Ashes and Memories (11 page)

And she couldn’t help believing that if she could somehow force him to do the right thing, to admit it was wrong to pass sentence on a man without a trial or to rule an entire town through intimidation and violence, she might be able to break through that barrier between his anger and his humanity.

A cold shiver that had nothing to do with the weather coursed through Emma. In a matter of minutes, Reece MacBride would know that she had defied him again.

CHAPTER FIVE

“Don’t you ever knock?" Reece stood before the small mirror on the wall, meticulously trimming his beard and trying without success to ignore the pain in his injured arm.

There was no need to look at the man who had barged so unceremoniously into his office. Sheriff Ryker’s booming voice had reverberated through the rafters the minute he’d opened the front door downstairs.

He waited impatiently for Ryker to speak his mind, but the sound of the other man’s boots scraping on the floor was his only reply.

Reece frowned in annoyance. “Sheriff, I am not in the mood for games this morning, so if there is something on your mind --”

The sheriff dropped something onto the desk beside Reece’s empty breakfast dishes. Reece gazed from the folded newspaper to his sheriff, confusion slowly giving way to realization. Picking up the paper, he noticed that it bore yesterday’s date.

“Well I’ll be damned,” he muttered, smiling in admiration at Miss Parker’s tenacity.

Obviously she hadn’t had time to typeset a new paper last night, so she’d reprinted the same one. Content wasn’t important. She was making a point, and her message was loud and clear. She would not let him intimidate her into quitting.

“What do you intend to do about that?" Ryker asked.

“I guess I underestimated our little newspaper editor. “Reece dropped the paper onto his desk and turned back to the mirror, snipping at a few stray hairs.

She had guts, he had to give her that. There weren’t many men who would stand up to him like that. And she was clever enough to circulate the paper before he could find out and stop her.

“Read what she said about me,” Ryker said. “She practically accused me of cheating that no account bounty hunter.”

The thought had crossed Reece’s mind. A missing three hundred dollar bounty was not nearly as common as he would have Miss Parker believe, and Ryker knew it.

“Did you?" Reece asked, glaring at Ryker. It was hard for a man to look you in the eye and lie, Reece knew, even one accustomed to deceit. It was what made Reece such a successful gambler. He could tell when a man was lying, and he knew Ryker would lie before he opened his mouth.

“What kind of question is that?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve skimmed a little off the top, now would it?”

Ryker turned red in the face. “Hey, wait a minute --”

Reece put his scissors on the wash stand and dried his face, deciding not to press the issue just yet. He had no proof, and knowing a man was lying and getting him to admit it were two entirely different things. The latter required more effort than Reece was willing to exert just now.

He’d slept fairly well last night, thanks to the laudanum the doctor had given him, but this morning a fierce hangover had prevented him from even going to the hotel for breakfast as was his custom. And the last thing he needed right now was a confrontation with Ryker.

Besides, he had other matters on his mind, like a headstrong woman who didn’t know when to quit.

“Your job is to keep the peace and uphold the law, Sheriff Ryker, and I am getting a little tired of reminding you of that fact.”

Ryker’s jaw clenched, his eyes dark with fury. He turned toward the door, throwing his parting words over his shoulder. “If you won’t take care of this, I guess I’ll --”

“You’ll what?" Reece didn’t like the protective fire that ignited inside him at the thought of Bill Ryker so much as speaking to Emma Parker. He knew he would kill the man if he laid a hand on her, and the flicker of uncertainty in the other man’s eyes when he turned to face him again told him Ryker knew it, too.

“I ain’t gonna sit by and let some uppity woman print lies about me,” Ryker said, his words lacking their earlier bluster.

Reece moved closer to the lawman who stood a good three inches taller than he. He’d hired the man for his intimidating size as much as anything, but the height difference didn’t bother him. There was something missing in Ryker’s eyes, something another man might not notice, but Reece did.

