Desperate Hearts (25 page)

Doc Wilson scowled “I don’t pity the man at all. I
am
a little worried about Mitch, though. He’s beside himself with anger and sorrow. That’s not good for him right now.” He walked over to give Emma a better examination for
injuries.

Moments later, someone knocked at the door. “Doc? It’s Len
Gray.”

Doc opened the door and let the man
inside.

“I just rode in and somebody told me something happened to Mitch’s wife.” Len glanced over at the cot. “God Almighty, what
happened?”

“Mitch can explain,” Sarah told him. “He’s gone to get some things he left at Lee Wong’s, and Randy is saddling their horses at the stables. They’re supposed to meet over at Mitch’s place. They’re going after the man who did this to Emma. I would explain more but I don’t understand all of it myself. You should go with them, Len. Doc says he’s worried about Mitch—the mood he’s in and all. He’s awfully worked up, and that’s not good with that fresh head injury. If you go now you can join them before they
leave.”

Len looked at Emma again. “Yeah, I’ll damn well go along.” He made for the door and Emma managed to reach up with one
hand.

“Len,” she said
weakly.

“Emma wants you,” Sarah called out to
him.

Len walked over to the cot, wincing with fury at the sight of Emma’s battered face and
neck.

Emma struggled to speak. “Watch out…for…Mitch.” A tear slipped down the side of her face. “He’s so…angry. He shouldn’t…get into a…fight. He’s not…completely
healed.”

“Oh, I know what Mitch is like, Emma. Don’t you worry about it. I’ll keep him reined in as best I can, but I have to say, after seeing what’s happened to you, it will be hard for even me and Randy to hold him back.” He took her hand. “You just lay real still and get better. I’ll get Mitch back here safe and
sound.”

She squeezed his hand. “Man…they are after…a good hunter…big game…hunting trips…powerful rifle. He might have…that rifle. Warn
Mitch.”

“I will, sweetheart, I will.” Len patted her hand and turned to go
out.

“Be careful…” Sarah told
him.

“Always am.” He put on his hat, stopping near Sarah as he headed out. “When was the last time this old boy paid you a visit, Sarah?”

Sarah grinned. “Too long
ago.”

“Well, now, I reckon I’ll have to fix that when I get back.” He looked her over. “Thanks for everything you’ve done, Sarah—for Emma there, and for Mitch when he was
hurt.”

Sarah shrugged. “Some people deserve help and some don’t.”

He nodded. “That’s a fact.” Len went out and Doc Wilson
grinned.

“Well, now there are
three
vigilantes after that man,” he commented. “He doesn’t have a chance in hell of making it five miles out of
Alder.”

“I sure am sorry, Mitch,” Randy spoke up. “I let you down real bad. I wouldn’t blame you if you found a way to accidentally shoot me while we’re out
here.”

Mitch dismounted and studied the tracks they were following. “You’re too good a man, Randy,” he answered, rising. “I’ve thought of beating you within an inch of your life, but you’re too valuable to the vigilantes to outright shoot you.” He glanced at the young man who sat astride his pinto horse. Randy looked truly worried. “Randy, I’m not serious. I hope you know
that.”

Randy shrugged. “I wasn’t sure. Soon as I saw poor Emma layin’ there all beat up…” He shook his head. “Man, I figured I was done for, and right then I wouldn’t have cared, cuz I never felt so bad in my whole life, and that’s a
fact.”

Mitch took a cheroot from his saddlebag, along with a match. He lit the cheroot and smoked a minute, studying the vast Montana landscape ahead of them. “It’s my fault anyway for not telling you everything you should have been watching for,” he told Randy. He climbed back onto his horse. “He’s headed right through that valley ahead, and at a pretty good clip. He has to wear down pretty soon. That little gun of Emma’s doesn’t blow a big hole in a man, but he’s hurting, I guarantee it, especially if she hit something important. I’m proud of her for managing to do what she did. A wounded man will be a lot easier to
catch.”

Len pushed back his hat, studying the valley and the mountains beyond. “She told me when I seen her at Doc’s that this man we’re after might have a high-powered rifle with him. Said he used to hunt big game with
it.”

Mitch drew on the cheroot. “Yeah, well he’s not used to hunting
men
. Hank down at the stables told Randy he’s riding that black gelding Hank used to enter in races. It’s a good horse, but Radcliffe isn’t used to him. It makes a big difference when you’re riding your own animal. And Radcliffe is a city man. This country will get to him real fast. He doesn’t have a clue as to what a man needs to take along when he’s alone out here, and he likely doesn’t even know for sure which way to go. He’s heading west.” He looked back at Len. “Right into Witch’s
Canyon.”

Len grinned. “Lots of snakes
there.”

“Hell, no man in his right mind goes there,” Randy
added.

“Not unless he’s a greenhorn like Alan Radcliffe, riding an unfamiliar horse and fighting a hole in his gut,” Mitch
added.

