The Gambler (10 page)

"Do you always have such interesting relationships with men?" he asked, his lips very close to her ear.

"Get off me."

"And let you think of some new and creative way to cause my death? Not likely, Miss Charming. I've become rather fond of living."

"It wasn't my fault," she whispered, still finding it hard to breathe for the weight of him spread across her back.

"The hanging?" he asked, sounding sarcastically surprised. "No. Of course not. The miners just didn't like the look of me. Decided to string me up on principle alone." He eased off her an inch, allowing a little more air into her lungs. "Happens all the time."

"It wasn't," she said.

"Listen, my charming little murderess," he began, and suddenly she found herself flipped over onto her back, so that she was staring into his eyes. "I don't give a damn if you want me hanged. I don't give a damn what you think of me, because the truth is I probably think even less of you. I want one thing and one thing only."

Despite the lack of pressure on her lungs now, Charm found her air stopped up again. She shifted her gaze frantically to the side. He was much stronger than she. She couldn't fight off his advances. She had no choice now but to shoot him. If only she could reach her pocket.

"Blast it all, woman, don't flatter yourself," he said, seeing the panicked look in her eyes. "I'm not interested in your person. I want to know about Grady." He leaned closer, staring directly into her face. "And I want to know now."

"Well, hell, Joseph," called a voice from behind, "if you'da just told me you had good-byes t' say, I'da never busted into your party back there."

Charm watched as Raven gritted his teeth before twisting about to face the source of the words. It was Clancy Bodine, casually sitting his horse as he watched them with a grin.

"You planning on leading them back to me?" Raven asked, nodding in the direction the impromptu posse had taken.

"Me? 'Course not. We're partners. Wouldn't make no sense to go through the trouble of saving your hide just to turn you in later. Joseph..." The man paused,
tsking
softly. "You got no faith in my good sense."

Raven drew a deep breath. Charm could feel his chest expand.

"It's not like you to lose a good horse like that, Joseph. I'm afraid he's long gone." Clancy
tsked
again. "Looks like you'll have to walk. But the girl... she can ride with me."

Charm hadn't planned her escape. But the man named Clancy had a knife strapped to his waist while her own small weapon lay trapped beneath the weight of her body. The thought of her defenselessness spurred her into panicked action. Jerking her right arm from Raven's grasp, she swung with all her might. Her knuckles rapped hard against his skull.

For just an instant, his body went slack, and in that condensed span of time she scrambled backward on hands and feet. But already he was marshalling his senses.

She felt his hand grab her skirts, and she shrieked in rage and frustration as she tried to wrench free. But the movement foiled her balance, and she fell, still fighting as her back and buttocks hit the ground. Grappling wildly at branches and rocks above her head, she tried to lose her attacker, but he'd found her leg beneath the layers of petticoats and reeled her in.

It was bad enough being caught again, but now her garments were being pressed away as he worked his way up her increasingly bare legs. Charm shrieked and kicked at his face. He ducked, catching her foot and continuing to drag her downward, pushing up gown, petticoats, and drawers.

"Let me go!" she cried, forgetting her anger in her terror. But instead he gave her leg a final yank.

"Not until you tell me..." he said slowly, levering his way up her body, "what you did with..."

She heard his breath catch in his throat. Momentarily forgetting her battle for a weapon, she looked down to see what had startled him. Her leg was bare—except for the knife strapped to her thigh.

She tried to grab it, but he jerked as if drawn from a trance and snatched the knife from the sheath himself. They lay still, breathing hard with the sharp bowie between them. "Are you going to kill me?" she whispered.

He didn't answer, but stared at her, his expression inscrutable. "What else have you got hidden under your skirts?"

She caught her breath, suddenly remembering her worst fear. Frantically she tried to push the gown back over her knees, but before she could, he yanked her garments back into place. "I meant weapons," he explained dryly. "What else have you got?"

"Nothing."

"You lie," he said, and suddenly his hands were everywhere, patting around her person until he'd found and extracted the derringer from her pocket. "You're a deadly little thing. Any other weapons I should know about?"

"No."

"That's what you said last time. Tell me, my charming one, if I searched your bodice, what would I find? A small cannon, or just the usual?"

