Only 05 - Autumn Lover

her.”
    “Who was?”
    “I’ll let you know when I find out,” Case said dryly.
    Hunter barely heard. He knelt next to Elyssa and pushed a cascade of silver-gold hair away from her face.
    “Are you all right, Sassy?” Hunter asked.
    With a small sound Elyssa buried her face against Case’s chest, shutting out Hunter.
    “She’s not hurt,” Case said.
    “Then why are you holding her as tenderly as a Christmas kitten?” Hunter retorted.
    What Hunter didn’t say was that he wanted to be the one holding Elyssa. Unfortunately, she was making it clear that the feeling only went one way.
    “She likely killed a Culpepper,” Case said.
    The shock on Hunter’s face would have made any man but Case smile.
    “It’s not sitting easily on her stomach,” Case added.
    Elyssa gave a small groan of humiliation and tried to vanish into Case’s gray flannel shirt. Case simply held her and gently stroked her hair.
    “What happened?” Hunter demanded.
    Eyes tightly closed, Elyssa shook her head, her humiliation complete.
    “Bill and I untied the girl while everyone was asleep. Then I started tracking that damned ghost,” Case said.
    “The spy?” Hunter demanded.
    Case nodded.
    “He came to Bill’s place just before dawn,” Case said. “There was some kind of argument. He left. I’ve been playing tag with him ever since. He led me here.”
    “He’s in the marsh somewhere?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then he didn’t come from the Ladder S,” Hunter said. “All our men are accounted for.”
    Case grunted. “When I heard gunfire, I sifted out to the edge of the marsh and looked around. The Indiangirl was making for the marsh as fast as she could run. Four of the raiders were chasing her.”
    Hunter glanced at the girl.
    Sensing his interest, she looked up from her baby. The bruises on her young face—combined with the fear and calculation in her eyes—told Hunter everything. He had seen women with that look during the war, after they had been hard-used by strangers and had no reason to trust any man.
    Hunter held his left hand in front of his body, palm up. He touched the center of the palm with his right index finger.
    The girl understood. Reassured, she went back to caring for her baby as best she could.
    “Go on,” Hunter said in a low voice to Case.
    “Sassy was on that big spotted stud. They were coming across the grassland like hell on fire.”
    Hunter said something under his breath.
    “When the first Culpepper spotted her,” Case said, “she didn’t even pull up from a dead run. She just dropped the reins, yanked out her carbine, and started firing.”
    Hunter’s expression became even more grim. He looked at the cascade of pale blond hair that concealed Elyssa’s face from him.
    “Damn it, Sassy,” Hunter hissed. “You never should have been here in the first place. You could have been killed!”
    Elyssa ignored him.
    “Instead, she dropped a Culpepper,” Case said matter-of-factly. “A good day’s work, if you ask me.”
    “I didn’t,” Hunter snarled.
    Big hands reached out and plucked Elyssa from Case’s arms. Hunter turned Elyssa’s face against his chest and began stroking her hair even more tenderly than Case had.
    Elyssa struggled for a moment before she gave in. Hunter’s gentleness was too beguiling to fight against. She hungered for it, for some sign that she hadn’t misread him totally. A man with only lust on his mind wouldn’t bother to care tenderly for a queasy girl.
    “Then Elyssa reined her stud up alongside the Indian,” Case continued, “took the baby in one arm, grabbed the girl with the other, and hauled her up to the stirrup.”
    Hunter’s breath stopped. “What about the other raiders?”
    “They were coming down on her fit to scare a stone statue,” Case said.
    “Jesus.”
    Hunter’s hand contracted in Elyssa’s hair.
    “Gaylord was drawing a bead on her scalp,” Case said, “when a bullet came out of the marsh. Knocked him right out of the saddle. He was dead before he hit the ground.”
    “The ghost saved Sassy’s life?” Hunter asked skeptically. “That makes no sense. He has tried to kill Sassy himself.”
    Case shrugged. “Maybe he just wanted to scare her into pulling up stakes and leaving the ranch behind.”
    “Maybe.” Hunter’s tone said he doubted it.
    The sound of men approaching the marsh came clearly through the air. Case stood and faded back among the reeds.
    Frowning, thinking hard, Hunter continued to stroke Elyssa’s