Rugged and Relentless (47 page)

“Here’s your jacket.” Evie’s whisper made Jake want to pound a ponderosa into the ground with nothing more than his fists.
She panted from the exertion of running to catch up with him, swathed in her own chestnut cloak as she held out his coat.

“I told you to get back inside,” he ground out. “I don’t have time to send you back.” A worse thought occurred to him. “Twyler might have doubled back. You can’t go alone.” He snatched the coat from her outstretched hand and shrugged into it.

“You’ll notice I went inside to fetch your coat and a few of my own things.” She patted her reticule with a smile. “Now hush and do keep going. Lacey wouldn’t be in danger if you’d handled things differently, and griping about me going along to help the pair of you will only slow us down, Jacob Granger!”

Now wasn’t the time to notice she’d said his real name. Jake noticed anyway, even as he twined her right arm into the crook of his left and plowed ahead as swiftly and quietly as possible, following the disturbed mud, moss, and ferns underfoot. It looked as though Lacey hadn’t gone easily. Quietly—Twyler must have gagged her to avoid any ear-splitting screeches to sound the alarm—but not docilely.

Good girl. She’s spent a lot of time with my Evie
. The thoughts fled as he heard a male voice a few yards ahead.

“Don’t test my patience.” Less nasal and lacking the whine, Dodger’s thin voice resonated through the forest. “I said I’d tell them your location. I did’t promise you’d be alive. So you can climb on in and they can find you snug and spitting mad, or I can waste a slug and cram you down there so they find whatever the bugs leave behind.”

An angry murmur responded, too muffled to be made out. Jake shared a glance with Evie and nodded. That had to be Lacey.

“Let her go, Twyler.” Jake edged out from behind the uneven row of trees concealing him from view. “She’s no good to you.” The sight that greeted him wore his considerable store of patience very thin indeed. “You can’t shove a full-grown woman into a hollow tree stump, Twyler. And there’s no reason to anyway. Drop your gun, set her free, and we’ll go back to town.”

“I’m not going back to that place,” Dodger snapped, all hint of mischief abandoned. “Miss Lyman here is going into this empty stump—it’ll make for a tight fit, but we both know how large ponderosas are, and luckily she’s a tiny thing. You and Miss Thompson will be tied around the same while I catch the next train from Hope Falls.”

“We can’t allow that, Twyler.” Evie edged forward, standing level with Jake. “There’s nothing to be gained by it, in any case.”

“Ransom, my dear.” An evil smile spread across the face Jake once considered simple-minded. “I’ll reveal your location, as well as the location of Miss Lyman, after a substantial sum is wired to me. By then, I’ll have the means to move on, and the time in which to do so before Mr. Granger decides to follow me yet again. Pity it’s unwise to kill him outright, but after the unfortunate incident with his brother, it’s a risk I’d rather not take. I’m more than happy, however, to take the additional ransom the two of you will provide.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Jake shook his head. “We both know you won’t leave us to be found in the woods so near town, so easily. And we’ve only run across one large hollowed-out tree stump for you to use, Twyler.”

“Ah, ah. Dodger, now. I must say, I’m pleased how well my little ruse worked. What better explanation than that I’d stolen the piece, should Granger show up and discover me? Simplest thing in the world to get ‘caught’ swiping other trinkets. A smart trickster is always one step ahead with a solid contingency plan behind him. Like this.” With that, he hauled his hostage against him, pressing a sharp blade against her delicate throat. With his free hand, he pointed a pistol at Evie.

Jake struggled against the hot rage surging inside him, urging him to do something to protect Evie.
But not at the expense of Lacey. Not in anger
… A small measure of calm steadied him.
It’s not about my vengeance. It’s in the Lord’s hands now. He can’t play
upon my weaknesses
. “One ruse worked, Twyler. No more. Give up—now.”

“This is no ruse.” A thin red line inched across Lacey Lyman’s throat, though she did nothing but wince. “I suggest you drop your weapon, Granger, if you want both—or either—of these ladies to see another sunrise. Your one shot might just as well hit Miss Lyman as myself, but I’m guaranteed success with at least one of my targets.” Satisfaction oozed from his voice. “And I’m quite likely to survive, if not go entirely unharmed. So let’s get on with it, shall we? A stacked deck is a gamer’s greatest ally.”

“I wonder”—Evie’s nonchalance warned Jake that she planned something outlandish—“whether that’s not something like a woman with a well-packed purse. Because I do find, Mr. Dodger or Twyler or whichever you prefer”—she chattered on brightly as she rummaged through her reticule—“that it’s best to be prepared for anything.” In an instant, she pulled out a familiar dainty pistol with inlaid mother-of-pearl handle. “Don’t you agree?”

Besieged with memories of Evie’s complete inability to so much as wing a metal can at ten paces—memories she had no idea he possessed—Jake could only stare at the spectacle with something approaching awe. He noted, too, that Lacey made an abortive attempt to struggle, brought up short by the knife held to her throat.

Jake knew Lacey didn’t want to be anywhere near the direction where Evie chose to fire, but Twyler would read her movements as an attempt to give her friend an even better shot. Despite her complete inadequacy when it came to shooting, everything about Evie’s conversation and bearing indicated an intimidating level of expertise.

“You’ve proven more perceptive than most, Miss Thompson.” A gleam of appreciation lit Twyler’s gaze, inciting further fury from Jake. “A rare and resourceful woman could be a great asset, but I find myself unimpressed by your show of fashion accessories. Wield your toy as you please, Miss Thompson. This is between
Granger and me.”

“Then let the women go.” Jake jumped on the idea.

