The Heart's Pursuit Page 19

  Ice trickled through her veins as she lowered the Colt revolver.

  The campfire illuminated Carlton’s form beneath the tree, and it looked like Silver and Dean were asleep in their bedrolls. But Jared’s gut told him something was wrong. Then he knew what. He’d tied the prisoner to a different tree that morning. He wasn’t in the right place. Carlton had been moved.

  Jared dismounted. His gelding nickered. There was no response from the other horses. Jared’s tension increased.

  “Easy, boy.” Jared drew his Colt from the holster. He entered the campsite, alert as he made his way toward the prisoner who was completely covered with the blanket, even his head. “Carlton,” he said, voice low. “Wake up.”

  Carlton didn’t move, so Jared nudged him with the toe of his boot. Still no response. Jared reached down with his free hand and yanked the blanket away. His heart slammed against his ribs. It wasn’t Carlton beneath the blanket. It was Dean—bound, gagged, and cuffed to the tree. There was a cut along his temple, the blood now dried and crusty. The boy’s expression was dazed. Whether from sleep or the knock he’d taken to his head, Jared didn’t know.

  He dropped to one knee. “Dean, what happened?” He freed the boy from the gag first.

  “He got Silver.”

  “How long ago?”

  The boy shook his head. “Don’t know. It wasn’t dark yet, I know that much. He hit me an’ knocked me cold.” His arms freed, he lifted fingers to touch the bloody spot at his temple.

  “How did it happen?”

  “It was my fault. We were movin’ him ’cause there was ants bitin’ him. They were all over him. I didn’t care if they ate him alive, but Miss Silver said we couldn’t just leave him there. Everything was goin’ okay, but then he jerked me forward with the chain and got me around the neck. Said he’d kill me if she didn’t put the gun down. She’d already shot at him once and missed. Guess she was afraid what he’d do to me if she tried again.”

  Jared stood. It was a miracle Carlton hadn’t killed Dean before leaving the campsite. It wouldn’t bother him for a moment to murder a child.

  As if guessing Jared’s thoughts, Dean said, “Before he knocked me out, he said to tell you that he’ll kill her if you follow him.”

  Matt Carlton had left the boy alive to deliver that message. But Jared knew Carlton would kill Silver whether or not he followed. He had three, maybe four, hours’ head start, and he’d had some of it in daylight.

  With haste, Jared made a torch out of tree branches and a cloth. Then he moved toward where he’d left the remaining two horses that morning. Both of them were now gone. He hunkered down and peered at the ground but soon realized he needed more light than the torch provided in order to discover which way Carlton had gone with Silver. Even if they started off in the right direction, they could quickly go astray. Jared was an excellent tracker, but even he couldn’t see in the dark.

  Silver. Carlton had Silver. “God,” he whispered, desperation welling in his chest, “don’t let him hurt her. Please, please, God. Don’t let him hurt her.”

  A small hand touched his shoulder. He looked up to find Dean, cheeks streaked with tears, standing beside him. “I’m sorry, Mr. Newman. It was my fault.”

  Jared pulled the boy close, taking and giving comfort with his embrace. “We’ll get her back, Dean. We’re going to get her back.”

  “Can we go now?”

  “We’ll have to wait. We have to be sure which way they went.” Waiting for daylight. It would be one of the hardest things he’d done in his life. “We’ll leave at first light.”

  CHAPTER 37

  Silver swayed in the saddle. Pain shot tiny needles from her jaw where Carlton had struck her, and her right eye was nearly swollen shut. She was cold too, dressed only in her blouse and skirt. She longed to welcome the rising of the sun, although she knew she would despise it when the heat blasted down on them.

  Jared is behind us somewhere. He’s coming for me, and Carlton knows it.

  Another wave of dizziness washed over her. She sank her fingernails into the leather pommel, refusing to let her fatigue and pain win this battle. She was safe as long as they kept moving. Once they stopped, there was no telling what he might do to her.

  Jared will come. He’ll find me.

  But would he come in time? Or would he find only her body?

  I should have told him I loved him. It was my pride that wanted him to say it first. And now it could be too late.

