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Chapter Twenty-Five

Z eke found Faye walking into a store that sold guns and knives on his way to the hotel.

He decided to delay getting back to Bernadette so he could follow this woman who might—or might not—be Wilson’s sister.

He thought Faye had enough weapons already.

She had a gun in her bedroll. She had a knife strapped somewhere under her skirt.

He only knew that because of the time when she pretended that she was going to slit his throat.

He had to resist the urge to rub the spot where her knife had been.

If Blaze, Lucas, Gail, and Bernadette hadn’t been there, would she have killed him?

He released his breath and slipped into the store when no one was watching the door. Faye was speaking with a man behind the long counter. Two men were at the other end of the counter, and they were talking in hushed tones to each other as they browsed a catalogue.

Inspired, Zeke picked up another catalogue. He stood behind Faye but put the catalogue up to his face so she wouldn’t see him if she happened to turn around.

“I want something I can throw at a far distance,” she told the store owner. “It has to be sharp. Oh, I need two of them. And they have to be small enough to fit into my pocket”

“What pocket?” the owner asked.

She didn’t say anything, so Zeke lowered the catalogue in time to see her gesture to a small pocket in her skirt.

Zeke hurried to hide his face with the catalogue.

Realizing he wasn’t being that subtle, he turned his back toward her, lowered the catalogue, and flipped to another page, pretending to be interested in one of the guns featured in it.

The store owner searched through his inventory behind the counter. Faye started to turn in his direction, so Zeke turned his back fully toward her.

“I think this would be a good one for the ranch,” Zeke heard one of the men at the other end of the counter tell his friend.

The man nodded. “Yes, that’ll work.” He tucked the catalogue under his arm, and the two approached the owner but held off enough so that the owner could finish helping Faye.

Zeke turned his gaze from the two men back to Faye. Then he feigned interest in the catalogue again.

“I have a couple of small knives that should give you what you’re looking for,” the owner told Faye.

A long moment of silence passed. Zeke had to resist the urge to look over his shoulder to see what she was doing.

“This one doesn’t look like it can cut through much,” Faye said.

“I assure you, it will cut through almost anything.” Again, another long pause. “Here. Test it on this rope.”

Zeke didn’t bother checking out what she was doing, but he heard her say, “Alright, I’ll take these two.”

Zeke decided he’d heard enough. She had come here to buy two weapons.

That was all he needed to know. Zeke gave a shake of his head and placed the catalogue down.

Hopefully, the owner would assume he hadn’t found what he was looking for and wouldn’t try to stop him from leaving.

The ploy worked. The owner didn’t stop him. Good.

Zeke hurried on down the street before Faye realized he had been watching her.

What did she need with two knives so small that they fit inside a small pocket?

No doubt, she wanted to be able to hurt someone without getting close to him.

But who did she intend to hurt? Lee and Wilson. Or him and Blaze?

Faye glanced at the door as Zeke left. She didn’t know who he thought he was fooling by hiding his face behind a catalogue and not wearing his badge.

She had recognized that hat and those boots.

If he’d been smart, he would have swapped those out.

Then maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t have known it was him.

She shook her head in irritation. He didn’t trust her. He thought she was lying about being Wilson’s sister. As if she would want anyone to connect her with that piece of scum! She could only hope that once Lee and Wilson were hanging from a tree that she could finally live a normal life.

She turned her attention back to the man behind the counter and placed two coins in front of him to pay for the knives.

He accepted the coins, but instead of giving her the knives, he dropped the knives and grabbed her hands.

She gasped and tried to pull away, but one of the men who had been standing behind her, wrapped his arm around her waist and slapped his hand over her mouth.

She struggled against him. She was able to make some headway in an attempt at escaping by kicking at him when the third man caught her feet and held her legs in place.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” the man behind her said in a tone that left no room for argument.

“You’re going to go into the back room. We are going to tie you to a chair.

We just need for you to be out of the way.

” The man at her feet began to wind a rope around her legs.

“Wilson told us to assure you that he’s going to honor the vows he made to your parents to never hurt you. ”

Considering everything Wilson had done, she was shocked to hear he didn’t want any harm to come to her, especially when she would have put a bullet through him long ago if he hadn’t been so quick.

The owner of the store gestured for the two men to carry her to the back room.

Again, she fought, but it was no use. She couldn’t get to the knife under her skirt, and the men’s hold on her was too tight.

They ended up plopping her down into a chair and hastened to tie her down.

They finished by wrapping a cloth over her mouth to stop her from screaming.

The owner wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Wilson said you’re a fighter, and darned if he wasn’t right.

He also said you’d want to come in here for some weapons.

” He slipped his hat back on his head. “Good thing he was right. You took so long in getting here that we were beginning to think we might have to track you down. We can’t have you ruining our chances of getting the treasure. ”

Faye made an attempt to get free of the ropes binding her to the chair, but the men had been too skilled.

She couldn’t believe this was happening.

And to her, of all people! She thought she was smarter than this!

She should have known that Lee and Wilson had connections in Quartzsite.

They probably had connections everywhere.

She should never have separated from Blaze.

If he had come with her, she wouldn’t be in this predicament right now.

As if they could read her mind, one of the men said, “Lee and Wilson said she came with a few others. Five in all. We don’t know what happened to two of the people in the group, but we know where the rest are.

Two are at the hotel. They don’t pose a threat.

They don’t have a gun. But there is the other man in town who came with them who’s good with a gun and quick on his feet.

I saw him at the livery stable talking to her earlier today.

Upon last watch, he wasn’t at the hotel. He’s been exploring the town.”

“He’s probably trying to figure out how we plan to get to the treasure tonight,” the second spoke up.

Faye’s heart plummeted. She had been so sure that Lee and Wilson had been ahead of them this whole time, but as it turned out, they had been following them.

Or, at least, they had picked up on them at Granite Wash Pass.

Yes, she bet that had to be it. They had probably heard of the women showing up in town and saw her from one of the windows while they were hiding out.

She couldn’t believe it. She bet the prostitute they spoke with had been paid to make it sound like Lee and Wilson had already left.

Lee and Wilson might not have recognized Blaze and the others, but they would have recognized her.

She was so stupid. She should have worn a disguise so they wouldn’t have noticed her!

“Well, if that other man is strolling through town, we should be able to catch him soon enough,” the third man said. “Quick with a gun or not, he can’t take all five of us.”

“What about Sheriff Hoff?” the second man asked as they headed for the doorway.

“Deputy Spencer is no longer alive. He doesn’t have any help. Also, Sheriff doesn’t know I’m a part of this plan,” the owner replied.

Not looking convinced that it was going to be so easy to get past the sheriff, the third man asked, “Does he know Lee and Wilson are coming?”

“I don’t think so, but in case he does, we’ll be ready for him,” the owner assured him. “As Dean said, there are five of us. We have the advantage.”

The third man seemed content with this answer, and the three headed out of the room. The owner shut the door so no one would notice her if they happened to enter the store.

The only hope Faye had at this point was that they wouldn’t be able to take out Blaze, but considering how quick they’d been to catch her, she worried even he might not be a match for them.

It was the darndest thing, but her brother and his lousy friend had gotten more intelligent since she’d last had any dealings with them.

She hated to think this might all come down to Zeke.

Zeke was the only person they weren’t looking for.

They hadn’t even taken note of him while he’d been in the store just moments ago.

They wouldn’t have waited to apprehend her after Zeke left if they’d known who Zeke was.

It was a good thing Zeke had been hiding that badge.

But Zeke was so slow to act. Was he any match for five men?

She slouched back against the chair. She doubted it.