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  Ruby turned to look at Meg. “You left him naked in the middle of Main Street? You didn’t tell us that part.”

  Meg ignored her. “You know the reasons for me leaving you naked.”

  All the pain of Zach’s betrayal filled her, causing her to hold her head high, her back rigid, as she glared at the man who she’d almost married.

  “Back to back, ladies, now! I don’t have all night,” he said brusquely.

  Ruby stood behind Meg. “Tied up and naked. Wow, sister, you do like to extract your revenge.”

  Zach picked up the rest of the rope left lying on the ground. He slowly untied it from their outlaw, keeping his gun trained on them.

  “I don’t think I’d do that if I were you.”

  “Why not?”

  “He’s wanted for murder.”

  Zach left the rope around the man’s hands.

  “Would you please pull my pants up?”

  The sheriff looked over at him. “I don’t know. These girls like to tease a man and leave him hanging out naked.”

  “Pull his pants up. We’ve seen enough of that pecker to last us a lifetime,” Ruby said.

  Zach deliberately ignored Ruby as he began to wind the rope around the two girls, tying them together.

  “What are you doing?” Meg cried, suddenly realizing how he intended to get his revenge. Fuming, she watched as the rope wrapped around their bodies.

  “It’s called vengeance. You’re being served up. You should be glad I’m not leaving you naked and exposed. See, I’m a better person than you because I left your clothes on,” he said.

  “You were in the bathhouse. What was I supposed to do?” she asked. Then in a meek falsetto she said, “Oh, sheriff, put your clothes on because I’m going to tie you up and leave you in the middle of Main Street after you didn’t defend me. After you and your boys trashed me.”

  Zach stared at her in the darkness then yanked hard on the ropes. “Meg, you have a smart, sassy mouth.”

  “Thank you, Sheriff,” she said, smiling once again at him, knowing there would come a day when she would once again get revenge.

  He finished tying them together and stood back to admire his handiwork.

  “And just how are we supposed to get out of this?” Meg asked.

  He grinned. “The same way I got out of my knots. But then, you left me with a rag in my mouth, so I couldn’t call for help.”

  Ruby turned her head, trying to see Zach and Meg. “Wow, Meg. Remind me not to make you mad ever again.”

  “You were close enough to a saloon I knew sooner or later someone would find you,” Meg said, pulling on the ropes.

  “And they did just about the time the saloon closed. There I was naked, wet, cold, and shivering in a wash tub.”

  Meg shrugged and tried to keep all the hurt she’d buried deep inside at bay. Just the sound of his voice brought it all back. “All you had to do was defend my honor. All you had to do was tell those lowlife bastards that I wear pants because I have no choice. But no, I heard everything you said and you joined in their laughter. You ridiculed me just like they did.”

  He walked up to Meg and grabbed her chin. Meg’s heart raced, and her breath quickened as she stared into his dark brown eyes. For a moment, she felt dizzy like her world was tilting. She licked her lips as her mouth suddenly turned dry. “I was going to marry you,” she said. “I wanted you to be my husband.”

  His mouth descended on hers, and he kissed her, his lips covering her own. Her mouth opened accepting him, and he drank from her like a man starving and needy. They’d never shared such a kiss before, and it left her knees weak, her breathing harsh and her body warming in areas she’d never considered. It was the kiss of a man seducing a woman. It was the kiss of a man in the throes of passion. It was the kiss of a lover branding his woman, and damn him, she refused to feel anything for him anymore.

  The outlaw cleared his throat. “I didn’t know you had it in you, Sheriff.”

  Zach raised his mouth from hers. “Shut up, Simon.” He gazed into Meg’s eyes. “I wanted to marry you. There could have been so much more between us.”

  “Yes,” she whispered, her heart reeling, her body yearning for this man. How could he still make her heart race and her lungs squeeze with want? Why him? “If only you would have defended me.”

  Her words seemed to break the spell he was under. He stepped back. “Well, I didn’t and now look where we’re at. You’re all roped up like a calf at round-up time. So I’m going to take my outlaw and leave you two to get help somehow.”

