Do Not Forsake Me (29 page)

“You new in town?” he asked the fat man with the sweat-stained shirt.

“Maybe. What's it to you?”

“I remember people, that's all. I don't remember seeing you here or anyplace else. You new to Oklahoma?”

“Might be.”

“Then how did you know about me? You said a book about Jake Harkner would be quite a read.” Jake looked at his hand and discarded one card.

“Hell, the whole country knows about Jake Harkner,” the fat man answered.

“Then you didn't just hear about me recently—from someone looking to pay you to kill me?”

The room quieted again. Jeff squirmed at the sounds of some kind of wild lovemaking in a curtained-off room at the back of the tent. Obviously a whore was getting, or giving, her money's worth to some man back there. Those sitting at the card tables didn't seem the least bit disturbed by the sounds, including Jake and Lloyd, so Jeff struggled to be casual about it himself.

The fat man eyed Jake closely, still not responding to Jake's last remark. “Hey, kid,” he finally called out to Jeff. “When you write that book, maybe you can end it with the name of the man who finally killed Jake Harkner.”

“And who would that be?” Jeff asked.

Suddenly there came a boom. The fat man flew backward and his chair fell over. Everyone jumped and backed away, including Jeff. Lloyd never moved.

“Holy sweet Jesus!” one of the players said, looking from the dead fat man, who lay sprawled with a hole in his gut and a pistol still in one hand, to Jake, who slowly set a smoking gun on the table.

“I wouldn't mind playing a few more rounds,” Jake said, “unless another one of you is bent on killing me.”

Everyone just stared at him, clearly wondering how on earth Jake knew the fat man was aiming to shoot him under the table.

“That was…amazing,” Jeff half mumbled.

Jake shared a look with Lloyd, who glanced at the dead man. “Shit, Pa, you just made a mess. That piece of blubber has a hole in his gut six inches across.”

“Then somebody had better clean things up,” Jake answered casually, his cigarette at the corner of his mouth. He poured himself yet another shot of whiskey, leaving the still-smoking gun on the table. “Whose turn is it to deal?”

The bartender came over and asked another man to help him drag the body outside. Jake drank down the shot of whiskey.

“Trudy, get us some more beer over here,” a man at Lloyd's table called out.

Jake and Lloyd both turned to see the woman named Trudy, who'd just come into the barroom from behind the curtain. Her hair was disheveled and her fancy gold dress buttoned wrong. “What the hell happened in here?” she asked.

“Jake Harkner just shot that new guy—Frank Gallus.” The man who answered nodded toward Jake, and Trudy sauntered up to Jake. She was perhaps twenty-five or thirty, with long, dark hair and the look of a Mexican about her.

“So, you're Jake Harkner. I've heard about you.”

Jake looked her over. “Most folks have.”

“What happened to that handsome face?”

“Just a little disagreement with someone.”

“Looks like he won.”

“I beat the man to a pulp with a belt.”

Her eyebrows arched. “Well, there's a novel way of beating on someone.”

“Some people make it their
choice
of punishment.”

Trudy stood behind him, running her hands over his shoulders and up and down his arms. “I'll bet you'd never treat anyone in your family like that. Fact is, I've heard you have quite a nice family, over in Guthrie.”

The words grabbed Jake and Lloyd's attention. “Yeah, I have a nice family. Why would that interest you?” Jake folded his hand.

“Oh, I just thought news about them might be something you'd pay for. And I have some news.”

A man came from the back room then, his shirt open and his boots and guns in his hand. He glanced at the fat man being dragged out and then at Jake and the still-smoking gun on the table in front of him. He hurried out the door.

Trudy leaned over and ran her hands down Jake's chest, under his gun belts, and into his pants. “Would you like to know what I heard about your family?”

Jake grabbed his gun and shoved it into its holster. “Trudy, when a man has a woman's hands in his pants, he doesn't generally feel like talking about his family,” he told her.

She smiled. “I've always heard you're real familiar with women like me, Jake Harkner. Why don't you come into that back room and show me just how familiar? Your wife is far, far away. She'll never know.”

Far away? What did this woman know? Jake felt alarm building. He grasped her wrists and yanked her hands out of his pants, then stood up, winking at the other players. “You boys go on without me. Enjoy my whiskey if you want.” He scooped up his money and shoved it into his pocket, glancing at Lloyd. “I'll be back in a bit.” He followed Trudy into the back room.

