Renegade (10 page)

When Jenny still did not reply, Tucker continued. “If you’re wondering how this all came about, Matt didn’t know about me and I didn’t know about him at first. I only found out recently after our mother told me the truth on her deathbed. It was too late by then, of course. The story of her love affair with Jeremy Strait and the child—
children
—that resulted from it didn’t make much difference to me considering the lifestyle I had adopted. I robbed banks, Jenny. I spent the money as fast as I stole it in every manner of a dissolute life you can imagine.”

He continued determinedly. “But my mother’s story smarted more and more as time wore on. I finally decided that I needed to meet my father and brother. When I discovered that my father had died, that he had led everyone to believe that I never existed at all, and that he had left the entire ranch where I was born to Matt, I was furious. It didn’t make any difference to me that the ranch was heavily mortgaged and that Matt had worked around the clock to keep it going. I resented him and everything he had turned out to be because he was
the chosen one.
I was determined to prove that he wasn’t any better than I was. I also recognized the advantage Matt inadvertently provided by being my twin. I started robbing Texas banks and allowing my face
to be seen, just to confuse people. I guess I figured I would get Matt to acknowledge me one way or the other.”

Pausing for a comment that Jenny did not make, Tucker then continued. “I admit that you weren’t my first thought when I learned about you. I went to town instead when I heard that the town’s newest saloon woman, Samantha Rigg, was after Matt. I wanted to embarrass him and get a little for myself at the same time, but that didn’t work out for me. Samantha turned me down flat every time I approached her, and Matt got me to promise that I wouldn’t visit her pretending to be him anymore. I gave Matt that promise easily because in extracting that promise, he had left the door open for my visits to you. I was determined to make the best of a good thing.”

Tucker saw the pain that crossed Jenny’s expression, and he whispered, “I’m sorry that even occurred to me for a minute, Jenny. The trouble is, I never expected
you
to be
you.
“

Swallowing, Jenny whispered with obvious resentment, “You never expected that I would be so willing…so needy…so eager for your loving.”

“I never expected that you would be so honest, so trusting, so…good.”

“Oh, thank you.”

“No, don’t be contemptuous of that description! I mean what I say. I had never met a woman like you, a woman who looked me in the eye, and even
if she called me by a name that wasn’t mine, seemed to see right down into my soul. I felt close to you, but I wanted to be closer. I needed you in ways I never needed a woman before, and my need for you seemed to grow with every meeting.”

“Of course, I understand,” Jenny said sarcastically. “A handsome man like you would always want a plain woman like me.”

“I did! I still do!” His lips moving closer, Tucker whispered, “But you aren’t plain, I told you that! The time you spent in my arms while I made love to you is burned into me. I’ll never forget it. I can’t.”

Jenny’s lips trembled. She whispered, “Let me get up, Matt—I mean, Tucker. I want to get dressed.”

“No.”

“Please!”

“No. I want to hold you a little longer. I want you to forgive me.”

“Forgive you?” Jenny shook her head. A tear rolled toward her temple as she whispered, “I’ve laid myself bare to you in more ways than one. I told you I loved you and that I loved the way you made me feel. Isn’t that enough?”

“It isn’t…not now. I want you to forgive me.”

Jenny locked her teeth tight, and then said, “All right, I forgive you. Now may I get dressed?”

“I want you to mean it, Jenny.”

Jenny’s brown eyes were moist as she whispered sincerely, “Maybe I can forgive you someday, but you’re asking too much of me right now. I’ve been
used, do you understand? I’ve allowed someone to make love to me who isn’t my betrothed—and I admitted to enjoying every minute of it! Is there any excuse for that behavior?”

“Only that you did the same thing that your
betrothed
continued to do to you.”

“Wh…what do you mean by that?”

“I mean…” Tucker’s glance became more solemn. “I went to Matt’s cabin just before I came here. Samantha Rigg was there, and they…they had been together.”

“You’re lying!”

“I’m not lying. I wish I were.”

Jenny closed her eyes, and Tucker continued. “But once I came, things got out of hand. The feelings I had for you boiled up inside me. I wanted to make love to you, and when you seemed to feel the same, my resistance slipped away.”

