The Bounty Hunter and the Heiress (21 page)

“Hold your fire, everybody! It's Raven,” Frank Albers shouted at his companions.

When Lydia and the three men appeared from the underbrush, Eva waved her broken arm over her head. “Lydia! Get down! It's a trap! That isn't Raven!”

It was a race to see who reached the foursome first. If James managed to pounce on Lydia,
she
could become the new hostage and he would confiscate the ransom.

Eva vowed, there and then, that her sister would not endure the agony she had suffered at James's hands. The showdown would come, here and now, she promised herself resolutely.

Like two medieval knights jousting on horseback, Eva and James plunged straight toward each other. He divided his attention between Lydia's location and Eva's daring attempt to intercept him. Eva took full advantage of his distraction. She used her splinted arm like a club to knock James off balance when their paths intersected.

He yelped as he somersaulted off the back of Raven's paint horse. He hit the ground with a thud and a groan. His hat went flying, exposing his true identity to the onlookers.

Eva skidded her horse to a halt. Before she dismounted, Lydia shot across the meadow with a thick tree branch in hand.

“You bastard!” Lydia shrieked as she upraised her arm and thwacked her former fiancé on the shoulder. “How dare you try to ransom my sister after what you already did to me!”

She tried to club him on the head, but he raised both arms to shield himself so she thunked him good and hard on the shin instead.

When James howled and tried to roll away from the multiple body blows directed at him, the three men rushed forward to hold him at gunpoint. Eva watched in supreme satisfaction as Lydia vented all her pent-up outrage on the man who had caused her so much heartache and humiliation.

“You missed a spot.” Eva called her sister's attention to James's kneecaps and listened to him yowl when Lydia thumped both knees—good and hard.

“Your turn.” Lydia thrust the club at Eva so she could give him a good thrashing.

James yelped when Eva hammered his elbows for good measure.

She returned the makeshift club to Lydia. “Have another go at it. Smash his fingers while you're at it. I want this scoundrel to remember us each time he sees his welts and bruises. After what he did to—” She slammed her mouth shut then decided Lydia had a right to know the fate of her prized horse. “He killed Hodge and beat him brutally.”

“What!” Lydia cried in outrage.

Then she proceeded to beat the hell out of James and no one intervened. The men stood and watched her wallop him repeatedly until he begged for mercy—and found none forthcoming.

“Where's Raven?” Eva asked suddenly.

She glanced around, expecting his arrival. She had been focused completely on protecting Lydia from James's possible attack. Then she'd become sidetracked watching her sister have her revenge.

She had forgotten about Raven.

How could she have forgotten him? He had saved her life more times than she could count. Not to mention that she had committed the unforgivable by allowing herself to fall in love with a man who had little use or need for her in his life.

And there it was. The truth she had tried so hard to deny to herself.
She loved Raven.
But she didn't know where he was or what happened to him.

Unholy terror pulsated through her as she lurched around to retrieve her horse. She suddenly remembered the first gunshot that had sent her thundering downhill to protect Lydia. Dear God, had Raven been shot? Is that why James had been able to confiscate his horse and clothing?

Despite the awkward splint, she pulled herself into the saddle then grabbed the reins to the paint pony. She rode off in the direction from which James had come, hoping beyond hope that she hadn't delayed too long to find Raven alive.

Her heart dropped to her stomach when she spotted Hoodoo and Blackowl hunkered down beside their horses. All she could see was Raven's moccasined feet sprawled on the ground. Everything inside her rebelled at the prospect of Raven being seriously injured—or worse. He was practically invincible, prepared for
everything
—or so he had told her the first night they met. If something happened to him because of her…

Her thoughts trailed off and she burst into tears. She reined the bay gelding to a halt then vaulted from the saddle. She raced forward to see that Raven was bare-chested and bareheaded. His face was as white as salt and blood streamed from his head wound and dribbled over his cheeks like a river of red.

“Raven! Oh, God, J.D.!” she shouted as she elbowed the two men out of her way to crouch beside him. “I'm so sorry!” she wailed. “This is exactly what I tried to guard against when I went after James alone.”

Her wild-eyed gaze bounced back and forth between Blackowl and Hoodoo's grim expressions. “Is he going to be all right?”

Hoodoo shrugged noncommittally. “Dunno, little gal. Head wounds can look worse than they are, but he hasn't regained consciousness. He should have by now…And thanks so much for sneaking off,” he added disapprovingly.

“I'm sorry, Hoodoo. I wanted to be there, badly.”

Eva scooted sideways so she could cradle Raven's head in her lap. She motioned for Blackowl to hand her the cloth he was using to compress the wound. She frowned in confusion when she felt the large knot on the back of Raven's head.

“James must have clubbed him, too,” she guessed accurately as she turned his head sideways to show the men the bloody knot on his skull.