Randy nodded. “Ain’t nobody knows Montana like the vigilantes,” he
answered.

“You’re damn right,” Mitch told him, kicking his horse into a gentle trot. “And we don’t have to be in a hurry, because this guy is going to be easy to follow. He doesn’t have all that much of a head start on us. We’ll give him time to lose some more blood, maybe so much that he’s too weak to raise that fancy rifle of his.” He studied the tracks again, then gave Randy a look that made the young man shiver. “Then I might have to reopen the wound and make him bleed a little more,” Mitch
added.

Randy glanced at Len, who just nodded. “Be glad you ain’t the one he’s after,” Len told
him.

“Oh, I am. I surely
am.”

They followed Mitch, all three men riding until it was too dark to keep going. They made it to the mouth of Witch’s Canyon, where they made
camp.

“Our man will hole up in there for the night,” Mitch told them, rolling out his bedroll and using his saddle at the head of it for a pillow. “And when he wakes up in the morning and that sun shines onto the western rim of the canyon, he’ll realize he’s ridden right into a place he can’t ride out of. He’ll wake up to the fact that he has to backtrack right through here to get out of there and find a different trail. If a snake doesn’t get him, and he doesn’t die from that bullet Emma put in him, our dumb sonofabitch of a city man will ride right into our camp.” He stood at the campfire drinking some of the strong coffee Len had made. “Alan Radcliffe might be a powerful man where he comes from, but out here he’s nothing more than a scared little
rabbit.”

Len thought how, in the firelight, Mitch’s eyes looked like the eyes of Satan. “Mitch, Doc said you have to be careful not to get too physical. That wound could still mean you blacking out if that head gets banged around too
much.”

Mitch tossed out what was left of his coffee and stooped down to stretch out on his bedroll. “Oh, I don’t intend to manhandle the man too much. I’ll just open that wound a little, maybe break a rib or two, considering how he broke Emma’s rib—maybe more than
one.”

“That so?” Len
asked.

Mitch put a hand to his head. “He hurt her bad, Len, real
bad.”

“I saw her face and her throat. I’m real sorry about that, Mitch.”

Mitch glanced at Randy. “When you found her, she was just beat up, right?”

“What do you
mean?”

“I mean…all her clothes were on, just like she was still completely dressed when I got to Doc’s office. You didn’t do anything to try to hide something
worse?”

“Something worse?” Randy crouched by the fire to pour his own cup of coffee. “Shit, no, Mitch. If you’re meanin’ what I think you’re meanin’, there wasn’t no sign of somethin’ like that. Besides, the guy is her
uncle
, right? He married her ma, who you said was his brother’s wife. I mean, a guy doesn’t do somethin’ like that to his own
niece.”

Mitch put his hands behind his head and stared at the flickering fire. “Doesn’t
he?”

Everything got quiet for a
moment.

“Jesus,” Randy muttered. “This guy is worse than I
thought.”

“He is,” Mitch answered. “She had damn good reason for running from this guy, and it was more than just to keep him from getting hold of that necklace. She was hardly more than a scared little girl. He’d murdered her mother and then told her he’d accuse her of killing the woman out of jealousy because she wanted him for herself—said he’d accuse her of coming to his bed and trying to seduce him. He threatened her in every way he could to get that necklace from her, but she’d promised her ma that would never happen, so she just took the necklace and ran off, figuring a man like Alan Radcliffe would never dream she’d come to a place like Alder. I don’t know how in God’s name he figured it out, but he did. Once we take care of him, I need to find out if Emma is wanted in New York. I intend to straighten that out for her so she can finally have some peace of
mind.”

Len sighed. “I can’t believe a man would do that to his own brother’s child. He must be pretty
desperate.”

“Yeah, well, Emma said something similar—about him being desperate, I mean. I think his gambling led to maybe losing everything back in New York. She made it sound like he was out here for more than just the necklace and revenge. I have a feeling he’s already running from something. Now he’s got Montana vigilantes on his ass, so he’s done for, one way or
another.”

“All the more reason why you can’t let what he did make you do somethin’ stupid, Mitch—somethin’ that could mean Emma losin’ you all over again. I’ve seen what you do to a man who beats up on a woman, but you think about Emma this time, not your ma and not your need for revenge. Your ma was dead and didn’t need you anymore, so even if avenging her meant you gettin’ hurt bad, it wouldn’t have mattered. This time it
does
matter, to
Emma
. You keep that in mind. This guy is gonna get his due without you havin’ to exert yourself beatin’ him half to death. He ain’t never gonna make it back to New York or out to California or any place else. You damn well know
that.”

Mitch sighed. “Yeah, I expect
so.”

“I’m willin’ to bet there’s a lynch mob formin’ right now back in Alder. A lot of folks are gonna be wantin’ revenge just as much as you, cuz they like that little gal you married,” Len
added.

Mitch smiled sadly. “True.”

“And it’s likely that mob will be so big and so determined that you and me and Randy and all the vigilantes in Montana won’t be able to stop them. Know what I
mean?”

