Deadly (26 page)

She shook Annabelle awake and then Ruby. Quietly, they packed up their bedrolls and saddled their horses.

Meg checked her guns, found her rope, and nodded at Ruby. She was ready.

“Ruby, you take Simon. Annabelle, you get his horse and saddle the animal. Zach is mine.”

“Don’t do anything you’ll regret, Meg,” Ruby said quietly. “You still care about him even if he’s hurt you.”

Shaking her head, Meg knew her sister was right, but there was still that part of her that burned with the need to retaliate. To get retribution. “You’re right. Never will I regret my actions of tonight.”

They walked their horses the short distance to the men’s camp and staked them. Quiet as church mice, they crept in, their guns drawn and their ropes ready. Meg watched as Ruby, once again, put a gun to Simon’s head while she stood over Zach. He lay sleeping peacefully, his chest rising and falling in slumber. She picked up his gun that lay near his head. She stared at him for a moment longer. Then she pointed her gun at his privates.

“Zach!” Simon screamed in the night.

Ruby shoved her pistol in his ribs and yanked his arm behind his back, pulling the man roughly to his feet. “Shut up and get on your horse.”

Zach sat up groggily, and Meg cocked her pistol. “One wrong move and I promise you, you’ll be a eunuch for the rest of your short life.”

The way she felt right now, his life could end this very night. She should put a bullet in him, but she never would.

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “We’re back to this.”

“You choose this path, cowboy, not me.”

His eyes darted from her to Simon.

“One wrong move and this time, I swear I will shoot you and walk away. I won’t stick around to play your nursemaid,” she threatened, her hands shaking with anger.

He stretched and reached for his gun.

“It’s not there. I have it, and no, you’re not getting it back.”

“I don’t need my gun,” he said, slowly standing. “I guess you’re taking Simon.”

“The girls have him on his horse and ready to go. Annabelle is tying him up even as we speak,” Meg said, her voice cold, her heart almost frozen. Her finger felt twitchy on the trigger.

A laugh escaped from Zach’s throat. “We’re not making up?”

“You know the answer to that one, cowboy. You owe me some answers to my questions. Careful how you answer as I’ve yet to decide if I’m going to let you live.” Her heart called out
liar
, but her head ignored the damaged organ.

“Ask away. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

“Why did you tell me you’d meet me at the restaurant and then leave before I got there?” Of all the things he’d done, this one hurt the most. He’d been so caring, so loving the night before and then he’d just left her waiting for him to show up. Waiting for them to find Simon together.

“Honestly, Meg, I had no intentions on leaving you this morning. Hell, I never wanted to pull out without you. But then Simon walked into the restaurant, and I knew if I was going to save him, it had to be right then. Because once your sisters arrived, he’d be in the county jail.”

She didn’t say a word. He was right. Her sisters would have hauled Simon’s ass over to the sheriff. And in fact, she would have helped them.

Zach took a step toward her. “I’ve been eaten up with guilt since I made that hasty decision to run out on you. All day, I’ve called myself every kind of fool for making the wrong decision.”

She fired her gun right above his head, the sound echoing in the night air.

Ruby came running toward her. “Is everything okay?”

“Go away,” she said. How could he lie to her with such a sincere tone in his voice? It infuriated her since she was certain he didn’t mean a word of what he was saying.

“Damn it, Meg. If you’re going to kill me, just get it over with. I feel bad enough as it is.”

“Oh no, I want you to suffer the same way I’ve been hurting. I want you to know how it feels to think someone cares about you, and then he disappears. Do you know how badly my chest was aching from thinking our night together meant nothing to you? I have been a complete and utter fool to have trusted my heart with you, Zach Gillespie.”

She watched as he ducked his head, his eyes closing before he raised them up and stared her straight in the face. “I’ve been confused. He’s my brother and I know he’s guilty. Worst of all, I threw away what we had together for a man who doesn’t know right from wrong. And I do. He wasn’t worth losing you over. I don’t blame you for being angry. I’ve been wrong.”

Meg stopped and stared at him. This wasn’t what she expected, but could this just be another way Zach was manipulating her? Oh no, he wasn’t getting off this easy. His bailing on her had broken her trust, damaged her heart, and left her reeling. She’d fallen deeply in love with him, and he’d betrayed her.

