Love's Sweet Revenge (40 page)

Lloyd was tall enough to grab hold of the edge of the wooden shingle roof of the cabin. He stepped on a barrel behind it to give himself a boost onto the roof, then quickly removed his jacket and laid it over the chimney. Jake and the other men moved from the rocks after a few minutes and headed for the cabin. Brad Buckley, Tucker, and Clem couldn't help but run out, coughing and hacking from smoke. All but Brad dropped their weapons and raised their hands as Jake, Cole, Rodriguez, and Vance surrounded them. Lloyd quickly removed his jacket from the chimney, worried about his mother, who was surely choking on the smoke inside the cabin.

“Don't kill us!” Clem whined. “We didn't hurt her! It was Brad!”

Brad's eyes stung from the smoke, but he had to know the big figure coming toward him was Jake Harkner. He raised his gun, but before he could fire, Jake shot him in the privates—twice. He went to his knees, screaming. Lloyd jumped down from the roof. He pulled his six-gun and walked up to Clem, shoving the gun into Clem's mouth. “You fucking piece of shit! Nobody messes with my
mother
!” He pulled the trigger without hesitation. Clem's head exploded into pieces.

“Oh my God!” Tucker cried out.

“Pa!” Stephen whispered.

“I think that's what Grampa did to that man back in Denver,” Little Jake said.

Cole raised his six-gun to Tucker's chest. “That fire killed my best friend, you bastard, and men like me don't have many friends!” He shot Tucker in the heart.

Still standing over Brad, Jake seemed unmoved by what Lloyd and Cole had just done. “Go inside and use something to bring a hot coal out here!” he ordered Vance. He looked at Lloyd. “Go see if she's still alive.” He almost groaned the words. “I'm sorry to make you do it, Lloyd, but I need to know before I…go in there.” His face was etched dark with devastation.

Brian came closer, the three boys with him. “Jake, I'll go,” Brian offered.

“No!” Lloyd objected. “It's okay. You went through enough with Evie.” He turned and headed into the cabin, Vance right behind him. They left the door open to clear out some of the smoke.

Lloyd hesitantly approached an old rope-spring bed where something lay curled up under blankets. He couldn't imagine life without his mother, and he said a quick prayer that she was alive. He bent closer. “Mom?”

She curled deeper into the blankets. “Jake?”

Tears of relief filled his eyes. “It's Lloyd.”

“I want Jake.”

Lloyd struggled not to break down. “He's outside. He's coming.” He touched her shoulder, but she jerked away.

“I'm so cold,” she whimpered.

Lloyd could see her shivering under the blankets. He removed his smoked-up deerskin coat and laid it over her. “Just hang on. Jake's coming.” He leaned closer, noticing one of her wrists was tied to a rung of the iron headboard. “Jesus,” he muttered. He quickly untied it. “I'll send Brian in.”

“No! I want…Jake. Just Jake.”

“He'll be right here. He's okay. Everybody's okay.” Lloyd walked to the doorway. “Pa, she's alive. She wants just you.”

Jake stood with a booted foot planted against Brad Buckley's bleeding privates, his gun pointed at the young man's head. “That means you get to die fast, Buckley! But not without pain!” He shouted to Vance, who was still inside the cabin. “Get those hot coals out here! This man likes shoving his shit into helpless peoples' mouths, so I'll shove something unwanted into
his
mouth!”

“Noooooo!” Brad screamed. “Just shoot me!”

“Too easy for someone who would do to my wife what you did! I always knew this time would come, Brad Buckley! I should have killed you in Guthrie when I had the chance!”

Inside the cabin, Vance tried to ignore the shivering little mound of woman under the covers as he searched for something with which to grab a hot coal, per Jake's orders. He found some fireplace tongs and used them to take a glowing piece of wood from a fire that still burned in the stone fireplace. He turned, then froze in place when he saw Randy actually sitting up on the edge of the bed and holding a blanket over herself. Her face was bruised almost beyond recognition, her hair hanging in filthy strings.

“Is Brad Buckley still alive?” she asked in a raspy voice.

Vance swallowed. “Yes, ma'am, but I expect he's bleedin' to death.”

“Good.” Randy managed to stand up. “Give me your gun.”

“Ma'am?”

“Give me your gun!”

“Ma'am, I don't think—”

Randy walked up and jerked his gun from its holster. Vance didn't know what he should do. She looked like a crazy woman at the moment, and she was Jake Harkner's wife. If he tried to stop her from whatever she intended to do, he might hurt her. He stood there still holding tongs with the burning wood in them as Randy marched to the front door. “My God!” he muttered, turning away when the blanket fell away and exposed her backside.

