Wanted (54 page)

“Dead?”

Morgan nodded.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Let me take some men to Harmony. Lori saw the whole thing. She knows who witnessed the shooting. I can get someone to talk.”

The Ranger captain leaned back in his chair. “If they don't …?”

“Lori says everyone there is scared to death of Wardlaw. He has gunhands. An honest rancher doesn't have hired guns,” Morgan said. “When I went sniffing down there after I saw the poster months ago, there was plenty of talk about rustled cattle, and the fact that some folks have been selling out real cheap. My mind was on something else then, but I sorta filed the information to tell you later. It wasn't until Lori and Nick told me more about Harmony that I started putting it together. I think an invasion of Rangers is exactly what Harmony needs for some witnesses to get a little brave.”

Both Nick and Lori stared at him, questions in their eyes. Lori knew suddenly that she had been allowed to come for a reason, not because Morgan particularly wanted her with them. She wished she didn't feel so intolerably disappointed … even betrayed in some way.

Morgan straightened, looking uncomfortable. “I didn't … want to get your hopes up,” he said to the two of them.

Ira released a long-suffering sigh. “I've been putting up with this for years. Morgan's the most closemouthed bast—Ranger in the company.” He stood. “When do you want to leave?”

Morgan relaxed. “Tomorrow morning. How many men?”

“Ten. And myself. With that face you're going to need some backing. I don't want to hear of your hanging by mistake. I won't risk losing you.”

“You won't get in trouble?”

“There's been a mandate from the governor to stop rustling with whatever means we have,” Ira said complacently. “That's why I've been so damned impatient for your return. You're being named captain of a new special force.”

Morgan's gaze moved to Lori, and it was suddenly dark and brooding. A muscle flexed in his cheek for a moment.

“Morgan?” Captain Langford's voice was sharp.

Morgan looked back. “Leave at sunrise?”

The captain turned to Lori. “Ma'am?”

She nodded, her eyes still locked with Morgan's.

Nick was on his feet. “I'm going too.”

“No, you're not,” Morgan said curtly. “I don't want you in their jurisdiction.”

“It's my neck, dammit.”

“Not yours alone. You're staying here if I have to lock you up again.”

“You'll have to do that, then.” They were toe to toe, their eyes furious, the old tension vibrating between them.

“Morgan.” Again the Ranger captain's voice was sharp. Morgan reluctantly turned back to him.

“Can he handle a gun?”

Morgan nodded, again reluctantly.

“Does Wardlaw know about you?”

Morgan shook his head. “I don't think so. When I was there, I had the mustache and wore the hat and eye patch.”

Ira Langford smiled slowly. “I think it would be mighty interesting for Mr. Wardlaw to meet up with two Nicholas Bradens. Might confuse him enough to make a mistake.”

Morgan started to say something, but Ira held up his hand. “No one will take him out of my custody, I promise you that.”

Lori saw the struggle on Morgan's face. She thought she understood it. He'd just found Nick. He didn't want to lose him, even if he destroyed something else trying to protect him. Morgan was far more like Nick than he'd ever admitted.

He finally nodded, and Nick smiled grimly, still angry at Morgan's attempt to control him.

“Your … brother can sleep in the bunkhouse tonight. Miss Braden can stay with Mary Jo Williams,” Ira said. “She'll be glad for the company. I'll send someone over to tell Mary Jo.”

“How are she and the boy?” Morgan's voice had softened. “I saw Jeffry in the corral.”

“She's still fending off half the Rangers here. Swears she'll never marry another one, but the money's on Ty Smith.”

“How long has it been now? Two years since Jeff died?”

“Closer to three.”

Lori listened with fascination, especially after Morgan's voice softened. It didn't do that often. It had with Beth, with her. She felt a stab of jealousy as the Ranger captain went outside and said a few words to a man out there.

“Mary Jo?” Lori couldn't keep herself from asking.

“Her husband was a Ranger. He was killed two years ago. Mary Jo didn't have anyplace to go, so she became the cook here. She and her son have a small house. You'll like her.” His voice was suddenly rough, almost harsh. They were alone; the Ranger captain had gone outside, and Nick had followed him.

