Disclaimer: All the characters from the "Magnificent Seven" TV series are property of Trilogy Entertainment, The Mirisch Group, MGM Worldwide.
Home | Prologue | Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five | Part Six | Epilogue
When this had begun, all things had been simple.
Her life had fallen into a tidy routine to which Alexandra Styles found very comforting. She had her medical practice in a town that was fast accepting the notion of a lady physician. There were friends in her life, a presence she had missed most profoundly during the years of nomadic existence, when her father and she seemed like the only people in the world that they traveled extensively. Most of all important of all, she had fallen in love with a man. A thing she swore once that she would never do because of her years in medical school and later on when she had tried to begin her career and learnt that men were the enemy. A selfish, self-important enemy who protected the status quo with cruel determination and barred her from what she had loved for so long.
Then she met the seven of Four Corners and found that not all men were like that.
Ezra seemed the best of all, and he had charmed her with his manner and supported her the way no one had since her father had died. She looked at him and saw grand dreams in his eyes and knew how enticing that glimmer could be. Alex had fallen in love with him from the very beginning and she allowed herself to be swept away on the tidal wave of emotion without betraying herself or her calling as a doctor. There had never been a reason to question that love because it was fulfilling, and it was especially important to her that he had allowed her to come to him at her own pace. She never felt the pressure that other couples often endured when issues of intimacy were discussed. Her life was, as she had always wanted it to be.
Until now.
With Four Corners rapidly approaching in the short distance ahead, Alex knew that something had changed for her since she departed three days ago. It was almost one o'clock in the morning and the town remained obscured behind the curtain of rain that had dogged Alex and Vin during their entire journey home. It lay in the dark, glittering with stray lights like a jewel against a sheath of blue velvet. Like this, without the bright light of the sun illuminating all its glaring flaws and the dusty veil that was left in the wake of horses, wagons and people, it was almost beautiful.
Alex was glad to be home, but she also knew the safe world she had left behind was no longer there. The past three days had an effect on both of them, and she was not entirely sure how she was going to cope with him in the future. She could blame her actions in the cabin as nothing more than animal lust, a need for warmth between two bodies trapped in the cold and wet, but deep inside, where she dared not look, she knew better.
Alex had wanted Vin Tanner.
The memory of how he had made her feel was powerful and fierce, unlike anything she had experienced in her life. Alex had convinced herself that her heart was with Ezra and in truth it was, however, what Vin Tanner made her feel was not easily forgotten. The entire trip back from the river had been silent, for Vin had been somber and broody all the way, responding to her questions with little more than sharp grunts. She had the feeling that he was angry with her but Alex did not want to press the point by asking why. Her behavior at the river had been childish and overbearing, even for his normally measured demeanor.
Vin was not speaking for good reason. He was angry with himself, and her, for things he could not even begin to chronicle with any accuracy. Was he angry because she was so terrified of being any place with him, she had to drive him mad with distraction? He could not guess which was more infuriating to him. Was it the idea that Alex thought being with him in close quarters was so repulsive she had done everything but say 'stay away', or the fact that she truly had no feeling for him and that the incident in the cabin was merely an aberration?
In either case the point was academic. When they reached Four Corners what had taken place in the confines of Agnes Doherty's cabin would be forgotten by both of them in a matter of minutes. He would return her to Ezra, knowing with rising jealousy that it would be Ezra on the receiving end of her kisses and it would be Ezra who would make love to her one day. The idea sickened him even more than the sorrow of when Charlotte had returned to her husband. He had watched her leave, feeling the crushing weight of her loss and even though he accepted it was the right thing he had done, it stung knowing she was going to another man.
Why were the women he cared about always taken? Four Corners was mostly asleep at this time of night as Vin and Alex rode through the muddy streets. The only place that would be open at this time of night was the saloon, and it was a good bet that most of their friends would be in attendance. Ezra rarely slept early because the saloon was his private casino and he would continue to play until he ran out of fools with money. Considering they had been gone for almost three days, Vin thought it a wise idea that they let someone know that they were back safe and sound.
The saloon was alive and jumping with revelries that would not likely come to an end until a few hours before dawn. It was the only place in Four Corners that was still open and the sounds emanating from the establishment echoed down the quiet streets through the rush of falling water.
"I need a drink." Vin spoke for the first time in too long as Peso struggled miserably to reach the hitching post and the water trough next to it. The animal had been pushed beyond his limits, and needed a long rest to recuperate from what his master had demanded of him today. Vin hated forcing Peso through such weather and over such a distance but he had wanted to get Alex back to Four Corners before one of them said something they could not take back and would regret. He wanted her away from him so he could disappear inside a bottle and forget all about her. For a while at least.
"I second that" she agreed quietly, surprised that he had spoken but recovering quickly to his sudden speech. "Ezra and the others are probably still there."
Vin stiffened at the mention of his rival's name but made no other reaction beyond that. Ezra was his friend and he had rights to Alex first, Vin thought to himself. He was not going to let his desire for her come between their friendship. "Yeah, they probably are" he answered as Peso finally reached the hitching post and paused at the familiar place, while he waited for Vin to dismount. The tracker did so immediately, feeling the ache in his bones after the pace they had traveled and reached out to help Alex down.
As he took her in his arms, Vin felt that familiar charge of heat between them and looked into her eyes to see the same effect reflected in her eyes. When he set her down on the ground, she regarded him for a moment and then pressed her lips against his in a soft kiss. Her mouth felt warm and soft, despite the cold rain had soaked them both through. His body reacted violently as always to her touch as it had done the night before and like that first time, she pulled away from him again.
"Vin," she said gently. "If it wasn't ...."
"Yeah." Vin nodded, deciding he did not need to hear any more. "I know."
That was enough. She turned away and hurried up the steps leading to the bat wing doors, hoping he understood that she had no wish to trifle with his feelings and her kiss had been one of farewell.
Vin watched her disappear through the doors before following her into the saloon.
It was time to return to their lives.
"Alexandra!" Ezra exclaimed the moment she walked through the doors. The gambler dropped his cards on the table and practically leapt out of his chair as he ran towards her. The rest of the seven, those still conscious that it is, turned sharply in response to Ezra's reaction and followed his advance across the saloon.
"Ezra!" She smiled as they both met in a warm embrace and a passionate kiss of happiness and greeting.
Ezra almost swept her off her feet once he had her in his arms, grateful to see her alive and well. "Where have you been? I have been worried sick!" he stated, and then took note of her appearance. "Good God, what happened to you?"
"What didn't?" she gushed and continued to relate the events following her departure from Four Corners in one long, continuous sentence.
Vin appeared in the saloon at that point and was quickly surrounded by his friends, except for Chris who stayed where he was at the bar because the tracker would join him there soon enough. He watched the younger man fielding questions about where he and Alex had been the past few days, while Buck slapped him on his back and told him it was good to see him. Vin smiled faintly, but no more than that, and Chris saw something in his eye that was recognizable only to the gunslinger. JD began relating in slurred drunken speech what had been going on the past few days during his absence as Vin made his way through the room, pausing long enough for Ezra to thank him for looking after Alex.
Vin and Alex regarded each other for the briefest hint of a second before she returned her gaze to Ezra whose arms were still around her while Vin continued towards the bar, hiding any trace of emotion that might indicate how much that galled him. Buck was blathering in Vin's ears about how they had captured and killed the outlaws and about the woman who was an eyewitness. Chris saw him approach and guessed that those were the furthest things from the younger man's mind.
Vin reached the bar and appeared almost relieved when he caught sight of Chris.
"I knew he'd come riding up out of nowhere!" Buck grinned as he called out to Inez to bring his returning comrade a drink.