She cowered, but instead of attacking, he grabbed her wrist and jerked her to her feet.

"Are you ready to go, then, Joseph?" asked Clancy from atop his waiting horse.

"Quiet!" ordered Raven as he hurried her along. "And give me something to bind her hands."

Charm sat immobile upon the rotting log. They'd made a meal from the supplies found in Clancy's saddlebags. She'd forced herself to eat, knowing she'd need the strength. But now her hands were tied with a strip of leather cut from the back of Bodine's saddle, and she was scared. Her heart thumped wildly in her chest, but she dared not let them see her fear. It had been dark for several hours. Had the men of New Eden given up looking for her? Would Jude come? Or was he too sick to follow? She shoved her fingers between her knees and tried not to worry about him. Surely she had enough troubles of her own.

Raven rose and strode toward her. He looked very large in the darkness, long-legged and lean, made of hard sheets of muscle that gave her little hope of defeating him in a test of strength. Or in a test of sheer nerve, she thought, but forced herself to look defiantly up at him.

"You thirsty?" His voice was low as he thrust a tin cup toward her.

She shook her head, watching his face.

"Listen, Charm," he said, pointing a blunt finger at her. "I haven't done any worse to you than you have to me. In fact, not nearly so bad, if you count the hayloft. So I'd appreciate it if you'd quit stabbing me with your eyes."

From some fifteen feet away, Clancy cleared his throat. "What's this 'bout a hayloft?"

"Don't you have somewhere else to be?" Raven asked, pivoting abruptly about to face the other man. "Isn't there anyone chasing you? A husband maybe? Or an irate father?"

"Now don't go sayin' such things around Miss Charm," chastised Clancy. "She'll think you're serious."

"Get lost, Bodine."

"Get lost," Clancy repeated, rising to his feet to join them by the log. "Don't hardly seem possible for him to be so ungrateful after what I done for him, does it?" he asked, looking at Charm. "Damn, you're pretty. Any idea why he's got you tied up?"

She shook her head, but Raven answered, not bothering to look at either one of them.

"She knew Chantilly Grady."

"Grady?" Clancy's tone lifted an octave as he stared at her in the darkness. "The Grady from the advertisement? So where is she?"

"She's dead," Raven said evenly.

"Dead? How do you know?"

"Even working with you I learned some about detective work, Bodine," Raven answered. "Suffice it to say I know."

Clancy pulled a scowl. "Damn. I had me a plan to find the girl myself. Maybe marry her. Settle down. Make babies."

"And I had a plan to fly like a hawk," Raven said, his tone flat. "But it hasn't happened yet. Some folks think it never will."

"You scorn my sentiment," deduced Clancy, sounding offended. "But the truth is, I feel a..." He put his fist to his chest and narrowed his eyes as if searching for the perfect word. "I feel a cosmic sort of pull for the girl. An irresistible attraction."

"You've never met her," reminded Raven.

"Yeah," agreed Clancy, dropping his fist and becoming matter-of-fact, "but I know she's rich."

"Was,"
Raven corrected dryly. "She was rich. Now she's dead."

"Ain't that the way it goes?" Clancy said, shaking his head. "The good—they die young. My heart may never mend."

"You're demented," Raven declared.

"He's not the romantic sort," explained Clancy with a shake of his head. "I fear I found him too late to teach him the gentler sentiments. You'd be far better off as
my
prisoner." He faced Charm in the darkness. "Why
are
you a prisoner?"

"I don't know," she said, finally finding her voice. It was impossible to be sure just how dangerous Raven was. But she knew one thing: he was tenacious. Perhaps, though, she could turn these two men against each other and somehow escape while they quarreled. "I've never met anyone named Chantilly Grady. I swear I haven't," she said, managing to put a good deal of emotion into her honest denial before looking up through her lashes at Clancy. She knew she looked bedraggled and worn and hoped it would be to her advantage at this point.

Clancy stood close enough to look directly down into her eyes. He watched her in silence for a moment before seeming to snap himself from her gaze with an effort and a deep inhalation. "She says she doesn't know the girl, Joseph."

