The Widow’s Secret Guest (Preview)

Chapter One

Logan paused and surveyed the wide clearing that Sebastian chose as their new headquarters. Silver Peak, they were back. He hadn’t thought they’d ever come back, or maybe he just hoped they wouldn’t.

“Logan, get over here,” Sebastian called him to the middle of the clearing. Lately, Sebastian had been paying him a lot of attention. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Not only did it garner him more attention from the rest of the gang members, it made him nervous.

He approached Sebastian with suspicion and caution.

“What do you think? Similar to the last place we stayed while near Silver Peak.”

Logan shrugged. It had been a long time since he had been the young man who wanted to please Sebastian and fit in. Now he was just trying to get by until he found a way out.

“It looks like it will work well enough.” He hated encouraging Sebastian in any way. In fact, he had come to hate being around Sebastian completely.

“Don’t be so down. Tell me what you really think.” Sebastian threw his arm over Logan’s shoulders. If a stranger were watching them, they might think that Sebastian was a loving, doting father      and Logan a son looking for his father’s pride.

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

“What are we robbing while we’re here?” He tried not to show all the anger on his face. Controlling his emotions and his expressions was something he had worked on for years. However, Sebastian was a master at discovering what a person was really thinking. It was part of the reason he had been so successful in the crime business so far.

“Why so hasty to know? It’s a surprise.” Sebastian shook his head and took a step back. “Don’t you think I’ve noticed the way that you’ve been hesitant lately? Don’t worry. Everyone goes through it around your age.” Sebastian shook his head, disappointment clear on his face. That was yet another thing that Logan couldn’t trust about Sebastian. He knew how to show any emotion he wanted      to manipulate the person in front of him. “I’m sure you’re wondering if this is the life for you, or if there’s something better out there.”

“That’s not what I’m doing. I know that I’m not allowed to leave no matter how I feel about things.” He’d come clean with Sebastian almost eight months ago, asking to be allowed to leave the group. In fewer words, Sebastian had said that if he did, he was a dead man.

“Don’t be so dramatic and don’t worry. With time, all your doubts will fade away. I even had a couple in my time.”

“Can I go set up my tent now?” Logan was eager to excuse himself from the conversation and to prepare himself for what he had already decided to do that night. He was done waiting around for Sebastian to decide whether he lived or died. He didn’t want to stand by while others hurt innocent people. He was going to do something about it, and he might be a dead man walking, but at least he would be a dead man who looked for justice first.

“Sure. Go ahead but join us by the fire for dinner. You know, I think one day you’ll change your mind about all of this, and then we can continue our training.” Sebastian grinned at him as if they were best friends. As Logan headed to his tent to set it up, he couldn’t help but wonder if Sebastian truly believed that. It was hard to tell with him, but what he did know was that he was not a sentimental man, at least not where it mattered.

As he set up his tent, he thought about his plans for the evening. Joining Sebastian and the others for dinner was going to complicate things a little bit. After what had happened in Silver Peak before, there was no way he was going to sleep even one night before he tried to set things right. The incident had haunted him for the past two years. He tried to come up with ways he could set it right and bring everyone to justice, including himself.

When Sebastian announced they were going back to Silver P     eak, it seemed almost meant to be. The game could go down where they had committed one of their worst atrocities yet.

Logan surveyed his fully set up tent. It had been his home for the past nineteen years. Feelings warred within him. The logical part of him was relieved that he would never have to sleep there again, because after what he did, he would either be in jail, or dead. However, a tiny little sentimental part of him would miss it. That tent represented how Sebastian and the other men had given him a family when he had been abandoned by everyone else.

Past all logical thinking, his mind seemed to hang on to that in a way. He shook his head and checked his pack, leaving it by his bed. As soon as he could slip away from the campfire, he would be off. He plastered on his best smile and headed toward the campfire.

He was going to have to put on a show if he was going to keep their trust long enough to betray all of them.

—*—

Logan stared up at the ceiling of his tent. His plans had gotten delayed yet again when he was put on second watch. He figured the easiest time to slip away would be when he was supposed to be protecting the camp. He’d thought about it a lot. He had gone through every possible outcome and potential complication. It made the most sense, but even so, it seemed harder to implement than to consider it.