“I'll fetch the poultice to treat the gunshot wound,” Blackowl said as he climbed to his feet. “We'll make him as comfortable as possible so we can take him back to the cabin.”

“No, he's coming home with me so he can have the best medical care money can buy,” she insisted.

Eva felt so horribly guilty about Raven's condition she cried again. Raven had placed her safety above his need to track down James because she had fallen down the mountain. Yet, she had rushed to her sister's rescue.

She had placed Lydia's welfare above Raven's. It tormented her to no end that she'd failed him when
he
needed
her
for the very first time. To compensate she'd turn her bedroom into an infirmary. While he recuperated, she'd give him round-the-clock care and cater to his every need.

“Where are those foul-tasting peyote buttons you crammed down my throat?” she demanded of Blackowl.

“They're in my pouch, but Raven won't want—”

“Raven is not in charge of his convalescence, I am,” she said sharply. “He sedated me when I was injured and needed to be transported. Obviously he approves of that policy.”

When Blackowl opened his mouth to object, Eva glared him into submission. He sighed audibly then grabbed the peyote.

“Is this him? Is this your husband who couldn't protect you from that sneaky shyster?” Lydia demanded huffily as she walked up behind Eva.

She glanced over her shoulder, noting again that she and her sister were identically dressed. “Yes, this is Raven and he protected me just fine,” she defended. “I wouldn't be alive now, if not for him and Blackowl and Hoodoo.”

She hitched her thumb toward the two men and noted that Lydia stared overly long at Hoodoo's disfigured face before she surveyed Blackowl's bronzed features and powerful physique. “Lydia, this is Hoodoo Lemoyne and Raven's Cheyenne cousin, Blackowl.”

While Lydia and Blackowl sized each other up, Eva crammed the peyote buttons into Raven's mouth to dissolve and take effect. When she removed the compress from his head wound, she realized it was deep enough to require stitches.

“Blackowl?” she murmured, gesturing to the clean wound.

He came down on one knee to inspect the injury, then nodded in agreement. “I can stitch him up. There's a pouch in my saddlebag—”

“I'll fetch it for you,” Lydia volunteered quickly. “What else can I do to help?”

Eva stared at Lydia, who usually fell to pieces in a crisis. “Who
are
you and what have you done with my sister?”

Lydia returned shortly with needle and thread in hand then tapped herself proudly on the chest. “This is the new improved me,” she announced. “I have decided to be exactly like you and to assert myself. And most importantly I'm not taking another man at his word so long as I live.”

“Some are trustworthy,” Eva insisted.

“Name one,” Lydia challenged.

“Here are three,” Eva replied. “Then there is Roger Philbert, who has been a loyal friend to both of us.”

“Fine, there are four. The rest I'm not sure about.” Lydia handed the needle and thread to Blackowl then looked back at Eva. “I still don't understand why you married the bounty hunter.
Hiring
him should have been sufficient.”

Eva decided to save the long involved explanation for later. The first order of business was to tend to Raven, then bind up James for transport to jail. While Hoodoo and Blackowl treated Raven's wounds, Eva drew her sister aside.

“It is your choice what to do about James,” she murmured.

“James?”
Lydia stared blankly at her.
“James who?”

“J
ames Archer—alias Gordon Carter, and who knows what other names he goes by—is Raven's vicious stepbrother,” Eva reported. “But if you prefer to have James incarcerated at Pueblo or Canyon Springs to avoid rumor or gossip pertaining to you then that's exactly what we'll do, Lydia.”

Lydia pulled a face then glanced back to where Frank, Roger and Irving had tied James to a tree. “Those are my only choices? I want to shoot him.”

“So do I, but there are entirely too many eyewitnesses who would have to testify against us,” Eva said dryly. “The tale would be all over Denver.”

Lydia waved her hand dismissively. “I don't care about gossip anymore. I'm not wasting my time with meaningless soirees or trying to live my life according to someone else's expectations. I'm planning to broaden my horizons to include more challenge and adventure in the wilderness.”

Eva smirked. “The last time I took you on an excursion in the mountains you claimed city life suited you better.”

She elevated her chin. “I've changed my mind. I've decided to live on the edge like you.”

Eva held up her broken arm. “Then beware of nasty falls.”

Lydia flung her arms around Eva's neck suddenly and hugged her close. “I was so dreadfully worried about you. I've felt horribly guilty because every bruise and pain you've suffered is my fault. If I had seen Gordon for what he was, none of this would have happened!”

Eva nuzzled her sister affectionately, knowing exactly how she felt. Eva had been hounded by guilt because Raven, Blackowl and Hoodoo had risked danger and devoted so much time and effort on her behalf.

“Everything is fine now. I'm taking Raven home with me so he can recuperate.” Eva pulled away to stare intently at her sister. “Are you serious about wanting to undertake an adventure?”

Lydia bobbed her headed eagerly.