“Please, don’t remind me how I acted.”

“I can’t forget it.”

Refusing to meet his gaze, Jenny said with steel in her voice, “Are you finished now?”

“I don’t have anything else to say.”

“Then let me get up.”

“Jenny—”

“Let me get up, I said!”

Tucker’s restraint fell away and Jenny stood to dress. She did not realize he did the same until she turned to see him fully clothed. She said, “I’m going home now, Tucker. I’m going to tell my father that
you had to go back to the ranch and couldn’t stop off to see him. I’m not going to embarrass him any further than I’ve already embarrassed him without his knowledge today.”

“Jenny—”

“In case you don’t understand what I mean by that, I’ll tell you more clearly. I’m not going to tell my father any of this happened—ever! I’ll tell Matt, though. I could never lie to him. I’m sure he’ll confess his interlude with the saloon girl, and then we’ll gradually separate and go our own way without anyone being the wiser.”

“Jenny, please listen to me.”

“You’ve said enough, Tucker. Whether Matt acknowledges you or not is his business. I don’t want any part in the masquerade you both perpetuated—not anymore.”

Mounting, Jenny forced herself to say coldly, “Good-bye, Tucker. I hope never to see you again.”

She rode off, sitting stiffly erect. She did not look back to see Tucker standing silent in the empty glade. Nor did she realize that his heart, as well as her own, was breaking.

Samantha forced a smile at the tall, white-haired man whose blue eyes scrutinized her so carefully. She knew Sean so well. The only problem was that he knew her well also. Her uncharacteristic behavior in calling him in on the case that he had worked on briefly before being called to another had surprised
him. It had bothered him because he knew something had happened, especially since she had been determined to do him one better.

When she did not immediately reply to his question, Sean persisted, “I told you that you were making a mistake with your plan to prove yourself, but you didn’t listen. So what went wrong, Samantha?“

Samantha hesitated again to reply. Sean was clever, astute, intuitive, and relentless. All were qualities she admired in his work, but all were qualities she now saw as a threat to Matt. Uncaring whether it was right or wrong and truly uncertain why she cared at all, Samantha knew she couldn’t make the ultimate betrayal of revealing what she had learned—not yet. She had to protect Matt somehow.

She bluffed, “I’m afraid I got frustrated, Uncle Sean.”

Sean’s brows knit together in a frown. “I think you can forget the ‘uncle’ part temporarily. I don’t want you to make that mistake in front of someone.”

“All right, Unc—I mean, Sean.”

“Now that that’s taken care of, you can answer my question, young lady.”

“I think you should stop calling me ‘young lady,’ too. That could be just as damaging.”

“All right.” Undeterred, he said, “I’m waiting for you to explain yourself.”

Samantha responded, “Like I said, I got frustrated. I wasn’t getting anywhere. I tried everything
to get close enough to Matt Strait so he’d talk to me confidentially, but he resisted. It’s that fiancée of his. He pretends to be so loyal to her.”

“I got to admit that puzzled me, too, especially in view of the reputation of his alter ego.”

Samantha barely managed to maintain her surprise at Sean’s unwitting reference to Matt’s
other self.

Apparently unaware of Samantha’s struggle, Sean shook his head. “The alibis that Strait provided were solid. There was no way I could shake the statements of the different people who claimed he was with them each time the robberies occurred.”

“I was determined to discover something that you had overlooked in the brief time you spent on this case. When I couldn’t, I figured I’d ask for your help.”

Sean regarded her more closely. “That doesn’t sound like you, Samantha. You don’t give up.”

“I didn’t give up. I asked you to come.”

Sean eyed her silently.

Samantha asked, “Are you angry with me, Unc…I mean, Sean?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

“I’m wondering what you think I’ll be able to do that I didn’t do before.”

Suddenly remembering a man who had passed through town earlier in the month, Samantha said, “A fella named Josh Harden showed up at the Trail’s
End a while back. From what I heard, he comes every year, but this time he mentioned that he didn’t like the new people living in a cabin north of here. He said they ran him off, contrary to the common hospitality in the area. Strange thing is that when I inquired casually about them, Josh said ‘those fellas’ had moved into the area within the last year, since they weren’t there the last time he came through. He didn’t think they had a woman with them, either, which made me suspicious. A woman would be part of the mix if they were homesteading, and since the timing was right, I figure it could be the gang Pinkerton is looking for.

