Chapter One
The church was aglow with candlelight, and the heavenly scent of flowers filled the air as Tessa slowly made her way down the aisle. The full skirt of her lace and satin bridal gown swayed gracefully about her hips as she moved ever forward.
She was getting married.
At last, she was getting married.
All around her were her friends and family. They were smiling as she passed them, their gazes warm and approving upon her as they whispered among themselves.
“She looks so lovely.”
“I always knew she’d make a beautiful bride.”
Tessa lifted her gaze to the altar. She could see the reverend waiting for her, Bible in hand, at the end of the aisle. Off to the side, with his back to her, stood her future husband.
Tessa smiled. Her mother had been urging her to find a good man and settle down for several years now, and it seemed the time had finally come. Getting married to the man she loved was every woman’s dream, and her groom was her dream man. He was tall and dark and handsome and . . .
Her heartbeat quickened as she reached the end of the aisle. Anticipation quivered through her.
This was her wedding day. She was going to live happily ever after.
Tessa stopped before the minister, who was gazing down at her, his expression serious. The moment had come. She was to be married.
The minister began the ceremony. “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today . . .”
Tessa started to turn, to look up at her future husband as the minister went on. She wanted to gaze into her beloved’s eyes and let him know without words just how much she loved him.
“ . . . to join in holy matrimony . . .”
This was the man she had dreamed of. This was the man she’d been waiting for. This was the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.
“Tessa Sinclair and—”
Tessa let out a cry of alarm as she stared up at her future husband. The man she was to marry loomed over her, tall, broad shouldered, and powerfully built, but he had no face! His features were a blur. They were completely indistinct. She didn’t know who he was. There was no way to tell.
Horror overwhelmed her. In abject terror, she panicked and backed away. Turning, she ran back down the aisle. All thoughts of happiness and love were banished as she fled the scene, desperate to escape.
Tessa’s heart was pounding a frantic rhythm, and her pulse was racing as she jerked awake. She struggled to catch her breath, as she slowly came to realize that she was riding in a stagecoach. The elderly woman sitting across from her was staring at her with an almost frightened look on her face.
“Tessa, dear, are you all right?” Doris Peters asked.
Tessa managed a tight smile—she wasn’t really getting married. There had been no church, no altar, no faceless groom. “I’m fine,” she answered a bit breathlessly. “It was only a dream.”
“That must have been some dream,” Doris told her. “You were talking and restless. In fact, you seemed so agitated that I almost woke you once or twice, but I knew you were tired and needed the sleep.”
Before she’d fallen asleep, Tessa had been telling Doris how she’d just spent a week working at the new orphanage in Canyon Creek.
“I am tired, that’s for sure,” Tessa admitted.
“Just the fact that you could fall asleep on this stage is proof enough of that,” Doris said as they hit another bump in the road and were jostled roughly about. “You must have worked really hard last week.”
“I did, but it was a labor of love,” she told her, smiling as she thought of the children she’d helped.
“You are so special, Tessa. Both you and your mother are so kind and giving.”
“Thank you, but there is such joy in giving to others this way. Years ago, after my father died, my mother was left alone with me and my brother to raise. We were poor and homeless, and someone helped us out. I swore then that I would do the same thing when I was old enough.”
“And you have,” the older woman said. She knew how generous Tessa was with the poor around Durango. Tessa owned and ran the boardinghouse and was always feeding those in need and grubstaking down-on-their-luck miners.
“I’m just glad I’m able to help.” She fell silent, and when she did, the image of her faceless dream husband drifted into her thoughts again. She shivered as she turned to gaze out the window.
“Thinking about your dream again?” Doris asked perceptively. “What was so terrible about it?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I don’t really remember,” she answered quickly.
As troubling as the dream-turned-nightmare had been, Tessa wasn’t going to discuss it with Doris. Doris was a very nice lady, but she was also a bit of a gossip. Tessa could just imagine who might hear tales of her faceless fiancé.
