Ride The Wind (Vincente 3) (7 page)

Reese stood up; he had the information he'd
come for. He knew where the woman was being
held. "Until our next meeting," he said, tipping
his hat and walking away.

Before Reese could reach the door, Felton
hurried after him, calling out in a harsh voice,
"I don't want any harm to come to the woman.
I must be the first to have her. Is that understood?"

Reese turned to watch Felton limp toward him. He hadn't known the man limped; he'd almost missed an important detail, and that could
have been disastrous. "I understand. Now, I
have a condition for you. If you have any of your
men follow me, you'll never see the woman alive.
Is that understood?"

Felton nodded. "At the border in two weeks.
You'd better not waste time hanging around
here if you're going to make it."

Reese stepped out into the night, drawing in
a cleansing breath. "Damn," he muttered as he
swung into the saddle. He'd be very surprised if
he found the woman unharmed. The Miller
brothers probably weren't known for their gallantry toward women. He wondered if Matthew
would still marry Miss Vincente if the brothers
had raped her. Matthew always strove for perfection in himself and insisted on it in those
around him. He'd want his wife to be perfect in
every way. Reese hoped Matthew loved the
woman enough to overlook her imperfections if
she were less than pure when he got her back.

Hell, if he loved a woman, and she'd been sullied by those bastards, he'd only love her more
for what she had endured. But of course, he
wasn't Matthew Halloway of the Halloways of
Philadelphia.

Reese's mother had left his father the year
Reese turned five, and to make it worse, she'd run away with his father's best friend. Reese had
watched his father try to eke out a living and
keep the bank from taking the ranch. Frank
Starrett had grown more bitter with each passing day and had finally died a broken man, leaving Reese to make it on his own since the age of
fourteen.

Reese had always sworn that no woman
would do to him what his mother had done to
his father. And he would never betray a friend
the way his father's best friend had betrayed
him.

A grim expression glowed in his eyes. There
was little chance the woman would come out of
this as pure as she'd been when they'd kidnapped her. His heart swelled with pity for her.
She didn't deserve what had happened to her,
and he would rescue her or die trying!

The weather had turned colder, and Saber lay
huddled beneath the thin blanket that she'd
been wrapped in when the men had kidnapped
her. Although she was cold, she refused to use
the wool blanket Sam had offered her because
it was smelly and filthy.

She listened to the howling wind that seeped
through the cracks of the old building, rattling
the windows and shaking the door, making it
sound as if someone were trying to get in.

She had lost count of the days since her abduction and had long ago given up hope of ever
being rescued. She dared not think about what
the future held for her. Although she continued to question Sam, he refused to tell her why she'd
been kidnapped or who Graham Felton was.

Sam appeared at her side, untying the ropes
at her wrists and ankles before handing her a
cup of steaming coffee. He had recently started
untying her when she ate because there wasn't
anyplace for her to run. "The coffee's right
strong, but it's hot. It'll help warm you a bit, Miss
Vincente."

She gladly accepted the steaming offering and
took a sip of the bitter brew. "What's going to
happen to me, Sam?"

He hesitated and avoided meeting her gaze. In
the short time he'd known Saber Vincente, he'd
grown to respect and care for her. He'd never
met a woman who could touch her in looks and
manners, and she was brave, too, although he
knew she was scared most of the time. For the
last two days he'd battled with the notion of taking her back to Fort Worth to her people. But of
course, he didn't dare give in to that impulse.
He'd be a dead man before he even reached the
edge of Las Lomas Eugene would see to that.

The most he was able to do was to keep Eugene away from her. At night when he bedded
down, he'd position his blanket beside her bed,
and so far Eugene had left her alone. But he
wished Earl would get back, because he couldn't
handle Eugene much longer. Every day his brother grew bolder, and his gaze never left their
prisoner.

Sam lifted the water bucket. "I'm just going to
the well for fresh water. Stay put, 'cause I
wouldn't want Eugene to find you wandering the
streets."

"Don't leave me alone," Saber begged, her
stomach tensing into a tight knot. "What if he
comes back, and I'm here alone?"

"I'll be right close by, and I'll hear you if you
call out."

She watched Sam leave, feeling desperate and
helpless. There had never been a time in her life
when she had not been able to do something
about her situation. Not even during the war,
when the Yankees had burned her grandmother's plantation, had she been as frightened
as she was now.

Saber caught her breath when she heard the
front door open. A scream formed in her throat
when she saw Eugene, but she couldn't make a
sound. Sam hadn't tied her up, and she wondered if she dared run for it. Could she make it
to the door before he caught her?

Eugene walked toward her, his eyes going to
her breasts, which strained against her shirt. "So
I have you alone at last. You gave me a lot of
sleepless nights, fancy piece. But I bet I'll sleep
good tonight."

She pressed her back against the wall. "Sam
will be back any minute," she said hurriedly. "He
just went to the well for water."

Eugene unfastened his gun belt and dropped
it onto the table. "No. My brother won't be bothering us anytime soon. When he comes to, it'll
be too late for you. You see, I kinda put him to
sleep with the butt of my gun."

"No!" she cried, looking at the door as if Sam
might come through it at any moment. "I'll
scream if you touch me."

He laughed and stepped closer. "No one will
hear you. Go ahead-scream all you want to."

With a quick motion, Saber's hand tightened
on the coffee cup, and she dashed the hot brew
into Eugene's face. Hurling herself forward, she
darted for the door while Eugene covered his
eyes and screamed out in pain. She threw the
door open and ran into the growing darkness.
She had hoped to find Eugene's horse tied out
front, but luck was against her there was no
horse. He must have left it at the edge of town.

