Jake, Devils on Horseback, Book 2 (14 page)

“Please, Zeke, she’s gone.” She touched his chin and turned him toward her. His eyes swam with sadness so deep, Gabby’s throat closed up. “Please,” she whispered.

Zeke glanced at Allison, her face barely touched by the gruesome remains of her throat. Her blue eyes remained open in death, surprise and fear evident. He gently closed the lids as his mouth moved in a prayer. Again, Gabby was struck by what she hadn’t seen beneath the surface of the cold blond man.

With a steely-eyed stare at the backs of the retreating raiders, Zeke finally stood, his bare chest, hands and arms covered in blood. To Gabby he looked like an avenging angel, death on two feet for the raiders. She felt the same urge, the same thirst for vengeance against the cold-blooded killers who would not only destroy such a beautiful life, but start a conflagration that could destroy the rest of the town.

She scrambled to her feet and ran to join the bucket brigade. Gabby stood beside her fellow citizens and fought together. Jake appeared beside her, his face set like granite with resolve and anger. There would be time later to track the raiders, now they had to fight for the town’s future. She didn’t keep track of the time or how many buckets of water they passed. Blisters formed and popped, pain seared her back and hands, but she didn’t stop and neither did they.

Zeke worked like a madman, the grimace on his face could have scared the bastards to death. Even as the fire wound down, he kept throwing the buckets on the restaurant until the last wisp of smoke disappeared. The bandage on his arm bled through, as if he didn’t even notice or care that he’d opened his healing wound.

Gabby looked around and was pleased to see so many people. The three she didn’t see, however, were Veronica Marchison, her mother and Phineas Wolcott. Panic ripped at Gabby at the thought that something had happened to her mother. Her gaze locked with Jake’s, his soot-covered scowl questioning.

“My mother.” She glanced toward the mill. “Oh my God.” The exhaustion disappeared completely as she started running toward home.

Footfalls behind her let her know Jake had joined her. Gabby might not get along with her mother, but that didn’t mean she wished anything bad to happen. Mary was a hard woman, but she was Gabby’s mother. The love would always be there between them.

* * * * *

Jake was riding a tornado. It was the only explanation for the last hour he could think of. He ran behind Gabby, certain something must have happened to her mother, hoping it didn’t.

Gabby had suffered much in the last six months, losing her mother would be too much to bear, even for a strong woman like her. If only Gideon and Lee had been in town to help. Jake wondered if the worst was over or if there were more deadly deeds to be uncovered.

They reached the mill in less than ten minutes. Gabby stopped at the door and turned to Jake. Smears of blood and soot decorated her beautiful face while her dark eyes swam with fear. He took her hand in his and she winced. When he looked at her palm, the bloody mess of blisters and burns made his fury boil again. Those sons of bitches did more damage in ten minutes than they’d done in six months.

He kissed her hand softly. “We’ll find her. I’m sure she’s all right.”

Gabby nodded, but her body told a different story. Squaring her shoulders, she walked up the three steps and opened the door to the mill.

“Mama?”

Jake walked in behind her, both guns drawn, ready and willing to protect the woman he loved.

That thought made him nearly drop the irons.

Holy ever-loving Christ.

He picked a fine time to accept the fact that Gabby was the woman in his heart, forever and always. Perhaps it was the way she fought for Allison—although seeing her run across the town square with a shotgun in her hands almost made his heart stop. Or perhaps it was the way she battled the fire in the restaurant. Anything could have triggered the acceptance that he did most definitely love Gabrielle Rinaldi.

God help him. God help her.

Gabby walked further into the gloomy depths of the silent mill. Jake hoped like hell Mary was someplace safe. He still shook from the battle with the marauders and he was barely keeping his stomach below his throat.

“Let’s check on your pa.” Jake gestured toward the stairs leading to the living quarters. “Maybe she’s in there with him.”

Fear gripped her expression as the color leached from her skin. “Papa?” She raced up the steps with Jake hot on her heels.

When they got to the top, she didn’t even bother looking in any of the other rooms, she made a beeline for her father’s. She slammed the door open, startling Jake and alerting anyone else in the county that she was there. He kept forgetting Gabby wasn’t a trained soldier, even if she acted like one sometimes.

Mr. Rinaldi sat propped up against pillows in the bed, staring into nothingness, lost in the world only he knew. Gabby fell to her knees and cupped his face.

