Comanche Heart (48 page)

She swallowed again. Until now she had been as unobtrusive as possible, terrified to call attention to herself. But if Swift was out there, she couldn’t just lie here doing nothing.

“Why—” Her voice cracked. She licked her lips. What if the sound she had heard was just an owl? What if Swift was still back in Wolf’s Landing? What if—She shoved the thoughts away and focused on the opposite. What if Swift was out there? Sly Gabriel might spy him creeping toward the mine shack and kill him. “Wh-why are you doing this?”

“Doin’ what?” Sly turned his head from the window to peer at her. “Havin’ a smoke?”

“N-no. Wh-why did you kill Abe Crenton?”

“We didn’t like his looks.”

He turned back to the window. Amy’s pulse quickened. “No, seriously. I’d really like to know. What purpose did killing him serve?”

“None. That’s why we ended up having to take you.”

He obviously wasn’t going to talk, not unless she spurred him into it. Amy stared at his hulking shape. “Ah, so your plan fell apart?”

He turned to look at her again. “Only because you’re a lyin’ bitch. Lopez wasn’t with you all night last night.”

“How can you know where he was?”

“We were watchin’ him, that’s how.” He leaned his hips against the windowsill, completely turning his back on the window. “He left your place about two. We waited until after he left to kill Crenton.”

“So he wouldn’t have an alibi for the time of death.” Amy felt some genuine curiosity stirring. “You wanted him to hang, that’s clear. But why? If you wanted him dead so badly, surely you could have thought of a dozen more expedient ways to accomplish it.”

He laughed softly. “Exped—what?”

“Expedient . . . faster ways.”

He shrugged. “Fast ain’t always healthy.”

“I’m afraid you’ve lost me again.”

“We saw a way to kill him legal. Bein’s we’re strangers to these parts, it was a darned sight safer than doin’ it ourselves. Especially since Lopez went righteous on us and quit wearin’ his guns.”

“I’d think being strangers would have served you well. No one knew who you really were. As for him not wearing his guns, I’d think that would make it easier, not more difficult.”

A breath of laughter escaped him, the inference being that she was incredibly stupid. “Sure, if we wanted to gun down an unarmed man and have every lawman in the place after us. There ain’t many roads outa here. If the law took after us—” He took a drag off his cigarette and flicked ashes, which flared orange en route to the floor. “Well, you get the idea. I’d hang just as dead whether they knew my real name or not. We don’t know these mountains good enough to strike off through uncharted territory to avoid the roads.”

It was beginning to make sense to Amy. She slid a glance toward the window. “So you decided to kill Crenton, make it look as if Swift did it, and let him hang for it.”

“Lopez threatened to slit the man’s throat in front of a dozen witnesses. It was too good to pass up. All we had to do was carry through on his threat. Me and Billy Bo have taken our share of scalps, so we do a clean job. A few years back, the army paid good for Injun hair.”

Amy’s stomach knotted. Injun hair. Human life meant nothing to him. Her throat felt dry. She swallowed the nausea down. “One more question, just to satisfy my curiosity. Why do you want Mr. Lopez dead?”

“He gunned down my brother Chink.”

“Why?”

“Over a woman.” He laughed again. “A yellow-hair, like you. The man’s got a thing for blondes, don’t he?”

For just an instant, a pang of jealousy cut through Amy. Then she swept it aside. She could never doubt Swift’s love for her. If he had killed Chink Gabriel over a woman, he must have had reasons other than the obvious.

“I’d say your brother must have liked blondes, too,” she came back softly.

“It didn’t matter to him what color their hair was,” Sly snarled. “He was just havin’ some fun. And Lopez killed him over it.”

The hatred in Sly Gabriel’s voice chilled Amy. She wondered if his brother Chink’s idea of having fun with a woman had been anything like Billy Bo’s.

Chapter 25

IT SEEMED TO AMY THAT SEVERAL MORE HOURS had dragged by since Sly Gabriel had ended their conversation and returned his attention to the window. She knew that much time couldn’t have elapsed. Sly had instructed Poke to report back to him within five minutes, and Poke still hadn’t returned. If even one hour had gone by, Sly would be getting antsy by now, wondering what was amiss.

As if he read her thoughts, Sly pulled his watch from his pocket and checked the time. He swore and turned back to the window. “That goddamn Lopez is out there, Billy Bo,” he hissed to his brother. “I think he’s tryin’ to pick us off one by one.”

