The Gunslinger’s Untamed Bride (22 page)

Her eyes burned at the thought.

She was leaving tomorrow. Would he come to see her in San Francisco? Did he want her? Just because he’d kissed her with bone-melting desire didn’t mean—

The floor creaked behind her. She turned just as a force shoved her facedown onto the mattress.

Lily struggled and tried to scream but more than one set of hands held her pinned against the bedding, one holding down her head and shoulders as another secured her hands, the rope burning across her wrists.

“Good and tight,” a man instructed. “She’s a feisty little bitch.”

She knew that voice.
Oh, God.

Chandler.

Fingers clenched the back of her hair, lifting her head as a cloth went over her mouth, cutting off her cry for help.

“I don’t know about this, Billy,” said the other man. “We were supposed to grab one of those ’Frisco men.”

A man’s bruising grip wrenched her up. She stared at Billy Chandler and the man who’d been standing beside Mr. Grimshaw on the afternoon she’d arrived.
Traitor!

“Lady Luck must finally be shining down on us,” said Chandler, his crimson lips tipped in a sickly grin as he closed in on her.

Something wasn’t right. Juniper knew it the moment he spotted what looked to be an open cabin door in the obscured distance.

Chills prickled up the back of Juniper’s neck as he rushed forward, looking harder through the blur of rain.

Lily’s cabin door was wide-open.

Tin plates hit the ground and he was in a full run.

“Lily!”

Her coat lay on the bed, a piece of paper beside it. Juniper’s breath stalled as he read the sloppy pencil scratches.

Deliver the strongbox to the fork in the road at Piney Gultch Pass tomorrow at midnight or Carrington’s man won’t walk off the mountain alive.

He knew the place. A low spot of crossroads with a ridge on each side to offer adequate cover. But the money had already been dispersed. The men who’d escaped Chandler’s place wouldn’t have known that. They also hadn’t expected to find Lily in this cabin.

He’d told her to bar the door! She hadn’t been alone for more than fifteen minutes.

Crumpling the note in his fist, Juniper grabbed Lily’s coat and ran outside to search for tracks. He circled the cabin. Rain pummeled the pitted ground, puddling water everywhere. He ran toward the woods at the rear of the cabins. A few rows in, he spotted the faint tracks of two horses heading up the mountain.

“Lily!”

Rainfall had already distorted the prints. They likely had a fifteen-minute lead. He’d never catch them on foot, certainly not with the rain washing out their tracks.

“Damn it!” He turned back. He needed a horse, a posse—he needed to know where Chandler was taking her.

He burst through the door of the cookhouse and slid to a stop. Water dripped from the brim of his hat. His chest pulling for breath, panic shaking him, his gaze raked over the men whose mouths gaped open; others froze in the midst of taking a bite.

Kyle stood up from his spot at a long table. “June?”

“Who here was on a crew with Chandler?”

Movement drew his gaze to the back of the room. Instead of a man coming forward, the timbermen sitting on either side of a slender man Juniper knew only as Rogers slid away from him, singling him out on the bench.

Juniper started toward him. Rogers swallowed hard and stood.

“Billy Chandler has taken Lily Carrington.” He didn’t slow his pace until his gun was shoved under the man’s chin. “Tell me where he took her.”

“I do-don’t—”

“He wouldn’t have gone up the mountain in this storm unless he had a safe spot. Every range of timber has a hidey place where men go to sit out storms or take a break.
Where is it?
”

“Ch-Chandler will kill me.”

He clicked the hammer back on his gun. “Not if I kill you first.”

“June,” Kyle said softly from beside him.

He released Rogers long enough to shove the wadded ransom note against Kyle’s chest. Juniper resumed his hold, his gaze pinned on Rogers as Kyle unfolded the crumpled paper.

“Ah, hell!”

He tightened his hold on Rogers’s shirt, lifting the man to the tips of his boots. “You’re gonna lead Marshal Darby and me to every cave, shack and hollow tree you know about until we find Lily Carrington.”

Rogers nodded vigorously. “Th-there’s a couple places he’s likely to go for sure.”

“Günter!”

“Right here, Sheriff,” his deputy answered.

He released Rogers as Günter made his way up the row of tables. “Assemble a posse, issue firearms and fan out.
Every man searches.
We’re looking for two men on horseback, Billy Chandler and likely Ted Mathews. So long as Lily Carrington isn’t in range, you can shoot on sight.”

Everyone stared up at him in stunned silence.

“Move!”

Dishes clattered, benches scuffed the floor as the roomful of men rushed for the door.

