The Outlaws: Jess (14 page)

Bufford shrugged. "Suit yourself, though I
think you're biting off more than you can chew with this one. Now
if this were five years ago, and Purdee was going with you, I'd
have no qualms. But you're a woman, Meg. I can't say as I blame
your detractors for thinking you shouldn't be engaged in this kind
of work."

Meg bristled angrily. "Just because I'm a
woman doesn't make me any less capable to do the job. Look at my
record. I've brought in more dangerous outlaws than any bounty
hunter in these parts except for Zach. Being a woman works in my
favor, as I've proven many times in the past."

"It's your life," Bufford said without
enthusiasm. "But I'll only back off until I return from Denver. I'm
taking the train today and will return day after tomorrow. If you
don't have Fremont by then, I'll take over."

"It's a deal," Meg said, rising. She picked
up the wanted posters. "I'll just put these away for you before I
leave." She opened the drawer and shoved them inside, well to the
back.

"One day I'll take them out and have a look,"
Bufford said. "But if none of them interested you I reckon they
won't interest me."

Meg left the sheriff's office in a daze. Just
one word from her and she could have collected the reward for Jess.
She never even considered it. She'd feel a whole lot better,
however, had she been able to destroy the poster before anyone else
saw it. She glanced down the street, toward Jess's office,
wondering if she should tell him.

Yes, she decided, but not now. Perhaps after
she returned with Fremont. The sheriff didn't seem in any hurry to
peruse the posters and she had a job to do first. Telling him now
would be tantamount to letting him know she'd been looking at
wanted posters. Then he'd try to stop her from going after Fremont.
An argument would likely ensue and Jess would enlist Zach's help to
stop her.

No, she decided, she had to keep this to
herself for the time being. She needed to think about the poster
and try to figure out how Jess had earned the title of outlaw.

A continual flow of patients kept Jess busy
during the following days. So busy he hadn't had time to return to
the house to see Meg, but he thought often about what had taken
place in her bed. He tried to convince himself that he should
forget it ever happened. But he seriously doubted he could do that.
He'd relived it over and over in his mind, until every incredible
moment of their loving was indelibly etched in his memory.

And what a memory it was! No woman had ever
made him feel like Meg. Despite her prickly disposition, her
independent streak, her recklessness, he doubted there was a woman
alive to match her. Meg appealed to him on every level. She might
be a bit rash and headstrong, but taming her would be half the fun
of having her in his life.
If
he were free to pursue
her.

Today was just like any other busy day in the
life of Dr. Jess Gentry. The usual assortment of patients lined up
in his waiting room with the usual complaints. But the moment Jess
opened his eyes this morning he'd experienced a twinge of anxiety.
A subtle sense of awareness heightened his uneasiness. He had
experienced the feeling many times in the past, especially during
the war when danger threatened. Anticipation made him edgy,
draining him emotionally as he began his day, dreading whatever
happenstance fate had dealt him.

Jess had just seen the last patient of the
day and he was tired. Bone tired and damn irritable. A meal and a
bath were in order, he thought as he locked the front door and
wandered into his office. He was straightening the tools of his
trade when he heard a racket at the front door. Heaving a weary
sigh, Jess walked resolutely to the door, hoping the emergency
wasn't something he couldn't handle quickly.

Jess's breath caught in his throat and blood
pounded through his veins when he found Zach standing on the
doorstep, clutching his chest, his eyes wild.

"Zach! What happened? Are you ill?"

Jess helped Zach inside, easing him down on
the cot in his examining room. But Zach would have none of Jess's
pampering.

"I'm fine, Doc," he said, brushing aside
Jess's concern. "A little pain ain't gonna kill me. Just let me
catch my breath."

Jess removed a bottle of pills from his
medicine cabinet and handed one to Zach. "Here, dissolve this under
your tongue."

Jess chafed impatiently as he waited for the
pill to take affect. What dire emergency could have brought Zach
racing hell for leather to his office? he wondered. All he could
think about was Meg. Something had happened to her; he could feel
it in his bones.

"Can you talk now, Zach? Are you still in
pain?"

"I'm fine, Doc, thanks. It's Meggie."

