The Bride’s Secret_A Western Romance Story Read online

  “Me and these men are heading into town to round everyone up. You found Emily Whittaker, I take it?”

  Jack wondered why Max used her full name. He knew Jack was familiar with the family.

  “Well, in a way. She was staying in a nearby house with one of the locals. She was safe the whole time. Other than sore feet, she will be okay. I have to assume she was wearing boots. That can’t be fun to walk ten miles in.”

  “Ten miles?”

  Jack felt like he’d already said too much. If he gave this man access to Rachel, not only would Sam never forgive him, he would never forgive himself.

  “Yeah, she walked a long way. But I don’t know if she, Ryan, or Caroline is ready to come back. I don’t think they want to leave right away.”

  Max snorted. “I don’t think they want to leave at all. That’s why we’ve got to take care of this now. We’ve got to round everyone up and get them back here so we can get out of this town.”

  “What if you’re met with resistance?” Jack eyed the men waiting for Max to give the okay.

  Max sneered. “There will be no resistance from my people.”

  “What about the people of Wickenburg?”

  “What about them?”

  “They might not want you to take people out of their saloons and I know that man, Sam, is going to try to get Emily to stay.”

  “She will not stay,” Max said in a firm voice, his dark eyes flashing with anger. “None of them will stay. We are all leaving tonight or no one is leaving tonight.”

  Jack’s eyes widened. “Do you really plan to shoot up the entire town? There are a lot of innocent people in this town. Highly respected, intelligent, hard-working people. You can’t just expect them to let people go, especially if they don’t want to.”

  Max stared at Jack. “Whose side are you on?” He asked in a suspicious voice.

  Jack swallowed. “What do you mean? I’m on your side. I just have to warn you. After all, I’m your second in command, right?” He tried smiling, hoping he didn’t look too nervous.

  Max’s face seemed to relax. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess you are. So you are riding with us into town?”

  Jack nodded. “Yep. When are you leaving?”

  “We’re getting ready to right now.”

  “I’m gonna talk to my guys here for a minute.” Jack turned his horse so he and the three men he’d come with could talk in private. “You guys all good with this?” he asked in a low voice.

  Pete was the first one to answer. He had concern on his face. “Jack, I thought we were trying to help Emily and Ryan. It sounds like we’re just gonna go back and get in a gunfight with all them cowboys in town. I don’t wanna do that. I don’t want to get shot. I wanna live to see my baby born in a few months.”

  For once in his life, Jack wished he could send his thoughts to someone else’s brain. He needed Pete to understand that they weren’t to confront Max. “We’re not gonna get in a gun battle, Pete. I promise.”

  Pete shook his head. “That’s what it sounds like. Sam isn’t gonna let anything happen to Emily. He’s not gonna let Max take her, especially if she don’t wanna go. She’s been talking about leaving the rodeo for a long time. I’ve heard her.”

  “What’s that?” Max came up behind Jack on his horse. “Emily wants to leave the rodeo?”

  Jack looked at the older man like he’d lost his mind. “You know she’s been wanting to. She says it all the time. She doesn’t keep it quiet. That woman doesn’t keep anything quiet.”

  Max gave Jack a hard stare. “You seem to know her very well. Do you talk to her often?”

  Jack paled, seeing Max’s suspicion return. “I am her friend. I’m everyone’s friend.”

  Max narrowed his eyes. “If we end up in a fight with those men in Wickenburg, will you be on my side or theirs?”

  Jack was finding it more and more difficult to pull off the friend routine. He balked. Before he could answer, Max nodded, pulled out his gun and shot him in the gut. Jack’s eyes widened. One hand went to his belly. Blood seeped out between his fingers. He looked at Max in shock.

  “I thought… we were friends…”

  “You betrayed me. I can see it in your eyes.”

  Jack slid off his horse and hit the ground, where he stayed, motionless. Pete and the two other men that had come with Jack turned their horses and galloped away as fast as they could. Max shot his gun until it was empty, missing all of them.