She could hear Eugene cursing and calling to
her. Fear gave wings to her feet, and she started
running with no particular direction in mind.
She just knew she couldn't let him catch her.
Her only hope was to lose him in the dark.

Saber had almost reached the graveyard when
a man stepped in front of her. She screamed out as he grabbed her shoulders and held her in a
tight grip. Saber, thinking it was Eugene and
that he'd managed to work his way in front of
her, swung at him with her fist. She heard a muffled sound of pain just before she drew back her
leg and kicked him in a place that made him
release his hold on her and double over in agony.

She turned away and came face-to-face with
Eugene! If Eugene was in front of her, then who
was the man she'd just attacked?

Eugene grabbed her arm and yanked her forward. "I'll have you, and I won't be too particular
about how rough I am. I got me a score to settle
with you for dousing me with that coffee."

A deep voice spoke up from behind her. "Let
her go."

Eugene strained his eyes in the darkness.
"Who in the hell are you?" he asked, reaching
for his gun and realizing he'd left it back on the
table.

The stranger's hand came down heavily on Saber's shoulder, and he moved her behind him.
"I'm the man who is going to kill you if you've
harmed Saber Vincente in any way."

"Who are you?" Eugene asked again.

The man was a stranger to Saber. But if he
knew who she was, perhaps he'd been sent by
her brother! However, his next words dashed her hopes and made her tremble with renewed
fear.

"My name is Graham Felton. I assume you've
heard of me?"

Saber strained her eyes to see in the near darkness. She was overwhelmed by his size. He was
taller even than her brother, and Noble was over
six feet tall. His shoulders were broad, and his
voice was deep, almost raspy. He wore a long
coat, but it was pushed open so he could easily
reach the holster that was strapped to his thigh.
Her gaze fell on the gun, and she felt more afraid
than ever. Most men in Texas wore guns, but she
had a feeling this man knew how to use his better than most. She was well aware that Eugene
had stepped back several paces even he was
afraid of Graham Felton.

"I didn't hurt her none. I was just having a
little fun with her," Eugene said in a shaky voice.

Although the stranger was a strongly built
man, his grasp was gentle where he gripped Saber's wrists. He didn't have a tight hold on her,
but it was secure enough that she could not pull
free. She wondered if he would make her sorry
that she had attacked him.

Reese glanced down at Eugene, and his lips
thinned into a hard line. It was all he could do
to keep from drawing on the bastard. "Let's get her out of this cold." he said in a strained voice.
"Then we'll talk."

Eugene was suddenly contrite, trying to placate the man whose name shook him to the core.
"We got a fire going back where we're holed up.
It's nice and warm there."

"Lead me to it. If you'll accompany us, Miss
Vineente."

He urged Sable along, supporting her when
she stumbled. She tried to stay upright without
his help, but her legs were almost useless. Any
small hope she might have had of being rescued
was gone. She felt the man's hand move from
her wrist to her shoulder as he kept urging her
forward. His touch was surprisingly gentle, but
that fact brought her no comfort. This was the
man who had hired the Miller brothers to kidnap her in the first place.

She could feel in the very depths of her being
that this man was to be feared much more than
all three of the Miller brothers. She couldn't run;
she couldn't hide. He'd come for her, and she
would be forced to go with him.

His voice was strangely gentle. "Are you all
right, Miss Vincente?"

She shoved his hand away and walked a pace
in front of him. His searing touch still lingered
on her bare skin, and she was disturbed by her
strange reaction to him; it wasn't revulsion, like what she felt for Eugene-it was a feeling that
she couldn't put a name to because she'd never
experienced such a sensation.

By the time they'd reached the hotel, Sam was
there, rubbing his head where Eugene had hit
him. There was relief in his eyes when he saw
Saber, but it was quickly replaced by caution
and distrust when the stranger entered behind
her.

Saber moved to the woodstove and held her
hands out to the warmth, her eyes going to Felton. Something frightening lurked in the depths
of those silver eyes, and she knew instantly that
he was not a man to cross. There was a dangerous quality about the way he stood and moved,
and it was reflected in the rough planes of his
face. He was appraising her, and his gaze struck
her like an earthquake and left her quivering
with aftershocks. He was the most magnificently
frightening man she'd ever seen. She knew he
would be unyielding and uncompromising, and
the others felt it, too. He was hard and muscled,
his broad shoulders straining against his buckskin shirt as if he might burst the seams at any
moment. Fear erupted into full-blown terror
when he stared into her eyes.

What did he want with her? She had the fleeting thought that she might be safer if she remained with the outlaws rather than leaving with this man. Her gaze went to Sam, but she
knew he couldn't help her-no one could.

"How do we know you're Graham Felton?"
Eugene asked cautiously.

Reese advanced into the room with a dangerous expression in his eyes. For the first time Saber noticed that he limped.

"You'd be him, all right," Eugene said, his eyes
going to Saber. "You got the limp, and you knew
where to find us. But why wasn't I told when the
plan changed?"

Sam fixed the man with a doubtful expression.
"Earl said we was to bring the woman to you."

Reese's gaze settled on the youngest Miller
brother. "You had better ask why your brother
changed the plan. He asked me for the money
and told me you had the woman here."

Eugene's eyes clouded with suspicion. "Now,
why'd he do that and not tell us?"

Reese smiled the merest bit. "You know your
brother better than I do. I gave him the sum of
money we agreed on, and he left ahead of me. I
half expected to find him here." He shrugged.
"As I see it, one of two things could have happened to him he could have been ambushed by
someone who knew he was carrying a large
amount of cash...."