Remembering how her pious tone had angered him earlier, he smiled. She wasn't so superior now.
"What's so funny?" she demanded.
"I'm not laughin'."
"You'd better not. Let me up."
"Not until you tell me what you were doin' out here. Were you tryin' to take off again?" A brief flare of
anger shot through Charlie. When was the woman going to get it through her head that she had no choice but to accompany him to Mexico? "You should have learned by now that you'll only get yourself killed ridin' alone. I may not be the best company, but I won't let anyone hurt you."
Angelina shook her head. "I wasn't trying to leave."
"Then what were you doin' out here?"
She turned her head to the side, the movement disturbing the rocks beneath her head and causing them to
make a shuffling sound. "I had to-"
"Oh." Charlie's momentary anger faded and he grinned wide at her embarrassment. He liked her much better embarrassed than preaching at him. He also found the timid squirms and shifts she was making against him to be more arousing than any seduction practiced upon him by the most skilled professional.
He leaned closer and inhaled the fragrance that was unique to Angelina. The reaction of his body was immediate.
I'd better quit teasin' myself before I'm really uncomfortable.
Charlie shook his head ruefully. He was in bad shape when he couldn't stop lusting after a 20-year-old virgin. He cleared his throat and brought his attention back to the questions at hand. "How did you get past me?"
She had kept her head averted self-consciously. But at his words she turned back, her startled eyes meeting his. "You were sleeping."
Charlie frowned, any remaining thoughts of Angelina's soft body and enticing fragrance fleeing his mind. "I rarely sleep."
"Well, tonight you were. I got up and walked away. You never moved."
Impossible. Or is it?
Uncertainty flooded through Charlie. This slip of a girl had walked right by him and he'd never heard her? Obviously so, since she'd been out in the dark when he'd still believed her asleep in her bedroll. Anyone could have come upon them and done near anything, and he wouldn't have heard the intruder until too late.
In one quick movement Charlie lurched to his feet and yanked Angelina with him. He listened intently to the night sounds. As far as he could tell, they were still alone. He was just damn lucky that Yankee Ranger hadn't caught up with them yet.
Fine time to start sleepin' like a baby. My ears are failin' right along with the rest of me.
"Charlie?" Angelina broke into his thoughts. "What's the matter?"
"Nothin'. Just get back to camp, and don't go anywhere unless you tell me first," he growled. "Anyone could've grabbed you. You're just lucky it was me."
"I don't understand why you're so angry."
"You don't have to understand. Just get back to camp."
Angelina opened her mouth to argue, then snapped it shut with a click of her teeth and spun away. She'd only gone a few short steps when she whirled back to face him. "Aren't you coming?"
"Not right now. Just go back to sleep. I can see you from here. Don't worry. No one else will get by me tonight."
She stared at him for another moment, her forehead creasing into a puzzled frown. "I wasn't worried, Charlie. You are right. I know I'd die out here alone. But when I'm with you, I know I'm safe." She turned and disappeared into the darkness.
"Hellfire," Charlie muttered. "I was never that young."
He bent down and retrieved his pistol from the ground, checking the weapon carefully before returning it to his gunbelt. Then he took a brisk walk around the camp in the cool night air, alone with his thoughts. By the time he returned, the steady whisper of Angelina's breathing told him she slept.
Charlie stood over her. When he'd forced her to come with him, he'd honestly thought she would be safer. Now he wasn't so sure. He was losing his edge. That razor sharp awareness that had kept him alive for 37 years in an endless variety of dangerous situations was slipping away. But then he'd never had anyone else to protect before, at least not since Annie and his mother. And look what his protection had gotten both of them-side-by-side plots in the family cemetery.
With a disgusted sound, Charlie swung away from Angelina's sleeping form and returned to where he'd sat leaning against his saddle. He spent the rest of the long night watching Angelina sleep and wondering what on earth he was going to do with her.
The dilemma succeeded in keeping him awake, but when morning arrived he was no closer to a solution. He could leave Angelina in the nearest town, but he had no doubt the Ranger was no more than a day behind. Could he take the chance that the man would not hurt her? And if not the Ranger, then someone else without scruples. He'd been such a man himself once upon a time-still was in many ways. He understood the world too well to leave Angelina alone in it. Even his dubious ability to protect her would be better than nothing. He would just have to hope he could deliver Angelina to her family safely before their luck ran out.
Too bad the only kind of luck he ever had was bad.
Angelina stirred, groaned and sat up. After blinking at the rising sun-once, twice, three times-she got to her knees and squinted into the distance.
"Charlie?"
"Yeah. Good mornin' to you, too, Sister. Think you can make the coffee? I'm not up to it today."
She didn't answer; she just squinted harder at the horizon. Her hand came up to rest at the base of her
throat in a gesture of unease. "Does dust signal a horse and rider or just wind?"
