Adam swore as distant gunfire sounded. He turned to Elijah and Abe. “I want you to remain here. Give Madison and me fifteen minutes. If one of us isn’t back by then, hightail it into town and kick up a fuss until someone listens. Say we’re under attack from bandits. You’re both ranch owners, so people will listen.”
“Adam...”
Adam leaned forward and cut off Elijah’s protest with a kiss. “Please, beautiful. If we can’t handle this, we’re gonna need help. More than just the two of you, a posse.”
One of the Aztec men spoke. “My name is Yaotl, and I will ride with you. My warrior will stay with these men and go into town with them if needed.”
“That’s a good idea, Elijah,” Adam said quietly. “I know you and Abe want to help, and this is the best way you can. Fifteen minutes, and then you hightail it into town and stir up a ruckus for us.”
“Tell Mitch I love him, Adam,” Abe said, his voice soft but determined. “I should be there with him, but I agree this is the better option. Two more guns wouldn’t make a huge difference.”
“He’ll be fine. I promise.” Adam nodded at Abe, praying things would work out. “Let’s ride.” He focused ahead, not daring to look back at Elijah.
He rode hard and fast with Madison, Yaotl, and the Lazy E ranch hand at his heels. As they drew closer, he heard Carter’s voice.
“You in the house. Give it up. We have you outgunned. There’s no point dying over a ramshackle ranch like this. I’ll pay top dollar for it. Just come out, sign it over, and we’ll ride away. Leave you to pack up and move out.”
“The answer remains no, Carter.” Mitch shouted from the house. “This is our ranch, and we don’t want to sell. Now get off our land.”
Adam drew his pistol and readied himself for battle as they closed the distance.
“You’re a fool. This ranch isn’t worth a quarter of what I’ve offered.” Carter bellowed from behind his cover.
“If that’s the case, then why do you want it? What’s here that’s so important to you, Carter?” Mitch yelled back.
“Enough talk. Let’s take this ranch, men.”
Shots rang out again, and Adam led the way with the other men behind him. The center of the ranch’s yard in front of the house filled with bullets flying back and forth, and the air was thick with the stench of gunpowder.
With a wild yell that he picked up from Yaotl, Adam rode across the yard as Madison and one of the ranch hands went around the back of Carter’s men, catching them in crossfire. Adam pushed away all emotion. Fear and anger were as deadly an enemy as the bullets themselves. However, he took perverse delight in every grunt, scream of pain, or falling body he saw on Carter’s side.
Carter’s men had to defend themselves from three areas of fire. Adam curved his lips in a mocking smile. He and Yaotl took cover. “Give it up, Carter. You’re in a whole mess of trouble already. Don’t make it worse.”
“Just sign over the ranch. Then we’ll leave,” Carter shouted back.
Adam doubted that. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with here. I’m a...” His words were cut off by an eerie, blood-chilling yell from the house. Semi-naked men with their bodies painted scattered from the house in different directions.
“I am Mecatl, Captain of the Jaguar Warriors of King Xipil. Put down your weapons or die. I call upon the great feathered serpent, Quetzalcoatl to strike down our enemies.”
A hideous scream came from Adam’s left, and one of Carter’s men staggered forward, the front of his shirt covered in blood from the wound in his throat. He tried to stem the flow with his hand but crumpled to his knees, pitching forward into the dust.
“So die all those who oppose Quetzalcoatl,” Mecatl shouted. “Death to those who stand against us. Strike in his name.”
Another man ran toward the main group of Carter’s men. A knife, thrown with deadly accuracy, struck him in the back, and he fell unmoving to the ground.
“Fall back, fall back. They’re not men; they’re beasts.” The disembodied voice came from one of Carter’s men just before another scream sounded to Adam’s right and was cut short.
Carter’s men picked up the call to retreat and began running from the ranch. Adam stood and fired several rounds at their backs, taking a man down. Another blood-curdling yell echoed around the yard, and the warriors gathered around Adam as Mecatl came to stand by him.
“Thank you.” Adam clapped a hand on Mecatl’s shoulder. “Your men were amazing.”
“We are Jaguar Warriors. We are the elite.” Mecatl slapped Adam’s back enthusiastically. “It was good to see our enemy defeated, to watch them turn and run.”
The rest of the men came over, and they congratulated each other. Adam pulled Madison into a hug. “Good to see you, partner,” he said.