Inez immediately appeared with a shot glass of whisky and stared at Vin with concern. "You're absolutely soaked" she declared, seeing the water dripping off his clothes and the buckskin jacket he wore.
"It's raining pretty fierce out there" Vin said quietly, offering a polite nod of thanks as he took the shot glass and downed it one gulp.
"I'll make a bed up for you upstairs," she said expecting no argument from him on this matter. "I'll order you a bath if you like?"
"No," Vin shook his head. "Just a bed will do, and maybe something warm to eat?" he asked hopefully, realizing it was late and the kitchen was normally closed at this hour.
"It will be my pleasure," Inez smiled at him warmly, pleased that he was back safe and sound.
"I suppose I better be getting JD to bed too." Buck sighed seeing the youngster staggering about uncertainly. Nathan was trying to steer him towards a chair without much success. Josiah had placed himself in a chair and was starting to doze off. "Lord knows the only thing holding him up is his boots." Buck turned to Vin and gave the tracker a warm squeeze on the arm. "Its good to have you back Vin. If things weren't so crazy around here, we would have come after you."
"We were okay." Vin assured the big man knowing the sincerity behind that admission. "We just got caught in the rain and decided to hold up somewhere until it eased off. When it didn't look like it would, we though it best to try and get back into town anyway."
"Can't have been nice," Buck replied. "You must have driven each other crazy." He laughed, knowing how fiery those two could get when they were around each other.
"Something like that." Vin said shortly and quickly searched for the bottle Inez had left behind.
Chris did not say anything until Buck had gone to help Nathan with JD, who was starting to protest that he was not a kid any more and could handle his liquor, an argument that did not at all sound convincing from the floor.
"How you doing pard?" Chris spoke for the first time.
"I've been better" Vin answered, downing his second drink. He hoped by the time Inez had a bed ready for him, it would be a third or fourth.
"Is everything all right?" Chris asked, his gaze shifted long enough in the direction of Alex, who was being escorted out of the saloon by Ezra for Vin to understand what he was asking.
"I don't want to talk about it" Vin said sharply, with enough of an edge to his voice to convey that he meant it.
"Well," Chris nodded, understanding everything in that one response, "it's over now, ain't it?"
Vin met his eyes and replied in that too soft voice of his, trying to hide the depth of his hurt behind his eyes and realizing that Chris Larabee was possibly the only person who could see through the facade of indifference. "Yeah," he said after a moment because Chris would appreciate his feelings to leave it at that. "It's over."
Chris turned to the bar and refilled his glass. "That's good" he replied after a moment and left it at that, because that was how Vin wanted it.
Julia had been unable to sleep and wished Ezra was here with her. The memory of their lovemaking kept her awake, dreaming of a repeat performance sometime soon. She had never believed he could have such power over her in the most carnal way. She had been with numerous men before, but none had aroused her or satisfied her in the way Ezra Standish was capable. She knew she loved him without a doubt, and it was a wonderful feeling to know that it was reciprocated in kind. To have someone like him, who knew everything about her, still want her was something Julia had never expected to find in Four Corners.
She heard voices outside her window and felt compelled to investigate. Chris had seen no reason to have her sequestered away at the Travis place since the bulk of the gang had been killed today and doubted any attempt on her life. Tomorrow, the guards would resume their vigilance, but for tonight she had the privacy she desired. Julia had taken up a room in the hotel again and was pleased with being back in town, although that meant that Ezra could not be a nightly visitor until she found a house of her own. His dedication to her reputation was almost endearing, Julia thought.
Peering out through the window, she saw the rain against the glass as always and wondered if it ever stopped raining in this town. She saw two people walking along the boardwalk and immediately recognized Ezra walking with another woman. Almost immediately, Julia guessed that Alexandra Styles had finally made her return to town. A smile formed on her lips knowing that Ezra was well and truly hers now, but upon closer examination of the good doctor, understood why it had been so difficult for Ezra to make that choice.
My God, she's beautiful!
Julia found herself thinking, and this was quite an effort on the part of Alexandra Styles, considering she looked like she had been put quite literally through hell. If she was like this now, how did she appear normally? Julia had seen women like this before, whose beauty was such that it literally took the breath away, and yet she could not understand the logic behind not using that tremendous power. They chose to hide it away beneath a veneer of respectability and convention, or in Miss Styles' case, behind a worn doctor's bag.
Suddenly, Julia felt her confidence in Ezra waver. What if he was swayed by the enchantments of Doctor Styles and chose not to abandon her? Julia could not stand seeing him with someone else. She was certain of this now. She had moved heaven and earth to get him, she was not about to lose him now. Her green eyes watched the couple move down the boardwalk, laughing and talking as if they had never been apart and as if Julia Avery, no, Pemberton never existed. It made Julia seethe in rage that Ezra might not make good on his promise to tell Alexandra about her.
Perhaps it was too hard for Ezra, Julia decided, stepping away from the window once they had faded from view. She sat down on her bed contemplating the dark thoughts that were seething inside her jealous mind.
Maybe, she would spare Ezra the pain of telling Alexandra Styles the truth. Yes, she would do that for Ezra because she loved him. She would take the brunt of the doctor's anger because she loved Ezra and she was not allowing anything to get in the way of her being with him. Julia Pemberton had sought her whole life for someone like him.
She was not going to let him go.
For anything.
"What did you find?" Chris Larabee asked the moment he walked into Mary's office the next morning.
With the return of Vin and Alex, he could now focus his attention on finding this elusive fifth man he was certain had masterminded the entire plan, and sacrificed his partners to escape into obscurity. They had only one lead to finding him, through the victims he had left behind. Chris was certain that Mary had been correct when she had came up with the idea that the victims were the key to the whole mystery. Until yesterday Chris had believed that choice of victims happened to be whoever was on the stage at the time of the robbery. However, what it they were wrong? What if specific victims were sought for an unknown purpose?
"Not much" Mary confessed, having only collected the wired information a short time earlier. Frank had not been very impressed with her when she had pounded on his doors late yesterday evening. However, when she explained to him the urgency of the situation, the telegraph operator had been more than accommodating. Telegrams were sent to Bitter Creek, Sweet Water and Eagle Bend respectively. She had not expected all the answers to be presented first thing this morning and was surprised by the amount that had returned so rapidly.
"Most the passengers were from around these parts. Mostly farmers, horse breeders that sort of thing." She presented Chris with the list she had compiled and the gunslinger studied the names and the notations under them. He tended to agree that there was nothing about them that raised suspicion.
"Of course," Mary added, "we haven't got the responses from back east yet. Those will take a few more hours, if not towards the end of the day."
"I suppose" Chris frowned, not liking the wait but realizing that it was necessary.
"Are you going to find Alex and Vin today?" she inquired, moving off the subject a moment because the new obstacles only bothered him and made him moody.
Chris realized that no one had told her that Vin and Alex had returned, and supposed no one would, considering the rest of the seven were at this moment, recovering from last night's debauchery. "They came back last night."
"Oh!" Mary exclaimed in surprise since the news had yet to reach her. It was still quite early in the morning, even for Chris, but she knew he was often like this when he had a mystery to solve. Chris hated mysteries. In fact he hated anything over which he had no direct control. "How are they? Where have they been?" she asked in quick succession.
"Apparently, they tried to sit out the rain." Chris explained it as Vin had told him. "They waited as long as they could and decided to come back anyway when it looked like the rain wasn't stopping. Alex got caught in a landslide and her horse got hurt. Vin had to put it down."
"Not Calliope!" Mary said in dismay, knowing how attached Alex was to the horse. After a moment, she threw Chris a furtive glance and asked gingerly. "Anything else happened out there?"
Chris looked at her and guessed her meaning immediately. "Now Mrs. Travis," he said with a hint of reproach in his voice. "Whatever do you mean?" he teased.
