Texas Rose TH2 (49 page)

"Three thousand dollars, Dorset. That's more than I owed in back taxes when you stole my plantation. What are you planning on putting up as collateral?" Tyler tucked the vouchers into his coat pocket.

"The night's not over, Monteigne. You're cheating. I damned well know you are. Nobody's that lucky. We're staying right here until the sheriff catches you at it."

"I'm not lucky, I'm good." Tyler swept up the greenbacks on the table and counted them. "Tom, you're about cleaned out. You sure you want to keep this up? Have you got any more saloons you want to get rid of? How about the livery? My wife's cousins are mighty fond of that stable. Maybe you want to lose that, too?"

"Shut up, fancy boy, and play. We're sitting right here until you start losing or someone puts a hole through your head." Tom grabbed the deck and began shuffling. The livery owner's hands were shaking as he dealt the cards. That wasn't a good sign. Tyler turned and lifted an inquisitive eyebrow at the sheriff. "Do I have to cheat to end this game?"

"The man's right, nobody's that lucky." Powell yelled at the bartender, "Bring us a fresh deck, Fred." He took a seat at the table. "I'll deal." He swept the old cards off the table and broke open the new pack.

Frustrated and fuming, Tyler sat back and accepted the new set of cards thrown his way. Peyton eased in behind him. Tyler didn't want to be accused of cheating, but he had to know what was happening. Feigning nonchalance, he leaned back in his chair to hear what Peyton had to say.

"Evie's gone with that duded-up lawyer out to Harding's place. The boys are still missing," Peyton whispered as if he were talking to the man beside him.

Evie with Hale. Fear boiled up inside Tyler. Hale had Evie's money. He knew it in his bones. He knew this was what it was all about. Hale had Evie's money, and now he had Evie. He had to get out of here.

The cards Powell gave him were worthless. He could discard the entire hand and not lose by it. Not giving any sign that he'd heard a word Peyton said, Tyler shoved a stack of greenbacks into the center of the table. "No more vouchers, Dorset. Put up the Ridge or you're out."

"You can't do this." Dorset looked to the sheriff for confirmation.

The sheriff glanced over his own hand. "I've got a family at home, boy. I'm ready to get out of here. Put up the cash or the collateral." He glanced up at Tom. "That goes for you, too."

The sheriff obviously had a good hand. Another time, Tyler would have been amused. As it was, he didn't care what happened. Hang the Ridge. Hang Dorset and the sheriff and the livery. He wanted out of here.

Without discarding, Tyler matched the bets and called their hands. Glaring at him, Dorset threw in the heavy packet of papers in his coat pocket. With the livery deed already in the pot, Tom folded and sat back to wait the outcome. The sheriff reluctantly parted with a stack of coins and paper and added it to the collection. He wasn't much of a gambling man, Tyler recognized. Whatever cards Powell held, he wouldn't play deep.

Pushing his opponents to the edge, Tyler threw out another stack of coins and raised the ante once again.

Roaring, Dorset predictably came to his feet and went for his gun. 'You're bluffing, you bastard! You can't win every time. Show the damned cards."

Hands grabbed him from behind, removing the gun while Dorset struggled. Tyler merely sat back, tipped his hat back on his head, and waited.

"That's the way the game's played, Dorset. You can't control the cards like you can a military government. Either meet the wager or fold."

"I'm going to kill you!" Dorset shouted, trying to shrug off his apprehenders.

The sheriff threw in his coins. "Meet the wager or fold, Dorset."

Dorset howled. "He's cheating! Can't you see he's cheating? I'll not let him have everything, damn you!"

The sheriff looked at his own cards and shrugged. "I never saw a cheat allow me cards like these. And if you're accusing me of cheating, I'll have you locked up until your veins bleed dust."

Tyler smiled slightly and added the rest of his winnings to the pot. "I'll see your hand, Sheriff. Or do you want to accuse me, too?"

Powell studied him. The pot in the center of the table was rich, too rich for a sheriff's salary. Tyler could read his expression like a book, knew what Powell was thinking. The amount he needed to match Tyler's call would be about as much as he had in his pocket. The sheriff had a good hand, but he was having a hard time coming to grips with a gambler who could be so lucky as to have a hand to beat all the cards on the table without even making a draw. Powell had to decide whether to call Tyler's bluff, and Tyler wasn't even breaking a sweat.

Swearing, the sheriff threw in his hand, too. The crowd around them roared as Tyler swept up his winnings. Tom swallowed another jigger of whiskey and slid under the table. Dorset had to be forcibly restrained as Tyler stood up. "Can I go now, Sheriff?" he asked pleasantly, throwing his cards facedown on the table.

The sheriff reached over and turned the cards up. A deuce, a four, a seven, and two face cards of different suits. Nothing. Cursing, he glared. "You are good, aren't you?"

"Damned good, Sheriff. And I'm keeping a lady waiting. If you'll excuse me?"

Tucking the deed to the Ridge into his coat pocket, Tyler strolled toward the door, aware that half a dozen men were following him out. He ought to have joy and triumph racing through his blood. He felt only fear. He needed to find Evie.

* * *

"Daniel, if you're not careful with that, you'll blow us all to kingdom come," Ben warned as the boy grasped the stick of dynamite in his fist and pounded on the trapdoor with his other hand. They'd sawed through their ropes. Now, they had to get past guards with guns.

"Just keep the lantern ready," Daniel whispered. "Wielding these crutches has given me a damned good throwing arm. If they don't scram, I can throw this thing right into the street. All we've got to do is duck and be ready to run."