Eva grinned. “I fell downhill and landed on an overlooked vein of gold ore. Although Hoodoo told me that Raven registered the claim in my name, I want to transfer it to Hoodoo, Blackowl and Raven. If not for them, I would have perished in a gold mine that no one knew was there.”

“You want me to work the claim?”

“Yes, if you'll allow Blackowl and Hoodoo to accompany you to determine its potential. It might fizzle out in a few pans of dirt or become a productive site.” She leaned close to her sister to continue. “As for Hoodoo, he was mauled by a bear and has become self-conscious about his appearance. But he's a dear, considerate and helpful man so be kind to him.”

“You can count on me,” Lydia said determinedly. Then her expression became quite serious. “I want to know what is going on with you and the bounty hunter.”

Eva shifted uneasily. “I had to resort to drastic measures to enlist his help because he turned down the case. I pretended to be his wife to force him to let me travel with him on the stagecoach. He was more or less stuck with me.”

Lydia grinned wickedly. “That should teach him not to tangle with a Hallowell.”

“But then I fell in love with him,” Eva burst out.

Lydia's smile turned upside down. “How can this possibly work?” She looked back at Blackowl, who was completing his task. “That would be as ill-fated as a match between me and that brawny Cheyenne warrior I just met.”

“Probably,” Eva agreed. “But at least this time I'm wise enough to realize that what Raven feels for me is professional duty and responsibility.”

Lydia reached out to give her hand a sympathetic squeeze. “I'm sorry, Eva. But now you have your eyes wide open and you can foresee the pitfalls. Unlike your crushing disappointment with Felix Winslow and my mortification with Gordon Carter, who isn't even a real person, for God's sake!”

“Raven is ready for transport,” Hoodoo called to her.

Eva wheeled away to check on Raven then she pivoted back to her sister. “Decide what you want to do with your ex-fiancé. We can have him jailed in Canyon Springs in a matter of hours.”

“We'll take him to Denver,” Lydia decided. “By the time word of his kidnapping attempt and his ransom demands spread around town, my short-term association with him will be old news.” She shrugged lackadaisically. “Besides, he is a closed chapter in my life and I am anxious to begin my grand adventure.”

Eva walked off, making a mental note to outfit her sister with the doehide clothing that would conceal her gender. However, with Hoodoo and Blackowl as her companions she would be safe and protected. All Eva had to do was persuade them to accompany Lydia to Satan's Bluff and transport the necessary equipment to the site to mine the gold ore.

Eva smiled impishly, wondering what the negotiations would cost her. Blackowl would invariably claim he didn't want to spend more time with “palefaces” than absolutely necessary.

 

Raven awoke to the feel of miniature carpenters hammering at his skull. He felt so sluggish and lethargic that he couldn't muster the energy to open his eyes. He lay there, trying to recollect the last thing he remembered.

After a long, confused moment, he recalled riding frantically toward Eva and Hoodoo before they prematurely sprung the trap for James. Damn, what had happened to Eva? Had she become James's hostage again?

Scowling at his inability to recall the details, he massaged his throbbing head and inspected the bandage covering the wound. The back of his skull hurt like a son of a bitch. He touched the knot carefully then grimaced when he unintentionally triggered another sharp pain.

Several minutes passed before Raven decided to open his eyes to see how his headache responded to sunlight. Sure enough, his skull throbbed and blinding light stabbed at him. Shielding the top portion of his face with his hand, he surveyed his surroundings through cloudy vision. He was shocked to find himself lying on a frilly blue canopy bed in a palatial room fit for royalty.

“Where the hell am I?” he chirped.

Clearly, he had died and gone to heaven. No one had bothered to inform him of his change of address. He was floating in a lazy haze, lounging on a mattress as soft as a cloud.

When the door swung open, Raven stared blankly at Eva. “Oh, damn, you're dead, too. I failed you again.”

She smiled at him as she all but floated into the room with a tray of food in hand. Her dark eyes sparkled impishly as she sank down beside him. “Dead? No, you aren't that lucky, Jo-Dan. You are under my care.”

“So this is hell, not heaven,” he mumbled but he was smiling because she looked so damn appealing in her trim-fitting green gown. Despite the new splint on her broken arm and the telltale scrapes and bruises—souvenirs of her wild adventure in the wilderness—she looked positively radiant.

She leaned sideways to set the tray on his belly. “Hell is what you make of it,” she replied. “Be optimistic and enjoy your accommodations while you recuperate.”

He looked around the spacious room again. “Where are we?”

“In my room in Denver,” she reported.

“Your room!”
he hooted as he shoved himself into a sitting position.
“In Denver?”

Eva reached out to place her hand on his bare chest then pressed him back down, which was probably for the best because the abrupt movement made him light-headed.

