Chapter Seven
Jessie didn't speak immediately as she went through the man's vest pockets. She didn't even glance up at Langley and he wondered if maybe he was going to have to ask her again but then she finally sighed.
"I ended up shot because he shot me."
"And why did he shoot you?"
Jessie shrugged, moving her hands to his trouser pockets. "Probably because I tried to kill his boss."
"And why did you try to kill his boss?"
"You sure do ask a lot of questions," Jessie snapped. She pulled a handful of folded papers from the dead man's pocket and shoved them down in her own as she stood.
"I think I deserve answers," Langley stated. "After all, I did just risk my neck to save yours."
Jessie's violet eyes flashed. "I don't need saving."
"Okay." Langley shrugged. "I'll remember that the next time a man comes sneaking inside with a gun while you're sleeping soundly."
"Good," Jessie grumbled. "Please do."
"Please?" Langley grinned. "Now who's being polite?"
Jessie smiled. "I've been with you too long."
Langley shook his head as he stepped toward her. "Come on now, Jessie. It's time to tell me the truth. Are you in trouble? Could you use some help?"
Jessie's first instinct was to scoff and insist that didn't need anybody for anything. But she forced herself to remain quiet and simply think instead of acting first the way she usually did.
A big part of her trusted Langley. That terrified her since any time she had ever put trust in someone they had let her down. Would Langley be like all the others or would he prove different? He certainly wasn't like anyone she had known before. Langley was kind, funny and gentle but there was obviously something stronger beneath that soft exterior because he had just killed the Frenchman—a trained killer.
Jessie decided that it couldn't hurt to have someone riding along to help her accomplish her goal. It might as well be someone she trusted. "No I don't need your help but you're welcome to ride along."
Langley damn near jumped for joy. Sure there was a good chance that whatever she wanted help with wouldn't be something completely law abiding. And, sure, there was an even bigger chance that it would be downright dangerous but Langley was willing to take that risk if she was willing to trust him.
He nodded. "Well let's get inside so you can tell me what it is I'm riding along with you on."
Two duo settled down at the kitchen table with a lantern between them. "There are some things you don't know about me," Jessie began. "I ain't all sugar and rainbows like I've led you to believe."
Langley couldn't stop the bark of laughter that burst from his mouth. Jessie glared at him. "Sugar and rainbows?" he gasped, trying desperately to stop laughing like an idiot. "I've never been cussed at, insulted or treated like a slave more than I have since I met you. And it's only been five days—and you were unconscious for some of them!"
Jessie's lips formed a hard line. "Well that was sugar and rainbows so just imagine how bad I can be."
Langley winked at her and the corner of her lips turned up in the tiniest of smiles. "Now quit changing the subject and tell me why that man was trying to kill you," Langley insisted.
"Because his boss murdered my pa and I've been trying to get him ever since."
Langley's eyes widened. "Why'd he murder your pa?"
Jessie's gaze went down to the table. "Because my pa made the mistake of trusting someone."
"And now you don't trust folks."
Jessie snorted and glared at him. "Don't try to pick my brain. And quit saying such fool things."
"That coming from the woman who's always talking about having breasts," Langley countered with a grin.
Jessie waved her hand and chuckled. "Don't pretend you haven't noticed them!"
Langley couldn't stop his eyes from dropping to her chest and taking in the swell of those breasts beneath her. Her throat cleared and Langley's gaze flew back to her face. His ears were bright red and he had no idea what to say but she didn't seem offended—simply amused.
Then again, he thought there might be something else on her face as well... were her cheeks flushed?
Langley had to get the topic away from the woman's assets and back on the task at hand. "Killing that man won't bring your pa back."
Jessie snorted and threw herself back in the chair. "It'll make me feel better."
Langley sighed. "I'd be wasting my time if I told you all the reasons that murder is wrong, right?"
Jessie tapped the table with her fingertips. "Forgive me if I'm wrong, Freckles, but didn't you just kill a man outside?"
Langley rubbed roughly at his cheek. "Don't call me freckles," he mumbled. "And that was self-defense. There's a difference."
"Yes, and that difference is about as thin as a frog's hair," Jessie grumbled.
Langley crossed his arms on the table. "So we're after the man that killed your pa... Can I ask why he killed your pa?"
"He came to my pa with a job and my pa trusted him. They were supposed to do the job and split the earnings. But instead, pa ended up shot dead and the bastard took the full amount for himself."
