Arizona Embrace (44 page)

“I’m not going,” Chalk screamed. “My wrist needs to be set now.”

“Don’t let that worry you,” Ben advised. “If it sets wrong, it’s easy enough to break it again.”

Chalk screamed when they lifted him into the saddle.

“Well it’s your own fault,” Ben said unsympathetically. “I told you it would be a lot harder if we had to lift you. I don’t like holding on to hairy guys. It feels kinda queer.”

Chalk screamed again when Trinity tied his wrists.

“You have a choice: talk to the judge here and get your wrist set today, or ride back to Bandera and talk to the Judge there. You got about five minutes to decide.”

“You … sucking, mother … son of a bitch,” Chalk swore. “I’ll kill you for this.”

“Not if you don’t get that wrist set,” Ben pointed out. “Probably can’t even hold a gun, much less fire it.”

“How am I going to make a living with this thing?” Chalk demanded. “If I talk, I won’t get any more money.”

Chapter Twenty-three

Trinity wanted to choke the life out of him on the spot. So he had been getting hush money all the time. He had been blackmailing the murderer. Victoria had been condemned to death so this spineless piece of slime could sit back on his ass for the rest of his life.

“Who killed Jeb?” Trinity demanded.

“I told you I don’t know.”

“I think we ought to break the other wrist” Ben said. “Shame to have them mismatched. It offends the eye, not being symmetrical.”

“You’re not scaring me.”

“Tell me who killed Jeb, and we won’t try.”

“I wouldn’t tell you if I knew.”

“We could peel the skin off his stomach,” Ben suggested. “He’s got too much fat there. He’d look a whole lot better if you trimmed off a little bit.”

“You’re crazy,” Chalk groaned.

“Just keep that in mind if you take it in your noggin to change your story,” Ben said. “I always did want to know what it was like to peel a man. The Apache do it all the time. They seem to set great store by it.”

“Could be, but I don’t think it smells too good,” Trinity observed. “I’m told human flesh doesn’t cook up well.”

“Guess that explains why there aren’t too many cannibals about.”

“Jesus God, you two mother … crazy bastards come near me and I’ll scream my head off.”

“I don’t think your friends are too anxious to help out. You been screaming right regular and ain’t nobody showed up yet.”

They mounted up and started down the ravine. The pony’s first steps caused Chalk to lurch in the saddle, which pulled the ropes taut around his wrists. He screamed again.

“Tell me who killed Jeb, and I’ll untie your wrists.”

“I don’t know.”

“You can’t expect us to believe somebody’s been paying you money all these years to keep quiet about a murder and you don’t even know who it is.”

“But it’s true. I never saw who it was. They spoke to me from the shrubbery.”

“Was it anything like Moses and the burning bush?”

“Be quiet, Ben,” Trinity admonished, fighting back a grin.

They told me to get out and never come back if I wanted to stay alive.”

“Was it a man or a woman’s voice?”

“I couldn’t tell. They spoke in a hissing whisper.”

“How’d you get the money?” Ben asked.

“It just started coming.”

“How’d they know where you were?”

“Same way you did, I guess.”

They had emerged from the ravine.

“How much?”

“No particular amount, but about five hundred a year.”

“Why didn’t they kill you instead of paying you off?”

They couldn’t. Not then. That place was crawling with people within seconds.”

“Later then.”

“I don’t know. Maybe they figured if I was found dead, they might believe Victoria’s story!’

“Why didn’t me sheriff look for you? Victoria said you were there.”

“I had already drawn my pay and left. Several of them saw me ride out. I just came back to get something I forgot. Maybe they figured she named me because they wouldn’t be able to find me to disprove what she said.”

That’s the most stupid story I ever heard,” Ben said.

“But stupid enough to be true” Trinity said. The closest judge is thirty miles from here. You swear to tell him everything you’ve just told me, and I’ll see you get to a doctor.”

“But not before you see that judge,” Ben added.

“Suppose they come after me?”

“Head for the Arizona desert,” Ben suggested. “I hear it’s the perfect place for people with a weight problem. Sweat the pounds right off you.”

“I didn’t know you meant to get a stay of execution,” Ben said as they left the judge’s house.

“Neither did I. But when he offered, I realized I might need it. Judge Blazer will be mad as hell.”

“You leaving now?”

“Yes. I’m riding through the night. You coming with me?”

“Not this time. I think I’ll take it a little slow. Been going at a pretty fast pace for me.”

“You thinking about California, too?”

Ben chuckled. “Naw, but I’m thinking about selling up and working for somebody else. I’m tired of having to rustle my own grub. Let the boss pay for it.”

“You know there’s a place for you at the Demon D. Just say the word.”

“How much you paying?”

“Nothing but grub and a place to sleep until I get the place going.”

“Sounds like my kind of pay.”

“If I’m not there, tell Ward to fix you up.” Trinity reached out and grabbed his hand. Thanks, Ben. I owe you one.”

“You owe me two or three, but I’ll settle for having one of the kids named after me.”

Trinity looked so surprised Ben burst out laughing.

“It’s been all over your face ever since I busted in on you two in my cabin. You’re crazy about that woman, and you won’t be right in your head until you marry her. Now get going. I’m sure she don’t like being stuck away at the ranch. A gal that pretty ought to be out and about so ugly fish like me will have something to gawk at.”

“If I’m not at the ranch, I’ll be in Bandera” Trinity called out as he disappeared into the twilight.

“Now let’s see about getting you to a doctor,” Ben said to Chalk. “And let’s hope he ain’t no animal doctor. It’d be a shame if your wrist came out looking like a cow’s hind leg.”

“Victoria!”

