Wild Winds Read online

  “How do you earn a living, Mr. Barber?”

  “I do odd jobs here and there. I don’t like to tie myself down to one place for long. I like to stay on the move.”

  “Do those ‘odd jobs’ involve the use of your weapons?”

  “Whada you mean?”

  Maggie noted that the man’s expression, gaze, and tone stayed the same, as if he held tight control over his reactions to avoid exposing his feelings or next move. “Like riding guard for stages, silver shipments, or freighters. Or acting as a troubleshooter for people with problems, such as with outlaws or rustlers. Scouting or fighting for the Army. Bounty hunting.”

  “I ain’t never turned no man in to the Law; them bounty hunters are the worst of their kind. I kill one every chance I get if he crosses me.”

  “Have you ever broken the law and not gotten caught?”

  “That’s a mighty nosy and dangerous question to be asking.”

  Despite his choice of words, Maggie noted there was still no change of expression or voice. “I wouldn’t print anything you told me in private and didn’t want the public to know. But being clever enough to outsmart the authorities makes for interesting reading and colorful exploits.”

  “Let’s just say I’m a clever man, but that’s not for writing in your newspaper. Who else you done stories about?”

  Thank you for asking that evocative question. After naming two famous lawmen and one notorious outlaw, Maggie alleged, “I came to Tombstone to do preliminary research on Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and the Clantons. I’m sure you’ve heard about their showdown here in ‘81. I wanted to read the local newspaper’s articles, interview witnesses to that event, and buy photographs of the deceased and their grand funeral from Mr. Fly before I try to locate Mr. Earp and Holliday for interviews.” Barber interrupted her before she could reach her needed destination, but she relaxed when his snide remarks put her back on the right trail.

  “Ain’t nothing special about Earp and Holliday. One’s a coward and the other’s a weakling. After his brothers were shot up, Earp turned tail and ran for cover, and Doc weren’t far behind him, coughing all the way.” “After what I was told by the Epitaph editor earlier, you could be right. Actually, I wanted to do a different story next, but I ran into a box canyon as you westerners call it. I was in Yuma recently when a convict escaped from the Territorial Prison, an incredible feat according to the superintendent. I was told he robbed a bank in Prescott and shot the teller, but he claimed he was innocent at his trial. I went to Prescott to study the matter to see if it would make a good story, but nobody there wanted to discuss the episode. Tell me, have you ever met Ben Carver? Is he a famous gunslinger or outlaw? Would he be a worthy story?” Maggie realized she had elicited a reaction from him; she didn’t think it was possible, but his expression hardened and his gaze chilled even more. The voice which and forced out between near clenched teeth.

  “Yep, I heard of ‘im, met ‘im, too. Ifn I get ‘im in my gunsights, he’s a dead man. I could take him down with my eyes closed.”

  “I take it there’s bad blood between you two, a past quarrel?”

  “The bastard tol’ the Law me and Slim was with him on that robbery.”

  “The one in Prescott?”

  “Yep, and he’s a damned liar. Me and Slim weren’t nowhere near Prescott in March. He’s damned lucky the Law didn’t believe him and come after us. If they hadda, I’d busted ‘im outta jail and shot the bastard.”

  “That’s strange, Mr. Barber, because I didn’t read anything about you and your friend in the Prescott newspaper articles and no one there mentioned your names to me as alleged accomplices.”

  “Like I tol’ you, nobody talks against Pete Barber and lives to brag on it. He better hope the Law throws his ass back in prison afore I come across him or he’s full of my lead. I gotta go; hanging around don’t sit well with me. Ifn I was you, I’d forgit about Ben Carver; he’s trouble.”

  “You mean he’s dangerous? If I do a story about him, he might come after me while he’s on the loose; is that what you mean?”

  “Nope, the dead kind of trouble, one way or another.”

  “Thank you for the warning, sir, and I’ll surely drop that story. If you change your mind about letting me interview you, I’m staying at the Carson Hotel.”

  “Forgit about me, too; I don’t like people reading about me.”

