Black Blood (21 page)

“Thank
you.”

He squeezed her
tight and kissed the top of her head. Pushing her back by the
shoulders, he held her at arms length.

“You better get
going.”

“Okay.” She
watched the birthmark on his collarbone pulse bright and shot him a
nervous smile.

“Close your
eyes and visualize.”

Gemma breathed
in through her nose and let it whoosh through her teeth as she
closed her eyes and pictured the outskirts of Canon City. As if
picking up the crumbs of a cookie, she gathered them into her hand
and crushed all her senses together forming a crystal clear image
of where she had been.

“
Midday,
September 20
^th
,
1885.”

She felt her
body begin to quiver and tingle as her mind drew her back over one
hundred years.

“I love you,
Lucia.”

Just before her
body shimmered to dust she caught Gabe’s whispered words and felt
her body jolt with surprise before landing with a thud in the
mid-western dust.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Canon City, Colorado –
1885 AD

Gemma’s mind
reeled as she rolled onto her back.

My name’s
Lucia?

She scrubbed a
hand over her face as the sound of distant hooves thundering over
the dust threw her into 1885 with a jolt. She’d think about her
name later. Scrambling to her feet, she hid behind a nearby shrub
just in time to see a posse of riders heading out of town. She
recognized the Sheriff and felt her hopes soar. She had the right
day! Those riders were chasing after Coyote Granger and were about
to come across the sight of her family leading him back to
town.

She bit back
her grin and forced her mind to stop dancing and start focusing on
what she needed to do.

Clothes would
be good, Gem.

Sneaking out
from behind the bush, she moved towards town with as much stealth
as possible. Minutes later she came across a wooden farmhouse.
Ducking beneath what smelled like the kitchen window, she listened
for domestic noises and tried to decipher where each member of the
household was. Bobbing up from her spot with lightening speed, she
assessed the room with a quick scan and dropped back down to her
haunches. It was lunchtime by the looks of things. Creeping around
the side of the house, she nearly cried with relief when she
spotted a drooping clothes line adorned with various garments.
Glancing over her shoulder, she snapped a shirt and some trousers
from the line and dove for cover as she sensed the front door
opening behind her.

Scrambling into
her new attire, she stood and found the pants heading for her
ankles. Pulling them back up to her waist, she rolled the waist
band over on itself until it was a smidgen tighter then shoved the
bulky shirt into them to make them fit better. Her efforts were
fruitless; as soon as she took one step the pants started heading
south. There was no way she could bust Coyote out of prison if she
had one hand clamped around her trousers. Peeking out from behind
the bush, she noticed a young teenage boy stomping towards the
barn. She eyed up his size and decided he would have to do.

She ran towards
the barn and snuck in behind him. His mumbles of complaint could be
heard wafting over the stable wall as he scooped up piles of dirty
hay with his pitchfork. Scanning her surroundings, Gemma formulated
a plan and reached for the spade leaning against the wall. She was
loathed to use it, but she filled her mind with thoughts of
Harrison and approached with determine steps.

Standing from
his stall with a huff, the boy turned just in time to see her raise
the spade high. She paused in her action, taking in his dusty skin
and wide eyes.

Lowering the
spade with a loud sigh, she leaned against the handle.

“I’m really
sorry to do this to you, but I need your clothes.”

He eyed her
attire and Gemma was fascinated to watch his lips quirk and his
shoulders begin to quiver with laughter.

“I’m guessing
you’d like my boots as well,” he drawled.

“A horse would
be good too.”

He
nodded, his eyes misty with contemplation. Tipping back his hat, he
scratched his head. “I don’t really have a say in this, do
I?”

“I guess you
could holler for help?”

“And be robbed
of the chance of helping out a pretty lady?”

He blushed red
and smiled. Gemma grinned back.

“I’m most
obliged, good sir.”

“If you could
just tie me up and make it look like I was overcome by a gang of
horse thieves, I’d really appreciate it.”