Mary huffed in sarcasm and retorted automatically. "You know perfectly what I mean since you're the one who put the thought into my head. Now talk." she prompted, easing back into her chair.
Chris laughed shortly, remembering why he loved this woman so much and wishing Vin could have the same kind of happiness. "Something happened up there but Vin won't say what."
"You don't think...." Mary looked at him in suggestion.
"No," Chris shook his head. Vin did not give Chris the impression that he had come away from his journey with Alexandra Styles with anything remotely resembling a fond memory. "He's even quieter than usual and doesn't want to talk about it."
Mary could understand that. Vin Tanner was an extremely private person. Even more so than Chris she sometimes believed. It was near impossible to breach the walls of his personality and an even larger mystery as to why they were in place at all. Vin was not marked by tragedy as Chris had been and as far as she knew, he had spent a great deal of his life alone. She would have thought the idea of human contact would be appealing to him after such a lengthy period of isolation.
"Maybe he'll come around later" Mary sighed, deciding to return to the work ahead. "Since you've got nothing better to do, you can help me cross reference some of these names in the list with Steven's files. There might be something useful in there that could help us."
Chris sighed and picked up the list, not relishing the idea of paper work but could think of no excuses to avoid it, at least none Mary would find believable. "You're a tough woman," he grumbled. "Making me work like this."
"Well, you're a tough guy," she smiled as she stood up and went to the filing cabinet. Rummaging through the stored folders, she pulled out a thick stack and handed it to Chris. "You'll handle it."
Chris frowned as he eyed the collection distastefully before deciding that he was going to have to. "I had to find me a working woman" he grumbled.
Alex woke up the next morning and relished the joy of being in her own bed once again. She had returned home the night before and slipped into a warm bath, allowing the last two days to wash off her skin like a bad dream. Outside, the rain had finally stopped and the blazing sun through her window indicated what a lovely day it was going to be. This was one of those days, she realized as she climbed out of the sheets to prepare for the day, when one was truly grateful to be alive.
The situation with Vin seemed far away and resolved. She had been right about seeing Ezra again. Once she was with him, the incident in the cabin seemed like it had never happened and certainly, Alex would never think of it again. She just hoped Vin was able to understand the way things were. Getting dressed, she made a mental checklist of the things she needed to do and reminded herself to drop in on Mary Travis to catch up on all the news. Judging by what Ezra had told her briefly last night, Four Corners had quite an interesting few days.
She glanced at the clock on the dresser and noticed it was almost noon. It was not her habit to sleep in so late but Ezra had guessed she would and had invited her to lunch when she was finally on her feet. It felt good to brush her hair and put on some fresh clothes after having been wearing nothing by soiled and wet garments for the past two days. However, she did feel a slight prickling in her throat and was alarmed by what that meant. She supposed it was not unreasonable to assume that she would come down with a cold, considering she had endured the elements for almost two days.
Nevertheless, the sickness had not caught up with her yet and before it did, she was determined at the very least to have a good lunch. Very soon, she was dressed, having slipped into a plain violet colored cotton dress with a scoop neck which she accentuated with a shawl and slippers, before making her way to the front door to leave. As she was about to open the door, Alex caught sight of a folded piece of paper that had been slipped through the crack beneath it. Intrigued, she reached for it and unfolded the crisp white sheet, which soon revealed itself to be the complimentary stationary of the Four Corner's Hotel.
We must speak.
Julia Pemberton
Julia Pemberton. The name sounded familiar and Alex tried to place it as she folded it up again and slipped the note into the pocket of her dress. She was down the steps and into the street, when Alex remembered that she had heard the name from Ezra the night before. It was the eyewitness they had been protecting, she realized. Ezra had informed her of how the seven had been charged to guard her since at the time, she had been their only clue to finding the murderers who had lay siege to stagecoach trail. Alex questioned why Miss Pemberton would request such a clandestine meeting, but guessed that there was only one real way to find out.
It was not quite noon yet and she had some time before she had to meet Ezra at the saloon. Alex hated arriving there in the middle of a game because it meant that she would have to wait until he was done and she disliked loitering about in a saloon. It was one thing to go there when people required doctoring, but like Mary Travis, she did not make it a habit to frequent the establishment more than necessary.
She walked through the street, waving greetings at everyone who tipped their hat in her direction and offered salutations. The bulk of Four Corners' residents were out in force today, now that the sun had finally made an appearance after almost three days of unyielding showers and storms. The ground was still muddy so most people kept to the boardwalk, staying well out of reach of the horses and wagons that could splatter the mud in all directions.
Alex loved this town and could honestly say it was her home now. It had taken so long to find a place for herself in this world, and while Four Corners was not exactly Paris or London, it was good enough for her. It did not take long for her to reach the hotel, and a even shorter time to be shown by one of the polite hotel attendants to Julia Pemberton's room. Alex was still puzzled by why Julia would wish to see her and deduced that she probably needed something to calm her nerves.
Poor thing, Alex thought. It was bad enough to be the sole survivor of a murder spree but to the only witness, with her life threatened as well? Alex felt a wave of sympathy for her. She arrived in the hallway and saw Chris Larabee stretched out on a chair, near the woman's door. The gunslinger was reading a book but noticed her the moment she appeared.
"Hello Alex" he greeted pleasantly in that silky voice of his, wondering why Alex was here.
"Is she still under protection?" Alex asked puzzled. "I thought you'd caught the outlaws."
Chris nodded. "We did but the one she identified is still missing."
"How awful" Alex claimed. "Do we even know who this person is?"
"Getting there" he said with a slight nod. Most of the information on the stage passengers had shown nothing out of the ordinary, and until they heard about the Henderson's who were from the East, Chris knew that the fifth man could still be in the area. He had taken pity on his comrades who were massively hung over this morning and decided he would guard the fair Miss Pemberton while they were recovering. "Why are you here?"
"She asked to see me" Alex gestured towards the door.
"Something wrong with her?" Chris asked in concern. He had only seen her when he had first arrived and the young lady's appearance did not indicate that there was anything wrong with her that would require a doctor's presence.
"Not that I know of" Alex replied, knocking on the top gently. "She just wanted to see me."
That bothered Chris for some reason but he did not know why. Suddenly that little voice that usually precipitated trouble made itself heard inside his mind. Unfortunately, Chris was in no position to suspect what form it might take and said nothing when Julia opened the door and introductions were made before both women disappeared into the room.
"You wanted to see me?" Alex asked as Julia showed her into the parlor area of the hotel room.
Since it was apparent that Julia was going to be staying in the hotel for awhile, until her Emporium was restored and she could live in its premises upstairs, she had indulged herself by taking up residence in the only suite in the hotel. It was not lavish by city standards but it had a small parlor for entertaining and a separate bedroom.
"Please join me for tea" Julia smiled politely, examining Alex closely. It was as Julia had suspected it the night before. In the light of day, Alexandra Styles was even more beautiful than ever and could give her serious competition for Ezra's affections unless Julia acted now.
Both women sat down before a table laden with the accoutrements for what Alex remembered in England as being Devonshire tea. That is tea with scones and jam. Of course most Americans had no idea what that term meant since most of them still thought of her reference to tea as an evening meal somewhat odd, as they preferred to call it dinner.
"There is no delicate way to put this" Julia began once she had poured them both a cup of tea and the pleasantries had dwindled to a point where there was no longer any way to delay the reason for this meeting.
"I am a doctor, everything you say will be purely confidential" Alex replied, trying to put the young woman at ease. After all, she knew how difficult it was for some patients to be honest about what was ailing them.
"All right," Julia answered, deciding that this was going to be easier than she thought. The woman really had no idea, did she? "It's about Ezra."
Alex blinked. "I beg your pardon?"