Outside, Brad was sobbing. “They'll…hang you, Jake Harkner! You'd…better think about that!” He struggled to get away, but to no avail. Jake stepped harder on his privates.

“No matter,” Jake answered, leaning closer. “Hearing you scream and watching you die slowly will be
worth
it!”

Cole and Rodriguez held Brad's arms down, and Terrel and Lloyd surrounded him and Jake.

“Hurry it up with those hot coals!” Jake yelled at Vance again.

“Oh my God!” Cole suddenly yelled, staring toward the cabin.

They all turned, shocked to see Randy walking toward them, holding a blanket over herself with one hand and a gun in the other. She marched up and shot Brad Buckley in the heart, then pointed the gun at his face and fired again, the bullet shattering his teeth and jaw. She just stood there for a moment, then dropped the gun and looked at Jake.

“Now no one can say
you
killed Brad Buckley, so they can't take you away from me.”

She started to slump, and Lloyd caught her. Jake quickly holstered his .44 and grabbed her up into his arms. He carried her into the cabin and kicked the door shut.

The rest of the men turned to stare at Brad Buckley, his privates a bloody mess, a hole in his chest, and most of his jaw missing.

“Holy shit,” Cole exclaimed.

Lloyd closed his eyes and turned away.

Stephen looked at Little Jake. “Grandma shot Brad Buckley!”

Little Jake made a fist. “I'm glad!”

Jake struggled not to fall apart. The woman who'd shot Brad Buckley didn't even resemble his wife. She'd looked like a madwoman who'd come back from the dead for revenge. The minute he picked her up in his arms, she'd fallen to pieces emotionally, breaking into pitiful sobs that ripped his heart out.

Don't think about your mother and watching her die. Don't think about Evie and how you found her. Don't think about your father! Don't think about going crazy if you lose this woman!
He had to stay sane. His wife needed him in a way she'd never needed him before.

He sat down in a chair, holding Randy on his lap. He couldn't bring himself to lay her back in the soiled bed nearby, the mattress bare and stained.

“Jake?” she whispered. “Is it…really you?”

“It's me.”

“Jake?”

“I'm right here.”

“I couldn't…let that marshal…take you away from me,” she whispered gruffly. “I can't live…without you.”

“My God, Randy,” he groaned.

“I knew…you'd come. Like at that…trading post. When was that, Jake?” She sobbed the words.

Jake realized her mind was wandering. He struggled against an urge to grab her tight against him but was afraid he'd hurt something. “A long, long time ago…when I first knew I loved you,
mi querida
.”

“Jake, they did…a terrible thing…”

“Don't talk about it. Just let me hold you. Let me make sure you don't have any broken bones or—”

“Do you…still love me?”

“My God, Randy, why would you ask that?”

She broke into tears. “You know…why.” She clung to his shirt. “Jake…you never did that to me…you never did anything that wasn't…beautiful—” She kept the blanket over her face.

“
¡Lo siento, mi vida. ¡Lo siento
!
” Jake rocked her as he groaned the words.

“Don't let go of me!”

“I'm right here.”

“I'm so cold!”

She was shaking, and Jake realized he couldn't do three things at once. “Lloyd, get in here and build up the fire,” he called through the doorway.

“No! Don't let anyone see me.”

Jake closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He wanted to walk around and scream, but he needed to be strong—for Randy. For Randy.
Hang on!
This was the kind of thing that would normally send him into that world where he had to ride out of this woman's life…this woman who'd given up so much for him. He didn't deserve her. “Randy, I need to warm things up in here. I can't hang on to you and do that, too. Someone has to come in here and help.”

Lloyd came inside, carrying a leather bag with a change of clothes for his mother, and her rabbit fur coat. He saw the pain in his father's eyes. “Does she need Brian?”

“I'm not sure yet.”

“No! Don't let anyone see me,” Randy repeated, cringing closer to Jake.

Lloyd set her belongings on the bed and moved to the fireplace, angrily throwing wood into it. He grabbed a poker and jammed it into the coals so they flared up. Tears welled in his eyes. “Mom, it's okay. Let me and Brian help. Pa can't do all this by himself.”

Randy pressed her face against Jake's neck. “I know your scent,” she whispered. “It's really…you.”