“Papa, it’s Gabby. Are you all right?”

He looked at her but didn’t respond. Jake swore he saw a glimmer of love in the depths of Sam’s watery brown eyes. The man was still dirty, with greasy, stringy hair and sleeping in the awful stench Jake had come to recognize was long-term bed sores and human excretions.

“What are you doing?” Mary’s voice ricocheted off the wall, making Jake and Gabby jump.

“Mama!” Gabby leapt to her feet and ran to her mother, only to wrap her arms around an unresponsive piece of wood.

Mary stepped away from her daughter’s embrace. “What are you two doing in here? It’s your papa’s rest time and now you’ve ruined it.” Thunderclouds couldn’t be darker than her expression. “And you’ve tracked in filth. What on earth were you thinking coming in here with dirt all over you?”

Gabby wiped the tears from her cheeks and took a step back. The gruesome remains of the day smeared on her soft skin. “This isn’t dirt, Mama. It’s death. Those raiders came into town and m-murdered poor Allison, then set Cindy’s restaurant on fire. Where were you?”

“Cindy’s long gone so it doesn’t matter if that building burns. Elmer can’t cook worth a spit anyway.” Mary moved around Gabby to stand in front of Sam.

“Where were you?” Gabby repeated. This time her voice held no tremors.

“I was here with your papa. I can’t be running all over town when something happens. He needs to be cared for.” Mary laid her hand on Sam’s bony shoulder. “I’m always here for him.”

Gabby’s fists clenched and Jake felt the pain from her scorched skin in his own hands. Without another word, she left the room and Jake followed. By the time they got downstairs, her hands had opened, but he knew she was still seething. Her mother seemed to be the most contrary, mean woman he’d ever had the misfortune to meet. Mary seemed to go out of her way to be nasty to Gabby as well. He didn’t know exactly what drove the older woman to treat her daughter like an annoyance, a trespasser, but he could make damn sure Gabby knew she was loved.

“Let’s go get you cleaned up.” Jake took her arm and led her outside into the sunshine.

The brightness of the sun seemed to taunt the emotions and events of the dark day. Jake hoped like hell Gid and Lee got back soon so they could chase those bastards into the ground.

* * * * *

They sat outside the mill and watched the sun go down. Gabby didn’t say much, but she didn’t move from beside Jake. Dr. Barham took care of Allison’s body while Elmer helped with her father, so Jake bandaged her hands. There was nothing else to be done but wait and be on guard. Zeke had ridden off, looking for something, anything to direct his fury at.

Gideon and Lee arrived before full dark, with Zeke right behind them. Jake stood, relieved to have the four of them back together. They formed a circle with Gabby watching from her perch on the stone wall.

“Tell me what happened. Zeke’s not talking and Cindy’s is smoldering.” Gideon glanced at Gabby.

“She’s part of this.” Jake was never more sure of that in his life. Allison’s murder had pulled Gabby from her self-imposed refusal to accept the Devils’ presence.

“Fine. Then how about you start talking?” Lee motioned to his brother. “Because this one is silent as a gravestone.”

Zeke launched himself at Lee without warning. A snarling tussle ensued with grunts and fists flying. Gideon grabbed Zeke while Jake handled Lee. Every one of them had more bruises by the time they separated, breathing hard and cursing.

“I’m going to kill every fucking one of them.” Zeke walked off into the darkness alone, the pain in his voice echoing behind him.

“Jesus Christ.” Lee spat out a mouthful of blood. “What the hell happened?”

Jake wiped his forehead. “The raiders came in broad daylight today, killed the preacher, his daughter and then set fire to Cindy’s.”

Gideon cursed loudly. “The blonde right? The one who was so taken with our Zeke? Goddammit, no wonder he’s angry.”

“We should have been here,” Lee snarled. “Together we could’ve stopped them.”

Jake shook his head, aware that Gabby watched them carefully. “They’ve never come during the day before. Nobody was prepared. By the time we got to them, they’d already killed the preacher.” He swallowed, the memory of the horror he’d witnessed running through his mind like a nightmare. “They slit her throat right in front of us.”

The silence was only split by the night creatures’ music. Gabby moved to stand beside Jake and slipped her bandaged hand gently into his.

“I need to find him.” Lee started to walk away but Gideon grabbed his arm.

