“Maddie’s beautiful.”
Ace cocked a brow at him. “All the more reason for Culbart to be thinking marriage. A man building a spread like this will want someone to pass it on to.”
“Over my dead body.”
“Culbart’ll probably arrange that for her.”
“Like hell.”
Caden held out his hand to Ace. The other man didn’t take it.
“Feel better now?” Ace asked.
No, he didn’t feel better.
“You get up and take a swing back, and I’ll let you know.”
“I’m not fighting you, Caden. We both know I’d win anyway.”
“Like hell.”
“You’ve had too much coffee, too little sleep and too little food.”
“Whereas you’ve slept.”
Ace shrugged and took his hand, getting to his feet. “I always sleep. Best way to be ready for a fight. But yes, I’ve got my head straight on my shoulders and we’re about even matched in the best of conditions. You,” he said pointedly, “are not at your best.”
“Anybody ever tell you you’re damn irritating?”
Ace smiled, revealing even white teeth and a charm the ladies appreciated. “Nobody whose opinion mattered.”
“What do you think we’re going to do?”
“Culbart isn’t an idiot.”
“No, he’s not.”
“You’re going to have to do something.”
“I could just walk up to the front door. Say hello.”
“There’s a slight chance he’ll shoot you down before you get halfway across the yard.”
“Why? He won’t like the set of my hat?”
“He won’t like the fact that you’re Hell’s Eight. Don’t forget what Fei did to his men.”
“There’s always a chance he doesn’t know that Fei married up with Shadow.”
“A very faint chance.”
Yeah. News did travel fast. “Well, one way or the other, I’ve got to get into that house.”
“I could go.”
“Why you?”
“I’m more even-tempered.”
“Somehow I don’t see Culbart appreciating your even temper.”
“You think he’s going to appreciate you swinging?”
“I think I’m going to want you with that rifle up here on the hill covering my ass in case I have to break out of there fast.”
“So you’re using the excuse that I’m a better distance shot.”
“You’re always bragging on the skill. About time you proved it.”
“This isn’t much of a plan, you know.”
Caden nodded. “We have to know if she’s there.”
“True enough.”
Ace reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a derringer. Caden looked at him.
“You been chewing on locoweed?”
Ace handed the weapon to him. Caden took it reluctantly. A derringer was a woman’s gun or, worse, a cardsharp’s.
“They’re gonna search you for weapons, but they aren’t going to expect you to be hiding something this small.”
“And where would you have me put it?”
Ace looked up. “Under your hat. I don’t know, down your pants. Stick it wherever the hell you want. Just stick it somewhere you can reach it quickly in case things go bad. You’re not going to do Maddie any good if you’re dead.”
That was true enough. Caden took the gun. He debated putting it under his hat, but really, that wasn’t a secure option. Instead, he slid it up his sleeve and tied the wristband tighter.
“What time you plan on going over?”
“No time like the present.”
It was early in the day. Everybody was there. There’d be less suspicion.
“If we waited until later, the hands would be out.”
“If we waited until later, they’d be more gun happy. I want them to feel safe. For now.”
“I don’t like this plan.”
“I don’t like it, either, but you got another option?”
“I still think I should go in.”
“And I still say no.”
Maddie was his responsibility. And she’d waited long enough for him.
* * *
CADEN HADN’T EXPECTED to be able to just walk right up to the door, so he wasn’t surprised when within a quarter mile of the ranch he was met by two men on horseback, guns drawn. Culbart wasn’t a fool and these were dangerous times.
“Stranger,” the older man with the graying beard greeted him.
Caden nodded back. “Mornin’.”
“What brings you around these parts?”
Caden took the measure of the men, their hard eyes, their dirty appearance and the way their fingers rested on the triggers of their well-tended guns. Culbart didn’t hire fools.
“Business.”
“What kind of business could you have way out here?”
Caden smiled. “Nothing I care to talk about with you.”
The other man with him, not a youngster but clearly younger, maybe even family because he had the same muddy-colored eyes and the same set to his narrow mouth, spat.
“Well, if you want to get any farther than six feet under right now, I suggest you be telling us the nature of your business.”
“I came to talk to Culbart about a filly.” He figured it was a safe gambit. Everyone knew Culbart aimed to beat out Hell’s Eight as a breeder of horses.
The younger man rode around until he could see the brand on Jester’s side.
“Since when do Hell’s Eight go searching for fillies?”
“Since we’re always on the lookout for new breeding stock. Can’t improve the herd without it.”
It was the truth. The older man grunted. “What’s your name, stranger?”
“Caden Miller.”
Only by a blink of an eye and a tightening of his hand on the trigger did either man give any indication his name meant anything. Caden made note of the response. Only hired guns had that instinctive shoot-first-and-ask-questions-later attitude.
With a motion of the gun barrel, the older man indicated to go forward.
“I can find my own way. No need to give up your post.”
“You let us worry about the guard here. You just worry about keeping your hands clear of those guns.”
From that Caden deduced, they were done with their shift, and their replacements were in position. Another thing to