He looked back at Rogers, who had paled to the color of a bed sheet. “You better not let me down.”

“No, sir. If’n he’s lookin’ to keep dry for any length of time, he’d go to one of two places.”

“Grab your hat and tell me on the way.”

Kyle stood outside in the rain, already holding the reins of three horses.

“Rogers,” he said as the man reached for a saddle. “Try to run from me and you’ll die. I’ve never missed a target, moving or otherwise.”

“No, sir. I sure don’t want to see the lady hurt.”

Lily’s coat still draped over his arm, Juniper rolled up the thick wool and jammed it into his saddlebag before mounting his horse.

Kyle rode in beside him as they started east. “We’ll find her, June.”

He knew he would. It was the inevitable time she’d spend in Chandler’s company until he reached her that worried him. If Chandler hurt her, he’d be praying for hell before Juniper issued his ticket.

“J
ust wait until I get you alone.”

Soaked to the bone and shivering, Lily didn’t doubt Chandler’s intentions for getting her alone; he’d detailed them several times. They’d ridden through the rain for what felt like hours. She sat on Chandler’s lap, a constant shower of chilling drops against her face. She counted her one blessing—she was far too numb to feel Chandler’s bruising touch beneath her wet waistcoat.

She kept hoping to hear gunfire and Juniper riding up behind them. But all she heard was the steady hush of rainfall and Chandler’s disgusting words. The drenched gag tied around her mouth prevented her venomous replies. Mathews rode a short distance ahead of him and she couldn’t help but think he ought to be minding his back. Chandler had whispered his plans. He was waiting on his brother and intended to kill her and Mathews—once he no longer had use for them.

Up ahead, she spotted a white trail of smoke snaking into the darkening gray sky. A shudder of fear broke through her cold tremors. Once they stopped, she wouldn’t stand much of a chance against two brutish men.

They reined in outside a crude shack constructed of stripped bark. She spotted other horses out in the tall pine trees and recalled that some of the bandits had headed back up the hill.

Chandler hoisted her up over his shoulder as he dismounted. Her hands and feet bound, any struggle was useless. She pinched her eyes tight, terrified of what she’d find inside their makeshift cabin.

Please, God. Let Juniper come for me.

A door squeaked open and heat rushed out with the sound of male voices.

“You got ’em,” a man said, sounding surprised.

“Sure did.” He dropped her onto a dirt floor. Lily winced as pain shot through her aching muscles.

“It’s a
woman.
”

“Not just a woman,” said Chandler.

Lily struggled to her knees and looked up through the sopping strands of her hair. Four unfamiliar faces stared down at her. Behind them a fire crackled in what looked like an old boiler for some kind of machinery.

“The Carrington girl.” The biggest of the group, a man with a wide brown mustache streaked with gray, stepped toward her. His startled expression gave her a flicker of hope.

“Let’s see how negotiable Carrington is when he finds out we have his daughter,” said Chandler.

“I heard she was his niece,” said a lanky young man sitting on a crate near the stove.

“Won’t matter how she’s related to Carrington when Sheriff Barns is likely to kill us all,” said Mathews.

“He should be wanting his pay, too,” said Chandler.

“As much as he wants his woman?”

“Button it, Mathews,” ordered Chandler.

“What’s he jawing about, Chandler?” said another man.

“Barns was kissing her,” Mathews announced, glaring accusingly at his accomplice. “We both saw ’em.”

“Which don’t mean anything,” snapped Chandler. “What man worth his salt wouldn’t be tryin’ to get under her skirts? I never should have dropped her that first time! We’d all be on our way to Mexico by now instead of hiding out in this damn shack.”

“Who the hell said they wanted to ride to Mexico?” said the older man with the mustache. “I got a family, for cryin’ out loud! I haven’t seen my wife in two months! I just want my pay.”

“Barns is no fool.” A stout man standing behind the others came forward. “You courtin’ the sheriff?”

Lily vigorously nodded her head.

“Hell, she’d say she was courting the pope if she thought we’d let her go!”

“This don’t feel right,” said the man with the mustache. “I got no call to go hurting innocent women. We get caught, we’ll hang for sure.”

“We’re not going to get caught,” Chandler said.

The chilling quality of his voice made Lily’s hair stand on end.

“What makes you think she’s innocent? I saw her at my uncle’s place. She shot my cousin point-blank between the eyes. She’s willing to kill to keep what’s ours.”

“So we could pay everyone,” she tried to shout through the cloth rubbing blisters into the sides of her mouth.