Lloyd glanced at the other men. “Nothing like blowing a man's guts out and then screwing a whore afterward. Pa can go from one to the other without a second thought.”

One of the men grinned, and another one appeared uncomfortable.

Once behind the curtain, Trudy pulled Jake to a very messy bed and told him to sit down. She stood in front of him and began removing her clothes. “I'll make a trade with you, Marshal,” she told him. “You screw me so I can say I got laid by Jake Harkner, and I'll tell you what I know about your family.”

“Fine with me.” Jake watched her undress, thinking how different she was compared to Dixie, who would give him any information he needed out of the goodness of her heart. The whore in front of him was the kind he had little use for. He waited until she was completely naked and had climbed onto the bed before acting.

He rolled on top of her then. She smiled, reaching out to unbuckle his gun belt, but Jake forced all his weight on her and grasped her hair almost painfully. “Now you listen and listen good,” he seethed. “I've never hurt a woman in my life. Don't make me start with
you
! I've known whores from Texas to Montana, and none I was ever with would do what you're doing! We're talking about my
family
here! You're going to tell me what you know, and I'm not going to have to
fuck
you to find out! Understand?”

She tried in vain to pull his hand away.

“
Understand?
” he repeated.

“Yes!” she hissed. Her eyes teared, and Jake let go of her hair but stayed on top of her.

“You've seen Marty Bryant?”

“I've seen him, all right. He paid me good money to bait you if you came here. He said you like whores and it would be easy to get you in here. I just figured I'd get the famous Jake Harkner in my bed before I told him what I know.”

“You figured wrong.” Jake rolled off of her. “For the first time in my life, I want to hit a woman, and the state I'm in, I'd advise you to answer my questions.”

Trudy scooted away and pulled a filthy blanket over her nakedness. “What do you want to know?”

“
All
of it! How many men does Marty have?”

“I don't know for sure. Maybe ten…twelve…could be even more by now. He left here with two more—said he had just about enough to bring you down.”

“Where did he go?”

“Back to his place near Guthrie. He talked about making you come to him by getting to…your family because you killed half of his.”

Jake rubbed at his temples. “Jesus,” he muttered. “Did he mention a specific plan of some kind?”

She didn't answer right away. Jake turned and got to his knees on the bed, grasping her face in his hands. “I asked you a question!”

“Are you going to kill me?”

“Don't tempt me!” Jake could hardly believe he'd just spoken the words. Desperation was turning him into something worse than he'd ever been. He let go of her and got off the bed. “Jesus, Trudy, this is my
family
. How could you not have told me right away? How could you be so rotten as to try to get me in your bed when every second counts? Of all the women I've known, you're the worst kind.” He faced her, wanting to feel sorry for the tears in her eyes, hating the fact that for one quick moment, his father came out of him and raged against a woman. Maybe he hadn't completely beaten the devil out of himself after all. “I'm asking you again. Did Marty Bryant mention a specific plan?”

She nodded. “Promise you won't hurt me when I tell you.”

Jake felt sick with dread. “I promise.”

Trudy hung her head. “He said…something about you probably looking for him…so you'd be away from your family. He said them being in town wouldn't stop him—said he had it figured out. He said it would be hard to just ride into town and try to kidnap people, so he figured he'd start a fire…grab everyone's attention away from other things. While they were all involved in putting out the fire, he could…”

“Could
wha
t
!”

Trudy got off the bed and backed against a wall. “He could get hold of your daughter, the one you call…an angel…and maybe even the girl your son just married…maybe your grandsons. He said that would bring you to him right quick.”

Jake felt as though someone was ripping out his heart. Had he been wrong to think his family would be safe in town? “You filthy slut!” he moaned. “How long ago was Bryant here?”

“About four days ago…”

Rage like nothing Jake had ever known permeated his whole being. He had to do something to keep him from taking his anger out on this woman.

He charged into the main room then, kicking over tables, sending money and beer flying. He shoved aside anyone in his way as he headed for the door. “Let's go!” he ordered Lloyd and Jeff.

Both men jumped up and followed him out.

“He's headed for Guthrie!” Jake shouted. “He'll take Evie! He'll take my Evie! Brian won't be able to stop him, because he won't be expecting it!” He started to mount up—then suddenly turned and vomited.

“Jesus Christ,” Lloyd swore. “Pa!” He ran around to his father.

