Not wanting to count on his good fortune lasting forever, Slocum hurried toward the dim light that was less than forty yards away. The night seemed to be getting darker by the second and shadows enveloped him as he approached the small campfire. The person who’d made it was nearby, although the subtle glare from the flames was just bright enough to keep him from distinguishing that shape from all the others.

  “Not another step, mister.”

  Slocum stopped and said, “Put that shotgun down, Leanne.”

  “John?”

  The next thing he heard was a series of quick little steps that brought her to him in a rush. Leanne’s arms wrapped around him, accidentally knocking the shotgun flat against his back.

  “How did you know it was me?” she asked.

  “You’ve been following us for some time. I thought I told you to head to your uncle’s place.”

  “I started to, but then I couldn’t just leave you with those men. Not after all you’ve done for me.”

  Slocum pulled away from her and held the woman at arm’s length. Her face was dirty and her straw-colored hair was held back with a bandanna. After that quick inspection, he moved to the fire and began kicking dirt on top of it. “I can handle myself just fine. What did you think you’d be able to do for me? Storm a bunch of known killers with a scattergun?”

  “Buckshot will hurt them as much as anyone else,” she pointed out.

  “Sure, if you got close enough to use it.”

  “I didn’t intend on storming anyone. I just thought I could distract those men if things got out of hand so you’d have a chance to get away. If you were hurt and left behind somewhere, I could find you. If things got really bad, I could get to a town and bring a lawman back.”

  The campfire had been snuffed, so Slocum looked up at her again. “You’ve been thinking about this a lot, haven’t you?”

  “Yes.” Now that there was no other light in Slocum’s field of vision, he could adjust to the darkness enough to see the puzzled expression on her face. “How did you find me?” she asked.

  “I spotted you a little earlier. Recognized that big horse with a pretty lady on its back and figured the odds of it being anyone else were pretty slim.” When her hands went to her hips and her head cocked at an angle, he added, “All right. It was a big horse with a little lady on its back. That was a distinct enough shape to pick out. Since you didn’t make a move to catch us, I guessed you were trying to be a shadow but I didn’t know it was truly you until a minute or two ago. I’m still wondering how you trailed us without being spotted any sooner.”

  “Learned from the best,” she said as she moved in closer and wrapped her arms around his waist. “After following that courier and staying out of sight from those other men, I picked up a few things.”

  “And you still can’t resist the urge to make a campfire. Maybe you weren’t listening hard enough.”

  “I did get this far.”

  “And you almost got caught.”

  “That’s just because of you,” she pointed out.

  Before he could continue the choppy debate, Slocum heard the other horse galloping in the distance. He grabbed hold of Leanne and pulled her down so they wouldn’t stand out to anyone whose eyes had adjusted well enough to make out shapes in the distance.

  “Who’s that?” she whispered.

  “Don’t know exactly, but I do know it’s not someone we want to find us. You’re supposed to be dead, remember?”

  “I wanted to talk to you about that. My ears were ringing for hours. I thought I was going to be deaf after that gunshot.”

  “Sorry.”

  “That’s not the worst of it,” she scolded. “What if you’d missed?”

  “Missed? At that distance?”

  “Stranger things have happened.”

  “Will you be quiet?” he snarled.

  “He’s just riding around in circles. I’ve seen them do it almost every night.”

  “Yeah, but tonight they got someone to look for. Don’t give ’em someone else.”

  Leanne sighed. After a full two seconds of silence, she huffed, “All I want to do is help and all I get for it is grief.”

  “For the love of God, will you be quiet?”

  At the moment, Leanne seemed to be correct. The horse wasn’t coming straight at them, but continued circling. As soon as Slocum heard her draw a breath to speak again, he silenced her the quickest way he knew how. Then again, it may not have been the absolute quickest way, but pressing his mouth on hers was by far the most pleasant.

  Leanne drew in a surprised breath through her nose before giving in to him and melting into his arms. Her hands slid around his back and rubbed his shoulders. In no time at all, she was kissing him back and even opening her mouth so her tongue could slide along his lips.

  Slocum opened his eyes to get a look around. All he could see were the same shadows that had been there before. All he could hear, apart from Leanne’s soft moans, was the rustle of the wind. Turning his face just enough to break contact with her, he made a soft shushing sound when she started to say something. Anxious to pick up where they’d left off, she moved her lips to Slocum’s neck and began to nibble as her hands busied themselves by unbuttoning his shirt.

  “What are you doing?” he whispered.

  Her only response was a barely audible, “Quiet now.”

  Slocum tried to remain focused on the task at hand. The only problem was that the task he wanted to perform was quickly changing due to Leanne’s wandering touch. The fire was out. There was barely any smoke rising from the mound of dirt. Their horses were hidden well enough to remain unseen in the darkness. If that rider was going to find them, he would have to get close enough for Slocum to hear the animal’s breaths. Only when he heard the sound of hooves dwindling down to nothing did he allow himself to let go of the breath he’d been holding.

  “All right,” he said. “I think they’re giving up.”

  “You sure about that?”

  “More or less. They’re headed away in a straight line for a change. At least, as far as I can tell it’s a straight line.”