“It's really me. Lloyd's going to build a fire and heat some water and fix something to eat. You're going to let Brian make sure you don't have any broken bones, and I'm going to wash you up, and you're going to eat something, and I'm taking you out of here in the morning, all right? I don't want you in this place with all its filth and all its bad memories any longer than that. When we leave here, we'll burn this cabin down!” Bracing himself against the sick horror in his heart, he pulled the blanket away from her face and struggled not to gasp at how bruised her jaw and cheekbones were. It was difficult to tell it was really his beautiful wife.

“Don't,” she wept, covering her face with her hand. “They hit me…and…hit me. Jake, I want to wash my mouth. Get it out of me! Get it out of me!” She suddenly straightened and vomited all over the blanket.

“Jesus,” Jake groaned. “Get Brian in here, Lloyd! And get some biscuits. See if Rodriguez has anything we can make some broth with. We've got to get something into her stomach.”

“No! Just you! Just you!” Randy sobbed.

“Brian needs to tend to you,” Jake told her, smoothing back her hair. “No arguments!”

Lloyd hesitated. “Pa, are you okay?”

Jake didn't answer.

“Pa?”

Jake pressed Randy closer and kept rocking her. “I don't know.”

Lloyd walked up behind him and grasped his shoulder. “You hang on. And you remember how proud she is of how much stronger you are emotionally. It's her turn to pull on your strength instead of the other way around.”

“I'll be better when I get her cleaned up and get some food in her. Get something from Rodriguez, and then you take care of those boys out there. I know what bad memories are like. You need to talk to them.”

“Right now you and Mom need me more. I'll talk to them in the morning, and I'm sure Brian will give them an earful. I don't know where in hell Little Jake got that gun, but he'll learn real quick to never do something like that again. I'll take care of those boys. You take care of Mom.” Lloyd squeezed Jake's shoulder before hurrying out.

A moment later, Brian came in with his doctor bag and canteen. He knelt beside Randy. “She's probably dehydrated,” he told Jake. “Randy, you need to drink some water.”

“No! No! No! Go away! I'm…filthy.”

Brian looked at Jake with pain-filled eyes.

“I'm sorry, Brian. I know how hard this is for you,” Jake told him.

“Try to get her to drink some water.” Brian uncorked the canteen and handed it to Jake.

“
Por favor, mi querida.
Drink some water.” He tipped it to her lips.

“No! Stop!” she screamed, pushing it away.

“Randy it's
me
!
Jake!
I just want you to drink some water!”

She covered her face. “Jake…they did an ugly thing…” she repeated.

“Then wash it away! Drink some water and wash it away!”

She stared at the canteen, then took it with shaking hands. She managed to tip it up, and Jake wanted to scream at the bruises on her jaw and neck. The blanket fell away, and Jake could see her arms and back were also bruised. He quickly held the blanket over her breasts while she poured water into her mouth, then suddenly spit it out. She did it over and over, drinking and spitting, her sobs deepening. “Get it out of me!” she kept crying. She drank and spit again.

“Randy, you have to swallow some of that water,” Brian told her.

Finally, she obeyed, then threw down the canteen. “Jake!”

“I'm right here.” He held her while Brian ran his hands over her back and arms.

“Randy, tell me what hurts. Is anything broken?”

“No. It's just…bruises and—” She began panting in a panic as she moved her hands to her face again. “My…jaw. They…” She curled up against Jake again. “Hold me! Don't let go, Jake!”

“I'm right here.”

Brian reached into his medicine bag and took out a bottle of laudanum. “See if you can get her to drink some of this. It will calm her down and help her sleep.” He set it on the table near Jake, then picked up Lloyd's coat and laid it on the bed. He brought over an extra blanket and laid it over Randy. “I'll leave for a bit and let you talk to her more. Try to calm her down, Jake. You won't be able to clean her up until she's half out of it with that laudanum, but I don't want her taking any of it until she has something in her stomach, so try to get her to eat. I'll come back in and help you wash her up and get some clean clothes on her once she's calmer.”

Jake nodded, pulling her close and kissing her hair. “She hates being dirty. She usually always…smells like roses.” His voice broke on the words.

“Jake, you hang on for her sake. You have to stay strong and stay sane, understand? Right now she needs you more than you've ever needed her. Most of your married life it's been the other way around. You get her to eat and get her to sleep. In the morning, you can take her to that line shack.”

Lloyd came back inside with a gunnysack of food. “I'll heat some water,” he told Jake. “And I'll find a pan. Rodriguez gave me some bacon. He said the bacon fat will be good for her.”

