Flirting With The Law (Outlaw Brides Book 1)(16)

I had a bad feeling in my gut. Looking at Landon, he'd come to the same conclusion I had. "Who's the banker?"

Maddie huffed out a breath. "Mr. Rollins, owner of the Rollins Bank and founder of the town we're headed to."

"Shit." Landon's murmur was hard to hear over the horses' hooves, the  poor springs of the stage and the wooden wheels, but I heard it  nonetheless. I couldn't have agreed more.

It seemed we weren't the only ones who didn't like Rollins. His man,  Timms, had to drink himself into a stupor to be able to stand before him  and tell him the Helena bank had been robbed. And now, it seemed Maddie  had been affected, very deeply, by the man. It was the first time I  didn't really care if I caught a criminal. If the only person truly  affected by the woman's robberies was Rollins, then I wasn't as  committed to my task as I should have been. Having a warm and willing  female in my lap didn't hurt either.

Maddie looked between the two of us. "You know him?"

Landon nodded, ran a hand over his face, then offered her a weak smile. "He was the man we met yesterday."

She straightened in my lap. "Mr. Rollins hired US Marshals to find the bank robber?"

"She took all his money, all that wasn't in the safe. I'd say he took a pretty big loss for the robberies."

"All his money?" she said, her voice raising. She slid off my lap to sit  in the seat across from me. "All? How do you know he's telling you the  truth?" Her color was high and she bit her lip. "I mean, I just know how  ruthless he is. While he didn't kill Daddy outright, his actions  certainly helped him into an early grave."

Earlier, I'd mentioned the robber had cleaned Rollins out, but she'd  been naked and, if I remembered correctly, Landon had been fucking her  at the time. I doubted she remembered.

"If the investigation tells us otherwise, then we'll confront Rollins. We follow the facts. We-"

There was a hideous sound of wood and metal rubbing and breaking. The  stage dipped, lifted and then fell hard onto the side. The momentum of  it had me sliding across the seat as it tipped. I reached out and  grabbed Maddie as she fell on top of me, pulled her close so I took the  brunt of the jarring impact. Dust kicked up and I coughed. Long grass,  pressed flat from the weight of the stage, slid past as the horses  continued to pull, slowed, then finally stopped when the effort to  continue was too great.

Maddie struggled against my tight hold and I let her sit up, her elbow going into my ribs. I winced and sucked in some air.

"Maddie?" Landon said.

"I'm … I'm all right."

I looked up at her. Other than her hat being knocked off and a section  of her hair hanging down over her shoulder, she looked whole.

I'd hit my shoulder on impact and knew it would be bruised, but didn't  feel any pain to indicate something was broken. We'd been lucky.

Landon's hand slapped the side of the stage, now laying on the ground  and pushed off, stood. He had to bend his knees so his head wouldn't hit  the other side, then pushed open the door. It banged as it fell down  against the outside. Standing tall, his arms and shoulders were outside  of the stage. He looked about, but I couldn't see his expression for the  glare of the sun.

After a quick survey, he squatted down, careful not to step on either of  us. "I'm going to climb up and out, then reach down and lift you. All  right?"

Maddie nodded.

Landon retrieved his hat, then maneuvered himself up and out and knelt  on the side of the stage, reaching in. "Take my hand, sweetheart."

She looked to me, worried. "I'll be right behind you."

Reaching up, she grabbed Landon's hand and he lifted her right up and  out. Her skirts were a swirl about her legs as they dangled until she  was able to get a knee beside Landon, then sit next to him. Once she was  clear, I stood and we were almost at eye level.

"Where's the driver?" I asked, squinting against the bright sun as I  looked around. The horses were unsettled, snorting and puffing, shifting  their feet, but without any ability to move. The reins kept them  secured to the tipped stage. But, all four were standing and seemed  unharmed. I didn't want to have to put down a horse today.

"I can't see him," Landon replied, his voice grim. The man wasn't coming  to our aid and he wasn't sprawled out in the grass if he'd been thrown  from the stage as I'd assumed, so that meant he could be trapped beneath  it. "Stay here." Deftly, Landon slid off the side and walked around the  back. As he did so, I pulled myself out and sat beside Maddie, my feet  dangling into the cabin.         

