The Convenient Mail Order Bride (23 page)

Just as he grabbed the Colt from his drawer,
Phoebe sat up and yawned. “What’s going on?”

“Shh…” He gestured to the open window then
hurried over to her. “Someone’s out there,” he whispered. “I have
to take care of it.”

Her eyes grew wide, and she suddenly seemed
alert. “You think they’re here to hurt us?”

“Why else would they be sneaking around in
the middle of the night?” Before she could respond, he said, “Go to
your mother and hide in the attic in her bedroom. No one will find
you there.”

He caught the sound of a horse approaching.
The person was heading to the barn. Good news. At least for now. It
would buy Phoebe and her mother time.

“Get to the attic,” he whispered. “I don’t
want anything to happen to you or your ma.”

From there, he slipped out of the room and
quietly made his way to the window in the kitchen. In the moonlight
that filtered through the trees, he saw someone sliding off his
horse. Even in the dark, he could tell who it was because of the
man’s taller than average height. Benny.

But was he alone? There had only been one
round of clinking from the metal scraps. It was possible someone
following him managed to bypass the metal. The second person would
definitely have an advantage.

Abe went to the window in the main area of
the cabin, but he didn’t see anyone else. Still, he had to be
careful. He lifted his gun and watched as Benny entered the
barn.

Was Benny there to give him a warning? If he
wanted to hurt him or one of the women, he would have come to the
cabin. So by going to the barn, he might be sending Abe a
warning.

Sometimes Abe wondered if Phoebe thought he
was being paranoid, but at times like this, he thought he wasn’t
paranoid enough. He probably should have dug holes along the
property and covered them up. Then Benny might have fallen into
one, and they would all be safe right now. Or he could have laid
out a net, which would have caught Benny and captured him. Of
course, Benny might have missed the hole or net, but it would have
been one more level of protection.

Abe shook his head. No sense in worrying
about that right now. If he survived this, he could dig holes or
set up a trap to catch someone in a net later. Right now, he had to
focus on getting rid of Benny.

He left the cabin, careful to search the
property. He detected no one else. Benny was in the barn. Abe
decided to take the chance Benny didn’t see him and swiftly made
his way to the barn. The only thing he had on his side was the
element of surprise.

With a glance around him, he saw no one
else. Well, so far, so good. He turned his attention back to the
barn and peeked in through the opening. Benny’s back was to
him.

Abe snuck into the barn, glancing once more
to make sure there was no one else around.

Benny lit a match and held it above the hay
near the trough.

Abe put the gun up to the base of Benny’s
neck. “Don’t drop that,” Abe said.

Benny hesitated, holding the match out, and
Abe figured the man was weighing the pros and cons of releasing
it.

“Who came with you?” Abe asked. Might as
well find out who might be lingering in the shadows, waiting to
make a move, even if he still didn’t see anyone. When Benny didn’t
answer, he pushed the gun into the base of his neck. “You’re on my
land, Benny, and on this land there are lots of hiding places. I
can shoot you and bury your worthless hide. No one will find you.
So if you think I’m not willing to shoot, you got another thing
coming.”

Assured there was no one in the barn, Abe
looked back through the doorway, scanning as much of the cabin as
he could make out in the dark.

“Blow out the match,” he told Benny.

For a moment, he didn’t think Benny was
going to do it, but then Benny did.

Abe frowned. That was too easy. Once more,
he scanned his surroundings. What else was going on? What was he
missing? He grabbed Benny’s collar and forced him to arch his back
toward him so he could whisper in Benny’s ear, “Who did you bring
with you?”

“You shoot me, they’ll hang you,” Benny
hissed. “If I go missing, they’ll know you did it. I don’t care
where you hide my body.”

Abe gritted his teeth. Benny had set a trap,
and like an idiot, he fell right into it. Benny had every intention
of Abe finding him, and he was taking a chance Abe wouldn’t shoot.
But Abe couldn’t shoot. Not when he knew doing so would hurt his
chances of finding the other person, or people. Benny wasn’t the
only one in town who’d love to see him hang.

