The Fall of Rome (25 page)

Bernard Parker, personal assistant to PMA director, Athens Garrett, removed his spectacles, minimizing his scholarly air. He readjusted his hat to a menacing angle. Rolled back his shoulders, adjusted his stance. His tailored jacket suddenly seemed a size too small. The transformation from pencil pusher to Peacemaker was remarkable. “Whatever you need,” he said, “I’m your man.”

London assessed the situation. “I need a ghost.”

Pinal County

Mule and Elroy led the dwindling pack. Brady and Boyd rode a few paces back, with Itchy bringing up the rear. They’d eased the lathered horses into a walk, aiming to take it slow and easy for a while instead of stopping full-out. The more distance they put between themselves and the sheep ranch, the safer they’d be.

They’d left the woman alive and tethered to the bed. They’d chased off the couple’s two horses and a mule, ruining her chances of riding off and alerting the law should she manage to free herself. She could always walk, but she’d be walking for miles. Killing the bitch would have been the wiser choice, maybe kinder should she not wiggle free and should nobody happen along, but no one, including Brady, had had the stomach for it.

He wasn’t himself today. They’d been riding since the crack of dawn. Felt like weeks to Brady. He felt like shit. The night before, his shoulder had pained him so bad that instead of screwing the sheepherder’s pretty wife, he’d collapsed on the bed in a wash of feverish sweat. He’d lain next to the whimpering woman, wishing she was Kat. Instead, he’d fallen asleep and dreamt of her.

In his dreams, she came to him willingly. The cock teaser stripped slowly, then begged for it. For him. In his dreams, she was fully conscious, not doped up on liquor and laudanum. In his dreams, she gave as good as she got.

A shotgun blast had obliterated his sweet ecstasy. He’d bolted upright, and upon hearing return fire, hauled ass.

By the time he’d reached the ruckus, Mule was sheathing a smoking .38 and the sheep man was facedown in the sand, pushing up daisies. Amos was sprawled on the warped veranda, his chest ravaged by a shotgun wound. Somehow Sheep Man had freed himself and come gunning to save his wife. The idiot had been outnumbered. Just like the young maverick who’d pulled a revolver on Brady during the train robbery. The stupid things men did to save women.

Only they didn’t always save them. Sometimes they deserted them. The way Rome Garrett deserted Kat six years ago. Booze-blind and twisted with jealousy, the arrogant Wells Fargo detective had taken the scene at face value. Much to Brady’s delight and Kat’s devastation. All Brady had suffered was a black eye. She’d suffered a broken heart.

The more he thought on it, he was having a hard time believing she’d forgiven Rome. So why were they back together? Did she have ulterior motives? Did she aim on working her wiles to make the man pay? Why come out of the woodwork after she’d spent so many years in hiding? She had to have read about the train robbery. Had to know Brady was in the territory.

Like Mule had said, too many coincidences. Possible he could attribute this sudden paranoia to the fever. Or maybe it was because the gang was now two men shy of their lucky seven and his superstitious streak was mightier than his obsession with Kat. What if it was all a lie? What if there was no Kat? No Frankie? What if it was an elaborate scheme meant to lead him into a trap? A trap masterminded by the Garrett brothers in a bid to regain the public’s favor and their legendary status. Snagging Bulls-Eye Brady and the Ace-in-the-Hole gang would certainly land them a write-up in the dime novels.

Temper simmering toward boil, Brady caught Boyd’s attention.

The man reined his horse closer, kept his voice low. “Don’t take this the wrong way, boss, but you look like hell. Is it your shoulder?”

“Yes,” Brady said through clenched teeth. “It’s my goddamned shoulder.” He forced himself to sit straight, not wanting to appear as weak as he felt. “Didn’t anticipate this, given the bullet went clean through and we patched up the wound quick and true.”

“Think we need to find a doctor?”

“I don’t think it’s infected. I think it’s a combination of making use of my arm too early, the hard riding, and getting drenched last night. Aggravated my wound and contracted some sort of fever. It’ll pass, but I could use something for the pain.”

“I got a bottle of whiskey--”

“Laudanum.”

“Your recreational stash--”

“Gone. Something else, Boyd. What if you and Mule were right? What if were riding into a trap? Everything that transpired the past few days, maybe it’s part of an elaborate setup. What if Kat’s still working the riverboats? What if there is no Frankie?”