  She glanced ahead toward the shadows that were Carlton and his mount. Her stomach sickened at the thought of him touching her. She would rather die.

  No, I must live. I mustn’t let Carlton take anything more from Jared. I must fight him and live. I must fight harder than I’ve ever fought anything.

  She looked toward the eastern horizon and saw the approach of dawn. Once the sun was up, Carlton would force them to move faster. He was afraid of Jared. Whether he admitted it or not, he was afraid. Perhaps that was why he hadn’t killed her yet. He needed her for protection. He needed someone to bargain with.

  Hurry, Jared. Hurry.

  Carlton reined in his horse. “We’ll rest here.” He dismounted and walked toward Silver and Cinder, his stiff movements revealing his own weariness and misery. “Come on. Get down.” He untied the ropes that bound her wrists to the saddle horn, then grabbed her arm and yanked her from the saddle.

  Her feet touched the ground, and her knees buckled.

  He jerked his head toward some nearby brush. “I’ll give you a little privacy. Try to go farther than that, and you’ll rue the day.”

  She managed to rise and walk around the large bush. She took longer than necessary, as long as she dared, all the while thinking that every moment she delayed brought Jared that much closer.

  When she returned to the horses, her legs feeling rubbery beneath her, Carlton held out a canteen. “Drink. We won’t have time for food.”

  As she lifted the canteen to her parched mouth, she saw him watching the mountainside they’d just descended. Watching for Jared. Afraid. It made her want to smile.

  Wordlessly, she returned the canteen to him.

  Instead of taking it, he touched the bruise on the side of her face. “Do as I say and maybe I won’t have to hit you again.” Then he took the canteen from her hand before she dropped it.

  Without being told, Silver returned to her horse. It took every ounce of her waning strength to pull herself into the saddle, but she did it. She didn’t want Carlton touching her again.

  Jared kept his horse alternating between a canter and a fast walk and spared no time for conversation with Dean. He knew the boy understood that he couldn’t fall behind. Every minute counted. Carlton wasn’t taking any trouble to cover his tracks. That either meant he wasn’t worried about Jared catching up with him or he didn’t know much about hiding out in the mountain terrain.

  With every hoofbeat on rocky soil, Jared berated himself. He never should have left Silver alone with Carlton. It had been too great a risk. He’d known it but had gone anyway. At the very least, he should have taken the padlock key with him so Silver couldn’t have used it. Why hadn’t he thought to do so?

  Panic clamored in his chest. He pushed it back.

  Stay calm. Keep your mind clear.

  If any harm came to Silver, it would be his fault. He’d left her with that killer and trusted her to obey his orders. He should have known better. When had Silver ever obeyed an order he’d given her without question, without asserting that stubborn will of hers? And he’d give anything to have her with him now, giving her opinion, showing her stubbornness, causing him grief. He wanted her with him until the day he died. He wanted the last words on his lips to be, “I love you, Silver.”

  He fought back the fear. He couldn’t give in to it. He couldn’t even think about Silver and how much he loved her and what it would do to him if he lost her. He couldn’t think of anything now except following Carlton’s tracks.

  Carlton and Si
lver ate the last of the jerky and washed it down with cold water from a mountain stream. Silver tried to eat slowly, to savor every bite. She knew it might be a long while before she ate again. And each moment she delayed would bring Jared closer to her.

  She sat on an outcropping of rocks beneath the shade of a juniper tree. Cinder and the sorrel gelding grazed on sparse clumps of grass nearby. Behind her, she heard Carlton moving about. She twisted to look at him. He was staring back down the stretch of trail they’d climbed during the course of the afternoon.

  Several times that day he’d changed direction. He pretended to know where they were going, but she was convinced he didn’t. He’d yelled at her often, telling her to hurry, threatening her if she tried to hold them back. She’d denied his accusations but had continued to do anything she could to slow them down. A minute here, a few minutes there.

  As she watched, Carlton began to pace from side to side, his movements quick and jerky, his shirt stained with sweat. He cursed as he moved, one moment his knuckles resting on his hips, the next flailing the air.

