Outlaw Hearts (44 page)

Thank goodness Lloyd was in Pueblo right now. If he had been home, it would be just like Beth to try to ride out to him once she heard about his father. She would have gotten involved in the whole dirty mess and the dangerous arrest. He decided he had better get her out of here as fast as possible, and he had to convince her to stay away from Lloyd. Neither task was going to be easy, but it was for her own good.

Thank God the relationship to this point had not seemed to grow too serious. Both still had plans to go off to school in the fall. Once Beth met some of the refined young men in the eastern schools, she would forget about Lloyd Hayes soon enough.

Jake listened to the birds of summer, watched them flit about. He loved these mountains in summer, loved the smell of the pine, the beauty of gray and purple rock still glazed with snow at the peaks. This particular spot was his favorite, a rocky foothill that overlooked a wide, green valley and a small, blue lake. Behind him the bigger mountains loomed like fortresses.

He missed Lloyd. He had let his son head home a couple of days early, knowing he was anxious to see Beth before he took that horse to Pueblo. He still worried about Lloyd's intense feelings for Zane Parker's daughter, hoped the boy was being smart enough not to let himself get carried away physically.

He drank down the rest of his coffee and began breaking camp when he heard a gunshot echo through the valley below. Alarmed, he walked to a rocky ledge to see who had fired the shot. “Jake!” someone shouted, the voice barely discernible. “You up there? Got to talk to you!”

Jake recognized Jess York's horse, pulled out one of his handguns and fired a shot in the air. “Here!” He watched Jess turn his horse and head toward him. He slid his gun back in its holster, wondering what was so urgent that Jess had come looking for him. He would have been home by tonight, wouldn't even have stopped to make himself any lunch if his horse hadn't bruised his leg.

He stayed in sight while Jess made his way up the steep pathway, which took several minutes. From the urgent, almost careless way Jess headed up the slope, he suddenly worried something had happened to Randy, or to Lloyd or Evie. “What the hell is wrong?” he shouted anxiously.

Jess kicked his horse into a loping gait until he reached Jake. By the time he came close, his horse was lathered and breathing heavily. “Soldiers!” Jess told him. “I think they're comin' for you.” In spite of Jake's dark complexion, Jess watched the man visibly pale. “I just come from Parker's place. That Lieutenant Gentry was there with twelve men, said he'd come for one of Parker's men, went into the house with Parker to talk private. You said Gentry seemed familiar to you, so I figured you're the one he's after. I tried to get it out of his men, but they wouldn't tell me. I figured you'd be somewhere in this section. Just wanted to come and warn you. He's got a prison wagon with him, Jake.”

Jake turned away, a feeling of numbness moving through his entire body. Suddenly there were no birds singing. Suddenly the beauty around him existed no more. He didn't want it to exist, for then he would have to face the fact that soon this freedom, the enjoyment of these simple things, all the love he had found these past years with his work and his family, all of it was going to be taken from him. “Lloyd already left for Pueblo, didn't he?”

“He left early yesterday.”

Jake closed his eyes. “Good.” Lloyd! His son was going to discover the awful truth now! In the blink of an eye all their lives would be changed. What was it Randy had said all those years ago? Something about the truth catching up with you and hurting more than if it was told in the first place. As usual, his wise, patient, devoted wife had been right, and oh, how it would hurt Lloyd and Evie!

“You've got time to light out of here, Jake,” Jess told him. “You know I'll look after the family till you can send for them again.”

A quick gust of wind swept down from the mountains and blew Jake's hat off. He breathed deeply of the sweet smell of pine and mountain wildflowers. “No,” he answered, running a hand through his still-thick hair. Its near-black color now showed streaks of gray at the temples. “No more running. It wouldn't do any good this time.” He turned and faced Jess, and Jess was almost startled at the change in his face, suddenly older, a look of defeat in his eyes. “Before it wasn't just to keep my own freedom. It was to be able to raise my family, to keep the truth from the children. I won't be able to do that now, so what reason is there to run? If I did, and I sent for them later, the only one who might come is Randy. The children won't want anything to do with me after this. That's what it was all for, Jess, for Lloyd and Evie.”

Jess felt a deep ache in his chest. “I'm sorry, Jake. Whatever happens, I'll look after the family for you. They're like family to me too.”

