Texas Proud (Vincente 2) (34 page)

The young Mexican smiled, pleased to be entrusted with such an important mission for the
patron. "Si, Papa, I will listen and I will learn
about this man." His eyes shifted to the man he'd
grown up respecting. "If Senor Briscal can be
found, I will learn of it, Patron"

Noble was troubled. "Harvey is a coward, and
that makes him dangerous if he feels threatened.
If you meet with any trouble, I want you to forget
about Harvey Briscal and come home at once, Tomas."

"Do just as the Patron has told you. And as your
father, I shall add one more thing."

"Si, Papa."

Alejandro's hand tightened on Tomas's shoulder. "You will order a drink, but you will sip it
slowly. Do you understand?"

The dark eyes showed disappointment. Tomas
said in a deflated voice, "Si, Papa."

"If you have to stay long at the saloon, you must
not make yourself suspicious. Order a second
drink. Make a show of drinking it, but do not.
Your mama will carve out my heart if you come
home drunk."

"Si, Papa. I can enjoy one drink but no more."

Alejandro's eyes softened. "See to your safety. I
would go, but everyone knows me, and they would
not talk so easily if I were with you."

Tomas turned to his horse, and had his boot in
the stirrup when Noble stopped him.

"Tomas, throw your saddle on the gray stallion.
He's yours."

The young Mexican's eyes widened with disbelief, then brightened with joy. "I shall take the best
of care of him, Patron" While he spoke, he was
already loosening the cinch on his horse, and he
hefted the saddle onto the back of the gray.

"Have you nothing more to say to the Patron?"
his father asked, his voice chastising, his eyes narrowing. "Have you forgotten your manners?"

Tomas quickly removed his wide sombrero and
rolled the brim in nervous fingers. "I thank you
for the honor of the horse, Patron"

Noble laughed and clapped the young Mexican
on the back. "You will earn him before you get
back, Tomas. Look to your father's advice. Make
yourself inconspicuous and listen well. But most
of all, look to your safety."

Tomas swung into the saddle, his head at a
proud tilt. "I will not disappoint you, Patron."

Noble and Alejandro watched the young man
ride away.

"He's a son to be proud of, Alejandro."

"Si, Patron. My sweet Margretta gave me fine
children."

"I should like to have a son," Noble said, surprising himself when he put the sudden realization into words.

"How is Senorita Rachel?" the gran vaquero
asked with feeling.

"Not much gets past you, does it, my friend?"

"I have known you too long, Patron. I have never
seen you care so for a woman before. I know
where your heart lies."

"Then pity me, Alejandro, because it would be
easier to tame a wildcat than to conquer Rachel
Rutledge."

"Ah, but to have such a woman for your wife
would be worth the trouble, no?"

"Her husband God help him, whoever he may
be will never know one day's peace."

"Si," Alejandro agreed with the experience of a
happily married man who is not entirely in control of his own life. "When a man loses his heart
to a spirited woman, he needs much divine guidance." Then his eyes sought the Patron's. "You
worry that she is in danger, do you not?"

Noble nodded. "And well I should."

Rachel stood outside the hotel room, trying not to
think about the stench that came from the filthy
place. It had not surprised her that Harvey would
frequent such an establishment. There had been
several half-clad women downstairs, and the hotel
clerk had looked at her suspiciously when she had
told him that she was Harvey's sister.

Zeb stepped in front of her and rapped on the
door.

They could hear movement inside, but no answer. Again Zeb knocked, but still no answer.

Rachel set her chin and drew in a deep breath.
The door looked flimsy enough. "Move aside,
Zeb," she said.

"Now what're you doing, Miss Rachel? We
know he's in there, but he ain't gonna open the
door to you. Well just wait downstairs-er, no,
we'll wait across the street in that nice little hotel
till he comes out. He has to eat sometime."

"I said move aside!" she repeated more forcefully.

Zeb did as she asked, but he stayed close to her
should there be any trouble.