  Be afraid, Matt Carlton. Be very afraid.

  He spun toward her, as if she’d spoken the words aloud. “Get mounted. We’re not stopping for the night yet.”

  She did as she was told, but after she was in the saddle, she looked behind her. Jared was out there. She knew it. She could feel him. He was coming for her.

  Hunkered down, Jared traced his fingers over the sandy soil. “One of the horses lost a shoe. The hoof’s cracking. Could pull up lame. Might slow him down.” He stood.

  Dean held his hat in his hands. Grain filled the deep crown, and he fed it to one horse, then the other. “How far you figure we’re behind ’em?”

  “Two hours, maybe a bit less. They’re not stopping to rest very often, but we’re still moving faster. I don’t think he knows where he’s going. That’s good. Uncertainty is good.”

  Dean shook the traces of grain and the horses’ slobber from his hat, then placed it on his head. “I’m ready when you are.”

  The boy was tired, but he hadn’t complained even once. Jared remembered how much Silver had hated the trail at first, but she’d been as tenacious as Dean was now. Carlton wasn’t giving Silver much rest, but at least the man couldn’t harm her while they were riding. Jared took some comfort in that knowledge.

  Hang on, Silver. We’re coming.

  The sun had barely dipped beyond the horizon when Carlton stopped for the night. Even now, the heat of day lingered. The sky was a light pewter color. True darkness wouldn’t come for hours, for already the full moon was a promise in the east.

  They dismounted and Carlton ordered Silver to spread her blanket on the ground and lie down. He didn’t have to tell her twice. Her weary legs seemed to crumple beneath her. Under the wool blanket, the sandy red soil was hard, but it mattered little to her. She was just glad to be down from the saddle.

  With a sigh, she turned on her side, resting her head on the jacket Carlton had allowed her to pull from her saddle pack. Since her wrists were still bound together, she couldn’t put it on, but she would be able to draw it over her shoulders as the night cooled. She could taste grains of sand in her teeth. She longed for a drink of water but decided not to ask. The less attention she called to herself the better.

  She stiffened, her breath catching in her throat. Carlton had spread his own blanket next to hers. Even now he stretched out beside her. Terror dug its icy claws into her throat.

  “Get some sleep. We’re not staying the night. Just a couple hours. Then we push on. Try to get away and I’ll shoot you. I’ve got the gun now.” He chuckled softly. “I won’t miss. I’m a better shot than you.”

  She lay still, listening as his breathing steadied, certain she wouldn’t be able to sleep with him so close. But she was wrong. Exhaustion overruled fear.

  CHAPTER 38

  Silver came fully awake. Close behind her, Carlton’s breathing was slow and even.

  What had awakened her?

  She opened her eyes and perused the mostly open ground before her. The promise of dawn had lightened the sky. There was no breeze, no sounds of scurrying nocturnal animals. Their horses stood nearby, heads hanging low as they slept.

  Something had awakened her. What was it?

  Jared.

  Her pulse quickened as his name resounded in her heart. Jared was out there. He was out there this very moment. He wasn’t following any longer, trying to find her. He was there now, watching her as night gave way to day. Should she try to roll away from Carlton? Should she try to get up and run?

  Beside her, Carlton cursed, and she understood he was angry for sleeping through the night. She smiled to herself, thankful for his mistake.

  Then something changed. He seemed to hold his breath. The air seemed to crackle with tension. Did he feel Jared’s presence too?

  The barrel of the gun pressed against the base of her skull. “If you don’t do exactly what I say, I’ll kill you. Understood?”

  She had no chance of escaping him. Not yet.

  “Get up nice and slow. Don’t try any quick moves.”

  She didn’t move.

  “Now!” He shoved her with the gun, knocking her head forward. Then he took hold of her loose, tangled hair and pulled her head back toward him.

  She sat up, sliding onto her knees, then stood. Without moving her head, she looked for Jared, but there was no one in sight. The ground was barren. The nearest trees and brush were a good fifty yards away. Behind them was a rocky trail and steep drop-off into a deep ravine.