  “As you wish, Mr. Barber, but I’m glad I got a chance to meet you and speak with you.” She watched his frigid gaze travel her entire length before he left the gallery and headed down the street. Maggie took a deep breath and prayed she hadn’t gone too far with the villainous creature.

  When Fly returned, she told him the other customer had left. She repeated her fabricated story to the photographer, in case Barber returned later to question the man about her. Fly appeared delighted that she wanted to purchase some of his pictures to accompany her story on the Earps and other famous outlaws. Without delay, he retrieved a batch and let her select the ones she wanted and gave her a fair price. After paying him, Maggie discussed the previously mentioned photograph of her and her husband, and an appointment was made for the following afternoon for a sitting and for an interview about the showdown years ago involving his business.

  Maggie strolled down the street, clutching the pictures in one hand to make them visible to any spying eyes. She entered a mercantile store a block away and pretended to shop while keeping near the front window. Just as she suspected, Pete Barber returned to the gallery, no doubt to check out her claim for being there earlier. She smiled and complemented herself for taking the necessary precautions to dupe him.

  She walked to the telegraph office and sent three messages. One went to Yuma to let Abby know she was safe and in Tombstone; she sent it from “Maggie Reynolds” at the Carson Hotel. She assumed Abby would think she was using a cover name, but Abby needed to know where to reach her in case an emergency resulted from their misdeed.

  The second telegram went to Newl, via his loyal bartender, telling Newl to “check property safety. Found news items. Threat to property. Hold fast to original terms.” She knew her stepfather would use her code list to discover her meanings: contact had been made with her targets, they were a threat to Ben and to warn him without exposing his location, and for Ben to stay rooted where he was and ready to surrender if need be.

  The third went to her boss and friend in St. Louis to tell him due to “family problems. Need another month here. Will send return date later.” She had asked for a month off to spend time with her mother, but hadn’t known she would be working for Newl. Her time had elapsed, but she couldn’t leave now. She had promised Newl and Ben two months at the most, and she would hold them to their bargain with her. She also wanted to remain with Hawk and to work things out with him the moment that opportunity arose.

  She returned to the hotel minutes before noon and sat down in its restaurant area to await her beloved’s arrival, sipping coffee as she did so.

  Forty-five minutes later, Maggie assumed something important had delayed Hawk, so she ordered her meal and ate without him. Afterward, she went to their room and gave her dilemma careful study. Her eyes soon became heavy and she drifted off to sleep.

  She awoke at four o’clock, took a bath down the hall, and donned a casual skirt and blouse. She pulled a novel from her drawer and read for a while, her concentration strained by her husband’s continued absence.

  At seven o’clock, Hawk still hadn’t returned, and Maggie was worried about him. What if something terrible had happened to him in this rough town? What if he’d had an accident and the local doctor and sheriff didn’t know who he was and to contact her? What if Pete Barber and Slim Jones had connected them, and had ambushed him as a warning to her to stay out of their business? Should she go to the sheriff and report him missing? Should she search for him?

  Stop fretting, Maggie; he’s a grown man, and he can take care of himself. Maybe he found that missing girl and he’s with he
r, getting her settled somewhere until he can send or take her home.

  At seven-thirty, Maggie closed the drapes and lit a lamp beside the bed. The sun had set and it was almost dark outside beneath a waning moon that would be invisible in a few days.

  She came to alert when she heard somebody at the door. She lifted her pistol and aimed it in that direction as it opened. After Hawk entered and closed and locked the door, she put aside her weapon and hurried to him. She hugged him as she asked, “What have you been doing all day? I’ve been so worried about you.”

  Hawk’s arms banded her body and held her close with her cheek nestled against his chest. He was elated when she remained there with her arms looped around his waist. “I’m sorry I frightened you, Maggie, but there was no way to send you a message.” He was touched by her show of concern and affection, and aroused by their contact. It quietened the fury raging through him at being so close to his family’s killers and having to restrain himself from a hasty revenge. “I’ve been shadowing Barber and Jones since I left you this morning. After they separated, I followed Jones to a meeting with two other men who are camped about five miles outside of town, which I found mighty suspicious. It looked as if he was hiring them, so they must be planning a job nearby or picking up men to ride elsewhere to pull one.”