Jake grabbed his arm. “God, Lloyd, they'll take Evie, and maybe Little Jake…maybe Stephen and Katie. We never should have left! Evie! My God, Lloyd, you know what Marty Bryant is like. She's never been touched by anybody but Brian…and she's
pregnan
t
! Bryant will fucking rape her! He'll rape
both
of them! He might even kill those kids! Trudy said he meant to start a fire in town to distract them.”

“Pa—” Lloyd turned away, his own guts tightening with dread. “Jesus!” he swore again. “Jesus God, protect them.” He walked to his horse. “Pa, can you ride?”

“No choice.” Jake walked to a watering trough, not caring that horses had drunk from it. He scooped water into his mouth and spit it out to rinse it.

“How did we miss them?” he groaned.

“They must have deliberately taken a different way home,” Lloyd surmised.

Jake mounted Prince then and charged away. He felt a blackness moving through him like a raging storm. And he swore he could hear the scream of demons.

They rode like madmen, stopping only to get Ben. They left their horses at the ranch and grabbed fresh ones. Jake rode until well after dark, and Ben fell asleep in his arms. The poor child got handed back and forth among all three men as Jake became relentless in getting back to Guthrie, normally a good six-day ride. On the first night Lloyd finally had to stop Jake, convincing him that without sleep he'd be of no use to finding Evie or Katie. He felt crazy himself with the thought of what Katie or Stephen could be suffering. He wanted blood as bad as Jake did, but the pace they were keeping could kill his father…

Still, sleep was impossible. All they could do was rest, but true sleep wouldn't come. Their only goal was to, by some miracle, reach Guthrie before Marty Bryant did. Marty wouldn't be in near the hurry Jake and Lloyd were. “If he took a different way, it will take him longer than normal,” Jake hoped aloud once, yelling the words to Lloyd.

Lloyd didn't know what to do or say. They were up before daylight the next day and off again. Lloyd felt ripped apart by worry over his sister, his mother, his wife, his son, his nephew…and his father, who was like a crazy man.

Jeff quietly made camp each night and cooked, finding ways to keep poor Ben occupied and trying to explain to the boy what was going on. He urged Jake and Lloyd to eat something, but the only one who ate much at all was young Ben.

They made it to Dixie's in two and a half days instead of four, changing horses at various ranches and settlements along the way. When they reached Dixie's place, Jake walked up and grabbed her close, clinging to her as he stumbled toward the house.

“Jake, what's going on? Let go before we both go down.”

“They're after my Evie, Dixie,” he groaned in her ear. “They might already have her and my grandson…my Little Jake! And Katie! Katie and Stephen! My whole goddamned family is in danger, and my wife might be dying, and I…I can't…feel anything. Just rage! Just rage!”

“My God, Jake, calm down! Calm down!” Dixie managed to push him off of her, then stepped back. “My God, I've never seen that look on your face before, Jake Harkner. For the first time since I've known you, I'm afraid of you!”

Jake turned away and stumbled again. “They'll rape her, Dixie. They'll rape my angel. And she's pregnant and sick! She'll lose the baby!
Se
la
llevaron! Quiero morirme! Quiero morirme!
And they'll do the same to Katie—maybe kill Stevie and my Little Jake.”

There was no controlling him. Dixie looked helplessly at Lloyd, who looked hardly any better than his father.

“Marty Bryant,” he explained. “We found out at Hell's Nest that he has a lot of men with him and he's headed for Guthrie to kill or take somebody in the family to get back at me and Jake.”

“Oh my God!”

“Dixie, we have to leave a young boy here. It's a long story, but Jake will come back for him once this mess is over with. His name is Ben. We came across the kid's father beating him with a belt, and Jake went kind of crazy. I guess I don't have to explain to you why, and the details don't matter right now.”

“Sure, he can stay here. I'll make sure he doesn't see anything he shouldn't.” She touched Lloyd's arm. “My God, Lloyd, you poor thing.”

Lloyd grasped his stomach as though in pain. “With my mom down in Oklahoma City, that leaves Katie, Stephen, and Little Jake for Marty's rotten plan. We were told he'd take somebody in the family as a way to get Pa to come to him.” He grimaced. “They'll kill Pa. They'll
kill
him if he gives himself up to them. I'm going to lose my whole family!”

“You calm down. The both of you look like you need to eat and rest. If you kill yourselves trying to get to Guthrie, you'll be no good to anybody.”