  Carlton pulled Silver backward, the revolver still touching her. “I won’t let him take you alive. You might as well know it.”

  “You won’t escape this time. You’ll seal your fate the instant I’m dead. The sooner you kill me, the sooner you die too.”

  His fingers bruised her arm, and he cursed her.

  Her heart thundered in her chest. Blood pulsed in her ears until she could scarcely hear anything else. She waited for the shot that would take her life, but the bullet didn’t come. Carlton still needed a shield. It wasn’t over yet. Not quite yet.

  Jared peered down the barrel of his rifle, certain that Carlton didn’t know exactly where Jared was, based on his jerky movements. Still the fugitive managed to keep Silver in the line of fire as he edged both of them toward more cover. If the sun was up, if the light was better, maybe Jared could have taken a shot, but as it was, he risked hitting Silver instead.

  “What do we do?” Dean whispered.

  Jared didn’t look at the boy. “Don’t move. Not a muscle,” he answered. “You stay here until I tell you different. Understood?”

  Instinct told him Dean nodded, but Jared never took his eyes off Carlton and Silver.

  “I know you’re out there, Newman,” Carlton shouted. “Throw down your gun and show yourself.”

  Jared stayed quiet as he drew a slow, deep breath.

  “I’ll kill her, Newman. You know it and she knows it. You let us ride out of here without any trouble, you don’t follow me any farther, and I’ll let her go.”

  “You’re a liar, Carlton. That’s something else we all know. You let Silver go first, then we’ll talk.”

  Carlton whipped Silver a step to the left and peered through the dim morning light in the direction of Jared’s voice. “You’re not the law. You got no right to take me anywhere.”

  “I’ve got the right. Nothing’s changed about that.”

  “What am I worth to you, Newman? What’s the reward they’re offering? I’ll get the money myself and pay you off. I’ve got friends. I can get the money. I’ll double it.”

  If Carlton took one wrong step, Jared might be able to stop him before he reached full cover. But he was moving with great care, no longer keeping himself sheltered behind Silver’s body by dumb luck.

  “How much, Newman?”

  Money didn’t mean a thing to Jared without Silver. If he lost her, he lost anything that mattered. No reward could cha
nge that. But that was something Matt Carlton would never understand.

  As Jared watched through his rifle sight, Silver suddenly twisted around and shoved her captor. Then she bolted away from Carlton. The man pointed his gun after her, but Jared fired his rifle first. Carlton dropped. Jared took off running. He saw Carlton get to his feet again, holding the right side of his head and swaying as if drunk. The bullet must have grazed him and left him dazed. But Jared wasn’t concerned with Carlton now. He’d lost sight of Silver. Where was she? Could she—

  A scream reached his ears. Silver’s scream.

  Jared faltered, caught himself, ran faster even as he saw Carlton stumble toward his horse. Jared could stop him from getting away, or he could race to find Silver. He chose the latter.

  The slide down the sharp incline had terrified Silver, but she was even more frightened by the narrowness of the ledge that held her now. Beyond it was a sheer drop to the bottom of the deep, rocky ravine. Certain death if she was to start to slide again. Her hands and arms were scraped and bleeding, the result of trying to stop her descent after she slipped and fell.

  “Silver!”

  She tipped her head back, trying to see Jared.

  “Don’t move. I’ll get a rope.”

  “Carlton. Is he dead?”

  “He’s wounded, but he got away.”

  She closed her eyes. It was her fault Matt Carlton had escaped. All her fault. How could Jared ever forgive her?

  “It doesn’t matter, Silver. Don’t move. I’ll be back.”

  She obeyed him, holding as still as possible. Her heart jumped every time more dirt and rocks shifted and slid on either side of her. The passage of time seemed to slow to a crawl. An eternity passed before she heard the welcome sound of Jared’s voice again.

  “Grab ahold, Silver, and I’ll pull you up.”

  Relief overwhelmed her as her hands tightened around the knot Jared had tied near the end of his lariat and thrown to her, and as she inched her way up the incline, tears of relief began to streak her cheeks.