Jake nodded. “Stir that fire some more. It needs to be good and hot.”

“Jake,” Randy groaned. “Don't let go.”

“I'm right here.”

“Peppermint. You always…have peppermint.”

Never without a couple of sticks of their favorite candy, Jake shifted enough to take a stick of peppermint from inside his shirt pocket.

“I'll cook the bacon,” Lloyd told him.

Jake brushed the short stick of peppermint across Randy's bruised lips. She opened her mouth a little, and he ran it inside her lips so she could smell and taste it—something fresh and clean, something they'd shared more times than he could remember.

She licked the peppermint, grasping his hand as she did so. “Tell me…you still love me, Jake.”

Her body jerked in a sob. Jake drew her close, taking the other end of the peppermint stick in his mouth. Because it was so short, his lips touched her bruised and swollen ones. He kissed them as gently as possible, then moved his lips softly over her bruised jaw. “
Yo te amo, mi querida
,” he told her in a near whisper. “This is something that was always just between you and me,
mi vida
. Just you and me. The peppermint. That's just ours. Nothing has changed.”

Randy moved an arm around his neck and nestled her face against him. “I want to breathe in…the smell of you,” she said softly. “Don't let go, Jake.”

“I'm right here,” he reassured her yet again.

“I killed him, Jake. I did it…for you…so they can't…take you away.”

“I would have figured out a way to keep that from happening,” he told her.

“They did…a terrible thing,” she repeated. “You never…made me do that.”

“You're too beautiful and perfect and honorable.” He kissed her eyes. “I respect you too much as the woman I love.” He smoothed her hair back and kissed her forehead.

“Jake, I'm not yours anymore.”

He held her tighter. “Don't ever say that again. Who do you belong to?”

She jerked in a sob. “I don't know.”

“Yes, you do,” he said softly. “Say it.”

She hugged him tighter around the neck. “You.”

“Say my name, Randy. Who do you belong to?”

She curled so tightly against him it was as though she was trying to crawl inside him. “Jake Harkner,” she whispered.

“You bet. Nothing has changed that, and nothing ever will.”

“Tell me you're not in trouble, Jake.”

“I'm not in trouble.”

“You won't go away?”

“Never.”

“No one's coming to get you?”

“No one's coming to get me.”

“I was always scared…you'd never come back…back in Oklahoma. Don't take that job, Jake…that…ranger job. I don't want you to go away.”

“I'm not going anywhere.”

“Don't let go. I love…being in your arms.”

“And that's where you are right now.”

“I knew you'd come.”

“I'd walk through the fires of hell for you.”

“Everything…hurts.”

“We'll fix that.” He kissed her eyes again, traced a finger over her lips, struggling against a rage deep inside over realizing the hideous thing they'd done to her. The corners of her mouth were cracked and bleeding.

Lloyd kept quiet as he cooked some bacon, thinking about how ruthless Jake Harkner could be. He'd been prepared to shove hot coals into Brad Buckley's mouth, and he would have done so if Randy hadn't shot the sonofabitch instead. Now Jake sat there holding his wife as though she were a fine piece of china. Such were the complexities of Jake Harkner. “I'm heating some extra water,” he told Jake. “We have to get her to eat something and get that laudanum in her so we can clean her up.”

“Brian will help me.”

“She's my
mother
.
I'll
help! It's okay, Pa. Besides, this is really hard on Brian after what happened to Evie. He's been through a lot, too, over the years. I'll help, and once she's cleaned up and asleep, I'll rip that goddamn bed up and take it outside and burn it! She's not going to lay back down on that filthy piece of shit! We'll make up something for you and Mom on the floor. In the morning, the men can head back with Brian and the boys, and you and I will head for the line shack.”

“Don't worry about the bed. I'm having the men burn down the whole cabin when we leave.” Jake kissed Randy's hair again. “As far as the line shack, I should have taken her last summer. She wanted to go back there, but we were always too busy.” Jake closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of the chair. “She's had such a hard life, Lloyd. How can I ever make it up to her?”

“You don't need to, Pa. All she wants is for you to love her, and God knows you've done that. I'm the one who needs to make things up to her. I'm the one who left when you went to prison, and she and Evie had to make do on their own. I'll never forgive myself for that. And she came with you and risked her life right alongside of you when you rescued me from that mess on the Outlaw Trail and then had to go through hell getting me off of alcohol. I'll always take care of both of you if need be, and Mom if she's left alone. That's a promise. Let me help you clean her up, and I'll help you get her to that line shack safely. I owe her.”