"She says a lot of things."

"Hmm. But why would she lie? She doesn't look capable of lying. Pretty little thing like her. She's got those eyes and all that..." He waved vaguely toward his own chest. "You know."

"You didn't learn a great deal from the girl in Nashville, I see."

"Ahh. Sweet Irene." Clancy sighed nostalgically. "You're just jealous because she liked me best."

"Ever recover any of the money?"

"Money is an insignificant thing in matters of the heart. I thought I'd taught you at least that much," said Clancy staunchly. "But you're skirting the issue. We were talking about
her."

"Maybe
she
killed Grady," Raven said, turning away as if the topic bored him.

"Her? Don't be ridiculous. She wouldn't hurt a rabid skunk!"

"Then
you
should be safe enough," Raven said.

"You wound me deeply."

"Go away, Bodine."

"You, Joseph, are an ungrateful boy, and I think she's cold," Clancy said, wagging a finger before turning toward Charm. "You cold, honey?"

Tears were not hard for Charm to come by, for these two were driving her to distraction. Why didn't they just kill each other and get it over with? She'd hoped they were arch enemies, but now she feared they were just light-weight sparring partners, used to the pattern of jab and duck. "J—just... just my hands," she said, trying to increase the chasm of difference between the two. The quiver in her voice sounded good, she thought, and she lowered her eyes. Squeezing a few precious, salty drops from between her lids, she kept her muscles steeled for action and her mind alert for any eventuality. Now was not the time to be caught napping. Not when she'd found someone to watch her cry.

"Well, damn, she's crying, Joseph. I'm surprised at you. Thought I'd taught you better. Come on, honey," Clancy said, pulling his oversized knife from the sheath on his belt. "I'll cut you free."

"It's been a long time since I've hit you, Bodine," Raven said, not stepping nearer or raising his voice.

Clancy turned. "Three days at least."

"A long time," repeated Raven.

Clancy grinned, the expression lopsided. "You always was one for a ruckus, wasn't you, Joseph? Still no guns allowed?"

"It's healthier that way."

"Knives?"

Raven shook his head. “Too messy."

"Ain't he somethin'," said Clancy. "He don't mind beatin' the tar outta a fellow, but he don't like gettin' his hands dirty. You sayin' you're lookin' to go a few rounds now, Joseph?"

"I'm saying if you set her free, I won't be responsible for the burial fees when she sticks that blade through your heart."

"He's not romantic, but he's very dramatic at times," Clancy commented to no one in particular. "If you're not going to set her free, what are you planning to do with her?"

"Just pry out a few honest answers."

"You need to tie her up for that?"

"I need a crowbar and a good solid string of threats for that," corrected Raven.

"If you know the Grady girl's dead, what's the point of keeping Miss Charm here trussed up?" asked Clancy.

Raven remained silent for a moment before answering. "Say it's for my own peace of mind."

It took a moment before Clancy laughed. "You're plannin' to collect bounty just fer information, ain't you?"

"It's none of your affair, Bodine."

"Huh! That's my boy, Joseph. All them years I thought you wasn't learning nothin'. But it looks like something soaked into that hard head of yours after all. Money! There ain't nothin' like it to make a man feel like a man. Except a woman. In which case money is"—he waved vaguely, quoting his former statement with less enthusiasm—"an insignificant thing." He looked at Charm and shook his head once. "Damn, she's pretty. Well, go ahead. Shoot off them questions."

"Not tonight." Raven said, seating himself on a nearby log.

Clancy turned to face him. "That's the thing about you, Joseph. You always was a patient one. The first time I saw you I said, now there's a patient boy. He'll make a fine detective. It'll be a hard task, but I'll teach him all I know."

"The first time you saw me you said, now there's a sucker. I'll work his ass off and feed him to the crows."

Clancy threw back his head and laughed. "Ahhh, Joseph, such bitterness. And after you bein' just like a son to me."

"You're only five years my senior, Bodine. Even with
your
morals, paternity would be a hard thing to believe."

"Well, you was just like a brother, then," Clancy said impatiently. "Hey, I'm just tryin' to help you out."

"Was that what you were doing in Georgia?"