“I'm a long way from my cabin, which is where I should be,” he grumbled, taking inventory of the elaborately decorated furnishings that made him feel completely out of place.

She grinned mischievously. “Not so far away when you consider your caregiver crammed peyote down your throat to knock you out for a day or two. As you did with me, might I remind you. But I had our family doctor give you a strong dose of laudanum to keep you sedated when you arrived here.”

He muttered under his breath and rubbed his jaw, noting that he had a thick growth of whiskers. “That's a fine way to treat a man who was trying to save you from another shooting. What became of James, by the way?”

Eva offered him a spoonful of tasty soup. “When he tried to swipe the ransom money I whacked him with my splint and knocked him off his horse.”

Raven grinned. “A shame I missed that.”

“It was quite gratifying,” she admitted. “But it did my heart good to watch Lydia grab a makeshift club and pound James into the ground.”

“Sorry I missed that part, too.”

“Now Marshal Doyle has James locked up
tight.
He is chained to the bars, at my insistence,” she continued. “Our lawyer has charged him with kidnapping, attempted murder and extortion, to name only a few of his crimes. The story circulating around Denver is that I exposed him as the shyster he was and he retaliated against me. Lydia's involvement with him is a mere footnote in the tale.”

“How is your sister holding up?” he asked between bites.

“Amazingly well.” She offered him a drink of milk. “I was able to retrieve the stolen money James had stashed in his saddlebags and return it to Lydia. She was greatly relieved, but now she's too preoccupied with the new gold mine to care about her ordeal with James.”

Raven's brows shot up his forehead and then he winced when he felt the twinge in his scalp. “She's in Satan's Bluff?”

Eva nodded her auburn head. “Hoodoo and Blackowl gladly agreed to accompany her, equipped with the necessities to determine what kind of yield to expect from the mine.”

Raven stared skeptically at her. “
Gladly agreed?
How did you swing that, hellion?”

Eva fed him another spoonful of soup. “I offered a generous fee for their trouble. Then I informed them that Lydia was instructed to transfer ownership of the claim to them and to you.”

Raven gaped at her and nearly choked on his soup.

She dug a letter from her pocket and waved it in front of his face. “I think Lydia has developed a
tendre
for your cousin, though she claimed she had also sworn off men forever. Her letter if full of ‘Blackowl said this' and ‘Blackowl did that.'” She snickered. “Also, Hoodoo asked her to marry him twice. The fact that Lydia and I look alike has its drawbacks. Apparently, either of us will do. Since I'm out of sight I'm also out of Hoodoo's mind.”

“Ah, well, you did tell me more than once that
you
had sworn off men for the rest of your life,” he reminded her.

Her smile faded as she brushed her hand over the tousled black hair that drooped over his forehead. “We have a slight problem, Raven.”

“Do we? Only a slight problem? Like breaking an arm? Getting shot in the head?” he quizzed her.

She glanced away, refusing to meet his inquisitive gaze. “Word has spread through town that we are married. Not that I care because it is a fine deterrent for adventurers who are eager to attach themselves to my fortune.”

He nodded pensively. “Yes, now Felix Winslows and Gordon Carters of the world will look elsewhere for an unsuspecting pigeon.”

“To regain your freedom you will have to get a pretend divorce to nullify our fake marriage,” she explained. “Divorce is nasty business, whether real or pretended, but it is my fault that your name has been linked to mine and the news has set gossips' tongues to wagging. I'm sorry I dragged you into this.”

The prospect of having no attachment whatsoever to Eva left him feeling empty and dissatisfied. It shouldn't have because he knew it was best for Eva to remain in her world while he returned to his own.

“I'll take care of the situation as soon as I'm back on my feet,” he assured her.

She turned away to fluff his pillow so he couldn't gauge her reaction to his comment. He really wanted to know if she was relieved or slightly disappointed. However, he wasn't about to ask, for fear he might do something stupid—like admit his aversion to letting her go and never seeing her again.

“The doctor will arrive shortly to check on you,” she informed him. “Perhaps he will dispense with the laudanum since you are coherent. How's your headache by now?”

“Still there.”

Contentment stole over him when Eva leaned down to press her lips gently to his. It seemed like weeks since he'd kissed her, since he'd inhaled that unique fragrance he associated with her, since he felt her lush body brushing against his.

“I'll leave you to rest,” she whispered against his lips. “I'm dreadfully sorry you were injured because of my crusade. That's why I struck off alone for Purgatory Gulch. I didn't want to place you in danger. Even so, James got off a lucky shot then he took your clothes and horse. He tried to masquerade as you so he could swipe the ransom money from my sister, but I knew it wasn't you and I alerted everyone.

“Now here you are, flat on your back. With a headache from hell, I suspect. Forgive me?” she murmured softly.

“If you'll forgive me for failing you when James took you captive and you ended up with a gunshot wound and broken arm.”

“I didn't hold you responsible.”