by the hair.
'Let me go,' she wailed.
'Please.' The teller's eyes were big, and he was sweating. 'Here. Take my wallet,' he began as he reached inside his coat. 'Take the money and-'
Boone's second barrel silenced him.
Jack began to swear as he grabbed the last of the bills and started for the door. Billy put his pistol to the female's head, and Jack slapped it away. 'Bring her along,' he ordered. 'We may need her.'
Outside, the horses were waiting, and Tom was already in the saddle, eyes scanning the street for trouble. A rifle fired from inside the saloon as someone took a shot at them through the window. Glass shattered, but the slug went wild.
A small man came out of an alley, both pistols blazing. Bullets flew around Jack's head like angry bees. Then Carlos's rifle cracked, and the shooter toppled facedown.
Billy tossed the shrieking hostage in the red dress over his saddle horn and swung up on his horse. Dust rose as Tom spurred his pinto down the street with Jack and Boone right behind him.
At the first corner, they turned left and circled to meet Carlos. They were out of Goldsborough before half the citizens dared to show their faces.
A mile away, Jack signaled a halt. 'Split up. We'll meet where I told you tomorrow night.'
'What about her?' Billy demanded, shoving his sobbing captive onto the ground. 'Want me to finish her off now?'
Jack looked at his brother. 'Boone? What do you think?'
'No!' the woman moaned. 'Don't kill me.'
'She ain't nothin' but a whore,' Boone said.
Jack glanced down at her long legs and low-cut dress. Her scarlet cheeks and too yellow hair proclaimed her trade. 'Are you?' he demanded.
'Yes, yes. I am.' She sobbed. 'Don't hurt me. I'll do anything you want.'
'What were you doing in a bank so early in the morning?'
'Mr. Dresser was… was a customer,' she gasped. 'He was a regular every Tuesday morning.'
Boone laughed. 'Got his self blowed away for you, didn't he, bitch?'
Billy slid a pistol from his holster. 'She seen our faces, Jack. What's your rule? No witnesses.'
The woman covered her eyes and sobbed hysterically.
Jack shrugged and looked at his brother. 'Up to you.'
'Hell, let's take her,' Boone replied. 'We can always kill her tomorrow.'
Jack smiled. 'My thoughts exactly. You keep stretchin' that brain of yours, and there's hope for you yet, big brother.'
Chapter 18
When Ash appeared at Jacob's cabin four days after he'd left her, Tamsin didn't know whether to kiss him or push him off the cliff. 'Damn you,' she shouted at him. 'Damn you! I thought you were dead. I wish you were dead.'
Ash grinned at Jacob. 'Told you what she was like.'
The trader chuckled. 'Spoke the truth, too. Thought I'd have to chain her to a tree to keep her here. 'Course I'm use to that. My woman's either lovin' me or tryin' to kill me.'
Ash went to the spring and splashed cool water over his face and head, then drank deeply.
'Well?' Tamsin demanded. 'Did you catch your outlaw?'
Ash shook his head. 'Didn't see hide nor hair of him.'
Jacob drew a long puff on his pipe. 'Some days is like that, son. Reckon you had a long ride for nothin'.'
'At least I found out where they weren't.'
Jacob laughed. 'Truth to that, too.'
Ash and Tamsin rode away from Jacob's cabin the following day. The horses were rested and full of ginger as they rode east down the mountain. They found a stream and followed it until dark. Ash was afraid to risk a fire, so they ate cold rations.
It was an uneasy night. Tamsin dozed fitfully in his arms, often tossing and crying out. Once, she woke, soaked with sweat and trembling, but couldn't remember what had frightened her. And despite his fatigue, Ash snapped awake at every rustle of brush or call of a night bird.
Morning broke soft and misty. They ate and were in the saddle in minutes. They drove the horses hard all that day and the next, stopping only to skin and dress a deer that he shot in midafternoon.
That night, Ash was too restless to sleep. The hair on the back of his neck prickled, and his skin stretched drum tight over his body. Once, he thought he heard a cougar cough, but it was far off and he couldn't be certain enough to worry Tamsin about it.
Ash was concerned about her. She didn't complain, but dark shadows formed under her eyes, and she seemed unnaturally subdued. The long days in the saddle sapped strength from a man, let alone a woman, and he knew she was tired. But he wouldn't rest easy until he'd put the wilderness behind them, and they reached the white settlements.
Late the following afternoon, Ash called a halt at the sulfur springs where Tamsin had stolen his supplies. 'We both could use a hot bath and some rest,' he said. 'The horses need a day or two to graze. They're getting thin.'
Tamsin wrinkled her nose as she stared at the rising columns of steam that dotted the rocky meadow. 'You expect me to wash in that scalding water?'
He laughed. 'It's not that hot. You'll love it, I promise.'
Tamsin looked doubtful.
'Think of the horses. Their feet are sore. Fancy threw that shoe this morning.' The animals were bone weary. Of the five, the stallion seemed the strongest. Despite what he'd said about the thoroughbreds not being able to take rough country, Dancer had thrived on the high game trails and stony ground. 'Suit yourself, woman,' Ash said with what he hoped was an endearing grin. 'But I intend to scrub myself to some semblance of a human being.'
'Meaning I'm not?'
He shrugged.
Once the animals were unsaddled and hobbled to graze, Ash led Tamsin across a sloping green field strewn with multicolored wildflowers: purple prairie smoke, pink and white cat's paws, brown-eyed Susans, and golden- tinged broadleaf yucca. They circled a half-dozen rock outcrops and bubbling springs to reach a larger pool near the edge of the pine forest. Here the mineral water was clear enough for them to see the clean sandy bottom and the natural stone ledge along one side that formed a perfect bench.
Tamsin felt the blood rush into her cheeks as Ash stripped and lowered himself in. As the sulfur water rose over his legs and hips, he groaned with pleasure. He closed his eyes, lay on his back, and let himself float.
'You expect me to take off my clothes and swim stark naked?' A true Tennessee lady would have refused to join him in such a shocking venture. But it was hard to remember what a Methodist girl should do when a man like Ash Morgan wore nothing but a self-satisfied smile.
He opened one eye and grinned devilishly at her. 'Is there anything I've haven't seen, darlin'?'
'I guess not.' She chuckled. He was right, she thought. After what they'd been through, there was no need for false modesty.
And Ash was a stirring sight with his coal black hair floating around him, and his shoulders as wide as a farrier's.
She loved him, she realized. She loved this beautiful, dangerous man who wanted to take her back to face a hangman's noose. But how far could she trust him? And how long before he ran off on her again?
Ash had promised that they'd camp here tonight. She'd be a bigger fool than she was to give up what he was
