Chapter 1

Cheeks aching from smiling so insincerely for so long, and patience starting to wear thin, Marlowe was beginning to wonder if she had bitten off more than she could chew. She had been trying to infiltrate the O'Driscoll gang for weeks, slowly building trust with a few of the lackeys, before finally making her way up to a meeting with the leader. At long last she was sitting across a table from the infamous Colm O'Driscoll himself, and the bastard was drunk. She cursed herself. This was the problem with running cons on gangs. They were always too drunk to make it work right.

"So, let me see if I'm gettin' this straight," Colm hiccupped and accidentally planted his elbow in the bowl of soup beside him. "The marshals are giving a cash reward, for stolen bonds worth more than the reward? What's the point of that?"

Marlowe tilted her head and smiled winningly. "They figure those bonds are worth more to them than they are to you. You can't take them to your average fence and sell them for their full worth, can you? More than likely you'll wind up being forced to part with them for less than half of what they're really worth, and risk having the law breathe down your necks in the process."

Colm took another swig of his drink. Marlowe flinched internally. The drunker he got, the more unresponsive he became. She was running out of time. "What the US Marshals are offering is an out. You return the bonds to them, collect the reward money, and they do not pursue any charges. The reward money will certainly be more than what you'll be able to fence the bonds for. That's why they're doing this. You'll get away with ten thousand dollars, scot free." She leaned forward, tugging slightly on her dress to let just a little more of her cleavage peek out.

With a small belch, Colm looked around at the other three men in the small cabin. They all shrugged. He turned back toward her, beady eyes on her chest rather than her face. Just like she wanted. "And what's in it for you? Why bother telling us about this?"

Marlowe batted her eyes slightly. It felt silly to do, but from experience she knew it had just the right effect on men. "I simply work in the interest of the country, Mr. O' Driscoll. The government gets their bonds back, and I get a small commission from them. You get ten thousand dollars, and face no jail time or the noose. It seems to me like a win-win."

Colm regarded her for a long moment, actually moving his gaze up from her bust to look her in the eyes. Her stomach did anxious somersaults, until he finally spoke, face cracking into a wide grin. "Well then, I suppose that does sound like the best thing to do, now don't it?"

"Indeed it does," Marlowe beamed. "Now, if you like, I can take you to meet with my colleague, Mr. Washbourne, to make the exchange. He is staying in Strawberry, though I am certain he would be happy to meet-"

The door to the cabin burst open. Two more O'Driscolls stumbled in, laughing raucously. They both looked a little worse for wear, bruises forming on their faces, one of them bleeding freely from a cut lip. Colm threw his bottle at one of them but missed; it shattered against the door frame. "Where have you idiots been?"

One of the newcomers snatched up another bottle of beer and took a long drink. "We got one of them, Colm. The right-hand man."

He rose sharply and swayed a bit. "You captured Morgan?"

"We sure did," the other newcomer said proudly. "We was holding up a stage, we was, when he tried to come swooping in like some kinda hero. You know how them boys are."

"The stage got away, but we were able to get him. He's in the other cabin if you wanna say hello, boss."

Colm nodded. "Well, Miss Edaline, I must go greet my newest guest. Why don't you come along with me?"

She half-laughed uncomfortably. "As enlightening as that sounds, I must be getting back to my camp-"

"Nonsense!" Colm insisted. He drew a long knife and casually fiddled with the blade, keeping direct eye contact with Marlowe. "I insist. It'd do you some good to see what we do with our enemies, seeing as we'll be working together."

Once again plastering on her fakest smile despite the knots in her stomach, Marlowe rose. "As you wish."

She followed Colm and the other two gang members out of the cabin, blinking at the bright sunlight. They headed across the compound toward another similar cabin behind a large barn. Marlowe was acutely aware of the eyes of the other O'Driscolls on her. She had visited the compound several times over the last couple of weeks and each time it became more abundantly clear that most of these men weren't accustomed to seeing women around.

Colm held the door of the cabin open for her with a sarcastic bow. When Marlowe entered, her gaze was immediately drawn toward the man bound to the support beam in the very center of the room.

He was sagging to the floor on his knees, blood streaking his scruffy face and clothes, breathing labored. Colm nudged Marlowe to step aside, then kicked the man in the ribs, hard. He grunted in pain but still didn't look up. "Well, if it ain't Arthur Morgan. Been hoping to run into you for some time now."

