After seeing Garland out, Hawk informed Lina about the situation.
“Mad Dog Gulch?” she repeated. “Will you be all right?”
Her concern felt like a blanket around his shoulders. Who knew leaving to do the job he loved would be so difficult now that she was here? “I’ll be just fine. Don’t you worry. Go on to sleep, and I’ll see you when I return in the morning.”
He lifted a hand and cupped her cheek, ever so gently. She didn’t pull away, instead closing her eyes. And in that moment, Hawk didn’t want to go. He’d much prefer to remain here, to see what would happen if he leaned forward and placed just a whisper of a kiss against her lips.
But he didn’t. Instead, he relished the feel of her skin under his hand for a half-second longer before pulling away. He took one last glance at her before he left, her beautiful sun-colored hair falling in a few escaped tendrils around her face, and those unforgettable eyes on him.
Joseph Grayson. The memory was a startling thought. That was where he’d seen that color of eyes before. He might never have remembered it save for the story he’d been telling her. It was the strangest coincidence, and yet life was full of such unexplainable things. No one had a claim on eye color, though, and Hawk much preferred replacing the memory of that outlaw with Lina’s pretty face.
And as he closed the door behind him, his mind wandered to the future and a whole passel of children with those clear, summer-day eyes.
He believed he might have just fallen in love with his wife.
Chapter Eleven
LINA ACTED QUICKLYas soon as Hawk left the house. Well, as quickly as she could given that her mind still spun from his sweet gesture. She could have fallen right into his arms when he’d placed his hand on her cheek like that. Fallen right into him and surrendered everything she’d come here for.
Persuading the livery owner to give her Hawk’s second horse was easy compared to trying to follow the men in the dark without being seen. It was a fine line, staying back just far enough to remain hidden but managing to keep them in sight. Lina suspected that Red the horse would know his way back home if she lost sight of Hawk and his men. But that wouldn’t get her any closer to learning more about her father’s money.
She was acting on impulse with very little information to go on, that she knew. But it was the only clue she had from that letter, and this might be her only opportunity to see it through. Hawk had come so close to telling her about the conversation he’d had with her father, and Lina figured that if she found nothing in Mad Dog Gulch, she could somehow get Hawk to tell her the rest of the story.
The town arose like a ghost in the night, a few windows here and there ablaze with lamp or firelight. Lina heard the shouts before she saw the people causing them. Hawk and his men rode directly into town; Lina hung back, halting Red and trying to figure out what to do.
She’d given some thought to a plan as she’d ridden, but now, faced with a town that was clearly out of control, she questioned whether she’d entirely taken leave of her senses. What woman strode into a town like this, alone and at night?
Lina drew in a deep breath. She was Joseph Groves’ daughter. And Papa had been a man who would have done anything necessary to help his children survive—and he’d died for it. It was up to her now to help Matthew. No one was coming to their rescue.
She pressed her shoulders back and nudged the horse forward and off to the left, hoping to enter the town from a less obvious place than the road. That idea paid off, and she tied Red to a tree just beyond the rear of some buildings.
Stepping silently between two darkened buildings, Lina emerged at the road. There was no civilized board sidewalk here, as there was in Perseverance, only a dusty road that Lina imagined grew muddy and filthy when it rained. She was near the south edge of the town, and the road to the left was undisturbed, but when she looked to the right, it was an entirely different story.
Figures milled about on the road and in front of several buildings and tent structures that must have served as some sort of businesses. There were shouts and men on horseback—Hawk’s men, Lina hoped—moving through the crowd. The sound of shattering glass nearly made Lina turn and race back to Red, but she forced herself to remain where she was. Laughter followed, and then a gunshot.
Lina ducked back beside the closest building, a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. What was she doing here? She was as likely to get killed as she was to find out anything about Papa’s money.
