Lawfully Yours, page 3
“Go away,” she breathed wretchedly.
“I don’t think so, lady. Your brother, however, left you behind.”
“Good. I’m glad.”
“You won’t be if they stretch your neck for robbery.”
“If that means Eli is okay, maybe that will finally end all of this nightmare that has eaten at my nerves and I will have peace.”
“Peace?” he scoffed. “Peace is something you find in yourself, in your soul. It’s not done through robbery, treachery or deceit like you two have done. You’ll be bait for bringing your brother into custody. People like you don’t get peace in this world.”
“You are horrible,” she breathed at his dark shadow that seemed to grow in size as he stood over her. “Evil and horrible.”
“And you smell like absolutely terrible,” he growled as he tied her wrists together tightly. Emily fought angrily against him for a moment, feeling helpless. The rope pinched, and the shadows were nightmarish to behold in her drunken state. She couldn’t breathe because each gasp smelled rank and burned her airway. Her head spun wildly, and her pulse throbbed in her head as she worried about Elias. Then she did something she’d never done before in her life: she fainted.
Three
Emily awoke to her head pounding as she was being bounced around. Groaning, she smelled sweat just underneath her face as well as waves of other putrid things in the air around her. Her body rebelled, and she felt herself gagging with each exaggerated movement against her stomach.
“Stop! I’m going to be sick,” she breathed. Her matted hair slapped against her head, reminding her of what was in her hair and what she’d been dragged through only hours before. It was pitch black outside and the moonlight showed her that she was on a horse, tied, and on a trail. Glancing down, she saw the grasses and wildflowers nearby. “I said stop before I get sick again.”
“So? You’ll smell the same,” she heard his voice announce uncaringly, making her temper surge. She angrily flung herself off the back of the horse regardless of the consequences. She had been draped behind the saddle on the horse’s flank. When she threw herself off the horse, it caused her to land with a hollow thud that knocked the breath out of her. Wheezing, she felt the nausea subside as her ribs ached to drag in air. Getting her bearings, she glanced to where the horse stood and watched the bounty hunter dismount slowly in the moonlight.
The evil wretch was actually smiling at her gasping on the ground! He knelt down beside her and just stared at her in the face, adjusting his hat. If she wasn’t trying so hard to catch her breath, she’d have gotten up and ran. Instead, she lay there glaring at him in the middle of the dirt road. A sharp stone poked her shoulder, but she’d never admit it.
“Well, I can honestly say that was a first for me,” he chuckled. His voice washed over her like warm bath water, comforting. She hated that it actually affected her.
“Being arrested is one for me, too,” she wheezed.
“You know, before you decide to go horse jumping, I guess that’s what we’ll call it?” he said, laughing and wiping his eyes. “You might make sure that your dress covers a bit more skin, honey.”
“I’m not your honey!”
“No, but if I leave you here exposed like this, you’ll be someone’s honey before morning. How about I untie you, so you can fix your… dress? And then we’ll get back on my horse.”
Glancing down, Emily felt shame wash over her face. Hot, ragged, angry shame coursed through her as she saw what he was laughing at. Sometime during her bumpy, face first ride on the back of the horse or perhaps during her fall, her bosom had escaped the low-cut dress and lay there practically glowing in the moonlight. Her corset was designed to fit just under her chest, but her chemise had been pushed down so it didn’t show in the scandalous gown she had donned to tempt the older man in order to rob him.
“Quit looking at me!” she seethed angrily, mortified. She physically kicked towards him and was pleased to see him move away to avoid her boot.
“Honey, you’re –”
“I’M. NOT. YOUR. HONEY!” she yelled violently, her body shaking with effort as she swatted at his grinning face with her tied hands. “You are sick, aren’t you? Sick and enjoying my misery!”
“Nope,” he said, grinning. He knelt down towards her and brandished a knife to cut through the rope at her wrists. “Now, before you go beating on me, tuck your – appendages- back in your stained dress.”
“I hate you.”
“You told me already.”
Rubbing her chaffed wrists, she stood, wobbly, and turned away. Her mind was racing on what to do next. Should she run? Should she do what he says? There were no signs of anyone in the near area and she had no idea where she was at currently. Where could Elias be? Was he following their trail looking for a chance to rescue her?
“Hurry it up.”
“I am!” Emily yelled as she carefully shoved her breasts back down in the dress and yanked it up for good measure. She’d make sure that she wasn’t exposed again, especially in front of him. Handsome or not, it was all on the outside. On the inside, he was awful. Plain and simple.
“Are you going to behave and ride with me? Or shall we take a chance on you falling out of that dress again? I am good either way.” His voice was very close behind her and she could feel his presence just over her shoulder.
“No, I will behave.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it. Hands up, so I can tie this again,” he said, holding up the rough, abrasive rope. Her wrists burned from where they’d been tied when she’d fainted.
“Do you have to?” she muttered, ashamed. Her wrists chafed horribly and knew that the tender skin would be bleeding soon if it didn’t stop rubbing so much.
“Yes.”
“Can you tie the rope a bit more loosely?” she asked, biting her lip as he wound it around the skin.