“Go ahead, he’s guilty. I won’t follow you. I won’t come and take him back. You’re actually doing me a huge favor by taking him in.” He reached down and picked up the rope and threw it to her. Then he held out his hands.

She felt like he’d slapped her. He was telling her to take Simon. It seemed way too easy. Reaching down, she picked up the rope and wrapped it around his wrist, not tying the rope so tight that he couldn’t get out of it. For once, she wanted him to follow her. She wanted to see if he was lying to her yet again. All the fight seemed drained from Zach, like he’d given up.

Stepping back, she admired her handiwork. It would take him a while to get out of the knots, but it was doable. “We’re leaving.”

“I’ll see you back in Zenith,” he said.

“Don’t come looking for me,” she replied, her heart breaking, tears threatening to spill. She turned and walked away. Zach seemed defeated. It seemed as if he were truly handing Simon over to her. And yet, that didn’t set well with her either.

She crawled on her horse and gave the command. “Let’s ride.”

*

As the sun began to rise, Simon started singing to them. At first it was ballads, and then he broke out into religious hymns. Maybe he knew he was getting closer and closer to when he would spend some time with God and he wanted to start practicing his religion now. But whatever it was, he was driving them crazy.

“Simon! Enough,” Meg finally said as the sun burned away the clouds, warming up the sky.

“You don’t enjoy a good gospel hymn?” he asked.

“Not after the tenth time you sang it.”

The man was deliberately trying to irritate them or make sure Zach heard his singing and located him. If Zach were coming, he’d better hurry. They were getting close to town, and Meg would be turning Simon over to a lawman.

“My knowledge is limited in music. It’s been a day or two since I’ve spent time in church.”

Meg shook her head and refused to look at the hardened criminal. “I just bet it has.”

“I’m sure you’ll get plenty of time to reacquaint yourself with gospel music before they hang you,” Ruby said.

He laughed. “You’ll bring me a pie in jail, won’t you?”

“I don’t cook, and even if I did, I wouldn’t waste it on you,” Ruby acknowledged.

“Wow, you girls are harsh. What about you, Annabelle? Any pity for a man who misses his momma’s apple pie?”

She brushed back her golden red tresses and gave him a brilliant smile. “The only pie you’ll get from me will give you the trots. When would you like for me to bring it to you?”

“Harsh, really harsh,” Simon said, staring at Annabelle. “Have you no pity?”

The man was a charmer, and Meg felt proud her sisters hadn’t fallen for his deceptive charisma.

“Oh yeah, I have pity for your mother for having to watch her son die,” Meg said, bouncing in the saddle as her horse stepped around some cactus.

Simon rode along for several minutes, his backside swaying side to side in the saddle. He stared at each woman. “You girls know the bond between sisters. Don’t you think brothers have that same kinship? Don’t you think that Zach, even now, is probably not far behind us?”

“He said he wasn’t going to follow us,” Meg replied, wondering if it was true. She’d been surprised he hadn’t shown up already. She half expected Zach to ride up on them at any moment. But so far, she’d not seen him, and she’d been keeping watch.

Simon glanced over at her, dismay filling his brown eyes. “What do you mean?”

“That’s what he said. Said I was doing him a favor taking you in,” she responded.

Simon was silent for a moment, and then he smiled and acted relieved. “He’s just luring you in. Letting you feel safe before he ambushes you, and we ride to Mexico together.”

“Hmmm,” she replied. “He said he’d made a mistake. I wonder if that mistake was taking a chance on you?”

A frown appeared between his brows as he considered her words. But then he smiled and shook his head. “You’d do the same for your sisters. You know how it is. You look after family members. You help each other out. Family protects family.”

Meg laughed. “No. Not when they cross the line. My sisters would never kill a man in cold blood. They gave me hell when I stole a ham when we were starving. They refused to eat it. So no, family does not always protect family. Sometimes family helps other members face the consequences of their actions.”

The girls snickered. “She’s right,” Annabelle said. “We told her we’d turn her in ourselves.”

A frown grew on Simon’s face as he contemplated her words. She could see him dissecting what they’d told him about Zach.

“Your sisters don’t love you,” he said. “They should protect you. Blood is blood, regardless of what they do.”

