Authors: Connie Mason
“The Crowders left town.”
“I know that much, I heard them ride off,” Ida replied. “What happened? What did Colt say when he saw you? I’ll bet he could skin you alive for interfering in such a dangerous situation.”
“You could say that,” Sam allowed, smiling mirthlessly. “I did help him, though, I know I did.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“N … no, but the Crowders would have killed him if I hadn’t showed up. The least Colt could do was offer a smidgen of gratitude.”
“I take it he didn’t appreciate your help.”
“I… I didn’t wait around long enough to find out,” Sam admitted wryly. “He had his arms full of Dolly Douglas, and suddenly it didn’t matter what he thought. I did what I did because I wanted to—needed to.”
“Honey, I don’t want to seem nosy,” Ida hesitated, “but… you and Colt… does he have some hold over you? He didn’t tell me a thing when he brought you here. Only that you needed a place to stay. I sense more than that between you.”
“You may as well know, Ida—”
“I want to talk to you, Sam—alone, if you don’t mind, Ida.” While Sam and Ida stood on the porch talking, Colt had finally shaken loose from Dolly and various well-wishers and followed Sam home.
“Colt, what are you doing here?” Sam gasped, startled.
“I oughta tan your hide,” Colt bit out from between clenched teeth.
“I’ll go inside and make us some coffee,” Ida volunteered as she scurried away, leaving the two antagonists alone to hash out their problems.
The moment she disappeared, Colt lit into Sam. “You little idiot! What did you think you proved back there? You could have been killed! You got more gumption than brains.”
“I … I knew what I was doing,” Sam defended stoutly.
“I doubt that. I oughta take you over my knee and beat your enticin’ little butt black and blue. If somethin’ happened to you I …” Sam waited with bated breath for his next words. “… would have blamed myself.”
“As you can see, Ranger Andrews,” Sam sniffed haughtily, “I’m just fine.”
Colt bristled for a moment at the girl’s defiance, but then his golden eyes softened. “Sam, about this afternoon—”
“No need to explain. It just happened. I’m as much to blame as you are. I know it meant nothing to you and I’m not going to holler rape and demand marriage. Don’t worry about it, Colt, you don’t owe me a thing. Besides,” she added baldly, “I owe you for making my first time—downright memorable. Now if you’ll excuse me I’ve had a full day and would like to retire.”
She turned and left him standing alone, more confused than ever. What a contrary little hellion. Things had happened so fast after they had made love this afternoon that he had little time to dwell on what happened between them or to explore the uncertain feelings and emotions she had unleashed in those few brief hours of unsurpassed rapture. Where would this attraction between them end? Colt was just beginning to appreciate the threat Sam presented to the well insulated chambers of his heart.
It was well past midnight and the only light in the entire town of Karlsburg came from the Palace where the revelry continued unabated, albeit without Colt, who had retired early after politely declining Dolly’s company. But if one looked closely one could see the barest glimmer of light around the drawn shade of a back room used as an office in the comfortable house belonging to the Logans.
Inside, Calvin Logan sat in brooding silence while his son, Vern, made a substantial dent in the bottle of whiskey sitting between them on the desk. Word had gotten to them about the Crowders’ ignominious flight out of town, and they sat pondering that astounding event. In fact, if Vern hadn’t been trying to impress his rather by remaining home he might have been there to witness it.
“What in the hell is keeping him?” Calvin growled, glancing toward the door. “You don’t think he—”
“He’ll be here, Daddy,” Vern said with more conviction than he felt. “Crowder may be a lot of things but he’s not stupid. If I know him, he’s headin’ into town for his money right now.”
“If you had talked the Howard girl into marrying you, she wouldn’t have made such a spectacle of herself in the Palace tonight,” accused Calvin relentlessly. “What’s that Ranger to her anyway?”
“I talked to her today,” Vern rejoined lamely. “I think I’ll win her over soon. As for the Ranger, I ain’t figured him out yet.”
“Bah! You must have inherited your mother’s weakness. You’re a poor excuse for a man, Vern. If you’d spend less time with that whore down at the Palace and more time tending to business, you might amount to something one day. You’re absolutely worthless to me.”