As their yells brought the trapdoor open, Ben held up the lantern and Daniel pointed his dynamite at their captors. "Run, or I'll blow you to hell," he threatened.

Daniel had been right. The guards hadn't believed a cripple and nigger could escape. At their captors sneers, Daniel lit the fuse, flung it upward and out as far as he could, and covered his head while Ben leapt to cover the boys.

The sneering guards screamed and ran as the dynamite exploded behind bales of hay. Fire flickered instantly.

"Now you've done it," Ben murmured, reaching for the youngest and throwing him upward to safety.

They scrambled out of the tunnel and hit the floor running.

Coming out of the saloon, Tyler watched in amazement as the livery he had just won shook with a solid boom. Moments later, flames lit the night sky.

Silhouetted against the fire, dark figures dashed from the interior like rats from a sinking ship. Before he could recognize the small shapes of the boys or Daniel's awkward gait, a rumbling began in the earth beneath them.

A hissing followed the rumbling, and smoke began to leak from cracks forming in the street. Tyler recognized Ben, recognized the way the tall man threw himself beneath the overhang of the porch, carrying two small boys with him. With a swift intake of breath, Tyler ran to grab the dark shape struggling to run with a crutch, and jerked him into the protection of the overhang just as the explosion hit.

Fire leapt briefly from the stable door, then sucked inward with a great whoosh from the force of the explosion. The dusty street slowly collapsed straight down the middle.

Uncovering his head, Daniel peered out from beneath Tyler to the cave-in crumbling the clay between the livery and the bank.

"Damn, but I should have known that's where it went!"

Tyler gave the boy an incredulous look, stood up, and shaking his head at the wonders of nature, began running to the little house standing untouched behind the partially demolished livery.

Chapter 38

A coyote howled in the distance, and though the night was warm, Evie shivered and wrapped her mantle around her.

"How soon until we be there?" Nervous, she turned to the man driving the horse at an unseemly pace.

"The Harding ranch covers thousands of acres. And they're surrounded by thousands more of government land. I've been telling them they need to buy that land, but they laugh. There's so much land out here, nobody needs to buy it. But the day is coming when they'll regret it."

That wasn't what she had asked. Evie stared out over the flat prairie. An occasional shrub tree silhouetted against the night sky was the only landmark she could distinguish. She hadn't seen any sign of human habitation for what seemed like miles.

"I don't see how Dorset can have us arrested all the way out here." This was musing aloud more than an attempt to strike up a discussion. Hale hadn't spent much time listening to her.

"You fell into bad company with Tyler Monteigne. I warned you of that earlier. I'll explain it to the judge, and everything will be all right."

He kept telling her that, as if saying the words was a magic incantation that would indeed make everything all right. Evie had some confidence in the power of words, but action usually worked better. She didn't like being separated from friends and family. She wanted to go home.

"I think we ought to go back, Mr. Hale. I don't feel right leaving Tyler to face the judge alone. And I'm worried about the boys. I just don't like running away. It doesn't solve anything. I've made a mistake. Won't you turn around and take me home?"

A muffled explosion in the distance rumbled the ground and made the horse edgy. Evie threw a worried look around the carriage hood but could see nothing untoward.

Hale bit his lip and concentrated on keeping his control over the horse.

She could jump. The carriage had a roof and sides, but it was open in front and had only a low-slung door. But they were moving so fast she feared she would break her leg. And they were so far out in the middle of nowhere, that she wasn't sure she could find her way back. Besides, there was nowhere to hide. And no reason to hide that she knew of, yet.

"Mr. Hale." His silence induced a measure of panic. "We have to go back. Something dreadful is happening. I know it."

A log and frame cabin loomed on the horizon. With the horse under control again, Hale increased the pace. "Miss Howell, I've always had your best interests in mind. We'll be there shortly. Just be patient."

"Why do you keep addressing me as Miss Howell?" Nervously, Evie twisted at her fingers. She wished she had found her gloves before leaving.

Hale gave her an impatient glance. "Because your marriage to Monteigne is not legal. I told you that."

"Everyone else calls me Mrs. Peyton." Now that she had actually produced a response from him, Evie pushed for more.

"Everyone else doesn't know who you are, but I do," Hale replied impatiently. "I don't know why you insist on this charade, but there's no further point in it. It doesn't matter who your father is, but your mother was Elizabeth Howell Harding. That's a matter of some importance in this town."

"She's dead, but my father's not. That's a matter of some importance to me. I want to go home."

The carriage hit a deep rut in the road and creaked ominously. Hale slowed the horse just outside the cabin.

"I'd better check the wheel. I wouldn't want to be stranded out here."

Evie glanced nervously at the house. There weren't any lights. She was certain it was abandoned.

Hale climbed down and inspected the wheels, making clicking noises with his tongue as he did so. She didn't like the sound of that. She liked it even less when he came around to her side and held out his hand to help her down.

"The axle is almost gone. We'd better stop here where there's shelter. It's perfectly safe, I assure you. No one will find you here."

Evie crossed her hands in her lap and stayed where she was. "I'm not going in that house with you, Mr. Hale. It isn't proper. I'll sit right here, if you please."

That didn't seem to annoy him. He merely began unfastening his horse from the carriage. "You're quite correct. It isn't proper. I'll see to it that the situation is remedied when they find us. You must believe me, Miss Howell, I truly have your best interests in mind."