“Yes.”
“There you go,” Nick said confidently.
“What was going on in Bertram’s tent?”
Looking over his shoulder, Nick laughed and said, “Just a little argument over who got the last kiss. It’s all in good fun, though. You got a problem, take it up with Bertram once we get to where we’re going. Otherwise, you’ll be arguing with a posse riding up your asses.”
The man nodded. “I sure as hell will take this up with him.”
Just then, the redhead stepped up to the rider so she could reach up and run her hand along his chest. She went all the way down to his crotch and let her hand linger there for a few seconds. “Don’t worry. Have I ever let you boys down?”
“No,” the man said honestly. “You sure everything’s all right?”
“It’s just like he said. Eddie told him to show you men the way, and I’ll make certain he does that. In fact, I can ride back to town on my own.”
Eventually the man nodded and shot a quick glance at Nick. He turned in his saddle and shouted, “Everyone stop gawking and get moving. We’re meeting up with the others, and I don’t want to take all night getting there!”
The redhead strutted over to a light brown mare and pulled a set of britches from the saddlebag. She slipped them on, pulled off Nick’s jacket and tossed it back to him. “If I don’t get my money right now, I’ll catch up to those assholes and set them straight,” she said, taking a dress from the saddlebag and pulling it over her head.
Nick reached into his pocket, took out a chunk of the money he was carrying for Joseph and handed it over. “There’s just under a hundred dollars here. For that, I expect you to keep quiet and back up our story if anyone asks.”
She took the money, counted it and smiled. “I didn’t intend on seeing these cowboys again, anyway.”
“Good.”
“You mind telling me who you are?”
“It’s best that I don’t.”
“Don’t worry about what your friend done,” she said. “I’ve seen worse, and that Bertram fellow was the worst kind of pig. He had me brought out here the last three nights and always tried to cheat me.” When she reached out to straighten Nick’s collar, it was plain to see that she hadn’t buttoned her dress all the way up just yet. “I was just hoping to earn the rest of this money.”
Nick’s hand closed around her wrist. Her skin was warm and smooth. She pulled in a quick, expectant breath that made her breasts strain against the fabric of her dress. Before long, Nick eased his hands away.
“You’ve earned it,” Nick told her. “And then some. Just ride home and forget this whole night ever happened.”
Shrugging, the redhead let her eyes move up and down Nick’s body. She then turned her back to him, climbed onto her horse and flicked the reins. True to her word, she pointed the animal’s nose to the west and never looked back.
When Nick walked back to the camp, he found the collapsed tent was the only one that remained. All the other men were either busy stuffing their saddlebags or had already ridden away. Joseph squatted next to Bertram’s tent, cleaning the barrel of his gun against the canvas.
“What’d you do with the whore?” Joseph asked.
“I let her go. By the way, I had to give her some money.”
“You think she’ll tell those others about what we did?”
Nick shook his head. “She’s got no reason to. If she gave a damn about anyone here, she wouldn’t have cooperated so easily.” Nodding toward the tent, he asked, “What about them?”
“That rapist cocksucker is dead.”
“And I took care of the other one.”
Eddie was covered by the canvas. Peeling back the tent, Nick tied Eddie more securely and shoved a wad of material into his mouth. Making a few unhappy grunts, Eddie strained to look up at Nick.
Even though the makeshift gag muffled most of what Eddie said, Joseph heard enough to make him point his gun down at the man’s head. “This son of a bitch was there, too,” he said as he tightened his grip on his gun until his hand started to shake.
“Are you sure about that?” Nick asked.
Joseph pulled in a breath and let it out through clenched teeth. “Even if he wasn’t, he’s riding with these killers now!”
“We don’t have time for this,” Nick snarled, looking around. “We’re damn lucky those men are riding away from here. Do you want to draw them all back by firing a shot that’ll be heard for a mile in every direction?”
Joseph hesitated.
Nick stepped forward, dropped the heel of his boot against the side of Eddie’s head, and then covered him and Bertram with the tent. “There,” he said as Eddie let out a groan and slumped into unconsciousness. “Now holster that gun and let’s get the hell out of here.”
THIRTY
Only a few words passed between Nick and Joseph before they were on their horses and leaving the camp. Nick set Kazys moving at slightly faster than a walk, while Joseph tore away as if his horse’s tail was on fire. Fortunately, Bertram’s men had just enough faith in what Nick had told them that they waited a while before getting too anxious.
“Where’s your partner?” one of the horsemen asked as Nick made his way to the group gathered away from the camp.
“He went ahead to make sure the others made it to the fort without getting lost, which is exactly what I intend on doing with you fellas.”
“What took you so long in getting here?” the other man asked as he craned his neck to look around. “And where’s Bertram?”
“Bertram and Eddie already left. They told me to give them a little distance so they can scout ahead to make sure that posse isn’t setting up an ambush.”
“How long are we supposed to wait?”
Nick let out a strained laugh. “If you want to keep busy, you can ride on ahead and chew Bertram’s ear about it. He told me to give him a head start and that’s what I intend on doing. You’ve dealt with him a hell of a lot more than I have, so you must know what to say to make sure he doesn’t shoot you like he did those others I heard about.”
There were no others and Nick wasn’t even certain that the man he was speaking to hadn’t grown up with Bertram. He could just feel the anxiousness among all the other men, who reeked of inexperience. But Nick’s gamble paid off: The grousing horseman nodded and shut up. By the looks of them, the others were new to the gang. They waited for Nick to give the command to start moving.
Hoping that Joseph had had enough of a lead, Nick flicked his reins and announced, “I guess we should set out. We’re headed northeast for about five or six miles. Our associates should have already led the men from the other camp by now, so we’ll have cover once we get there.”
“How big’s this posse supposed to be?” one of the other men asked.
Nick shrugged and looked around. To his delight, almost all of the men were staring back expectantly, doing their damndest not to look nervous. “Hard to say. Could be five…could be a dozen.”
“What the hell are we waiting for? Let’s get moving.”
“I’m with you,” Nick said. “If Bertram sees any lawmen headed toward us, we’ll hear the shots.”
“You’ll hear shots all right,” said the horseman who’d appointed himself the spokesman for the group. “I’ll be shooting those assholes right out of their saddles!”
That got the rest of the men worked up into a hollering mob. Nick pointed Kazys northeast and snapped the reins. Although he was wincing on the outside, he couldn’t have been happier on the inside. Riding with a vigilante group had taught him plenty about using a mob to his advantage. Nick figured he could work with this one just fine.
Joseph was so anxious that he almost forgot to whistle the signal when he approached the first camp. He remembered real quickly when he saw at least five rifle barrels gleaming in the dim moonlight. The horsemen kept their guns where they could get to them in a pinch even after Joseph gave the signal.