Ellie's Legacy (25 page)

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Dude asked. “Like
Jeb said, we’re sorry about your daughter, but I’m here because I was told you
decided to sell.”

“What about you, Joshua?” Ellie heard Pa ask. “Did you hear
me tell your brother I wanted to sell?”

Pa toyed with them. Ellie listened, but heard nothing. She
could only surmise that Joshua did his usual head shake or nod. If she counted
on her fingers, the number of words she had actually heard him speak, she
doubted she could fill one hand.

“Josh wasn’t with me,” Jeb snapped. “There was nobody here
but me and Ben when he told me Fountainhead was ours for the right price.
Honest, Pa.”

Humph! Jeb wouldn’t know honest if it walked up to him and
called itself by name. Ellie started to stand, but Ty tugged on her arm.

“Not yet,” he whispered.

Heaving a silent sigh, she remained seated. She couldn’t
wait to face her abductor and call him all the names dangling on the tip of her
tongue.

“That’s partly true, Jeb. It was just you and me, but
sellin’ wasn’t my idea. I believe it was all yours.”

“What are tryin’ to pull,
Ben.
The
only thing I recall was mentioning it might be in your best interest to sell.”

Despite Jeb’s disguised threat, Ellie visualized sweat
starting to form on his brow. Pa was doing a great job of applying pressure.

“I’m sick of all this back and forth prattle. I understand
things are a bit strained for you at the moment, but are you or are you not
going to sell me your ranch,” the elder Bryant pressed.

“Dude, you aren’t one of my favorite people, and lord knows
you’ve given folks plenty of reason to dislike you, but father to father, I’m
tellin’ you the truth. Jeb came to my house, threatening harm to my daughter if
I didn’t do what he said. Of course, I agreed to his demands because I love my
Ellie more than I’ll ever love any piece of property.”

“Is that true, Jeb? Did you threaten Ben’s daughter? Joshua,
did you have hand in this?”

Dude sounded surprised, although Ellie didn’t know why. The
old saying, “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” came to mind.

“Pa,” Jeb answered. “You know I wouldn’t say a bad word
about Miz Ellie. I’m very fond of her. I think the fact that she’s missin’ has
Ben fraught with worry, and it’s affectin’ his thinking. Joshua and I even
offered our help in findin’ her. Ain’t that right, Josh?”

Ben’s voice rose. “That would be right helpful seeing as you
would know exactly where you took her?”

Ellie quivered with the need to run out and confront Jeb,
instead she bit her lip. Her hands curled into fists, remembering how
frightened she’d been of him.

“What the hell is he talking about? Why does he think you
took Ellie?”

Dude’s voice strained with anger. Pa was getting to him.
Ellie reached for Ty’s hand and squeezed it.

“Yeah, Jeb, tell your Pa how you forced my daughter to leave
the dance, figuring you could use her to your advantage. Let him in on how you
threatened her safety to make me sell my ranch. Go ahead, tell him. I think he
deserves to know what kind of son he’s raising.”

The silence became deafening. The hair on the back of
Ellie’s neck bristled.

“All right, it’s true. I did take Ellie, but Pa, I only did
it because I know how much you want this ranch. It’s all you’ve talked about
for months. I did it for you, so you’d be happy. Now give Ben the money and the
deed and let him sign it over so you can have what you want. Once he does, I’ll
let Ellie go.”

Jeb’s voice sounded constricted with the anger of admission.
Ellie waited to hear Dude tear into his son, the big liar. Jeb had even told
her he wasn’t letting her go, ever.

“Good going, son.”

Ellie’s brows rose. She looked at Ty, her mouth agape in
disbelief that a father wouldn’t be repulsed by such an evil plot. But then
this was Dude Bryant. She trained her attention back on the ongoing
conversation, not wanting to miss a single word.

“Well, Ben, it looks as though my son struck a deal you have
to keep…that is if you want your daughter back. Do you have pen and ink?”

Ty yanked Ellie to her feet and out of the food closet. Cook
stood silently by the back door, waiting for her cue. At Ty’s nod, she quietly
slipped outside. Ellie followed Ty to the parlor doorway, where they stopped.

Ty cleared his throat.

The Bryants’ stares focused on the duo. Jeb’s eyes,
especially, widened with shock.

“Ben won’t be signing anything,” Ty said forcefully. “It seems
Jeb has lost his bargaining chip.” Ty gestured at Ellie.