  Maggie leaned her head back and looked up at him. “If that’s true, maybe we can catch them red-handed; that would give us the evidence the Law needs for finally convicting and punishing them. It would also provide a justifiable reason for arresting them so they can be interrogated about the Prescott robbery and a connection to Ben Carver.”

  He noticed her choice of words and knew why she selected them: she was a detective, licensed by the authorities to solve crimes and capture criminals. He also had seen the weapon in her hand upon his entry, the pistol she had put aside in haste to almost run into his arms. “I hope so.”

  “How did you trail him on such barren terrain without being seen?”

  “I have my tricks, and I’ll teach them to you sometime. Mostly I used the hills for concealment and kept up with him by his dust trail. Remember I told you about the Apache medicine man who taught me a lot of things; one of them was how to stay and move unseen on this terrain.”

  Maggie laid her face against his chest once more, relieved he was safe. “So you think they’re planning a robbery?”

  “Yep. It’s my guess they’ll do it close to Tombstone because those men had four extra horses with them, probably stolen from some rancher. I think I told you how Barber and Jones use others to mask their identities; for certain that big pinto of his would be remembered. I also saw Jones pull black hoods from his saddlebag and show the others, so I figure Barber doesn’t want his red hair seen again since it’s a dead giveaway. Right now, they’re both settled in for a card game in a saloon on Allen Street. The way they’re drinking, whatever they’re planning won’t take place tonight.” If they do leave soon, Ella Mae will alert me pronto. “I don’t know what Barber’s been up to in town alone. After he went into Fly’s gallery this morning, I stayed on Jones’s tail.”

  “I know he was there; so was I. It was after my visit to the Epitaph, where I learned nothing of use to us. I went to Fly’s to see if he had any photographs of interest, perhaps a group picture of Barber with his old gang; or maybe one of Ben Carver taken on the same day. I need to know if they were friends and riding together. I pretended to be checking out the quality of his work and setting up an appointment for a photograph of the newlyweds. We’re scheduled for a sitting tomorrow. If you don’t mind,” she added. “I thought it would aid our cover and give me an excuse to go there.”

  “I’m glad I hooked up with you, boss lady; you’re a clever and brave woman. A pretty one, too.” A photograph of us would be mighty nice for hanging in our home later.

  She smiled and said, “Thanks, so are you, partner.”

  To conceal her potent effect on him, he asked, “So what happened?”

  Maggie deduced that reality from his adoring gaze and how he refused to release her from his stimulating embrace. Since she wasn’t certain if she should bring their matching feelings into the open just yet, she stalled having to deal with them by telling him how Barber had come into Fly’s gallery to have his picture taken at the very same time she was there.

  “So you got a good look at him?”

  “Yes, and more. We talked for a while. Please don’t be angry with me, but the opportunity was tossed in my lap and I took advantage of it.”

  That news made him uneasy, but Hawk chuckled and teased, “I can’t imagine Maggie Malone doing otherwise. What did you think of him?”

  Hawk’s hands drifted to the sides of her waist as hers moved up his chest and toyed with the collar of his dark shirt. Taking a cowardly path, her gaze settled on his bandanna to prevent fusing it with his where he could read her heightened emotions. “Cold-blooded, arrogant, nerves of iron, on constant alert, and tries to intimidate others.”

  “Your’ve got him pegged right. Did he make eyes at you?”

  Maggie laughed and replied, “Not in the least, though he did seem to be inspecting me to be certain I wasn’t a threat to him.”

  Hawk noted how she kept her gaze averted from his and hoped he guessed the reason why with accuracy. “Good; that means I won’t have to call him out for going after my wife. So, what did you two talk about?”

  As she related the conversation, Maggie lifted her eyes and watched Hawk’s expression alter from pleasant in terest to worry and surprise.