"Ezra Standish is in love with me." Julia saw no need to pad the truth in any flowery language that could lessen the impact of what she was going to say. No matter how it was related to the doctor, it was never going to be taken well.
Alex stared at her for a moment in complete disbelief. After a moment, she recovered enough to respond. "I don't know what gave you that idea but you are mistaken. Ezra and I have been together for some time now. He doesn't love you."
"He told me he loved me." Julia met her eyes with a hint of a smile. "Did he ever tell you?"
This was too unreal. Alex could not believe what was coming out of this woman's mouth. "That's none of your damn business." Alex snapped, trying hard to hide that Julia Pemberton's words had shaken her to the core. Ezra had stood at her door last night after escorting her home and told her how worried he was about her. Her mind swirled with other images of her and Ezra along with everything they had shared these past months since she had arrived at Four Corners. Just what did this twisted little witch think she was playing at?
"I'm guessing no" Julia continued her verbal barrage, satisfied because she could taste blood in the water. The doctor was still crying denial, which Julia had expected, so it would take a little more convincing before she was ready to believe it. "Of course he told me that he had not said those three little magic words to you."
"You don't know anything about us. Ezra will laugh when he hears about this!" Alex hissed, rising to her feet and storming across the floor. She had not even crossed the rug before Julia spoke again.
"I've slept with him. I know you haven't." Julia announced and saw Alex freeze in her tracks.
Slowly, the doctor turned on her heels with her eyes blazing. "Is that how you see it?" She asked taking a step forward, slow and deliberate. "Is that how you envision your rejection in that vicious little mind of yours? It's not such a terrible thing if a man doesn't want what's offered on a platter."
"Is that how you envision Ezra behaved?" Julia returned with a sadistic smile of pleasure. "I assure you, it's not. I made love to him when they left him alone with me when they went to catch those outlaws. I was alone with him at the Travis place, just Ezra and I. He needed me too. Apparently, he had been without the affections of a woman since he met you."
"You're lying" Alex whispered, nearing the edge of her tight emotional control. She was trying not to believe a word this woman was saying, but the fact was Ezra had told her that he had been guarding Julia Pemberton at the property once owned by Mary Travis. In fact, Julia had no reason to lie when it was just as easy for Alex to ask Chris if her claim was true, that she had been alone with Ezra.
"He's a beautiful lover." The red haired siren sneered as she closed in, until she was only inches away from Alex's face because she wanted to see the look in the doctor's eyes when she told her how magnificent that union had been. It empowered Julia like nothing else could. "You're a fool for staying away from him for so long. I've had a great many men in my time and he was easily the best. You should see the darling way his eyes become dark green when he's just about to....."
Alex slapped her before the words could leave her mouth.
Like the hellcat she was, Julia's reaction to the attack was swift. She lunged at Alex like a coiled snake, while the doctor was still mired in the astonishment that she had been angry enough to strike someone. Her nails sank into Alex's shoulder and dug in deeply. Alex let out a small cry of pain and recovered by slamming her elbow into Julia's chest to push her away. The smaller woman took a step back and crashed into the table, sending the teapot and cups clattering to the floor noisily. Alex turned away, unwilling to humiliate herself in a further show of violence when suddenly, she felt Julia's nails in her loose hair.
Twisting around painfully, Alex tried to wrestle Julia's hands free of her dark hair and in doing succeeded in making them both lose their footing before falling to the floor with a loud thud.
"Let go of me!" Alex shouted at she wrapped her hands around Julia's throat to make her release her grip of Alex's shiny dark hair. Alex did not want to fight like this! It was beneath her. Julia let go long enough to sink those nails into Alex's arm and raked hard enough to make her bleed under the cotton of her dress.
At this point, the commotion was loud enough to cause Chris Larabee to come smashing through the door. He took two steps into the room and then felt genuine astonishment as he saw Alex and Julia rolling around the floor like a pair of brawling children. His arrival provided enough of a distraction for Julia to release her grip on Alex. Feeling her arm sting in pain, Alex threw her fist forward and connected with the smooth line of her jaw.
"What the hell is going on here!" was the only coherent thing Chris could ask in the face of all this.
Alex scrambled away and glanced briefly at the blood oozing through her dress as Chris stepped between them as Julia was now on her feet. The Easterner ran straight for Alex when Chris barred her from continuing any further and said very firmly. "That's enough."
Alex felt hot tears running down her cheeks, as her mind was too wrapped around the possibility that Ezra might have actually slept with this...this thing! "I'm sorry Chris." Alex mumbled dazed, trying to keep her voice from shaking but could hear herself that she had failed. She was mortified by this disgusting display and was completely ashamed of herself. Without saying another word, she fled the room. Too embarrassed to face him or anyone else for that matter.
Chris watched her leave, seeing the anguish in those brown eyes and deciding that he was not going to just let her go. In all the time he had known Alexandra Styles, he had never seen her so distraught. She was not a woman who went into hysterics, he had seen her work flesh so ruined that it would make most men retch while she barely flinched. Chris turned sharply towards Julia and his tone of voice told her in no uncertain terms what would happen if she disobeyed him. "Stay here." He ordered and hurried after Alex.
Alex was hardly aware of the curious looks she was receiving as she stormed down the street, making a beeline for the saloon where she was due to meet Ezra for lunch. Lunch! She snorted in derision, he's already had dessert! There was blood exuding from scratches in her throat and the crimson stain on the shoulder of her dress had progressed beyond the four lines of red into one big mess. However, the pain hardly registered. The only thing in her mind was the notion that Ezra could have stood in front of her yesterday and told her in a bald face lie that he had missed her when he had slept with that witch!
All these years, she had always tried to be calm, to be measured in all things. Emotions only got in the way of her work and her studies, so she had learnt to keep ruthless control on them. As a woman, she knew how easy it was to let her passions run away with her and Alex had sworn she would never let that happen to her. To be a doctor in a man's world, that was the price of competing. The only time she had ever thrown caution to the winds was the first time she looked in Ezra Standish's eyes and known that she might be in love with him. Even then, years of habit told her it was a bad idea. He was a gambler and a con man by nature, used to deception as tricks of the trade. She had given him the benefit of the doubt because she saw more than what everyone else did.
"Alex!" Chris caught up with her. "What's happened?"
"Did you know?" she whirled around and demanded. "Did you know about them!"
"Know what?" Chris asked helplessly, wishing he had some idea what the hell could cause such a fiery confrontation between two women who had never met before.
"About Ezra and her!" she fairly screamed.
Oh hell. Chris Larabee suddenly understood and wondered how he could not have guessed earlier. What else could make any two people of the same sex go completely insane? "I don't think there's anything to know" he said placing his hands on her shoulders so she would stop and catch her breath. She had clearly worked herself into a state, and he decided for a woman who was usually so calm under pressure, when she finally went it could not be anything less than explosive. He noticed that her shoulder was bleeding profusely and tried to think of something that would calm her down while at the same time defend Ezra as best he could. "They were never alone together....."
Oh hell. Chris remembered that he was the one who told JD not to relieve Ezra yesterday while he was guarding Julia at Mary's place. They had been alone together for almost the entire afternoon and suddenly, the little exchange Chris had noticed between them in the undertakers office surfaced inside his mind.
He winced slightly but it was enough for Alex to catch the look and shove his hand away from her. "That bastard!" she swore and continued on her way towards the saloon.
Chris wondered if this was the time to take that vacation he had always wanted.