With one strong kick, the flimsy lock gave way
and the door splintered. Rachel stepped inside
and faced Harvey. He lay on the rumpled bed
trembling like a coward. The gun he pointed at
Rachel wavered. He swallowed once and then
again before he found his voice.

"You! What're you doing here?"

Rachel ignored his gun and concentrated on the
man's small, greedy eyes. "It's simple, Harvey. I
have some questions and you have the answers."

"He's with you, ain't he?" Harvey's eyes darted
fearfully to the door.

"Who?"

"That Spanish bastard."

"No. Only Zeb's with me, Harvey. What are you
afraid of?"

"Not you."

"I want to ask you some questions." Rachel
moved closer to him. "I want to know who you
work for."

"I don't have to talk to you. Get the hell out of
my room."

By now, Zeb had maneuvered his body so he
stood between Rachel and Harvey. "If n I was you,
I'd tell her what she wants to know. She can be
powerful fearsome when she's all het up. But you
saw that in town that day with the big fellow." The old man's gaze became pointed. "Now tell her
what she wants to know. And keep to decent talk.
Miss Rachel's a lady."

Harvey licked his lips and slid against the iron
bedstead. "I could shoot you both dead and claim
it was self-defense. You broke into my room."

Zeb seemed undaunted by the threat. "You
could get me right enough, but you'd never see me
bleed, 'cause if n you'll recall, Miss Rachel's a
deadly shot."

Harvey scooted off the rumpled bed, his gun
dipped, and he seemed to cringe. "It wasn't my
idea to go after you, Miss Rachel. I didn't want
to.

She stepped to Zeb's side. "Who hired you, Harvey?"

"It was-" His eyes widened in horror as he
looked beyond her. "No, no. I wasn't gonna tell
her. Don't shoo-"

A shot rang out. Rachel and Zeb watched Harvey go limp and slowly slump to the floor.

In an instant, Rachel turned to see the huge
man who filled the doorway. His cruel mouth
twisted, his gun still smoking in his beefy hand. It
was the redheaded man who had attacked Noble
that day in Tascosa Springs.

Red smiled. "I don't expect you to thank me,
little lady. But I did save your life. Harvey had a
gun."

Rachel quickly went to her knees beside Harvey.

"Who hired you, Harvey?" she shouted, grasping
his shirtfront. "Tell me!"

Harvey tried to say something, but a thin stream
of blood flowed from his mouth. He stiffened and
his eyes rolled back into his head. He was dead.

Rachel stood up slowly and turned to Red. "You
shot him deliberately because you didn't want him
to tell me who he works for."

Red dropped all semblance of pretense. "Yeah,
I did. What're you gonna do about it? You left your
gun on the floor beside poor Harvey." He ran his
hand over his mouth. "I owe you something, little
lady. You made me look bad, and I don't take to
people who make me look bad."

Zeb, who had been easing forward, raised his
gun. "You forgot `bout me, didn't you?"

Red fired so quickly that it took Zeb by surprise.

Rachel cried out as she watched Zeb crumple,
his gun hitting the floor before he did.

Tears blinded Rachel as she bent down to the
dear old man. "Oh, Zeb, Zeb," she said, sofdy
touching his face. "Why did you do it?" She saw
the dark stain on his shirt, and anger overwhelmed her. She quickly ripped a strip from her
petticoat and pressed it against the wound. She
couldn't tell how badly he'd been hurt. But he
couldn't die he just couldn't!

Golden sunset filtered through the dirty windowpane and streaked across Zeb's face. He tried
to rise, but Rachel pushed him back.

"I can't ...help you none. I failed you when you needed me." Sadness clouded his flickering gaze,
and he lost consciousness.

Rachel lunged forward to reach for Zeb's gun,
but Red was there before her, kicking it out of her
reach. She inhaled quickly, too angry to be frightened. She was never so brave as when she faced
her own fears. Drawing in a steadying breath, she
stood, staring at Red. "If Zeb dies, you die."

"I don't think so, lady." A slow grin etched Red's
features, his eyes running down her body with a
suggestive leer. "I'm gonna enjoy your body; then
if you're nice to me" he shrugged "who knows?
I may let you live."

