Moon Racer (30 page)

She took a few paces away from him. "I have to
go now."

"Not yet. I just want to talk to you."

"You said quite enough that night at the dance. I
don't ever want you anywhere near me, and you
can get off our land."

"Now, Abby, you don't mean that." He reached
out to her, and she backed farther away.

"Don't touch me!"

He moved fast, grabbing her arms and taking her
by surprise. He was strong, and his hands were like
vises as he pinned her arms behind her.

"I'll touch you, all right. And I'll take my time
about it. There is no one here to help you, and if
someone did come, we would hear them from a
distance."

She struggled and pushed against him, but his
hold only tightened. She felt a scream rise in her
throat when he jerked her forward to press his
mouth over hers. She tried to twist away, but his
hands went up to hold her head in place.

Queasiness churned through her stomach, and she
thought she was going to be sick. His lips were wet
and hot, and when he raised his head she gagged.

"Has Tremain had you, Abby-has he?"

She pushed against his chest, but he shook her
until her head snapped back. She would not have
thought him capable of such violence, but there was
a glint in his eyes that suggested he might be
capable of anything.

"Let me go!"

"So," he said, gripping her arms, "you won't
answer-that means the bastard has been at you! If
he hadn't, you would have denied it."

His eyes were suddenly like swirling tides of
madness. He threw his leg against the back of hers
and flipped her to the ground. She landed so hard it
knocked the breath out of her. Before she knew
what was happening, he was on top of her, ripping
her blouse open and exposing her breasts.

She struggled and pushed against him as hard as
she could, but he was a hard mass of unmovable
and unspeakable evil. "I don't want your hands on
me. Let me up!"

The more she fought him, the darker his eyes
became. He breathed in her ear with lustful
laughter. "My hands are going to be on you, Abby.
Everywhere. Now be still!"

She arched her back and pushed against him,
then tried to roll sideways, but it was no use.

She tried to dodge when he raised his fist, but it
came down hard against her jaw, and her face
exploded with pain. Swirls of darkness floated
toward her, and she struggled to stay conscious. Her
scream was muffled when he hit her again, and she
felt the black tide widening to capture her in its
depths.

At that moment Abby's pinto whinnied right at
her head, bending its sleek neck to touch her face.

"What the hell!" Edmund said, swatting at the
horse.

The momentary distraction gave Abby the time
she needed to roll out from under him and scramble
to her feet.

She hurt everywhere, but she couldn't let that stop
her. She dove for her saddle and ripped the rifle free of
the holster. Cocking it, she laid her cheek against the
stock, aiming at Edmund's heart. "If I pull this trigger,
you will be dead before you hit the ground."

He took a step toward her, anger making him
rash. "Give me the gun, Abby."

She dipped the gun and fired, barely missing his
foot. "You have my word, the next shot will draw
blood. Get on your horse and ride away from here
right now!"

His blue eyes were almost eaten away by the
reptilian black irises, and she shivered in spite of the
fact that she had the advantage of the rifle. "I'll do
it you know I will if you don't leave."

"We aren't fmished,-Abby. This isn't the end."

"If you come near me again, I will shoot you
stone-cold dead."

His face was red, and his breathing was shallow
as he gathered the reins and mounted his horse.
"You'll plead with me many times before I've
finished with you. It could have been nice between
us, but you had to be like-"

She aimed the rifle at his face, her finger pressing
harder against the trigger; she wanted him to come toward her so she could fire. It was with the greatest
effort that she resisted that urge. "You are on Hunter
don't trespass again, or I will shoot you!"

He turned his horse and rode away. She was
trembling so hard, she fell to her knees sobbing. She
watched him until he was out of sight, making sure
he rode toward town and didn't double back.

She couldn't stop shaking, and she was so bruised
and hurt, it took her three tries before she could mount
the pinto. She took in a shuddering breath and tried to
calm her racing heart. Already her face was beginning
to swell, and when she touched her head, her fingers
came away bloody. She couldn't think clearly, and
she was still dizzy. It was a long way to the ranch
house, but Brent's place was less than two miles
away-she could make it there before she passed out.

She slumped in the saddle and cried so hard her
body shook from the intensity of her sobs.

Frances had directed Jonah to Brent's cabin. He
dismounted and looked about him at the tranquil
scene. He could live like this if Abby were with him.

The door of the cabin swung open, and Brent
came out.

"Jonah, this is a surprise! I thought you would
still be at the fort."

"I'd like to talk to you, if you don't mind."

He nodded. "Sure. Would you like to come into
the house? Crystal is inside. Are you hungry?"

He certainly wouldn't be able'to swallow food at
the moment. "I would rather talk to you privately, if
you don't mind."

"Of course." He was puzzled by Jonah's strange
behavior. Something was definitely bothering him.

Jonah paced a few steps and turned back to him.
"It's about Abby. I would have gone to your father
with this, but I know how close she is to you."

He frowned, feeling protective of his sister. "Yes,
we are close."

Jonah decided the best way to handle the situation
was head-on. "I want to marry Abby, and I'm asking
for your permission before I propose to her."

Brent walked down the path toward the stream
and motioned for Jonah to follow him. He stopped
at the paddock where he and Crystal kept their
horses and braced his foot on the bottom rung.

"The last time I looked, you already had someone
you were going to marry, and it wasn't my sister."

"Patricia has returned to Pennsylvania."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of this-why
Abby?"

"Because I can't imagine life without her. I want
her to be the mother of my children. I want to wake
up beside her every morning and grow old with
her." He glanced at Brent. "Does this make any
sense to you?"