“No!” Jake roared. “We have to leave again. We only stopped to drop Ben off, and I'm doing that because I don't know what we'll find in Guthrie and don't know who will be there to take care of Ben. I trust you, Dixie. You'll take good care of him till we come back for him. And if we don't make it, you take him to Lloyd's in-laws—the Donavans.”

“Jake Harkner, you won't
make
it to Guthrie in your condition! If you really love your daughter and want to help her, you need to
rest
before you go any farther. You know I'm right.”

“No! I have to go on.”

“Jake, you're no good like this. You aren't thinking straight, and riding half the night again could kill you.”

“I'm too goddamn thirsty for blood to stop for anything, and I'm too fucking mad and mean to die! If I do, it won't be until
after
I've destroyed Marty Bryant and every last man with him!”

“At least eat something, Jake.” She turned to Lloyd. “You too. Let me get you some biscuits and jerky.”

“Forget it!”

“Jake—” Dixie grasped his arm, but he half pushed her away. She stumbled slightly and Jake turned away.

“Jesus.”

“I know you, Jake Harkner! You're in a rage, but you know goddamn well that if you don't eat something and get some water down your throat and get a couple hours of sleep tonight, you'll
die
! You're going to take some biscuits and jerky with you, and you're going to promise me you'll stop long enough later to sleep a little, you black-hearted sonofabitch! Are you really so stubborn and thirsty to murder those men that you'd risk not even making it there? If you love that daughter of yours and those grandchildren and that new daughter-in-law, you'll do what you need to do to stay alive and get to them! You've always listened to me, Jake Harkner, and you know goddamn well your wife would be telling you the same thing!”

Jake faced her, his eyes still looking like the devil's, but Dixie faced him squarely, her hands on her hips. “You wait right there while we get you fresh horses and some food!” Dixie turned to go into the house, and Jake glanced down at Ben, who stared at him with wide-eyed terror.

“Are you mad at me for making you stop here?” the boy asked Jake.

Jake closed his eyes and turned to lean on a hitching post. “No, Ben, I'm not mad at you, but some very bad men have taken my daughter and my grandsons and maybe Lloyd's wife, and I'm so full of hatred for them that it seems like I hate
everybody
. You have to trust me, Ben. Either I or some really nice people will be along to take you in and give you a damn good life.” He looked at the boy. “You'll be loved, no matter what happens to me, understand? I promise you, you'll be loved and cared for. Don't be afraid of how I look right now. I just…I need to be this way to do what I have to do. So you stay here with Dixie. She's a nice lady and she'll be good to you.”

Lloyd turned away, feeling helpless and angry and frustrated and wanting to explode with his own need to get back to Guthrie. He walked up to Jeff. “I don't know what the hell to do, Jeff. There is only one of me, and my mother needs me, my father needs me, my sister probably needs me by now, maybe my wife…or my son…or both.”

Jeff dismounted. “Lloyd, Dixie is right. You and Jake need to eat and get some real rest.”

“I've got no appetite and neither does Pa.” He wiped at tears. “Jesus, I've never seen him this bad, and I've never felt this much…I don't even know what to call it. It's worse than rage. There isn't even a word for it.”

“You're your father's son, Lloyd. Right now you're closer to nitroglycerin than dynamite.”

Lloyd threw his head back, shaking his hair behind his shoulders. “The trouble is, I can probably take this constant riding and no sleep better than Pa. If he keeps this up, he'll die. If he does, I'll go after Katie and Evie on my own, and there's going to be a bloodbath like you've never seen, because I might not have anything left to live for!”

Dixie came back out with a gunnysack of food. She handed it to Lloyd, then stepped back, seeing the same broiling storm in Lloyd's eyes as the one in his father's. “My God,” she muttered. She turned to Jake. “You listen to me, Jake Harkner! You get hold of yourself and you get your thoughts together. You need to plan this. You need to calm down and plan this. And you have to forget you're a marshal and go back to the outlaw inside of you.
That's
how you will do what you have to do. You have to forget your feelings for Evie and those grandbabies and just
act
, Jake. No feelings! Feelings are
killing
you! Use your goddamn good sense and your great skills and those famous guns and go get your daughter and whoever else they might have taken. That's the only way you will be able to help her, Jake. Do you know what I'm saying?”

