Relentless by Bobbi Smith Page A

dizziness she was suffering. In disgust, she took the offered meat from him and ate it quickly. After they’d finished the food, Les got up and came back with his rope. He sat back down near her.
    “Stick your arms out,” he ordered.
    Les quickly tied the rope to the length that he’d already used to bind her wrists. He tied the other end to his own arm.
    “I want to make sure you stay nice and close to me all night.” The rope was long enough for her to take care of her needs without his having to stand over her, but if she tried to get away in the middle of the night, he’d know.
    Ugly Joe was chuckling as he got his bottle of whiskey out of his saddlebags and took a deep drink.“Yes, sir, things couldn’t have turned out any better today. We did real good. I feel like doing some celebrating.”
    “I’m with you on that,” Cale agreed, grabbing the bottle from Ugly Joe when he held it out. He took a swallow and passed it on to their leader. “Here, Les.”
    Les enjoyed a drink and handed it back to Ugly Joe. “That’s some good whiskey, but don’t go drinking too much. We have to ride out at sunup.”
    They grumbled at his order, but knew he was right.
    “Do you think Jim’s going to be able find us?” Ugly Joe wondered.
    “It’s hard to say,” Les answered.
    “We were lucky we didn’t need the extra gun today.”
    “Yeah, but with him not being here, that’s more money for us!” Ugly Joe grinned greedily at the thought.
    “Right,” Cale agreed. He was going to enjoy doing some serious gambling as soon as he got the chance. He knew it was going to be a while, though. He and his buddies had to make sure the law wasn’t closing in on them before they could really let themselves relax and have a good time.
    Les tossed a small blanket at Dusty as he got ready to bed down close by. “Cale, you keep first watch.”
    The other gunman moved away from the fire to sit in the darkness and keep a lookout for trouble. Les didn’t think there was any posse close by, but it was better to post a guard and be sure.
    Dusty wrapped herself in the blanket and sought what comfort she could find on the hard ground. Sadness and fear overwhelmed her, and she began to cry. She fought to stifle the sobs that wracked her as she thought of her father and Matt. She supposed she ought to be grateful to be alive, but she wondered how fortunate she really was. She had overheard what the outlaw leader had planned for her, and she wondered what new horrors awaited her. In the darkness of the night, she began to pray desperately, begging for help and the strength to get through this.
    At dawn, the outlaws were up and riding out. They wouldn’t rest again until nightfall.
Canyon Springs
    Grant slept later than usual that morning. He had stayed at the saloon late the night before, drinking and gambling a bit to fit in, and hoping to learn something about the outlaws, but he hadn’t heard a thing. His mood was tense as he got up and dressed. He wasn’t a man used to waiting for trouble. Trouble usually found him, and just sitting there in Canyon Springs waiting for Les and his boys to show up was testing his patience. He knew the information he’d received about their meeting place had been reliable. He told himself to relax, that the outlaws would eventually show up.
    Grant left the hotel and headed over to the general store to get the supplies he was going to need when he did finally ride out. As he was abouta block away from the store, he noticed a young boy rush out of the place and run on down the street to the stable. The boy seemed to be frantic about something, and Grant wondered what was going on. He found out as soon as he stepped through the door.
    “I can’t believe it!” exclaimed Alice Jones, the clerk at the store, her expression horrified as she spoke with the other ladies who were there.
    “It can’t be—It just can’t be—”
    Grant recognized the voice of the little lady who was standing with her