Brody (25 page)

Brody nodded tightly. “Let’s go.”

They all led their horses into the woods, keeping their noise to a minimum. The soft bed of leaves and pine muffled the horses’ hooves and their boots.

“He has a tavern about two hours into Mexico. Small town, barely a dot on the map. But he owns it. He talks and they jump. Including his sister, who he whores out.” The memory of Elena’s attempted seduction made him frown. “Tried it with us, but it didn’t work. We convinced him we wanted to buy some merchandise, so he took us to his mother.”

“What? His mother?” Nicholas’s eyes widened and he stumbled on a tree root.

Brody caught his arm to steady him. “She’s the coldest bitch I’ve ever met and I don’t wonder where Rodrigo gets it from. We rode to her whorehouse in a bigger town. We tried to get her to buy the merchandise—”

“Wait, what merchandise?” Caleb frowned. “I thought you were looking for Benjy?”

Brody met Matt’s sad gaze and realized the younger Graham boys were not quite men yet. “He was the merchandise.”

Nicholas and Caleb’s faces were ashen at that bit of information, but they kept on walking.

“We tried to make a deal with her, but she got suspicious, put us in a root cellar tied up.” Brody had flashes of the root cellar and what had happened in the darkness—holding Olivia, kissing her, pleasuring her. He had to physically shake his head to stop the memories from overwhelming him.

“Then what happened?” Nicholas urged.

“We lured one of his men downstairs and killed him.” Brody couldn’t snatch the words back, but he sure as hell wanted to.

“Who killed him?”

“Olivia.”

“You turned my sister into a murderer?”

Brody held up his hand to stop the questions. “He was going to kill us. We survived.”

The Grahams all nodded, thank God.

“How did you get away?” Matt’s gaze probed his. “You must have been watched.”

“Rodrigo’s sister, Elena, helped us. She did everything he said, but then she helped us. After we managed to get away, I thought Rodrigo wouldn’t bother to chase us down.” His words trailed off as he noted the horsehair stuck in the bark of a nearby tree and the broken leaves. The trail was easy to follow, almost too easy. Rodrigo wasn’t that stupid.

“He’s leading us somewhere. Setting a trap more than likely.” Brody stopped and listened. The only sounds around them were the normal birds, squirrels and drone of insects. Wherever he was, the outlaw wasn’t in the woods any longer.

A terrible realization hit him and he stopped in his tracks. Elena hadn’t bucked her brother’s authority when she’d led them out of Lucinda’s house.
He had told her to
.

“She let us go on purpose so they could follow us. Probably didn’t want his mama to know. Son of a bitch. It was a trap. A goddamn trap.” He wanted to punch himself for being dumb enough to fall for it. They had led Rodrigo and his army right to the Grahams’ doorstep.

After the terrible tragedy they had already suffered, now there was more to be had. Now that Rodrigo knew where the Grahams lived, he could pick them off one by one.

“Fucking bastard.” Brody punched the tree hard enough to draw blood.

“What do we do?” Matt was finally looking to Brody for his lead, an expression of confusion and fear on his face.

Brody stared at each Graham brother in turn. “We kill him and save Olivia.”

It was a moment when they could have all backed away, but none of them did. He saw young Nicholas swallow hard, but the boy held firm, his sixteen-year-old shoulders straight as an arrow. Brody gave them a lot of respect for their decision—they were ranchers, not men of the law. He knew Matt and Caleb had fought in the war, but this was much more personal.

It was family.

“The trail heads northwest, and I’m guessing it leads somewhere on the other side of these woods. He’s probably positioned himself and a few men there to pick us off like ducks in a pond.” Brody pulled out his pistol and checked to be sure it was loaded.

“What kind of pistol is that?” Nicholas stared at the weapon.

“It’s a Colt pistol. Friend of mine just patented it and gave me one.” He pointed to the cylinder. “This is a revolving cylinder that spins to the next bullet after you fire.”

Nicholas whistled. “That’s a nice gun, Mr. Armstrong.”

Brody told himself he would gift the gun to the boy if they all survived. “I’m hoping one of you knows your way around here so we can circle the other way and surprise them.”