Their eyes held, and Jake nodded. He knew without their ever talking about it how Jess felt about Miranda. “I'd appreciate that.” He stooped down to pick up his hat and put it back on his head.

“I think you're wrong about the kids, Jake. You underestimate how much they love you.”

Jake shook his head. “Evie has her mother's forgiving heart.” He turned and dumped his coffee over the fire to put it out. “Lloyd and I have been closer because of working together these last few years, being alone together. He trusted me, and I've destroyed that trust. So many times he asked questions about my past, and so many times I almost told him but couldn't. I know him. He has a fierce pride. This will crush him.” He sighed deeply and faced Jess. “I'll need your horse. Mine has a bruised leg, and I don't want to waste time getting back to the house. Maybe I can get there before Gentry and his men do. I don't want them to make trouble for Randy and Evie.”

“They could already be there, Jake.”

The two men just looked at each other for several long, silent seconds, realizing this could be the last time they saw each other. There was no more running this time. Jake could be facing a firing squad or a noose before it was all over. Jess could see the man fighting tears as he put out his hand. “You've been a good friend, Jess. I'm trusting you to keep my family safe, help them however they need it.”

Jess grasped his hand and nodded, clearing his throat to find his voice. “This ain't your fault, Jake, when you think about it. It's your pa's fault. If not for him, none of the other would have happened.”

Jake released his grip and walked to Jess's horse, feeling as though someone had set a boulder on his chest. “Trouble is, Jess, Lloyd's going to say the same thing. This is going to change his life, and he's going to say it's all my fault.” He mounted up. “He'll be right.”

He turned the horse, and Jess noticed his jaw flexing, knew the man was struggling not to break down. “It's been close to twenty years, Jake, and you've been a good husband and father and a law-abiding man all that time. Maybe the judge who hears your case will take that into consideration.”

Jake smiled bitterly. “It won't matter. Even if they let me go, I'll have already lost something a lot more important to me than my life.” He turned the horse and headed down the steep embankment.

Jess turned away and viciously kicked dirt over the fire. This wasn't fair. After twenty years, Gentry should have left it alone. Goddamn bastard! He must have found out the reward was still good on Jake.

He picked up Jake's gear, his thoughts filled more with Randy than with Jake. Not many women loved with the kind of devotion and forgiveness that woman showed. She'd risked so much to be with Jake. He wished there would be more he could do to comfort her, but if Jake was hanged or put in prison for life, there would be nothing he could do but watch over her, provide for her as best he could. Nothing would take away the pain, and he knew he could never take Jake's place in her heart.

***

Miranda heard the creaking of leather saddles, the clinking of stirrup irons and bit and spur chains, the soft thud made by many horses as they trotted on the dry, dusty trail that led to the house. Many riders were coming! She had lived in this remote area long enough to know one had to always be wary, and she quickly took down her Winchester from where it was cradled over the door. “Stay inside, Evie,” she ordered her daughter. She opened the door and stepped out onto the porch to see soldiers coming.

Immediately her heart leaped to alarm. They were led by that tall, skinny Lieutenant Gentry. Had Jake's suspicions about the man after meeting him at the picnic been valid after all? She couldn't be sure that was why the man was here, didn't want to give Jake away by being too defensive. Maybe there was some other reason the man was here, but a sick feeling began to churn in her belly when she saw Gentry was hauling along what looked like a prison wagon.

She lowered the rifle, nodding to Gentry as he rode closer. “Good afternoon, Lieutenant.” She set the gun aside. If not for Evie, she supposed she would gladly shoot the man right out of his saddle and suffer the consequences, but she wanted no bullets flying with Evie around. “What brings you way out here?”

Gentry looked around warily. “Your husband about?”

The sick feeling became a sharp pain in her stomach. “No.” Jake! He was here for Jake! Why? After all these years, why had God let this happen?

“How about the boy? He still in Pueblo?”

Miranda folded her arms, dread turning to anger. It seemed a silly thing to come to mind all of a sudden, but she thought how ironic it was that today she was wearing the yellow dress Jake had always liked. She had kept herself trim enough all these years that she could still wear it, kept the dress cleaned and pressed for special occasions. She always wore it when she knew Jake could be home any day. “Yes. I'm here alone with my daughter.”