Mitch met Len’s all-knowing eyes. Len Gray was an older, wiser man whose past Mitch knew nothing about but who was hardened and tough and dependable. Mitch knew he was trying to keep his rage in check—not just for Mitch’s sake, but for Emma’s. “I know what you
mean.”

All three men quietly watched the fire. Mitch settled against his saddle. “Emma said something to you before you left, didn’t she?” Mitch asked
Len.

“Just a word or
two.”

“Told you to watch out for
me.”

“Kind
of.”

“You know damn well I don’t need watching out for when I’m after
someone.”

“I know that, you stubborn ass. It ain’t the other guy she’s worried about. It’s
you
gettin’ in your own way. She’s scared cuz of that wound that’s still a bit too fresh to risk getting bashed in the head all over again. She knows you can handle yourself, and I sure as hell do, too. But sometimes you need somebody to slow you down some. I’ll lasso you to a tree if I have to—for
her
—not because I give a damn about you. Got
that?”

Mitch reached behind him and pulled a small flask of whiskey from his saddlebag. He uncorked it and took a swallow. “I got that just fine.” He handed the flask out to Len, who walked over and knelt down to his own bedroll
nearby.

Len reached out and took the whiskey, taking a swig of it and handing it back. Their gazes locked and held in silent understanding. Len nodded as he handed back the
whiskey.

“Me and Randy love her, too,” he told Mitch. “If you hadn’t moved in on her so fast, we sure as hell would have tried, especially young Randy there. He don’t feel like shit about what happened just because he was afraid you’d skin him alive for fallin’ down on the job. He feels like shit cuz Emma is such a fine young lady and he let
her
down, too.”

Randy waved them off and turned his back to Mitch, settling under his
blanket.

Mitch took another swallow of whiskey. “Guess I didn’t think of it that
way.”

“Yeah, well, you just keep yourself healthy for that woman, cuz if somethin’ happens to you, she’ll be somebody
else’s
wife. I don’t think you want
that.”

Mitch grinned, realizing Len Gray was using every sly trick he could think of to keep Mitch from going over the edge. “No, I sure don’t want that,” he answered, putting the cork back in the flask and setting it beside his saddle. “I surely don’t want anybody but me calling that woman his
wife.”

He stared at millions of stars in a black Montana sky, listening to the crackle of the fire as it began burning down to embers. He wondered how one man could know so little about another man and yet be sure without a doubt that he could totally trust that same
man.

“I have a question for you two,” he said before they fell
asleep.

“Ask away,” Randy answered, still turned
away.

“What if I bought some land and started ranching? I’d need some ranch hands to help with all the chores that come with that, help with roundups, guard against cattle thieves, watch out for Indian raids, build fences, and the like. Would you two be interested in something like
that?”

Neither man answered right
away.

“Hell, why not?” Len finally spoke up. “I’ve worked ranches before. There isn’t much I
haven’t
done, and if any man can make it ranchin’, you
can.”

“I expect I don’t have anything better to do,” Randy put in. “Not much difference between ridin’ the range herdin’ cattle and watchin’ out for thieves and Indians as a ranch hand and ridin’ half of Montana lookin’ for troublemakers as a vigilante. I don’t see much difference, and there ain’t nobody I’d rather work for than you, Mitch. You and Len are like…I don’t know…like the pa I never had, I guess. Fact is, the reason I figured you’d beat my ass is because that’s what my pa would have done for failin’ him…and Lord knows he found plenty of ways to accuse me of lettin’ him down so’s he’d have an excuse to whale on
me.”

“The only thing that would make me want to beat the hell out of you is if you tried to make a move on my wife,” Mitch
answered.

“Shoot, Mitch, I ain’t educated, but I ain’t
that
stupid, either,” Randy shot
back.

All three men laughed, and Mitch felt some of his fury ease up. “You know, boys, I’m thinking we won’t go any farther. We’ll get us a good night’s sleep and then we’ll wait right here come morning. We’ll let Mr. Alan Radcliffe come to us instead of us going after him. Maybe he thinks no one is even after him yet. Maybe he’s cocky enough to think he’s gotten away with this, like he got away with everything back in New York. Either way, he’s gonna come right back through here when he figures out he can’t get out of that
canyon.”

“Sounds good to me,” Len
answered.

“I can’t wait,” Randy put
in.

All three men settled in for the night, but Mitch knew he wouldn’t really sleep much. For the rest of his life, he wouldn’t sleep well without Emma lying right next to him. He wanted desperately to be with her tonight, to comfort her in any way he could. The vision of her battered face, her purple ribs—the idea of a man his size pummeling a hundred-pound woman—it all kept slamming at his guts. It wouldn’t be easy taking this calmly the way Len was warning him to do. That hundred-pound woman was his Emma, the very woman he’d promised would never suffer again at the hands of Alan
Radcliffe.

No, he wouldn’t sleep easy
tonight.