Chapter 4

Lucy watched the disbelief, confusion, anger all cross Vin's face. It twisted the knife of guilt deeper when he landed on betrayal.

She dropped her gaze, focused on her hands twisting together on her lap. She took a shaky breath and tried to get some sort of words to come out. "Vin…" she barely managed a whisper.

Vin shook his head, looking at her like she was a stranger. "Why? Why would ya?"

Lucy pressed trembling lips together, fighting for her last bit of composure, but Vin mistook the move as her refusing to talk. He stood abruptly. The sudden movement startled Lucy and she reflexively pressed back against the pew. Vin stared down at her.

"He's a murderer. You know that. You know what he did, what he said I did, how it put a bounty on my head." Vin shook his head in confusion.

"I know," Lucy whispered. She knew better than Vin ever would about Eli Joe's cruelty. She risked a look at her brother. From the corner of her eye she saw the man in dark clothing move. She thought he might be coming closer to side with Vin against her and tensed. But his movement carried him to place him as a protective wall between her and Vin.

"Vin," he said quietly. "Give her a chance to talk."

Lucy risked a look up at Chris Larabee. The hard planes of his face were anything but sympathetic, but his green eyes challenged Vin. He glanced down at her and Lucy quickly dropped her eyes back to her lap.

Josiah, the big man with the rumbling voice didn't move closer, but he spoke to Lucy, his words encouraging. "Just go ahead, Miss. I'm guessing you have more of a tale to tell than just a marriage to that man."

Lucy swallowed hard, her mouth going dry. She didn't want to tell any of them the details. She shared the pertinent fact.

"I did it for you," she said to Vin.

He stilled. She could feel his eyes fixed on her. "What's that mean?" he asked.

"He—Eli Joe—said he would get your name cleared." She looked quickly at Vin, but couldn't hold his gaze. Her eyes darted to the man in fancy clothes who had stopped shuffling his cards. He was listening intently and gave her a charming smile. Lucy quickly averted her gaze. Chris had moved slightly closer to her and Lucy could feel the warmth radiating from him, a confusing comfort as she looked at Vin, his blue eyes icy at the mention of Eli Joe making any sort of promise.

"What did you have to do to get Vin's innocence?" Chris voice was low and reminded Lucy of the quiet stillness of a sidewinder before it struck. But the man clearly was connecting the dots faster than her brother.

"Eli Joe said if I married him, he'd make sure you went free."

Lucy had been in a twister once, when she was seven. When the wind had died down and everything had gone eerily silent, she and Vin had huddled together under a bed in the home of the family that had taken them in for a short while. It had felt like all the air was sucked out of the room while they waited for the roar of the twister to move again. She thought of that now, with the church going completely quiet, not enough air for her to get a breath while she waited for Vin's reaction.

The twister had been less terrifying than Vin's response. At least she had Vin with her when she had been cowering under that bed, telling her it would be ok, his scrawny little nine year old arms holding onto her. The man her brother had grown into just stared at her, his jaw setting into a hard line before he turned on his heel and stormed out of the church.

The men followed after him, leaving Lucy alone with the knowledge she had failed Vin miserably.

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"Slow down, brother," Josiah called as soon as he was out of the church.

Vin was moving quickly, but not going anywhere. He paced the length of the dusty churchyard, taking off his hat to run an agitated hand over his hair before slamming the hat back in place.

"Slow down?" Vin asked, his voice rising. "Slow down, Josiah? Just slow down and ignore what Lucy just said?"

"She had your best interests at heart," Ezra said, leaning against the rickety railing on the steps. "I don't believe she's done anything to deserve your ire."

"Deserve my…?" Vin stopped then, pinning the gambler with a look. "She ain't got none of my 'ire'," he snapped. "That low-down pig Eli Joe's the one I'm mad at!" He looked between the three men who had become his family. "Y'all have no idea what Eli Joe Sullivan is. He's cruel and heartless and—and—"

"And your sister was married to him," Josiah said quietly, finishing what Vin couldn't bring himself to say out loud.

"How am I s'posed to look at her, knowin' what she did, tryin' to help me? Knowin' what he did to her."

"Stop that." Chris snapped the words sharply. "Thinking about what she went through ain't going help you. It ain't going to help her."

Vin shook his head, fixing his eyes out toward the horizon, wishing he could saddle his horse and get away from this. Get Lucy away from everything. But he was too late for that.

