Stained Snow (18 page)

“Will, it’s fine.”

“No, it’s not,” he said, grabbing for her. He pulled her against him, the closeness soothing something in him.

She murmured to him, words he couldn’t quite understand. She jerked back suddenly and looked down at him. “You’re hurt, Will. Come up to the house.”

He shook his head. “He wasn’t up there. I have to go after him.”

George put a hand on his shoulder. “You need to take care of yourself first, Will. Those wounds aren’t bad, but they’ll get that way if you don’t care for them.”

George was right, but he needed to get after Thomas. “Fine. Then, I’m leaving.”

He let Maggie lead him up to the house. She sat him down at the table while she went to boil some water and gather some supplies. While she did that, George turned to him. “Do you know who it was?” His hand shook as he reached up to scratch at his cheek.

“He only seemed interested in shooting at me. Pretty sure it was my brother.” He looked up at George again. “His name’s Thomas Jensen.”

Maggie gasped, and he turned to her as all the color drained from her face. He swung his gaze back to George. His face was set and cold. “You’ve heard of him?”

George’s gaze swept past him to Maggie. “We know him.” His gaze came back to William. “He stayed here for several weeks last year. In fact, it’s been nearly a year since he rode off. Why would he be back?”

Maggie shook her head. “He came back once. When you were away at the round up. Something seemed wrong. He said someone would be coming after him, they were trying to hurt him. He couldn’t stay long.” Her gaze came up to William. “He had scratches here,” she said, pointing to her chest. “He was missing his belt. He called me Anna.” Tears slid down her cheeks. “Will, I didn’t know. You said your last name was Bailey.”

William couldn’t even think straight. His brother had been here before. Had been with Maggie. “Bailey’s my stepfather’s last name.” It was the only thing he could latch onto. “I didn’t know if you’d be friendly to him. I’d already run into enough of his friends.”

“I was never friendly with that man,” George growled.

Maggie finally came to him. “He scared me when he was here the last time. He said you had taken everything from him. That you kept going after him.”

William shook his head. “I wanted to live my life. He took that away from me.”

“I’m so sorry, Will.” She dropped to the floor in front of him. “I had no idea.”

His fingers trembled, but he reached out and touched them to her cheek. He hissed as George set a wet cloth over his shoulder.

“Gotta get these cleaned, son, or he might achieve killing you this time.”

Maggie let out a sob, but William nodded. “I need to find him. I can’t let him get away this time.”

“Of course you do. Let’s get you fixed up first.”

#

William rode back into the yard as dark gathered. He’d gone back to where he’d found the shells and followed his brother’s trail from there. He’d lost it at the river. It had been headed back for town until then. He’d briefly considered riding in and seeing if anybody had seen him. The last thing he wanted was to be shot yet again today. He didn’t want to leave George and Maggie on the ranch alone for too long either.

That was a pretty stupid thought. They’d been there alone much of the time long before he came along. They could have just as easily been killed today even with him there.

Because of him.

It only made it clearer he needed to be riding on. He’d brought this trouble on to them. He’d take it with him when he left.

Maggie stepped out onto the porch as he rode up to the house. He wanted to make sure they were all right before he took care of his horse. He had only put one foot on the step when someone else stepped out behind her. It wasn’t George. Not Thomas either, he realized after a moment of panic before his face came into the light. Adam.

“What are you doing here?” His voice sounded rough with still fading panic.

Now George did step out onto the porch. “He rode in shortly after you left, Will. He didn’t see anyone out on the trail.”

The muscles in William’s arms and back went rigid. Adam hadn’t seen anybody. Because there hadn’t been anyone else out there? William didn’t want to believe it. Adam and him had become something close to friends when they’d worked together. He didn’t want to think Adam could have done this. “Where were you earlier?”

“I left the camp after lunch. If I had left earlier, maybe this wouldn’t have even happened.”

“We didn’t know it was happening until the first shot.”

“Then, maybe we would have been able to take him down before he got away. I take it you didn’t find him.”

William shook his head. “I should have left earlier.”

“You needed those wounds looked at first, Will,” George said.

William’s gaze swung to him. “I didn’t mean today.” He forced himself to ignore Maggie’s pained cry and kept his eyes on George.

“If it was Thomas, he shot at me. If I had already left, he wouldn’t have shot up your place. None of this would have happened.”

He shot a look at Adam. He still wasn’t sure he could trust him. No sign the other man tried to shoot him. If he had come from the line shack, that was the wrong direction. The trail he’d been following never swung back this way.

He had to trust him if he had to leave George and Maggie here alone. He didn’t see any other choice. “Can I speak with you?” he asked Adam.

“Not if you think I’m responsible for this.”

“I never said that,” William said through gritted teeth.

“You didn’t have to.”

“Please, Adam.” The other man’s shoulders relaxed and he stepped around Maggie, following William off the porch. “I don’t think you did this,” he said when they reached the corner of the house. He wasn’t sure he hadn’t either, but that wasn’t the point. “I need to ride out in the morning. It’s too late now, or I’d do it tonight.”

“Do you think that’s the best thing?”

William shook his head. “It’s the right thing. I have to find him and stop this before anyone else is hurt.”

“I can do that. What about your wounds? George said you were shot again.”

“They’re nothing. Just scratches.” Which pained him, but he’d deal with it. “You can’t do this. It has to be me.”

“Why does it have to be you, Will? Because you have to be the big hero?”

“Because he’s my brother, damn it,” he shouted.