  He waved his gun to the men behind him. “Let’s go. We’re not gonna let this betrayal go unpunished.” He turned and looked at them. “Any of you want to go with Jack?”

  They all shook their heads, though several were looking at Jack with sadness in their eyes. Max urged his horse into a gallop. “Let’s go!” He called out, waving his empty gun in the air. Most of the men behind him rode fast to catch up with him. Two hung back, their eyes on Max. When he didn’t turn around to make sure they were all following, they looked at each other and eased their horses to the side until Max wouldn’t be able to see them. He wouldn’t miss them if he didn’t know they hadn’t followed. They doubted he even knew their names.

  When Max was safely out of range, they came back toward Jack’s body, dismounted and knelt next to his body.

  Pete led the others toward town. He didn’t know where he was going, not being in the loop. He looked behind him and saw Max and the others in pursuit.

  “Faster!” he called out. “We gotta get to town with enough time to warn Sam and Adam! Come on!”

  They pushed their horses to run faster, the wind blowing past their faces, their hearts beating like mad.

  They came into town at such a fast pace, their horses kicked up dirt behind them, snuffling and snorting, shaking their heads back and forth.

  “The hotel!” Pete yelled out. “They’ve got to be at the hotel!”

  The three men made it to the hotel and swung down from their horses as fast as they could. Pete was the first one with his feet on the ground. He bound up the few steps. When he put his hand on the doorknob, he glanced back down the street. He could see Max and his group coming fast. He turned the knob and pushed the door open.

  His heart raced when he saw the lobby filled with people.

  “They’re coming!” he yelled. “They’re coming, get ready! Get your guns! They’re coming for us all.”

  Ryan stood up, his face deadly serious. “They won’t get far.”

  Pete moved through the crowd to Ryan. “They’re right outside, Ryan. They’re almost here. He killed Jack! He killed Jack!”

  Ryan felt a severe tingle of anger slide up his spine. “What?”

  He clenched his jaw, both hands circling the handles of the pistols at his side. He turned and looked at his mother. “You stay here, Ma. Don’t come outside. I don’t want you involved in this.”

  She nodded and reached up to take his hand. He bent over and she touched his face.

  “I love you, son.”

  “I love you, Ma.”

  Ryan turned and ran to the door, following several other men out to see where Max was. He was almost to town. They could see him approaching slowly.

  “Why is he going so slowly?” Pete asked.

  “He saw that you already made it here to warn us,” Ryan said. “He knows he’ll get shot the moment he enters town.”

  Pete looked at him. “I just want you to know Max shot Jack point blank. But when we rode away, he shot out the rest of his bullets and didn’t hit a single one of us.”

  Ryan looked at him with an appreciative smile. “Let’s go, Pete.”

  Ryan, Pete, the sheriff, and several other men left the hotel and moved to the edge of the walkway, staying behind the load bearing beams that held up the roof that covered the walkway from one side of the street to the other.

  “Somebody has got to tell Sam. If he and Emily come out of that church, they’re gonna get shot for sure.” Ryan looked over his shoulder in the direction of the church. It was at the end of the street. The
re was no way any of them would get that far without being shot. Although it apparently depended on whether or not it was Max shooting them. The thought gave Ryan a thrill and he chuckled.

  He glanced the other way, catching the eyes of the sheriff. “How can we let Sam know? They can’t come out and walk down the street.”

  Jim nodded. “I’ll go down the street. You boys cover me. I’d prefer if they shot first but if you have to shoot them, please feel free.”

  Ryan laughed. He tapped the front of his hat with his gun in a salute. “We can do that, Jim.”

  “Thanks.” He moved to the edge of the walkway, staring down the street at Max and his men, who had stopped just at the edge of town. He judged the distance and felt he could make it.

  He didn’t hesitate too long. He ran down the walkway to where his horse was tied up and reached out to untie the reins from the hitching post. He climbed over the railing of the walkway, used the horse trough to step on and launched himself onto the back of his horse. He turned the horse and galloped toward the church.

