Page 124 of Texas Glory
“In a safe place. All one thousand dollars, but you don’t get it until I know Dee is safe. She leaves with me now, and I’ll bring the money back to you. Give you my word.”
“Your word. You think I’m some kinda idiot? I ain’t letting her out of my sight until I’ve got the money, and you ain’t never leaving here alive.”
“Then we can handle this another way. Take her to town, let her check into the hotel. A man is waiting there, watching for her return. When he knows she’s safe, he’ll give you the money. Meanwhile, you’ll have me as insurance.”
Cooper narrowed his eyes. “Who is it? One of your brothers?” He rubbed his jaw. “Austin. It’s gotta be Austin.”
Dallas shook his head. “Nope. Figured you’d expect it to be one of my brothers. You’d never suspect this man.”
Cooper struggled to his feet, his knuckles turning white as he clenched the whip. “You’ll tell me who has the money, by God. You’ll tell me!”
With a quick flick of his wrist, he brought the whip back and snapped it. It whistled through the air. Dee gasped as it sliced through her skirt.
“Damn you!” Dallas roared.
“Tell me who it is,” Cooper yelled, “or I’ll whip her to death.”
When Cooper brought his arm back, Dallas raced across the expanse separating him from Dee. He pressed his body flush against hers, drawing in a hissing breath through his teeth as the whip bit into his back.
Reaching up, he fumbled with the knots in the rope.
“If you untie them ropes, Tobias will shoot her!”
Dallas stilled his hands. He’d never in his life asked or begged for anything. “Christ! You want me on my knees, crawling on my belly? I’ll do anything you want, just take her into town. Let her register for a room at the hotel. The man and the money are waiting for you.”
“So you say,” Cooper yelled. “The law’s probably waiting on me.”
Dallas heard the whistle and clenched his teeth, but he couldn’t stop his body from jerking when the whip sliced across his back. His shirt offered little protection against the razor-sharp tip, and he realized with sickening dread that he had lost his gamble. He’d hoped his change in the plans would have forced Cooper to honor his end of the bargain.
He wrapped his hands around Dee’s trembling fists, gasping when the lash hit him again.
“Move away,” she whispered hoarsely.
“No.” He slammed his eyes closed when the pain ripped through him. When he opened his eyes, tears hovered within hers. “Don’t you dare cry,” he growled through clenched teeth. “Don’t you dare give him that satisfaction.”
She nodded bravely, and he could see her blinking back her tears. Dear God, but he couldn’t have asked for a finer wife.
“You have to get away from here,” she said in a low voice as the whip tore into him. “One of my brothers paid him to kill you.”
“Figured it was something like that. That’s why … tried to force him to take you to town.” He lowered his trembling fingers to her soft cheek. “Keep the promise you made to me. my land …”
The pain intensified, drowning out his thoughts, his muscles quivering as the onslaught continued. He buried his face against her neck, her warmth, her sweet fragrance. He wanted to tell her something else, something important, but it hovered at the edge of the agony.
“I’m sorry,” slipped past his lips before the blackness engulfed him.
With the sputtering flame from the stub of a candle casting a fluttering glow over Dallas’s back, Cordelia tried to asses the damage.
She had removed what remained of his shirt, the blood-soaked strips that could not even serve as a bandage. Crimson rivulets of torn flesh and seeping blood criss-crossed his broad back. His trousers had grown black and stiff as the blood had flowed more freely with each strike of the lash.
Although unconscious, he groaned and clenched his fists. Her trembling fingers hovered over his tortured flesh. She didn’t know how to ease his pain, how to stop infection from settling in, although infection was the least of her worries. They intended to kill him, and with a sickening dread, she knew they intended for his death to be a slow, agonizing affair.
“Why did you come?” she whispered hoarsely as she brushed the black hair from his furrowed brow.
She stiffened as she heard a key go into the lock of the shed’s door. It opened and Cooper burst into the room. “He awake yet?”
Cordelia moved so her body partially covered the sight of Dallas’s back. “No.”
Cooper lumbered across the room and squatted beside Dallas. He grabbed his hair and jerked his head up. Dallas moaned, his eyes opening to narrow slits.
