RYE
By the time we got to the stables, word had gone out, and a large group of men were gathered. Some had already mounted, and all were armed. Grim faced, just like Keane and me.
We’d planned for this. Run drills. All the women were barricaded inside one of the cabins, a perimeter of armed men prepared to kill or be killed in their defense. It was an oath we’d all sworn, hoping the day would never come when we’d have to follow through.
That day was today. We could not fail. Dared not come up short.
I tossed our unconscious prisoner to the ground, and he landed with a satisfying thud. "Somebody tie him up and keep an eye on him. If anything happens to Lily, I’m going to kill him."
I’d never been more serious. I glared at the men who were waiting, but not one of them objected to my plan. They’d all do the same. Cross stepped forward and hog-tied Timothy Wentworth then dragged him toward the stable.
"This man"—I nodded toward the scumbag as he traveled over the dirt on his belly like the snake he was—"is part of a group in Butte who want to destroy Bridgewater. Think it should be burned to the ground. And one of its most prominent members is Lily’s former employer."
"That man you kneed in the balls at the hotel?" Simon said to Keane.
"Yes, and I’ve got much worse in mind for when I get hold of him."
"We need to start searching right away. Has anyone seen anything out of the ordinary today?" Though not a trained soldier, I had taken on a commanding role in the search for our bride.
Everyone shook their heads. How could we all have missed it? Our opponent might be more skilled than I had at first imagined.
"It’s going to be full dark soon," Simon said. "I’ll take a group to the west. That all right with you, Rye?"
Our bride was missing. We were in command, regardless of experience or rank. We had the most at stake.
"Yes, do that, Simon. If you find anything, fire two shots into the air."
Another group headed east. Keane and I, along with a few others moved toward the cabins and barns. On a ranch like Bridgewater, there were many places to hide. If they’d left the ranch already with Lily... well, I could not allow myself to think that.
It seemed their goal was to destroy Bridgewater. But if that was the case, why did they need Lily?
LILY
"You’re the most despicable person I’ve ever met." Tied to a post on the front porch of the cabin I shared with Rye and Keane, I should have been scared and, to be honest, I was. But as I stared into the snarling face of Mr. Richard Garner, all I could think about was how being near him had always made me feel vile.
"Despicable?" He glared at me and spit on the wooden porch floor next to my feet. "You disgust me. Harlot. Fornicator. Can you deny you bed two men at once? Or does your ravenous lust require even more men than that? It’s that sort of sinful, shameful behavior that needs to be eradicated from the earth. It was vile enough when my poor wife found you pleasuring yourself under our roof, but I never imagined you’d stoop so low."
He yanked on the rope around my wrists.
For the hundredth time in the past hour, I lamented my decision to leave Olivia’s house. But, I had to warn Keane and Rye. How was I to know Mr. Garner would be lying in wait?
I’d been running and, since I was unfamiliar with Bridgewater, I was an easy target. He’d attacked from behind and thrown me to the ground, shoving a filthy rag into my mouth.
Thankfully he’d removed that once he got me tied to the porch.
I’d seen Mr. Garner angry plenty of times during my tenure as governess for his children, but he was positively deranged, muttering to himself as he pulled the ropes on my wrists tighter and tighter.
"What do you want with me, Mr. Garner?" I asked.
"Filth like you needs to be eradicated. All of this," he gestured toward the cabin and the rest of Bridgewater, "must be banished from the earth."
"You seem hungry, Mr. Garner," I said, trying any ploy to distract him. "Why don’t you untie me, and we’ll go inside. I’ll make you something to eat."
He slapped me across the face. "Shut up, whore. That’s what you’d like to do, lure me inside and tempt me with your slutty ways. The same way you lured me to your hotel room in Butte."
Black dots danced in front of my eyes. I’d never been hit with such force before, and it took a moment to compose myself. "I did no such thing. You pretended to be delivering room service and barged into my room and attacked me. You did that. Not me." Maybe I should have been more sedate and tried to cajole him into cooperating, but he was clearly irrational. And I was angry. Angrier than I’d ever been in my life.
But that did me little good against a crazed man who had me tied up.
He stepped off the porch, and I wondered if he was simply going to leave me there like that.
No, he had much more devious plans. He returned with a can, unscrewed the top, and started pouring the contents all around me.
The pungent odor hit me. Kerosene.
