“Well, he’s ready to move on it tonight. They all are,” the man who had been trying to defend Vance said.
“Everyone’s in place? They know to hang back until I signal them?”
Hazel assumed the other man must have nodded, because the man with the scar continued talking. “All right, then. Let’s go claim my ranch.”
Hazel covered her mouth with a hand as her entire body went cold. Footsteps sounded from down beside the building. She had to move.Now.
Her feet finally obeyed, and she ran to the other side of the building and ducked around the corner. From her hiding spot, she could see the two men step out into the road to cross to the other side. They untied two horses from in front of the mercantile and rode off.
Hazel stood there a moment, her breath coming sharply as she replayed the conversation in her mind. Cattle. A signal. A ranch that clearly didn’t belong to the scarred man.
A ranch they were riding to right now.
She ought to go find the deputy sheriff. And tell him what? That some men might possibly be riding to Wade’s ranch to do harm?
It felt more than possible though. Enough so that she didn’t dare waste time.
Spurred into action, Hazel ran across the road and down toward where she remembered seeing the livery on their ride into town. She flung open the door, hat tilted, hair falling, and breathing so heavily she thought she might burst the ties of her corset.
“Please,” she said to a young man at a table near the entrance. “I need a horse. Right now.” She yanked open her reticule. A couple of coins from her journey to Colorado winked up at her. She fished those out, along with her train ticket. “Here. I have no money besides this, but you can hold this ticket. If I don’t return the horse, take it and get a cash refund for it at the depot.”
She tried to breathe normally as the man glanced at what she’d thrown onto his table. He picked up the ticket. “I don’t know if this is enough to cover a horse, miss.”
“I don’t either,” she said honestly. “You may keep my carpetbag too. And here.” She pulled the only pair of earbobs she owned from her ears and dropped them next to the coins and the ticket. “Keep these.”
“You must want this horse pretty bad,” he said, his brow furrowed as if he couldn’t think of any reason why a woman might need a horse so much she’d offer up nearly everything she owned.
“I do. It—it’s . . . life or death,” she managed to choke out. If she didn’t get there quickly enough and those men hurt Wade or anyone else at the ranch . . . if they killed Wade . . . She forced down a sob that constricted her throat. “And I have to go.Now.”
The man studied her for a second more. He nodded, seemingly convinced she was telling the truth. “All right. It’s unconventional, but far be it from me to ignore a dire situation. Just pray I don’t lose my job over this.”
“I’ll vouch for you, I promise,” she said. “Please, may I have that horse?” She pointed at the nearest animal.
The man laughed. “That one’s boarded. Doesn’t belong to us. I’ll fetch you a livery horse.”
After what felt like forever, he returned with a sleek bay horse, already saddled. “This here’s Annie. She’s a good horse.”
With the help of a stool the man had generously placed next to Annie, Hazel climbed atop the mare. “Thank you,” she said again. “May I ask you one more favor?”
“Certainly,” the man replied with a smile. “So long as it isn’t another horse.”
“It isn’t. Would you be able to alert Deputy Wright for me? I’m headed to the Pierce ranch, up north of here. There’s trouble, and I fear what might happen.”
She’d taken the man by surprise. Despite her words about life and death, he’d likely thought she needed to escape an ardent suitor or wanted to catch up with a friend. “I will, miss. I’ll go right now.”
She thanked him, and praying she wouldn’t fall right off the horse, nudged Annie into motion. The horse responded, and she was out of town quickly, riding along the railroad tracks. Summoning every ounce of courage she possessed, Hazel held on tighter and urged the horse to go faster.
Wade may have given up on love for himself, but she wouldn’t.
She wouldn’t give up on either of them. Even after this, if he decided he didn’t want her, so be it. At least she could leave knowing she’d done everything she could to save their marriage—and his life.