It was bad enough that her mother was always talking about her getting married. She was twenty-two and, in her mother’s opinion, well on her way to becoming an old maid. She wasn’t about to let anyone know that she was having nightmares about her unwed state.
“Are you sure you’re all right now?” Doris pressed, still abit concerned as she studied the slender, auburn-haired beauty sitting across from her. She could see the high color staining Tessa’s cheeks and the slightly troubled look in her eyes. She couldn’t help wondering what had upset her so.
“I’m all right.”
“Well, good. I wouldn’t want anything to be worrying you,” she said with motherly warmth. She thought Tessa a darling girl and didn’t want to think that she had any trouble in her life. Seeing that Tessa seemed relaxed again, Doris closed her eyes to seek some rest of her own.
Who were you? Tessa whispered to herself as she stared out the window, a vision of her faceless man before her.
She scowled, wondering why she’d even dreamed of getting married. She hadn’t ever seriously thought about it. She was too caught up in taking care of the boardinghouse. And, she supposed, she’d never really been in love.
Were you Will? she asked herself silently.
The question left Tessa frowning as she tried to match Will’s image with that of her phantom groom. Will was certainly her mother’s choice for her, but somehow he didn’t fit. Not that there was anything particularly wrong with Will Kenner. He was nice enough, she supposed. Her brother Michael had hired him on at their mine, and Will had proven himself to be honest and hardworking. He had come into town with Michael a time or two, but she’d had little time to think about courting and such.
Her mother, on the other hand, thought about her marrying a lot. Tessa knew her mother was going to be thrilled the day she finally settled down. But she had made up her mind that she wouldn’t marry just for the sake of being married. She was happy the way she was.
Tessa’s thoughts returned to her dream then, and she wondered again, Who were you?
It was then as she was lost in her musings that the shots rang out. Tessa and Doris were both jarred back to reality.
“Were those shots?” Doris asked, terrified, sitting up straight and clutching her reticule to her breast.
“Yes!” Tessa had become instantly alert at the sound. She tried to lean farther out the window to get a look at what was going on outside, but the ride was too rough. She was forced to sit back and hold on for dear life as the stage jolted to a faster pace.
The sound of the driver returning fire chilled them both.
“Oh, my God! They’re going to kill us all!” Doris shrieked.
Tessa didn’t say anything. She just kept a tight hold on the strap by the door and prayed silently that they could outrun the robbers.
Her prayer was not answered, though. More shots were fired at them, and she heard the driver scream. Then the stage started slowing. It finally came to a halt in a narrow canyon far from any civilization. Tessa heard horses riding up at a gallop. She was not surprised when a gruff male voice ordered them to get down out of the stage.
“You passengers! Your driver’s been shot, and the same thing’s going to happen to you if you don’t get down out of there and keep your hands up!” The man’s tone was harsh.
Doris was crying hysterically. Tessa reached out and touched her arm to try to calm her.
“We have to get out now, Doris.”
“No! My life savings are in my purse! I can’t lose my money! I won’t lose it!”
“Shhh. They can hear you. Be quiet and just do what they say.”
“No!”
“You! In the stage! Get out now, or we’ll start shooting!” The order came again.
“We’re coming!” Tessa answered, opening the door. She looked back at Doris. “We have to get out, Doris. Now! Come on.”
Tessa climbed down first and turned to offer the older woman a helping hand. Doris’s face went completely ashen as she saw the masked outlaws for the first time. Tessa, too, was intimidated by the gang. They wore gunnysacks over their heads with holes cut out for the eyes and mouth. The masks hid any clue to their identity. She had been hoping she would see something that would help her identify them later, but disguised as they were, their identities were a complete mystery.
“What do you want?” Tessa asked in the bravest voice she could muster as she glared up at the three.
Two of them had their guns trained on Tessa and Doris, while the third outlaw backed his horse away to slightly higher ground. He appeared to be the leader of the gang.
