Wyatt let out a breath, as if tired of holding it. His eyes darted to the left, then the right. ‘‘I was sent in to keep a lid on this war you people are trying to start over a few head of cattle. I’m a ranger stationed at Fort Elliot.’’

‘‘Sure you are,’’ Cheyenne whispered.

Glancing at Cheyenne, Wyatt shouted, ‘‘I don’t care if you believe me or not!’’

‘‘I don’t,’’ the Indian said simply.

‘‘Look, I’m here to help. I know these people. They aren’t here to murder, just move cattle. Let them through. You’ll recover in a year or so. Let them pass and end this blockade tonight. You don’t have a prayer of winning anyway. If they stampede the cattle toward the ridge, they’ll come up from too many directions for your men to stop them all. A few will get through your web and infect your cattle. They’ll lose the herd and you’ll lose half, maybe more of yours. No one wins.’’

Win didn’t answer.

Wyatt moved closer, pressing his case. ‘‘The trail boss will listen to reason. He’ll let Kora go if you give your promise. But you’d best do it fast. Most of his offspring are bloodthirsty, and if you hesitate you’ll be giving them the chance they’re looking for to kill. I’ve never met a woman like the oldest daughter, all sweet one minute and deadly the next. It’s more than money with her. She’s out for blood. Let me talk to them. I can bluff my way through this.’’

‘‘All right.’’ Win hesitated for only a moment, realizing he had nothing to lose.

The gambler relaxed for the first time. ‘‘Before I go I have to know how far you’re willing to play the hand.’’

Win didn’t blink. ‘‘If they don’t have Kora and it’s only a bluff, I’ll shoot the beef as they try to cross. My word stands.’’

‘‘And if they do have her?’’

‘‘Tell them to turn her loose and they can cross my ranch.’’

Wyatt looked surprised. ‘‘You’d bet the entire ranch against her life?’’

‘‘I would,’’ Win answered. ‘‘And more.’’

Wyatt nodded and swung back into the saddle. ‘‘ Someday I’ll sit down and explain my part in all this,’’ he said. ‘‘But until then, it wouldn’t hurt to trust me a little. When this is over, we might even become friends, or maybe even family.’’

‘‘Yeah,’’ Cheyenne interrupted. ‘‘When you come up with a story we’ll believe.’’

Wyatt glared at Cheyenne silently, the look promising a reckoning in the future. Then the gambler rode off into the pass with his hands high and in plain sight.

‘‘He’s lying,’’ Cheyenne said.

‘‘I know,’’ Win agreed. ‘‘Only I can’t figure out why.’’

‘‘The hour is up!’’ A man shouted from the entrance to the pass. ‘‘Do we move the cattle?’’

Win shifted to where he could watch the pass. He hadn’t heard a word from Wyatt. He’d either joined them, or they’d killed him. Neither would come as a surprise.

‘‘Where’s my wife?’’ All the McQuillen guns were pointed at the long rock-walled vee that marked one of the larger gateways to Win’s land.

Slowly two men walked up from below, dragging a woman between them. Her hands were tied to a rope in front of her as if she’d been led. A bandanna covered her eyes and most of her face. Another dug into the sides of her mouth muffling her screams.

Her hair was long and almost white in the afternoon sun. Win felt his stomach tighten as he saw her dress, dirty and torn. She’d put up quite a fight. He remembered the first time he’d seen her. He’d wondered then how such a tiny creature, so fragile, had survived. He wondered the same now and his heart ached.

‘‘Turn her loose!’’ He fought to keep from moving down the pass. Her life depended on his remaining calm. ‘‘I’ll give you whatever you want.’’

Both of the drifters stood tall, proud of themselves for capturing her. They might have failed the first time, but she’d almost stumbled right into their camp this morning.

Wyatt rode from below to where the men stood holding Kora. He looked none the worse for wear. ‘‘I told them you would!’’ he yelled at Win, then glanced to the men. ‘‘Untie her, boys, and I’ll take her to him.’’

As they worked, Wyatt turned his attention back to Win. ‘‘All they want is to cross your land.’’ He didn’t have to say more. Everyone watching knew what the action would cost. ‘‘She’s free when we have your word.’’

‘‘You have it.’’ Win stared at Kora as she kicked at the men untying her. ‘‘As soon as they’ve crossed, I’ll burn my own ranch to keep the fever from spreading.’’ All he cared about was the woman below.