“Sure thing.”
Gemma caught the shirt he threw at her and ducked behind some hay
bales. A pair of pants landed on her head a moment later and then
two boots flew in her direction. She caught them both and shoved
them on her feet; surprised they actually fit. Luck was usually not
this forthcoming.

Fully attired,
she went about tying up the boy, making sure the ropes wouldn’t rub
his bare skin too harshly. Stepping back, she eyed up the poor kid
in nothing but his drawers and apologized.

“You have kind
eyes. I figure you’re doing this for a good reason.”

“A very good
reason.” She nodded with a smile.

Taking a step
towards him, she reached for his hat then took a moment to place a
long and gratifying kiss on his stunned lips.

She hoisted
herself onto the horse and tipped her hat to the boy.

“I won’t forget
you.”

“
Neither
will I.” He sent her a stunning smile, which she stored away in her
memory banks. She grabbed the reins of the second horse and kicked
her own into action.

Time was now
against her. It wouldn’t take long for the boy to be found tied up
in the barn and for a hot pursuit to follow. Steering the horses
into an outcrop of trees, she tied them securely and decided to go
the rest of the way on foot. The jog into town only took five
minutes, but she was pouring sweat by the time she arrived. Pulling
in breaths of air, she slowed her heart rate and approached what
looked to be the jailhouse. Moulding herself to the outer wall, she
slinked along the bricks and crouched just beneath the bars,
listening for any talk of the new prisoner. She could hear some
muffled voices from within, but nothing substantial enough to
confirm Coyote’s presence.

She bit the
inside of her cheek as she contemplated her next move. The only way
to truly know was to get inside. Grabbing her hair up, she quickly
braided it and shoved it beneath her hat.

What does Dom
say? It’s all about confidence, right?

Drawing her
body tall, she strutted around the building, sauntering up the
stairs and over the wooden veranda. A young woman with a pink
bonnet and a sultry gleam in her eye shot Gemma a seductive smile.
Controlling her urge to wince, she tipped her hat genially and
thanked her lucky stars she had a woman fooled about her
gender.

This just
might work.

Pushing open
the door of the Sheriff’s office with force, she wandered in and
surveyed the space. Sitting with his ankles crossed on the desk,
was a man who had obviously been roped in as deputy, which meant
the Sheriff was not in. Gemma swaggered towards the fresh-faced
boy.

“Can I help
you?” His tough façade was transparent. The man looked to be
Gemma’s age and way out of his league.

Gemma kept her
hat low over her eyes and approached the desk in silence,
continuing to assess her surroundings.

The desk was on
the diagonal, taking up a large portion of the room and facing the
door. Behind it was a wooden filing cabinet and another cupboard
that looked as though it might house a shotgun or two. The back of
the room was taken up with a large archway that Gemma ascertained
must lead to the cells. She could see a few metal bars peeking out
from around the corner.

“I hear you got
yourself a new prisoner.” Gemma kept her voice gruff and
drawly.

“
That’s
right.” The young man puffed out his chest with pride. “Back there
is the Coyote.”

Gemma snorted,
trying to sound unimpressed in a masculine kind of way. “I’ll
believe that when I see it.”

“Well, Sheriff
says no visitors, so you’re plain outta luck, mister.”

With a swift
move, she brought her foot up on the desk with a bang, making the
deputy flinch and drop his feet. Leaning forward, she kept her face
shadowed and her voice vicious.

“I wasn’t
asking permission. I wanna see the Coyote and I wanna see ‘im
now.”

The young man’s
eyes jittered from side to side as he tried to weigh up his
opponent. The longer he sat judging, the quicker Gemma felt her
loss of power. His eyes were narrowing as he leaned closer towards
her, no doubt sensing an air of femininity. Stealing her nerves,
she stood tall and came around the desk. With one swift punch, she
had the man’s head lolling backwards before landing with a plop on
the desk.

“Sorry,” she
whispered into his ear as she nimbly extracted the key from his
limp fingers.

