saber.

"If you touch her again, you won't ever see another sunset," Earl said angrily. "She's going to
bring us money, but not if you don't keep your
hands off her."

Sulkily, Eugene slammed out the door. All the
rest of that day he kept his distance from Saber,
although his eyes seemed to be on her all the
time. He made her feel as if he knew what she
looked like with her clothes off.

She curled up on the cot, wondering if she
would ever be free of these men, or if she would
ever feel warm and clean again.

Saber had decided that the youngest brother,
Sam, was the least threatening of the three. She
hoped to catch him alone so she could attempt
to win his confidence and perhaps her freedom.
It wasn't likely he would help her, but she was
desperate, and he might be her only hope.

Her chance came sooner than she expected.
Earl ordered Eugene to ride up the hill and
watch the road because he had to leave to meet
someone. Earl then mounted his horse and rode
out of sight while Eugene grumbled, picked up
his rifle, and left.

Saber waited until she was certain that the
two older brothers had gone before she ap proached Sam. She would never have a better
chance to talk to him alone. She eased herself
off the cot and hobbled over to sit beside him on
the rickety bench near the wood-burning stove.

Sam glanced at her suspiciously and said in a
surly voice, "You best get back to the cot. Earl
won't like it none if he finds me talking to you."

"Please don't send me away. I'm so lonely and
frightened. Let me talk to you for a moment. If
we hear your brothers returning, I promise I'll
go back to the cot right away."

He leaned back and looked at her for a long
moment. "You've got a right to be afraid."

She gazed purposefully into his eyes; her lips
were trembling. "Are your brothers going to kill
me?"

He shook his head. "It ain't us you have to
fear. 'Course, you need to be watchful of Eugene.
He's always been mean to women, and I've seen
the way he looks at you. Just stay away from
him."

Saber could not suppress the shiver that
rushed through her body. Just the touch of Eugene's hand on her had made her feel sick inside.
"Did he do anything to me before I woke up?"

Sam saw her fear and tried to calm her. "I
don't know. He was alone with you for more
than an hour after we brought you here. But you
don't have to fear him any now because Earl won't let him hurt you none." He lowered his
voice, although there were only the two of them
in the room. "You just have to make sure you
ain't alone with him." His eyes widened as he
looked into her eyes, and a blush stained his
rough cheeks. "You're 'bout the prettiest woman
I've ever seen. I ain't never talked to no grand
lady before. What's your front name?"

"My what?"

"Your front name-you know, your given
name?"

"Saber. My name is Saber."

He grinned, looking boyish. "That sounds
more like a weapon than a name, ma'am."

"It is a family name on my father's side." She
could see that he was softening toward her, and
she wanted to take advantage of that softness
while she could. "May I call you Sam?"

He nodded, unable to look into her brilliant
blue eyes. "I reckon there's no harm in it. But
only when we're alone."

"I understand. Sam, I would like to think we
would have been friends if we had met under
other circumstances."

She saw him swallow hard as he raised his
gaze to her. "You wouldn't even have spoken to
me if we'd met on the street, ma'am. You'da sashayed past me in your fancy duds, never even
noticing me. I ain't good enough to-"

"Don't think that," she said, reaching out her
hand to him, and then letting it fall to her side
when she saw a blush stain his face once more.
"You have been kind to me. I believe in returning kindness with kindness."

He shot to his feet. "I can't help you none, so
if you're working up to me, hoping I'll turn on
my brothers, you can forget it."

Saber shook her head. "No, I don't expect you
to do that. It's just that I am so afraid."

He turned back to her, his eyes filled with pity.
"I don't know what's going to happen to you
when we turn you over to Graham Felton. He's
a mean one, and he never let us know what he
wants with you."

Her heart was thudding. "Are you saying my
kidnapping wasn't a random act that someone
hired you and your brothers to abduct me?"

He was shaking, and fear lit his eyes. She
watched as he wiped his sweaty palms down his
stained trousers. "You won't tell my brothers I
told you about Mr. Felton, will you? I don't know
what Earl'd do. My being his brother won't stop
him."