“What made it all sound more plausible,” she continued, “was that one of the fellas Josh talked about sounded enough like Strait to be Strait. I figure maybe that fella was mistaken for Strait somehow, and that’s where the confusion came in. It seems worth investigating, but I don’t have time to do it since at present I’m conducting a covert search of Matt Strait’s property in the hope that I’ll find some evidence that he’s the one we’re looking for.”

Sean quizzed, “If you’ve found all this out by yourself, why do you need me? It would be just as easy to finish your present investigation, and then ride out to look for this cabin if you need to. That’s the way your pa would do it.”

Samantha’s jaw tightened at Sean’s reference to her father. She glanced away briefly, then faced him to say, “Truth is, I’m not sure I can hold off the
regulars at the Trail’s End too much longer, considering what they’re thinking.”

Sean’s face reddened. “If any of them fellas have taken anything for granted—”

“Not yet they haven’t.” Samantha could not help being amused by Sean’s indignation. She continued. “I’m just not sure that I can manage the masquerade necessary to investigate freely much longer. I’m not a Pinkerton yet, you know. I don’t have that protection.”

“Such as it is,” Sean mumbled. He then inquired more directly, “Where is this cabin supposed to be?”

“I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?”

“Josh said it’s somewhere north of here.”

“This is a big state, Samantha.” Sean’s lips twitched. “ ‘North’ doesn’t pinpoint the location too well.”

“I’m sorry. That’s all I’ve got, so you can see what I’m facing.”

Again, Sean did not respond.

Samantha swallowed nervously. The story was thin. She didn’t know if she’d take it seriously herself, but she hoped Sean would.

Sean asked unexpectedly, “What about this Toby?”

“He’s all right. He’s a friend.”

Sean nodded. “I’ll look into it.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’ll look into it.”

With no recourse, Samantha said, “You’ll let me know what you decide to do. I mean, I’ll have to figure something else out if you can’t follow through.”

Sean did not reply. Instead, he turned toward the door. He paused only long enough to ask, “When do you have to show up at the Trail’s End?”

“In about an hour.”

He nodded and walked out.

The door closed behind him and Samantha released a relieved breath. So far, so good.

He didn’t like Samantha’s story. He had the feeling she was lying for some reason, and his gut was never wrong.

Sean walked across Winston’s main street, careful to avoid the potholes. He had been in countless towns like this one before, and they were all the same—or close to it. One of their similarities was that the town saloon was the rumor mill, which Samantha had learned early on was the only place to be.

Sean stepped up onto the boardwalk outside the Trail’s End. He pushed open the swinging doors. Yes, these towns were all alike and he knew exactly what to do.

“Say, ain’t you that Pinkerton that came through a while back?”

Sean looked up at the mustached bartender as he stepped up to the bar. The fella had a good memory. “That’s right.”

“Ain’t caught those bank robbers yet, huh?”

“No, we haven’t.”

“Too bad.” The bartender put a drink in front of him when Sean motioned for a glass. “I guess Pinkertons can’t always win.”

“I guess not, but I figured I’d check on a rumor I heard recently about a fella named Josh Harden.”

“I know him.” The bartender smiled. “He comes through once or twice a year. He don’t work regularly no more. That bad leg, I guess.”

“Samantha said he almost got run off this time by some new people.”

“Yeah, he talked to Samantha for a while, but I think I overheard him mention that.”

“Samantha told you about Josh?”

Sean turned toward the small brunette who had unexpectedly joined his conversation with the bartender. He raised his gray brows and replied, “Samantha’s an old friend, so I stopped off at her room for a while to catch up on old times.” He sighed. “It was a real comforting experience.”

Helen frowned.

“Josh didn’t like it too much, being run off, I mean.”

Sean frowned at the fellow who walked up beside the brunette and responded in her stead.

“Josh is used to being treated real hospitable by everybody in the area, and he didn’t care who heard him complain about the newcomers.”