Casey slid from Stoney and followed Morgan through a narrow path lined with brush to the cave’s opening. Morgan picked up a limb and handed it to her. She used it as a brush to cover their tracks, thinking about the times she’d done this very thing to hide from lawmen. Inside the cool and dank quarters, she blinked several times until her eyes adjusted to the darkness. With the horses, they barely had room to turn around. She hated closed-in places. They always made her anxious. The smell of the animals coupled with mustiness aroused a whirlpool of recollections. In the past, she’d hidden from the law, not Jenkins. And he’d outsmarted every posse and lawman in the country.
Morgan pointed to a bramble and leaf-covered slice of rock. “We can see the river’s edge from there.” He pushed away just enough of the obstruction to see outside.
Long moments trickled by while they stared at the riverbank.
“Are you thinking this is what I planned?” he said.
She looked beyond the opposite creek bank for signs of Jenkins before answering. “Looks that way to me. Not sure, though. You’re a peculiar man.” She noted his square jaw and concluded it gave him a determined look, but for what? “Have you led me into a trap?”
“Not intentionally. I never planned to get you or me killed.”
“The bait always loses. So what do we do now?”
“Wait a few more minutes. From the prickling on the back of my neck, it won’t be long.”
Within moments, Casey saw the first signs of the gang riding into view. Her heart slammed against her chest. If Jenkins had ridden such a short distance behind them, then they must have started down the mountain last night. Suspicions about Morgan’s motives tugged at her mind. The two men must have talked before Morgan stepped into her campsite. Her gaze rested on her rifle and the saddlebag that held her Colt and derringer.
“Odd how they picked up our trail right after we broke camp,” she said.
“Think what you want.”
Nothing in his expression revealed deceit. Although he didn’t show signs of fear, she’d seen that emotion bring out other types of reactions in a man—anger, overconfidence, or loss of good sense.
“I wish I knew how they got here so fast.” Casey craned her neck to count how many men rode in pursuit. “Or maybe I don’t want to know.”
Morgan continued to study the men. “I know you don’t have any reason to trust me, but if I’m one of them, why are we hiding?”
“You tell me.”
Not a muscle flinched. “Time will prove my words.”
“So it will.”
Silence seemed deafening. The waiting, the endless waiting.
“I’ve met men twice your size who weren’t nearly as tough,” Morgan said.
“Or as mean when I’m riled.” She started to say more, but the sight of those she knew by name riding along the opposite riverbank caused the words to die in her throat.
Casey inwardly shuddered. Through the brush, she viewed her brother beside Jenkins. What part would Tim play if Jenkins discovered them? Surely he felt some sort of compassion for her. In the years they’d ridden with Jenkins, Casey had watched her brother change from a kind, misguided young man to a ruthless killer. No surprise he rode with them.
Her gaze moved from her brother to Jenkins. The outlaw sat tall and proud, as though he led an army brigade instead of a gang of outlaws. She well recognized his coal-black hair and the way he carried his rifle across the saddle.
The whole bunch rode in pursuit of one woman. She didn’t want to think about what might happen if they caught her . . . or if they already had. Panic rose and burned in her chest, and her stomach curdled worse than day-old milk. It couldn’t be much more than noon, but the whole mad race from Jenkins could be over.
“I guess Jenkins knows about this cave after all,” she said. “He has the eyes of an eagle and the tactics of an angry rattler.”
“Most likely so.”
“Is there a way out?”
“Just through the front, the way we came in.” He rubbed a bristled chin. “And I thought I was clever.”
In that instant Casey wanted to believe Morgan spoke the truth.
“If only Jenkins rode within rifle range,” she said. “But I’m not so sure I want any of them on this side of the river.”
“Gunfire would send the rest in our direction with little time for us to get away.”