“How in hell you know that?” Amy heard Billy Bo shuffling from the shadows. “I ain’t seen nothin’.”

Sly drew his gun and rechecked the ammunition, which told Amy how nervous he was. He had already checked the weapon once. “Rodriguez never came in to change the watch. Now Poke hasn’t come back.” His voice trembled slightly. “The son of a bitch is out there. I feel it in my guts.”

Billy Bo pressed closer to the window and peered out. “What we gonna do?”

“Well, we ain’t gonna sit in here and wait to get our throats slit, I can tell ya that. Grab the woman!”

Billy Bo turned toward Amy. “What’re we gonna do with her?”

“We’ll use her to force him into the open,” Sly replied. “Lopez’ll show himself if we start carvin’ on her a little.”

An icy cold pooled in Amy’s belly. Billy Bo approached and grabbed her bound wrists to jerk her to her feet. Her arms twisted upward behind her back. Pain knifed through her shoulders. She gasped and staggered against him. Heaving up on her wrists again, he sent her reeling toward the door. Amy clenched her teeth to keep from screaming.

Sly threw the door wide. Billy Bo steered Amy out into the yard. Releasing his hold on her wrists, he snaked an arm around her waist, jerking her back against him.

Using Amy and his brother as a shield, Sly Gabriel came up from behind. “Lopez! Hey, Lopez, we know y’re out there!” Sly roared. “Take a nice long look at yer lady, amigo. Here in a minute, she won’t have a nose.” He pressed in closer to Billy Bo. “If that don’t bring you out, next he’ll slice off her ears.”

As if to demonstrate his willingness to start cutting, Billy Bo pulled his knife and pressed the sharp side of the blade against Amy’s upper lip. She swallowed down a whimper. A single sound from her might make Swift do something rash.

“I’m gonna count to ten, Lopez,” Sly called. “If you aren’t in plain sight by the time I finish, we start carvin’.”

Fernandez whispered down from the roof. “Want me to take him out, boss?”

“You think y’re up there for a nap?” Sly retorted in a low voice.

Amy scanned the clearing. Moonlight bathed the immediate area in front of the shack, but when she tried to see farther into the shadows, her night blindness hindered her. Was Swift out there? Did he realize Fernandez was lying on the roof, ready to pick him off? Oh, God. She rolled her eyes downward to stare at the knife under her nose. If she screamed a warning, Billy Bo would probably flinch and cut her.

A horrible quivering seized her. She imagined Swift stepping out into the moonlight . . . imagined him getting shot. A scar on her face was nothing if it meant he might live. She braced herself, inhaled slowly, and then screamed, “There’s a man on the roof!”

Billy Bo did flinch. Luckily, when he jerked, the knife dropped a fraction, rather than slicing upward.

“Goddamn it, Billy Bo, shut her up,” Sly cried.

Billy Bo swore and clamped his hand over her mouth, grinding the knife handle against her lips. Amy’s legs nearly folded. She closed her eyes on a wave of relief, praying Swift had heard her.

As if in answer to her prayer, a wonderfully familiar, silken voice came from out of the darkness. “Let her go, Gabriel. It’s me you want, not the woman. I’m wearing my guns. You’ll get your gunfight, so you can call it self-defense. So do the decent thing and get her out of there.”

Amy stared into the darkness beyond the clearing, her heart slamming. Swift. She wanted to run to him. Every muscle in her body strained against Billy Bo’s hold.

“Show yerself,” Sly ordered.

“Not until you get the woman out of harm’s way.”

“So you can pick us off? How dumb do ya think we are, Lopez? Show yerself right now, or she dies.”

A shadow moved. Amy tried to twist her mouth free of Billy Bo’s hand. He clamped down all the harder. She knew Swift’s chances would be decreased if she remained in his line of fire. He’d have to pick and choose his targets, which would slow him down. Even if he shot Sly and Fernandez, he wouldn’t risk aiming at Billy Bo for fear of hitting her. Billy Bo would undoubtedly take advantage and reward Swift with a bullet.

The knife blade pressed against her cheek. She knew Billy Bo would slit her throat with little provocation. Her life or Swift’s? Without him she wouldn’t have much of a life, anyway. She shifted her weight to one foot. Then, before Billy Bo could guess her intent, she knifed up with her knee and dug the heel of her shoe into his shin, shoving downward with all her might.

