Jodi Thomas - The Lone Texan

"Hush up, little doc," came a low whisper from behind her. "We ain't gonna hurt you. We're just gonna keep you”

Wiggling and kicking at everything and everyone crowded into the boat, Sage barely saw the oar rise above her head. A moment later she watched it fall, and all went black.

Her last thought was that she wasn't going to make it back to the hotel before dark.

BONNIE HEARD THE SOUND OF THE BELL AND SHOUTS. She took a step toward the office and Sage.

Tony's thick arm blocked her way. "Not so fast," he muttered. "The boss is real big on rules.”

"Something's wrong” She started to explain why she had to go to Sage.

Angry shouts exploded and echoed through the room and down the hallway.

"No," the man whispered. "The bell means trouble in the big room. Mr. Shelley will handle it”

Shots sounded close enough to have hit the study. Bonnie stretched her neck to see into the room.

"Gunfire," she said as if the stout man beside her might not know what the sound meant.

He pushed her backward down the hall, knocking off her glasses when he rushed into the study to investigate.

Bonnie steadied herself and prepared to barge her way past the man just as a hand slapped around her mouth and another about her waist, pulling her backward.

"Quiet.” someone said from behind her. "Or you'll end up in the middle of a robbery."

She thought of trying to fight but realized the body against her back was taller than her. She twisted enough to see his hat and knew it had to be the cowboy. He'd come to her aid.

"We got to get out of here, or we're liable to be dead”

"No," she struggled. "I'm not going anywhere without the doc."

The cowboy appeared deaf. He locked one arm around her and lifted her up against his side. In what seemed like very few steps, he was out the door and halfway down the dock. With no pause, he dropped off the pier into the fading light of a golden sunset. His arm still held Bonnie so tightly she couldn't breathe. Landing in the soft, damp sand, he whistled, and a horse bumped against them from the shadows beneath the dock.

"Easy boy, easy," he whispered as he grabbed the reins with his free hand. "How about taking the little lady for a ride?"

"No," she protested as gunfire went wild inside the gaming house. "I'm not going anywhere”

He lifted her up onto his horse and swung up behind her in one fluid movement. Before she could build a grand scream, he tapped the mount, and they were at full gallop. In panic, Bonnie stopped yelling and hung on for dear life. She'd only been on a horse a few times in childhood and never a thundering beast like this one.

She was too scared to cry, too near panic to think. All she could do was hold on as the damp air streamed past.

They rode away from the lights of town into the night so dark she couldn't make out a single landmark. Rain fell, but she hardly noticed. The cowboy slowed enough to pull his coat over her shoulders. She rested her head against his chest, needing the warmth of his body. They rode on along a road she couldn't see but he seemed to know well. She could feel as well as hear his heart pounding, and it calmed her enough that she could think.

"You have to let me go," she said with enough force that it sounded almost like an order. "You can't kidnap me. You can't. I can't go with you. I've a responsibility to the doctor.”

"I saved your life, lady” he said against her ear. "That doctor is probably already dead”

"No."

He tugged her closer. "I'm sorry. But I’d say it's an even bet that she's dead”

“No” Bonnie whispered. "She can't be”

This cowboy could never understand that she'd had no one on earth when she found Sage. She couldn't even think about losing her. Some people needed wealth or power or love. All Bonnie Faye ever wanted or needed was a reason, one reason why she was put on this earth. Sage gave her that reason. "The doc's not dead”

"You got a look at those men shooting up the place. They'll probably kill everyone in that hellhole before they leave."

She shook her head. "No! You're wrong. You don't know that. I didn't see anything. They'll let me go”

"They'll kill you” he said flatly.

Bonnie fisted his shirt in her hand. "You can't be sure.”

"I know. I'm sure," he said holding her tight. "I know, because I was one of them”

ROAK LOADED THE LAST OF SAGE'S MEDICAL equipment and headed back to the hotel. He had one quick stop to make at the Ranger station before grabbing a few hours' sleep then setting off at dawn. He wanted to check with the captain to see if there was any word of relatives who might be claiming the boys or leads about who killed their father and mother.