  As soon as he had his horse turned toward the church, a shot rang out. The bullet didn’t reach him and he rode the horse as fast as he could to the building where Sam and Emily still were. After the first bullet rang out, many more followed. The battle had begun.

  Jim made it to the church safely but by that time, Sam had poked his head out to see what was going on.

  “Shots!” Sam yelled to Jim. “What’s going on? Is Max here?”

  “He’s here, Sam,” Jim confirmed. “He killed Jack. No turning back now. We gotta take care of this outlaw. Now.”

  Sam disappeared back in the church. Jim turned to watch what was happening down the street. It didn’t look like anyone on the walkway was hit. One of the men with Max, however, had already hit the ground and several others were turning tail and running. Max saw them and shot at them but missed them. Jim shook his head.

  “What a terrible shot,” he murmured. He ran up the steps and went into the church. Sam was standing at a front pew. He had Emily in his arms, holding her head to his chest. Her arms were wrapped around him.

  “I’m scared, Sam,” she whispered. He hugged her for a moment and then held her at arm’s length, looking into her eyes.

  “No, you’re not,” he said in a firm voice.

  “I am,” she replied, her own voice shaky.

  “Listen, I’ve seen what you can do with a gun. You aren’t scared of this fight. You’re scared you will lose me so soon after meeting me. Is that right?”

  She looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears, her breath quivering. “Yes. Yes, I am.”

  “I’m not as good a shot as you, Em. But I am a good shot. I haven’t owned a saloon for 20 years without knowing how to shoot a gun. I’m a good shot.”

  “And from what I can see,” Jim added. The two turned to look at him. “Max is a terrible shot. I just saw him miss a couple of his own men at about 10 paces.” Jim shook his head. “I don’t think any of us have anything to worry about.”

  “If that’s the case, he should really give up. I can’t believe Ryan hasn’t shot him yet. He’s closer, isn’t he?”

  “He’s got his gun out, that’s for sure. Nobody from Wickenburg has been shot. Not that I saw.”

  Sam pulled in a deep breath. “I’m going out there. I’m going to confront him. He’s not going to hurt anyone else ever again.”

  Emily lowered her head to her hands and started to cry.

  Sam pulled her to him again for only a moment. “I’m going to be all right, Emmy,” he said softly.

  She looked up at him, smiling through her tears. “These tears are for Jack. He was a good friend to us. He was always nice to us. And he was the second in command. He was going to take over the rodeo.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  THE JACK LEVINE RODEO

  THE JACK LEVINE RODEO

  Sam stepped out of the church and looked down the street. Gun shots were still ringing through the air. He started to run down the walkway, pulling his guns from their holsters as he went. He usually only carried one pistol. However, since all this had started, he strapped on both holsters. His heavy boots hit the wooden walkway, making him sound like an elephant storming through the street.

  Ryan looked over his shoulder and saw him coming. “Give him cover!” he called out.

  Gun shots split the air as the Wickenburg men shot toward Max and his remaining men. All those left with Max turned their horses and headed back out of town.

  Max didn’t bother trying to kill them. He was concentrated on Sam running down the street. He’d taken shelter behind a wagon on the right side of the street. Sam was running on the left side. He swung out around the wagon and took a shot. It was a wide miss.

  He grumbled and looked down at his gun as if missing was its fault. He took a peek back around it and saw that he was almost to the rest of the men around the hotel. Most of them were behind poles, several hid behind wagons and in between buildings. Sam was out in the open.

  “I’m gonna get you,” he growled. He lifted his pistol and took a shot at the big Irishman. He missed. He let out a yell of frustration, barely keeping himself from throwing the pistol on the ground. With a loud yell, he jumped out from behind the wagon and unloaded his pistol in Sam’s direction.

  A bullet hit him in the arm, tossing him backward. He spun around and dove behind the wagon he’d been hiding behind. He hit the ground on his injured arm and screamed out in pain.

  Sam came up on Ryan. “That you?”

  Ryan nodded.

  “Why didn’t you shoot him in the head or the heart? Why the arm?”