Taken by surprise, he jerked back a little and howled with pain. The instant he moved, Amy took advantage of the marginal space between their bodies and made a wild grab. She found her mark and clenched her hands into fists. Billy Bo shrieked. Amy fully expected him to kill her. She was taken totally by surprise when he let go of her completely and grappled for her hands, trying to free himself.

Total confusion erupted. Sly cursed. Billy Bo made a gargling sound and cried, “She’s got me by my bullets! Get her off me! She’s got me by my bullets!”

The hiss of an arrow penetrated the darkness. Almost simultaneously, Fernandez grunted and came sliding down the roof to fall in a lifeless heap behind them. The impact of his body startled Sly. In all the confusion, it took Amy a moment to realize that Billy Bo had released her.

“Amy, drop to the ground!” Swift yelled.

Swift’s words penetrated Amy’s terror. She released her screeching victim and threw herself headlong into the dirt. Gasping to recapture the air she had knocked out of herself, she looked up to see Swift step into the moonlight. Dressed all in black, with the guns gleaming like silver death on his hips, he looked like Lucifer himself. His six-shooter flashed. Orange fire spurted into the night. An explosion of noise rent the air above her. Bodies thudded onto the ground. Then silence fell, an eerie, unnatural silence.

His hand still poised to fan the hammer spur of his weapon, Swift took three running steps, ducked into a crouch, and spun to check the clearing around them. Amy had never seen anyone move with such speed or precision. Seemingly satisfied that no one lurked in the surrounding brush, he closed the remaining distance between them.

“Amy, are there any others?”

Dazed by how quickly everything had happened, she gulped, still trying to get her breath. “No, I don’t think so. F-five, there were five.”

Swift holstered his gun and knelt on one knee to untie her hands and gather her into his arms. He was shaking violently. “Are you all right? Did they hurt you? Amy, are you all right?”

Never had anyone felt so good. Amy wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. “I’m fine. Are you? Oh, Swift, I was so afraid they’d kill you!”

He tightened his hold on her and buried his face in the curve of her neck. For several moments they clung to one another. Then Hunter and Marshal Hilton emerged from the darkness.

“She okay?” Hilton barked.

“Yes, I think so.” Swift glanced up at Hunter. “You took out Fernandez?”

Hunter smiled. “He was hard to miss lying up there on the roof. Are you sure Amy’s all right?”

A quivery breath rushed up from Swift’s chest. Though still shaking, he gave a low laugh. “She’s fine. Finer than fine. She’s glorious.”

Hilton walked around them to survey the dead men. He turned back to look at Swift, scratching his head. “I’ve never seen shootin’ like that in my whole life, Lopez. You’re something to envy when you’re handling those guns.”

Swift tensed. Amy felt the change and pulled back to look up at him. A bleak expression hooded his face. He glanced toward the Gabriel brothers and swallowed. “Believe me, Marshal, being fast with a gun is nothing to envy. Every quick draw for a thousand miles will be paying me calls when the word gets out.”

Amy’s feeling of deliverance shattered. Swift had come two thousand miles to escape his reputation as a gunslinger. Tonight his past had caught up with him. His plan of making a home in Wolf’s Landing and living peaceably there might now be an impossible dream.

Amy threw a frightened glance at the bodies behind her. The comancheros had exacted their revenge after all.

“Don’t,” Swift whispered. He cupped his palm to her cheek and forced her head back around. “Don’t look, Amy, love. You’ve seen enough ugliness to last you a lifetime.”

Amy nodded and pressed her forehead to his shoulder.

“I think I’d better get you home,” he added.

Amy offered no resistance when he rose and scooped her into his arms. She drew little comfort from his closeness and warmth. One thought monopolized her mind. Swift was going to be forced to leave Wolf’s Landing, and she had a dreadful premonition that he didn’t intend to take her with him.

 

Hunter and Marshal Hilton parted company with Swift and Amy when they reached Wolf’s Landing. Hunter and Hilton went on into town to recruit volunteers so they might return to the mine shack for the five outlaws’ bodies. Swift made his excuses, saying that he wanted to remain with Amy to “get her settled in.”

Ignoring her protests, Swift carried Amy from his horse to the house, ensconcing her on the sofa while he lit the lantern and built fires in the fireplace and stove. When he finished with that, he put on a pot of coffee. While that was heating, he returned to the sofa and checked her over for injuries. His concern in no way bolstered Amy’s mood. She knew Swift too well to ignore the look in his eyes. He was searching for a way to tell her he had to leave.