Page 72 of A Whiskey River Princess

When she turned around, he glanced over her. One corner of his mouth curled into a menacing smile. “Now, that’s more like it.” He grabbed her by the arm, pushed her toward the window… and Gabriella didn’t put up a fight. As he lifted her into his arms and passed her out the window to Harley, she hoped Dirk would come to forgive her… someday.

Moonlight shown over the earth, illuminating the snow in a blue hue as they left Dirk and his house behind. Any other time, Gabriella would have thought it beautiful. But now, the landscape was the farthest thing from her mind. Her memories went back to the night before with Dirk, opening the presents before the Christmas tree. It was only a few short hours ago, but it seemed like a lifetime. Now, it was Christmas before the dawn, not quite morning yet. What would Dirk think when he woke and found her gone? Would he come after her, or would he think that she had left in the night, just as his former wife had? She tried to push the thought from her mind.

Gabriella was riding on a horse alone. They had thought about tying her hands, and had debated it loudly, but knew she couldn’t ride a horse alone. Now, she just needed to wait for the opportunity to escape. “Take me back, you brute! When Dirk finds out I’m gone—”

“He’ll think you ran off,” Harley reasoned.

“Not hardly. He’ll know you kidnapped me again.”

“Listen, you little bitch! You’d better shut up or I’ll shoot you now and get it over with!”

She wished they would either kill her, take her to Laramie and try to get the money, or leave her alone. But what they didn’t know is that her uncle had a far reach. If they tried to contact him for the ransom, they would be dead before they could ever collect. On second thought, she’d like to see them try. She narrowed her eyes at him and yelled at them in French. Even though she knew they couldn’t understand her, it made her feel better anyway.

“Speak English from now on,” Blake warned.

“I’ll say what I want when I like,” she replied, looking away, “and there’s not a thing you can do about it.”

Quicker than she would have thought possible, he stopped his horse, whipped out his six-gun revolver, and pressed it to her head. Then he pulled back the hammer.

“What the hell, Blake?” Clayton asked, having stayed out of the happenings until then. “You gonna shoot her now? What about the ransom?”

“Put that damn thing away,” Harley ordered, ducking behind Gabriella, “before you shoot one of us.”

“It’d be an improvement,” Gabriella mumbled under her breath.

“You really want me to shoot you?” Blake asked, still pointing the gun at her head.

She narrowed her eyes at him, and they never wavered. “Go ahead.”

Harley’s eyes grew wide. “Don’t you even think about it, Blake!”

Blake stared her down and then smirked as he uncocked the gun and slipped it back in its holster. “Don’t push me, woman.”

She scrunched up her nose and squinted. She knew it was childish, but there was no way she was going to back down from these men.

Harley rose up in his saddle. “Come on, Blake! Let’s get some provisions and get out of here before the sun rises. We can get in and out before anyone knows she’s gone.”

“Blake,” Clayton whined, his gold tooth shining as snow started to fall again. “I’m getting hungry.”

“We can wait.” Blake started off as Gabriella reluctantly followed.

Clayton’s mouth fell open in disbelief. “But I’m hungry!”

Blake glanced over his shoulder. “You and your damned stomach! Come on. I don’t intend to stay here long enough for them to find us.”

“I’m hungry, too,” Harley agreed. “Clayton ate all our provisions while we were waiting to grab her.”

“Did not!” Clayton wailed.

Blake let out a deep breath. “Fine! We’ll go into town, get what we need, and then we’ll head to Laramie. But we’ll have to hurry. The sun will be up soon.” He looked over at Gabriella and narrowed his eyes. “But if you so much as look the wrong way, attract any kind of attention at all, or run from us, I’ll kill you myself. Understand?”

Harley laughed so hard that his red beard shook. “You think we can just stroll into town like nothing’s wrong… with her?” He motioned toward Gabriella.

“Why not?” Clayton asked. “No one knows her there.”

Gabriella hoped that maybe someone would recognize her in Whiskey River, even though she had only made a few trips into town. But then again, it was still early. No one would probably be up yet.

Blake looked in her eyes, searching. After a moment, he let out a deep breath. “The town’s just up ahead.”

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