Even though he had worked out his plan, his body was tense with nerves. He hadn’t slept a wink, thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong. He was certain that if Sebastian or the other men knew what he was up to, they would finish him off themselves. They would never be able to understand why he was ready to leave regardless of the possible consequences.

The fact was, he was never made for gang life. That had been chosen for him by Sebastian. The sound of the night watch whistle made him start. He took a couple of calming breaths. It needed to look like every other night that he’d taken over the watch.

“Ready to take your turn?” Jericho put his head into Logan’s tent before he could get outside.

“Coming. I suppose I was a little more tired than I thought.” He angled himself between his pack and Jericho, hoping that it didn’t look out of the ordinary.

“I know what you mean. I won’t lie. I’m looking forward to falling asleep. I nearly dozed off a couple of times there. If you ask me, Sebastian’s paranoid. No one knows we’re even here, much less to be looking for us.”

“You’re right, but what can we do?” Logan followed him out of the tent      and holstered his weapon. He waved Jericho off      and took up walking around the camp. He did three or four rounds before he passed by his tent and got his pack. By the fifth round, he was fairly certain everyone was asleep.

He was lucky that Sebastian wasn’t even more paranoid, having two people patrol. There had been times when he had even assigned three people at a time until he’d seen people were too exhausted to do anything in the day.

As he stepped into the trees, he felt an immediate rush of excitement. It was the feeling of taking control of his life for the first time. When Sebastian had stepped in, Logan had been at an all-time low. He was young and didn’t know how to take care of himself or do anything really. Sebastian had taught him everything that he knew. However, despite Sebastian’s instructions he still had a conscience. That was something he was grateful for every single day.

He hurried forward, not sparing a single moment to hesitate. He did his best to keep his footsteps soft. The men back at camp might be asleep one or two hours past his turn to switch shifts. Then they would wake up, and when they realized he was gone, chances were they would wake Sebastian. As soon as Sebastian saw that he was gone, he would know what had happened.

It almost felt unreal getting away so easily. He had dreamed of the moment for so long. When the twinkling lights of town came into view, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had made it to town in less than half an hour. Now he just had to get to the sheriff’s office and convince the sheriff that he meant everything he said.

He recalled the previous sheriff who protected Silver Peak. The memory sent a wave of sickness through his stomach. He hated thinking of what he’d done, of how that man no longer lived because of him. He stumbled forward, turning corners and coming closer to the sheriff’s office.

Sometimes Logan felt trapped in his own mind, playing over moments of the past. It was hard to let go of his mistakes, now that he knew what he could have done differently. But no matter how much he knew now, it was too late to change anything from the past. The sheriff’s office door stood ajar, but he still stopped to knock. A couple of moments later, a young man answered the door.

It was easy to see by the badge on his belt and his young age that he was not the new sheriff. Perhaps he was a deputy.

“Howdy, can I help you?”

“I hope so. I need to speak with the sheriff right away.”

“Can it wait until morning? He’s at home with his family.”

“No. I need to speak with him now. Would you get him for me?”

“What do I tell him? He’s going to want a good reason for why I’m waking him up.”

“Tell him I’m going to help him put a gang behind bars.” The deputy’s eyes narrowed with disbelief and suspicion. Logan hadn’t expected anything else. It was going to be hard for anyone to believe that he was going to turn on the men who raised him. It was a little hard for him to believe at times that he wanted to turn on them.

But this man probably didn’t even know who he was.

“Alrighty then. I think you’re right. The sheriff should hear this. Why don’t you come inside and wait? It won’t take me long to fetch him.”

Logan sat down nervously and watched the young man disappear into the darkness. He could only hope that the deputy was right and that it wouldn’t take too long to get the sheriff, because he wasn’t sure how much time he had before he was discovered.

Within ten minutes, he heard scuffling feet at the door. It was the deputy again, but he was alone.

“Is the sheriff coming?”

“He’ll be here in a few minutes.” For some reason, the deputy looked nervous as he drew closer. Logan wasn’t able to figure out why that was until the deputy’s pistol came out      and swung toward his face. The next thing he knew, his vision was fading to black.

Chapter Two

Maddie hummed a tune as she did the morning milking. It was one of the things she’d fallen into a routine of doing. It made her feel just a little less lonely and she kept her farm running all on her own.

