The cook looked sideways at her to make sure he hadn’t lost his audience before continuing. “Mr. McLain’s partner, Vincent, said there’s a gang of outlaws operating near Fort Worth, so we’re taking our time and being real careful.”
“So Wes takes extra precautions?” She kept her eyes focused on the dishes so he wouldn’t think her interest too great.
“Ye bet yer spurs he does. Between the guards and the hands there’s a circle around this camp no man could get through. One thing about McLain’s partner, he may be young but he’s an honest man and everyone in the state knows it.”
Nichole looked around her. In truth the camp was very well protected. Each guard could see the post of the next so if one man on the outside circle was taken out at least two of the others would know it. Without an opening of at least three men, no one could enter.
She handed Lloyd the last plate and picked up the pan of dishwater. “I’ll toss this,” she said as she walked toward the horses and away from the stream.
As she poured the water onto rocky ground, she glanced at the row of horses tethered for the night. A paint caught her attention. A paint marked exactly like the one she’d seen at the stagecoach fire.
NINETEEN
““WHERE’S ADAM?” NICHOLE tried to keep her voice calm as she approached the cook fire where Wes stood talking with Lloyd. “I have to see him.”
Wes pointed to a place beneath the trees where several bedrolls were spread. On a warm night like this, there was no need for the men to sleep by the fire. A single lantern blinked like a firefly amid the trees. “He’s checking on one of my men who has an infected cut on his leg.”
Giving his full attention to Nick, Wes studied her as he continued. “Franky claims it’s nothing, but I’d rather Adam took a look at it since he’s already out here. He’ll be right back.” Wes moved closer and motioned with his head for Lloyd to finish banking the fire. “What’s wrong, Nick?”
“Nothing,” she lied, instinctively gliding her fingers over her gun belt. “I just need to talk to Adam.”
“Don’t try and fool me, kid. Something’s bothering you.” Wes rolled a cigarette and knelt to touch a stick to the fire.
Nichole didn’t want to alarm Wes without reason, but he had a right to know. “Adam told you how I was on the stage that got attacked?”
“He told me and I wasn’t at all surprised you survived.” He brought the tip of the burning stick to his cigarette, then stepped away from the fire with her at his side. “Nick, I know you’re a beautiful woman. Adam can’t seem to keep his eyes off you, but I never forget you were a Shadow. To have stayed alive, you must have senses most people don’t. During the war, if you went through half what those men did-”
“I went through all that the men did,” she countered. “And while I’m correcting you, Adam doesn’t care about me in the way you think. He looks at me as only someone he should protect until Wolf comes. I’m only part of a promise he made to my brother.”
“Like hell he does,” Wes mumbled. “But before we argue that, tell me what you see in the darkness that I’ve missed. You walked over to the horses to toss the water, but you returned with the movements of a seasoned fighter on enemy ground.”
Nick explained about how she’d hid near the stage and saw men watering horses after they’d robbed the stage. “One of the raiders rode a paint marked just like the one over there,” she ended, pointing toward the horses.
“There are lots of paints,” Wes added.
“Does the rider have a belt with silver conchos on it?”
“Maybe.” Wes nodded. “But most of the good herders come from Mexico and several of them wear the belts.”
She grew frustrated with his denial. “Your circle of guards will do no good if the enemy infiltrates the ring. They can kill your men one at a time if they are already among them.”
“Without anyone hearing?” Wes shook his head.
Nick moved her finger across her throat. “Somehow they were able to slit the throats of both the men driving the stage without me hearing a word.”
“But how-”
“The stage line reported one male passenger. I remember him as young, about average size. He could have gotten as close as your men would let the bandits, since they’re working for you. They’d each die before they could make a sound.”
The grim facts finally settled over Wes’s face. “The men are already on post for the night. What do you suggest?”
“They won’t make their move until the camp’s settled down. It’s to their advantage to have as many men sleeping as possible. When are you moving out?”
“A few days, maybe a week. I pulled in early. My partner, Vincent, is picking up a few hundred head southeast of here. He’s due in by the end of the week.”
Nick shook her head. “Then my guess is they’ll attack tonight or tomorrow night. These men don’t want to put in too many days of honest work, and once you’re on the trail there could be other complications.
“Once your partner is here, that’s more men to worry about, so they have to strike before he arrives. Here they know exactly where their backup is. The way this land rolls, raiders could be waiting unseen within a mile or two to help with the stolen herd. By dawn you and your men could be dead, and they’d have the herd moved out before your partner arrived. No one would be the wiser. We’d just never hear from you again, and we’d have no idea if you were killed in Texas or Kansas.”
“I see your point about tonight or tomorrow,” Wes answered. “And I let ten of the men who’ve been with me for a month go into town for the night. That’s ten men I can trust that are gone.” He tossed his smoke into the fire. “The latest to be hired are the ones with me tonight.”
“And, I’m guessing, three you can’t trust are here with you,” she hesitated, “maybe more.”
“Maybe,” Wes said. “But most of the others have been with me for a while.” He walked a few steps toward the sleeping men.
Nick followed, allowing him time to think things out for himself.
“If they’ve got any sense, they’ll go after me first,” he mumbled. “Take out the leader if you can get to him. Then the men would have no one to follow. A few of my hands might try to fight, but most will run if given the chance. They hired on for a cattle drive, not a war.”
Wes paused. “I’m trapped in the darkness with no law close by or backup in sight. I’m not even sure who’s on my side.”
“You’ve got one ace in the hole.” Nick patted him on the shoulder.
“I do?” he asked.
“Sure,” she answered. “Me.”
Wes stood beside her and watched Adam walking toward them. “I don’t want Adam here. This could get ugly, and it’s not his fight. I used to worry during the war that if he were ever forced to fight, he’d hesitate a moment, deciding what was right. And that moment would get him killed.”
“If it’s your fight, it’s his. He’s your brother,” she answered. “But I know what you mean. Men like him weren’t born to listen for danger and smell trouble on the wind. He’s worth too much to this world to die with a bullet in his back.”
Wes pushed her gently with his shoulder. “And I am worth so little?” he teased.
“Definitely, and a waste of lead at that,” she answered, and nudged him back with double the force he’d used.
Wes laughed. “Better watch it, kid, or I’ll take you down a notch off that high horse you’re riding on.”
Nick shoved again. “You and what cavalry, old man?”
Both laughed, releasing tension the way soldiers do waiting for the dawn of battle.