By Kirsten Page
Copyright 1999
No, you will not do this to me! She wanted to scream at the top of her voice. Yet deep down she knew that by following orders, she might just stay alive long enough to escape.
“You’re a mighty pretty lady,” Trevor said as he stared at her, completely enthralled.
And you’re an idiot, She thought in disdain.
“I’ve been called worse,” Lou threw back, the contempt ringing out inside of her as she tried to smile sweetly.
Wayne kicked her sore leg from under the table and she closed her mouth. It was stupid to test his patience like that, but she couldn’t help herself. He brought out the worst in her.
“Louise here would love to stick around for a while. You two can become better aquatinted. Maybe share a nice quiet dinner,” Wayne smiled in a seductive manner that would have brought chills to anyone who witnessed it.
“I’d be honored, ma’am,” Trevor said with his voice trembling slightly.
“Fine,” she returned hastily, with an apparant lack of enthusiasm. If dealing with that idiot, Trevor, was what she had to go through to get out of here...then so be it. She’d see to it that if he dared to touch her once...he’d regret it for the rest of his life.
“That’s him!” Buck said as he stood up and quickly began cleaning up his mess. You couldn’t miss those eyes, that jaw, and that chin...not doubt about it, that was Stetson Cole. The only difference was that the old warrant was under a different name.
The woman who was locking the door came over to his side and analyzed the paper. “Yeah, I remember when that came out. It was two years ago December,” she shook her head in pity, “They never did catch him. But from what I heard he ended up getting shot in a riot.”
“Well, that’s him, and if I’m not mistaken, he’s certainly still around,” Buck replied. He carefully folded the invaluable paper and tucked it inside of his vest. Now he had to get it to Teaspoon and hope that there would be some way that they could use it to prosecute Cole.
Buck extended his hand to the woman and shook it, “Thank you for all of your time.”
She smiled, “Not a problem. If you ever need anymore help, you know where to find me.”
Trevor had excused himself from the table and said that he would return to fetch Louise at 7 sharp. When he left, he was as sprity as a kitten, and as happy as a meadowlark. A beautiful woman was actually going to be joining HIM for dinner!
Wayne took Lou by the arm and lead her up the stairs to the same room she had been locked in before. He whispered in her ear as he pulled her closer, “You listen to me, and you listen good. You make one move other than keeping Trevor happy, and I’ll kill you. If you so much as say one thing wrong, I’ll kill you. I’ll be listening to your whole conversation from the room next door, and if you try anything foolish, I’ll kill you for that too.”
Lou sneered at him, “You know how to show a girl a good time.”
“Shut up, and just do as I tell you.” His plan was going to be so perfect, she’d be having a nice little dinner with him...and then the time for poor Trevor to die would come. He’d burst into the room, shoot him, scatter a few things to make it look like there had been a fight, and then, he’d set up the story so well that no judge in his right mind would find Miss Louise innocent.
As Wayne opened the door, he looked around the room, just to make sure that they were alone. The last thing he needed was one of his stupid associates to pull some sort of idiotic prank.
Roughly he shoved Louise onto the bed and reached for his gun. Pushing open the curtains from the window, he checked outside, his heart thumping nervously. He just had this gut feeling that he was being watched, and that something wasn’t right.
Lou watched him carefully from her defensive position. It was actually amusing to see such a 'tough' man acting like a chicken. "Afraid the Devil's coming after you?"
Wayne didn't look at her, "Just shut up." Louise had spunk, but her attitude was truly grating on his nerves. He didn't know how much longer he would be able to put up with her.
Just a little bit longer, he tried to convince himself, once I've used her for what I need...it won't matter what happens to her.
“Girl, this is our last run, let’s make it count for something,” Kid said softly as he patted the neck of his faithful horse. He’d loved riding for the Express and all of the many things that he’d gotten to see. Part of him was so anguished that he had to leave, but he had to do what he had to do.
A few moments later, the rider came into view and he spurred Katy on as they took off towards the horizon.
“Have a good ride, Kid,” Cody called out as he brought his horse to a halt in front of the bunkhouse. Buck had told him about Kid planning to leave, and he knew it just wouldn’t be right without having him around...so there had to be a way to convince him to stay. He just hoped that Buck might be able to find something in St. Joe that would persuade him to stick around. Their family was going to have to stay together.
Buck rode back in such a hurry that he didn’t even bother to stop at the station...he plowed straight through to town to deliver his news to Teaspoon. He just hoped with all his heart that this would be enough to at least hold Cole for questioning.
Although he hadn’t spoken it, Buck believed now, more than ever, that their ‘newest’ rider had something to do with Lou’s murder. Heaven help the man if he was right in this accusation. There was no doubt that all of the riders, especially Kid and Jimmy, would rip him apart, piece by piece.
On to Chapter Eighteen