"I’m going to burn you at the stake and this whole ranch with it." He sneered with satisfaction. "Gone. All of it."
Good lord. My knees buckled and, if I hadn’t been tied to the post, I’d have collapsed.
Oh, where were Rye and Keane?
Had Timothy injured them? Lured them far away so they couldn’t get back to me?
Or worse?
I gazed out into the area surrounding the cabin. Where could they be?
They’d promised to always protect me, but surely no one could have foreseen this.
All my bravado vanished. Replaced with sheer, unadulterated terror.
RYE
There’d been no signal from either of the groups searching east and west. Something told me we’d find her much closer to home. I was not one for superstition or premonitions, but something in my heart called out to Lily, and I’d swear she answered.
Keane and I tied up our horses, as did the others, then worked our way through the trees to our cabin.
When we got close enough to catch a glimpse of our home, I had to stop myself from crying out. Next to me, Keane swore then immediately silenced himself.
Lily, our sweet Lily, was tied to the porch of our cabin. And that man she used to work for walked around her, sprinkling something around her feet.
Fucking hell. Did he intend to set her on fire? What the fuck was wrong with him?
Once he emptied the can, he reached into his pocket and pulled something out. He was too far away for me to see what it was.
But, the next instant he struck it across the post near Lily’s head, the flame at the tip visible from a distance. A match!
Keane reached for his gun. I put my hand on his arm to stop him. "If you shoot him and he falls, that match will start a fire before we can get there to save Lily," I hissed.
"You go and get him talking, stall him. I’ll take care of the rest." His gaze held mine for a long moment. Of all the things we’d been through in our lives together, nothing was more significant than the next few moments.
We didn’t dare shoot into the air to call the others back to help. It would alert the lunatic who had our Lily captive that we were nearby.
Keane took off through the woods. I’d have liked to give him a few minutes to get into position, but we didn’t have any time to spare. I strode into the clearing in front of our cabin.
"You there," I called. "What do you think you’re doing?"
"Rye!" Lily cried out. Her voice was strained, and every cell in my body yearned to rush to her, but until the threat to her was neutralized, it was too dangerous. I kept my gaze on the flame on the end of the match.
It was only a matter of seconds before the flame would reach his fingertips, and he’d throw it for sure then.
I stared as it burned.
"I’m going to set this Jezebel on fire. Burn away her sin and the sin of everyone here." He held the match close to her face. So close I feared her hair would catch fire.
Lily blew it out.
I nearly laughed. Good girl.
"Bitch." He slapped her across the face then struck another match, holding it out in my direction. "See this? This will be the end of all of you. Fire purifies."
A shot rang out.
The match extinguished.
Before Lily’s captor could strike another, I dove for him and took him to the ground, pummeling his face with my fists.
"Rye! Stop!" Lily’s voice reached me through the red haze of my fury, and I paused to look at her. Keane leapt onto the porch and worked at the ropes on her wrists. The other Bridgewater men surrounded us, and I left her former employer for them to deal with as a I ran to Lily.
LILY
My whole body quaked, and I collapsed into the arms of Rye and Keane. "Tighter," I cried. "I can’t feel you."
"Hush, kitten. We’ve got you." Keane’s deep voice rumbled over me like a warm blanket.
In a rush, I was inside, crushed between my two men who were peppering me with questions.
"Are you hurt?"
"What did he do to you?"
"Here, put this on your jaw." Rye pressed a wet towel to my cheek.
"I wanted to kill him when he hit you," Rye said. "I’m sorry we didn’t protect you from him."
"I should have shot him instead of the fucking match," Keane lamented.
"No," I managed to say. "He’ll get worse than that now." Based on the wails of pain floating in from outside, I had no doubt Mr. Garner wished he’d been shot instead, too.
I blinked. "Keane, how did you make that shot?"
"I knew I had to do it to save you, sweet Lily."
"B-but are you trained for that sort of thing?" I stared at him, amazed. I’d never fired a gun, but I knew a shot like that required incredible skill.
"No, darlin’. I’m not. Never even tried it before. Never needed to." He gazed down at me, his eyes full of love. "Whatever you need, whatever it takes to keep you safe. That’s what we’ll do."
"You did it, Keane," Rye said.
"We did it together," Keane answered. "Lily blew out the match to give us more time. You distracted him, and I made a miracle shot. We worked together. All of us."
"My family." I held them both close. My heart overflowed.