“Want me to arm you as well? I could give you my gun, too.”
“Never mind, bounty hunter. You just do what you are paid to do,” she scathed and held back a groan as the rope pinched and rubbed. “You’ll have to put me on the stupid horse since I’m tied up like a good girl. Now, be careful because if you put me on first, I might ride off and leave you behind.”
“Then I’d have to shoot you for horse theft, too.”
“I hate you. I really, really do.”
“So, you’ve said. Over and over again, I might add.”
Emily watched as he slowly walked over to the horse, held its bridle and said a few soft words to it. He was extremely gentle with the horse, careful almost. With her, it was callous disdain. He simply didn’t care and was doing a job. She was nothing more than a paycheck. A paycheck for wanting to have more in her life and food in her belly.
“I thought you were in a hurry,” she said finally, after he was taking a long time.
“I figured you would prefer not to get thrown. But then again, I could be wrong since you dove off the back of the horse.”
“Well, yes. I would honestly prefer not to be thrown.”
“Then when I put you on my horse, I want to make sure she isn’t afraid of your atrocious, foul smell.”
“You can’t resist, can you?”
“It is a pretty easy target to hit. You do smell something fierce.”
“My bounty must be worth a lot of money then.”
“Not really. I am tempted to leave you here.”
“What? Why are you taking me in then?” she asked, shocked at his callous response. If it wasn’t worth it, then why bother? It made no sense to have to deal with the hassle she was making for him, and she certainly wasn’t going to make it easy on him!
“I was more curious as to the woman that was luring men to their… empty pockets,” he said with a wry grin. “You know that you and your brother have robbed every rich jackass between here and Shreveport? Are you selective or what?”
“I don’t have to say a word about what we do or don’t do to you.”
“No, you don’t,” he agreed, shrugging.
“So how much was my bounty?” she asked, curiously.
“You aren’t worth but ten bucks.”
“That’s it? Goodness! I have that in my satchel easily. How about you take it and let me go?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“When does it stop?” he asked quietly, surprising her. This was the same discussion she had earlier with Elias. When does it stop? When is it ever enough money? Is that how other outlaws got shot and killed? Because they didn’t know when to?
“Now, apparently.”
“Exactly. You got stopped by me or it would have continued. Your brother killed that man in cold blood in the alleyway.”
“He was going to –”
“I saw what he was doing and what you were doing. He was hiding while you put yourself in danger trying to tempt a man you didn’t know,” he cut her off, abruptly. His face appeared hard in the moonlight. “Are you ready to get on the horse, or what?”
“Is it safe?”
“I wouldn’t be asking, if it wasn’t.”
“Well, according to you, what’s the big deal if I end up hurt or dead if I am worth almost nothing, remember?” she asked bitterly.
“I guess I did say that in a fashion,” he said quietly, his voice barely registering.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. You really do stink something fierce. You’ll have to ride behind me – and no jumping off either! You were lucky once. Don’t try it again.”
“Why can’t I ride in front?”
“I don’t want manure in my lap,” he admitted, laughing. “How about at the next stop, we get you a clean set of clothes and you can wash up?”
“Why? You want my neck clean for my hanging? I promise you that the rope won’t care either way. Clean or dirty, it will do its job just like you are doing.” He didn’t say a word and looked away. Emily swallowed hard and fought back the tears that suddenly burned her eyes.
“Just put me on the darn horse,” she finally said bitterly. Lifting her up, she pulled herself gingerly into place behind the saddle and felt the skittish horse dance around. He jumped forward, sliding his foot easily into the stirrup with practiced skill. Gathering up the reins, he gave a slight nudge that had the horse moving forward yet again.
They rode for a few hours until Emily found herself exhausted and nodding off, which resulted in her leaning against his back. She didn’t even realize it at first. She drifted off, marveling at how warm and comforting her pillow was. It was hard under her cheek and kept moving for some reason. When she heard the horse neigh, she jerked her head up off his back in shock. She’d literally found herself nuzzling the back of her captor’s shirt.
“Tired?”
“Apparently exhausted and out of my head,” she admitted, shocked. It had felt so good and she felt like she’d been wrenched from a wonderful dream into a painful reality. Every move made her wrists ache.
“We’ll stop just ahead. There is a small creek that shouldn’t have run dry yet. We’ve not had much rain lately, but there should be water. You can clean up and then we’ll stop for the night.”
“So, the promise of clean clothing was a lie?”
“No.”
“Well, I don’t see any dressmakers nearby. So, unless you happen to have a dress in your saddlebag…” Her voice trailed off as she raised an eyebrow towards him. “No commentary, Mr. Liar?”
“I didn’t lie. You assumed the worst without knowing the facts.”
“Hmmm, now that sounds familiar!” she gasped sarcastically and then mocked him. “You mean, I judged you without knowing all the information about you? I made an assumption based off of scant information? How horrific!”
“I didn’t lie and, yes, you assumed incorrectly. I have a name and it’s not Mr. Liar.”
“I don’t care what your name is frankly.”
“You want that bath or not? Because quite honestly, I’m tired of the foul smell and the foul attitude you have. Maybe some good strong soap can wash both out of you and you can be a presentable human being.”