Ezra glanced at his pocket watch and noticed that Alexandra was late. Perhaps he ought to forget about this whole idea for lunch, since she probably wanted to sleep in after her ordeal in the wilderness. The saloon was busy with the afternoon crowds who were here for Inez' culinary delights, as well as the seven except for Chris Larabee. Although he was suffering the same hangover, Ezra was determined to look his dapper best unlike his comrades who were sprawled out on their chairs, with hats covering their faces or heads resting on the table. Buck was so wasted that he had not even noticed Inez who was moving through the room, dispensing meals to paying customers. JD actually looked green while Josiah hid underneath his hat and said nothing. Only Nathan and Vin were in any condition to give Ezra a decent game of cards.
"Ezra!" he heard a voice scream and to his disbelief looked up and saw that it had come from Alexandra.
At least he though it was Alex, it was hard to tell because she was very disheveled, bleeding and wearing a storm cloud on her face that would make what the town had endured the past three days seem mild in comparison.
She was loud enough to wake everyone as she walked into the saloon. Even Inez was staring at her in shock.
"Alex, what is it?" Inez came towards her in concern.
"Later, Inez" Alex replied through her teeth and walked past the bartender, her eyes focussed firmly on Ezra. She was neither interested in talking to anyone else or explaining herself for that matter.
"Alexandra what has happened?" Ezra asked, his eyes shifting to the stain of blood he was seeing on her shoulder.
"Don't 'Alexandra' me" Alex snapped, telling everyone at the table that she was not at all happy. Vin was staring at her with his dark blue eyes but he was barely registering in her mind. Right, now there was only one thing she wanted. "Did you sleep with her?"
Oh damn, damn, damn!
Ezra swore inwardly, wondering how on earth she had found out about Julia and knowing that it was not really important at this moment. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Chris Larabee enter the saloon almost expecting to see the scene that greeted him. Buck was staring at him with a widening grin while JD seemed merely confused. Josiah and Nathan were glaring at him with accusation and disapproval respectively, while Vin's expression was completely unreadable as always.
"I can explain..." he started to say.
"That means yes" she concluded, her voice almost a strangled whisper.
"It was not my intention to hurt you," Ezra tried to explain but knew it sounded feeble. The pain he saw in her eyes was beyond description but not as searing as the betrayal and all the other emotions that came with a discovery like this.
"Was this before or after you had sex with her?" she roared and spun around to leave. A small titter of laughter came from the men at the bar who were not a part of the seven. Under normal circumstances, Ezra would have reason to take offence but at the present time, he had bigger troubles to contend with.
"Alexandra, it was not like that at all!" Ezra kicked his chair away as he hurried to catch her. He had to explain, at least make her understand that it had nothing to do with her.
"What was it like?" she paused long enough to demand, uncaring how public this discussion became. The entire town knew that he had been openly courting her the last months. There was not going to be any hiding the truth if even half of what that red haired witch said was true. That he loved her. Just thinking about it made Alex sick to the stomach. "Tell me!" she demanded, taking a step towards him in black fury. "You couldn't just get off with some working girl! You had to find yourself the first available snake that crawled into town, weeping helplessly!" she turned to leave before deciding to add something further. "If you had gone with a working girl I could almost understand it. I wouldn't like it but I would deal with it, but you went with that creature who absolutely enjoyed telling me that you now love her and had how God-like you were in bed at the Travis place!"
Ezra was beyond horrified. He saw the tears streaming down her face and could find nothing to say in his defense because he had behaved abominably, nothing could ever change that. He wanted so say something but explanations and everything else died in his throat as she waited for him to speak.
When he did not, she merely nodded in understanding. "We are done Ezra Standish. Don't ever came near me again."
Ezra watched her disappear out of the room, feeling as if she had taken all the air with her. His dismay and shock was a tightening knot in his chest and he watched her go feeling like something that should have been scraped off her boot. No one said a word in the wake of her departure and Ezra looked around the room nervously, unable to ignore the accusing eyes staring at him.
"If you will excuse me gentlemen," he said to his friends, his voice sounded dazed and distracted. "I need to take my leave of you." He strode towards the door where Chris Larabee was standing when the gunslinger grabbed him by the arm and kept him still.
"Leave her be" Chris warned quietly.
"I have to explain to her..." Ezra started to stammer like a child that had been well and truly caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "I cannot just leave it like this."
"You can and you will" Chris said firmly. "I'm not judging you Ezra, but she's in no mind to listen to anything you have to say. Leave it be until she calms down."
Alex was his friend, and in the short time she had been in Four Corners had impressed the gunslinger with her cool head and her caring nature to heal no matter what the consequences to herself. He remembered that terrible period after Mary's miscarriage where Alex had remained close by, taking turns with Inez to ensure the woman he loved was never left alone when he could not be present.
"But.." Ezra wanted to protest. He had never meant to humiliate her this way or hurt her so publicly. He still could not believe what Julia had done and scolded himself because he should not have been surprised. Suddenly, the sadness he felt in the wake of Alex's sorrow was quickly fueled into rage at Julia's actions.
"Ezra, I'm your friend and I'm telling you, leave her alone. You'll do more harm than good by trying to see her now."
If anything could deter him from what he intended, it was the possibility that he might hurt Alexandra any more than he already had. Ezra nodded slowly and felt somewhat touched that Chris had been so sincere in his advice. "Thank you Mr. Larabee." Ezra said quietly. "If you release your grip on my person, I give my word that I will not approach Alexandra."
Chris believed him and did so immediately. Ezra took his arm back and straightened his jacket before walking through the doors. Chris watched him go and noticed that the gambler was not heading in the direction of the doctor's clinic but instead was making fast tracks towards the hotel. The gunslinger let out sigh, feeling sorry for the betrayal he had seen in Alex's eyes and made a mental note to have either Inez or Mary call on her.
The gunslinger ambled into the saloon, ignoring the rumble of gossip following Ezra's departure. No doubt, the word would soon be across town like wildfire, although Alex had been good enough not to mention Julia by name so there would be some doubt cast over the identity of Ezra's paramour for a while at least. Chris took the seat previously occupied by the gambler and saw the astonishment had yet to fade from the faces of his friends.
"I can't believe Ezra cheated on Miss Alex!" Nathan was the first to break the silence. "I mean, ain't she pretty enough? How much better is he aiming for?"
"Have you seen Miss Pemberton?" Buck exclaimed in surprise at the healer. "That's a very sexy woman."
"Oh yes," Josiah drawled from where he was sitting. "What a truly exquisite piece of work that announced her infidelities." The preacher said sarcastically. "So few women these days possess such class."
"I cannot believe that Ezra!" Inez grumbled as she stormed past. "Just when you think he could not sink any lower!" She disappeared into the kitchen with her tray and her apron and exited a moment later, wearing neither. No one had to ask where she was going and Chris was glad that Inez had saved him the trouble of asking.
"I'd hate to be in Ezra's shoes," Buck whistled as he saw the woman he cared for walking out of the room. In her absence, they would all keep an eye on the bar, ensuring no one took advantage of both proprietors being indisposed. "Then again, I never though he had it in him to be such a heartbreaker either."
Chris did not listen to the banter of his friends as they discussed the situation that Ezra Standish was now in. Instead, his attention was focused on the one person who had said nothing during this entire episode.
Vin Tanner knew Chris was expecting him to make some comment but honestly, nothing came to mind. The scene he had witnessed earlier between Alex and Ezra was as much a shock to him as everyone else in the room. He could doubly understand her outrage at discovering Ezra had bedded Julia Pemberton when she had found herself in the same position with him and manage to restrain herself. The irony of it was not lost on Vin. However, he had no wish to prey on her wounded heart at this moment. He knew Alex well enough to guess that there would be no way that Ezra could explain his way back into her affection after such a betrayal. Vin had heard the tone of her voice when she told Ezra they were done.
He had no doubt she meant it.
He felt sorry for Alex, and it was taking all his control to not rush to her side and offer his comfort. However, she would heal on her own because she was resilient and strong and when she was done healing, perhaps, Vin might pay a call on her then.