“I do,” Caleb volunteered. “I was sneaking off to see a girl last year and her house isn’t far from here.”

Matt’s brows went up, but he didn’t say anything. It wasn’t the time.

“Good. We’re going to have to leave the horses at least half a mile from wherever he’s waiting to ambush us. Otherwise, he’ll hear us coming. How far do these woods go?” Brody pulled his rifle from its scabbard and checked it too. It wouldn’t be as handy as the pistol, but he would get at least one more shot with it.

“About five miles, then there is a creek, about fifty yards wide, then there’s more woods on the other side of it.” Caleb glanced around at them. “Are we going to die?”

It was a question all of them were probably asking themselves but only Caleb had the balls to ask it.

“I don’t know, but if we do nothing, Olivia will die.” It was a bald but true statement. “You three can go back home if you want. I won’t force you to put yourselves in harm’s way. I’m going after her.”

“Me too.”

“I’m not going home.”

“I’m staying too.”

Brody nodded at each of them. “I don’t know how many men he’ll have, but I’m sure he already knows how many you had at the house. He’s probably expecting all of you, including your ranch hands and me. If he thinks we have six men, then he’ll have seven, or give himself enough of an advantage to kill us all so he can take what he wants from your ranch.”

“Like the girls?” Nicholas’s frown looked so much like Matt’s, Brody had to bite back a snort.

“Yes, the girls, the horses, the cattle, the furniture, everything. He will take what he wants and leave the rest to rot or burn. I know what he is. He’s a locust, a man driven to conquer everything and everyone.” Brody hadn’t realized, however, to what lengths Rodrigo would go to win. Although he should have, considering the outlaw used his own sister as a whore.

“Then we kill him.” Matt had always struck him as a good man, but right about then he appeared more like an avenging angel of death. His grimace bared a few teeth and his eyes were burning with retribution.

It was time.

“We head back out of the woods and circle around. Have your hand on your weapon at all times and be ready to use it.” Brody turned his gelding around and the Grahams followed suit.

As they walked back out of the woods single file, Brody had the feeling they were heading into the most important battle of their lives. Someone was going to die that day. If it was him, he would accept it as long as he knew Olivia survived.

Nothing mattered but her. Nothing.

C
HAPTER
T
HIRTEEN

O
livia’s head throbbed from hanging upside down for too long. She decided against mentioning it to Rodrigo since his fingers were digging into her back again. She could hear several horses and knew Elena had not been alone.

She had been more angry than anything when Rodrigo had taken her. Then when Elena had appeared, along with the others, fear crept up her spine. Why were there so many of them? What did they want with her?

Logic told her Rodrigo had decided to take over Jeb’s business for himself and eliminate the middleman. That meant he had followed them back to Texas, and possibly arranged for them to escape from Lucinda’s root cellar. If that was true, then she and Brody were still playing the outlaw’s game.

She didn’t want to be a pawn for Rodrigo, or for anyone. Her frustration grew at the thought that she had no control over what would happen to her. The idea of being tied up and at a man’s mercy made her ire rise.

The horse walked through water, splashing cold water on her face. She twisted her head to avoid it, but it got in her eyes and nose and she started to cough. By the time they reached the other side, she was having trouble pulling in a breath.

In a split second, she was torn from the horse and thrown to the ground. She hit the dirt hard and stars exploded in her head. Olivia rolled over, pressing her face into the cool grass, desperate for air. Her throat was tight, so tight no air could pass.

Someone slapped her back and she was finally able to suck in a breath. The next slap was to the side of her head. Dirt and pebbles filled her mouth. As she spat them out, a third slap landed right on her ear.

“Puta.”
Elena sounded different, wild and harsh. “Stop being so stupid and pretending to choke.”

“I wasn’t pretending.” Olivia’s ear rang from the blow while the pain in her pounding head grew.

“Una mentira.”

“I don’t lie, you bitch.” Olivia had no idea what possessed her to snarl, but it felt damn good to do it. “Don’t you dare fucking hit me again.” The curses tasted like hot candy in her mouth, a perfect side dish to her fury over how she was being treated.

