A Colorado Christmas by Virginia Brown

Author:Virginia Brown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BelleBooks Inc.
Published: 2013-11-11T00:00:00+00:00

Four

December 22

“THEY HIT ANOTHER mine payroll,” Roger Hartman said with a dark frown. He moved to sit on the edge of the desk placed in one corner of the superintendent’s office of the Colorado Central railroad. Then he looked from Devon to Jake and back. “Seems that this time the bandits were hidden in the baggage car waiting for the right time to hit. It was pretty carefully executed, but there was a hitch in their plans...”

As Devon lifted a brow, Jake saw the faint spark in Roger’s eyes and braced himself. He knew Roger well enough to realize that something bad was coming, but he still wasn’t quite prepared for what came next.

“Looks like there was an unexpected passenger riding two cars back from the engine,” Roger said slowly, his gaze still fixed on Devon. “One of the bandits recognized her, and reports say she was taken as hostage. From all indications the lady had boarded the train near Belton, Texas.”

For an instant Devon’s expression didn’t change. But Jake was watching him closely and knew when realization struck.

“Maggie?”

Hartman nodded. “Yeah. Sorry, Conrad. Seems like she was on that train, and apparently Kate recognized her.”

With slow disbelief in his eyes, Devon said, “And Kate dragged her along?”

“Well, according to the report I just received, it wasn’t quite like that. There was a quarrel between two of the robbers—one of whom was a woman—and a brief skirmish before Maggie was abducted. Of course, as always, there are conflicting stories. I’ve got men trying to sort out fact from fiction and get the truth now.”

Jake was ready when Devon pivoted on his boot heel and stalked toward the door of the small office. He caught him by the arm, then quickly released him when Devon swung around with murder in his eyes.

Holding up his hands to show he was unarmed, Jake said, “Easy, Devon. I’m on your side, remember?”

“Then keep your damn hands off me. I’m wasting time standing here when those men have got Kate and Maggie. And come to think of it—why are you just standing here?”

“I’m as worried as you are, but we all know we have to take this slowly. We’re not fooling with amateurs here. Charwell and Lincoln have been doing this a long time. Now that they’re raking in even more loot, they’re bound to get too greedy. It always happens with men like that. When they get greedy, they’ll get careless. Then we’ll have ’em.”

“A lot can happen before then.”

“Yeah, but if you’ll take a look at this map Roger’s been working on, you’ll see a kind of pattern. Come on, Devon, you may recognize some of these places. Their strikes have all been within a twenty-five-mile radius. There are a lot of canyons and arroyos in there, and you may be familiar with some of ’em.”

Devon hesitated, then sucked in a deep breath. Jake saw some of the tension ease as he nodded. “You’re right. Let me see the map.”

Jake glanced up and met Roger’s eyes, seeing the relief there.

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