"She's not ill, is she? I'll get my bag and
go out there immediately."

"Hang on, Doc, it ain't what you think. She's
gone. I didn't know she intended to leave until she walked out the
door with her saddlebags."

"Gone where?"

"After Duke Fremont. She told me she'd
visited the sheriff's office yesterday and learned that Fremont was
seen in the area. He's wanted for rape and murder. I tried to talk
her out of it but she wouldn't listen. I stopped off at the
sheriff's office before I came here but Bufford wasn't there. The
deputy said Bufford was escorting a prisoner to Denver.

"Fremont is dangerous, Jess. I'm so damn
worried about Meggie that I considered going after her myself, but
my body ain't what it used to be. There was a time..." His voice
faltered. Jess was shocked to see tears in his eyes.

Jess reached for his gunbelt hanging over the
back of the chair and buckled it on, his face grim with
determination. "I'll find her, Zach. Do you have any idea where she
might be headed?"

"The deputy told me Fremont was spotted out
by the old Floyd place west of town. I reckon you can start looking
there." He glared at Jess. "None of this would have happened if
you'd taken my advice and married Meggie."

"I can't marry anyone right now. Besides, I
thought you and Meg..."

Zach gave a bark of laughter. "I know. Meggie
told me you thought we were lovers. I don't know how you came by
that stupid notion. I love Meggie like a daughter and she loves me
like a father. Look at me, Doc. What do you see? A crippled, washed
up bounty hunter who lived hard and played even harder. A miracle
happened when I found Meggie. I stopped drinking and carousing
because Meggie needed me. If anything happens to her I would
die."

"Nothing is going to happen to her," Jess
vowed. "I'll bring her back safely, and when I do, you'd best chain
her to the stove if you want to keep her home."

"You and who else is gonna help me?"

"We'll talk about this later," Jess said as
he plucked his hat from the rack and slammed in on his head. "If
I'm not back in two days tell the deputy to form a posse. Why in
blazes did the sheriff agree to let Meg go after Fremont
alone?"

"Deputy Taylor told me that she asked Sheriff
Bufford to give her the first shot at Fremont. Meggie can be pretty
damn convincing. The sheriff didn't stand a chance against her.
Anyway, he gave Meggie two days to bring in Fremont. If she doesn't
return by then, Bufford is gonna form a posse. Meggie is damn good
at what she does, Jess. I know it and the sheriff knows it."

"Well I don't know it," Jess said through
clenched teeth. "I'd hoped she'd learned her lesson after the
Calder fiasco. Spend the night on the cot in my office, Zach. I'll
bring Meg here when I find her."

# # #

A trace of daylight remained when Meg spied
the Floyd place in the distance. It stood in the midst of a grassy
plain, with no visible cover for miles and miles except for a deep
gully cutting a vertical swath through the tall grass. Meg reined
her mare into the gully and dismounted, securing the reins to the
ground with a rock. Then she sat down and waited for darkness. When
the last vestiges of daylight disappeared, Meg checked her guns,
wound a rope around her waist and crept on her belly through the
grass toward the house.

The place looked deserted and Meg feared
Fremont had already fled. If that proved to be the case, she'd
spend the night in the house and start tracking him tomorrow. But
until she found out for sure that Fremont was gone, she had to
remain alert. She couldn't afford to become careless again.

Jess was going to be furious when he learned
what she had done, she reflected. Not that it was any of his
business. Zach had given her a hard enough time without having Jess
to contend with. Just because she'd made love with him didn't mean
he owned her.

She had almost reached the house when she saw
it. A brief flicker of light in one of the upstairs rooms. It had
disappeared so quickly she might have imagined it, but she trusted
her eyesight. Had Fremont lit a cigarette? The flicker of a match
would account for what she had seen.

Meg reached the front porch. A quick glance
showed a broken railing and caved in front steps. The front door
hung open on broken hinges. Meg smiled to herself as she bypassed
the steps. Fremont had make it easy for her by not barricading the
door. Was he that sure of himself?

