Midnight Star (Star Quartet 2)

Never had she seen him so quietly and utterly enraged.

“ ’What do you want, you filthy son of a bitch?” Delaney asked, his voice so calm that he might have been discussing the weather.

“Why, we’ve come for the lady, of course,” Baron Jones said, his mouth splitting wide to show even white teeth.

“I see,” Delaney said, his voice still coldly controlled. “The Indian let you down.”

“Stupid fool bastard,” Baron spat. “Can’t trust those renegades to do anything right. Of course now I can begin to understand his problem. Old Jasper here is right. The bitch has got lovely tits. I thought she had promise, lots of it, when I first saw her.”

Chauncey was stunned. They’d hired Chatca to kill her! But he’d wanted her. And Delaney had guessed the truth. She felt him pull away from her and lurch to his feet, and heard the man Jasper bark out a low laugh.

“No doubt what they were doin’ all night, huh, Baron?”

Delaney stood naked, his hands fisted at his sides. “I really should have killed you two years ago, Baron. Ah, indeed, I really should have,” he said, his eyes as hard as stone.

“You lost your chance, Saxton. In fact, you’re fixin’ to lose everything. I wonder if your shoulder still pains you when the weather changes.” As he spoke, he rubbed his leg. “The bullet’s still there, you know. Every time it pains me, I think of you, Saxton. I didn’t hesitate to accept this offer. To even up the score, as it were.”

“And just where is Paul Montgomery?” Delaney asked, not moving a muscle.

Baron laughed. “The greenhorn Englishman is safe and snug in Nevada City. Poor proper little gentleman. He can’t abide our abominable lack of civilization. I’m wondering what proof we can bring him that we’ve finally removed his problem once and for all?”

Chauncey found her voice. “Please,” she said, coming up to her knees, “let Del go. He has nothing to do with Paul Montgomery. Nothing.”

“Well, little honey,” Baron said, “maybe we can work out a deal.”

Delaney’s hand clutched Chauncey’s shoulder, hard. “Shut up,” he said very precisely and slowly.

She looked up at her husband, her eyes pleading, feeling more helpless than she had in her entire life.

“Lookie, Baron, the little filly has a bandage on her shoulder. Maybe the Indian did try to do away with her.”

Baron gave that wide, dazzling smile of his again, and shrugged eloquently. “Well, Jasper, we’ll never know, will we?”

“What do you mean?” Chau

ncey whispered.

“Shot the bastard’s brains out, along with those other ragtag savages.”

Oh God, they’d killed all of them! Cricket too. Poor Cricket, who’d saved her life.

It all came back to Paul Montgomery. She felt a fury so profound that her body began to tremble. She clutched the blanket around her and rose shakily to her feet.

30

“Ah, Baron, just a mangy blanket!” Jasper took an excited step forward.

Delaney moved swiftly, planting himself firmly in front of Chauncey. “You won’t touch her, you vermin! I’ll tear out your throat if you even make the attempt.”

Jasper stopped cold in his tracks, but after a short moment his courage returned. “I’ve got the gun, Saxton, not you! What do you say to me shootin’ your balls off?”

“Now, now, Jasper, don’t get your dander up. Old Del here, well, he’s just tryin’ to protect his woman.”

Very slowly Chauncey stepped back until she was pressed against the back wall of the shed.

Delaney said, “Do you gentlemen mind if I put my breeches on?”

Baron Jones waved the deadly gun. “Not at all. We wouldn’t want your little lady over there gettin’ lascivious thoughts.”