“Get their money!” the leader ordered in a gruff voice.
One of the outlaws chuckled evilly as he dismounted and came toward the two women. The other gunman climbed up into the driver’s box, shoved the injured driver aside, and wrestled the strongbox to the ground.
The outlaw going after the women grabbed Tessa’s reticule from her. His presence was frightening, but Tessa managed not to give in to her panic. She stood straight and proud before him as he opened her reticule and rifled through the contents. After stuffing what little money she had into his pockets, he threw the reticule aside and advanced on Doris.
“No!” the old woman cried, backing away, desperate to keep her hard-earned savings.
“I ain’t got time for this, lady!” the outlaw snarled as he grabbed her purse.
But Doris was determined not to lose her money. She clung to the purse, refusing to give it up. It was then that the outlaw struck her full-force, and the old woman collapsed to the ground. Blood was dripping from her mouth, and she was sobbing.
“Doris!” Tessa dropped to her knees beside the woman and tried to comfort her.
“The stupid bitch shoulda given it up without a fight,” the man said as he opened her purse. He looked inside and laughed loudly. “Oooeee! Lookee here what I found!”
He held up the wad of money for the other men to see.
“Damn! That’s almost as much as I got here in the strongbox!” the other man crowed, stuffing the spoils from the strongbox into the saddlebags they’d brought with them.
“You can’t take my savings! You can’t!” Doris shouted, trying to get to her feet.
The outlaw wasn’t in the mood to put up with a crazy woman, and he roughly pushed her back down.
“Why, you . . . !” Tessa had had all she could stand of his brutality. It was one thing to take their money. It was another altogether to abuse an old lady.
Furious beyond reason, Tessa charged at the man. Her assault was unexpected, and she managed to hit him once. She grabbed his mask, ripping a part of it. He reacted instinctively, fearful his identity would be discovered. He hit Tessa and turned his gun on her.
“It wouldn’t take much for me to shoot you!” he threatened as he stood over her.
Tessa lay in the dirt at his feet. Her cheek was bruised and bloodied from the force of his blow, but she was glaring up at him defiantly. She only wished that she’d been able to tear the whole mask off him instead of just one little piece.
“In fact, I think I will,” the outlaw went on, looking down the bore of his gun at her.
“No,” came the shout from the leader. “Let’s ride! Now!”
“But . . .” The gunman was furious. He was ready to shoot her point-blank.
“I said no!” the other man ordered again.
With that, the leader spun his horse around and started to ride off, leaving the other two to follow.
The frustrated outlaw cursed viciously as he slowly backed away from Tessa and Doris. He didn’t holster his gun again until he had mounted up and was ready to follow the others.
Tessa was trembling as the three of them disappeared from sight. Terrified beyond reason, she somehow managed to make her way to Doris’s side.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
Doris looked up at her with wide, frightened eyes. “Are they gone?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, my God! We could have been killed!” She began to cry even harder. “And they took all of my savings! I have nothing left!”
Tessa’s cheek was throbbing, but she gave no thought to her own injury. “Can you get up? I need to check on the driver. He’s been shot.”
“I—I think I can,” Doris answered weakly.
Tessa slipped an arm about her and helped her to her feet. She then walked with her to a shady spot nearby and settled her on a large, flat rock.
“I’ve got to see how Butch is. I’ll be right back.”
It was difficult climbing up into the driver’s box in her skirts, but she managed. To her horror, she discovered that Butch had been seriously wounded.
“He’s still alive, Doris! Come help me get him down, so we can take him into town to the doctor!”
Doris felt light-headed and weak, but she knew it was an emergency. Forcing herself to calm down, she helped Tessa lower the injured man from the driver’s box. It wasn’t easy, but they finally got him inside the stagecoach.
“I’ll tend to him. Can you drive?” Doris asked.
“I’ve never driven anything this big before, but there’s always a first time for everything,” Tessa said with bravado she wasn’t feeling.