  “Zach, that bounty is mine,” she yelled at him.

  “I want to thank you for catching my criminal.”

  “Damn it, Zach,” she said, her voice rising as he led his prisoner to a waiting horse.

  He reached down and handed the man his pants. “That’s all I’m doing for you. It’s up to you to get them buttoned up.”

  “My hands are tied,” Simon said.

  “Your problem, not mine,” Zach commanded. “You wouldn’t be in this mess, if you hadn’t been thinking with your tallywhacker.”

  Zach helped the man up on the horse. “Don’t get any funny ideas. I’ll be right behind you. We’re headed to the jail.”

  “Which jail are we headed to?” Simon asked.

  “Mine,” Zach replied. “Good night, ladies. I hope someone comes along soon to help you with your tied up situation.” He climbed up on his horse, laughing.

  “Damn it, Zach. You’re going to pay for this,” Meg promised.

  Chapter 2

  The sound of hooves pounding against the earth told Meg that Zach had ridden off, leaving them alone. She wasn’t afraid, just madder than a buzzard in a sandstorm. Zach may have won today, but she’d get even. She’d find him and retribution would be hers.

  “You left him tied up and naked in the middle of Main Street?” Ruby asked Meg as they stood there in the darkened alley, trussed together back to back.

  A cat gave a lonesome meow and knocked over a trash barrel, causing Ruby to jump.

  “Yes, I did,” Meg admitted. She clenched her fists, anger streaking like fire along her backbone at the memory of overhearing him and his bath buddies laughing at the way she dressed. “He deserved it.”

  Ruby struggled to reach the knots that had them tied together. “I don’t disagree, but Meg he’s the sheriff. He could have thrown you in jail.”

  He had the right to, but he knew he was guilty of hurting her, and anyone would have agreed he hadn’t defended her to his buddies at the bathhouse.

  “Nah, I don’t think so. Everyone in town would have been talking about his naked butt being left in the middle of the street. Now it’s just a rumor. There’s no proof.”

  “Still, you took a huge chance,” Ruby admonished.

  Meg knew she’d taken a risk. Except for a tiny bit of remorse, it had been so worth it to see his eyes above the rag stuffed in his mouth, screaming at her to come back. That memory was like a balm to the pain of his not defending her. “My Irish temper got the best of me.”

  Ruby laughed. “I know that feeling.”

  They needed to get out of here before some drunk cowboy stumbled into this darkened alley. Tied up behind a saloon was no place for ladies during the day, let alone at night. If you could call them ladies. One of them wearing pants and the other a saloon dress didn’t exactly fit the ideals for a lady by this small town’s standards.

  “You still have that knife in your boot?” Meg asked.

  “I sure do. On three, let’s squat together, and I’ll pull it out.”

  “One. Two. Three.” Meg knelt at the same time as Ruby, and she felt her sister pulling the knife out of her boot.

  “Got it. Give me a moment to slice through Sheriff Gillespie’s knots,” Ruby said, already cutting the strands of rope.

  Why had the sheriff been after Simon? Sure, he was expected to arrest criminals, but what was he doing two-days ride from home in a dust choker town’s small saloon. Why
had he taken her prisoner from her?

  “He’s not going to give us our captive back,” Meg admitted, wondering why Zach hadn’t turned his criminal in to the sheriff here in town instead of traveling all the way back to Zenith with him. Something wasn’t right about this situation, but she didn’t know what.

  “I can’t wait to tell Annabelle what you did to the sheriff,” Ruby said aloud, not listening to Meg.

  “She won’t be surprised,” Meg responded as the ropes slid to the ground releasing her and Ruby. She shook her arms, letting the blood flow back into her hands. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  “We should go after Zach and Simon,” Ruby prompted, her blue eyes shining as together they strode out of the darkened alley.

  Meg thought about it for a moment. She would love to steal Simon back from Zach and maybe even leave him tied up again. “Zach shouldn’t have taken our captive. He doesn’t have that much of a head start on us. We could catch them. Maybe even get Simon back.”

  “I think we should.”

  “The money from that bounty would help us be done with this life,” Meg said.