"If I may make an observation?" Ezra said casually. "I don't imagine this Eli Joe will be pleased to find his wife here with Vin whenever he arrives. Maybe we should temporarily suspend the family reunion, as pleasant as it is for all involved, and make a plan for Miss Tanner."

"Mrs. Walsh."

Lucy's soft voice interrupted them. Everything in Vin recoiled at her calling herself that.

Vin's had went to the mare's leg holstered at his side. His fingers itched to meet up with Eli Joe again.

"Ezra's right," Chris said. "We need to make a plan." He turned to Lucy and Vin didn't miss the way she flinched at Chris' hard look. Chris didn't seem to notice, or was too focused on the business at hand to care just then. "How far behind you is Eli Joe?"

Lucy shook her head. Vin saw the way she held onto the doorframe, like she was holding herself upright. "I don't know. I left right after he did, but he was headed south first." She looked at Vin. "He was going after Chavez and Grimes, rounding up a posse to ride with him to get you."

Vin hated hearing the familiar way Lucy talked about Eli Joe and his gang. He didn't even want to think about where she left from—Eli Joe's cabin. Where she had lived with him.

"Tanner," Chris spoke sharply again, drawing him back to the present. Vin gave him a nod. He understood. He needed to keep his mind in the present if they were going to protect Lucy.

"The saloon only has one way in and out of the upstairs," Vin said. "The hotel has too many staircases, the church has too many windows. You and Ezra both keep rooms above the saloon. We can get her a room there." He didn't mention that he slept in a wagon parked just outside with a clear view of the saloon.

"Come on," Vin said, his words coming out gruffer than he intended with all the anger and regret he was trying to hold at bay. He tried to soften his voice. "Let's go get you settled in."

He didn't think anything else Lucy said or did could surprise him after the revelation she was married to Eli Joe, but she managed to shock him when she shook her head frantically.

"I have to go back to Tuscosa," she said, panic raising her voice for the first time. "I have to go back to Eli Joe."

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Lucy felt like her heart was about to thunder right out of her chest. The thought of Eli Joe finding her here, with Vin… "He'll kill me!" she exclaimed, feeling her head start to spin. "If he finds out I came here and warned you, he'll kill me!" Her breath came in short gasps. "I have to get home before he knows I left. He'll—he'll—"

She didn't even realize she had started to sink down until a firm hand at her elbow was holding her up.

"Just take it easy." Chris's voice was close and she could smell smoke and leather on him.

She tried to pull away from him, but was too unsteady. He tightened the arm that was around her waist. "I'm not going to hurt you," he said gruffly, his voice quiet.

She stopped fighting in spite of everything in her wanting to, a skill she had learned within a month of marriage to Eli.

Her brother's friend eased her down to a seated position on the top step and moved back, but she was well aware he stayed within arm's reach.

"You're not going back to him," Vin said, no quarter in his tone.

"You don't understand—" Lucy tried again.

"I understand enough." Vin took a breath and when he spoke again, his voice was calmer, closer to the brother she recognized, not this hardened gunfighter or lawman or whatever he was in his new life. "I won't let him get to you. You're safe here."

Lucy wanted to believe him. Vin had never let her down, she trusted him with everything she had. She saw the other men nod, sharing in the promise. She wrapped her arms around her knees and tried to stop the trembling that the thought of Eli Joe inspired. She finally gave Vin a small nod of agreement and he rewarded her with a sigh of relief.

At her nod, Chris turned to Josiah. "Let Buck and the others know," Chris said. "JD and Nathan can get their prisoner out of here and get back by tomorrow."

Josiah and Ezra headed toward town. Chris looked down at her. For a second Lucy thought he was going to give her an order, too. But he just studied her face with those unreadable green eyes before turning to Vin. "I'll tell Inez to get a room ready for her at the saloon."

"Thanks, Pard," Vin said.

Lucy saw the look that passed between them, one of trust and an unspoken commitment to doing whatever it took to bring down Eli Joe. She was thankful her brother had found a family in Four Corners. No matter what she had gone through back in Texas, it had been worth it to buy Vin enough time to find what he had found here.

Vin waited for the other men to head back toward town before he turned to Lucy. "Come on. We'll get you settled in and I'll finally get that breakfast for you."

Lucy nodded, letting Vin help her up. She didn't argue, but she also knew that there was no way she would be safe when Eli Joe found her.

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