Chapter Twenty-One

"She's down there?" Chance asked nervously as he looked down at the camp full of men. Chase simply nodded and scanned the camp.

Tig had redeemed himself a little in the end by telling him where to find Leah but he had not redeemed himself enough to live. Chase did not allow anyone to double cross him and live to talk about it. Chase was not the type of man who wanted to have to watch his back every day of his life.

The camp was crowded and while Chase could not see Leah he knew she was here. He could sense her presence. He could feel in his soul that she was close.

There were two small wooden buildings, five tents and several wagons for supplies. Men and several women made their way around the camp. The men looked mostly like new hires, fresh to the rough world of outlaws. They lacked the rough edges and the ruggedness that men used to this kind of life had. Chase looked over at Chance and Paul and shook his head. The men in this camp looked like the men beside him.

Chase focused back down on the camp. Where would Leah be? He doubted they would put her in a tent. She would be too easy for him to get to in a tent. His gaze moved back to the two buildings standing side by side.

He had a feeling that Leah was in one of those. Only one door and one window on each and harder to get someone in and out of undetected. Though Chase had no plans on going undetected.. He would not kill everyone but anyone that tried to stand between he and Leah was going to wind up bloody, broken and, well, dead.

"Where the hell is she? How are we supposed to figure out where they're keeping her?!" Chance demanded in a low whisper.

"I say we go get some law and come back here with them." Paul added and Chase shook his head.

"Ask your son how that worked out before." he growled and then he shut out the other two men and focused on figuring out where his wife was.

Both buildings were being guarded by armed men so Chase searched for other clues and was rewarded when a man with a bowl in his hands went to the nearest of the buildings and walked in. He fought back amusement when the man came back out several seconds later looking much wetter and cursing as he covered a bloodied nose with his hand.

"Leah is in that building." Chase informed the other two men. Then Chase slid on his belly away from the edge of the ridge and headed back toward where they had tied their horses to nearby shrubs.

"Where are you going?" Paul demanded as he joined him. "Aren't we going in there?"

"We will wait until dark." Chase replied as he swung himself into Blaze's saddle.

"Wait until dark?!" Paul exclaimed and Chase sent him a sharp look to remind him to be quiet. They were fairly far from camp but noise could carry over these hills and plains. Paul clenched his jaw and continued more quietly. "Anything could happen to her before dark! Those men could be doing anything to her!"

"You think I don't know that?" Chase ground out and Blaze felt his rage and began to toss his head and stomp. "That is my wife they have. My soul. But it would do no one any good if we just charge in there in broad daylight with our guns drawn."

"I'm going down there and getting my daughter." Paul stated angrily and he turned and began to walk away. Chase was off of Blaze and had his knife against Paul's throat before Paul or Chance had time to react.

"I warned you last night that I am the boss. I warned you what would happen if you interfered or got in the way of me getting Leah safely."

"You wouldn't kill me." Paul said with a snort and then he stiffened and his eyes became as wide as saucers when Chase's knife tightened against his skin.

"I would."

"She would hate you forever." Paul reminded him shakily. Chase shrugged one shoulder.

"She would be alive." he replied. The tension in the air was thick enough to be sliced through and finally Chance stepped forward.

"Come on now, this isn't helping anyone. Pa, as much as I hate it Chase is right. Those men down there have the advantage right now. That's their turf. The only thing we have on our side is the element of surprise and that goes out the window if we just barge down there in broad daylight." Chance and his father stared hard at one another for a moment and then Paul nodded slightly. Chase pulled his knife away and slid it into its sheath.

"Let's get away from camp." he ordered as he jumped onto Blaze's back and rode away, not waiting for a response or offering an apology.

"He's a murdering bastard." Paul complained angrily as he and Chance mounted their horses. Chance nodded even as he shrugged.

"He's also the only hope Leah has."

***

"That man that you killed," Chance said after the three men had been waiting for hours on a nightfall that was beginning to near. "He was your friend?"

Chase felt the sting of betrayal down deep and tasted the sourness of it in his mouth. He pulled his knife and began wiping the blade back and forth across the muddied and blood covered thigh of his buckskin pants.

