Texas Lucky by Maggie James Read Free Book Online Page A

finally reaching a barn where she was thrown over the back of a horse. Then, with Worley leading and two other men on horseback carrying torches, she was taken, bouncing uncomfortably on her stomach, out of town.
    Twenty minutes later, she was yanked down from the horse to find herself staring at a large opening in one of the many rock formations surrounding her. In the glow of torchlight, she could see a crude gate of some sort had been built in front of it.
    “I saw your trunk in the back of Lulie’s buckboard,” Worley said as one of his men maneuvered to open the gate. “I’ll have some of your clothes brought out in the morning.”
    With a beefy hand on her shoulder, he pushed her toward the hole.
    Tess, panic rising, balked. “No, wait. You can’t put me in there. You said I was going to jail.”
    The men laughed, and Worley said, “This is the jail in Devil’s Eye. Actually, it’s an old mine shaft, but it serves the purpose. There’s water for drinking and bathing, and lots of shelter in the tunnels. You get fed twice a day.”
    He unlocked her handcuffs, and, as she stood rubbing her wrists, advised, “If you scrounge around, you’ll find some old blankets.”
    She was shoved inside.
    “How…how long will I be here?” she asked, shivering as the dampness of the shaft began to creep into her bones.
    “Hard to say. But I wouldn’t be in a big hurry if I was you, ’cause you’re probably going to hang. I’ve never known the judge to let a horse thief go yet, and it won’t matter one whit you’re a woman.”
    The gate was closed.
    They rode away, and Tess found herself swallowed by darkness.
    She stood there a few moments, terror an unseen hand clutching at her throat as she pondered her dilemma. Then, in surrender, she sank to the floor and let the tears come. When there were none left, she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand and thought of all that had happened in the scant three days since her arrival.
    She had been stunned by Saul’s death, leaving her indigent and alone.
    She had been scared out of her wits by a murderer sneaking into her hotel room.
    Two men had almost raped her.
    A woman she thought her only friend had turned against her in the worst way. Lulie could have said she had loaned her the wagon and mule without knowing why she wanted it. She did not have to say she had stolen it.
    Now she was being held prisoner in a mine shaft. With a heavy heart, she wondered what would happen next.
    And suddenly the answer came as a torch appeared to drive away the darkness and a voice chuckled to say, “Well, well, well. Looks like I’ve got company.”
    With a wrenching gasp, Tess saw in the fire’s glow that it was Curt Hammond.

Chapter Five
    Tess quickly scrambled to her feet and backed against the wall. “Stay away from me!”
    He sneered. “I don’t want anything to do with you.”
    A sudden gust of wind blew out the flames. He stumbled forward and bumped into her in the darkness.
    She swatted at him with both hands. “Get back, or I’ll—”
    “Or you’ll what?” He moved away. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s nobody here except us…and a couple of skeletons I found way in the back when I was exploring one day. But you don’t have to worry about me bothering you—not when you’re the reason I’m here.”
    She dared to remind him, “You killed somebody. That’s why you’re here.”
    “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said tightly. “And the fact is, you wouldn’t give me the benefit of the doubt, so here I am, waiting to get my neck stretched, thanks to you.”
    “It’s your own fault. You shouldn’t have murdered anybody.”
    “It wasn’t murder.”
    “Well, it makes no difference to me. I have my own problems.” She ran her hands up and down her arms nervously. Her eyes were gradually getting used to the dark, and she strained to see him so she could keep her distance.
    “So what did you do?”
    She was not about to