Abe glanced around the barn, wondering where
might be a good place for him to hide. As it was, he was too
exposed. Anyone could see him. The only thing holding them back
from shooting was probably the fact that he had Benny in a delicate
position.

Yanking on Benny’s collar, he forced him to
go with him into the corner of the barn where he could hide in the
shadows. He looked around for something to tie Benny up with, but
the rope was too far and he doubted Benny would sit still while he
retrieved it.

“This is better than you deserve, you piece
of filth,” Abe whispered before he slammed the butt of the gun on
the side of Benny’s head.

Benny slumped forward, unconscious. Abe
hurried to the window and peaked out the corner of it, making sure
no one would see him. After he studied the cabin, he searched for
any signs that someone else was there. He tightened his grip on the
gun. Someone had to be out there, biding their time to make their
move. He just wished he knew who it was and where they were, so he
could make a plan to stop them.

His gaze went back to the cabin. He hoped
Phoebe and her mother were in the attic. For all he knew, someone
could be in there already. It was stupid to leave the cabin. He
thought he’d taken care of everything, but he forgot how vulnerable
it made a man to have women under his care. If it was just him,
there wouldn’t be that surge of panic rushing through him right
now. This must have been how his uncle felt that night Gene Carter
came on their property.

Abe glanced around him, once again making
sure no one else was in the barn. No. There wasn’t. He released his
breath and turned his attention back to the cabin. Maybe there was
no one else. Maybe Benny had come out here by himself, wanting to
set the barn on fire, to issue a warning. Abe ran his fingers
through his hair, pushing it away from his face.

He didn’t know what to think. All he knew
was that he should have set more traps along the property. Did his
uncle go through the same doubts, thinking over all the things he
should have done to better secure the place?

What if Abe had overlooked something small
but important that would be his undoing? What if he hadn’t done
enough to protect Phoebe and her mother?

He hated this. He hated feeling helpless. He
wiped the sweat from his brow and focused on the cabin while
listening to every little sound around him. Was he better off
getting to the cabin or staying here? Just what was the exact
nature of the threat? He caressed the trigger of the gun. Oh man,
if only he knew what to do.

A couple of gunshots fired from the cabin,
and he bolted out of the barn. He didn’t think to stop and see if
anyone was hiding among the trees. At the moment, none of that
mattered. All he kept thinking was someone found Phoebe and her
mother.

He burst through the front door, holding the
gun in front of him and trying to adjust to the darkness inside the
main living area. His foot hit someone, and he kicked at the person
before thinking it might be Phoebe or her mother. But then, he
heard someone shift from behind the couch and aimed his gun toward
the sound.

“Who is it?” he ordered, keeping his focus
on the couch. All he could see was the shape of a gun and the top
of someone’s head.

“Phoebe,” the person whispered and peered
around the edge of the couch. “Is there anyone out there?” She
pointed the gun toward the front door.

“Yes, but Benny’s unconscious,” he whispered
in return and took a better look at the person lying at his
feet.

It was a man. Enoch? Were he and Benny in
this together? He nudged the man with his foot, but the man didn’t
move. He grabbed the gun from the man and went over to her so he
had a good view of the open doorway.

He settled next to her, crouching behind the
other side of the couch. “Are you hurt?” he asked, keeping his
voice low.

“No, I’m fine,” she replied.

He detected a trace of fear in her voice,
but he decided not to comment on it. They had more pressing things
to worry about at the moment.

“Where’s your mother?” he asked.

“In the attic.”

Good. As long as she stayed there, he had
one less person to worry about. His gaze went to the open doorways
of both bedrooms. From what he could see, no one was in any of
them, but it was hard to tell for sure.

“Is there anyone else here?” he
whispered.

“No. That man came in through our bedroom
window, but I was already dressed and in Ma’s room by then. I took
my gun with me.”

Keeping his gaze on the area around them, he
asked, “How did you know he came in through the bedroom window if
you were with your mother?”