Meg stepped through the door. The house was
bereft of furnishings and she could see stars through the open
spaces in the roof. The stairs loomed ahead of her. Did they
squeak? Would they hold her weight? She eased her gun from her
holster and placed a foot on the first step. Nothing. So far so
good, she thought with relief. She'd been in similar situations
many times in the past and relying on surprise had always worked
for her. It didn't matter whether she brought Fremont in dead or
alive; he deserved his just rewards for raping two innocent
women.

The moment she'd learned Fremont had raped
two innocent girls, Meg knew she had to bring him to justice. A
shudder passed through her. What Arlo had done to her was still a
painful memory, one that would remain with her forever.

Her foot landed on another step. A loud creak
rent the stillness. Meg froze. Had Fremont heard? Obviously not for
he hadn't come charging out to investigate. Just in case, she
cocked her weapon and curled her finger around the trigger. She'd
never had to kill a man before, but she wouldn't hesitate if she
had no other choice.

Meg climbed two more steps, pausing after
each one to listen. The waiting silence was deafening. Darkness
closed in around her and her heart began pounding so hard she
feared Fremont could hear it from where he had hidden himself. The
next step was missing. She drew in a steadying breath and stretched
her leg up to bypass it.

Finally she reached the top, pausing on the
landing to get her bearings. There were two doors, both slightly
ajar, leading off the narrow corridor in front of her. Instinct
told her that Fremont was holed up in one of the rooms, quite
possibly asleep. Meg blessed the full moon. Tonight it was her
ally, for once she pushed the door fully open, moonlight pouring
through the broken windows would illuminate both the room and
Fremont.

Cautiously she moved toward the first door
and placed her hand on the knob. She held her breath as she pushed
the door wide and stepped inside. Only a very slight squeak gave
away her presence. The exhaled sharply when the room proved to be
empty. Meg whirled around and contemplated the other room. Then a
floorboard creaked beneath her foot.

She inhaled and let her breath out slowly
when Fremont's head didn't pop out of the room. Slowly she eased
back the door and squeezed through the narrow opening. Crouching
low, she swung her gun in a wide arc, holding it steady with both
hands. The room was empty! Had she been mistaken? Had the light
she'd seen been a figment of her imagination?

Suddenly the door slammed against her,
knocking her off balance. A man stepped out from behind it.

"I've been waiting for you," a smooth as silk
voice said moments before his fist connected with her jaw. Then
everything went black.

Meg awakened slowly. Her jaw was on fire and
her head felt like it had been split open. A light flared somewhere
on the other side of her closed eyelids. Her eyes fluttered. A
booted toe nudged her none too gently in the ribs.

"Wake up."

Meg groaned. She'd done it again. How could
she have been so careless? Luck was surely against her.

A face floated into view. It wasn't a bad
face, as faces went, except for the cruel glint in his cold,
colorless eyes, and the harsh lines around his flattened lips and
bared teeth.

"I've heard about you," Fremont sneered.
"You're Meg Lincoln, that crazy lady bounty hunter."

"How did you..."

The words died in her throat when she saw his
pale eyes slide down her body. She glanced down at herself, gasping
in dismay when she saw that he had unbuttoned her shirt and untied
the strings of her camisole, exposing her breasts. But that wasn't
all. He had tied her arms behind her with her own rope.

"Bastard!" she hissed. "What gave me away?
How did you know I was here?"

"That creaking floorboard. I never even heard
you climb the stairs. I hid behind the door and waited for you. Of
course I didn't know you were a female. Not until I clipped you on
the jaw and your hat fell off. I knew immediately all that
beautiful black hair had to belong to a woman. You must be either
mad or desperate to get into this kind of work."

Meg gave him a defiant glare. "What are you
going to do now? I'm not the only bounty hunter after your hide.
Sooner or later you'll be brought to justice."

"I'm hoping not at all," Fremont gloated.
"But I have plans for you, pretty lady. Indeed I do."

He stared at her long legs encased in tight
trousers and rubbed his chin. "Those britches you're wearing might
present a problem, but nothing I can't handle. I'll cut them off if
I have to. For a whore, you're a damn toothsome little piece, Meg
Lincoln. A woman who takes up a man's profession can't be
respectable. How many men have you spread your legs for?"