Gentry turned and motioned to one of his men. “Get the rifle. Check the house and get rid of any weapons that might be inside.”

Miranda quickly hoisted the Winchester. “I want an explanation first!” she demanded, aiming the rifle at the private. The man stopped in his tracks, and Miranda moved her gaze and her line of fire to the lieutenant. “You can't just come riding onto people's personal property and invade their home without a damn good reason, Lieutenant!” Miranda said firmly.

The lieutenant dismounted, facing her then with a look of authority. “Lady, I think you know the reason I'm here. Your husband is a wanted man, and I have every right to come here and arrest him.” He stepped a little closer, a victorious look in his steely blue eyes. “You'd better think this through. My information tells me that Jake Harkner is no easy man to take down, but he'll come in quick enough if he thinks his family is in danger. Now, do you really want to use that thing against twelve men? I'll have you shot down, woman, you and the daughter both, if you interfere, and I'd be within the law to do it. You've knowingly harbored a fugitive for years, and pointing that rifle against me and my men creates a picture of self-defense. You want your daughter to get hurt over this, or be left without a father
and
a mother? It's your choice, lady.”

Miranda slowly lowered the rifle. “You bastard!” she nearly growled. “Why are you doing this? Jake has led a decent life for nearly twenty years now! You have no good reason to do this!”

The man reached out and yanked the rifle from her hands. “Go on inside and check it out,” he told the private. The young man hurried past him, and Gentry kept his eyes on Miranda, thinking what a pretty woman she was for her age. “I have a lot of reasons, lady. Five thousand of them, to be exact, unless your husband gives us trouble. Then I've only got three thousand reasons.”

Miranda struggled to keep her composure. The last thing she wanted to do was crumble and weep in front of this haughty man. “How did you know Jake? How did you find out?”

“He looked familiar to me that day I saw him at Parker's shindig. I started scratching my memory, remembered a man named Jake who was damned good with those guns he wore. I bought stolen rifles from him during the war. A friend of mine remembered him too. He's a sheriff now, down in Southern Missouri. He knew more about Jake than I did—sent me this.” The man reached into his jacket and pulled out the wanted poster. “Doesn't look a whole lot like him anymore, except for those eyes. It's Jake, all right. I checked with the Missouri authorities, and the money is still good. I aim to collect.”

Miranda unfolded the poster. There was the Jake she had found that day lying on her bed, the old, hard, bearded, mean Jake Harkner, the man he had left behind so many years ago when he discovered he was worth something to someone, discovered he could actually love and be loved in return. She handed the poster back to Gentry. “The man you will be arresting is not the man in this poster. Turning him in now would be like turning in an innocent man.”

Gentry just grinned. “A man is never innocent of his past, lady. What's done is done, and can't be
un
done. I'm hauling him back to Missouri for the reward money.”

Oh, how she hated him! “And I wonder who is truly the decent man here. If someone offered Jake ten million dollars to do what you're doing, he wouldn't take it!
You're
the sinner, Lieutenant, and you'll burn in hell for this!”

“Will I?” His eyes moved over her insultingly. “Well, then, I expect you'll be there with me, after spreading yourself all these years for a no-good outlaw.” He watched the crimson come to her cheeks. “Tell me, Mrs. Harkner, just what was it that attracted you to the man? Was it the danger? Did it excite you to know he'd raped women?”

Miranda could not control the urge to slap him. She hit him hard across his cheek, with such force that the man stumbled slightly sideways. In an instant he backhanded her with a shocking blow to her left cheek, knocking her to the ground.

“Mother!” Evie screamed. The girl had just come to the door to ask why the soldiers were there, why one of them was tearing through the house looking for weapons. She ran to Miranda and knelt over her, cradling Miranda in her arms and looking up at the lieutenant with tears in her eyes. “What are you doing?” she screamed. “How can you hit a woman like that?”

“Don't tell me your
pa's
never hit her,” Gentry sneered. “I expect that's why she married him. He probably forced her into his bed and then she felt obligated. You've got a lot to learn about your father, little girl. You take your mother in the house and let
her
explain.” He pulled a pistol from its holster on his hip and pointed it at Evie. “Do like I say. I don't want any trouble and I don't want anybody to get hurt. Soon as we have your father in our custody, we'll leave you be. Now, you tell me when your father is expected home, and don't lie to me, girl!”