“When I saw you ride into the yard, I was reminded of one of the furies.” Mitch came over and shook Adam’s hand.
Adam laughed. “I felt like one when I saw what Carter was doing. Thank God for Mecatl and his Jaguar Warriors.”
Mitch nodded. “Absolutely.” He looked around, a frown marring his brow. “So where are Abe and Elijah? I haven’t seen either of them. They were with you, weren’t they?”
“I told them to give us fifteen minutes and then go into town for help,” Adam said. “They’ve got to get back from Buzzard Hill with their posse.”
“Well, I guess they’ll be a little late,” Mitch said. “I suppose we should gather up the bodies.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Adam said. “They can be buried outside the ranch limits. There may be someone who wants to come and claim them once all this is over.”
“In Abe’s absence, I’ll see to getting some grub going,” Mitch said.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The bodies of Carter’s men were put into shallow graves and covered with rocks with whatever personal items Adam could find, should anyone want to claim the body. Adam saw a pocket watch and flipped open the polished brass casing of his own timepiece. He looked up, frowning as he replaced it.
They should have been back by now. What’s keeping them?
It seemed that Mitch had similar thoughts, the other man headed toward him, his face creased in concern.
“Shouldn’t Abe and Elijah be back from town by now?” he asked.
“I was thinking the same thing.” Adam rubbed his chin. “They shouldn’t have taken this long to rustle up a posse, even if Jackson dragged his heels.”
Shouts from the Aztecs had both men running to the front of the ranch house. Several of the Aztec warriors were trying to catch a horse that reared as they neared it. A body was tied across the saddle. As the horse calmed, one of the warriors sliced him loose. A choked-off sound escaped Adam’s lips as he recognized the man that had stayed with Abe and Elijah, his body riddled with bullets. He noticed a piece of paper fastened to the man’s shirt.
Adam’s hand shook as he snatched the paper off the body and opened it up. A tirade of cuss words fell from his lips as he read.
‘I have Abe and Elijah. The price for their freedom is the Silver S ranch. C’
The note wasn’t signed, just an initial, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Stone was happy so long as the statue wasn’t uncovered. Carter needed it.
“What’re we going to do?” Mitch shook Adam’s arm, his voice frantic. “Abe’s such a gentle, good-natured soul. He’ll be terrified.”
“They won’t hurt him, Mitch.” Adam infused his voice with as much conviction as he could muster given the murderous thoughts running through his mind. “Carter needs him, and Elijah, until the ranch is signed over. Plus, he knows that if he doesn’t produce them alive and well, we’ll just shoot him if he tries coming anywhere near the Silver S.”
“What next?” Mitch asked.
“We go after them.” Adam’s voice was as grim as his smile. Carter had taken one step too far. He risked his own life for this job. Elijah was an innocent as well as his lover. Carter would pay dearly for touching what was his. Adam grabbed Madison and pulled him aside. “You stay here. Your signature is needed as well as mine.”
Madison shook his head. “Not a chance. You’re thinking with your heart not your head. Your mind’s not on the mission.”
“Yes it is.” Adam snapped angrily. “Elijah is the mission, so is Abe. I’m not going to risk their lives, but Carter can’t have this ranch. I need him out of this equation altogether.”
“Fine,” Madison said. “Take half of Mecatl’s men. We can’t leave the ranch unprotected. Carter might be hoping for just that.”
Adam nodded. “You keep Mitch here. Looking at his face, he’s likely to go into town, guns ablazing, to get Abe back.”
They walked back to the group who murmured amongst themselves. Mitch was already ensuring his pistol was reloaded.
“Mitch, you stay with me.” Madison laid his hand on the other man’s shoulder.
Mitch smiled and shook his head. “Sorry, Madison, not gonna happen. If Adam won’t let me be part of the rescue posse, then you better hogtie me because I’ll just follow him into town.”
Adam sighed, but in truth, he knew if the situations were reversed he’d say and do the exact same thing. “Fine,” he said, thrusting his face up close to Mitch’s with the meanest look he could manage. “But I give the orders. You do exactly as I say. Understand?”
Mitch’s eyes widened, and he nodded.
Mecatl touched Adam’s shoulder. “I’ll come with you and bring half of my men. Yaotl will stay here with the others and your friend to defend the ranch again if needed.”
