She’d been standing not far from the light of their campfire. He’d been studying her when he realized that she wasn’t alone. His heart had begun to pound wildly. He’d felt weak with shock and fury. She’d stood talking to one of her wranglers—the same one who’d come to her rescue back down at the ranch.
He’d seen the way she was standing, the way she had her head tilted to look up at the cowboy. She liked him. Maybe more than liked him. He realized that he hadn’t even considered what his wife had been doing all these months when she wasn’t letting him into her bed. How many other wranglers had there been since she’d kicked him out? Did everyone in the county know what had been going on but him?
His blood had pounded so hard in his head, he’d felt dizzy.
That was when he knew that he could kill her. She’d humiliated him for the last time. When he’d seen her standing with that cowboy, he could have grabbed his rifle and taken a shot right then, but suddenly a cold calm had come over him. As his wife had stepped away from the cowboy, he’d lowered the binoculars. For possibly the first time in his life, he hadn’t gone off half-cocked. He was going in prepared this time because now he knew what had to be done.
He would find her while the others kept everyone else busy. He’d find her and finish this.
ELLA PUT OUT the campfire as planned and watched the smoke rise slowly into the darkness. Quiet fell over the mountainside. The plan had been to make everything seem as it had been other nights. As predicted, clouds had rolled in, smothering any starlight tonight.
She listened, knowing it wouldn’t be long before this moment of peace was interrupted. Brick, Jinx and Angus had left to be ready. Jinx was closest to camp but Ella couldn’t see her. She thought about their traps. They didn’t have time to dig holes or pits, but would use the pine tree boughs to make a swinging log that could be released as a rider passed. Another one would have a large rock that swung down from a tree.
“Even if some of them miss, they will be enough of a distraction that we can attack,” Brick had said, clearly enjoying this.
“We need to immobilize as many of them as we can before they reach the herd,” Jinx had said.
Ella had opted to stay in camp to set up some booby traps of her own just in case the others were wrong about how and where T.D. would strike.
“You’re a smart woman,” Max said now as he left behind his beloved chuckwagon to take refuge in an outcropping of trees next to a wall of rock some distance from the camp. She’d talked him into it, wanting him out of the line of fire no matter what happened tonight.
“You should have a good view from there,” Ella had said as she’d tried to sell him on the idea. “But you’ll also be armed so if any of them decide to come this way...”
The older man nodded, clearly seeing what she was up to. “I would love to get that man in my sights.”
She gave him a disapproving look. “We’re supposed to wound them unless we have no other options.”
“I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”
Leaving him, she went back to where the campfire had died to nothing but a tiny stream of smoke before climbing into the chuckwagon to get the pots and pans she needed. Her trap wasn’t lethal, but it would alert them if T.D. and his men were circling around behind them. Max would be safe as long as he stayed out of sight.
ANGUS FINISHED THE last of the swinging branch booby traps and looked through the trees to where he could barely see Jinx. He knew that like him, she was waiting and listening. Jinx thought that T.D. would come roaring in, all liquored up, shooting and yelling and out of control.
They wouldn’t have any trouble hearing them coming, if that was the case. Jinx didn’t expect T.D. to approach this rationally. She just assumed he would be drunk, angry and acting out rather than having a plan.
But Angus thought that she might be wrong and that expecting him to act as he usually did could be a mistake. T.D. knew this was his last night to stop them from reaching summer range—or at least cost them another day or so, if he scattered the herd. So Angus stood listening, suspecting T.D. would try to sneak up on them instead.
He couldn’t help but worry. Ella had stayed back at camp to take care of things there. She’d looked worried but he knew she would take care of Max and herself.
They were all worried, he thought, as on impulse, he moved quietly through the pines to where Jinx was waiting. He drew her into his arms, unable to fight the bad feeling that had overcome him. She leaned into him as if glad to let him take some of the weight off her—at least for a moment.
At the sound of something moving slowly, cautiously toward them, they separated. Brick came out of the darkness, whispering, “Is it safe?”
Angus wasn’t sure if he meant from the booby traps or because he had spotted Jinx in his brother’s arms. “We’re as ready as we can be.”
Brick nodded. “I’m going back up the mountain to my spot.” He pulled some strips of leather from his jacket pocket. “If I get one down, I’ll make sure he won’t be any more trouble until I untie him at daylight.” He pulled out the wad of torn dish towels he planned to use as gags. His brother gave him a grin before disappearing back up the mountainside.
Angus just hoped this worked and that no one got hurt or worse,
