Consider the Lilies (Wyldhaven Book 4) Read online

  As for his request, if he tried to lead the man, he’d be putting himself in the vulnerable position of not being able to keep his gun on him. “Just walk, Doc. I promise not to let you get hurt. I need you healthy. Got a man with a bullet in his belly. Soon as you fix him up, I’ll return you to town.”

  Maybe.

  If Doc recognized him as Lenny, would he still bring him back? Another question to ponder. Up to this point he’d never killed anyone, so he’d just get sent back to prison if he was caught. But the moment he crossed that line, he’d be looking at a noose.

  Flynn only inched forward. Doing his best to stall, undoubtedly.

  “Don’t try to do too much thinking, Doc. Just move.” He prodded Flynn in the back again.

  With a sigh, Flynn took a few ginger steps. “I have to confess…Lenny…that when I got word that you were the leader of this outlaw gang, I didn’t believe it. Can hardly believe, even now, that I didn’t recognize you for all those months. I never would have pegged Roger Polsky, a man whose wife adored him without reserve, for a former outlaw.”

  Lenny flinched, everything inside him tightened up. So his secret was out. “Wanda made a better man of me.” She would be ashamed of him for returning to his old ways so soon after her passing. Of course, she hadn’t even known he had old ways.

  “Seems like she’d be mighty disappointed to find you going back to your former life. Or did she even know about your past?”

  Was the man a mind reader?

  Lenny’s teeth clamped together so hard his jaw ached. “She’s not here, now is she, Doc? So I guess it don’t rightly matter what she would think. Just shut your trap.”

  It was a good thing for Doc that he’d been so kind and was the one man who would bring the wrath of the whole area down on them should something happen to him. Because right now Lenny could happily put a bullet in him and never think twice.

  But something else registered. Doc had recognized him. So his earlier quandary, which had only been theoretical, was now a concrete problem. Could he afford to let Doc go after he fixed up Roddy?

  He prodded Doc again. At this rate, they would still be right here when Jim returned with the horses.

  “Why are you doing this, Lenny? Especially when you know how much Wanda would have wanted you to avoid going back to this life.”

  Lenny’s hand trembled against the grip of the pistol. “Doc, your questions are grating on my nerves. And since I’m the one with the gun, you’d best avoid that. Just. Get. Moving.” He gritted the command, his anger nearly to the point of exploding. But what was he angry about, really? The fact that he knew Doc was right? He shook his head and nudged Doc along a little faster. He gave the alley a quick double check, but thankfully they were still alone.

  “Since I know it’s you, we could probably take this blindfold off, don’t you think?”

  Doc was a sly one, he’d give him that. But he wasn’t foolish enough to fall for his ploy.

  Doc stumbled over a pothole and Lenny grabbed his arm just in time to keep him from going down. The man was quiet after that.

  Only a couple minutes later. they met Jim coming their way with the horses. But in those couple minutes, Lenny had plenty to think about.

  Perhaps his earlier thoughts about Patrick Waddell making too big of a name for himself had been a bit naïve. After all, he couldn’t kill everyone who learned his name. Especially not if he wanted the reputation of the gang to spread fear. Maybe it was unavoidable to have his name known? Necessary even?

  Imagine everyone in the area speaking his name with fear!

  He grinned. Yes. Imagine.

  And what about the bounty hunters?

  They would only be a problem if he got caught.

  The solution hit him with blinding clarity. It was such an audacious thought that he laughed aloud before he thought better of it.

  All was not lost. They could deal with this.

  They would simply take out all the lawmen before they could report that he’d been seen in this area! The citizens would then fall right into line and he would have an entire town under his thumb. It was brilliant and manageable, but he had to play his cards right.

  The sheriff would be gone for the better part of a month, from what he’d overheard in the saloon. And he could be caught off guard on his way back to town and dealt with. The marshal was already wounded badly enough that he’d required the removal of bullets. Not many men recovered from such injuries. He was likely already a problem solved, especially since Doc never made it in to see him. That only left the deputy.

