Page 12 of Charlotte's Reckoning
“This was supposed to be a simple robbery where no one got hurt,”the younger outlaw croaked, obviously horrified. “With this, if we get caught, you’ve raised our sentence to the hangman’s noose.”
“Then we best get going so that doesn’t happen.” Emmett started for the door at the front of the car, dragging Rowie along. Abruptly, he stopped and turned back, asking, “Still want the cloak for your whore?”
The look of revulsion on the other man’s face as he eyed the bloodstained garment spoke volumes.
The vile leader smirked, “I didn’t think so. Collect what you can from the rest of ’em and be quick. We’ve got two more cars to go through.”
“Carson,”she wept, still struggling in the outlaw leader’s grip. All she wanted to do was hold him, as much for her as for him, one last time. But the bastard wouldn’t allow it and yanked her away.
“What are you doing with her?”the kid asked even while he moved across the train and held out his bag to the next couple, who couldn’t move fast enough to dump everything from their pockets inside it.
“You mentioned Heloise,”Emmett grunted as he fought her clawing hands. “She’s still in the market for unique acquisitions, right?”
“I guess so. I’m only interested in Lydia when I get a chance to go. But I hear she pays top dollar.”
Rowie didn’t know what they were talking about. Raw agony, like she hadn’t experienced since her father’s sudden passing, ripped through her chest, as did her sobs. She couldn’t take her eyes off her husband’s boots, which was all she could see of him as the outlaw dragged her away. The dark stream of his blood—there was so much of it—slowly seeped into the center aisle. Staringat the gruesome, heart-wrenching sight, the world tilted on end, and her legs turned to jelly.
“Stand up,”Carson’s murderer demanded.
She couldn’t, and her knees buckled.
“Shit,”he exclaimed as she crumpled. With considerable effort and a lot of grunting, he hefted her over his shoulder. “You’re a damn sight heavier than you look.”
That’s because she’d gone limp, her body no longer in control. He should have let her fall for many reasons. Because knowing the hands touching herbelonged to the man who pulled the trigger and ended her husband’s life made her skin crawl. Without Carson, she was alone, at a vicious outlaw’s mercy, and consumed with fear. And mostly because she couldn’t bear the pressure of his shoulder digging into her belly and promptly vomited down his back and all over his boots.
Chapter 4
Heloise’s Hellish Prison
St. Louis, Lower River District
Emmett didn’t take kindly to being puked on. He dropped her on her feet and delivered a stunning backhand to her cheek. Unable to withstand the force of the blow, Rowie flew into a bench seat before crumpling to the floor.
Bending over her, he shouted in her face, “Puke on me again, and I’ll throw you into the nearest gully and leave you for the buzzards. Understand me, bitch?”
She did, but the notion of being left for deadseemedpreferable to the fate he planned for her.Besides, she would be with Carson.Whenshe didn’t respond, a sharp pain jolted through as his heavy boot connected with her ribs.
“Getup,”he barked, his voice rough like sandpaper. “We’re leaving.”
Lyingthere, overwhelmed by misery and despair, earned her another harsh kick. His cruelty ended up backfiring, however. Shecouldbarelybreathe, let alone stand, which forced him to assist her. He proceeded to half-carry, half-drag her through two cars, where four other menwererobbing terrified passengers.Ashe left the train, the sound of his boots clanging on the metal steps contrasted with the sickening thud of her head hitting the handrail.Ifheheard, he didn’t stop or react.
With her ears still ringing, he flung her over a saddle and bound her wrists behind her back. The others soon joined him, and, whooping and hollering, they mounted up and rode off at breakneck speed.
They didn’t stick to the cleared area around the tracks but veered into the woods onto one overgrown trail after another. Being jostled while hanging upside down with the blood rushing to her head didn’t help the throbbing in her face or her churning stomach.Vaguely, she registered water splashing as they stopped at a creek.
Emmett shoved her off his lap into the dirt, the impact with the ground jarring her whole body. Her ribs screamed in protest from his earlier abuse and from the saddle horn digging into her for hours. She didn’t attempt tostand to get a drink or take care of other necessities. With her hands tied behind her, she couldn’t have stood if she wanted to.
When they started off again, Emmett grumbled foully when he had to put herback on the horse, facedown once more in a humiliating and uncomfortable position. A few minutes into their ride, she could do nothing to stop him when he flipped up her skirt and petticoat to explore what lay beneath. Her feeble attempts to resist only amused him and the other men who watched and shouted their encouragement.
“Too bad we can’t keep her,”one said.
“A woman on the trail? No cunt, no matter how sweet, is worththataggravation,”said another.
“We come this way a lot. More so with a reason to visit Madam Heloise’s newest piece.”
“She’ll be well used by then. We should get a free taste before that happens. ’Sides, she’ll want us to pay for it.”
Rowie whimpered and squirmed in alarm at the idea of all of them taking her.Goodgod, when would the nightmare her lifehadbecomeever end?