Seeing Jeb’s face caused anger to simmer in Ellie’s blood.
It surged through her veins, turning to fire. Clutching her fists so tightly
that her nails bit into her palms, she moved toward Jeb.

“Ellie, get back here,” Ty called out, reaching for her arm.

She skirted his grasp and walked right up to Jeb, stopping
dangerously close, and pointed an accusing finger in his face. “You’re such a
liar. You make me sick to my stomach. I hope this teaches you that you aren’t
smart enough to carry off a plan bigger than your brain. You’re never going to
own this land, so forget it. And, if you ever come near me again, I promise
you’ll be the one cowering in the dirt while I take potshots at you. You are—”

Jeb’s arm lashed out like a striking rattlesnake. He spun
Ellie around and locked his forearm across her neck, at the same time pulling
his revolver free of his holster and pressing it against her temple.

Her heart leapt into her throat, choking off any further
insults. She looked pleadingly at Ty, whose transparent thoughts were displayed
in the horror etched on his face. One again Ellie’s temper had bested her. Ty’s
hand rested warily on the butt of his weapon, his eyes fixed on Jeb.

“Well, it looks like I’m in control again.” Jeb snickered,
tightening his arm and making it hard for Ellie to breathe. “Don’t think I
won’t use this gun if I have to. At this point, I have nothing to lose.”

Ellie’s gaze rested on the cowering bank clerk. Surely, this
wasn’t what he expected to witness. The thin, bespectacled man had flattened
himself against the wall, his eyes wide, and his white knuckles clutching at
his lapels.

Ty dropped his hand to his side in apparent resignation.
“Let her go, Bryant. There’s no way you can get out of here unless you do.”

“Oh, I think you’re wrong, Mr. Bishop. You’re all gonna
clear a path to the backdoor and my horse. This time, I’ll be borrowing one for
the lady. My plan to get Fountainhead for Pa might have fallen through, but
nothing will spoil the fun I have planned for Ellie.” He nuzzled the side of
her face. “Who knows, after a while, she might even start to like me.” His
piercing gaze focused on Ty. “Now, move out of my way.”

His words brought a bitter taste to Ellie’s mouth. Even if
God himself commanded it, Ellie would never develop anything but deeper
repulsion for Jeb Bryant, but the cold steel of his gun reminded her not to
make any quick moves. Her temple pulsed against its barrel.

She glanced at Pa. The color had drained from his face,
making him almost as pale as his recent illness, but his eyes beaded with anger
instead of pain. “Damn you, Jeb. I’ll sign the papers and let you have this
Goddamn ranch. Just let my daughter go.”

Ben grabbed a piece of paper, one Ellie imagined was the
deed transfer, from the sofa table, and turned toward the rollup desk behind
him.

“Stop where you are, Ben. I have a mighty nervous finger on
this trigger.”

“But…I need to get something to sign this with.” Pa waved
the paper in the air.

“Let me get it for you. I wouldn’t want you to discover a
gun hidden there and do something foolish.”
Jeb side-stepped
to the mahogany piece, dragging Ellie along with him.
He took his eyes
off the others just long enough to open a drawer. His strangulation hold on her
neck released enough for her to see past his arm. “Reach in and get your Pa
something to write with.”

She pulled out pen and ink and set them atop the desk. Jeb
tightened his grasp again and waltzed her back over to where his brother and
father stood. The gun never lost contact with her head.

“Jeb, this has gone far enough,” Dude said, his voice stern.
“It was one thing when you already had Ellie stashed away. I figured since you
had gone so far, I might as well try to make everything work in our favor, but the
plan has failed. Let her go, son.”

Dude removed his hat and ran his fingers through his
thinning grey hair, his gaunt face creased with defeat.

“C’mon, Jeb,” Ty said, “Listen to your Pa and let her go. We
can stop all this right now. I’m sure Ben will be willing to forget any of this
happened if you just release Ellie and leave.”

“Yeah?
If you think I believe that,
then you’re dumber than you look.” Jeb sniggered. “The ranch was just the icing
on the cake. Ellie has always been the prize I had in mind. Pa may not have his
land but I’ll have her.” He looked to his father. “I’ll be leaving, Pa, but I’m
sure you and Josh will do fine without me.” Jeb turned his gaze back to Ben and
Ty. “Don’t try to follow us or I will kill her. If I can’t have her, nobody can.”

