Page 34 of Passion's Wicked Torment

He came up to her and tried to hold her, but she moved away from him, refusing to be bought off so cheaply. “You think you can hug me and kiss me, and that’ll make it all right?” she demanded. “And then you’ll go do your stupid, heroic thing and maybe get killed just like your partner Ned? And leave me with nothing but memories and thoughts about how it might have been? Well, no, sir! I deserve better than that!”

This was incredible. She was surprising herself as well as McShane. Not only by her professions of caring for him deeply, but also by her strength and refusal to submit quietly. She felt more like a real woman now than she ever had before, a strong willed woman who knew what she wanted and went after it.

He came to her again, and this time, when she tried to pull away, he stopped her, grabbing her, jerking her close to him. “Kristy, I love you. I love you more than I ever thought I could love any woman. And it makes me happy and proud to know you love me too. But, darlin’, this is something I have to do. I promised Ned before he died. I told him, ‘I’ll get them, Ned; I’ll make them pay.’ ” He looked at her for understanding. “Do you see, lassie?”

“I don’t see why you don’t take other Mounties with you.”

“I’ll spell it out for you: I intend to kill him. If there are others with me, and he sees it’s a losing battle, he’ll likely just throw down his arms and surrender. He’s no fool.”

“So he’ll go to jail, and the court will sentence him to die!”

McShane shook his head. “There were no witnesses. There’s only what the lawyers call ‘hearsay’: my telling the court that Ned told me it was Ambrewster. And besides, I’m discredited. I almost went to jail for murder, remember? My word doesn’t count very highly.” He went to the wall where his freshly oiled rifle was leaning and grabbed it up. “You see? If other Mounties are with me, it’ll only be worse for me. Because I'm going to kill that scum, whether he throws down his gun or not. If I kill him with other Mounties around as witnesses, it’ll be me that ends up in jail. Or on that newfangled device they imported from the States, that electrical chair.” His eyes were searching her face for the look he wanted. “You see? You understand now?” “Yes,” she said. She went to the rifle rack and pulled down the only remaining rifle. “I’m going with you.” “Oh no you’re not.”

“Oh yes I am.” She grabbed a change of clothes and stuffed it into a fur satchel. She would change later. She started for the door, determined.

“You’re not, I say!” He shoved her away from the door. “Now do as you’re told, damn it! This is hard enough for me without your making it harder.”

She stared at him through eyes seething with fury. “Are you going to give me a hug,” he asked, “and kiss me good-bye? Or not?”

“Not.”

He stared at her with a stony expression. She stared back, furious. He turned and left, slamming the door behind him. Kristin went to the window and watched him mount up. His saddlebags were already slung over the front of the saddle, and tied behind the saddle was a large metal contraption, which she could not make out. Sean galloped away, disappearing into the distance.

Kristin quickly pulled off her clothes and changed into more appropriate attire: leather leggings, leather boots; a thick, black turtleneck sweater. She put on her leather coat, took a box of ammunition from the desk drawer and slipped it into her pocket. She picked up the rifle and started into town.

It was dark out now, and fiercely cold. Winter was coming. Snow would be on the ground soon. The stars were pinpoints of silver in the crystal clear night. Kristin’s jaw was firmly set, her eyes on fire. She was determined and resolute.

Turtleback Sam, the Chinese stable owner, was surprised to see her, and even more surprised at the cold, severe look in her eyes. He quickly agreed to loan her a horse from his stable. “Not just any horse,” she said to him. “I want your best horse.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” he said in his Chinese accent, nodding his head up and down repeatedly, still stunned by her attitude. He didn’t dare to even ask her what she wanted the steed for, or why McShane hadn’t gotten it for her earlier. He made no conversation at all as he hurriedly blanketed, saddled and bridled a spirited pinto under Kristin’s watchful gaze.

When she was mounted up and about to ride, however, Sam remembered something he wanted to tell her now that he had his wits about him. “There is a man in town. He come to my stable not one, two hour ago. He be asking after you.”

“Me? Who is he?”

“Not know name. That his horse over there.”