Morgan's arms went around her and held her tight for a moment. “I hate to drag you and Nick along tomorrow, but …”

“I think I'll feel safe with a company of Rangers,” she said. “I feel safe with just you.”

He rested his head against her hair in a gesture she was growing to love. “I … I didn't know you were a lieutenant,” she said hesitantly. “This … job he mentioned. It's a promotion, isn't it?”

He shrugged, and she knew there was something he wasn't saying. He just held her a little tighter, and then someone cleared his throat behind Morgan. Morgan moved, but not quickly, and held on to her waist as he turned around and faced Ira.

“We need to talk later, Morgan,” he said. “After supper, here.” It wasn't a request but an order, and Morgan nodded. Lori felt her face flame as Ira looked at her more intently than he had before.

“Ma'am,” he said in dismissal, and Lori was guided out the door by Morgan. Nick was standing by his horse, waiting.

By then news apparently had circulated, and a growing crowd of men gathered around, greeting Morgan. Most of them, Lori noted, were lean men with cold eyes and with about as much to say as Morgan usually did. Whatever curiosity they had about Nick was tamped, whether because he and Lori were around or because they respected Morgan's privacy. They all nodded politely to her and to Nick, welcoming Morgan back with few words but a hearty handshake, and Lori again understood more about Morgan.

These were the kind of men who raised him. She felt lost and lonely around them, felt as if she were losing Morgan to something she didn't know how to fight.

Just then a pretty woman stepped from a small adobe building and hurried over to her. “I'm Mary Jo. Ira said you needed a place to stay, and I'm mighty glad to see another woman.” She glared at the men, particularly at Morgan. “Making her stand out here in this heat. Thought you had better manners than that. On second thought …”

Morgan winked at Lori. “She's a lot tougher than she looks. In fact …”

Lori was enchanted, just as she had been before when he exercised that rare, mischievous humor. Spontaneously, she reached out for his hand, just wanting to touch him, and his gaze met hers … warm and loving. It surprised her, here in the middle of men he worked with, but, then, he'd always been direct. He wouldn't hide her any more than he would hide his relationship with Nick. Even if he could.

Mary Jo looked thunderstruck. “Well, Morgan Davis,” she said. Then obviously stuck for words, she repeated, “Well … well. Well.”

Morgan chuckled. “I don't think I've ever seen you speechless before, but you're right, Mary Jo. I think Lori would like to clean up a little. Nick and I could use a bath, too.”

The woman nodded, scooping up a strand of auburn hair and tucking it back in a knot at her neck. She wore an apron over a blue gingham dress, and Lori felt suddenly awkward in the shirt and divided skirt she'd worn the past several days. She had one dress with her, and the shirt and trousers she'd worn the first few days. Mary Jo Williams was very pretty, very much a lady, and yet so at ease with these hard, laconic men. Lori had always been at ease with men before, but these were a different breed from the townsmen and cowboys who'd gathered around the Medicine Show Wagon, wanting to be entertained. And she so badly wanted them to like her.

She followed Mary Jo to the small house she shared with her son. “Aren't there any other women here?” she asked.

Mary Jo shook her head in the negative, and some of the laughter left her eyes. “There's Carolyn Talbot. She and George have a ranch about ten miles away where she goes when he's out on a job. That's all of us. Rangers don't marry much. They usually leave if they do.”

Lori saw a picture on a table, a handsome man standing next to Mary Jo.

“That's Jeff. He kept saying he would leave the Rangers, start a little spread someplace, but he never could quite bring himself to do it.”

“Why don't you leave?”

“No place to go. No family but Jeffry. And I don't know how to do anything but cook and sew. Seemed easier to stay, but now I don't know. I don't want Jeffry growing up this way … thinking rangering is the only thing to do.” She hesitated, then added quietly, “Like Morgan.”

“You like him, don't you?”

“He was Jeff's friend, and Jeffry idolizes him. When Morgan's here, he spends a lot of time with my son. I appreciate that.” She smiled. “How I do run on. There's a pump in the kitchen, along with a bathtub. I'll start a fire and you can heat some water. I'll get Jeffry to help me in the cookhouse, so you just take your time.”

