“And we appear to be missing three. They’re picking us off.” The man’s voice grew angry. “We’ll sit tight and let them come to us.”
“Good idea, boss,” said Frezner, his yellow-heart ringing out through his shaky voice.
“They all kind of favor the young miss, over there. Maybe we should make an example of her?” suggested the fourth man.
“Idiot. She’s our bread and butter in this operation,” said the well-dressed gent, that Gen took to be the illustrious Terrance Laker.
“She hasn’t taken too kindly to her future husband, if you ask me,” he mocked.
“No one asked you, so mind your own business. When her old man pays up, we’ll all have enough to retire on and she can crawl home with her tail between her legs. Maybe she won’t buck the next wealthy gent her old man picks out for her.”
Terrance’s voice drifted through the night and Gen spotted Andrea by a wagon, sniffling quietly with a hankie covering her face.
Gen’s gaze shifted to Trace and she witnessed confirmation in his eyes. She could almost feel the depth of the girl’s heartbreak. This was indeed Andrea’s love-interest, Terrance, the alleged father of the child, the one who organized this do-gooder trip as a front for his kidnapping plan. The misguided heir hovered close to the back of the wagon, wrapped in a heavy shawl and watching the same scene through red puffy eyes. While Gen’s heart reached out to the naïve girl, she sensed Nick’s tension beside her and turned to see the anger building in his fired-up glower. They needed to bring this ordeal to an end.
A rider came in. “Message delivered.” He’d be the fifth man left standing Gen concluded.
“Was the man reasonable?” asked Terrance.
“Are you kidding? He blew his stack. Said he’d have the law after us.” The man slid from the back of his horse and grinned. “But I reminded him we held his daughter. The first lawman we saw, she’d be dead. He backed off.”
“So, he’ll be at the meeting place at two?”
“With the money,” he laughed. “Said we better bring the girl.”
The trail-master laughed. “Got that covered, boss-man,” he said, his laughter riddled with mockery. He aimed his pistol at Terrance.
“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Terrance, surprise glaring through every angle of his expression.
“You and your sidekick there, drop your guns. I’m running the show now.”
Frezner came up behind the men and disarmed them. “My, how the tables have turned,” he taunted. Sticking the barrel of his gun in the small of Terrance’s back, he pushed. “Over there, against the tree.”
Terrance stood his ground and yelled at the trail master. “Fool! I started this job and I’ll finish it.”
“Reckon you’re not needed anymore,” Frezner sneered shifting the barrel of his gun to the back of the man’s head.
Frezner looked at Zack, and Gen watched in horror as the double-crosser nodded confirmation for the take-down. The gun shot rang out in the early morning and within seconds, Terrance lay in a pool of blood on the ground. His surprised side-kick had no chance. Within seconds he joined his partner in crime and fell beside him.
Gen brought a hand to her mouth to stifle her outburst. Her eyes pivoted to where Andrea stood and the girl had fell into a dead faint. Gen grasped Trace’s arm and he covered her hand with his and squeezed, bringing much needed comfort to her soul. Gen had never witnessed such brutality before and it caught her off-guard.
Trace nodded to Nick, and the two began backing away to regroup. As they inched into the dense bushes beyond, Gen followed reluctantly, but lingering in the rear allowed her keen ears to pick up the commanding voice of the trail master.
“Clean up this mess. Then let’s eat before we head to the crossroads for part two of this deal.” He cussed. “Any of you women know how to cook?” he yelled to the group who peeked out from behind the canvas of a wagon. “I’m starving and this new boss ain’t going to put up with your bellyaching anymore.”
It appeared the saloon women had served their purpose and the three escapees had been temporarily forgotten in the greed of the three men left standing. She hurried to catch up to Trace and Nick.
“What now?” asked Nick, when they gathered out of sight and hearing range of the camp. “I vote we go and snatch Andrea.”
“They won’t hurt her – not yet,” said Trace. “Wish we knew where the meeting place was so we could wrap up this mess with a tidy bow before we deliver Mr. Friskin’s package home.”
Gen moved in beside them. “The crossroads. We passed that yesterday, didn’t we?”
“How do you know?” asked Trace.
“If you’d stuck around one minute longer, you’d have heard the braggart say so.” When she saw disappointment etch Trace’s face at her trumping his card again, she added, “I give credit to this cumbersome dress. Can’t move as quick as you two.”
“Suppose then we’ll head over there and wait for whoever shows up with the money to make the trade,” said Trace. “We’ll intervene, and have the girl home before nightfall. Case closed.”
“So, the trail master was hired by this Terrance fella for the kidnapping of Andrea Friskin, then killed the man to claim the ransom for himself,” said Nick. “Greedy sort, isn’t he?”
“Lots of his kind around. But there’s a second part to his plan. He inferred this was a double cross,” said Trace. “Be interested to see who shows up at the Crossroads.”
Gen gathered the guns from the men they’d hidden in the bush while Trace and Nick returned to the corral to borrow a few horses. It was too far to walk and they couldn’t risk arriving late for the