  And the solution to that lay in Jim.

  Lenny silently helped the doctor mount his ride, and then lashed his hands tightly to the pommel and double checked the blindfold to make sure the man wasn’t going to be able to lead a posse right back to them. But he really wasn’t too concerned about that at this point. After all, with no law in town, there wouldn’t be anyone to come looking for them.

  Despite that, it would probably be best to move camps after returning the doc to town. It was just too risky, staying in one place for too long, anyhow.

  After he had mounted his own horse and gathered up the reins for the doctor’s mount, Lenny pointed for Jim to go after the Nolan boy. “Wait for the kid and the deputy. Killing the deputy is the most important. But if you have to take out the kid, don’t let that stop you.”

  “Lenny, what are you talking about?” Doc sounded aghast.

  Jim didn’t bat an eye, merely tipped his hat and mounted up.

  As Jim rode away, Lenny eased in a calming breath. He’d made his decision and there was no going back now. Everything was going to be fine.

  And if they escaped?

  He shook his head. He would worry about that if the time came.

  Thunder rolled in the distance, setting his every nerve on edge.

  Pulling in a breath, he urged his mount into a trot.

  If they were going to do this, they needed to do it completely and quickly. Could they pull it off? Because if they didn’t, then the law would no longer passively hunt them down. It would be an all-out man-hunt. A tremor whipped through him. His horse snorted and side-stepped. Lenny eased his grip on the reins. He just needed to calm down and breathe a little.

  There were only three. One was out of town. One was already down for the count. That left only one remaining. And if anyone would be able to take him out, it would be Jim. The man was meaner than a thirsty rattler on a desert rock. Another shiver swept down Lenny’s spine.

  As they rode out of town, they passed the skeletal framework of the town’s new bank, and it struck Lenny how quickly things were changing in town. A bank must mean that there were some prosperous folks around.

  They just needed to find them.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Wash would have loved to take a leisurely ride back to town and hopefully do some dozing in the saddle along the way, but Joe had kicked his mount into a trot the moment they left his yard and hadn’t let up the pace since.

  Above them, thunder rolled ominously, drawing Wash’s attention to how dark it really was tonight. Storm clouds must be obscuring the sky.

  They were just about to enter the draw that cut through the hills outside of town when Joe lifted a hand and pulled to a stop. “Whoa.” He scanned the hills on both sides of the road.

  “What is it?” Wash didn’t see anything, but in this thick blackness with the moon behind the clouds, that didn’t surprise him.

  “Don’t know.” Joe shook his head. “Looked like my horse heard something.”

  Wash studied his own horse’s ears. They were pointed toward a spot off to the right. If he weren’t so tired, he might have noticed sooner. He bent down and stroked the animal’s neck. “Yeah. Mine too.”

  “Get down. Now.” Joe shucked his rifle from his scabbard as he swung down from his mount. “Stay on the left side of your horse. Whoever is out there has the high ground. But this pitch black is on our side.”

  Joe broke into a jog, and Wash moved out right behind him, keeping his head low behind his buckskin filly’s neck.

  The filly didn’t like him being on the off side. She blew and bobbed her head, dancing sideways a little. “Easy, girl.” Wash spoke softly and hung onto a handful of mane to keep her between him and the danger.

  Something pinged off of the ground just behind Joe’s horse, sending sparks through the blackness. The report of a rifle came only a moment later. Joe’s paint reared with a screech. Wash’s horse too. He barely managed to hold onto the reins. Both horses hit the ground itching to run. Joe was fighting to keep his paint close, but the horse had danced away from him, leaving him exposed.

  Wash yanked his pistol and fired two blind shots into the trees. Pa would whup him but good if he knew he was shooting at something he couldn’t see, but Wash figured in this case that was better than letting Joe take a bullet.

  Another shot whined above Wash’s head and he immediately realized his mistake. The outlaw had pinpointed his location by his muzzle flashes.

