Johanna Lindsey - Angel

“I’ve decided to send Harry down with my demands,” he told her when he had finished. “This has worked out better’n I first figured on.”

“How’s that?”

“It�ll be easier killin‘ that fast gun up here. Won’t have to rush off after or worry about no posse. Your ranch ain’t far from here, is it?”

“How should I know?” she said unhelpfully. “I couldn’t tell where we were going.”

“I reckon if s not far.”

Never once had he raised his voice or sounded like a man enraged over his brother’s death. His attitude wasn’t natural, but she took some small hope from it. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as Rafferty had been. Maybe he wasn’t all that happy about the killing he felt he had to do. And maybe he didn’t even know what kind of man his brother had become. She decided to enlighten him, just in case.

“You know, your brother was no good. He stampeded cattle. He tried to—”

“Don’t be talkin‘ against my brother,” was all he said, and even that was said mildly.

He ignored her then to go over and kick Harry awake. They conferred quietly by the fire for a while, with Harry glancing her way more than once. He wasn’t as tall as Gaylen. His eyes were a dull gray, his brown hair long and stringy, his clothes ill-fitting and stained. He was, in fact, an ugly little man, the kind easily led by others.

Cassie strained to hear them, but couldn’t catch more than a word or two. After they did some scribbling on an old newspaper, using soot right out of the fireplace, Harry shrugged into his jacket and left. Gaylen settled down in the vacated bedroll by the fire.

Cassie waited a few minutes, but it really did look like the man was going to go to sleep, and never mind that she hadn’t been fed, or offered a blanket or even a position closer to the fire. Warmth wasn’t her immediate concern, however.

“Just how did you plan to get Angel up here?”

“He’s gonna bring me your ma’s money.”

“What makes you think he’ll do that? It’s more likely my mama will send—”

“She’ll send Angel, or if s no deal.”

“She might ask him, but that doesn’t mean he’ll agree to come,” Cassie pointed out.

“He’s a gun for hire, ain’t he? So your mama can hire him if he don’t want to do it for nothing. And he don’t know who’s got you or that I aim to kill him, so why wouldn’t he come? ‘Sides, I heard you got hitched to him ’fore you two left Texas. It would look pretty bad if the man didn’t come to get his wife, now wouldn’t it?”

Cassie didn’t hear much beyond the mention that Angel would be coming up here unaware of what was waiting for him. That hadn’t occurred to her. She wished it hadn’t been pointed out now because with it came a sick feeling of dread. Would her mama remember that she’d seen Rafferty’s brother in town and draw the right conclusion? Would she even mention it to Angel if she did?

Cassie had to do something, get away, or think of some way to warn Angel. If Gaylen hadn’t tied her hands behind her back, she could have scooted over to him and hit him with one of the logs stacked next to the fire. If he hadn’t removed her boots, she would have tried kicking him senseless. There was nothing but two logs in the fireplace, so she couldn’t even fish out a burning stick to maneuver against the cotton bandana. And sticking her hands in the fire completely to burn off the cloth just didn’t appeal to her, nor did it guarantee she’d be alive afterward to do anything.

Her only option at the moment seemed to be to help Gaylen into rethinking the matter. But as she stared at him lying there, his arms tucked behind his head, looking so peaceful, as if he weren’t contemplating murder, she wasn’t the least bit confident.

She still had to try. “Would you kill a man who’d tried to shoot you in the back, Slater?”

“Sure I would.”

“Well, that’s why Angel shot your brother.”

“Lady, I heard what went on down there. That man of yours was lookin‘ for my brother to kill him, and he’s known to be faster’n lightnin’. Either way Rafe woulda died, so what he tried was the only chance he had, as I see it. You gonna tell me that there Angel of Death wasn’t out to kill him?”

She couldn’t very well do that. “Your brother tried to rape me. That�s why.”

He glanced over at her then, showing her the first bit of emotion. It was surprise. “Well, shoot, what�d he want to do that for? You ain’t nothin‘ much to look at.”

Heat stole up Cassie’s cheeks. “That doesn’t change the fact—”

“Even if he did rape you,” he broke in, “thaf d be no reason to die.”