The man at last looked up and spat at Colm's feet, spraying blood. "Still...ugly…I see." Marlowe was startled to see very bright blue eyes shining through the bruising.

Colm laughed and crouched down beside him. "Your talents are so wasted, Morgan. My offer still stands. Besides, I hear you took one of my boys as your own. It seems only fair I get one in return."

Arthur's beat up face stretched into a twisted grin. "The kid begged us to take him in. You won't hear none of that from me, I'm afrai-"

He was cut off by a blow landed to the side of his head by Colm. Marlowe flinched at the sound, drawing his attention. "There now, you see this, Miss Edaline? This is what happens when you're an enemy to the O'Driscolls. You don't want that now, do you?"

Marlowe swallowed and struggled to keep her voice even. "I understand."

"Good. You seem like a smart woman."

"If such a thing exists," one of the other men muttered, soliciting a round of guffaws from his companions and a glare from Marlowe.

Colm cleared his throat. "Now boys, what should we do with Mr. Morgan here? I'm leaning towards skinning him alive."

There was a round of jeering. Colm whipped out his knife and turned back toward the beaten man. "You may want to step out, ma'am. Or stay if you don't want to miss the show."

"Get out of here, miss," the man on the floor groaned. "Run and don't look back."

For some bizarre reason, Marlowe found herself rooted to the spot. The name Arthur Morgan didn't sound familiar to her at all, and she couldn't afford to blow this con. Her payment was due in a few short weeks.

She tried to turn toward the door, but couldn't quite make it all the way. Cursing herself slightly, she abruptly turned back. "I wouldn't do that if I were you, Mr. O'Driscoll."

Colm paused and looked back at her. "And why would that be, missy?"

"Do you know the size of the bounty on Arthur Morgan's head? Five hundred dollars, and his value plummets if he's dead."

For a long moment, Colm stared at the man on the floor. The knife flipped absently in his hand. At long last, he sheathed it. "Well then, Mr. Morgan, it appears you're worth more alive to me than dead. You got lucky."

"As it happens, my associate back in Strawberry is authorized to give the reward on delivery of the bounty," Marlowe swiftly made up on the spot. "We can add that onto your reward for returning the bonds. I'll bring my horse around to stow him."

With a snap of Colm's fingers, one of his cronies blocked the door. Marlowe turned back to the leader, heart pounding. "Now hold on just one second, missy. If I just hand him over now, I want my reward now."

"But Mr. O' Driscoll, my associ-"

"I don't give a rat's ass about your 'associate'," Colm said. "No money, no deal."

This was obviously a test. If she didn't hand over the relatively small amount of money in exchange for their prisoner, then he would know she couldn't hand over the money for the bonds. Marlowe weighed her options quickly, then sighed. "I am willing to offer a deposit. Half now, half when I return. How does that sound?"

Colm tilted his head and smiled, displaying craggy, discolored teeth. "You got yourself a deal. I'll take that two hundred dollars now."

Marlowe didn't bother to correct him on what half of five hundred really was. She rustled around in her satchel and withdrew the bills, counting them out in front of him. Colm snatched the fold from her hands and stuffed it into his pocket. "Now then, I'll be off. My associate and I will return once we get Mr. Morgan situated to exchange those bonds."

"I look forward to it," Colm leered. "Boys, get this vermin onto the back of the lady's horse. Make sure those bonds are good and tight. Wouldn't want anything bad to happen on the road there, now would we?" He escorted Marlowe out into the open, where she whistled for her horse. "And I'll be sending along one of my boys to escort you."

"Oh that won't be necessary," Marlowe said quickly. "I can manage."

"Nonsense! Consider it protection on your investment." His tone made it clear there was no room for argument. Marlowe would have to figure something out once they got closer to Valentine.

Once Freya trotted up, the man that would be escorting her to Strawberry, an ugly, lanky fellow by the name of Chuck, loaded the bound and gagged prisoner onto the back of her horse. He turned his head to look at her, eyes studying her intently. She mouthed "Hold on," before mounting Freya. "I'll also need his personal belongings," she said to Colm firmly. "Proof that he is indeed the man we're looking for."

One of the men who had originally brought Arthur in rolled his eyes. "His horse took off with all of it before we had a chance. Weren't able to catch up to the brute."

"Sounds like a very intelligent horse," Marlowe commented, glancing back at her prisoner. She could have sworn she saw a smile underneath the gag. "Well, let's get a move on. I want to get to Strawberry before nightfall.