Accustomed to being constantly belittled by his father, Vern merely flushed and took another healthy slug of whiskey. One day he’d show him, Vern silently vowed. One day he’d make his father proud of him. And when he did, everything his father had cheated and lied for would be his, including the hot-tempered Samantha Howard. Tonight she proved she had a fire in her that went beyond his wild imaginings. A blaze he longed to quench in a special way she wasn’t likely to forget.
A soft rapping interrupted Vern’s lewd musings and he leaped to attention. “Let him in,” Calvin ordered, jerking his head toward the private door to the office. Vern jumped to obey, and Lyle Crowder sidled into the room, an ugly sneer contorting his features.
“It’s about time, Crowder,” complained Calvin. “What in the hell kept you?”
“The boys wanted to move on and it took plenty of talkin’ to convince them you’d make it worth their time to stick around a while longer,” Lyle grumbled. “I hope you don’t make no liar outta me, Logan.”
“You’ll get your money, Crowder, plenty of it.
When
you’re finished with this job and not before.”
“We wasn’t countin’ on no Texas Rangers comin’ to town,” Crowder said sullenly.
“Only one,” Vern corrected. Crowder bent him an austere glare.
“Makes no never mind. One Ranger or twenty, they’re all bad news. The boys think it’s time to move on. There’s plenty of towns left in Texas ripe for plunderin’. The Rangers mean trouble—big trouble. Can’t do a damn thing with them breathin’ down our necks.”
“You’ve still got a job to do for me,” Calvin reminded him. “There’s a great deal of money involved here.”
“That’s ‘zactly what I told the boys,” Crowder concurred. “What about the Ranger?”
“Steer clear of town for a few days. There’s nothing further to be gained here. I want you and the boys to concentrate on the Krebs ranch west of town. He’s our last holdout. I need his property, and his note doesn’t come due until after he sells his cows and then he’ll have plenty of cash to meet the note. That can’t happen,” Calvin said, smiling deviously, “if he doesn’t have any cattle to sell, now, can it?”
“You want us to steal his catde? Just like the other times when we made it look like Injuns done it?”
“Precisely. Any questions?”
“Yeh, I need money. Enough to keep the boys happy till we get the job done.”
“You can have half now and half when the job is done. See to it, Vern, I’m going to bed.” He rose stiffly and left the room.
Vern’s mind had been working furiously while Crowder and Calvin talked. An idea began to form in his mind. If it worked, he could become a hero to Sam and a man his father could respect.
Moving to the steel safe behind the desk, Vern fiddled with the dial before the door swung open on silent hinges. Following his father’s instructions, he counted out a wad of bills and wordlessly handed them to Crowder, who grunted and stuffed them in his pocket. Then Crowder watched narrow-eyed as Vern counted out an extra thousand dollars before closing the safe and twirling the dial.
“What’s that for?”
“A little private job, if you’re willin’. Just between us. Daddy doesn’t have to know.”
“For another thousand?”
Vern nodded. He could easily replace it before his father noticed it was gone. With Spindler no longer at the bank to keep his eagle eye on things, Vern could juggle the bank ledgers so that the money was never missed. He wasn’t his father’s son for nothing.
“Who do I have to kill?”
“No one,” Vern returned quickly. “In fact, killin’ is me last thing on my mind. I want you to kidnap someone for me.”
“Kidnap—well, I don’t righdy know ‘bout that. Do you mean that Ranger fella? If I could get my hands on him I’d kill him.”
“What you do with Andrews is your business,” Vern said with a shrug. “I want you to kidnap a woman and then let me rescue her. I don’t want her hurt, mind you, just roughed up enough to make her beholden to me when I save her skin.”
“She must be somethin’ special,” said Crowder, eyeing the money in Vern’s hands greedily. “But how will I know if we have the right woman?”
“You’ll know her. You already saw her at the Palace tonight.”
“You mean that black-haired bitch with the shotgun? Shit! Once I get my hands on her there won’t be nothin’ left to save.”
“Do you want the money or not?”