“Kidnapping women isn’t what my son and I came here for,” said the stout man.

“I didn’t want to become no renegade outlaw,” the kid on the crate put in. Lily realized he and the older man shared the same facial structure and black hair. “I don’t want no part in money that comes from hurting the lady. We ought to take her back.”

The others voiced their agreement.

“She’s gettin’ what’s coming to her,” said Chandler. “So are you.”

Lily saw the flash of movement. She screamed as four shots split the air. Four bodies fell to the dirt floor. Her muffled screams didn’t go far beyond the gag as the scent of gun smoke stung her nose.

Chandler’s hand closed over her arm and pulled her up beside him. “Your quick-draw sweetheart’s got nothin’ over me,” he said, smiling.

“You shot ’em.”

Lily blinked away tears and looked up at Mathews. The man’s tawny complexion paled as he stared in shock at his fallen co-workers.

“Of course I shot ’em! They were ready to turn us in because of some bitch in a skirt. You sayin’ you have similar notions?”

Mathews shook his head. “No. Not me, Billy.”

“All we need is the two of us. One to keep watch and one to collect the money.”

Mathews eyed him pensively. With good reason. Lily knew Chandler had never intended to share the money with any of the lumberjacks.

“That setup workin’ for you?” asked Chandler.

“Sure.”

“This place is too obvious, anyhow. How far’s that old millhouse?”

Lily glanced at Mathews, praying he’d stand up to Billy.

“Four miles, maybe.”

“Good. Go grab up their food before it all smells of death.”

Tears spilled hotly from Lily’s eyes as Chandler dragged her toward the door.

Four miles.
She glanced across the dreary distance.

Juniper, where are you?

“There’s your other four renegades,” said Kyle.

Juniper stood in the doorway, his heart slugging slow and hard as his gaze moved over three men staring glassy-eyed at the ceiling. A fourth slumped against the wall. The entire floor was a black pool of blood-soaked dirt.

“Hell.”

Someone had walked among the dead, their boot prints leading from the stove to the door.

“Those Chandlers are a cold breed,” Kyle said in a low tone.

“Took her,” a weak voice groaned.

The man against the wall leaned his head back, and Juniper recognized his wide curving mustache.

“O’Grady?” He rushed forward and crouched beside him. “How long ago?”

“Mill,” the man said. “Blackwater. Just…minutes.”

“I know the place,” Rogers said from behind him.

Kyle moved in beside Juniper and tugged at the man’s bloody shirt. “I got him,” he said.
“Go.”

The old mill was nothing more than a cluster of broken-down shacks not far off the river. Rain dripped through cracks in the roof, creating puddles along the rough wooden floor. A cold wind rose up through the floorboards, adding to her chill.

“We’ll go at dawn, then,” Chandler said to Mathews, the two of them spooning cold beans out of a can at a dry spot near the center of the room as Lily shivered in the corner. The fact that they could eat after shooting down those men sickened her.

“You’re sure they’ll deliver all the money?”

“Hell, yes. My brother and I pulled a job like this up in Idaho last year. No doubt Barns sent a wire with our message to ol’ Carrington—he’ll insist Barns meet our demands. We ride on with the loot while they look for what’s left of the girl.”

Lily tried to fight off her fear, telling herself they were fools to believe Juniper was scrambling to contact some fictional masculine entity and gathering up money that had already been dispersed to employees. Juniper would come for her, there was no other solution.

“Least we got something to occupy our time for tonight,” Chandler said, his eyes on Lily.

She just hoped Juniper came in time.

“I been itching for that woman ever since she sashayed into the millhouse last week,” said Mathews, his confidence having perked up since he’d been promised a third of the money. “Those hips of hers move in a way that makes a man hard.” He shifted the front of his trousers, and a shudder of repulsion went through Lily.

Chandler laughed and pushed to his feet. “You’ll have to wait your turn.”

Lily watched helplessly as he stalked toward her. “’Bout time we see what you got under all them skirts,” he said, hauling her up and dumping her over his shoulder.

A door shut behind them and Lily’s back landed on the rotted mattress of an old bed. Her wrists bound behind her, pain shot through her shoulders. Her breath stalled as she stared at a long knife held out before her.

“I got no patience for buttons and such,” he said, the tip of his blade sliding down the high collar at her throat. “So you better hold real still if you want to spare that soft skin.”

Lily winced as her bodice and chemise fell open, the whisper of metal sliding down her belly. He stopped at the bulk of fabric at her waist.