"Of course not, Sam. I would never do anything to make trouble for you. Please tell me
everything you know."

"Well, this Graham Felton hired us to capture
you and bring you here. Earl's gone into town to let him know we have you, and he'll let us know
where to take you."

"Who is Graham Felton? I've never heard of
him."

"We ain't never met him neither. One of his
men hunted us up and asked us to do the job for
him. So we did, 'cause he offered us a lot of
money for you."

"What could he want with me?"

Sam looked puzzled and shook his head. "Just
know that Felton is supposed to be the meanest
varmint who ever walked the earth. When he
takes you away, you might want to do everything
he says. I've heard he kills people for no reason."

"Sam, why would he want me?"

"Money, most probably. Your brother's rich,
ain't he?"

"Yes, he is." Saber thought for a moment.
"Sam, if you and your brothers would take me
back, my brother would pay you more money
than Mr. Felton is offering."

"No!" His face whitened. "We ain't going to do
any such thing. You may think Earl is just a nogood, but when he makes a deal, he keeps it."

Saber's heart sank. "Can you tell me anything
more about Mr. Felton?"

"I tol' you I ain't ever laid eyes on the man. I
'spect you'll be meeting him sooner than you
want to."

Neither of them had heard Eugene ride up. He
stood in the doorway, glaring at his brother.

"Sam, get yourself off and watch the road for
a spell. I'll guard our prisoner."

"No, I ain't," Sam said defiantly. "Earl tol' me
to stay with the woman, and that's just what I
aim to do."

Eugene's face reddened in anger. "Boy, you'll
do what I tell you to, and you'll do it now. I've
got me an itch for this pretty lady. She won't be
none the worse for my loving on her."

Sam surprised both Eugene and Saber when
he moved to stand in front of her. "If you don't
leave her alone, I'll tell Earl when he gets back.
You know he won't like it none. Most probably
he'll shoot you down like a dog."

Saber was trembling with fear when she saw
the murderous look in Eugene's eyes. "You
wouldn't tell, Sam, because iffen you do, you'll
live just long enough to regret it," Eugene threatened.

The younger brother stood his ground between Saber and Eugene. "I won't let you get at
her. I swear I'll shoot you down if you come near
her."

Saber saw Eugene waver. His hand went to
his gun, and she knew in that second that he
wouldn't hesitate to shoot his own brother. "If
Sam doesn't tell Earl, I will." She threw her head back and glared at him. "If you lay one hand on
me or Sam, Earl will hear about it."

Eugene looked undecided. Damn it! She was
tying him in knots, and he wanted her beneath
him. But his good sense won out over his burning lust... for now, anyway.

"I wonder what Graham Felton would do if he
knew you laid hands on this woman?" Sam
asked in a cold voice. "We don't know what he
wants with her. He may want her for his woman.
Felton ain't a man to cross. He said he wanted
this woman unharmed, and he meant it."

At the sound of Graham Felton's name, Eugene's face paled. He turned and stormed out the
door, slamming it behind him.

Saber pressed her hand over her heart, more
frightened than ever. But she tried to push her
fear aside, knowing there was nothing to gain by
giving in to it. If a man like Eugene was afraid
of Mr. Felton, then what kind of monster must
he be?

Sam moved to the window and watched his
brother ride away. "I don't think he'll be bothering you no more. No sirree. He's no coward,
but he don't want to rile Graham Felton any."

Saber lay down across the hard bench, unmindful of the splinters. Her body was shaking
with fear. Turning her head to the wall, she
closed her eyes and cried silently. There was no help for her. Not even her brother, Noble, could
help her now. And Matthew had to know about
her abduction by now-what must he be thinking?

"He won't bother you anymore," Sam said
again, thinking she was crying because of his
brother, Eugene.

"But what about Graham Felton?"

Sam turned back to the window, hating to
think about this soft, beautiful woman in that
mad dog's hands. He liked Saber Vincente-he
hadn't wanted to, but she was nice. "Like as not,
he's seen you somewhere and wants you for his
woman."

His words brought no comfort to Saber, and
she could not stop her tears from falling.