But not before.
Mary Travis had no idea of the drama unfolding around her when she arrived at the saloon shortly after the explosive confrontation between Alex Styles and Ezra Standish. When she walked through the doors, she noticed the lingering effects of everyone's astonishment at the spectacular quarrel that had taken place in her absence. Chris was at his customary position, holding court over the men who were the law in Four Corners. It was not her custom to enter the saloon unless she had to and the men who were present knew she only did so when the need was warranted.
"Chris," she said as she approached "I've got the wire from Eagle Bend." She gestured to the piece of paper that was clutched in her hand.
Chris did not say a word as he took the paper from her and read its contents carefully. In the meantime, Mary noticed that the group was unusually quiet, even for men with hangovers. Her journalistic instinct immediately picked up something was amiss.
"What's wrong?" she looked from face to face, not particular about where the answer came from.
Chris shrugged and Vin remained silent as ever. JD looked to the others to answer the widow, while Josiah and Nathan exchanged glances that spoke volumes. It was at this point that Mary noticed that Inez was not present, which was odd because this was the saloon's lunch hour and Inez was normally run off her feet at this time.
Finally, it was Nathan who answered. "Miss Alex and Ezra had a quarrel."
"Really?" Mary asked curiously. "What about?"
Nathan looked uncomfortable and did not wish to talk about any woman's indiscretion to another, but he supposed that eventually Mary would learn about the whole sordid tale. He met Chris' gaze, as if seeking permission to impart such scandalous information to her. The gunslinger had not looked up from the paper in his hand and hardly noticed that Nathan was staring at him. Mary caught all the silent signals and soon became impatient with the stalling. "It couldn't be that bad" she exclaimed.
"Oh yes it could" Buck found himself muttering under his breath.
"Apparently, Ezra has been getting very friendly with Miss Pemberton," Nathan finally answered, trying to think of a delicate way to put this.
"How friendly?" she asked, her voice suddenly laced with suspicion when she realized what he was getting at.
"They know each other in the biblical way." Buck replied, tired of seeing Nathan struggle to explain it.
Mary's eyes widened. "You're joking!"
"Nope" Buck shook his head. "Alex was in here awhile ago tearing strips off Ezra cause Miss Pemberton told her to her face." Buck neglected to add that the said coupling had taken place in the house Mary had once shared with her husband. Although Mary had lent her home to be used as a safe house to protect the safety of Julia Pemberton, it had been assumed that safety was meant to extend to her virtue as well.
"Poor Alex!" Mary said horrified, understanding where Inez was at this moment. If it was not for the information she had discovered about the murdered Henderson couple, she would be on her way to finding the doctor as well.
"Yeah." Buck nodded sadly. "She was pretty upset. Ran out of here in an awful state."
Mary turned to Chris, clearly disturbed by what she had heard, but knowing that particular situation could wait. Right now, they still had a murderer to catch. "As soon as I heard about the son, I got the Sheriff in Eagle Bend to wire the college where he is meant to be." Mary responded, brushing aside Alex's dilemma for the time being.
"What's going on?" Josiah asked, wondering what had engrossed their leader to such an extent.
"I think I know who set us up" Chris volunteered finally. The others knew they had been tricked after his return from Purgatory with news of Elisa's duplicity. Buck had been none to happy to learn that he had been a cog in someone else plan and that he had been deceived so easily by a working girl.
"Who?" Nathan sat up in his chair.
"Apparently, Mr. and Mrs. Henderson, two of the victims who were killed on the stage when we found Miss Pemberton, had a son."
"A son?" Buck did not get the connection.
"I wired a friend of mine who owns a paper in Chicago," Mary took up the narration. "Apparently, the Henderson's had a son with massive gambling debts. He had been raking up some serious markers, and it was rumored that the amounts were so large that Mr. Henderson refused to settle the debts."
"You mean this kid might have planned this murder to get rid of his gambling debts?" Buck exclaimed, horrified that anyone could commit such crimes against his own kin.
"It was never about gambling debts" Chris said coolly. "It's about an inheritance of almost a million dollars."
"A million dollars!" Buck almost fell out of his chair while JD stirred for the first time with something other than a feeble smile.
"That's worth killing for" Josiah nodded in understanding. "Quite ingenious actually."
"Exactly," Chris continued. "He comes out west, knowing his parents plan on taking a trip out this way. He organizes men stupid enough to buy into his story that he'll share the loot with them, assuming he ever told them about it at all and didn't just convince them that the stage robberies would be worth the money."
"They killed all the people in the first two stages, so that by the time they got to the third one, the one the Hendersons were actually on, no one would consider that this was about an inheritance. They would think it was just another random killing." Josiah spoke out loud, following the train of Chris Larabee's thoughts.
"And Junior walks away with a million dollars." Nathan finished off.
"So what now?" Buck inquired. "Is he still here?"
"That I don't know." Chris frowned. "If he were smart, I'd say no, but he'd still have to come back here for the inquest and that may be a problem since Julia can still identify him. He has to get rid of her first."
"Well Ezra is with her at the moment," Vin remarked for the first time. "Maybe one of us ought to get over there" he suggested. "Ezra ain't the best person to be guarding her life right now."
"I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that particular conversation" Josiah said with a hint of a smile.
"They deserve each other." Mary huffed in annoyance, unable to believe that Ezra was capable of such behavior, particularly to someone like Alex.
Vin rose to his feet and looked at the gunslinger. "Maybe I ought to go over there and see if they're okay. Ezra ain't gonna be in the best mind to be guarding her if this guy is still around."
"Good idea" Chris nodded in agreement, knowing Vin just wanted to get out of here because he needed something to do.
The ramifications of what had taken place had far reaching consequences, not merely in Ezra's relationship with Alex, but it had the potential to change things significantly between Alex and Vin. Vin had made up his mind the night before that she was beyond his reach. As hard as it was to make that admission, Vin knew he could adhere to that decision. How was he to know that Ezra would choose someone else? Vin thought him mad at the very least. If Alex was his, Vin could hardly imagine thinking about another woman, let alone cheating on her.
And now the possibility existed Alex could be his.
All he had to do was give her time.
Ezra Standish was angry.
He seldom felt the need to waste the energy on anger but today, he was happy to expend time and effort to the whole venture. As he strode towards the hotel where Julia Pemberton was currently in residence, Ezra had never felt more ashamed of himself in his life. The very public exchange between Alexandra and himself hardly bothered Ezra. After all, what had she said that was not inherently true? He had behaved in less than gentlemanlike fashion when he had taken up with Julia. Of course, he had every intention of making Alex aware of the situation with a modicum of sensitivity and grace, not in the vile manner in which Julia must have imparted the news. The look of betrayal in her eyes was something he would not soon forget, and as he hurried through the front lobby and up steps towards the rooms upstairs, he wondered if it was at all possible to repair the damage.
He knew there was no possibility of rekindling anything between them, not after this. However, they would have to live in the same town and he wanted them to remain friends on some level. Ezra had intended on waiting a few days before telling Alex that he wished to dissolve their romantic relationship. He would have started seeing Julia a short time after that and no one would have been hurt or disgraced as they had been today.
"Was that really necessary!" Ezra demanded as he burst into the room and found her fixing her hair before the dresser mirror. Except for a stain on the parlor rug, there was no sign of the altercation earlier.
Julia turned to face him, a dark bruise forming under her jaw line. She curled her lips into a pout and came towards him. "Now, I only did it for you" she said sweetly.
"For me?" Ezra almost shouted at her as he slammed the door behind him. There was no need for Four Corners to know any more about his relationships then they already did. No doubt, it would be spread across town in lurid detail in the coming days. "Explain to me madam," he said grabbing her arm and forcing to the chair. "How you could even imagine that I would be impressed by what you did today?"