Jeb’s arm choked off her air. Ellie fought the dizziness
engulfing her while, struggling to stand on knees that sagged despite her
feeling of weightlessness. Voices began to fade and lights dimmed as total
blackness beckoned to her. She inhaled through her nose, trying to stay
conscious.

“Enough!” Joshua yelled.

Ellie held her breath, hoping Jeb’s trigger finger didn’t
react.

At Joshua’s outburst, Jeb’s arm relaxed against her throat.
He looked questioningly at his brother. Ellie seized the moment and took a huge
gasp of much-needed air. She opened her eyes, casting a sideways glance at
Joshua. Angry veins bulged in his neck and his face flushed bright red. This
was a Joshua she’d never seen before.

He thrust out his arm and smacked his brother’s gun hand,
sending Jeb’s weapon bouncing off the braided rug onto the wooden floor. Ellie
stiffened, feeling the hot breath of his surprised gasp brush her cheek and his
muscles tense against her back. He didn’t make a move. Ellie wished she could
see his face, appreciate his apparent shock. For a moment the room was so
silent, she heard her own heart pounding in her ears.

Jeb kept his arm around Ellie’s neck, pulling her with him
toward his sidearm, while warily looking from Joshua to Ty and back again.

Ty cast a helpless gaze at her, almost an apology. God, she
didn’t want that to be the last look she ever saw on his face.

It wouldn’t be. With every ounce of strength she could
muster, Ellie wrenched herself free and pitched away from Jeb. Her shin banged
hard against the sofa table, and she fell to the floor. Cowering, she gazed up
at her would-be-captor. His eyes were wide with the fright of a cornered animal
as he reached to snare her back again. She wanted to scream, but fear clogged
her throat. This couldn’t be happening, not again. She curled away from his
grasp, her heart frozen mid-beat.

Ty lunged at Jeb, but a quick kick to the stomach doubled Ty
over, making him cry out.

Joshua stepped into his brother’s path. With a smashing
uppercut, he connected with his twin’s jaw, crumbling him to the floor. Jeb
pushed himself into a sitting position and peered up, through dazed eyes. “What
the—” He swiped at the corner of his mouth then looked at his blood-covered
fingers.

Joshua stood straddling Jeb, and glared down at him, rubbing
reddened knuckles. “It’s over. I’m sick of standin’ by and watchin’ you run
roughshod over everyone. It’s enough that you treat me like dirt, but I’ll be
roped and branded if I let you disrespect Miz Ellie any more.

“I’m shamed to be a Bryant. I went along with this
harebrained scheme because, like you keep telling me, I didn’t have the guts to
stop it, but you and Pa have bullied our neighbors enough. Everyone hates us,
and I haven’t been party to any of this other than keeping my mouth shut for
far too long. Well, no more. I finally grew a backbone.”

Joshua pulled Ellie to her feet and looked at her, his eyes
glistening with welling tears. “I’m truly sorry for all the agony my family has
caused. I can’t promise anything for the other two, but I won’t be a party to
anything more. If I don’t go to prison, I aim to leave and start over somewhere
else. I want nothing more to do with being a Bryant.”

Ellie’s eyes blurred. Here stood a man who had suffered such
pain because of his rebellious brother and greedy father. How proud she was of
him for finally taking charge. She’d known for months that Joshua had a good
heart, and now he’d proven it. She reached out her hand and gave him a warm
smile. His mouth curled into a crooked grin as he slapped his palm into hers,
sealing their friendship with a shake.

Dude sagged down onto the sofa, holding his head in his
hands. Jeb still lay on the floor and nursed his injured face, while Ty,
holding his midsection, appeared to have recovered from the blow.

Sheriff Gamble appeared in the doorway with Curly and Pete
behind him. “It looks like we have a problem in here.”

Ty crossed the room and pulled Ellie into his arms. “Nah,
Sheriff, we had one but Joshua took care of it for us.”

She nestled against Ty, thankful no words were needed to
calm the fears she felt earlier about having scared him away. It was clear when
he gazed into her eyes, he shared her feelings. Her heart soared.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Curly and Pete pulled Jeb to his feet and held onto him
while the sheriff cuffed him. Ellie sagged against Ty, still trying to gather
her wits about her. Her heart had resumed its normal beat. The nightmare was
finally over. Jeb’s plan had not only failed, it had torn his family apart.