"Obviously not." he replied without looking at Chance or Paul. This was not something he wanted to talk about but clearly Chance and Paul had different plans.

"How do you know he wasn't just doing what he had to do to save his own life? Maybe this Tobias told him to do it or die." Chance offered.

"You might have killed a man who didn't deserve to die." Paul added pointedly.

"I have watched Tig rape a mother while her children watched, I'm sure those children would say he deserved to die." Chase shrugged. "Still he was someone I thought I could trust. Even if what you say is true and Tobias threatened he and Yancy they did not have to do what they did. They did what they did for money and nothing else."

"How can you be sure about that? If I feared for my life...." Chase reached the end of his patience with their nonsense and cut his hand sharply through the air to cut Paul off.

"If it was only fear they were acting on then as my friends they should have told me as soon as they found Leah and I in Billings. They never should have lied and led me into that trap. Together we could have taken Tobias down. I can tell you with no doubts what their plan was.

"Tobias told them they to do as he said or die and he told them that only when their task was done would they get paid. Yancy took Leah to him and now I promise you that Yancy is gone from camp with his saddlebags full of money. Tig was going to shoot me in the back, realized he was no match for me and took off with the plan of meeting up with Yancy and splitting his money with him. Obviously Tig's plan did not go as he saw in his mind and just as soon as I free Leah and know that she's safe I will make sure Yancy knows he made the wrong choice as well."

Chance and Paul were quiet for a long time and Chase felt relief that their incessant speaking had finally stopped. Leah was not like her family. Leah understood the peace and awareness that could come from simply sitting in silence.

With her Chase could lay in silence staring up at the sky and they still knew each others thoughts without ever having to speak a word. His heart caught in his chest and he cleared the lump from his throat.

He loved her. If those men had harmed her... If they had touched what was his then he would make sure all guilty suffered long and painful deaths.

"We will be leaving soon." Chase stated, glancing at the sun as it sank below the horizon.

"Before we go I need to ask you something." Paul said and suddenly he sounded less angry and bitter and more worried. Chase raised a brow and looked his way waiting for the man to continue.

Paul sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"Well I guess what I want to know is how you'll feel if those men have... forced her."

"Pa!" Chance exclaimed angrily.

"It's a legitimate question." Paul huffed defensively. Chance threw the stick he'd been carving on down roughly and pushed himself to his feet before storming away with his head shaking. Though Chase noticed the man stayed close enough to hear his answer.

"Well, injun, tell me the truth now. If they've forced my daughter are you still gonna stand by her?" Chase put his knife away and pulled out a rolled cigarette. He took his time in lighting his match and bringing it to his cigarette. He needed that time to fight back his anger that the images Paul's question brought to mind.

Did the man think so little of him?

"If someone has forced my wife and laid their hands on what is mine then I will kill each of them very very slowly. I know it angers you that your daughter loves me but honestly I do not care. She is mine. I am hers. I let her go once because I thought that was what was best for her, I can promise you right now that that will never happen again."

Paul was quiet for a moment and the two men looked at each other. For the first time Chase saw something that looked like acceptance in Pauls eyes. The older man nodded.

"Good to hear. Now I'm hoping you have a plan." Chase nodded as he blew out a puff of smoke and motioned for Chance to rejoin them.

"What's the plan?" Chance asked and Chase shrugged.

"Kill them."

"That's it?" Paul demanded as he and Chance shared a look of disbelief. Chase's lip twitched as he suppressed a grin.

"Don't die while doing it."

***

"I see you're in better spirits." Tobias smiled as he came into the cabin and tipped his hat at Leah. Leah glared at him but said nothing. The sunlight coming through the window had gotten weaker and weaker and she knew that it had to be getting close to sundown. Her hopes that Chase would come and save her were beginning to fade. Maybe Tig had gotten lucky after all.

"I need to use the bathroom." she whispered, her voice was nearly gone from thirst and her head was dizzy from hunger since she had kicked the man who had brought her some soup earlier, bloodying his nose and covering him in the foul smelling meal all at the same time.

"Go ahead." Tobias replied with a sweep of his arm. "I don't think it would hurt the cleanliness of the place any." Leah shook her head as her cheeks reddened.