With that attitude, he’d never admit his brother might have deserved what he’d got, so she changed tactics. “You won’t get away with this. If you succeed in killing Angel, I’ll hunt you down myself. There won’t be anywhere—”

He cut her off again with a snort “Lady, what makes you think you’ll be leavin‘ here alive? The only reason you ain’t dead yet is in case that fast gun wants to see you ’fore he comes in close enough for me to shoot him. You’re the reason he killed Rafe, so you gotta die, same as him.”

He probably thought that would shut her up. It nearly did. “You — you still won’t get away with it. I saw you in town today. I told my mama. She’s smart enough to figure if s you, so the name Slater will be on Wanted posters in every state and the Western territory. You’ll never have another moment’s peace if you murder us.”

“So I’ll leave die country,” he replied with a shrug. “That won’t bother me none. But you’re botherin‘ me, so shut it up, girlie, ’fore I stuff something in your mouth. They won’t be able to get the money until the bank opens in the mornin‘, so that gunfighter won’t be gettin’ here until near noon. I need some sleep ‘fore then.”

Cassie decided against telling him that her mama would have him hunted down, no matter where he went. His answer would probably be that he’d kill her, too.

She gave up for the time being. She’d have time in the morning to work on him some more, and his friend Harry, too. The smaller man would be easier to scare, and maybe he could talk some sense into Slater.

But she refused to let him have the last word.

“I’m hungry,” she complained.

“I ain’t wastin‘ food on a dead woman.”

She let him have the last word after all.

Catherine pounded on Angel’s door at two o’clock that morning. It sounded like she was breaking it down. The other boarders were out in the hall having a look at what woke them by the time Angel had opened the door. She had two of her tougher-looking cowhands with her. Angel stood there in just his pants — and his gun. His first thought was, she’d intended to escort him out of town, especially since she was carrying that damn black bag again. But if so, she should have tried it more quietly. The gun he leveled at his visitors said he was staying right there. And having been awakened from a very pleasant dream about her daughter, he was in no mood for any more of her insults.

“You try to give me that money again and I’ll burn it,” he told her.

“If s not for you. I’m here to hire you.”

“To leave the country?” he sneered.

“No, to get Cassie back. Was she here? Her horse is still out front.”

“I haven’t seen her — and what do you mean, to get her back? Where is she?”

“She’s being held in a cabin up in the foothills. From the crude map they drew, I’d say if s an old trapper’s cabin not far from my ranch. I don’t know how many men there are, but they want twenty thousand dollars or they say they’ll — they’ll kill her.”

Angel’s gun slowly lowered. It was only then he noticed how pale Catherine was. He probably looked the same.

He hoped she was lying, that this was no more than a setup to get rid of him. Could she be that underhanded? Probably, but the fear he saw in her eyes told him this wasn’t one of those times.

“How did this happen?”

“She was with me in town today. When we got home, she took off by herself. She left the message that she was just going for a ride, but with her horse here, I have to assume she was coming to see you. But since you haven’t seen her, she must have been taken almost immediately after she got here.”

“And all they want is twenty thousand?”

His surprise was understandable. Everyone who knew the Stuarts knew they came from old money.

“Apparently they don’t know how much I’m worth,” Catherine said. “Which is fortunate in one respect only. I just happen to have that much on hand, so I don’t have to wait until the morning to visit the bank.”

Only because she’d tried to bribe him out of town. Her slight blush said she was remembering that, too. It got worse when she added, “The other five thousand is still in the bag. That was what you said your price is, wasn’t it?”

“Take it out.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Take the five out. I won’t work for you, Mrs. Stuart, not for any reason.”

He turned away after saying it. Catherine took a step forward, which put her inside his room. “You have to,” she said in a beseeching tone. “I don’t know why, but they say they’ll only take the money from you. If anyone else tries to deliver it—”

He was putting his shirt on when he interrupted her. “I didn’t say I wouldn’t deliver it.”

“Then let me pay you.”

“To collect my wife?” He paused to give her a dark look. “She is still my wife, isn’t she?”

Catherine went red in the face again because she suspected he wasn’t going to move another inch unless she answered him. “Yes,” she bit out.

He didn’t rub it in, but he did continue dressing. “Where is that cabin?”