The plan never had been to end up an old maid, all alone, running a farm at the age of twenty-two. However, as Gregory would say, life wouldn’t always give you what you expected.

Maddie smiled fondly at the memory. As hard as it had been, she had started to learn to live without Gregory. Little by little she was putting back together the pieces of her life and moving forward. If someone had suggested two years ago that she would be able to function and remember her old life happily, she never would have believed them.

She shook her head, pushing away sad memories. She did her best not to dwell on Gregory’s death. She picked up her two buckets of milk, and headed out of the barn, nearly running into Marty.

“Good morning, Marty. What are you doing here?”

“That’s a friendly hello.” Marty chuckled and shook his head. “I had a bit of extra time and figured I’d stop by and see if you needed any help.”

She smiled with a nod. Marty was a good friend. He had been back when Gregory was alive and continued to be after his death.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to be unfriendly. You do so much for me already, it makes me feel bad for putting you out so often.”

“Nonsense. You’re not putting me out at all. It’s called being a good neighbor. So, tell me what you need help with.”

“One of the cows broke through the back pasture fence yesterday afternoon. I suppose if you insist on being neighborly, you could fix it.”

“You’ve got it.” Marty grinned and headed back into the barn to get the supplies he would need to fix the fence. Maddie meant it when she said he did too much for her. He spent at least two, sometimes three afternoons out of the week at her house even though she knew he needed plenty of time at his own place. She truly appreciated everything he had done for her. If it wasn’t for him, she wasn’t sure if she would still have the farm running.

There were times when she considered giving up, selling the farm, and moving back to the city. However, she had nothing to go back to, and the farm was what she and Gregory had poured everything they had into. She wanted to make it work at least for the sake of knowing she had kept their dream alive.

She headed into the house and started making cheese, something she would sell in town that afternoon. She’d taken to making and selling everything she could to make ends meet.

She was finishing up with the mixing when someone knocked at the door. She left her cheese pan on the counter and went to open the door.

“Harper! Thank goodness you’re here.”

Harper, the new sheriff’s daughter, was yet another invaluable person in her life. They’d become friends in the first few weeks after they had moved to town. She always thought perhaps it was because Harper could somehow tell she needed a friend, especially after what happened to her husband. Harper also needed a friend. For different reasons, but still, the two of them found something in one another that they could fill. They visited often, sometimes every day.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I got held up for a moment by the minister’s wife. She always has a new story about someone to tell. You know?

“I know what you mean, but I can’t say I mind. I always enjoy talking with her.” Maddie pulled out a chair and offered one to Harper.

“So do I.” Harper laughed. She was one of the kindest people that Maddie knew, but she was also always in a hurry. The minister’s wife was the type of person who would talk all day if she could, even if it meant standing in the middle of the street with passersby hearing bits and pieces of the conversation.

“So, what was the minister’s wife telling you about?”

“Just the usual. Apparently, the Millers haven’t been into church lately. Mrs. Miller is having a problem with her mother back in the city. She wants to move back, and her husband wants to stay.”

“That sounds like quite the dilemma.” Maddie missed those simple sorts of dilemmas. Yes, when her husband was alive, they were things that they disagreed about, and there were more arguments, but she missed not being alone. Back when she had her husband, she had someone to share everything with, whether that be a bad day, or a decision to make, or struggles. Now all she had was herself to talk to. Sometimes she had a friend come over, but they were no replacement for a spouse.

“Do you need help taking the cheese into town? I can’t stay long today. My father needs my help with some things at the office.”

“Really?” Maddie both found it both surprising as well as admirable that Harper helped her father with the sheriff’s office. “Did something different happen?”

“Not exactly, no. He’s just behind with the filing system. I don’t think that he could ever keep up with it. He is very disorganized.” Harper laughed. “I know I complain sometimes, but I do like being useful. Sometimes, the fact that my father needs my help makes me feel like I have something to stick around for.”

Maddie shook her head.

“Don’t talk like that. You have plenty to stick around for. Not only are you super young, but you have lots of people who care about you, including myself. Not to mention, one of these days you’re going to find a handsome young man, settle down, and have lots of babies who need you.”

“I wouldn’t count on it.” Harper crinkled her nose. She told Maddie about her  experience before she and her father moved to town.