"Don't make me do that." she pleaded. "You have killed my family, probably killed my husband, you have taken every single thing I love away from me... At least allow me to keep a shred of my dignity."

Tobias studied her for several long moments and then finally nodded.

"I'll send someone to take you." he stated. Leah watched him slip from the cabin and she rose up on her knees and then pushed herself up onto her feet. She swayed slightly and her legs tingled and burned as the blood rushed back down into them.

She shuffled as quietly as she could to the open window and looked outside. They were camped just beside a peaceful river and the sunset had turned the waters orange. Very soon it would be dark and Leah was afraid of what would happen to her then. She had no reason to be think that Tobias wouldn't take advantage of her during the day but some instinctive fear left over from days of old caused her to fear the nighttime more.

"Have there been any signs of anyone?" Leah heard Tobias ask someone.

"None so far, sir. If he's coming then I'd say he'll attack come morning." A unfamiliar voice replied.

"Or tonight." Tobias countered thoughtfully.

"Only a crazy man would attack an unfamiliar, well manned camp during the night. He'd have a hard enough time finding his way around during the day. Hell there ain't even gonna be much of a moon tonight."

"From what I've heard about Chase, he just might be a little crazy." Tobias replied. Leah felt hope rise in her. Tobias believed that Chase was alive so maybe that meant he was!

"I thought that one man, the really crazy one, was supposed to be finishing off this Chase fella for you. What makes you so sure Chase is even coming?"

"Tig hasn't been back for his money which makes me think that he either chickened out and didn't do the job I ordered or he wasn't quick enough to take out Chase." Tobias replied.

"Even so, why would the man risk death coming here?" Leah couldn't hear Tobias's response but she did hear the other mans laughter. "That woman in there? Why in the hell would a man risk his own hide for something like that?" Leah felt her temper spark and indignation filled her. What the devil was so wrong with her that a man wouldn't want to risk his life?

"He'll come, Burt. Just trust me. He'll come." Tobias's spurred boots faded into the distance and Leah bounced from foot to foot. Had he forgotten that she needed to use the bathroom?! She was making her way to the door when suddenly it was opened and a petite blonde walked in.

"Well come on then, if'n you're comin." The blond stated gruffly as she motioned for Leah to come with her. Leah stared at her for a moment. She wore a pair of trousers and a button up shirt that were both worn and dirty. She had dirt streaks on her neck and face and her blond hair was a mess of tangles. She had a gun on her hip along with a knife and a whip. This camp certainly had different standards for its whores than the last outlaw camp she had been at.

The woman spit on the dusty floorboards and motioned roughly.

"You comin or you just wanna do your business right there?" she demanded. Leah shook her head, snapping out of her daze and walked toward the woman.

She looked around the camp as they stepped out of the cabin and Leah hoped that whenever Chase came he would make it back out alive. Five huge tents stood around the camp and there was another building like the one she'd been kept in across the way from her.

Whistles and lewd comments filled the air and Leah turned bright red and lowered her head, doing her best to ignore them as the blond led her to an outcropping of bushes.

"Right here." she said, motioning toward a opening in the bushes.

"Can you untie me? I can't balance myself and hold my dress up without my hands." Leah stated, turning her back to the woman and wiggling her fingers.

"Fine but I'll shoot ya if'n you try something sneaky." the blond warned, patting her gun. Leah nodded and then winced in pain and let out a hiss when the woman untied her ropes and the air hit her swollen, broken flesh.

"Damn, that looks like it hurts." the blond stated before going back to chewing on her dirt crusted fingernails. Leah bit back a sharp response and studied her wrists, realizing with feminine vanity and horror that they were probably going to scar.

"Hurry up now, we ain't got all day." the blond snapped. Leah headed into the bushes and was thankful when the blond twit at least turned to give her some privacy.

It took some effort since her legs were feeling weak but Leah managed to do her business and step back out of the bushes.

"Let me see those wrists." the blond ordered and Leah held out her hands. The blond clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and then slid a sack from her shoulder. She pulled out a jar of cream and some white strips of fabric.