He was pointing at a black stallion, which was eating fodder in an indoor stall. The stallion was unique, Kristin noticed with a jolt. Its flank and one rear leg were tawny brown, not black. She peered at it, stung by a realization. It was impossible for there to be two horses in this area so identical. This was the stallion Sean had told her about, the one Ambrewster had stolen from Ned Boone after killing him. That meant that. . . .

She kneed her mount and galloped off into the night, down the trail leading to Cloison Gap. She hoped she wasn’t too late! Ambrewster must be in Yukon. He had evidently arrived earlier than Sean had thought he would. He’d found out Sean was living with a girl and probably planned to abduct Kristin so Sean would go after her. Kristin did not know his plan exactly, but that seemed reasonable.

So now the murderer was in town, and soon he’d learn that Sean was headed toward Cloison Gap to try to catch him and the Torrys by surprise. But the surprise would be on Sean! Ambrewster would know he was there and would sneak up on him from the other direction. She had to warn him before it was too late!

She kneed her mount harder and galloped swiftly down the moon washed dirt lane. The cold air stung her face, and her scarf blew wildly in the wind behind her. She watched the trees flash by at the sides of the road, becoming almost a blur as she raced forward.

It usually took four hours to reach the Gap. Kristin made it in just over two. Her steed was panting, and its coat was glistening with sweat as she now slowed it to a trot and then to a walk.

The Gap was a crossroads at the base of four steep hills, one on each corner. Kristin looked up, craning her neck back. McShane was probably establishing himself at the top of one of the hills now so that he would have a good vantage point. He would want to be able to see Ambrewster and the Torry brothers as they came up the road from Tarry ton before they saw him. Which hill would he pick? she wondered. He probably wasn’t at the top yet, or he’d have seen her and called down to her. He must be circling up one of the hills along some back road trail, right at this moment.

She should ride a bit forward, she thought, so he could see her from any of the four hills once he was in position. At the moment, she was only visible from the two westward hills. As she rode slowly forward, she continued scanning the tops of the hills. Dawn was just about to break, blushing pinkly at the horizon.

Suddenly Kristin heard a running sound and saw a flash of movement near her. She looked down just as a hand reached up and grasped her jacket front, then jerked her down. She toppled forward and was tugged off her horse. A mean looking, gaunt-faced young man in a dark pinstripe suit, wearing a hat and tie, held her down on the ground as she struggled beneath him.

“Well, lookit what I got,” he declared in a nasty, taunting voice. “A new girlfriend!”

CHAPTER 20

“Let me go,” Kristin demanded, trying to struggle free.

“Hey, Ambrewster!” the young man in the pinstripe suit called out. “Give me a hand!”

A second man, older than the first, came out from the bushes at the side of the road. He grasped Kristin’s legs, which were flailing about as she tried to kick the first man. The older man stared down at his friend’s catch, very impressed. He had a mustache and wore a corduroy jacket and trousers, and a cap with fur flaps.

“That’s right,” said Kristin’s captor, reaffirming his own observation. “A dame! What the hell is a dame doing out here alone at this hour?”

; “Let me go!” Kristin cried, writhing and twisting, trying to get away.

Ambrewster leaned so close, inspecting her, that his mustache almost touched her face. “This ain’t just any dame, either, Johnny-boy. What a looker!”

“She’s too damn spirited!” Johnny Torry cursed, struggling to hold her as she tried to scratch and bite him.

“Well,” said Ambrewster in a practical, matter-of-fact tone, “let’s get her off the road. And take her horse too. We can’t let her go now that you stopped her. She might ride back into town and warn McShane we’re coming.” He looked at Kristin menacingly. “You know a man named McShane? Sean McShane?”

She shook her head vigorously

“You came from Yukon. How can you live in Yukon and not know who Sean McShane is?”

“Let me go, you scum! You’ve got no right to stop me! Let me go!”

They pulled her back into the bushes, then further back to a clearing. A camp had been made, and a third man was there attending to the horses. He seemed like a big-city man and was very disgruntled about having to deal with horses. But his expression changed when he saw the prize his two partners were dragging into camp.

“What a beaut,” said the man, whistling in appreciation. He, too, wore a dark suit, tie and fedora. It was crazy to wear such Chicago style business attire out here in the rugged Yukon. The two men in suits looked ridiculously out of place.