  Hawk’s fingers moved to her shoulders, and his thumbs under her chin kept her from lowering her head, which kept their gazes fused. “He’s dangerous and unpredictable, woman, why did you risk angering him?”

  “I had no choice, Hawk. As I said, the opportunity presented itself and I had to take advantage of it. How elsecould I check out his reaction to hearing Ben’s nameand he did react. But as a man who had been duped and betrayed, not one who had been implicated by an acquaintance. As I told you, I used a heavy southern drawl and acted every bit the part of a southern belle who was thrilled to meet a legendary gunslinger. I’m sure I fooled him.”

  “If that’s true, why did he return later to question Fly about you?”

  “He could have been returning for his photograph, but I’m sure he asked about me. That’s only natural for a man in his position. I’m also sure he was tempted by my idea; he just didn’t want to agree too quickly. You’ve met enough men like him to know how vain they are. I told you I covered myself by talking to Fly about Wyatt Earp and others and by purchasing those pictures of the Clanton funeral. After telling Barber I intended to write about them, he should be duped by my precautions. Besides, I didn’t mention Ben Carver before Barber gave me that opening.” Maggie felt almost weak from the nearness of him so she couldn’t help herself from saying, “I had to act fast so I can get this intrusive matter settled as soon as possible.”

  “Intrusive”…. On what? Draw it out of her before you go loco. “You anxious to get back on your own again and be rid of me?” he jested to evoke an explanation; whatever it might be, he had to know and know now.

  “Of course not. I enjoy being with you and I care deeply about you.”

  “I feel the same about you, Maggie. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

  “I won’t, because I have a talented husband to protect me.”

  “So you’re not trying to hurry just to be rid of me and that condition.”

  “No, Hawk. In fact, I like our … arrangement. I like you, too.”

  He cupped her face between his hands. “I more than like you, Maggie Reynolds; you’re so tempting, it’s hard to be around you without taking you in my arms and kissing you every chance I get.”

  Maggie realized a moment of truth had presented itself and she willingly faced it headlong. “What’s stopping you from doing so, Hawk?”

  Chapter

  Twelve

  Hawk gazed deeply into her rich blue eyes
before he responded in a voice made husky with emotion, “I don’t want you getting hurt by me.”

  “The only way you could harm me is if you don’t feel the way I do. I want to be closer to you, Hawk. I’ve never felt this way about a man before, but I know what we share is strong and special.”

  He wanted to bind her to him in more than name only. Once he proved his love, she should come to trust him enough to tell him everything so they could work on her problem together and he could protect her from all harm. Even so, he must not trick her into surrendering to him and their mutual passion. “That’s true. I just don’t want to lead you down the wrong trail and encourage you to do something that’ll make you feel sorry later. But I do want you and need you, Maggie Reynolds.”

  “We are married, Hawk, and I am a grown woman with a clear head, at least as clear as it can be around you,” she divulged with a smile.

  “You cloud my wits, too, Maggie. I was taken by you the first moment I saw you. I had to stay close to you to learn why you affected me like this, so I only pretended to have a job in Prescott. I was outside the depot when you bought your ticket for there. After you left, I went in and did the same. I even boarded at the last minute to keep from spooking you and having you get off to avoid me. Forgive me for deceiving you, Maggie, but I had to get to know you; I had to be with you. After you told me what you were going to do, I had to stay with you to keep you out of trouble. I never imagined things would progress so fast between us. For a loner like me, this predicament is new and a little scary. I’ve never been tempted before to change my plans just to hang around a woman. That strikes me as being a little loco, but I figured our paths might not cross again if I let you get away before I made sense of this situation. There was something about you that told me to take a closer look, and I’ve learned to follow my gut instincts or pay a price for not doing so.”

  Maggie savored his touch on her cheek and heady confession. “I’m glad you were bold and persistent. I hated to leave Yuma because you were there, but I knew you would be gone soon, so it was foolish to change my schedule. Besides, even though you seized my interest immediately, we were strangers back then, and a woman can’t go running after somebody she just met.”