Ryker had never been tested, never been pushed to his limit, never had to confront the darkness in his own soul. A warrior recognized another warrior, another soul who had been through the fire and emerged something different, and there was nothing of the warrior in Ryker. Some men lived their entire lives without ever being forced to face that test.

Besides, he’d handled bigger men, and he could handle Ryker. Reece had discovered three great equalizers early on -- money, resolve and nerve. When he’d come west, he’d added a fourth, prowess with a pistol, and he’d perfected all four. Against those weapons, a man’s size meant very little.

“That is precisely what you are going to do. “Reece spoke softly, knowing the heat in his glare would melt the other man’s determination.

“But --”

“I’ll take care of it. Do you understand?" He watched the fury fade from Ryker’s eyes, watched him mentally back down.

“You’d better,” the sheriff said quietly. “Before you know it she’ll have the whole town up in arms.”

Reece finished dressing after the sheriff left. Minutes later, he descended the stairs to find Grady sitting in a corner cleaning his gun. Reece took a seat at the table, suppressing a laugh of admiration as he scanned the paper again.

“This would be amusing if it weren’t so annoying,” Reece said. “As much as I admire her spirit, I cannot allow her to go on defying me.”

“The newspaper lady?" Grady asked absently.

“I should just go up on her rent. I wonder what she’d do if I asked for, say, a thousand dollars a month?”

“I’d be careful if I was you,” Grady said as he reassembled his revolver with practiced skill.

Reece leaned back in his chair and regarded the man more closely. “What do you mean?”

“She’s already met most everybody in town. I seen them coming and going from her place. They looked real friendly.”

“Well, I can’t allow her to challenge me. It sets a bad example, if nothing else.”

“So what are you gonna do?”

He’d been thinking about that ever since the sheriff left his office. Bribery hadn’t worked. Nor had intimidation. She had witnessed his dark side and had remained defiant. It really came down to two choices. Either he could end this game and deal with her directly, in which case she would be out of town by tomorrow morning, or he could do as he’d decided last night, raise the ante and see how long it would take her to admit defeat. Did he want Miss Parker out of his life or under his control?

The second alternative promised a sweeter reward. Miss Parker was a lovely woman, and he wondered what it would be like to channel all the passion she poured into her newspaper into something a little more physical. His body grew hard as he contemplated the possibilities.

Conquering Miss Parker would give him the added satisfaction of proving he had truly defeated his own demons, that he couldn’t be knocked off-balance by an aggravating southern lady and her dead father.

He had been fooling himself to ever think he could deal with her as he would with a man. He might have adapted very well to this brutal environment. Perhaps he’d been successful in destroying everything that might be construed as soft in his nature. But harming or even threatening women was so contrary to his most basic character he knew he could never employ such tactics.

But there were other equally effective ways to deal with an opponent, some of them offering very pleasant rewards when that opponent was as lovely as Emma Parker. He was well aware of her attraction to him, thanks to the fact that she had never learned the art of subterfuge. And he knew very well how to use that attraction, coupled with her innocence, to his own ends. And the prospect of seducing her caused him only a twinge of guilt. If she wanted to play his game, she would learn quickly that he set the stakes and that he never lost.

Reece looked at Grady with a self-satisfied smile. “What am I going to do? What else? I’m going to invite her to dinner.”

#####

“Miss Parker!”

Emma turned to see Reece MacBride riding toward her astride his tall black horse, and her heart leaped into her throat. She stopped on the sidewalk, waiting for him to draw up alongside her and trying to prepare herself for this new confrontation.

It would be a confrontation, of course. There was nothing else between them. And if he’d found out she’d reprinted the paper....

This morning, the only thing that had mattered was getting the paper printed and putting it in the hands of the townspeople, showing Mr. Reece MacBride that his bullying tactics wouldn’t work with her.

Now she wondered if she had taken leave of her senses. She must have known this moment would come, it was inevitable.

“Mr. MacBride. “She nodded, struggling to still the hammering of her heart and the fear that shuddered through her.

“I am glad I ran into you,” he said, pulling the horse to a stop before her.