“I hate –”
“Yeah, I know. You hate me.” His voice was flat as he got off the horse. There was a large thicket of shrubs nearby as well as several small mesquite trees. Other than that, the land was flat with faint rolling hills that looked almost magical in the moonlight.
“Exactly.”
“Bath?”
“No, I’m fine.”
The bounty hunter gaped at her as she sat on the horse. Emily almost laughed at his reaction. Honestly, the smell was bothering her as well and she could have sworn that there was dirt in every crease and orifice of her body, but she’d not give him the satisfaction of cleaning up! If she stunk and it bothered him, she’d make sure she reeked by the time they reached their destination. Elias had always accused her of being hard headed. This bounty hunter had no idea of who he was messing with!
“Excuse me?”
“I said, no, I am fine. Are you hard of hearing?”
“Get down,” he ordered. Emily just stared at him and raised an eyebrow. He stood there next to the horse with his hands outstretched in an effort to help her dismount.
“I’m good. Thanks.”
“I’m not. You are offensive. Get down now.”
“Meh, I will be fine.” Emily pretended to inspect her fingernails, holding up her bound wrists. The man was irritating as could be and it gave her a perverse amount of pleasure to annoy him in return. She could see that he was getting upset with her and struggled to hide her grin.
“I wasn’t asking. Get down now.”
“Why? You going to yank me down?” she asked, pretending to be shocked. “What will the big, bad man do? The woman he captured isn’t listening to him. Will he be mean to her?”
“Potentially.”
“That’s right. Throw your weight around and bully a poor young woman. How very gallant of you.”
“Don’t start that crap. You have a smart mouth.”
“I’ve a smart head on my shoulders, too,” she quipped sarcastically.
“I have no doubt,” he said chuckling. “Would you please get down?”
“Are you begging little ol’ me?” she mocked, batting her eyelashes at him. He rolled his eyes at her.
“If it makes you feel and smell better, then sure,” he said, extending his hand to help her off the horse. Emily felt a surge of triumph the moment she knew he’d see her wrists for the first time in the moonlight. The smile was wiped from his face and he stared at her.
“You didn’t say anything.”
“Well, actually, yes, I did. I asked if we could skip tying my hands up. In fact, I asked that you leave them loose. So, yes, I did say something. You just chose not to listen because, again, you knew the entire story. Right?” she smarted off. When he pulled a knife from his belt and slid it beneath the rope on her wrists, she flinched at how cold it felt on her hot, chafed skin. The moment the rope fell, she stared at her torn skin. She saw the inky coloring in the darkness indicating that she was bruised. She was certain that she was bleeding.
“I’m sorry,” he said simply and put away his knife. He offered his hand up politely to help her down. She pushed it away angrily, bitter that it had taken evidence to treat her nicely. Biting back a moan, she struggled to get down off the horse alone. Her hands were weak, and she strained to keep from pulling or touching the sore skin. Once on the ground, she stared at his face coldly.
“Now what?” she asked, staring at the surroundings. There were bushes and trees in the area, but not a house or farm in sight. It was inky darkness as far as the eye could see and the moonlight, while bright, barely lit the landscape around them.
“Are you going to run?”
“Would it do me any good?”
“No.”
“Then no, I’m not. Frankly, I’m exhausted and just want to rest. It’s been a long day,” she murmured, feeling fatigue beat at her. She had dozed off earlier and felt the pull of sleep again. She was tired and mentally crashing from the strain and worry she’d felt all afternoon.
“Then rest just under the tree. I will keep watch while you sleep. In the morning, you can bathe and change.”
“Because I stink, I know. You’ve told me repeatedly.”
“Because it’s the right thing to do,” he said, turning his back on her. She stared at him as he removed the saddle from the horse. Walking over to the tree in the darkness, he dropped the saddle onto the grass. The horse blanket was shaken out and laid on the ground. She watched silently as he took a seat under the tree without a word.
Emily walked over and sat down on the blanket. “Do you need to tie me again? Perhaps you could tie my ankles so I can’t run and my wrists might have a bit of time to heal. Remember, I’m the criminal in your world and a flight risk.”
“Are you warning me to do so?”
“No. I’m just surprised that you aren’t. I guess you are pretty confident that you’d catch me again if I ran, aren’t you?”
“Just go to sleep, Miss Jessup.”
“Will do, bounty hunter.” Emily lay her head down and stared at her wrists that throbbed. Closing her eyes, she listened to the trees rustle with the wind and wondered what Elias was doing right now. Was he searching for her? He’d been the one to always come up with a plan. He was the leader between the two of them. Now, she was alone. Separated from him and her very presence would put him in danger. Drifting off, she barely heard the gravelly voice from nearby.
“My name is Cade Singleton, Miss Jessup. Not bounty hunter.”
Four
Emily opened her eyes, blinking at the bright sun streaming through the sparse branches of the mesquite tree. Glancing around, she saw that Cade Singleton still sat nearby with his hat pulled low over his face. That cad fell asleep instead of staying up and keeping watch like he said.