Along with the O'Driscoll escort, she galloped out the fence of the compound, stomach twisting even worse than before.

It was dusk before the relentless bouncing of the horse finally slowed down. They had to be drawing close to Strawberry, or at least Arthur hoped so. Being flopped over a horse, bound and gagged, was a nauseating experience. He had been trying to work the bonds for the last four or five hours (he lost track) to no avail. Fortunately, he knew the jailhouse in Strawberry currently had a gaping hole in the wall, so he felt confident the new accommodations wouldn't be as secure.

The ground beneath him came to a stop mercifully. "I can make it from here," the girl said firmly. "Thank you for riding with me."

"Aren't you going to take him to the sheriff's office?" the O'Driscoll said suspiciously.

"Oh yes, I am," she said hastily. "I can make it from here on my own though."

The man cleared his throat and spat. "I have my orders from Colm to not let you or Morgan out of my sight until the money is in my hands."
The girl slid off her horse and approached him. Arthur craned his neck to try to watch her. "Of course. Quite understandable. But I do have one little problem."

"And what's that?" the O'Driscoll also slid off his horse with his brow furrowed.

The girl glanced back conspiratorially at Arthur and beckoned the man to come closer so she could whisper in his ear. He strained to hear what she was saying, until he saw the man slump to the ground, blood blossoming through his shirt on his chest. The girl wiped the bloody knife on a handkerchief, then approached Arthur, knife still out. He stared at her, trying to read her expression and finding himself captivated by the woman's face.

She was, to put it simply, stunning. Her pale, heart-shaped face was framed by wispy dark strands of hair loose from her long braid over her shoulders. The most prominent feature of hers, however, was her large, striking violet eyes, despite the dark rings beneath them. With a quick slice of her knife, the gag fell away. Arthur licked his dry lips, tasting dried blood. "Thank you," he rasped.

The woman moved around behind him to the other side of the horse and cut the ropes binding his ankles, then helped him slide off so she could reach his wrists. The tingling in his limbs nearly made him collapse, so he sat heavily on a nearby stump and took a deep breath. "Here," the woman said, handing him a canteen. "Drink this."

He eagerly took a swig of the cool water. It had been more than a day since he had been able to drink. "What the hell is a girl like you doing with those savages?"

The girl sighed heavily. "It doesn't matter anymore, I suppose. I have a health tonic, if you need, and a couple of cans of vegetables."

"It's alright, miss," said Arthur hastily. He gave one short piercing whistle. "My horse has all my things."

She wrinkled her nose in confusion; the expression for some reason made Arthur's stomach flip. "Your horse? But how…" she trailed off as the tall speckled Appaloosa came rambling through the trees toward them. He stopped and nudged Arthur, whinnying softly. The girl looked awestruck. "Was he following us?"

Arthur patted his nose fondly. "He's something special. Ain't that right, boah?" He cleared his throat and rummaged around his saddlebags. "Well, miss, I suppose the least I can do is pay you back."

She blinked, looking confused. "Pay me back?"

He counted out two hundred dollars, plus a little extra, and handed it to her. "I really don't know how to thank you, miss. What you did was the craziest thing I've ever seen."

The girl blushed. "Don't mention it."

"Seriously though," Arthur pressed. "What were you doing with the O'Driscolls?"

The girl smiled ruefully. "Well, I had them convinced that if they turned over the bonds they stole from a passing US Army regiment to me, an agent of the government, they'd receive a reward worth more than what they could fence the bonds for."

Arthur stared at her in awe. "Well I'll be damned. You really are crazy."

"It was working just fine until you turned up," she retorted.

"Then why bother saving me?"

The girl looked at her feet and took a deep breath. "Because letting an innocent man die is extremely counterproductive to my goals."

The way she spoke led Arthur to feel like he shouldn't press for any further details. "Well, miss, I'm not exactly innocent, but I am in your debt. What's your name?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "I...er…people call me Edaline."

"Alright then, Miss...Edaline. I suppose we better part ways here." It was very clear she was lying, but given his debt to her, Arthur chose not to call her out.

She nodded. "Best of luck to you, Mr. Morgan." She turned and mounted her horse.

"And you to you, miss."

With a small wave, the girl tugged her horse around back to the road and galloped off toward Strawberry. Arthur watched her go, cursing himself. He wished he had at least asked her if he could see her again.

Please review! I have the next five chapters written but I'm always down to edit! Soooo excited to post the next one!