Leah pulled away from her when she tried to rub some of the thick cream from the sack on her wounds.

"You like pain or something?" The blond asked impatiently. "This'll help with the pain and help ya heal or you can be a stubborn twit 'bout it and refuse my help 'n get yourself a real nice infection." Leah felt her spine stiffen and glared at the woman, but held her hands back out.

She bit down on her bottom lip to keep from crying out in pain as the woman spread the cream thick on her wrists before wrapping the white cloth bandages around them and pinning them in place with small metal pins she pulled from her pocket.

"You seem different from the women at the last camp I was at." Leah said softly as she waited for the blond to tie her hands back up.

"Probably be best to leave them untied for a while and stretch you legs while the boss man is busy." the blond said with a wave of her hand. "What kinda women you talkin' 'bout?"

"The... well you know... the working ones." Leah replied awkwardly and the blond spit out a fingernail and shook her head.

"I ain't no damn whore if'n that's what you're thinking." she stated passionately. "Why I ain't never even been with a man!" Leah rubbed the back of her neck and gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, I just assumed...."

"Yeah, you and everyone else who sees me in these camps." the blond said with a sigh. "My name's Jane and I am as tough an outlaw as you're gonna find. I can hold my own right up here with these men and they know it too."

"Really?" Leah asked doubtfully and Jane grinned.

"A'course." she replied. "Tobias was in the saloon looking for men to put together and after he saw me lay the law down to a couple o'drunks he hired me on right away."

"So you like Tobias?" Leah asked with a frown and Jane shook her head.

"Nope, can't stand the bastard." she shrugged. "But the pay is good and there's food and a place to sleep." she replied. "Well I guess I best be getting you back to the cabin. The boss'll be wantin' to speak to ya."

"That's not what he wants to do and you know it." Leah replied with a shiver as she rubbed her suddenly cold arms and her stomach turned. Jane looked sympathetic as she kicked at the dirt with her toe.

"Not really my business." she stated and Leah snorted.

"You all are just alike. You don't care about anything other than your own business and money. You don't care what happens to innocent people!" Leah accused angrily. Jane met her gaze, her blue eyes flashing with pride.

"That's how we stay alive. We weren't born into a nice cozy family with pa's who work to keep food on the table and mama's who rock us to sleep every night!" she countered. "Why if'n we went around worryin' about helping the helpless and minding everyone else's business we'd be dead within a month."

"Jane, my husband is coming for me. I don't know when but he's coming. He's gonna kill every single person that goes against him, I can promise you that. Wouldn't you rather keep yourself safe and help him?"

"How 'bout I just keep myself safe and stay out of his way?" Jane countered motioning for Leah to turn so she could once again tie her hands. Leah sighed but did as she was told.

"You know what Tobias is going to do to me and you know it isn't right. I'm a married woman and he's going to force me to lay with him. Do you not have any honor or sympathy toward another women being abused by a man." Jane was silent for a long moment and then she grabbed Leah's shoulder and turned her around without tying her hands.

"Whatd'ya want me to do? Get myself killed just to save your precious vanity?"

"It's not vanity and you know it! Would you want some man tying you up and shoving himself inside of you just to prove that he can?" Leah saw something spark in Jane's eyes and knew that she had struck a nerve. Hope sprung to life in her heart as Jane scratched at her dirty blond hair.

"I'll do what I can." Jane finally relented. "For starters I'll tie your hands up front." Leah held her arms out and Jane tied her hands together though Leah realized instantly that the ropes were lose enough that she could slide her hands back out.

"Thank you." Leah said sincerely as she smiled at Jane. Jane shrugged and smiled back revealing a gap in between her front teeth that gave her an innocence that had Leah wondering just how old she was.

"Take this." Jane added, slipping a small pocket knife from her pants pocket and sliding it into Leah's dress pocket. "Gut that bastard but do it right cuz he'll kill ya if'n you don't."

"Thank you, Jane."

"Don't thank me 'til you make it out alive. I hope your man does show up, Leah, but I've learned not to expect too much outta the other half o' our species. They tend to disappoint you when you do." Leah just smiled and shook her head, feeling better and more hopeful than she had all day.

"Not Chase."