The Lone Texan

CHAPTER 10

BONNIE HEARD THE SOUND OF THE BELL AND SHOUTS. She took a step toward the office and Sage.

Tony's thick arm blocked her way. "Not so fast," he muttered. "The boss is real big on rules.”

"Something's wrong” She started to explain why she had to go to Sage.

Angry shouts exploded and echoed through the room and down the hallway.

"No," the man whispered. "The bell means trouble in the big room. Mr. Shelley will handle it”

Shots sounded close enough to have hit the study. Bonnie stretched her neck to see into the room.

"Gunfire," she said as if the stout man beside her might not know what the sound meant.

He pushed her backward down the hall, knocking off her glasses when he rushed into the study to investigate.

Bonnie steadied herself and prepared to barge her way past the man just as a hand slapped around her mouth and another about her waist, pulling her backward.

"Quiet.” someone said from behind her. "Or you'll end up in the middle of a robbery."

She thought of trying to fight but realized the body against her back was taller than her. She twisted enough to see his hat and knew it had to be the cowboy. He'd come to her aid.

"We got to get out of here, or we're liable to be dead”

"No," she struggled. "I'm not going anywhere without the doc."

The cowboy appeared deaf. He locked one arm around her and lifted her up against his side. In what seemed like very few steps, he was out the door and halfway down the dock. With no pause, he dropped off the pier into the fading light of a golden sunset. His arm still held Bonnie so tightly she couldn't breathe. Landing in the soft, damp sand, he whistled, and a horse bumped against them from the shadows beneath the dock.

"Easy boy, easy," he whispered as he grabbed the reins with his free hand. "How about taking the little lady for a ride?"

"No," she protested as gunfire went wild inside the gaming house. "I'm not going anywhere”

He lifted her up onto his horse and swung up behind her in one fluid movement. Before she could build a grand scream, he tapped the mount, and they were at full gallop. In panic, Bonnie stopped yelling and hung on for dear life. She'd only been on a horse a few times in childhood and never a thundering beast like this one.

She was too scared to cry, too near panic to think. All she could do was hold on as the damp air streamed past.

They rode away from the lights of town into the night so dark she couldn't make out a single landmark. Rain fell, but she hardly noticed. The cowboy slowed enough to pull his coat over her shoulders. She rested her head against his chest, needing the warmth of his body. They rode on along a road she couldn't see but he seemed to know well. She could feel as well as hear his heart pounding, and it calmed her enough that she could think.

"You have to let me go," she said with enough force that it sounded almost like an order. "You can't kidnap me. You can't. I can't go with you. I've a responsibility to the doctor.”

"I saved your life, lady” he said against her ear. "That doctor is probably already dead”

"No."

He tugged her closer. "I'm sorry. But I’d say it's an even bet that she's dead”

“No” Bonnie whispered. "She can't be”

This cowboy could never understand that she'd had no one on earth when she found Sage. She couldn't even think about losing her. Some people needed wealth or power or love. All Bonnie Faye ever wanted or needed was a reason, one reason why she was put on this earth. Sage gave her that reason. "The doc's not dead”

"You got a look at those men shooting up the place. They'll probably kill everyone in that hellhole before they leave."

She shook her head. "No! You're wrong. You don't know that. I didn't see anything. They'll let me go”

"They'll kill you” he said flatly.

Bonnie fisted his shirt in her hand. "You can't be sure.”

"I know. I'm sure," he said holding her tight. "I know, because I was one of them”