He'd be glad to get out of Galveston. The dull rain this time of year made him feel cold down to the bone. He decided to order a bath at the hotel after everyone else had bedded down for the night. He knew he wouldn't sleep soundly until they were on Whispering Mountain property.

Stepping into the station, Roak's senses heightened at the stillness. This time of night, Rangers usually checked in to pass the evening over coffee. He'd hung around in the shadows a few times to listen to the stories the old guys told of trouble in the early days, when Texas was little more than a settlement of three hundred. In a strange way, the tales gave him a sense of the history of the place.

He hadn't been born when Houston and his men won independence from Mexico, but the battles were in his blood, a part of him as they were everyone who grew up on Lone Star soil. He wasn't around when the Alamo fell or the men were shot at Goliad, but a few of the Rangers still yelled the battle cries of "Remember the Alamo" when they rode in, fighting.

Roak made it through the main office with one wall lined with rifles and the other with shelves of coffee mugs. He was well into the bunk area before he heard a sound. A dog's yelp and a cat's hiss. Then, the laughter of a child.

Drum's tired muscles relaxed. Nothing could be too bad if the boys were laughing.

"Look, Mr. Roak," Andy shouted. "Bullet's trying to box Mutt”

Turning full into the room, he spotted Daniel Torry playing checkers with Andy Smith. Will was curled up on one of the bunks, trying to read a book Sage bought him. All three were watching Bonnie's cat and Mutt fighting out round one.

"My money's on the cat." Daniel laughed. "That dog's been pestering her all afternoon."

"Anything else going on?" Roak kept his voice low, conversational.

Daniel did the same. "There was some trouble down at one of the lowlife poker houses on the dock. A robbery turned murder. The captain and everyone else hanging around decided to go have a look” Daniel leaned back in his chair. "I decided beating this little fellow at checkers was far more fun than going sloshing through the rain and mud."

"You drew the short straw?"

Daniel smiled. "Something like that."

Drum sat down on an empty chair. "Any idea where the ladies are?" If the boys were here, they had to be out somewhere.

"Captain said they had an errand to run before dark. Must have got to talking. They said something about visiting the doctor's brother-in-law."

Roak leaned forward on the edge of his chair. "Happen to catch his name?"

Daniel shook his head. "Might have been the fellow with them when I met them at the hotel the night we brought the boys' mother in. I think he said his name was Shelley something."

Standing slowly, Roak asked. "It wouldn't have been Shelley Lander, a lowlife who passes himself off as a gentleman from time to time. Wears a light-colored suit that doesn't look like it's been cleaned in years. Hair combed back like he thinks he's a peacock.”

Daniel nodded and met Roak's stare. They didn't have to say more. They were both thinking the same thing: Shelley Lander owned a gambling place down by the docks.

"Go.” Daniel whispered. "I'll watch these two until you get back.”

Roak didn't have to ask the Ranger to swear; he had his word. Drum grabbed his new hat from the peg and was through the office to his horse before he let out a breath. He rode straight to the coastline, where he knew Shelley Lander's place stood far out on a neglected dock.

He tied Satan to a pole and almost knocked men down as he ran. The place was in chaos.

Drum pushed his way through the front door and down the hall. The first room he came to had four bodies. Only one looked like he'd had time to pull his weapon from leather. The rest were still holding their cards when they fell.

He moved to the next room. A sailor and a barmaid were dead.

Drum rushed to the third room, an office. Shelley Lander lay on a ratty couch, holding a towel against his head. Blood stained his shirt along his shoulder.

"I need medical attention.” he whined. "I've told all of you everything I know; now you've got to find me a real doctor."

Captain Harmon stood in front of the gambler. "You haven't told us what happened to Sage McMurray and her companion."

Drum moved in to listen.

^“I don't know. Ask Tony. He let them in. I'd only had time to say hello to Sage when the firing started, and I didn't even see the nurse. Tony would know if that beanpole of a woman was with her”

"Tony's dead” Harmon answered. "Looks like he made it to the big room just about the time a bullet went through his forehead."

"Oh. God!" Shelley yelled. "This is more than I can take. First they clean out my safe, and next they kill the only good bodyguard I've ever hired. They took everything. Everything. Not just my money but all the stuff I was keeping for people.”