Rushing through
the archway, she stopped short at the cell door, finding herself
face to face with an ugly man. His thick beard was matted with
sweat and his grimy skin looked in desperate need of cleansing.
Worse still was the acidic anger emanating from him. Gemma was
surprised the cell bars weren’t melting.

“I know you!
You’re one of them that turned me in!”

“
Yeah,
well I’m here to get you out.” Her fingers shook as she wrestled
with the keys, feeling the weight of her plan beginning to unfold.
When she’d talked about it with Gabe, they had mentioned scouting
out the place in the afternoon and sneaking in at night, but with
one tied up boy and one knocked out deputy, she didn’t really have
time to do that anymore.

Finally fitting
the right key into the lock, she heard the metal clunk with
satisfaction and threw back the bars. Coyote stepped past her and
headed for the archway.

“You got some
kind of plan here, sweetheart?”

“Of course I
do! The horses are just a mile out of town.”

He twirled on
his spot and grabbed her collar, nearly lifting her feet from the
floor. “You expecting me to run a mile before even getting to a
horse?”

Gemma made her
gaze steely as she eyed him. “I’m expecting you to be grateful that
I’m risking my ass to free you.”

She sent a
short punch into his arm that had him dropping her with a
wince.

He grabbed his
bicep and looked ready to verbally rip into her, but he obviously
changed his mind as she walked straight past him to peek out the
window.

“All we need to
do is get around this building unnoticed and just pray the Sheriff
doesn’t come back anytime soon.” She turned to make sure the man
was listening and was annoyed to find him around the back of the
desk, pulling out a shotgun.

“What the hell
do you think you’re doing?”

“Just making
sure I get free this time.”

Rushing around
the desk, she made a grab for the gun and wanted to swear when he
ripped it from her reach.

“You’re not
killing anyone, do you understand me?”

“Look lady, I’m
grateful you got me out of the cell and all, but I don’t need your
help anymore and I’ll be damned if I’ll let some woman tell me what
to do!”

Gemma’s
nostrils flared. Conjuring images of her mother when pissed off,
she stood tall and placed her hands on her hips.

“Coyote, I mean
it. If you don’t put that gun away, I’ll wrestle you back into that
cell and you can just forget about your freedom.”

She knew the
threat was empty. That was the last thing she wanted. But she
wouldn’t have him killing anyone and if she could stamp her
authority on the situation now, then they might just make it.

His laugh was
rich and toxic. “Just try it, sweetheart.”

She tipped her
head to the side and quirked her eyebrow. Placing a sweet smile on
her lips, she stepped towards him and shot out a powerful right
jab. As his head rocked back, she grabbed his collar and pulled him
towards her, bringing her knee up to his stomach with a swiftness
that had him gasping for air.

Bending
down to his current ear level, she made her voice a menacing
whisper. “They’re going to hang you in less than a week. You’re
gonna dangle from a rope and kick and struggle until there is no
life left in you… or your neck might snap. Either way,
you’re
dead
. Now you
can either stand your sorry ass up, put that gun away and come with
me or you can die, because don’t think for a second that you can
make it out of this on your own.”

Moving away
from him with a disgusted snort, she went and stood by the door.
The anger that radiated from the outlaw was so potent it nearly
made Gemma’s eyes water. If it hadn’t been for images of sweet
Harrison filling her mind, she may have suffocated from the black
stench rippling in the air.

For a moment,
she thought he might actually use the gun on her as he let it
jiggle in his fingers, but a second later he was knocking out the
rousing deputy with its butt then dropping it next to the fallen
man.

“Let’s get the
hell outta here.”

She swung back
the door and they edged around the building without incident. They
jogged in silence. Gemma could see the humiliation of what she had
done to him in his set jaw, but she refused to apologize. She’d
probably just saved his life!

They reached
the horses without any trouble. Untying hers, she placed her foot
in the stirrup and turned to tell Coyote where they were
headed.

What she got
was a metal fist in the face that had her head rebounding off the
saddle and landing in the dust.