  “Good,” she sighed. “That means we’re alone.”

  “Are you out of your mind? What are you doing?”

  Leanne pulled Slocum’s shirt open, slid her hand down below his belt, and looked up into his eyes. “What do you think I’m doing?”

  “Doesn’t seem like the time.”

  “I want you, John. And I can tell you want me.”

  No matter what Slocum said, there was no way to dispute those words. The part of him that she was stroking told her well enough that she was on the mark. Even so, he tried to move her hand away. “We could be found and I don’t want to put you in danger. That’s why I wanted you to split away from me in the first place, in case you don’t remember.”

  “What were you intending on doing when you rode out tonight?”

  “Finding you before you got yourself captured or killed.”

  “Well, you found me. What are you gonna do with me?”

  Slocum took a good, long look at the woman huddled against him. Compared to the frightened little thing she’d been when he’d crossed her path at her clothesline, Leanne was completely different. There was a roughness in the way she wore the dirt upon her face and a confidence in how she stared him down. “Did you even try to go to your uncle’s place or did you just track me this whole time?”

  “After all you did for me, I couldn’t just leave you,” she replied. “And since you’re here and we’re alone, I don’t see why we can’t have a proper farewell before we part ways again.”

  The only sound to reach Slocum’s ears was the wind. If he continued listening for a while, the soft rustling of her horse drifted on the breeze. If his horse had been discovered, the other rider would have been a lot closer. If it had broken loose, he would have heard that, too. That only left him and Leanne in each other’s arms.

  “Aw, what the hell,” he said as he grabbed hold of her and kissed her with all the fire he’d been holding back until then.

  The moment he put his hands on her, Slocum could feel every inch of Leanne’s body respond to him. She leaned her head back to allow him to kiss her lips and neck. Her arms wrapped around him and one of her legs slid along his thigh. When he cupped her breast and laid her down so she was on her back, she grabbed two handfuls of his shirt and pulled him on top of her.

  Slocum felt her hands brushing against his stomach before they found his belt buckle. Moving up so she could get to it easier, he massaged her breasts until her nipples became hard against his palms. As soon as she’d pulled down his jeans, she stroked his erection eagerly. Slocum grabbed at her dusty skirt and hiked it up so he could reach beneath it. She spread her legs open wide and writhed on the ground, clawing at the earth as he rubbed her wet pussy with one hand.

  “Yes, John. That feels—”

  He cut her off by placing his mouth upon hers. “You gotta be quiet,” he told her. “Otherwise, we can’t do anything.”

  Leanne’s eyes widened and she nodded slowly. When he pulled his head back, she watched him intently as he settled between her legs and moved his hands up along her body to hike her skirts up a little higher. Before too long, she reached down and guided him between her legs. The lips between her thighs were soft and wet. When Slocum didn’t enter her right away, she lifted her hips up off the ground until his tip was just inside. Then, while propping himself up using his arms, he eased all the way into her.

  She let out a long breath and grabbed his hips to feel the motion of him between her legs. When he thrust forward, he buried every inch of his cock inside her. When he slid out, he pulled almost to the point of leaving her completely. That way, he could savor the touch of her damp pussy gliding along his shaft from its base all the way up and back again. After he’d fallen into a slow rhythm, Slocum pumped into her with more force and heard her pull in a quick breath.

  Lowering himself on top of her, Slocum wrapped his arms around Leanne and quickened his pace. She responded by wrapping not only her arms around him, but her legs as well, locking her ankles at the small of his back and moving her hips in time to his thrusts. When another moan began working its way up from the back of her throat, she pressed her face against him and let it out in a lingering, muffled sigh.

  Slocum moved his hands down to cup her buttocks. Every time he thrust his hips forward, he pulled her in tight. Judging by the way Leanne reacted, he’d found another sweet spot deep inside her. Whenever he hit it, she had to fight to keep from screaming in pleasure. It didn’t take much more of that for her climax to rush up on her. Slocum could feel her pussy clench around him, along with her arms and legs. Just when it seemed she would squeeze the life out of him, her body was wracked by a series of tremors that caused her to buck against him. She was too weak to make a noise, and by the time he exploded inside her, they were both quiet once again.

  Just to be safe, Slocum lay there for a little while longer before pulling on his clothes.

  “Where are you going?” she whispered.

  “You know I can’t stay with you. In fact, you should get away from here the first chance you get. We’ll work out a signal, and when you hear it, you’ll know it’s safe for you to ride away. This time, go to your damn uncle’s place.”

  “I want to help you.”

  “Why do you have to be so stubborn?” he asked.

  “Because I still owe you my life. Twice,” she replied brightly. “One for getting me away from that waste of life I called a man and again for keeping that same man from killing me . . .” Her tone darkened somewhat when she added, “Or worse.”

  “And if you just get yourself killed anyway on my account, that’ll make what I did a big waste of time.”

  Leanne sat up and tugged impatiently at her skirts to pull them down and back in place. “I can’t leave you knowing that I might be able to help.”

  “What makes you think I need your help?”