Rodrigo chuckled. “She does not like to be hit,
hermana
.”

“Puta.”
Elena spat on the ground beside Olivia.

Looking up through her hair at the other woman, Olivia was not entirely surprised to see the snarling visage of a mad woman. Rodrigo was dangerous but his was a cool, calculating manner. His sister was a different story.

“Why do you keep calling me whore?” Olivia decided to keep pushing and poking at Elena. Perhaps she could get the woman to lose control, and change the odds in Olivia’s favor. “You’re the one who whored yourself to me and to my man. Didn’t I see you on your knees because your brother told you to?”

Elena lunged at Olivia with her fingers curved into claws, but her brother snatched her by the waist.

“No, you will not kill her. We need her.” Rodrigo’s voice was hard as granite and it had the desired effect on Elena. She seemed to shake off the fury that had driven her to slap Olivia. However, she wasn’t done yet.

She kicked Olivia in the stomach, driving out the breath she’d just been able to suck in.

“Matarlo, puta.”
Elena’s threat was deadlier than Rodrigo’s. There was true venom in her voice. She intended to kill Olivia.

If she were smart, Olivia would be afraid of the enraged woman. However, her brain told her to be strong, and her heart told her to not give in. A Graham
never
gave in.

“Try it and I promise you I won’t be the one dead,
puta
.” Olivia bared her teeth and was pleased to see Elena blink hard.

“Enough playing,
chicas
. We need to move behind these trees.” Rodrigo pulled Olivia to her feet. He grinned at her, a darkly amused expression on his face. “I may decide to keep you after all,
querida
. You have fire.”

Olivia drew on every bit of her fury and spit in his face. The amused look vanished, replaced by cold hatred. He backhanded her across the cheek with a snap of his wrist. Blood filled her mouth and she felt a loose tooth, along with pain. She spat again; this time blood coated his face too.

Despite the throbbing in her face, she stood tall with her back straight and her pride intact. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the woods. Olivia tried to bite his hand or arm but couldn’t reach.

The small rocks littering the bank of the creek scraped her legs and knees raw. The leaves and pine needles offered some relief but stung the already open wounds. In another moment, her hair would rip out by its roots. She’d been beaten, slapped and kicked, but the pain from her hair brought tears to her eyes.

Rodrigo let her go as soon as they reached deeper cover behind the trees. She lay there for a few moments, trying to block the pain but only succeeding in breathing. It was enough to give her the strength to sit up.

She glanced around and couldn’t help the gasp of surprise that flew from her mouth. Rodrigo didn’t just have Elena with him. A group of men stood by, heavily armed, all of them hidden from view from anyone in the creek or on the opposite bank.

It would be a slaughter.

“Who do you think is coming after me? Brody is, ah, gone. He left hours ago. I wasn’t enough for him.” Real emotion filled her voice and her throat tightened. “No one else will follow. I was just staying the night in the barn at that ranch.”

Rodrigo shook his head. “Now that is
una mentira
. You lie,
querida
.” He squatted down and cupped the same cheek he had backhanded. “I knew who you were the second I saw you. Your eyes told the story I needed to know. That boy with your eyes was a
diablo
too. He had a big mouth and he kicked anyone who got near him. I sold him to a rancher who would teach him manners.”

True horror blossomed inside her at the realization that he’d known she was Benjy’s sister all along. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“That is your family at that ranch. I see things, I hear things, I know things. No more lies, eh? You are a brave woman, Olivia, but it is time to stop playing games.” Rodrigo’s accent disappeared again and she saw the real man reflected in his eyes. He was emotionless, conniving and calculating.

She realized it was the second time he’d called her Olivia. He knew her name. He knew where Benjy was. He knew her family. He was going to kill her and them.

Hopelessness shredded through her and she struggled to keep that brave face so he wouldn’t know how badly he’d wounded her.

“What do you want from me?” she whispered.

Rodrigo smiled. “That’s better. I want you to be a pretty target for the men following us. They crashed through the woods like cattle after you. I heard them a mile away. When they get here, you will lure them over so I can kill them.” He tapped the barrel of the pistol against her nose. “If you don’t, I kill you first and then them.”