“This is gonna be good,” Chandler said. He dug his hand into the waistbands of her bloomers and skirts and ripped his knife through them, severing every last petticoat. He cut the knot binding her ankles and she felt her legs being pushed apart.

She screamed against the gag and kicked at her attacker. His knife clattered to the floor. Her other boot pounded into his chest.

He swore, shoving her down, his fingers biting into her thigh just before his weight flattened her, knocking the breath from her lungs. “I see you’re going to make this fun,” he said, his hand moving between them, opening his pants.

Panic took hold—she struggled against him, desperate to dislodge his weight. Repeated rifle shots broke through the terror screaming through her mind.

“Lily!”

Though his voice sounded miles away, she answered his call, screaming his name through the roll of fabric.

“Son of a
bitch!
” Chandler growled each word through clenched teeth and scrambled off her.

Mathews barreled into the room. “Sheriff Barns is co—” His eyes widened at the sight of her exposed body.

“No kidding!” Chandler shouted, adjusting his pants.

Lily rolled onto her side and pushed to her feet, her legs unsteady as she lunged for the doorway.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Chandler knocked her to the floor. “Grab that rope,” he shouted to Mathews.

Lily screamed as her feet were wrenched back and secured to her bound wrists.

“Did you see him?” Chandler asked, hoisting her onto his shoulder.

“Didn’t spot no one. He’s headed this way, though.”

Clamped against his disgusting chest, Lily reared back and slammed her forehead into Chandler’s face. He gave a shout, but his grip only tightened and shifted her to the side.

“Damn, you’re a handful!”

“What are you gonna do with her?”

“Find a place to stash her.” Chandler kicked out a rotted slat on the back wall, took one step and stopped. “Perfect.”

Lily splashed into ice-cold water.
A trough,
she thought, relieved to discover she lay in just a few inches of green water.

“We’ll just plug that hole.”

She glanced toward her bent knees to see Chandler shove one of her petticoats into a rusted hole. The water in the narrow trough instantly began to rise. A steady trickling sound drew her gaze to a drainpipe feeding in a steady trail of rainwater.

“If I die,” said Chandler, leaning over her, “you drown. So you better hope I make it back here to warm you up.”

She wished she could tell him she’d rather drown. Juniper would defeat him.

She tried to turn, to get onto her knees so she could sit up. The attempt only drenched the rag tied around her mouth, making her choke as she sucked in a breath.

Oh, God.
She could hardly move. It was no use. Water continued to creep up the side of her face.

Thunder boomed overhead, which she took as a clear sign that she was going to drown. The sound of pounding raindrops echoed all around her, along with the memory of Juniper’s words.

I’d rather have gotten shot, Lily, than see you come to harm! I will not have your blood on my conscience. Do you hear me? I won’t!

Her heart ached at the thought of him finding her this way. She should have told him this morning…. She should have told him she forgave him.

She’s here.

His back against the empty millhouse, Juniper scanned the ghostly abandoned shacks spaced across the clearing. Steady rainfall impeding his vision and hearing, he moved quickly to the side of the next building.

He’d seen two horses tied in the trees and had left Rogers behind, not about to chance the kid getting himself killed.

He crept up to another open door. Nothing was inside but dirt and cobwebs. “Show yourself, Chandler! I’m not leaving without her!”

A flash of lightning silhouetted a man’s shadow on the next wall.

Juniper raised his rifle, watching the shadow move closer. Once the man reached the corner of the house, Juniper stepped out and slammed the butt of his gun against his head.

Mathews hit the ground and didn’t move.

Before he could take another step, a voice sounded from behind him.

“Word has it you’re a fast gun.”

Juniper turned slowly and realized Chandler had meant to surround him. He stood six feet away in the drizzling rain, his hands noticeably free of a gun. “I hear you’re common filth,” he said.

Billy Chandler grinned. “I hope this visit doesn’t mean I’ll be disappointed tomorrow.”

“Depends. You hoping to be nailed into a pine box? If so, you won’t be disappointed.”

Chandler laughed, his good mood adding to the fire raging in Juniper’s gut. What had he done with Lily?

“I’m not even holding a gun,” Chandler said, raising his hands.

“You’re armed. Not that it matters. U.S. marshals are asking that you be brought in dead or alive. Dead works for me.”

Chandler gave a slight shrug. “So long as you want your woman that way, too. You shouldn’t be so quick to kill. Without Mathews or me, the lady will die before you find her.” He tucked his coat behind the grip of a holstered revolver. “Toss down your guns and I’ll let her live.”