"How do you know?"
"Because pa and I were a team."
"But the man didn't kill you?"
Jessie swallowed hard. "I was busy somewhere else and when I got back, pa was dead." She wasn't about to tell him what she'd been busy doing. She didn't think a man like Langley would appreciate the fact that she'd been swindling men out of money and gifts.
"So how do you know that he's the man that killed your pa?"
"Because the bastard left a note, that's how! He let me know that he'd get his hands on me eventually too. He don't want me dead—he wants me alive."
Langley's blood boiled instantly. His mind went to his mama and Kaitlyn and what they'd been forced to do in their past. He'd be damned before he let this woman be taken against her will. Why did men think they had a right to woman's body just because they wanted it?
"Easy boy..." Jessie teased. "Though, watching your muscles tense like that is rather attractive."
Jessie tried to make light of Langley's reaction but in truth it touched her. The man was too damn good to be true and that was the problem with him. He was kind, he had taken care of her when she'd been sick and he was willing to cook for her. He made her laugh and managed to put up with her grouchiness while wearing a smile. He had risked his life to save her and he was ready to go up against a new unknown foe simply because the man wanted her for more than money.
Not only that but the man handsome with his red hair, boyish freckles, strong jaw and clear blue eyes. She could still remember how gentle his big hands had been against her face as he'd helped her fight off fever. He was broad and strong and she was attracted to him—who would have ever thought that would happen?
There had to be a catch to the perfection that was Langley.
"So this job your pa got killed for—I'm guessing it was something the law would have frowned upon and that's why you didn't go to them?" Langley asked, snapping Jessie from her thoughts of him.
"Yes." She met his gaze. "I'm a con artist and an all-around bad woman. Does that change your mind about helping me?"
Langley shook his head, picking at a scab on his hand. "Nope. I'm pretty used to the outlaw lifestyle seeing as how my family comes more from the wrong side than the right. If this man turned on your pa and murdered him then you have every right to go after him. Hell, I would have killed the Marshall who hanged my pa if I had been older than eleven and someone hadn't cut his heart out before I could get to him."
Jessie raised her arched brow. "You mean you would have if your pa were really dead."
Langley simply grinned. "So where we heading?"
"You really want to help me?"
Langley nodded. "There's no way I'd let you go this alone now."
"And why's that?"
With a shake of his head, Langley sighed. "If I tell you then you'll just puff up and bluster and carry on about how crazy I am. Let's just leave it at, I'm looking for a bit of adventure and I figure I might as well take that adventure with you."
Jessie studied him hard a moment before nodding. "The man I'm after is named Benjamin Gray. I'm hoping there might be something I dug out of our friend's pocket that'll tell us where to look."
"Well let's get to reading then, shall we?" Langley offered, picking up a paper.
"Sounds good."
Langley paused and met he gaze over his paper. "Partners?"
Jessie's eyes met his and she nodded. "Partners."
***
"Well, you ready to head out?" Langley asked as he walked up from the river where he'd been washing up.
He'd buried the dead Frenchman while Jessie had packed up what little belongings they had.
"Yeah. You know, I've never seen a man carry around so many books!" Jessie grumbled as she dragged out his saddlebags.
"I've always loved to read." Langley shrugged. "Besides, I've never seen a seventeen year old woman with so many weapons."
Jessie simply smiled as she slid her boot knife in place. She was dressed differently today in a cream colored split riding skirt, a white long sleeved blouse and a brown vest. But even the pretty clothes didn't stop her from strapping on a boot knife, a derringer, her gun belt and a rifle on her back. She had a shot gun in her saddle and a long whip with metal tips, which she assured him she didn't use on horses.
"I've always loved to hurt people I guess," she teased.
Langley laughed. Whether or not anything came from his growing feelings for Jessie, he knew he had at least found a friend. They might be opposites in a lot of ways but they seemed to understand one another.
"We'll have to stop at whatever town you found that doctor in and get some supplies," Jessie informed him. "We have a good two weeks of riding before we'll reach Armadillo Texas. Hopefully that's where we'll find the bastard."
"It's not too far from here," Langley assured her. "The shop keep and I don't see eye to eye on things so I'll let you get the supplies while I take our friend's horse to the livery and see what I can get out of it and the saddle."