“What about the daguerreotype?”

“Looks like a young Kat. Maybe it is a young Kat.” Boyd shifted in his saddle. “All right. Let’s say we’re being set up.” The seasoned outlaw tugged at his hat brim, eyes forward. “Maybe you don’t want to hear this, but this chase was started by one man.”

Brady fixated on his stick-thin cousin riding just ahead. “I swan Elroy gets more twitchy by the day. I don’t think he has the guts to cross me, but I’ve been wrong about a person a time or two.” Maybe Elroy was being paid off, or maybe his motivation was revenge. Brady
had
mangled his hand. He’d kicked him out of the gang, leaving him to fend for himself. From the looks of him, he’d had a helluva rough year. “Gila Gulch is a couple of hours north. I want you and Elroy to ride ahead, buy me some laudanum. They have a doc there. A general store with a telegraph. Give him enough rope to hang himself. See if he tries to get word to anyone. Or maybe he’ll try to make a break.”

“All right.”

“I know a bad-egg rancher up that way who’ll give us shelter a night or two. Meanwhile, I’m sending Itchy ahead to Phoenix. Let him nose around. I want to know if there’s a little girl. Want to know if he sees Kat.”

“Kat’s in Tucson with Rome.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Ain’t clear on what’s fact and fiction just now. Are you?”

“Nope. All right. So Itchy noses around in Phoenix. Say he doesn’t see Kat or the kid.”

“Regardless, I want a full rundown on where the Garretts live and work. I don’t aim on riding into a trap, but I don’t intend to turn tail. One way or another we’re going to get those bastards off our backs once and for all.” Boyd scratched at his whiskers and settled into the notion. Brady secretly hoped that Kat and Frankie weren’t a figment of a scheme, but in fact the real thing. Maybe his obsession was stronger than his superstitious streak. “You with me on this, Boyd?”

“Why the hell not? Hate to think Snapper and Amos bit the dust in vain.” He spit in the dirt. “Never did like the Garretts.” Grinning, he spurred his horse to the front line.

Phoenix

“You got
hitched
?”

Paris’s shocked squeal rang in London’s ears. Hers was the only vocal response to his news. Kaila furrowed her brow. Emily splayed a hand to her heart. And Josh, the cocky bastard, grinned. Zach and Zoe were in school so he wouldn’t glean their reaction until later.

After dispatching Parker to act as his eyes and ears at the north end of town, as well as invisible bodyguard to his niece and nephew, he’d enlisted Teddy to watch over the saloon, citing a threat from a pissed-off patron. Secure in the knowledge that his sharpshooting barkeep would protect Victoria and Mrs. Chen with his life, he’d then hotfooted it to his sister and their extended kin.

The only thing he intended to share with the women just now were the facts pertaining to Victoria. He needed to reveal a helluva a lot more to Josh, but in private. He also needed to touch base with Marshal Clancy and to return to the Last Chance and his wife as soon as possible.

Not wanting to waste time, he’d started with Tori’s arrival in town, segued into revealing her true identity, and ended with,
“We were meant to be together, and I didn’t want to wait”

Seated in Athens’s comfortable parlor, his family, those in town at any rate, stared at London in awe.

“Coldcocked by love. Wish I could say I feel sorry for you, Garrett.” Josh thrust out a congratulatory hand. “I’ll settle on, welcome to the club.”

Until this moment, London had harbored lingering resentment toward the lawman who’d tricked his sister into marriage. Now he understood that love made a man reckless. He gripped his brother-in-law’s palm, bonding them in a new and interesting way.

“I can’t believe it,” Paris said.

“Why not?” said Emily. “You hadn’t known Josh but a week and you two tied the knot.”

“That was different.”

“Different circumstances, maybe. But at heart, the same motivator. Love at first sight,” Emily said. “Why wait? Seth and I didn’t.”

“Why, indeed?” Kaila said with a wistful smile.

All eyes flew to the sophisticated and beautiful Englishwoman. They all knew her mind. It had been love at first sight for her and Athens, yet he hadn’t committed to a wedding date. Unless
“soon”
counted, and London was pretty sure it didn’t.

Paris started to say something, but Josh stopped her. London was glad. No sense filling Kaila with false hope. Athens had to be the one to set things in motion.