"You are a disgusting coward. I'd rather die
than have you touch me,"

"Have it your way. But you just ran out of defenders, and you just ran out of time."

"It's you that's run out of time, Red," said a cold
granite voice just behind him.

Rachel felt a sob rising in her throat. "Noble!"
She looked from him to Red. Red had just shot
two people, and now his gun was pointed at the
man she loved!

"Step away from her," Noble commanded.

Red threw his head back and laughed. "Well,
you see the problem here is that you're gun's holstered and mine ain't. It was kinda like when you
was facedown in the streets of Tascosa Springs.
Only then you had the little lady here to protect
you."

Noble stepped closer to the man. "I don't need
a gun to outsmart you."

Red cocked his head with a look of puzzlement.
"What do you mean?"

"No, Noble, don't do it," Rachel cried.

Noble's hand rested on the handle of his gun,
and he didn't dare take his eyes off Red, who
stepped closer to Rachel and placed his gun barrel
against her temple. "Do you need to hide behind
a woman for courage, Red? Some cowards do."

Rachel shuddered at the feel of cold steel
against her skin. She realized that Noble was trying to distract Red's attention from her. She
glanced at Zeb's gun, which was halfway under
the bed, out of her reach.

Red looked undecided and then angry. "No man
calls me a coward and lives." His eyes drifted to
Rachel and then back to Noble. "I can kill her
now," he threatened. "And I will without regret if
you don't drop your gun."

Noble unbuckled his gun belt and let it drop to
the floor. Red wouldn't hesitate to shoot Rachel if
he didn't do something quickly. "If you are as
tough as you say you are, get rid of your weapon
and fight me like a man," Noble challenged, taking
another step forward. He was baiting the man
playing to his ego hoping to tear his attention
away from Rachel. "Are you afraid to face me
from the front, and without help? You're a big
man, Red, probably stronger than me. Drop your
gun and let me see what you're made of"

Red stared at his gun, and then crammed it into his holster. "I'm a better man than you'll ever be,
big landowner."

Amid muscle and sweat, the two men clashed
Red the larger, more muscular Noble more agile
and more intelligent.

Rachel was all but forgotten now, so she inched
toward the gun. At last, her hand closed around
the cool handle and she raised it toward Red. She
couldn't fire or she might hit Noble. Intuitively,
she realized that she was no longer a part of the
battle between the two men. Noble had a score to
settle with Red, and he would not welcome her
interference.

A crowd had been lured into the hall by the
sounds of gunfire. Several people watched with
interest as the two men came together in a clash
of fury.

Red's hand clamped across Noble's face, forcing
it backward, while he worked his fingers around,
trying to gouge out Noble's eyes.

With a swift uppercut, Noble caught Red in the
jaw and the big man went reeling backward, slamming into a chair and tumbling over it onto the
floor. Pure rage made the big man's eyes bulge,
and he gained his feet and made a mad lunge at
Noble.

Noble was ready for him and agilely sidestepped the charge. Red hit the wall with such
force, he had to brace himself against the bed to
keep from falling.

"You had enough?" Noble asked.

Dazed, Red shook his head to clear it. Sweat and
blood ran down his face, blinding him for a moment. With the swipe of a huge hand, he wiped
his eyes and located Noble.

Then, charging like a maddened bull, Red
landed a fist on Noble's jaw that sent Noble reeling
backward. Noble slammed against the wall, but
he didn't lose his balance or his calm. He merely
smiled.

"Not bad, Red. But if that's the best you can
do..."

Laughter came from the group of onlookers.
Red realized he was being humiliated once againjust like in Tascosa Springs. His anger made him
more cloddish and clumsy.

Red was at a definite disadvantage, Rachel
thought as she watched the two men battle. Noble
remained coolheaded and in control.

This time Red charged Noble straight on. Noble
deftly stepped aside and Red hit the iron bedstead,
looked stunned and collapsed to the floor.

He didn't move. He was out cold.