  “This is no good,” Joe grumbled. “Mount up and ride hard. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  He swung into the saddle and kicked his heels firmly, and the buckskin was more than happy to give him the speed he asked for. When she wanted to stretch out, she could, and she devoured the road in ground-eating strides. Behind him, he heard Joe firing off a few shots.

  Wash skidded to a halt at the back door of Dixie’s Boardinghouse and whipped the buckskin’s reins around the stair rail before he dove behind the water barrel.

  He heaved for breath, trying to hear what was happening out on the road.

  Silence. Too much of it.

  Wash licked his lips. Had he left Deputy Rodante to be killed?

  But in the next moment he heard the sound of galloping and Joe called, “You okay, kid?” He reined to a stop, rifle in one hand.

  Wash nodded. “You?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Did you get him?”

  “I don’t think so.” Joe turned his mount in a circle, assessing the area. “We need to get inside. Let’s talk to Doc and see if he learned anything from Zane. But let’s go around front. I don’t relish getting shot in the back while we’re knocking on the door.”

  “Yes, sir.” They hurried their mounts around to the front, and Wash felt terrible for banging on the boardinghouse door a second time in the middle of the same night. Especially when it was once again Mrs. Griffin who answered the door.

  She was a bit wide-eyed when they asked to speak to Doc. “He never came back from Jacinda’s place. Did you check there?”

  “No, ma’am.” Joe tipped her his hat. “Right sorry to have bothered you. We’ll go talk to him there.”

  But when Jacinda opened her door, she frowned at them. “Doc never came by.”

  Wash looked at Joe.

  This was not good. “Where could he have gone? I left him right behind the jailhouse and he was walking this way.”

  Jacinda clutched at her collar. “Something woke me about an hour ago. But there was no one in the street when I looked out.”

  Joe adjusted his hat, his boots scuffing on the porch. “You did say you overheard them discussing the need for a doctor.”

  Wash nodded. Swallowed as he realized the outlaws must have been very nearby when he was talking to Doc earlier. “Think they’ll hurt him?”

  Jacinda gasped. “Oh my! Flynn has been captured by outlaws?”

  Joe ignored Jacinda and gave Wash a non-committal wag of his head. “Either way, we can’t track them till morning. I just hope this storm holds off.”

  It suddenly hit Wash that if Doc had never made it to Jacinda’s he’d also never made it to the Kastains’. He scrubbed the knuckle of his thumb over his jaw. “Doc was supposed to take more pain powders to Mr. Kastain. He was in a bad way. Mighty bad. I think I’d better ride out there. If Doc is there I’ll come back and let you know.”

  Joe gave him a nod and Wash swung onto his mount and urged it back toward the boardinghouse. Mrs. Griffin was going to be none too happy to find him at her door yet again tonight, but he prayed she’d be able to give him the medicine the Kastains would need to keep Mr. Kastain as comfortable as possible.

  He heard Joe riding right behind him and realized they were both headed to the same destination. Joe needed to let Dixie know her husband had gone missing.

  Jacinda stirred the scrambled eggs and flipped over the fry bread. She’d slept so little the night before that she knew only a day of constant activity was going to keep her awake. Before he’d left in the middle of the night, Joe had said he’d be back first thing to talk to Zane and Jacinda wanted both men to get a good breakfast in them.

  After Joe and Wash had left, she’d paced the house and prayed like she hadn’t prayed in a long time. Prayed for Doc’s safety. For Zane’s recovery. For Joe to have wisdom to know what to do. For William’s recovery and that if God didn’t choose to heal him that he’d have peace in his last hours. For the rest of the Kastains to have comfort if he did indeed pass away. And then back to praying for Zane again.

  Jacinda sighed. If there was one good thing in all of this it was that Reagan was gone and out of harm’s way. Okay, two good things. Zane was injured too badly to be expected to go off hunting outlaws.

  Her conscience struck her for the selfishness of her gratefulness.

  Behind her, she heard a sound. She turned to find Zane, face contorted in pain as he tried to swing his gun belt about his hips.

