The Heart's Pursuit (34 page)

Dean shook the traces of grain and the horses’ slobber from his hat, then placed it on his head. “I’m ready when you are.”

The boy was tired, but he hadn’t complained even once. Jared remembered how much Silver had hated the trail at first, but she’d been as tenacious as Dean was now. Carlton wasn’t giving Silver much rest, but at least the man couldn’t harm her while they were riding. Jared took some comfort in that knowledge.

Hang on, Silver. We’re coming.

The sun had barely dipped beyond the horizon when Carlton stopped for the night. Even now, the heat of day lingered. The sky was a light pewter color. True darkness wouldn’t come for hours, for already the full moon was a promise in the east.

They dismounted and Carlton ordered Silver to spread her blanket on the ground and lie down. He didn’t have to tell her twice. Her weary legs seemed to crumple beneath her. Under the wool blanket, the sandy red soil was hard, but it mattered little to her. She was just glad to be down from the saddle.

With a sigh, she turned on her side, resting her head on the jacket Carlton had allowed her to pull from her saddle pack. Since her wrists were still bound together, she couldn’t put it on, but she would be able to draw it over her shoulders as the night cooled. She could taste grains of sand in her teeth. She longed for a drink of water but decided not to ask. The less attention she called to herself the better.

She stiffened, her breath catching in her throat. Carlton had spread his own blanket next to hers. Even now he stretched out beside her. Terror dug its icy claws into her throat.

“Get some sleep. We’re not staying the night. Just a couple hours. Then we push on. Try to get away and I’ll shoot you. I’ve got the gun now.” He chuckled softly. “I won’t miss. I’m a better shot than you.”

She lay still, listening as his breathing steadied, certain she wouldn’t be able to sleep with him so close. But she was wrong. Exhaustion overruled fear.

    
CHAPTER 38
    

S
ilver came fully awake. Close behind her, Carlton’s breathing was slow and even.

What had awakened her?

She opened her eyes and perused the mostly open ground before her. The promise of dawn had lightened the sky. There was no breeze, no sounds of scurrying nocturnal animals. Their horses stood nearby, heads hanging low as they slept.

Something had awakened her. What was it?

Jared
.

Her pulse quickened as his name resounded in her heart. Jared was out there. He was out there this very moment. He wasn’t following any longer, trying to find her. He was there now, watching her as night gave way to day. Should
she try to roll away from Carlton? Should she try to get up and run?

Beside her, Carlton cursed, and she understood he was angry for sleeping through the night. She smiled to herself, thankful for his mistake.

Then something changed. He seemed to hold his breath. The air seemed to crackle with tension. Did he feel Jared’s presence too?

The barrel of the gun pressed against the base of her skull. “If you don’t do exactly what I say, I’ll kill you. Understood?”

She had no chance of escaping him. Not yet.

“Get up nice and slow. Don’t try any quick moves.”

She didn’t move.

“Now!” He shoved her with the gun, knocking her head forward. Then he took hold of her loose, tangled hair and pulled her head back toward him.

She sat up, sliding onto her knees, then stood. Without moving her head, she looked for Jared, but there was no one in sight. The ground was barren. The nearest trees and brush were a good fifty yards away. Behind them was a rocky trail and steep drop-off into a deep ravine.

Carlton pulled Silver backward, the revolver still touching her. “I won’t let him take you alive. You might as well know it.”

“You won’t escape this time. You’ll seal your fate the instant I’m dead. The sooner you kill me, the sooner you die too.”

His fingers bruised her arm, and he cursed her.

Her heart thundered in her chest. Blood pulsed in her ears until she could scarcely hear anything else. She waited for the shot that would take her life, but the bullet didn’t come. Carlton still needed a shield. It wasn’t over yet. Not quite yet.

Jared peered down the barrel of his rifle, certain that Carlton didn’t know exactly where Jared was, based on his jerky movements. Still the fugitive managed to keep Silver in the line of fire as he edged both of them toward more cover. If the sun was up, if the light was better, maybe Jared could have taken a shot, but as it was, he risked hitting Silver instead.