“I just wish,” Paris said, turning back to London, “that I could have been there.” Her brown eyes filled with tears. “My big brother got married, and I missed it.”

“Ah, hell, honey,” Josh said, putting his arm around her shoulders. “Don’t cry.”

“We all missed it,” Emily said. “Honestly, London.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I don’t recall being invited to either of your nuptials.”

“That was different,” they said in tandem.

London bit back a laugh. Laughing just now would land him in a peck of trouble.

“Not to mention,” Kaila said. “Poor Victoria missed out on a traditional wedding.”

“She didn’t want a traditional wedding,” London said.

Emily crossed her arms. “Maybe she just said that.”

“Yeah,” Paris said, then blew her nose into Josh’s kerchief.

Was it possible? Had Victoria been too shy to voice her desire for a church wedding? London didn’t think so, but he did see an opportunity to keep the women distracted for the next few days. “How about I make amends by allowing you to plan a belated reception?”

Paris quirked a watery smile. “You mean, with music and dancing?”

“Flowers and presents?” asked Emily.

London smiled. “Think you could manage it by the weekend?”

“As this is a family event, perhaps we should wait until your brothers can attend as well,” Kaila suggested.

London caught Josh’s eye. “I have reason to believe they’ll all be home by week’s end.”

“Even Seth?” Emily asked.

“Even Seth.”

Knowing the county sheriff rode with Athens, Kailas tense shoulders wilted with relief. Her face beamed. “I’m going to bake a cake the likes of which you have never seen or tasted.” London stood. “Plan away, ladies.”

The room exploded with feminine chatter, and the two men faded to the foyer.

“I take it you heard from Athens,” said Josh.

London passed him the telegram.

The lawman read, cursed. “All right. We get the ladies into town, turn them loose on the shops, then we break away and visit Clancy.”

London nodded. “Wish we had specifics.”

“Can’t believe Brady would risk showing his face in this town. Or any major town, for that matter. Wanted posters are rampant.”

“Seems unlikely to me, too,” London said. “But I’m thinking we should prepare for the worst.”

Josh nodded and glanced at the three laughing women. “And hope for the best.”

Pima County

Rome sensed the moment Stargazer started to tire under the weight of two riders. This particular breed was fast and sturdy, but even mustangs had their limit. The horse was in need of water and rest and, truth told, he and Kat would benefit from the same.

He knew just the place.

The late afternoon sun played hide and seek, ducking in and out of white clouds. The temperature was mild, but Rome’s skin sizzled. Kat had been riding flush against him for several hours. He was intensely aware of her touch, her scent.

To make matters worse, he couldn’t stop thinking about the way she’d handled his Colt without a second thought, the way she’d braved the McCree shoot-out and tended to Seth’s wound without a whimper. Her courage and grit worked as an aphrodisiac as surely as her beauty and form.

Instead of focusing on wrangling an outlaw, all he could think about was tangling with Kat. He was hot and hard and goddamned miserable. He needed to walk it off or sleep it off or act on his urges. Salvation, temporary though it may be, for horse and man, waited around the bend.

The Flapjack Ranch didn’t deal in cattle or sheep, but people. It was a stopover for travelers on their way north to Phoenix, or beyond to Prescott or Flagstaff. For those destined west to Yuma or east to Globe. One could purchase a meal or a bath, bunk down for an hour or a night. Stagecoaches swapped out teams, and generally the owner set aside a few horses for trade or sale. The facility was centrally located, and rustic but clean, and Rome and Boston had made use of it on occasion. Sensing food and water and a familiar location, Stargazer whinnied and strained for the upcoming stables.

Kat, who’d been resting her head on Rome’s shoulder for the last several miles, straightened as they neared the humble, but sizable ranch house. “Why are we veering off course?” “We’re taking a break.”

“Why?”

“Because we’ve been riding for hours.”

“I’m not tired.”

Liar
. “Maybe not, but Stargazer is. He needs looking after.” He glanced over his shoulder, noted the shadows beneath Kat s eyes, the weariness in her shoulders. She was exhausted. He suspected she’d slide off, if she didn’t have such a tight hold on his waist. Her hands rested innocently above his holster buckle. All the same, those feminine fingers riled lustful thoughts.

“‘We’ll be better equipped to handle any adversity if we’re equally rejuvenated,” he said, trying to blot out images of her naked body. “We’ve got a ways to go, sugar.”