A wealthy rancher had broken her heart, destroying her belief in love and a happy future. When it came to disappointing outcomes, Maddie was an expert. She figured that if she could still have hope, then so could Harper. If there was anyone who deserved a happy ending and a bright future, it was Harper.

“I do need help taking the cheese into town, though it’s going to take another thirty minutes to finish.”

“All right then. If you have more tea, I would love some.”

Maddie smiled. She felt as if Harper understood her, and the two of them were different than most young women in town. They always looked out for each other. Most young women in town were being courted by at least one suitor. They dreamed of getting married, settling down, and experiencing the love of their lifetime.

Maddie had already done all of that and wasn’t sure she ever would again. Harper had almost done it and had her heart broken in the worst way. Neither of them was naive, or as hopeful as they once were. However, hearing Harper’s dismal outlook on life made her think that maybe she and Harper should be more focused on their futures and how to find happiness.

She wasn’t sure if they would have one another forever, and no one wanted to end up truly alone.

Chapter Three

Logan blinked against the bright morning sun. His heart sank as soon as he realized where he was, back in Sebastian’s camp. He had no recollection of how he got there. His senses were overwhelmed by the pounding pain in his head. Despite the pain, he tried to push it back to take a look at his surroundings. If there was one thing he had learned early on during his time with Sebastian, it was to always know what was going on.

It seemed he had miscalculated He had acted impulsively, mostly due to the emotions that overcame him from being back in Silver Peak.

He should have taken his time and used the trust the gang had in him to find out more information. He should have built a relationship with the new sheriff and gotten him alone before he told him the truth.

Instead, he had impulsively barged straight into town, thinking that he could turn the entire gang over to the sheriff as easy as that. Perhaps Sebastian had already suspected his plan. Or maybe it had simply been a bad twist of luck. It appeared that Sebastian had the deputy on the inside at the very least. Or maybe the sheriff was also corrupt. Getting away from this gang was going to be a much bigger challenge than he had originally anticipated.

He groaned as he pushed himself up into a sitting position. His hands were tied behind his back, and his feet were also bound. He wasn’t tied to anything but had been left in the middle of the clearing. Sebastian didn’t think he could get very far as restrained as he was. He would have been right.

“Ahh. You are finally awake.” The grating voice came from not too far away, but he was uncertain where the hidden speaker was. As his eyes adjusted to the light, Logan’s eyes landed on Sebastian’s boots first, then traveled up to his furious face. To a stranger, it most likely would have looked as if Sebastian was simply bothered. His eyes were narrowed slightly, and his lips pinched together.

However, after years together, Logan knew the look on Sebastian’s face. It was the look of vengeance, the look of pure fury.

“Did you really think it would be that easy to betray me? I saw your intentions from miles away. I thought you would at least try to be a little smarter about it. I suppose I’m lucky you weren’t.” Sebastian shook his head, then knelt so that he was at eye level with Logan.

Logan couldn’t help but notice that even kneeling, his pants leg didn’t quite touch the dusty ground.

Sebastian cared a lot about his image. In front of his men and in front of the public, he always wanted to appear charming, kind, and even charismatic. Part of all of that was a clean image. It wouldn’t do having people look at him and see him as a homeless man who didn’t know how to take care of himself. The amount of money that Sebastian paid to keep his clothes spotless, and have extra baths was a good portion of what they stole. “Logan knew because, at one time, Sebastian had singled him out. He had given him extra training, given him a glimpse of what it might be like to be in charge.”

Maybe he thought that seeing it up close would tempt Logan to take over. At this moment, on the ground, in pain, Logan wondered if maybe he had made the wrong choice by choosing the right thing.

“You should have let me go when you had the chance.” Logan chose to stick to his decision. He had tried to live with his guilt. He had tried to fit in and his conscience would not let him. The more he tried to fight himself, the more miserable this was going to be. At least this way, he would die for a cause he believed in.

“You have disappointed me, Logan. Did you forget that I took you in when no one else would? I treated you like a son. I trusted you with everything. I would have given you everything.”

“But, maybe I didn’t want everything. I just wanted a normal life, hurting people is not something I enjoy, like you.” He met Sebastian’s gaze as he said the words. That was the most honesty he’d ever had with Sebastian, and he knew that the evil man didn’t care one bit.