At least they were in a public place. He couldn’t shoot her or throttle her in front of the town. Could he?

“
...in my town, I can do just about anything I like
,” he’d told her, and she was beginning to understand exactly what that meant.
 

Oh yes, she had definitely lost her mind.

He leaned forward, his arm resting on the pommel of his saddle, regarding her with an artful smile. “I’d like to congratulate you on your resourcefulness.”

His insincerity stiffened her spine. “Just doing my job,” she told him.

She started to walk away when his words halted her.

“And I would like to apologize for my behavior last night.”

She turned in time to see him dismount with a natural elegance of movement. He ducked under the horse’s neck and walked toward her, stepping onto the sidewalk and removing his hat as he came to stand close before her.

“I suppose I got a little carried away,” he said with a semblance of a smile that was not mirrored in his eyes.

“Yes, you did,” Emma agreed, taking a few steps up the street, determined not to be swayed by his charm.

“Then we agree. “His long strides caught up to her easily, and he fell in step beside her. “I am on my way out to the mine right now, and I won’t be back until dark, but I was wondering.... Would you consider joining me for dinner at the hotel tonight?”

Startled by his words, Emma stopped, turning to face him. “I’m sorry --”

“If you will allow me, I would like the opportunity to make amends for my misconduct,” he said with an effort at sincerity.

He looked like an incorrigible little boy who had been caught at some mischief and was trying to charm his way out of trouble. How could she resist him when he looked at her with that remorseful grin, never mind the guileful light in those shrewd amber eyes.

“I promise to be on my best behavior,” he cajoled.

“It isn’t that. I... I already have dinner plans.”

The smile vanished instantly from his lips and his features went completely dead. His eyes glowed coldly as he drew a breath, forcing a slight smile that was more a sneer. “Oh really?”

Emma didn’t know whether to be angry or frightened at his reaction. Was he angry that she had plans or would he have been angry that she had refused him, no matter the reason?

“Yes,” she said a bit breathlessly, hating herself for allowing him to rattle her when she’d vowed it would never happen again. “Doctor Stevens has asked me to join him.”

Emma drew a quick, shallow breath at the fire that touched his eyes before he extinguished it. His jaw hardened, and his lip curled slightly before he managed to turn what had started out a snarl into an arctic smile.

“I see,” he said with a slight bow, as if they were at a ball and she had just refused his invitation to dance. “Well, perhaps some other time then.”

Emma nodded, unable to get away from him fast enough. Her body trembling, she hurried along the sidewalk toward the newspaper office, terrified at what he might do. Doctor Stevens had hinted that he was capable of anything. But Reece MacBride considered himself too much of a gentleman to actually harm her. However, he might not feel the same way about the doctor.

That was absurd. Reece MacBride didn’t even like her. He would never go to such lengths simply because she’d refused his dinner invitation. But he had reacted as if he had some claim on her. It chilled her, the fury that had nearly overwhelmed him.

She’d imagined it. That was all there was to it. She’d misinterpreted his reaction. He’d been disappointed that he’d missed another chance to charm her, to wheedle his way into her graces, now that intimidation and bribery had failed. He was angry because he had been thwarted, and the worst of it was that had she not had plans, she probably would have accepted his invitation. She’d have told herself it was an opportunity to discuss the impending hanging, but the truth was she was drawn to Reece MacBride like a moth to a flame, and denying it was useless. All she could do was stay as far from him as possible. He was like poison to her, seductively beautiful on the outside, dark and deadly on the inside.

Emma reached the safety of her newspaper office, but before she went in, she couldn’t resist a last glance back up the street in the direction she’d come. He was still there, staring after her. The breath caught in her lungs, and she turned away quickly, hurrying into the office and out of the range of those deadly eyes.

#####

Run away, Reece thought malevolently as he watched Emma Parker practically leap into her safe little office -- his office. Whether she realized it yet or not, there was nowhere she could go to escape him, not in this town. He had half a mind to follow her, just to prove it to her.