Their Tempting Bride by Lacey Davis
23
Martin heard the single gunshot and knew Georgia was in trouble. Turning from the cattle, he spurred his horse with his heels, even the fake one, and raced across the fields.
That son of a bitch had come back, and this time, he had more than crossed the line.
When he reached Bridgewater, the men were all assembled.
“Bartlett took Georgia then shot and killed her father,” Ann told Martin. “We saw him as we were coming up the road then raced back here to get the men.”
Ian and the others gathered. “We’re ready to ride after them if you are.”
“Let’s go,” Martin said.
The men galloped away with Martin and Ian riding up in front. He trusted these men and only wished that Daniel could be there with them. It was time for this man to die. It was over.
Once they found them, Bartlett wouldn’t get a third chance.
When they were almost to Butte, he was surprised to see Daniel riding toward them with the sheriff.
The men all came to a halt, their horses snorting, pawing the ground.
“Bartlett has taken Georgia and killed her father.”
“Son of a bitch,” Daniel said. “He shot me and Jones at the office. I got lucky as the bullet deflected. But Jones is serious. I’m not certain he’s going to make it.”
The sheriff sat, listening to them.
“Where do you think he took Georgia,” Ian asked.
“Either his home or the mine,” Martin said.
They looked at each other. “The mine.”
“Yes, there he could keep her tied up in one of the tunnels. The men might never find her.”
They turned their horses and rode toward the Cypress mine located not far from town. As they rode, Martin tried to think through all the possibilities they could find when reaching the tunnels to come up with a plan. This bastard would not live to see another day.
When the group rode up to the mine office, Bartlett’s buggy was sitting outside. He was here and Georgia too.
They slid down their horses and tethered the animals before the group walked inside the office. It was silent. They must've gone out a back door leading to the entrance of the mine.
When they reached the shaft going down, the pulley cart was at the bottom. They hauled it back up and then fit four men in before they were let down into the darkness. No lights were lit. No signs that anyone was here.
When they reached the inside of the cave, they could hear nothing.
Had they been wrong to come here to the mine? But his buggy was outside the mining office. Could it be a decoy?
The sheriff lit torches and handed them each one.
“Let’s split up and go down the different hallways. Just don’t get lost.”
They each took off, searching up and down the channels. It would be so easy to get turned around in here, especially in the darkness. He glanced at his torch and willed it to continue burning.
The uneven surface of the floor was hard on Martin as he limped his way along, holding onto the wall. A noise came from behind and he turned to see a rat scurrying along the pathway. Nasty little buggers.
Just then he heard a muffled cry and he hurried toward the sound trying not to let his wooden leg make any noise on the ground. A light glowed at the end of a long dark tunnel away from the rest of the cave.
Then the words he heard terrified him.
“No one will ever find you here. I’m going to fuck you into next week and then I’ll come back and do you again. You’ll be my prisoner until I’m ready to kill you.”
Martin heard the sounds of slapping. “My husbands will kill you first.”
Warmth filled him. She was still alive. Fighting for her life, it sounded, and he hurried as quickly as his injured leg would allow him, trying to be quiet, so as to surprise Bartlett.
When he reached the cave they were in, he saw Bartlett was fighting to tie Georgia to a wooden beam that kept the roof from collapsing. A shot could bring down the entire structure on top of them. Killing all three of them.
He had to devise an alternate rescue. He had to save Georgia.
Glancing around the area, he noticed a can filled with a smelly liquid—kerosene for the lamps. A pick axe lay against a stone wall outside the room, ready for a miner to continue digging the minerals out of the rock.
Placing each outside the entrance, he stepped in the doorway. Bartlett had his woman tied with her wrists around the wooden support beam, trying to remove her dress.
“Hello, Bartlett.”
Georgia gasped when she saw him. At the sound, Bartlett turned to face him.
“Well, look who they sent to fight me. The gimp. The man with a limp who couldn’t fight off a child, let alone a real man.”
Martin let the words roll off his back as he smiled at him.
“You must have a death wish. You’ve been on a real killing spree today.”
“A few less losers in the city,” he said with a shrug. “I don’t recommend using a gun in here or we’re all dead.”
Nice of the man to confirm his worst fears.
“Untie her,” he said.
“Hell no. I’m about to fuck her and you can’t stop me,” he said with an evil grin.
Martin smiled. “First, you have to deal with me.”
The man had a sparkle in his eye as he walked toward him. “That won’t take long.”
As the man approached, Martin slid out the cave entrance just enough to grab the kerosene which he turned and tossed into Bartlett's face.
The man screamed in agony as the liquid burned his flesh, then Martin grabbed the pick axe and swung it, hitting him square in the chest, burying the blade.
“Die, you son of a bitch. Die.”
Bartlett screamed again and then collapsed to the ground.
Martin rushed in to untie Georgia.
“Oh, thank God, I knew you would come after me. Did he kill Daniel?”
The sheriff and Daniel came running into the room. “He tried, but by the grace of God, that bullet missed.”
As Martin cut the last of the ties, she collapsed and they both caught her.
“I’ve been so scared,” she said, tears rolling down her cheeks. “What about Papa? Did he kill him?”
Martin shook his head. “I’m sorry, honey, he passed before we left town.”
She closed her eyes. “I’ll never understand what happened to change him. My papa was never like this before.”
“Remember the good times,” Daniel told her.
As they gathered her up, dust rained down from the ceiling. "Watch out!" the sheriff hollered. "The ceiling is caving in."
Daniel and Martin pushed her down and covered her with their bodies. Rocks pelted them, but nothing that broke any bones. When it was over they were all covered in debris and coughing.
“Let’s get out of here,” the sheriff said.
“What about Bartlett?” Daniel asked.
“Dead. Your friend stopped him in his tracks with that pick axe.”
“Let’s go,” Martin said. “I never want to see the inside of a mine again.”
As they walked by the body of Bartlett, Georgia kicked the dead man. “Enjoy hell.”
In a matter of minutes, they found the men from Bridgewater and they all evacuated to the top of the mine.
“Someone has to tell Mama,” she said with a sigh. “Please, can we go see her?”
“Of course,” Martin said, wanting his wife to be at peace with what happened today.
Daniel looked at him and grinned. “Don’t let me ever hear you say that you can’t protect our wife and children. Any man who would throw kerosene and strike a man with a pick axe will do whatever is necessary to protect those he loves.”
Warmth filled Martin as he smiled. It was true, he had protected their wife and saved her from that brutal monster. Even with a bad leg, he would defend those he cared about. And right now, his heart was full of love for this woman.
His wife, and soon, the mother of his children.