The harsh whisper woke Victoria from her sleep.

“Victoria!”

It was coming from the window. Victoria looked up, but it was not yet daybreak. No light came through the window. She sat up and waited a moment until her wits cleared. Then she pulled the bed over to the window and climbed up on it. She looked down into Ward’s upturned face.

Thank God you’re okay,” the old man said. “I was afraid I’d never see you again.”

“How did you find me?”

“I can follow Diablo’s hoofprints anywhere, even in the moonlight. He’s the only horse around here that isn’t shod. I was untied when I came to. You do that?”

Victoria nodded.

“I thought so. Trinity said you were smart.”

Victoria blushed, gratified at the compliment.

“What are you doing here? Who knocked me out?”

“Kirby Blazer.”

“You just hold on. I’ll have you out of there in five minutes.”

“Kirby didn’t bring me here,” Victoria explained. “He and some of his friends tried to kidnap me. I came here myself. Trinity told me to. He said I’d be safe here if anybody found me.”

“He’s going to kill me when he learns what happened.”

“He’d be angry at you for being overpowered by three men?”

“Three boys, more like. Besides, where you’re concerned, he’d be in a rage if I was overpowered by a whole army. Nobody ever overpowered him, and he can’t see how it could happen to anybody unless they was careless. And I was careless. I should have been sleeping in the house.”

“You slept in the barn because you’re a gentleman, and I’ll tell him so.”

“I would appreciate it if you would. I don’t think I want to be the one to break the news to him. I’ve lived a good long life, but there’re a few things I don’t want to have to explain to St. Peter just yet.”

“I’ll be sure to tell him you found me and Diablo within a couple of hours.”

“How’d you get here? I thought for a while you might have tried to ride that crazy horse. I was some relieved when I got here and found he had no saddle. How did he get out? I know I put him in his stall.”

“I rode him bareback. And he goes like the wind. Kirby and his friends had me in a pocket, but Diablo blew right past them.”

“You rode that broomtailed stick of dynamite bareback!” Ward exclaimed in disbelief.

“It was my only chance. One of them saw me run out of the house.”

“He
will
kill me now, and I’ll deserve it.”

“No, he won’t. I’m safe, and I found out Myra is up to something. I don’t know what, but I don’t trust her. And we know Diablo is the fastest horse in Texas.”

“Trinity will claim to know a dozen ways to have found all that out while keeping you safe at the ranch the whole time.”

“Maybe, but after all the trouble he got me into, he has no room to talk about anybody else.”

“I hope you mean to tell him that.”

“I do. Now you get Diablo home. I wouldn’t put it past somebody to try to steal him.”

“Not if they want to live.”

“I really did ride him, and he really is as fast as the wind.”

“I’ll take your word for it,” Ward replied, still skeptical. “But I don’t mean to ride him home to find out for myself. I’d rather be shot by Trinity than chewed to bits by that black devil.”

Victoria woke to the sound of voices raised in anger.

“Open this door immediately. I can’t believe you would keep her in this loathsome, squalid hole without informing me first.”

Victoria could hardly believe her eyes when she saw Myra Blazer sweep into the jail. It was barely sunup, and Myra rarely left her bedroom before ten o’clock. The hapless sheriff followed behind in his undershirt and trousers, his face half covered with shaving cream, mumbling his apologies and insisting none of this was his fault.

“I’d like to know whose fault it could be when a Blazer is wrongfully incarcerated in your jail? Open this door immediately! You poor child. I came the minute I heard you were here.”

The moment the sheriff unlocked the door, Myra pushed him aside and strode majestically into the cell. She enfolded Victoria in her embrace.

Victoria felt awkward. Myra’s slim body and porcelain perfection always made her feel large and ungainly. Myra weighed barely more than a hundred pounds. The Judge said it came from drinking too much coffee and eating too little food. It didn’t matter what it came from; she always made Victoria feel like a clumsy cow.

Victoria smiled to herself at Myra’s insistence she had come as soon as she heard. Myra’s face was perfectly made-up and her hair flawlessly dressed, a process that never took less than an hour.

Victoria fought down a twinge of envy. Trinity might say she was beautiful, but she never felt beautiful when Myra was around. No one else in the world could look that stunning.

And no one dressed like Myra. Who else would wear a rose silk dress fashioned after a Worm original to the Bandera jail? It must have taken her fifteen minutes to get into it. As for the jewels, they staggered the mind. Robbers would do better to kidnap Myra for her diamonds than rob the Bandera bank for its gold.

Myra released Victoria and stepped back so she could look at her.

“I trust you have an explanation for your abominable attire. It is scandalous for a female. It is appalling for a Blazer.”

Victoria felt thoroughly abashed. Myra could always make her feel like the silly little girl her Alabama aunts accused her of being.

“Three boys tried to kidnap me in the middle of the night.”

Myra looked stunned. “Merciful heavens! Not again. Did you see who they were?”

“It was Kirby.”

Myra’s face cleared magically. “The naughty boy. I sent him to bring you to the Tumbling T,” Myra explained. “I couldn’t bear to think of you staying in that run-down place with only an old man for a chaperon.”

“Then why didn’t they come during the daytime?” Victoria demanded. “And why did they knock Ward out and tie him up?”

“Just a foolish boy’s desire to play at being the hero,” Myra said soothingly, “you know, rescue the beautiful princess from danger. All the young men still talk about your abduction from the jail five years ago. They admire this Buc of yours very much.”

Her explanation seemed reasonable. Kirby was still only seventeen or eighteen. “Why were you going to give Trinity money?”

“It couldn’t have been an easy thing to bring you all the way from Arizona. A man should be paid for his work.”