  “I knew you weren’t in any danger, Sam,” Ryan replied. “The man can’t shoot to save his life.”

  “That’s too bad. He needs that skill to do just that right now.” He moved past Ryan and went to stand behind a wagon nearby that was closer to where Max was hiding. He crouched low, replacing one of his pistols and keeping the other one at the ready.

  With a steady beating heart and focused eyes, he moved swiftly from one obstacle to another, trying to get to where he was behind Max. He hoped he wasn’t seen. Whenever Max poked his head and took a quick shot, he ducked down so the man wouldn’t spot him.

  “I see you, Sam!” Max yelled out. “You aren’t as smart as you think you are!”

  “And you’re not a very good shot!” Sam yelled back. “Get out here and give yourself up! We know you are the one who stabbed that man and now you’ve killed Jack! You won’t get away with it and you know it! Give up!”

  “Never!”

  Sam rolled his eyes. Why did they always say that? He’d heard men say that before. If they stopped for even a moment to realize they were about to lose their lives, they wouldn’t be so fast to jump.

  “Max! You can’t get out of this. You’re either going to die or you’ll hang by the neck! You can’t get away! Give yourself up!”

  “I’m gonna take as many of you out with me as I can!” Max yelled back. “I’m not scared. I’ll shoot you all down!”

  “Think, man!” Sam couldn’t think of anything else to say. The man was going to die either way. He didn’t want Max taking out any innocent people. “You don’t really want to kill innocent people, do you?”

  Max laughed an evil laugh. “I don’t care. Doesn’t matter to me! I’m a dead man anyway!”

  “Don’t you want to live? Maybe the law will have mercy on you!”

  Max continued laughing. Sam looked back at Ryan, who just shrugged as if to say, “the man is crazy, what can I say?”

  Sam looked at the two bodies of the rodeo workers who had come with Max. That was four deaths on this man’s hands. He had to do something to stop it.

  He pulled in a deep breath, thinking of a plan. After not hearing Max yell out for longer than he liked, he looked around the wagon and saw Max was not where he had been. Aggravated, he yelled out, “Max! Where’d you go, friend?”

  “I’m not your friend!”


  Sam smiled. Max had fallen for his trap.

  “Of course you’re my friend!” Sam called out. “I’m sure we can work something out if you just give yourself up! Maybe you won’t hang! Maybe you can live in prison.”

  “I’m not going to prison!” Sam followed the direction of his voice. He peeked around the wagon again. When he didn’t see Max anywhere, he ran across the street, hiding behind the wagon Max had used to shield himself. He dropped down to look under the wagon, searching for a pair of feet. He spotted Max’s boots just ten feet away. He slowly lifted his gun, aimed and shot Max in the calf.

  Max screamed out in pain and grabbed his leg, dropping his gun in the process. Sam launched himself out from behind the wagon and tackled Max, knocking him all the way backward. Max hit the walkway hard and all the air left his body. Sam was on top of him so it was no surprise.

  The big Irishman pushed himself back up, reared back with one fist and punched Max in the face so hard it knocked him out.

  Sam got to his feet, looking down at Max. “Scum.” He spit to the side and looked at the unconscious man in disgust. He reached down and grabbed one of his ankles. Without hesitation, he dragged Max down the three steps to the dirt road and pulled him across to the sheriff’s station. He glanced down the street to the church and saw Jim and Emily hurrying toward them.

  He deposited the unconscious Max in front of the sheriff’s station and turned to go to Emily. He could see relief on every face around him. As he walked past all the people who had come out from the hotel, they gave him pats on the back and told him that he'd done well.

  He just nodded at them humbly. All he wanted to do right then was get to Emily. She would make everything all right. She would make him feel better about what he’d just done. He didn’t think he killed Max but the punch was pretty hard.

  When Jim passed by him, releasing Emily into his arms, he looked straight at Sam and said, “Thanks for all the paperwork, Sam. ‘Preciate it.”

  Sam abruptly started laughing. He shook his head and slapped the sheriff on the shoulder as he went by. “You’re welcome. That’s what friends are for.”