     



 

"You're sure you're not hurt?" I looked her over as she tucked her hair back into its pins.

"No. I'm fine. Shaken, surely, but fine." Yes, her hands shook as she fixed her hair.

I gave a decisive nod and a quick prayer of thanks. This could have been  much worse. We'd all discover new bruises and probably be sore once the  surprise wore off.

Landon checked the horses, then joined us, his face grim. "I have to prepare you, sweetheart. The driver's dead."

Stoically, she bit her lip. Had she already assumed the worst?

His dark gaze met mine, I knew there was more. We'd worked together for  too long for me to miss he was bothered by something other than the  accident. Holding up his hands for her, Maddie slid off the side of the  stage, trusting him to catch her.

I jumped down beside them, getting the first view of the carnage. The  back wheel had been ripped clean off the stage and it was lying about  twenty feet away in the broken grass.

"You don't seem to be a fainter, but you've had a shock." Landon moved  to stand directly in front of Maddie, put his big hands on her slim  shoulders. Bent down so they were eye level. If he leaned forward, they  would kiss. "You know the driver's dead and I can't keep what happened  to him from you because I have something I need to show you." Landon  pointed around the back of the stage, then settled his hand on her  shoulder again. I wasn't sure if it was a reassuring gesture of to keep  her from bolting. Not that she had anywhere to go out on the prairie.  The nearest town had to be at least five miles away.

Landon stood and took her elbow. "Let's go this way around, away from the horses. They're skittish enough as it is."

I followed, felt a dull pain in my right hip.

"The driver's pinned under the stage," he shared.

He was taking Maddie to see a dead body?

I hastened my steps to go past them, ignoring my bumps and bruises.  Toward the front I saw the driver's boots sticking out. Landon had  tossed a pale blue dress over him haphazardly. At first, I was confused  by what I was seeing, then I realized he'd grabbed a dress that had  fallen out of Maddie's suitcase to shield our wife from the worst, but  why? Why come to this side of the stage? She could easily have avoided  such a shocking sight by remaining on the far side until we'd unhitched  the horses.

That meant there was something else Landon wanted us to see. For Maddie to see.

I spun about, took in the strewn suitcases and bags that had been  perched on the roof of the stage. A few wooden boxes had been split  open, coils of barbed wire spilling out. Besides taking passengers, the  stage was paid to deliver goods across the territory. I saw my bag,  Landon's as well. Maddie's small bag was nearby, unopened, but a second  suitcase of hers, hard sided and a dark, battered leather, was open. Her  clothing was strewn across the grass-one of the items now covering the  driver-but also something else.

Money. Bills and bills of it were being lifted by the wind and carried a foot or two at a time like fall leaves.

I heard Maddie's gasp behind me, but I wasn't sure if it was because the  driver was dead or a large sum of her money was blowing away.

"Have something you want to tell us, sweetheart?"





CHAPTER ELEVEN



Maddie



I should have been distraught over the dead stage driver. Just seeing  his worn boots reminded me that the three of us had been lucky. Bruises  covered my body and my ribs hurt where I'd hit the sharp edge of the  bench seat when the stage tipped. But we'd had the confines of the stage  to keep us protected when the stage came to an abrupt halt, unlike the  driver.

Landon had given the man some respect and covered him, even if it was  with my dress. But he wasn't what they were looking at now. No. It was  the bank money that had been carefully hidden in my things. When I'd put  it away, I never imagined the suitcase opening because of a stage  accident. The bag had been my father's, old and worn. I hadn't needed a  trunk to travel to Helena to rob the final bank, but I was sure that  would have withstood the tumble with better results.

The men were quiet, only the wind through the grasses and the hard  breathing from the horses to be heard. My heart had been frantic from  the accident, but I'd been quick to feel relief that it was over. This  though, this shock, would linger.

What were they going to do? I glanced at Seth, who had a cut on his  forehead. It only oozed a bit of blood and I doubted he even knew it was  there. Landon dropped his hand from my elbow and I immediately missed  that simple contact.