  “What are you doing?” Jacinda marched toward him and stilled his hand. “I fought hard to keep you alive and I’ll not have you undoing all my hard work.” She took the gun belt from him and plunked it on the table. “Back to that bed and I’ll not hear a word of protest.”

  Zane swayed. He reached for the back of the nearest chair. “You know? I think maybe you’re right. This time.”

  Jacinda hurried to the stove, tugged the pan to the coolest corner, and then returned to him. She tucked herself under his arm for support. “Come on. I’ll walk you back.”

  Zane shuffled along beside her and nearly collapsed onto the bed when they reached it.

  Lips pinched together, she lifted his legs one at a time and tugged off his boots, then helped him beneath the covers.

  He captured her hand and when she tried to pull away, refused to release her. She snapped her gaze to his.

  One corner of his mouth quirked up. “You worry too much, Jac.”

  She gave her hand a firm tug, forcing him to let go. “Did you hear Joe and Wash knock on the door in the middle of the night?”

  His brow furrowed. “No.”

  “That’s because you tried to play the hero and lost so much blood you were—are—as weak as a newborn mouse! So I’ll tell you what you didn’t hear. Doc was on his way here to see you, but he never made it. Disappeared somewhere between the boardinghouse and my front door. Joe thinks maybe the outlaws took him to tend to someone we wounded in that gunfight. On top of that, Wash says William Kastain took a turn for the worse. I should be cooking food to take out to that family. But you almost passed out in my kitchen and I can’t leave because I can’t trust that you’ll stay in your sickbed. And I won’t have you cracking your skull open in a fall!” She blinked hard, hating that her little lecture had nearly brought her to tears. Tossing her hands in the air, she spun toward the door. “And you’re saying I worry too much!”

  “Jac stop.”

  She complied, but didn’t face him.

  “Come here.” His tone was cajoling.

  She sniffed. Held her ground for a moment. Willed away the evidence of her heightened emotions with a few quick swipes of her fingers.

  “Jac...”

  The word was so soft and full of tenderness that she felt the impact of it in her knees.

  She faced him.

  He patted the quilt beside him, tilting his head against the headboard.

  Finally, she strode over and sank onto the coverlet.

  Averting her gaze from his searching silvery-blue one, she focused instead on the stubble of his firm jawline. She moistened her lips. Wished he’d get on with what he wanted to say before she gave into the temptation to press a kiss against that small scar where his beard refused to grow.

  He lifted her hand and tugged it against his chest, curving his fingers around hers as if he simply needed to feel her close in this moment. “First, I didn’t tell you about my wound, because I hoped you could avoid this very thing. This worrying. I honestly didn’t know I was hurt as bad as I was till just before we reached town. I figured I could get Doc to tend it and you’d never need to be the wiser.”

  Jacinda frowned at that. Was her worrying so evident that Zane had felt the need to protect her from knowing he’d been hit?

  “Second,” Zane continued, “Joe’s likely right. We probably hit one or more of the outlaws in that shoot-out. But those men know that if they kill a man like the Doc it will mean the end for them. He’ll likely be fine.”

  She searched his face. Did he really believe that? Or was he just trying to spare her more worry? His skin was so gray it seemed it might only take half a moment to transform him into a corpse.

  “Third... I’ve got no answers about Kastain. But you take them some food. I promise you I’ll mind myself and stay in this bed.” He tapped the quilt. “Right here. Without moving.”

  An assessment of his expression told her he meant what he said. Lurching to her feet, she said, “Fine. I’ll—”

  “Fourth.” Zane held up a finger for her to wait.

  Jacinda sank back down.

  “There’s a verse I want you to look up for me.”

  A frown tugged at her brow.

  “Luke 12:27.”

  “Okay... What’s it say?”

  “You just look it up. Then we’ll talk.”

  With a sigh, and a bit of reluctance, she stood. “Fine. I presume Dixie will want to come with me to the Kastains’. But I’ll have Rose look in on you a few times. You might need help to get to the—well...you might need some help.”