Hoisting herself into the driver’s seat, Tessa took up the reins. She prayed she could control the team as she slapped the reins on their backs and urged them to a gallop. They had to get to town fast. Butch’s life depended upon it!
Will Kenner was angry as he rode at top speed from the scene of the robbery with his men following close behind. He yanked off his mask and cast a quick glance back at Zeke and Bob. He had a few things he wanted to say to Zeke, but knew he would have to wait until they’d gotten far away from the stagecoach.
The robbery had gone smoothly, but they couldn’t afford to get overconfident because of their success. Overconfidence would result in mistakes, and mistakes often proved deadly in this business.
Almost an hour passed before Will finally reined in to rest the horses.
“Damn, we’re good,” Bob boasted.
“Yeah! How much do you think we got today? We made quite a haul with that old lady’s money!” Zeke said, feeling cocky as he turned to Bob and Will. One look at Will’s expression, though, sobered his mood. “What’s the matter?”
“You dumb son of a bitch!” Will swore. “What the hell did you think you were doing pulling your gun on the woman like that? Don’t you know who she was?”
“What woman?” Zeke was confused. “The old lady?”
“Hell, no! The young one—”
“That stupid, interfering bitch? She’s lucky I didn’t shoot her!” he snarled.
“That ‘stupid, interfering bitch’, was Michael’s sister!”
“Are you serious?” Bob was shocked.
“What was she doing on the stage?” Zeke demanded defensively.
“How the hell am I supposed to know? All I know is that you’d better never do anything like that again!”
“Don’t order me around,” Zeke warned.
“When you act stupid, I sure as hell am going to order you around! Now, let’s ride.”
Will headed off again. He was still furious at Zeke for what had almost happened and needed more time to calm down. If anything had happened to Tessa—
Will gritted his teeth and kept riding. He had big plans for what he wanted to accomplish in Colorado, and he didn’t want anything or anyone to ruin them.
When they had been working the Arizona Territory the year before, there had been four in their gang. Pete Howard had been riding with them then. They had robbed at will for months, easily avoiding capture and taking no chances. Pete, Bob and Zeke had even gone so far as to frame another fast gun for one of their robberies near Tucson. That had distracted the authorities for a while, but then the law had almost trapped them near Phoenix. The three of them had managed to escape, but Pete had been shot and arrested. With the law closing in, Will had decided it was time to leave Arizona. They had taken on new aliases then—Will, Bob and Zeke were not their real names—and headed for Colorado. Judging by the way things had gone so far, it had been a good decision.
Will had come to Durango ahead of Zeke and Bob to scout out the area. He’d taken a job working for Michael Sinclair at his gold mine, the Ace High. The Ace High was a small undertaking, and there had been only two other men working there when he’d hired on. Since then, those two had quit, so when Bob and Zeke showed up, Will had met with them and told them how to get hired. As he’d hoped, Michael had taken them on, and now they were the only workers, at the mine, along with Michael. From the very beginning, they’d made certain that Michael did not know they were friends.
The arrangement was perfect. Whenever Michael went into town to take care of business or to see his family, they knew he’d be gone for several days. It gave them the time they needed to sneak away from the mine, pull off a robbery, and get back before he returned. There was one shaft in the mine that had played out and was boarded up. They hid the loot there, knowing it would never be discovered.
This had been their second robbery, and no one seemed to have any idea who they were. That was good. Will knew they would have to keep striking at odd times and places to keep the authorities guessing about their identities. He’d heard how good the marshal of Durango was, and he didn’t want to mess with Trent—No one wanted to mess with that arrogant bastard.
The biggest problem Will had right now was Zeke. Zeke had a violent streak. He wasn’t too smart, which sometimes made him hard to control. That could be a dangerous combination, and Will knew he was going to have to keep a close eye on him.
Will led the way into the mountains. They would be forced to camp for the night and then make the last leg of the ride to the mine at sunup. They didn’t want to risk Michael’s returning ahead of them and discovering that they were gone.