  She wasn’t affected by his stern tone in the slightest. When she got to her feet and placed her hands upon her hips, she shot him an even sterner glare than the one she’d given him before. “You’re out here all alone, trying to look in two directions at once and Lord only knows what else. Do you truly expect me to believe you couldn’t use any help at all?”

  Slocum fully intended on telling her that he wanted to make the rest of this dangerous ride alone. Then, something occurred to him. “You know what? There may be something you could do for me after all.”

  18

  Slocum got back to the cave less than an hour after he’d left, telling the outlaws a story about wanting to stretch his legs and clear his head. Since he hadn’t been gone long and whoever had come after him had probably been more intent on making sure nobody was headed to or from town, the gang members accepted the story they were given. Even if Slocum wasn’t being completely honest with them, they seemed certain he hadn’t done what they’d feared the most. Anything other than that fell within the range of lies they all probably told each other anyhow. In Slocum’s experience, the whole “honor among thieves” business was a pile of horse manure.

  Darrel was good at his word. When the sun’s first rays broke the gloom of the predawn hours, the Terrors of White Pine were off and running.

  They spent a good amount of time circling the perimeter of McCord, scouting ahead just to make certain nothing had changed since the last time they’d ridden along the same route. Once he was satisfied that they could enter the town without catching a bullet between the eyes, Darrel led the procession to the main street. However, as soon as they got close enough so folks could recognize the notorious gang, all five men pulled bandannas up over their faces. There wasn’t much to be done to disguise the man that was tied up and draped over the back of Ackerman’s saddle like a giant caterpillar, but before that sight could cause much of a stir, the gang had reached the Fifth Bank of White Pine.

  The gang had run through those paces plenty of times before. All they needed to do was swap a few quick words among them to orchestrate how they would go about their task, who would stand guard, and what would be done on the inside. Slocum was given a few quick instructions, but didn’t need more than that. They knew what they wanted. They knew who stood in their way and they knew they didn’t have a lot of time to get the job done.

  They stormed the bank quickly, leaving Ackerman, Yancy, and Landry outside while Slocum, Darrel, and Jimmy went in. When the teller behind the window didn’t seem to recognize the fellow cinched up in all that rope, Darrel shoved him to the floor so his back was against the teller windows and he was out of the line of sight of anyone behind them.

  It wasn’t long before they arranged for a meeting with the bank’s manager. Once that happened, Slocum knew the real fun would begin.

  “Mr. Emberson,” the clerk said, “these men would like to have a word with you. They say it’s urgent.”

  Emberson approached the counter, placed two small hands upon the wooden surface, and leaned down so he could look through the bars at Slocum and Darrel. “What can I do for you?” he asked in a grating rasp.

  Seeing the manager up close was a little jarring. His skin was transparent enough to show the veins that formed an intricate web beneath it. Now that Emberson’s head was angled forward, Slocum could see the silver-dollar-sized bald spot within his white hair that was positioned slightly off-center on the man’s scalp. His pug nose and naturally frowning mouth put him somewhere between stern and comical. Judging by the harsh impatience written in the bank manager’s eyes, Slocum would have placed his bet on the former rather than the latter.

  “We’re checking on the whereabouts of a courier that passed through here,” Slocum said. “Had to have been within the last few days.”

  Emberson’s eyes shifted slowly back and forth between both men in front of him. “And you are?”

  “We’re the ones askin’ about the courier,” Darrel said. “You seen him or not?”

  “Nobody mentioned anything about there being a problem,” Emberson said in a voice that sounded like rocks being dragged across dry slate.

  Slocum’s expression brightened. “Ah, so he was here.”

  The words on his door marked Emberson as a manager and everything else about him made him look like an undertaker, but he sure as hell wasn’t a poker player. Slocum’s words struck a nerve, which reflected in a series of little twitches that ran up and down the length of his sunken face. “If you don’t have any more business, I’ll be getting back to my own.”

  Ready to press the slight edge he’d just gained, Slocum leaned closer to the bars and prepared to speak. Before he could get a single word out, Darrel shouldered him aside and drew his .44. “We got business, you damn ghoul,” he said while thumbing back the pistol’s hammer. “Fetch what that courier brung you and be quick about it.”

  “No need to get jumpy, Darrel. These are businessmen. Men of reason.” Since he knew trying to get Darrel to lower his gun was hopeless, Slocum used its presence in his favor. “They’re the sort of men who work things out to their advantage. Isn’t that right?”

  Muffled voices drifted in from outside, punctuated by a shouted response from Ackerman. There was a brief exchange, followed by hurried footsteps moving down the boardwalk and away from the bank.

  “I don’t even know what the courier brought,” Emberson said.

  Slocum shrugged ever so slightly. “But I’m sure you know where it’s at.”

  “My guess is the safe,” Darrel said while raising his gun. When the barrel tapped against one of the bars of the teller’s cage, the clerk jumped as if the .44 had gone off. “Go get it!”

  Emberson took half a step back and allowed his hands to drift beneath the counter. Slocum caught the movement and responded by drawing his Colt Navy and resting it on the wooden surface so it was aiming through the little opening meant for transactions to pass back and forth. “Unless you’re reaching for the safe, I suggest you keep your hands where I can see ’em.”