Just then the door swung open, and a freckle-faced boy dashed inside with Lori's bedroll and saddlebag. “Morgan told me to bring this to you,” he said. He was ten, maybe eleven, with brown eyes filled with excitement. “You sure are pretty,” he said.

Lori suddenly felt at ease. “Thank you, sir,” she said. “And thank you for bringing my things.”

He ducked his head slightly. “Gotta go see Morgan,” he said, and whirled back out the door.

Mary Jo chuckled. “As I said, Morgan's his hero.”

And mine, Lori thought, even as her eyes went back to the picture on the table and a shiver ran down her back.

Harmony hadn't changed since the last time Morgan saw it. Dusty, dirty. A cow town thrown up ten years ago to serve the growing number of ranches that bloomed after the war.

He looked toward Lori, who was on Clementine. They'd eaten dinner together, and then he had to leave her to see Ira. It hadn't been a pleasant experience.…

Ira had known instantly that Morgan was thinking of leaving the Rangers.

“What's happened to you, Morgan?”

Morgan sighed. “I wish I knew. Ira, I love Lori Braden. I never really believed in love before, but now …” He hesitated. “And then there's Nick. Even if we succeed in Harmony, those damn posters have a life of their own. You know that. Both Nick and I will be targets until the word gets out. Even then, a year from now, two … some new bounty hunter will see an old poster and it starts all over again.”

“You're going to turn down that promotion, aren't you? You've already made up your mind.”

“I appreciate the offer of a special-forces company, but you know what that means as well as I. Always on the move. It's bad enough having a wife and being stationed in one place.

“You're really going to marry her?”

“If she'll have me after talking to Mary Jo,” he said, then stared at Ira. “You did that on purpose, didn't you?”

“She needs to know.” Ira paced. “I don't want to lose you, Morgan. You're the best there is.”

“I was,” Morgan corrected. “I was, because I didn't feel anything. Now I do. I may not be so fast next time.”

“Think about it, Morgan. Think real carefully.”

“I will,” Morgan said.

“No decision until we get back,” Ira countered, and Morgan knew his boss was betting that the action, the teamwork … the excitement that always came with a job like this would win in the end. He'd nodded and had a drink with Ira. They'd been friends a long time, had suffered through cold nights and long watches, and harrowing battles together. They'd served in the same company during the war. “To the Rangers,” Ira had toasted.

“The Rangers,” Morgan had replied, feeling torn apart once more.…

But now he concentrated on the streets of Harmony. Men watched in amazement as the twelve men in duster coats and well-used pistols rode through town as if they owned it. Only Wardlaw had done that before. Morgan wore his hat pulled down, as he usually did, shading part of his face. Nick, as usual, was riding hatless, almost in open defiance. Two men on the street stared at Nick's face, then dived for their horses and rode away as if the devil were after them.

Ira stopped at the sheriff's office. Morgan and Nick dismounted along with two other men carrying rifles, and then Morgan helped Lori dismount. The remaining Rangers stayed mounted, their eyes scouring every window, every doorway.

The sheriff, a fat, unkempt man, stood at the invasion of his office and started blustering until he saw the Ranger badges. “What the hell …” And then his eyes fastened on Morgan, who'd pushed his hat up now and moved over to Nick.

The sheriff's brows furrowed. “What the hell is going on? Which is Braden?”

Ira looked toward Morgan. “This is Ranger Morgan Davis. You've put him at considerable inconvenience. He and his brother, the man you know as Braden.”

The sheriff's face paled. “But he … Braden's wanted for murder.”

“Murder isn't exactly the way I heard it,” the Ranger captain said, “nor the way this young lady tells it. I want to hear from every witness myself.”

“This is a local … matter,” the sheriff blustered.

“Not any longer,” Ira said. “We have a new mandate from the governor. To stop rustling. I've heard you've had quite a bit of rustling in this area.”

“That has nothing to do with …”

“But I say it does. Maybe this man knew too much.”

“No … no, it was … Mr. Wardlaw's daughter. She was attacked.…”