"I did it for you" she snatched her arm away and glared at him. "I wanted to spare you the pain of telling her."
"I care about her, damn you!" Ezra growled, never feeling so infuriated in his entire life. "I may not love her, but I do care about her and what you did was inexcusable whatever the motivation!."
"Would you have even told her?" Julia demanded. "Would you have prolonged the situation by coming up with some quaint explanation to salve her ego?" she honestly did think she had acted appropriately.
"Of course I would have told her" he said, astonished that she could even think such a thing. "What do you take me for? You?"
Julia recoiled at the insult but understood that he was angry and probably did not mean much of what he was saying. Despite his seedy past, Ezra Standish had a strong streak of righteousness through him, which she loved and admired. It was just sometimes necessary to circumvent it for her purposes. "You're a good, kind man, Ezra, and I love you. But the fact of the matter is, you would have hurt her more by not telling her the truth and I don't think you had any intention of doing so."
"Whether I did or not is none of your damn business!" he roared. "You hurt and humiliated her in public!"
"I'm not the one who made it public!" she cried in defense. "She did when she hit me!"
"If you were not a woman, I would hit you too!" Ezra snapped and decided that this was pointless, she did not think anything she had done was wrong and God help him, he had chosen to throw his lot in with her. Ezra knew he had no one to blame but himself. He turned on his heels and started walking out of the room, unable to bear being in the same space as her at this moment.
"Ezra where are you going?" Julia cried out seeing that he was leaving. He was very angry with her now, but it would not last, she just knew it would not. It was best to leave him be to calm down. Later on, she would try to make amend for this unpleasantness.
"Far away" he said sharply as he strode towards the door, with every intention of never laying eyes on her again. Julia watched him go, feeling some semblance of apprehension as he slammed the door behind him. The sound made her jump and for a brief moment, she entertained the notion that he might be true to his word and not come back. The idea of losing him terrified her, but she knew she had done the right thing to secure his affections. He would have just wasted time trying to make it easy for himself and Alex Styles and just complicated the matters a great deal more. In this way, she was solving the problem for everyone.
The door swung open after a pause of a few minutes and Julia felt her heart flutter in anticipation of Ezra's return. She knew he would come back!
Except the man who entered the room was almost certainly not Ezra Standish......
Ezra had not made it out of the hotel premises when he saw Vin Tanner approaching in his direction. Ezra let out a slight groan, having no wish to face any of his friends after what had happened in the saloon. Right now, he wanted to hide somewhere and get drunk, not necessarily in that order. As it was, he felt like such a complete jackass, he did not need the rest of the civilized world pointing it out to him.
"Hey Ezra." Vin greeted as he met the gambler on the foot of the steps. Judging by the dark cloud on his face, Vin assumed he had already had his audience with Julia Pemberton.
"Did Mr. Larabee send you to ensure I would not be bothering Alexandra?" Ezra snapped, irritated to the extreme by the situation without having Chris Larabee question his word after it had been given so sincerely.
"Take it easy" Vin said trying to pacify him. He was making no judgements on Ezra, and felt a little guilty because Ezra's current problems had proved decidedly advantageous for him, although he was not about to admit that to the gambler. "Chris didn't send me" he explained. "We think we know who the fifth man is, and he still might be after Miss Pemberton."
Ezra glanced over his shoulder instinctively in the direction of the hotel. Suddenly, he felt guilty about being so cross with her considering what she been enduring the past three days with the constant threat to her life after facing gunmen who would have undoubtedly taken it had the seven not reached her first. "I apologize" Ezra said with genuine regret. Vin was the most private man he knew, and he did not offer judgement or counsel where it was not required. Ezra should have known better than to lash out at the tracker when it was himself that he was furious with. "I shall guard her" he replied, starting up the steps again. "It would appear she is now my responsibility" he said with a faint smile.
"Want some company?" Vin asked, seeing the sincere regret in Ezra's eyes and guessing that his affair with Julia Pemberton was not some sordid tasteless affair. He really did care about the woman.
"I would appreciate that Mr. Tanner" Ezra sighed. "You know I never meant to hurt Alex" he confessed softly. "It just happened."
Vin could appreciate how easily that could be. After all, he was halfway through it before he could admit how he truly felt about Alex. The two men made their way up the staircase towards Julia's room, when Ezra caught sight of her door, slightly ajar. He distinctly remembered slamming the door in his angry departure and wondered why she would leave the door open like that. Suddenly, Ezra's mind was filled with stark fear when he realized that he had left her alone when a killer was on the loose! He reached the room in an instant, unaware that he had been running until he barged into the room panting. The signs of violence were evident, a toppled chair, a length of curtain draped haphazardly against the floor, hanging from the wooden runners by the remaining strands of thread.
"She's still in the building" Ezra said as Vin came up along side him. "We did not see them come through the front door."
Vin nodded. "I'll look downstairs. He may have seen us standing outside!" With that, the tracker hurried out the door. Ezra thought quickly as he roamed through the suite, ensuring that Julia and her assailant were not cleverly hidden in the room as unlikely as it might be. His heart pounded in his chest knowing that the killer had no need to keep her alive for any length of time. Her attacker's main aim would be to kill her and then get away clean without being seen. Wherever he chose to do it, it had to private. He could not risk being identified once again.
What had he been thinking? Ezra though to himself when he had stormed out of here and left her alone. He had been so furious at what she had done that he had hardly concerned himself that the fifth man might still be in town. Although Chris and the others had believed he was far away and would be foolish to come after Julia, he was unaware of the new evidence that had come to light since he had walked out of the saloon.
He stepped out onto the corridor and listened closely. There were the normal sounds of people going about their business in the area, but none that might indicate violence. Somehow, Julia's assailant would not be foolish to attempt slipping out of the place when he and Vin were at the door and Ezra had not left Julia behind that long ago. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him and Ezra's eyes moved upwards to the ceiling over his head. Even as the thought flashed through his mind, he could see the ladder at the end of the corridor that led upwards to the roof of the building.
Ezra ran forward, unbuttoning the flap on his gun holster as he reached the first rung and began climbing up its length rapidly, praying he was not too late. He saw Vin running up the stairs to report his progress when the tracker stopped short as he saw Ezra climbing the ladder. Ezra said nothing, merely pointing to the ceiling, giving clear indication of where he believed Julia and her assailant to be. Vin's gaze met his and they conveyed a silent plan of action to which the tracker nodded his approval before running down the stairs again.
Ezra reached the small door on the roof and pushed it open, the rusted hinges creaking loudly and giving away his arrival as he poked his head through the access way. No sooner was he halfway through than a bullet exploded and Ezra barely managed to avoid being hit in the chest by letting go of the rungs and falling heavily down into the corridor once more. He landed badly, feeling the sick pop of his ankle as he landed. Uttering a small groan, Ezra did not stop to examine the injury and resumed his journey up the ladder again.
This time however, he did not try passing through the opening as he had done before. Instead, he shoved the door forcefully, allowing it to arch neatly before hitting the floor of the roof and staying open. Sunlight peered into his eyes as a series of shots rang out, followed by a slight scream he now knew was Julia. With a sigh, Ezra felt relief flood into him as he heard her, thanking whatever he held faith with that she was still alive. People had started to emerge from their rooms, investigating the noise as Ezra fired blankly into the air, hoping the gunshots would force the unseen shooter to fire once more. He did and Ezra counted the shots as they boomed in his ear.
Four .
Five.
Six.
At the discharge of the sixth shot, Ezra knew he would have to reload, and taking advantage of the pause that inevitably followed, the gambler pulled himself through the access way. Predictably, there were no shots following his appearance on the roof and Ezra scanned the area quickly, searching for Julia and her attacker. Fortunately, there was no place to hide on the roof and in broad daylight, no darkness that could conceal a murder.