“My sisters love me enough to warn me and keep me following the right path. So help me God, they would haul me off to jail if I did anything they felt was wrong. I know because they’ve almost done it before.” Suddenly Meg felt even more grateful for her sisters. They were honest and kept her in line. She could always count on them to tell her the things she didn’t want to hear, but needed to know the most.

“Still, this is Zach, the sheriff. You care about him. You two have been sweet lovebirds for the last few weeks, and you’re not going to do something my family would never forgive you for. You’re not going to be the one to turn me in and lose my brother over it,” Simon said, giving Meg a smile that set her teeth on edge and left her feeling dirty. The man could lure a nun into sin.

“I’m a good woman. I deserve a good man who is honest and trustworthy. Zach hasn’t shown me he’s worthy of me. And by leaving me, he’s proven just the opposite. So I don’t think you’re going to have to worry about me and your family.”

Simon opened his mouth to speak, and Meg took the opportunity to shove a rag in between his lips. He made strange mumbling noises.

“Thank God,” Ruby said. “His off key singing was driving me crazy.”

“Oh, my God, that mouth either had to be stuffed full of something that would quiet him down or get covered,” Annabelle confirmed. “I’d heard enough.”

“How far are we from town?” Ruby asked.

Meg heard her sisters talking, but Simon’s words and Zach’s words were bouncing inside her brain, like a bullet in the dirt. What was he doing? Was he actually letting her take Zach in, so he didn’t have to make that very hard choice himself?

Is that why he said he wouldn’t be following her? This way Simon was in jail, and he could always say Zach never turned him in. Zach didn’t have to make that hard decision to show he stood by the law he’d sworn to protect.

She pulled her horse to a halt, anger spreading like a prairie fire through her. Damn him! Damn him for manipulating her into making his choice easy, for giving him an easy way out.

“We’re going back,” Meg said, turning around.

“What?” Annabelle questioned.

Ruby dropped her head in her hands. “Why are we taking him back? We’ve been trying to capture him for months?”

Meg took a breath and hoped like hell her sisters would understand what she had just realized. “I know this is damn frustrating. I know I’ve said all along he was our last bounty, but we’re making this way too easy on Zach. He needs to make the hard decision about whether or not to turn his brother in. He should be the one who brings Simon to justice. Sooner or later, he will regret he didn’t make this decision, and I took care of it for him. This is his opportunity to prove he’s a good man who can make hard choices.”

She refused to let Zach ride into town like he hadn’t been chasing his brother all these weeks. No, Zach was going to make the life altering decision about his brother. Either he chose to put Simon behind bars and be the honorable man she loved, or Zach took him to Mexico and gave up being a lawman and Meg.

“Hogwash,” Ruby replied.

“Who cares,” Annabelle said. “Who cares who brings him in, as long as we’re paid our money?”

Oh, how could she show them it wasn’t the money? It was the principle. If Zach didn’t make this choice, he would forever have doubts about his own integrity, and he would come to resent Meg for being the one who took the judgment from his hands.

While they probably could never recover from this event, she loved him enough to show him she believed he was a law-abiding man who would do what was right.

“I care,” Meg said. “I’ve just made this very easy for Zach. He needs to be the one to decide the fate of his brother. Not me. Not you. Zach.”

“But we’re close to Dyersville. He can get Simon there,” Ruby said.

“No. I’m taking Simon back to Zach, and I’m going alone. You girls go home, and I’ll meet you there,” Meg said, knowing she’d never make it to Dyersville before dark, weary of the trail and of having to see Zach yet again. She wanted this over. It was time for this chase to end, and there was only one way it could have a satisfactory ending.

“No, we do this together,” Ruby said. “We worry about you when you’re alone.”

“I understand, but I have to do this on my own. I have to return Simon and give him back to his brother. Then I’ll come home.”

“Damn it, Meg,” Ruby said. “We’ve worked hard for this bounty.”

“I’m sorry, Ruby, but unless I do this, I’ll never know for certain what kind of man Zach Gillespie really is.”

Annabelle, who had been quiet the entire time, rode her horse over close to Meg. She reached out, leaned across her horse, and gave Meg a hug. “I understand. You do what you have to Meg. I’ll make certain Ruby gets home.”