The warriors split into two groups, and Adam nodded as he looked at them. All of them remained bare-chested, and he realized the markings on their chests were old, just the daubs on their faces new. They all looked equally determined, ferocious, and battle-ready.
“Right then,” Adam said. “We won’t ride directly into town. We’ll come at them from the opposite end. It’ll be dark by then. A good time to strike.”
“For what it’s worth,” Madison said. “He’s not going to take this to his ranch. Carter seems to use the bordello, Saucy Rose’s, as a meeting place for his men in town. The girls there overheard details about the attack on the ranch. If I’m wrong, they’ll probably know where the bastard’s holed up. Good luck, old man.” He hugged Adam hard. “Bring ‘em back safe and sound, and do what you need to with Carter.”
“Watch your back out here, whippersnapper,” Adam muttered against Madison’s ear. “I’ll be back. Count on it.”
Adam led the way to town and halted at an outcrop of rocks on the outskirts of town. As the others dismounted, he peered around. The lights of town illuminated a couple of men who walked back and forth, the red tips of their cigarettes visible in the darkness.
“Carter’s men,” Adam whispered.
Mecatl murmured to a couple of his men who removed black blankets from their packs. They wrapped the blankets around their shoulders and then dropped to their hands and knees, crawling toward the sentries.
No sounds were heard, but one cigarette dropped to the ground, followed by the second as the warriors took out the sentries. Mecatl smiled. “Let’s go, my friend,” he said.
Adam led the way and looked down the street into the brightly lit town. He could see the bordello at the end of the street. Another couple of men lurked around it, then they leaned against the building as they smoked.
“A suggestion,” Mecatl whispered. “An attack from above would be least expected, if we can approach the bordello and get onto its roof.”
Adam nodded. The buildings looked close enough the jump across. He eyed the store next to the bordello and hoped it had an outside stairway. “Good idea. Follow me.” He ran to the nearest alleyway.
They approached quickly and silently. Adam wasn’t surprised to see another couple of men lounging at the back of the bordello. He waited as Mecatl’s men crawled forward once more, eliminating the guards with almost indolent ease. The warriors merged with the shadows at Mecatl’s command and took up their own positions as sentries.
They ran up the outside stairs of the bordello. Adam eased his head up slowly and looked around.
No one. Perfect.
He walked along the roof and checked the distance between the bordello and the store. The gap wasn’t too great. He pointed as the other joined him. “I checked as we came along. If we leap over there and run down the stairs, it’s a straight run out of town.”
“My men will cover us from the back of the bordello and follow,” Mecatl said.
“Leave a couple up here,” Adam said. “We don’t want too many inside, the fewer the better.”
Adam opened the door and crept down the stairs. He tried the inner door and heaved a silent sigh of relief when it opened. He peeked out through a small crack.
No one.
Carter hadn’t posted anyone on this floor. Keeping close to the wall, he crept along the hallway and looked around the corner. Halfway along the hallway a bored looking man stood outside a door.
At the end of the hallway were stairs that Adam assumed led to the floor with the girls’ rooms. He ducked back quickly as the man turned his head. “One guard,” Adam whispered directly into Mecatl’s ear.
Mecatl drew his lips back over his teeth in what looked more like a snarl than a smile. He drew his knife, licked the blade, and positioned himself. He clenched a fist and hit his chest a few times, lips moving but making no sound. Then he took aim and let the knife fly.
The guard clutched at a growing bloodstain as the knife embedded deep in his chest. He crumpled to the floor.
“Stay here.” Adam put his hand on Mitch’s chest to stop the other man from racing forward. “Come with me,” he whispered to Mecatl. He ran silently to the door and tried it. It was locked as he’d expected. He dropped to look through the keyhole. To his relief, he saw Elijah. His lover seemed all right, although the light was too dim to see much.
He pressed his lips to the keyhole. “Elijah. It’s Adam. I’m here to get you out. Are you all right? Is Abe with you?”
“Adam. Oh, Adam we’re sorry. We tried to fight them off, but there were too many. Yes, we’re all right, if a little bruised.”
Elijah’s voice was like music to Adam’s ears. He glanced at Mecatl, who rummaged through the dead guards clothing looking for the key. Mecatl shook his head. “I need you to stand clear of the door. I’m going to shoot the lock off. When the door opens, turn left and run to Mitch at the end of the hallway. Don’t stop and don’t look back. You hear me?”