He was exactly as Julia had described him. Young. Ezra estimated that he was no older than JD. However, that was as far as the similarities between the two young men went. There was no youthful enthusiasm in this young man's eyes. What Ezra saw in the dark eyes glaring back at him looked more like Chris Larabee on a particularly bad day. The intent in his eyes was as clear as the gun he was holding to Julia's throat, now obviously reloaded She stared back at him with terror, pleading silently with Ezra to save her.
"There's no way off this roof" Ezra spoke calmly as he aimed his gun at the boy's hardened face.
"I think there is" he answered with a confident grin.
"I think you are mistaken, Sir" Ezra stepped closer to them, completely aware of how close they were to the edge of the building. "You have to come through me first and then my friends who are now aware that you are here."
"I think as long as I have this bitch with me I can go anywhere I please" he sneered at Ezra, shoving the gun deeper into Julia's creamy white throat.
"I would not take that gamble" Ezra retorted. "You overestimate her importance to us. Actually, if truth be known you would be doing me a service by putting a bullet into her. She has caused me nothing but grief."
Despite her situation, Julia managed to throw him a filthy look. He hoped she would be alive to make him pay for the comment later.
"Nice try" the boy sneered, "but I heard you two arguing. I know this little tramp means a little more to you than that."
Ezra's eyes never wavered from his face but the gambler was no longer looking at him. Instead, his attention was focused on Vin Tanner who had climbed onto the roof of the next building and was now taking position with his rifle. Somehow, Ezra had to buy Vin more time and allow the sharpshooter to make the shot. At this stage, there was every danger that while Vin might kill the man, he may not be able to do so without Julia being shot as well.
"I confess you have caught me out in a lie" Ezra sighed in mock resignation. "She does mean a great deal to me although she is a handful. If I put down my gun, would you let her go?"
The shooter's grin widened in triumph. "I might" he answered.
Ezra knew a liar when he saw one and no doubt this man was lying. Ezra knew the moment he put down his gun, this boy was going to kill him and have no hesitation in doing so either. However, to shoot Ezra first, he would have to aim the gun in the direction of the gambler, not the helpless woman caught in his unwavering grip.
"You have me at a disadvantage then," Ezra said casually, putting on his best poker face as he slowly lowered the gun to the ground. He saw Julia shaking her head, trying to keep him from making a decision that would get them both killed. Ezra took a deep breath, knowing he had the shooter's undivided attention because the young man was naturally suspicious and assumed he would have some last minute trick to save his life.
"Step away" he told Ezra, motioning the gambler to take a step away from the weapon once Ezra had set it down. Slowly, Ezra complied, seeing Vin aiming carefully from the opposite building, waiting for the most opportune time to fire.
Without warning, the young man shoved Julia roughly over the side of the building. Julia let out a short scream as she toppled over the railing. Ezra felt his heart constrict until he saw her delicate hands grabbing hold of the rail. The shooter swung the gun in Ezra's direction, ready to kill him on the spot. Ezra dropped to his knees and pulled out his derringer hidden neatly within his sleeve. However, before either of them had chance to pull the trigger, Ezra heard the familiar eruption of sound from Vin's rifle. The bullet slammed into the young man's shoulder, causing a froth of blood to burst from his shoulder. Dazed by the surprise attack, Ezra's saw him spin around, following the direction of the bullet. He lifted his arm to fire at Vin's direction but the sharpshooter never gave him the chance to pull the trigger. The next bullet took him squarely in the chest and Ezra saw him spasm in pain before he crumpled in a final gasp of pain.
The moment Vin had fired the second shot, Ezra was already running towards Julia on his wounded foot. His ankle flared in pain as he skidded toward her, her hands desperately clinging to the rail for dear life.
"Help me!" she squealed in terror as she dangled precariously from three floors up. Below her, a crowd was gathering as the scene unfolded. Frightened faces were looking up in fear as a young lady hung on the edge of death. Ezra caught sight of Chris and the others running across the street from the saloon.
"Stop struggling!" he ordered, for her attempts to climb up were making it harder for him to get a firm grip on her.
"Just get me up!" she cried, too hysterical to be polite about anything at this point.
Ezra locked both his hands around her wrist and grabbed firmly. He started to pull her up when suddenly, he paused a moment. His grip on her was sound and although he could not leave her suspended indefinitely, he did have a bone to pick with the fair Miss Pemberton and now seemed a good time as any. "Now that I have you in this position," he said with a wicked smile. "Do you promise never to do anything behind my back again?"
"Are you out of your fucking mind!" she snarled, her emerald eyes widened in disbelief that he would play such tricks on her at a time like this. Julia looked down and felt dizzy at the distance between her and the ground.
"Swearing will only worsen your situation my dear," he replied with a straight face. "Do you?" He asked again smoothly.
"Ezra!" she cried, unable to believe he would stoop to such tactics when she was balanced between life and death on a razor's edge.
"I did not hear that promise" Ezra repeated, adamant that he was going to get his answer.
"Yes! I promise!" she smoldered in fury, sending daggers and everything else at him in that black glare of rage in her eyes. "Now will you pull me up?"
"Certainly my dear," Ezra said with a triumphant smile. "I had every intention of doing so."
"Bastard!" she swore as he pulled her up over the railing with both hands, until she was far enough along to be able to push herself the rest of the way. They collapsed on top of each other as Chris and Josiah climbed through the door.
"Are you all right my dear?" Ezra asked in concern as they both lay on the ground, breathing hard from the effort. He did not think her attacker had harmed her seriously but it never hurt to inquire.
Julia was trembling as she rolled off Ezra and did not answer him for a few seconds as she took note of the dead boy only feet away from her. She was shaken at how close she had come to dying yet again. After a few seconds, when she had suitably composed herself, she looked up at Ezra and struck him full across the jaw, dropping him flat on his back. "You lousy son of a bitch!" she cried with unrestrained outrage. "You could have killed me!" Julia kicked him in the ribs as she vented the full intensity of her until now, hidden temper.
Ezra chuckled, not at all hurt by her blows and sat up after a moment with a smile on his lips. "I would say we are almost even."
Julia stopped short at that and glared at him, realizing that he had her. She swallowed down the rest of her anger and stood up shakily as Chris Larabee and Josiah Sanchez approached. "I truly hate you." She said through narrowed eyes and then tossed a strand of red hair, trying to maintain some dignity in this situation as she swept forward like a pompous dowager.
"No you don't!" Ezra called out as she walked past Chris and Josiah.
"Read my lips" she stared at him imperiously but wore the barest hint of a smile as she drew away. "I hate you."
"I'm sure" Ezra said skeptically, feeling somewhat vindicated after what she had done to Alex.
"You all right?" Chris asked, ignoring the interplay between the duo. Josiah had noticed the body of the dead man and had gone to administer some sort of last rites, even though the chances of the man reaching paradise were extremely slim, by the preacher's reckoning.
"I shall probably be limping around for a day or two but I think I will survive." Ezra answered starting to feel the throb in his foot more acutely now that he was no longer engaged in a life or death situation. His gaze was following Julia who was lowering herself back into the hotel with a haughty look on her face and a secret gleam in her eyes that indicated that despite her words of hostility, things between them were just as she wanted it.
Chris followed his gaze and could not help making comment. "You know something Ezra?"
"What is that Mr. Larabee?" Ezra met the gunslinger's amused gaze.
"I don't know whether I ought to feel sorrier for Alex or you" he retorted at the descending crown of red hair. "But now I think you're the one in worse shape."
"I like the challenge" he grinned.
"Well," Chris had to admit. " You certainly got one."
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