  Ruby shrugged. “I love being a bounty hunter. It’s fun and exciting. I don’t want this life to end.”

  “I miss the farm. I miss being at home,” Meg said wistfully. She had her own dreams to accomplish and chasing dangerous men wasn’t the life she would have chosen.

  This money would pay off the loan. And wouldn’t it just stick in Zach’s craw that they took the man away from him. They walked along the wooden sidewalk, their boots making a thunk, thunk, thunk noise. “If we turn him in to another sheriff, then what can Zach say? He can’t stop us, and we’ll get our cash.”

  “Let’s go,” Ruby drawled, reaching her brown gelding and throwing her leg over the saddle. Her skirts spread about her. “I want to see Zach’s face when we steal his criminal.”

  “I just want that bounty,” Meg replied, knowing that wasn’t entirely true. She liked the idea of getting revenge, especially on Zach.

  Zach held the reins of Simon’s horse, the one he’d brought with him from his mother’s farm. Yes, he’d lied to Meg. They weren’t heading back to Zenith. They were going to Dyersville, a small east Texas town close to his mother’s farm.

  Running into the McKenzie girls had been a close call. If they found out he didn’t intend to turn over Simon, he could lose his job. But he’d given his word, he would find out the truth, and if Simon was innocent, get the charges dropped. Zach had to prove Simon’s innocence, and God help him if he were wrong.

  “Are you going to untie my hands?” Simon asked as they rode along.

  Zach glanced behind him. Knowing Meg, she and Ruby wouldn’t be tied up for long in that alley, and he fully expected her to come after him. Once they’d ridden out of town, he’d changed their direction, and they were now heading directly east, rather than north toward Zenith. He had to keep Meg from following him to Dyersville.

  “Why in the hell should I?” Zach said irritated. “You’re a criminal. I’m going to treat you like one.”

  “I didn’t kill that man,” Simon responded, his voice exasperated, his hat pulled low over his head as he swayed in the saddle.

  “The report I read said you shot him in cold blood, right in front of his wife,” Zach replied, letting his brown mustang choose the trail as they rode by the light of the full moon.

  “Frank is trying to frame me, so he doesn’t hang,” Simon called out.

  That was possible, but still Zach wasn’t sure. If he found out Simon had killed this man, he was as good as dead.

  “Simon, every criminal says it’s someone else’s fault.”

  “So if you think I killed him, why did you come after me?” Simon asked.

  Zach sighed, his chest tightening like a cinch on a saddle. “I gave my word that I would find out the truth.” He had to prove either Simon’s guilt or innocence for once and for all. There could be no doubt. “I’m going to help you, but if I find out you’re lying, I’ll turn you in myself.”

  Simon laughed. “Ohhh…the big bad lawman, is threatening me.”

  “It’s not a threat; it’s a guarantee,” Zach responded.

  The mustang meandered along at a steady pace, as they passed pines and oaks towering above them in the darkened sky. Stars twinkled, giving the heavens a glittery appearance.

  He feared the outcome of this adventure. Praying he was wrong about the knowledge he’d learn. “So here’s the plan. I’m taking you back to Dyersville. You’re to stay there and lay low. Maybe even go deeper into the East Texas woods. Just stay hidden until I can get your name cleared.”

  “Do you really think they’ll hang me if I get caught?” Simon asked, his voice sounded unsure, and Zach didn’t know if it was because of the idea of dying or something else.

  “If you killed that man, you’re as good as dead if you’re caught. Tell me your side of the story.”

  There was a moment of silence, and then Simon released a heavy sigh. “I swear, Zach. I’m innocent. You’ve got to clear my name.”

  “So tell me what happened.” He couldn’t help but wonder if Simon would tell him the truth.

  “I was riding with Frank Jones and his brothers. The plan was for us to steal this farmer's sheep to teach him a lesson. While we were rounding up the smelly creatures, the farmer rushed out of his shack and started shooting at us. Frank pulled out his Colt and shot the man.”

  A surge of anger skittered across Zach’s spine, tightening his stomach. Killing was so senseless. To shoot another man only for protecting his property, the shooter had to be heartless. Cold. Callous and cruel.