“We’ve come too far for that, I’m afraid. And time ticks away while you make idle chitchat. Throw down your gun, Mr. Granger, and admit that the woman at your side wouldn’t be able to hit a target if I drew one three feet from her nose.”

“Oh, that’s absolutely true, Mr. Dodger.” Evie’s smile widened. “It used to be that I couldn’t hit the … what’s the expression my mentor used? Oh yes, I couldn’t hit the broadside of the bunkhouse. But it’s such a cunning little piece.”

“Listen to her.” Jake opted for honesty. “She won’t be able to hit you, Twyler. There’s no threat in letting her play along. It’s not as though she’d shoot you.” He gave a convincing scoff at the idea. Convincing more thanks to reality than his acting ability.

“No.” Twyler’s self-satisfied ooze dried up in a hurry. “You want me dead. You want me to ignore her purse pistol in hopes she wields it as well as she claims and ends my life.” He darted glances around himself, edging farther out of reach. “She changes the game. Changes the cards, different value …” He degenerated into strange rambling mutters.

“Why did you kill my brother, Edward?” Jake needed to know the truth before the man in front of him slipped beyond the edge of sanity forever.

“He noticed me cheating and started to raise a fuss. Two men I’d fleeced a few nights prior sat just one table over, so I couldn’t allow that. And I’d already marked him for carrying a large amount of cash.” Twyler clicked his teeth together repeatedly. “So I fired first, paid off the other players, and pocketed the profit. Double the windfall when your old man started paying off people to not besmirch dear Edward’s memory.”

Twyler’s mocking laugh made Jake’s trigger finger itch.

“And then you came after me, and I did more and more paying off of my own until I ran dry and needed a rich wife.” Twyler’s eyes narrowed. “But here you are again, forcing my hand. With
two skilled shooters against only myself, I can’t hope to make it out alive and carrying off my plan.” He looked right at Evie. “So I can either take revenge on Granger here, before leaving this earth, or hope your misguided sense of feminine kindness precludes you shooting a man to death in the back.”

With that, Twyler shoved Miss Lyman so she stumbled, falling downhill and forcing Jake to catch her. He halted her progress, sat her down, and took off running after his prey.

One shot. I only get one shot, Lord, and I can’t shoot a man in the back no matter how despicable he is, or I become an opportunist like the man I chase. Justice over vengeance—let my aim be true
.

He followed, waiting until Twyler hit an open area before Jake sank to one knee, steadied his hand, and took the shot.

A shot echoed in the forest, followed by a terrible cry. Then silence.

Evie huddled with Lacey, whom she’d unbound after the men went hurtling off through the trees.

“Please tell me you wouldn’t have fired,” Lacey said only after the silence became unbearable—and Evie handed over the pistol.

“Have a little faith, Lace.” Evie scanned the horizon, anxious for Jake to come back. It hadn’t escaped her notice that Twyler hadn’t dropped his gun before taking off.

“Does that mean you would’ve uttered a prayer and pulled the trigger, or that I should have faith you wouldn’t do anything so foolish?” Lacey blanched at the thought, which wasn’t precisely flattering.

“We can do all things through faith, Lacey Lyman.”
Even wait for Jake to come striding back through these trees. No matter if it’s taking him forever and a day to mosey his way home
.

“In that case, I have faith that you’ll never fire a gun unless faced with a man like Dodger or Twyler or whatever his name was, with absolutely no one else anywhere near the vicinity.” Lacey rubbed her throat, where the knife had rested. “Thank you
for coming after me. I couldn’t have gone into that stump.”

It was then that they heard it, the snap of twigs beneath boots as someone heavy headed their way. They froze, Lacey’s hand tightening on the gun, until they made out Jake, with a prone form slung over his shoulders.

Twyler.

Evie’s heart sank.
I’d so hoped he’d find justice and not vengeance, but Twyler forced Jake to choose between the lesser of two evils. Shooting an evil man in the back is the better choice than letting him go free to harm more people
.

Jake slung the other man’s body to the ground, eliciting a wretched moan from the captured criminal. “Oh, my leg,” Twyler groaned. “Why couldn’t you let me go, Granger? Or let the woman shoot me outright, at least?”

“Because I can’t shoot the broadside of a bunkhouse. We told you that, Twyler.” Evie couldn’t smile at the sight of blood soaking the man’s right leg from the knee down, but she judged him a lucky man nevertheless. He deserved far worse.

“Brings new meaning to the term ‘long shot.’” Lacey shuddered.

“Worst pun, Lace.” Evie nudged her friend.

“Best threat, Evie. Pity we can’t use it on the rest of the men.”

“You mean … it was true?” Twyler gasped the words, starting to wheeze. If Evie hadn’t heard only the one shot, she’d have wondered whether something was wrong with the man’s chest. Until a bark of laughter escaped. “A double bluff, then. I was outdone by a double bluff from an amateur?”

“And an exceptional shot from a master,” Evie lauded Jake. “He could well have ended your life, but he chose not to take revenge.”

“The shot didn’t matter. Only the bluff. Never the hand, only how it’s played …” The wheezes stretched and thinned into a series of wispy cackles. “An amateur! I deserve my fate, then. I held all the winning cards and threw them away.”

He kept up the steady stream of incoherent babble about
games and bluffs and the ultimate loss until Jake left him with the doctor, who mercifully put Twyler into the oblivion of drugged rest. Merciful for everyone—not just the man with the shattered knee.

“Evie, I’d like a word.” Jake had washed up and taken off his jacket, so Twyler’s blood no longer stained him. Nor did the memory of his brother’s injustice or his father’s betrayal, it seemed. He stood even taller than before, the lines of worry she’d never thought unattractive lessened until Jake seemed almost free. When she nodded, he led her into the doctor’s study … and sat her down in the wing-backed chair.