"Sounds good." They both hopped up into their saddles. "You know I never have had much of a partner before. My pa was always the boss and I was just trailing along after him. This is kinda nice."
Langley gave her a smile that had her jaded heart beating just a little faster. "Maybe one day you'll see me as a friend instead of just a partner."
Jessie laughed lightly. "I wouldn't count on that. A friend is something I've never had."
She didn't tell him that she was already seeing him as a friend. Once you started throwing words like friendship, like and love around, you gave the other person far too much power over you. You gave them the power to destroy you. Jessie had seen the pain her mama had caused her pa with each and every affair. Her pa had been betrayed by his friend and killed.
Jessie would never give that much of herself to a person only to have it destroyed.
"There's a first time for everything," Langley countered stubbornly.
Jessie sighed and relaxed in her saddle. The pair fell into easy conversation and bantering as they made their way to town.
***
"Aren't you a little too young to be traipsing all over the country on your own?" the fat store clerk asked as she looked over her nose at Jessie.
Jessie growled and tossed a sack of jerked beef onto the countertop. She'd been hearing words just like those since she'd been nine years old and she was beginning to grow tired of them.
"I have a big strong man to protect me," Jessie assured her, batting her lashes. Damn people and their damn beliefs that a woman couldn't take care of herself. Jessie would guarantee she could wipe the floor with most men.
"It's none of my business, I suppose," the store clerk conceded as she began tallying up the purchases. "That'll be twenty dollars."
Jessie's eyes nearly bulged from her head and she forgot all about acting like a lady. "Are you pulling my leg, woman?! Twenty dollars? All I got was some hardtack, jerked beef, a bit of candy, some coffee grounds, matches, cigarettes, a blanket and a change of clothes! Twenty dollars! What did you do? Import the whole lot from the damn North Pole or something? Did you have to wrestle the polar bears for the goddamn coffee? Or maybe you had to trip Old Saint Nick to get away with his beans? Twenty dollars....."
The store clerk clutched at her jiggling bosom and stared in utter shock at Jessie. Jessie glared right back. There was no way on God's green earth that her purchases should have totaled that much money. Unless of course Santa Claus had forced the woman to barter over the cost of the beans and driven the price of them over the moon.
Laughter from behind her had her turning to see Langley standing in the doorway. The sun was shining behind him, casting his face in shadow. "Damn those polar bears," he teased.
"Shut-up," Jessie grumbled, causing his laughter to increase.
"What are you doing here, Langley?" The clerk snapped, swiping at the polishing counter. "I believe we said all we had to say to each other."
Langley nodded, his good humor fading slightly. "We did, Hattie, but I'm with the lady here."
Jessie raised her brow. "Lady?"
He grinned. "I'm polite, remember?"
"Oh. I didn't realize you were together." Hattie sat down her pencil and folded her hands on the counter. "In an attempt to make up for past wrongs, I won't charge you for these supplies, Langley."
Jessie wasted no time in beginning to gather the supplies in her arms. Free always sounded good to her.
Langley let out a growl that made him sound more like an angry bear than a man and he pushed past her before slamming twenty dollars on the counter. "I don't want your damn charity, Hattie. You aren't gonna use me to make yourself feel better about what you and your sister always put my damn mama through. You sure as hell never offered her a bit of charity. You laughed at her, insulted her, put her down and made her feel worthless. Let me tell you something, she's ten times the woman that you'll ever be. Take the damn money since that's all that's ever mattered to you, and keep having to look at yourself in the mirror knowing what a bitch you are."
Langley yanked the supplies from Jessie's arms and stormed from the mercantile. Jessie scrambled to catch up to him as he placed the supplies on the pack mule that she was seeing for the first time.
"Nice mule," she said cautiously and Langley merely grunted in response.
Gone was carefree, happy Langley. In his place was angry, shoving-things-with-too-much-gusto Langley. "I'm sensing there's some bad blood between you?" she asked.
"That's putting it mildly," Langley growled. He secured their belongings and ensured that the pack mule was secured to his horse. "That woman and her sister made my mama's life hell. They treated her as if she was nothing more than some mangy dog you'd kick on the street. A person doesn't forget something like that."
"You're loyal to your family," Jessie noted as they mounted up.
"Very," Langley agreed.
Jessie wondered if that loyalty would extend to her. "Well let's go then," she said. "We got us a man to kill."