"Hell, no."

Jonah shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense
to me either. I only know that I'm not happy when
she isn't with me."

"Well, that's just not good enough for me. I'm
more interested in my sister's happiness."

They both heard the rider coming, and the horse
was galloping at a fast clip.

"It's Abby," Brent said, spotting her pinto as she
crossed the stream, riding so fast the water sprayed
around her. "She would never ride her horse into a
lather-something's wrong!"

When Abby saw Jonah and her brother, she slid
off her horse and ran toward them. She must have
realized she was still holding the rifle, because she
threw it down and kept running.

"My God," Brent said, "something has happened
to her!"

Abby didn't have time to wonder why Jonah was
there. She only knew she had to be in his arms so
she could forget about the things Edmund had done
to her.

Brent took a step forward, expecting to catch her
in his arms, but she ran past him and threw herself
into Jonah's embrace, sobbing uncontrollably.

"Sweetheart," Jonah murmured, holding her
against him as if he could absorb the quaking of her
small body. "What happened?" He brushed the hair
out of her face and saw the bruises and the blood.
Anger coiled inside him like a snake. "Who hurt
you?"

She felt so safe being held in his arms. She pressed
her face against his jacket and tried to control her
tears. "He touched me," she said, fresh tears
moistening her eyes. "He put his hands on me."

Jonah went down on one knee and held her on the
other, rage thrumming through him. He examined
the bruise and gently rubbed at the dirt on her face
with his handkerchief. That was when he noticed her
blouse was ripped-he met Brent's eyes and pulled the blouse together, turning her against his chest.
His voice was icy cold. "Who did this to you,
sweetheart?"

Brent crouched down beside her. "Who, Abby?"

She looked into the eyes of her brother and
hesitated. Edmund was dangerous, and if he
threatened to kill someone, he'd do it.

"Brent," she cried, reaching toward him. "It was
so awful. He... he... kissed me. I fought him,
I did, Brent."

Brent's eyes were burning with anger. "What did
he do?"

Jonah closed his eyes, imagining the worst. His
hand moved up and down Abby's back, trying to
soothe her. "Tell us, sweetheart."

"He kissed me and tore my blouse."

"Who?" Brent demanded. "Dammit, Abby, who
did this?"

"Edmund Montgomery," she said, laying her
head back against Jonah's shoulder. "I hated the
feel of his mouth on mine!"

"Did he do anything else to you, Abby?" Brent
asked the question that was tearing at Jonah.

"He would have, but I managed to get away from
him before he could. I ran for my rifle." She buried
her face back in Jonah's jacket. "I wanted to pull
the trigger-I wanted to see him dead!"

By now Crystal had heard the commotion and
joined them. She took Abby by the hand and pulled
her up, assessing her injuries. "Isn't it just like a man
to keep a woman talking when she needs doctoring." She smiled gently at Abby. "Come with me, honey.
I'll clean your scrapes."

"I'll kill him for this," Brent said, striding toward
the cabin to get his rifle.

"No, you won't," Jonah said, standing slowly.
"It's my place to take care of him. Abby is mine."

Brent watched his wife lead Abby into their cabin
and turned back to Jonah. "I guess she is. She
decided that today, didn't she?"

Jonah was trying to deal with his anger. "I want
to kill him for what he did to her-but it would be
far better if we work on this through the law. I can't
tell you any more than that."

"He isn't going to get away that easily."

"No," Jonah said, stalking toward his horse. "He
isn't. I'm going to ride into town and find the
bastard."

Abby was still shaking when Crystal seated her in a
chair. "Where did he hurt you?" she asked, reaching
for a clean cloth and water.

"He threw me down on the ground, hit me with
his fist, and tore my blouse."

Crystal looked at her sister-in-law carefully. "Is
that all?"

Abby gulped back a hiccup. "Yes, thank God. He
was strong, Crystal. I couldn't have fought him off
if he hadn't been distracted."

"It's all right," her sister-in-law told her. "He will
get what's been coming to him for a long time."

Jonah went directly to the banker's house, but the
housekeeper informed him that Edmund wasn't at
home. The woman told him she hadn't seen her
employer since early that morning.

It was getting late, and the bank was closed, but
he peered in the window, seeing nothing but the
dark interior. He entered the general store to ask if
anyone there had seen the banker, but the owner
was just closing, and he hadn't seen Edmund all
day.

The saloon was the only other place left to look.
He shoved the doors open and went inside. It was
noisy in the smoked-filled saloon as Jonah scanned
each face to see if one of them was Edmund.

He walked up to the bartender. "Have you seen
Edmund Montgomery today or tonight?"

O'Malley was drying a shot glass as he watched
the major's face. "It's possible. Why?"

Jonah's voice was forceful. "Just'tell me."

O'Malley didn't like the banker; he had seen him
plenty of times sneaking off to visit a woman who
lived just outside of town, even while his wife was
dying. The town praised him as a virtuous man, but
the bartender knew better. "Is it going to bode well
or ill for Montgomery if you find him?"

"Very ill."

The bartender smiled. "Then you will find him at a
house just outside town." He lowered his voice and
leaned across the bar as he gave Jonah directions.

Crystal had taken Abby home in the buggy. She
helped her into a nightgown and pulled the covers
back for her to get into bed. She saw the angry red
scrapes on Abby's back, and the sight made her
furious.

"Edmund Montgomery is going to be sorry he
ever laid a hand on a Hunter," she assured Abby.

"Where is Jonah? I want to see him."

"He left. I believe he intends to find Mr.
Montgomery."