It took Crowder only a few minutes to make up his mind. “Where do I find her?”
“She’s stayin’ with Ida Scheuer and works at the grocery. You’ll have to keep watch and catch her alone. Oh, yeh, her name is Samantha Howard.”
“Howard … Howard,” mused Crowder, rubbing his stubbled chin. “Ain’t her pa the man your daddy paid us to kill? You must want her pretty bad to go to all this trouble.”
“Yeh,” agreed Vern, “real bad. As soon as it’s done, send a man to tell me and I’ll ride out to your camp to get her. Be sure and tell the boys she’s not to be touched. When I get there we’ll pretend to negotiate for her release. We’ll reach an agreement, I’ll hand you the money and ride off with the woman. Understood?”
“Sure, nothin’ to it,” boasted Crowder. “Do I get the money now?”
“Half now,” offered Vern shrewdly as he peeled off five one hundred dollar bills and pocketed the rest, “and the other half when I ride out to get her.”
“Agreed,” grinned Crowder. “You’ll be hearin’ from me soon.”
“I’d better,” Vern said, “for if you double-cross either me or Daddy you’ll find yourself in a heap of trouble. If you think one Texas Ranger is dangerous, wait till there’s twenty or thirty on your tail. I understand they shoot first and ask questions later.”
“Don’t get your dander up, a Crowder keeps his word. You’ll be hearin’ from me.”
“Good enough. And Crowder, this is between you and me. What Daddy doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
A
n uneasy peace hung over the city. Sam had neither seen nor heard from Colt since the night the Crowder gang rode into town. She assumed he was too busy with Dolly Douglas to spare her a thought. He had taken what he wanted from her and couldn’t wait now until he was rid of her for good. If the town was truly free of the Crowders, it couldn’t be much longer before Colt would take her to San Antonio to jail.
Sam had no way of knowing that Colt had deliberately kept his distance in order to give her time to cool off—though he wanted her back in his bed so badly his every waking moment was consumed with his need for her. Dolly’s silken flesh no longer held any appeal, and ever since he had held, kissed, and made love to Sam he had room for no other woman in his life. He wouldn’t be satisfied, he reckoned, until he sated himself with her sweet body and the urge to possess her totally was no longer a demon driving him.
Sam’s thoughts took her in another direction—to San Antonio and what awaited her there. If she was to go to jail soon, she wanted to go back to visit the ranch one last time. Besides, the rest of her clothes were there, as well as personal mementos. Mr. Colter may own the land, but that didn’t give him the right to her personal belongings. One slow day at the store Sam informed Ida of her intention to retrieve some things at the ranch and asked for the rest of the day off.
Poor Ida was beside herself. Nothing she said could persuade Sam from taking off by herself. Just because the Crowders hadn’t returned didn’t mean they weren’t out there somewhere in the hills waiting to commit mayhem. Why, Ida heard that just last night Herr Krebs had lost half his herd to Indians—another danger to reckon with. Sam was being bullheaded as usual, insisting she had ridden the distance between the ranch and Karlsburg a thousand times in the past and not been molested, so why should today be any different? Sam chose to ignore the volatile situation that existed in the area and scoffed at the danger, daring—no, defying—fate to alter the course of her uncertain future. Changing into tight denim pants and a checkered shirt, Sam picked up her horse at the livery stable and rode off.
Ida sat on the horns of dilemma for all of fifteen minutes before concern for Sam sent her searching for Colt. But to her growing dismay he was nowhere to be found. She returned to the store praying that Sam’s recklessness would not be rewarded by more trouble than she could handle.
Colt reined in Thunder atop a hill overlooking the ranch he now owned. Already he detected an abandoned look about the place and hoped to change all that with the telegrams he had sent shortly after purchasing the Circle H. Not for one minute did he believe the Crowders were finished with Karlsburg, so it looked as if he’d be here for some time. Since his confrontation with the Crowders he had definitely made up his mind about Sam’s future, and it didn’t include jail. That damn little nuisance had been a thorn in his side from the moment he set eyes on her. The longer it remained, the more it festered into a kind of sickness from which there was no cure.