He met her eyes, and Dixie saw the Jake she'd never really known in his early days, the one she knew dwelled deep inside Jake Harkner the U.S. Marshal—now just a man on a mission of murder and revenge. “I almost hurt a woman back there, Dixie…a whore who wanted me to screw her for information about my own family—information she wasn't going to tell me otherwise. You would never do that.”

“Of course I wouldn't. If I knew something like that, I'd ride to hell and back to find and tell you.”

“I've never hurt a woman in my life, but I hated her for that. For a minute I wanted to strangle her. It was like…like…”

“Your father? No, it wasn't, Jake. Your father didn't need a reason to hurt a woman. You had a
reason
—and you know down deep inside you never really would have hurt her. It sounds to me like she would have deserved it, but mean as you are, you never would have gone that far. Jake, you have to reach down inside and use that meanness the right way—use it to go find your family and do what you have to do to get them back. You need to be cold, Jake—colder than the man who used to ride with outlaws, colder than the man who killed the whole Kennedy gang and killed all those men when you went after your son.” Dixie kept her distance, truly taken aback by his demeanor. “And you have to remember what your son is going through right now, Jake. I know how bad you're hurting over this, but Lloyd's own wife and son might also be involved. That kid is living in hell right now with worry. He's hurting just as much as you are, and you need each other. You can't think this is just your own agony, Jake, because it's Lloyd's too. You need to be strong for each other.”

Dominic came outside to tend to the horses. Jeff dismounted and explained what was going on, and the stable hand ranted in Spanish over Jake's dilemma. He took Ben's hand and asked if he would help with the horses. “Jake, I will bring you fresh horses as fast as I can.” Dominic headed for the barn with Ben. Jeff followed to help.

Jake sat down on the steps to wait, and Lloyd joined him. Neither spoke for a few minutes. Both smoked.

“Don't let them take you, Pa,” Lloyd finally spoke up. “They'll kill you sure as shit, and they won't be quick about it. There has to be a way out of this without you giving yourself up like a goddamn martyr.”

“They want you too.”

“I fucking know that!” He wiped at his eyes again. “Sweet Jesus, I've had trouble helping Katie face what I do for a living. Now this. If they…” He got up. “Our marriage will never survive this.”

“You just remember that those men can't really touch her. Understand? Katie Harkner is
your
s
! Just like Evie will always belong to Brian, no matter what happens. If a woman's not willing, she hasn't been touched!” Jake growled the words angrily.

“Well, life still won't be worth living if something happens to my son…and to Little Jake.”

Dixie walked closer. “You two keep in mind that if Evie and Katie get through this, and your grandsons are all right, they will need you more than they have ever needed you, so you need to get your heads on straight and not do something that could get you sent to prison. I know you need to reach down inside to the mean snakes that dwell there, but you have to also be smart about this. And, Jake Harkner, it's very possible your wife will come home just fine. And if something terrible has happened to your daughter and grandsons and Katie, she'll need you worse than she ever has her whole life…and you'll need her. Don't do something crazy. Go get your family and get yourself back to Guthrie in one piece.”

Jake met her eyes, and Dixie hardly recognized him. His entire countenance, even his looks, were different. “I see what the old outlaw Jake Harkner must have looked like at one time, Jake,” she told him. “How that wife of yours managed to tame you, I'll never figure. But now you have to think about her and what she'd be telling you right now. She'd be telling you to eat…and rest at least a little…and to keep your head on straight and not let rage make you do something foolish. A man doesn't think right when he's in your state, and that won't help your family. Do you understand? Calm down and think this through.”

Dominic and Jeff returned with fresh horses, Ben walking beside them. Without another word, Jake mounted up. Dixie hurried up to him and handed up the gunnysack. “Eat,” she ordered.

Jake took it. “I'll try. Thanks for the food. And I'm sorry…for that little shove. I didn't mean it, Dixie.”

Dixie patted his leg. “I know that. Go get your daughter and Katie, Jake, but use your head. Promise me.” She could almost hear thunder and see black clouds hovering over him.

“I'll do what I have to do. I'm not even sure what that is yet, but I'll damn well get them back, and Marty Bryant might as well already count himself as dead.”

Jake rode off.

“Bye, Dixie.” Lloyd followed, as did Jeff.

Dixie looked at young Ben. “You poor kid.” She walked up and touched his hair. “Ben, he's a good, good man—really. He's just gone off to a deep, dark place for now. But he'll get his family back and he'll come for you. I just know he will.”