“No, leave him be for now. I think he needs some time.”

“What did you find out there? Anything?” Jake hoped like hell something good would come of the day.

“We found their campsite, and some supplies. The only interesting thing we found is what appears to be a crate from Marchison’s store.” Gideon’s gaze searched Jake’s. “I’m not sure if it’s one of the folks at the store, but I’d say that’s proof someone in Tanger is helping those bastards.”

Gabby gasped. “Marchison’s? Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Lee spat again. “Don’t surprise me. That lady who runs the place is a bitch and her husband looks shifty to me.”

Gabby’s grief-stricken face hardened. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Veronica was involved somehow. Her husband Matthew couldn’t possibly be.” Gabby blew out a breath. “Believe me, he’s just a sad old man who lost his son to the war.”

“No one in town has been honest with us from the get-go. Why should we believe you?” Lee had a point, and a good one.

“You don’t have any reason to, but Jake might.” She turned to look at him. “Please, you have to believe me. Matthew is innocent, he has to be.”

Jake searched inside himself. He loved Gabby, an inescapable fact, but love did cloud judgments. His was certainly turning in a million different directions, unable to know exactly what was right and wrong. The one thing he did know was that Gabby knew the town. He trusted her judgment on that point.

“She’s right. Gabby knows the town better than we do. If she says it’s just the woman, then I believe her. Maybe Veronica Marchison is the woman I ran into in the alley.” Jake remembered something. “In fact, the night I was looking for information, I heard two people at Marchison’s on the loading dock around midnight and one of them was a woman. That definitely points to her as the one who’s trying to destroy the town.”

Gabby frowned. “Destroy the town? Is that what you think?”

“It’s what we know, Miss Rinaldi,” Gideon said. “What we’ve seen and found.”

“Tanger is dying. If you want to stop it, then we need to find out for certain who’s behind it. There’s something else I need to tell you.” Jake looked at his friends. “I know what Wolcott is up to.”

Gabby stared at him hard. “What did he do?”

Jake had intended on telling Gideon and Lee later, but he had to include Gabby. She was just as much a victim as anyone in Tanger. The mill had the largest bank account aside from Wolcott and Lucy.

“He’s been embezzling money from every account in the bank for the last year. By my estimate, and his ledger, he’s taken more than fifteen thousand dollars and moved it to a bank account in Kansas City.” Jake let that sink in. “He’s got a contact there taking care of the money until he leaves town to collect it.”

“That son of a bitch,” Gabby snarled. “He’s taken all our money, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, he did, and a lot of it.” He glanced at Gideon. “I don’t think he’s behind the raiders though because if the town has no money, then he can’t steal it.”

“Good point. And if he’s been doing this for a year, then the last thing he wants is to have his hand forced.” He rubbed his hand on his whiskered chin. “When do you think he’s gonna run?”

Jake thought about everything he’d seen and read in Wolcott’s house. Although there was nothing to suggest Wolcott was leaving on a specific date, Jake followed his instincts.

“Within a week.”

Gabby cursed, drawing a surprised grunt from Lee.

“We have to stop him.” She touched Jake’s arm with one bandaged hand. “How do we do that and catch the raiders?”

“We’re going to have to work on a plan, Miss Rinaldi.” Gideon gestured in the direction Zeke had disappeared. “Before we do that, we need my cousin to make the circle complete. Let’s meet in the morning and figure out what to do.”

“Agreed.” Jake nodded. “I know I sure as hell can’t think worth a damn right now and I’m guessing you two want a bath.”

Gabby reluctantly agreed. “Fine, but don’t you dare start without me.”

Gideon and Lee headed off into the night to clean up and get changed. Gabby tucked her arm in Jake’s and led him to the river’s edge. The fine mist from the rushing water coated his face as they stood side by side. Her arm trembled beneath his, the only sign she was still struggling with the events of the day.

“Are you all right?” Jake whispered.

“No, but I will be after we find those bastards and put them all behind bars.” Her voice shook with fury. “I am so tired of living in fear, of not knowing what would happen from one day to the next, of thinking I will never be normal. God, I hate this.”

“We’ll do our best to stop it. I promise.” Jake cursed the fact that his voice wasn’t steady. The thought of facing the tasks ahead made him break out in a sweat. Thank God Gabby didn’t know how terrified he’d been earlier. She shamed him with her bravery.