“I had her go to the attic, and I came out
to this room.” He was ready to criticize her for taking such a
risk, but she added, “I could hear him coming in because he tripped
on the boots I left under the window in our bedroom. I knew he
hadn’t had time to see me. I know how to shoot a gun. I might as
well do my part to protect our home.”

Despite the tense situation, he found
himself chuckling under his breath. Yes, she definitely had a fiery
spirit in her. “You did good,” he finally whispered. “Benny’s in
the barn. I left him unconscious, but he’ll be waking up at any
moment. I don’t know if there’s anyone else. I didn’t even know
about the one who came in this cabin.”

That’s what he got for turning his back on
the cabin and assuming Benny was alone. He wouldn’t make that
mistake again.

“I told you I’m here to help you,” she
whispered. “You take care of one vermin, and I’ll take care of
another. Then we’ll handle whoever else comes.”

Well, she managed to get one of them, so he
wasn’t going to argue with her. He wouldn’t have thought it
possible when they first met, but she could definitely hold her
own. He was both impressed and in awe of her. If he wasn’t already
married to her, he’d be proposing right about now.

Turning his attention back to the side of
the cabin she wasn’t watching, he waited for whoever else might pop
up. He fully expected it to be Benny. He had only knocked Benny out
after all, and given Benny’s intense hatred of him, Benny would
likely be seeking his revenge.

The minutes ticked by, agonizingly slow as
he waited for something to happen. He heard the metal clinking
again and held his breath. Either Benny decided to leave or someone
else had joined them. Whatever the case, he felt much better
knowing Phoebe was with him while her mother was safely out of the
way.

When he heard a series of gunshots, he
jerked. His first reaction was to see if Phoebe caught anyone, but
then he realized the gunfire was outside. He bolted up from the
couch, Phoebe close behind.

By the time they made it to the porch, they
saw Benny fall to the ground, his smoking gun falling from his
hand. Surprised, he looked across the clearing in the moonlight to
two men. He couldn’t make out the one who was huddled behind a
horse, but he could make out Eric who was holding his own smoking
gun, still pointed at Benny.

“Don’t let your guard down,” Abe told Phoebe
as he led her over to Eric.

“I knew Benny was coming,” Enoch was telling
Eric, venturing from behind his horse. “I told you.”

“I know, Enoch,” Eric replied. “You did a
good thing in warning me. You said there are two men, but I only
see one.”

“I don’t know where Gene is,” Enoch
said.

“Gene?” Abe asked, interrupting them. “Gene
Carter?”

“Benny went to Gene,” Enoch replied, putting
his hat in his hand and squeezing it. “Benny was so mad. I tried
telling him it wasn’t worth it. He was better off leaving things
alone, but he just couldn’t. He paid Gene to help him.”

“I don’t know if Gene’s the one in the
cabin, but Phoebe might have got him.” Abe nodded toward the
cabin.

“Before we get too excited,” Eric began, “I
need to check out the rest of the place to make sure no one else is
here.”

“We haven’t heard or seen anyone else,” Abe
said then looked at Phoebe to make sure she hadn’t.

“No, we haven’t,” she replied.

“Even so, stay here.” Eric took a step
toward the cabin then faced Phoebe. “Where’s your mother?”

“In a safe place,” Phoebe answered.

When she didn’t elaborate, Eric settled for
a nod and left them.

Abe smiled at Phoebe. She didn’t want anyone
to know about the attic, which was a smart move in case they ever
needed to use it again. “Good with a gun and quick with an answer.
You can’t beat that combination.”

She beamed at his compliment.

Abe’s gaze went to Enoch, who was shifting
from one foot to another. “You didn’t have anything to do with
this, did you?”

Enoch shook his head. “No. Benny asked me
to, but I said no. I feel awful about what I did to your wife.”

Abe wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth
or not. It was hard to believe whatever white men said, especially
those who hadn’t shown themselves to be decent in the past. “Yeah,
well, if I find out you did, I won’t be as forgiving as I was in
the general store.”

“I think he’s telling the truth, Abe,”
Phoebe spoke up. “He’s scared. It took a lot for him to tell Eric
what Benny was planning.”