Only 03 - Only You

overlook and into the cover of the trees.
    As soon as the green boughs folded around her, a man’s hand shot out and clamped over her mouth. Simultaneously a powerful arm clamped around her waist, pinning her arms to her body. Though she was holding a shotgun, she had no chance to use it.
    An instant later Eve was lifted off her feet, helpless but for her wildly kicking feet.
    “Slow down, wildcat,” a deep voice said quietly in Eve’s ear. “It’s Caleb Black.”
    Eve went still, then looked over her shoulder.
    Caleb’s whiskey-colored eyes looked back at her. The warmth she remembered in his eyes was lacking. He looked just like what Reno had once called him, a dark angel of vengeance.
    Eve nodded to show that she understood she was safe. Slowly Caleb set her down. When she was standing on her own feet, he jerked his thumb, silently telling Eve to get deeper into cover.
    As soon as she did, another man stepped forward. His hair was the same black as Caleb’s, but the resemblance ended there. Caleb’s hair had a slight curl. Wolfe Lonetree’s was straight as a ruler. His eyes were an indigo so dark as to be nearly black. His face showed the high cheekbones of his Cheyenne mother and the sharply defined mouthof his Scots father. Though not as big as Caleb or Reno, Wolfe moved with a physical confidence that was more impressive than size alone would have been.
    Caleb’s hands moved in sign talk that was as graceful as it was precise. Wolfe nodded and moved past Eve, touching his dark hat in silent greeting as he did. The hand he lifted to his hat was holding two boxes of shells. His other hand was wrapped around two repeating rifles.
    Eve stared for an instant, then eased farther back into the trees, pulled by Caleb’s hand on her arm. As soon as it was safe to speak, she did.
    “There was a cave-in. Reno’s trapped. There are two guards at the next cascade.”
    Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “Is he alive?”
    She nodded, unable to say anything for the fear drawing her throat tight.
    “Is he hurt?” Caleb asked.
    “I don’t know. I couldn’t get to him.”
    “What did he say?”
    “Nothing. He couldn’t hear me.”
    Caleb didn’t ask how Eve knew Reno was alive. He had seen both the wildness and the soul-deep determination in her eyes.
    “I took care of the guards,” Caleb said. “Go back to the marshy area and wait. We’ll be along shortly.”
    “But Reno—”
    “Go. We can’t do a damn thing for Reno as long as Jericho Slater is settin’ up to shoot us in the back.”
    Caleb turned away, then stopped and looked over his shoulder at Eve.
    “Rafe Moran is somewhere around here. So if you see a man as big as Reno coming at you, blond hair, easy-moving, with a bullwhip in one handand a six-gun in the other, don’t shoot him.”
    Numbly Eve nodded.
    “There’s a pint-sized redhead called Jessi Lonetree about a mile back down the trail,” Caleb continued. “She’s supposed to stay put, but she might take a notion to come looking for her man after the shooting stops.”
    “Jessi? Then that was Wolfe?”
    Caleb grinned. “Sure was. Now, go on up to the marsh and wait for us. With Wolfe and a repeating rifle up on that rock preaching to them about the wages of sin, Slater’s boys will soon see the error of their ways. There will be a regular stampede of converts heading down the mountain.”
    “I can help.”
    “You sure can,” Caleb agreed. “You can get your rump up to the marsh and stay safe. If anything happens to you, no one would know where to look for Reno.”
    “Then I’ll go back to the mine. He might be calling for me.”
    “Don’t go inside that mine until I’m there,” Caleb said flatly.
    Eve opened her mouth to argue.
    “I mean it, Eve. I’ll tie you like a chicken for the spit if I have to.”
    “But—”
    “Get it through your head,” Caleb said roughly, overriding her attempts to speak. “Without you, we don’t have a chance in hell of helping Reno.”
    Slowly Eve nodded and turned away, not even noticing the tears that were once again making silver trails through the dirt on her cheeks.
    She was halfway up the cascade when Wolfe Lonetree opened up with his rifle. Shot after shot screamed through the high mountain air, echoing back from stone peaks. From below, other riflesreturned fire in a crescendo of noise.
    By the time Eve reached the marsh, the rifle shots were coming less frequently. As she climbed the second cascade, a six-gun opened up in