He didn’t truly want to know what anyone else thought, wanted, or needed. He assigned values to what he thought people should want, and if people did anything less, he took it personally.

“You should have graciously accepted everything I gave you. Any of the other men here would have taken it in a heartbeat.” Sebastian shook his head, and for a moment Logan thought he saw true sadness there.

He wasn’t sure if Sebastian had ever cared for him like a father, even though he often alluded to such beliefs. There were moments where it looked like he did, where there were flickers of emotion that made him believe it might be possible. However, if Sebastian truly cared for him like a father, then he would have let him go. He would have let him live a life he could be happy with. Wasn’t that what good parents wanted for their children: for them to be happy?

“If I would have accepted everything you offered, it wouldn’t have been honest. I would have dismantled it at the first chance I got.”

“Logan, what is so terrible about this life? Is it the money? Is it having everything that you want whenever you want it? Or perhaps it is the sense of camaraderie, or living with people who care about you for who you truly are.” Most of Sebastian’s words were demeaning, insulting his intelligence and bringing into question everything he believed in. However, there was a small part of genuine curiosity there. It shocked him to see that Sebastian was almost curious about what made him give up the things he believed were so great.

“I don’t think me explaining it will truly show you what it is that I’m looking for. This isn’t an honest life. I’m tired of hurting people. The people we have hurt haunt me in my dreams every single night. I’m done living like that, one way or another.”

“Untie him.”

Logan was almost relieved, but he knew better than to believe that untying him meant anything good. He had known that trying to turn the gang in to the authorities would come at a price. Especially if he was caught. The hands of the men whom he had worked beside for years pulled at his ropes, finally setting him free.

“I want everyone to take a good look at Logan here. After I brought him in, gave him everything. I taught him what he knows and provided for him. After all of that, he tried to turn all of us into the sheriff. He didn’t think about it. He has no regret about his actions, so he deserves everything that is coming to him. But first, I want all of you to have a chance to show him what you think of his actions.”

Logan didn’t have a chance to react before the first person punched him. He threw up his hands to try to protect himself. As he grappled to maintain consciousness, as well as avoid some of the blows from his fellow gang members, his eyes searched the edges of the clearing. He had to find a way to get to the forest. He was injured, but if he could run, he would find a place to hide until he could recover.

His sense of survival propelled him forward. A small break opened up ahead of him, a partition in the men who were trying to punish him. He didn’t have a chance to think about the pain covering every inch of his body, or of the twelve people who now hated him with a passion. Instead, he gathered the last of his strength and pushed himself forward toward that little empty space in the trees. The men shouted as he managed to break away from them, running for all he was worth toward the woods. Sebastian always taught that he accepted anyone without a home. He gave them a new home, united them under one cause. It was all a lie. Even growing up with the protection of Sebastian, he’d never felt the promised friendship. Looking over his shoulder was something he learned early on. The only man in the gang who he knew would never hurt him if it could be helped was Joe, and even he was ultimately loyal to Sebastian

He knew the woods well, most likely better than most of the others in camp. He had long walks alone with his thoughts to thank for that.  He had always been a      loner, and welcomed solitude in order to think about what had happened during the day. Though even those moments of solitude were deceptive. Sebastian always had someone watching.

When his feet hit the leaf covered ground, he turned to the right searching for a pass that would take him to safety. His mind was set on a gully near the river, where the tree roots formed a false ceiling. If he could slip unseen into the gully they would pass right over him.

The men followed him, also running. He could hear them crashing through the brush behind him, but he didn’t look back. His eyes were swelling from the blows, making it hard to see, and his ribs screamed in pain with every breath. He was going to have to hold on a little longer to find safety. His safety depended on him getting far enough ahead to disappear.

He knew the path to where he was going. He didn’t know if the gully was as well covered as it had been before, but it was his only chance.

The place he was heading to was by the creek. To one side of the creek there was a sort of dugout. It was hidden by the creek bank, and he wouldn’t have even known it was there except for one day when he was sitting by the creek his whittling knife fell below. When he didn’t see it floating down the water, he climbed down to look for it. He found an opening between the large roots of the tree along the bank and was amazed by the huge space below that had been carved out by the water during heavy rains.

If he could get there without being seen, he could slip into that hiding spot and hope that the others would get lost looking for him in the woods. Then when night fell, he would find a safer place to be covered.