As the men pulled the bandanna from their captive’s eyes and mouth, one word echoed across the space between Wyatt and Win. ‘‘Jamie!’’

Cheyenne was in the saddle and riding down the incline before anyone else could move.

The kidnappers suddenly realized they’d captured the wrong woman. They tried to pull her back, but she kicked and screamed like a wildcat.

No one was sure who opened fire first, but all at once the air rained bullets. They ricocheted off the stone walls, echoing certain death. The men in the pass who’d been holding Jamie scrambled for cover. The men above lowered their aim.

‘‘Wyatt! Please!’’ Jamie lifted her still-tied hands to him. ‘‘Wyatt!’’

He fought to close the ten feet between them, but bullets splattered the ground around him. His mount danced in the flying dirt, wild with fear. Wyatt fought for control as the men above shot at the men below and the men below returned fire.

With a sudden turn Wyatt pulled his horse back from the center of the passage and rode up toward Win, leaving Jamie standing alone in a circle of gunfire.

Win kept a steady stream of bullets aimed at the rocks behind the pass as he saw Cheyenne approaching Jamie at full speed. Like a wild warrior from another time, Cheyenne rode into the fire and swept Jamie up. Unlike the men who’d tried to kidnap her at the ranch, Cheyenne could hold her in balance and control his powerful horse.

By the time Win reloaded, Cheyenne was out of trouble and riding at gale speed toward the safety of the camp.

Jamie was bouncing and swearing as she lay across his saddle. But she was alive.

The gunfire died down. There was no one left in the pass. Win motioned for his men to stay ready. Nothing or no one would cross now and live. All bargaining was over.

THIRTY-TWO


CHEYENNE RODE BEHIND A BANK OF ROCKS TO THE campsite and dropped a screaming Jamie to the ground a few yards from Wyatt. She fell onto her backside as he swung from the saddle and pulled his knife.

But before he could cut her free, she whirled and turned on the gambler like a skillet-warmed rattlesnake. ‘‘You left me!’’

‘‘I tried to reach you,’’ Wyatt said, looking like a man who’d faced death and had no stomach for the sight. ‘‘If I’d stayed longer, we both would have been killed.’’ He crossed his arms in front of him to keep his hands from shaking.

Jamie doubled her bound fists together and swung, knocking the gambler down with one mighty blow that almost toppled her. ‘‘One of us may be killed yet!’’ she screamed. ‘‘Stand up so I can hit you again.’’

Wyatt remained on the ground.

Cheyenne walked up behind Jamie and circled his arm around her waist. The action was becoming a habit. He lifted her just high enough so that her feet left the ground.

‘‘Let me go!’’ Jamie shouted and twisted against his side.

He moved several yards away from Wyatt and the others. ‘‘Don’t make me sorry I rode down after you,’’ Cheyenne said calmly as he set her down and tried to untie her. ‘‘Be still, or I’ll leave you bound.’’

Jamie straightened, offering her hands before his blade. ‘‘Don’t expect me to be grateful. It’s not one of my traits.’’

‘‘I imagine I’ll come to regret what I did.’’ Cheyenne smiled. ‘‘Sooner or later.’’ His knife sliced through the ropes.

She looked at him then, truly looked at him, for the first time. A portion of her anger passed as the realization of what he’d done sank into her frightened brain. ‘‘Thank you,’’ she said. ‘‘No one else would have risked his life for me like you did.’’ Jamie offered her hand.

Cheyenne closed his grip around her fingers and held tightly as he pulled her a step closer. ‘‘You’d have done the same for me,’’ he mumbled, but his eyes seemed to say so much more. His thumb moved across the back of her hand in almost a caress.

‘‘I tried to reach you, Jamie,’’ Wyatt interrupted. ‘‘In fact, when I rode away from you, you were safer because everyone was shooting at me. I’m probably the reason Cheyenne didn’t get hit when he rode in.’’

Jamie glanced in Wyatt’s direction without turning loose of Cheyenne’s hand. ‘‘Then I guess I should thank you, too.’’ Her gaze came back to Cheyenne. ‘‘You never know what someone will do until under fire.’’

She moved beneath Cheyenne’s arm, and he let her close for once. His hold was strong, but not an embrace.

‘‘You’ve got some explaining to do, Wyatt.’’ Cheyenne stared at the man. ‘‘You’re no ranger and you’re no gambler, but you’ve been trying real hard to straddle the fence. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that the man who sits the fence makes the easiest target?’’