Charlie swore and jumped to his feet, peering at the tiny puff of dust in the distance. He'd seen enough dust like that to know what was coming. Bad luck, as usual.
"Mount up and let's move." He was already throwing the saddles onto the horses as he spoke.
Angelina didn't flinch. She merely packed up their belongings and did as she was told.
"Do you think it's him?" she asked as he tied down the last item. "The Ranger who's after us?"
"Yep."
"Couldn't it be someone else? Someone like us, just traveling?"
"We're not just travelin'."
"True. But how can you be so sure it's him."
"Bein' sure in situations like these has kept me alive so far. If you still want to be breathin' tomorrow
you'll listen to me and ride as hard as you can."
Charlie swung onto his horse and turned to look one final time at the increasing dust cloud.
"Do you think we can outrun him?"
He returned his attention to Angelina. Her face was tight and pale, but her gaze met his head on. She
wanted the truth.
"I could outrun him on Gabe. But with you and that horse-" Charlie shrugged. "Don't worry about it none. I never planned to try to outrun him anyhow."
"What are we going to do then?"
"You'll see. Just follow me, and don't look back."
* * * * Angelina had thought they set a fast pace the day before. By midmorning she knew what fast really was.
Despite Charlie's warning, she did look back-several times. To her anxious eyes it seemed as though the dust behind them was getting closer. But she couldn't be sure. Charlie looked back only once, and he nodded in satisfaction at what he saw, which soothed Angelina's nerves somewhat. Then he veered his horse off the trail. Angelina was right behind as Charlie and Gabe wove a path through the cactus and mesquite. The sharp edges caught at her skirt and tore it in places, but she ignored the tugs and pushed onward.
She wanted to ask where they were going. But she knew better than to slow them down with questions. Charlie was riding for his life and perhaps hers as well. She trusted him to do what he thought best for both of them. She was certain he'd been in situations like this before and was far better equipped to handle the planning of their escape. She'd just continue to do as she was told and keep her mouth shut.
After about an hour of riding, they reached a stream banked on one side by a rocky hill. Charlie walked his horse to the stream and allowed the animal to drink. Angelina did the same.
"What now? she asked.
Charlie didn't answer. He merely turned Gabe away from the water and led the way to the top of the hill. There he dismounted.
Angelina heaved a sigh of relief. Her teeth felt as though they were loose in her head from all the jarring her horse had put her through that day. She slid to the ground, holding onto the saddle until her legs were steady enough to support her. When she glanced around for Charlie he was headed back down the hill on foot.
"Where are you going?"
"Just stay put. I'll be right back." He disappeared from view.
Angelina looked around the hill, noting the area would not be a very comfortable camp. She walked to the top and peered over. She had a perfect view of the stream below. Charlie appeared and she watched as he used a tree branch to obliterate the tracks their horses had made when they had left the stream and gone uphill. He left the tracks leading to the stream intact and returned.
Charlie lay down at the top of the hill and peered at the stream. His face held an expression of concentration. He did not seem to be aware of Angelina's presence any longer.
"Should I unsaddle the horses?" she ventured.
"No," he snapped without glancing in her direction. "We'll be leavin' soon enough."
Angelina sat down next to him. "Do you think he'll pass by?"
"Not if he's any kind of tracker."
"But-" Angelina bit her lip in confusion. "Then why did you get rid of our tracks leading up here? I thought you wanted him to think we walked our horses down the stream."
"I do want him to think that. At least for a minute or two. No lawman worth his salt would be fooled for very long by what I did."
"I don't understand."
"Shh!" Charlie hissed. "Get back. Go to the horses and make sure they don't call out to his horse."
When Angelina hesitated, he turned the full force of his black gaze upon her. She flinched away from the coldness in his eyes-an expression she had never seen directed at her before. Now that she'd seen it, she knew why others feared his wrath. Stumbling to her feet, Angelina did as she was told without further argument.
Seconds later the sound of a horse being ridden fast and furious reached her ears. As the Ranger rode closer, the sounds slowed. By the time he reached the stream, the steady clip-clop told Angelina the lawman's horse now walked. She kept her hand over the noses of their two animals and murmured soothingly to them. But neither seemed very interested in what was going on just over the hillside below them.
She risked a glance at Charlie and her stomach lurched sickeningly. He was crouched at the very apex of the hill-his gun drawn and trained on the stream below.
Forgetting the horses and her orders to keep them quiet, Angelina ran toward Charlie.
He can't. He won't.
He will if you don't stop him.
She threw herself onto her knees next to him and Charlie turned toward her with a look of fury.
"Get back there!" he snapped.
She shook her head vehemently, knowing she had to be quiet or risk all their lives. She pointed at the gun
and frowned, then shook her head again.
Charlie ignored her and returned his attention to the man below them. Angelina followed his gaze.
The Ranger had dismounted and was kneeling on the ground next to the water. He studied the tracks
there intently, his mind well occupied.