Adam took a step back. “He’s…your brother?”

“I didn’t even know he’d been around here until today.”

“Your brother?” Adam glanced back toward Maggie.

“I know what he was to her. He used her, like he uses everybody. I’m not going to let him hurt her again.” He glanced away. “I’m not going to hurt her.”

“That’s what you’ll do when you ride away.”

William brought his gaze back up to Adam. “I guess it will be good you’re here to pick up the pieces.” He didn’t take time to process the shock running over Adam’s face. “I have to go. I want you to watch out for them. I hope to return, but if I don’t-”

Adam held up a hand to stop him before he finished. “Don’t say that. You’ll come back. Maggie watched out the window and cried until you rode back in here. I don’t know what happened between you two while I was gone, but she cares for you. If you don’t come back for her, you’d better hope you’re dead. Or I will track you down.”

Chapter 21

Barnes Ranch

April 3, 1888

William checked the girth strap on the saddle before straightening and running a hand down the horse’s neck. The bay gelding stretched into his touch then gave his shoulder a nudge when he stopped.

“Just a little while, and we’ll be heading out.” His stomach tightened. He didn’t want to leave Maggie. It needed to be done. He had to stop Thomas.

When he walked back into the house, Maggie put food into a sack. “It won’t see you through a long time,” she said without looking up. “I hope you’ll be back before it runs out.”

William’s chest tightened as a tear hit the top of the table. He moved over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. “I have to do this, Maggie. I have to stop him.”

“Why can’t you stay here with us? He’s probably not going to come back again. He never really cared. That’s why it was always so easy for him to ride away.”

He brushed his lips across her forehead and into her hair. He’d promised George he wouldn’t touch her again. Right now, he couldn’t keep that promise. They both needed this moment.

“You’re mine now, Maggie, so he’s going to want you back. He could never resist taking something that was mine.”

She shivered against him, and he wanted to hold her in his arms. He couldn’t afford to do that. A throat cleared behind him, and he turned his head to where George stood in the doorway. Adam stood silent behind him. “I saw your horse was ready.”

William nodded and stepped away from Maggie. “I need to be going.”

“You don’t, son. You don’t have to protect us.”

He glanced back toward Maggie before looking at George again. “I do. Once Thomas is taken care of, I’ll come back. We can discuss some of those other choices you gave me.”

A twinkle came into the older man’s eyes. “I hope it’ll be a better one this time.”

William couldn’t stop himself from brushing a hand down Maggie’s back. “I’m pretty sure it will be.”

“Good.” He turned to Maggie. “Breakfast ready?”

She nodded and set the sack of food aside before turning to the fire and taking the pan off the stove. William sat at the table and dug into his eggs without a word. He couldn’t stop from looking up at her several times.

He wasn’t even in the saddle yet and leaving was already killing him. There wasn’t anything else to be done. He hoped finding Thomas would be quick, and he’d be capable of riding back here when it was over.

After he’d finished eating, he stood up. “I need to be going.”

Maggie kept her eyes on the table but both George and Adam looked up at him. The younger man’s face appeared as hard set as usual, but something else shone in his dark brown eyes. Some sort of understanding they’d reached the day before. William brushed his hand over the back of Maggie’s neck, and she finally lifted her face to him. He stared down for a moment, and a groan pulled out of his throat. He pressed his lips to hers. She lifted a hand to his face, but he didn’t draw the kiss out. He pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he told her. “If I’m able, I’ll come back to you.”

A choked sob caught in her throat, but she nodded. “Please, Will.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead then straightened as the other two men averted their gazes. He lifted the sack of food from the table and turned away.

“Will.” George stopped him before he reached the door. He glanced back. “Take care of yourself so you can come back.”

William nodded and grabbed his hat from beside the door. He walked out to the barn and stashed the small sack of food into one of his saddlebags. When he led the horse out of the barn, three figures stood on the porch.

He should ride away. Holding off made this harder on all of them. When he swung into the saddle, he turned the horse toward the house instead. He didn’t say a word, just sat there for a moment. The tears running down Maggie’s face were almost too much for him to take.

“As soon as I’m able,” he told her again.

Maggie nodded, and he spun the horse around, kicking it into a lope out of the yard.

#

Pierce, Colorado

May 5, 1888

William reined the horse in as the town came into view. When he’d left Bristol a week ago, Thomas had already been two days ahead of him. He’d looked around a few other towns along this rail line, but no one would say they’d seen him. If Thomas caught the train, he would never find him.

He had to find him.

He scratched a hand over his jaw and winced as his beard scratched his palm. He hadn’t taken time in the last town to get a shave. He needed to before he left again. Then stock up on supplies. He had no idea how long he’d be on his brother’s trail.

It had already been too long.

He rubbed a hand over his shoulder as he urged the horse forward again. The skin where the bullet grazed him puckered into a scar. It didn’t bother him too much unless he moved quickly. The one on his hip though, it still pained him daily. Being in the saddle didn’t help of course. Being on the trail hadn’t given it a chance to heal right.

He pulled his horse up in front of the saloon and swung down from the saddle. He cringed as the landing sent pain through his wounded hip. After a moment, his breath came back, and he pushed away the pain. Still, he moved with a limp as he walked up to the saloon. He’d grab a drink and listen for any news before he went for that shave.

He stepped inside and crossed right to the bar, gesturing to the barkeep. Once he had a beer, he turned, resting back against the bar. The saloon was still fairly quiet. The conversations hadn’t stopped when he came in.