“What do we do?” Dean whispered.

Jared didn’t look at the boy. “Don’t move. Not a muscle,” he answered. “You stay here until I tell you different. Understood?”

Instinct told him Dean nodded, but Jared never took his eyes off Carlton and Silver.

“I know you’re out there, Newman,” Carlton shouted. “Throw down your gun and show yourself.”

Jared stayed quiet as he drew a slow, deep breath.

“I’ll kill her, Newman. You know it and she knows it. You let us ride out of here without any trouble, you don’t follow me any farther, and I’ll let her go.”

“You’re a liar, Carlton. That’s something else we all know. You let Silver go first, then we’ll talk.”

Carlton whipped Silver a step to the left and peered through the dim morning light in the direction of Jared’s voice. “You’re not the law. You got no right to take me anywhere.”

“I’ve got the right. Nothing’s changed about that.”

“What am I worth to you, Newman? What’s the reward they’re offering? I’ll get the money myself and pay you off. I’ve got friends. I can get the money. I’ll double it.”

If Carlton took one wrong step, Jared might be able to stop him before he reached full cover. But he was moving with great care, no longer keeping himself sheltered behind Silver’s body by dumb luck.

“How much, Newman?”

Money didn’t mean a thing to Jared without Silver. If he lost her, he lost anything that mattered. No reward could change that. But that was something Matt Carlton would never understand.

As Jared watched through his rifle sight, Silver suddenly twisted around and shoved her captor. Then she bolted away from Carlton. The man pointed his gun after her, but Jared fired his rifle first. Carlton dropped. Jared took off running. He saw Carlton get to his feet again, holding the right side of his head and swaying as if drunk. The bullet must have grazed him and left him dazed. But Jared wasn’t concerned with Carlton now. He’d lost sight of Silver. Where was she? Could she—

A scream reached his ears. Silver’s scream.

Jared faltered, caught himself, ran faster even as he saw Carlton stumble toward his horse. Jared could stop him from getting away, or he could race to find Silver. He chose the latter.

The slide down the sharp incline had terrified Silver, but she was even more frightened by the narrowness of the ledge that held her now. Beyond it was a sheer drop to the bottom of the deep, rocky ravine. Certain death if she was to start to slide again. Her hands and arms were scraped and bleeding, the result of trying to stop her descent after she slipped and fell.

“Silver!”

She tipped her head back, trying to see Jared.

“Don’t move. I’ll get a rope.”

“Carlton. Is he dead?”

“He’s wounded, but he got away.”

She closed her eyes. It was her fault Matt Carlton had escaped. All her fault. How could Jared ever forgive her?

“It doesn’t matter, Silver. Don’t move. I’ll be back.”

She obeyed him, holding as still as possible. Her heart jumped every time more dirt and rocks shifted and slid on either side of her. The passage of time seemed to slow to a crawl. An eternity passed before she heard the welcome sound of Jared’s voice again.

“Grab ahold, Silver, and I’ll pull you up.”

Relief overwhelmed her as her hands tightened around the knot Jared had tied near the end of his lariat and thrown to her, and as she inched her way up the incline, tears of relief began to streak her cheeks.

The instant her head and shoulders rose above the ridge, Jared grabbed hold and hauled her the rest of the way up. Then he pulled her to him and buried his face in her hair.

“I knew you were coming,” she whispered. “I knew you’d find me.”

His hands cupped the sides of her face, forcing her head back so he could stare down into her eyes. His left hand slipped forward to tenderly touch the bruised and swollen skin on the right side of her face. “He hurt you.”

“Only that. Nothing more.”

“When I saw he’d taken you—”

“I knew you would come. I knew you wouldn’t rest until you found me.”

He kissed the wound above her eye. He kissed her forehead. He kissed the tip of her nose. “I never should have left you alone. I should have known you couldn’t follow orders.”

“I knew you’d come. I wasn’t afraid as long as I remembered that.”

“He could have shot you. He almost did.”

“You shot him first.”

And finally, he kissed her mouth, a lifetime of loving
promised in the touch of his lips. “Why did you let him loose, even for a moment?”