  “So Frank shot an innocent man who was trying to make an honest living, which is more than I can say about the two of you.”

  Simon laughed. “He was a sheep farmer.”

  “So what. He was a man working hard to provide for his wife and kids.”

  “We don’t want sheep farmers in Texas,” Simon replied, his tone indignant and put out.

  “Why do you care? Why do you care if the man was a sheep farmer, a rancher, or even some sodbuster? He was just a man who was trying to make a living for his family. What if someone had shot your pa while he was working the farm? How would you have felt?” Zach said, trying to control the feelings of frustration that threatened to overwhelm him. Right now, he wanted to turn his horse in the direction of the nearest town, turn Simon over to the local sheriff, and be done with this nonsense. But he’d made a promise. And he was a man who kept his word.

  “My pa’s only interest was drinking and whoring,” Simon responded bitterly.

  Zach didn’t have a comeback. What could he say to a statement filled with such disgust? Yet, the son didn’t fall far from the apple tree.

  “Seems like a man’s life is worth more than somebody shooting him because they don’t like the way he’s living.” Zach gently nudged his horse with his thighs. The mustang crossed a small stream.

  “Again, I didn’t kill him,” Simon stated in the darkness.

  Zach wanted to believe Simon would never deliberately shoot another human being. He wanted to believe the best of all men, but unfortunately, as sheriff, he’d seen some of the worst men could do to each other. And this man had been in and out of trouble for most of his life. “Can you prove it?”

  “His wife was the only witness. I’ve been looking for her. Seems she left the farm, and I haven’t been able to find out if she’s still in town,” Simon said.

  “Stay hidden in Dyersville until I get back. Let me find the wife, and I’ll let you know once I learn the truth. Once your name is cleared, then you’re a free man.”

  Zach’s mustang plodded along, and once they cleared the trees, he watched as the full moon rose in the sky. They would travel until midnight then bed down for the night. With Simon tied up, to the casual observer, it appeared Zach was taking him in as his prisoner.

  After a long silence, Simon asked, “How long do you think that’s goin
g to take?”

  “Depends. If I find the wife and she admits that you’re not the killer, then it will take a couple of weeks. But if she says you killed her husband…”

  “I understand. You’ll turn me in.”

  “It’s my job, Simon. It’s who I am. Killing is murder, and it’s against the law. I represent the law,” Zach replied with a sense of pride. He enjoyed what he did. In his small town, mostly he broke up fights and settled neighbor's disagreements. Occasionally, he closed the whore house to keep the preachers in town happy, but mostly he liked the respect the town gave him. “You could still be wanted for accessory. For not turning in Frank when he killed that sheep farmer.”

  Simon snorted. “Oh yeah, I’m going to ride in and file a complaint against the most notorious outlaw this side of the Rio Grande.”

  “Would be better than swinging for Frank.”

  Hours passed as the two of them rode side by side, not talking as the moon rose to the top of the sky. Finally, exhausted and unable to continue on, Zach pulled his horse to a stop. “I think this is far enough away that they won’t locate us. We’ll eat a quick bite and get some sleep.”

  “And if they find us?” Simon asked.

  “If you’re convicted, you’ll hang.”

  “Meg, I’m getting really tired,” Ruby called to her. “When are we going to stop and rest for the night?”

  They had ridden for hours. Twice, Meg had gotten word from strangers that they’d seen a man on a horse, pulling a man tied up behind him. It could only be Zach and Simon, and they were heading east, not north to Zenith. The confirmations were enough to keep Meg’s blood pumping with excitement as they hurried to catch Zach. The thrill of taking Simon back from Zach fueled her on, even when her body reminded her it was time to rest.

  “I know, but that old man said he saw Zach and Simon headed in this direction,” Meg speculated. “I know Zach Gillepsie. He’s trying to lose us. If we keep going, we’re bound to catch up with them.”

  “I think he’s done a good job of covering his tracks. Hell, I don’t know where we are,” Ruby admitted, her mouth opening with a yawn. “Some sleep would be great.”