Little Sam's Angel Read Online Free Page B

ground running and didn't stop until he had Gabe by the front of the coat, jerking him off the wagon to his knees. "Give me that deed," the man shouted as he jerked Gabe up and threw him into the gate.
    "What the hell are you doing, Pierce?" Hedges yelled. He fought to keep his team under control, but when he saw Gabe being dragged to his feet and Pierce's fist cocked and ready to drive into Gabe's face, he forgot about them and jumped off the wagon.
    Gabe didn't see the fist. He didn't see much of anything but a red haze. He let the man lift him far enough to get his feet on the ground, then he drove himself up with both legs, his one strong arm swinging.
    A counter-attack was the last thing the bully called Pierce expected. The knuckles caught him across the nose, making a noise that let everyone know without a doubt that his nose was broken. His eyes watered so fast, he was blind and helpless to protect himself as the first punch was followed by another, then another and another until the other riders could get off their horses to help him.
    Pierce rolled off to the side and held his nose until the others managed to get Gabe pressed up against a fence post to hold him, and Hedges was dragged back out of the way. One man each held one of Gabe's arms along the fence rail and one crawled through the fence to hold Gabe to the post with both hands by the collar. One man held Hedges back with an arm around his neck.
    "You're gonna pay for that," Pierce promised with a twisted grin, closing in to repay some of those blows. He was stopped painfully short of his goal by Gabe's foot in the middle of his gut. "Hold him, damn it," he gasped.
    "Get a rope," one of them ordered while he fought to keep his hold on an arm that refused to stay still.
    "Rope, hell," another muttered. "I ain't gonna get my teeth kicked in trying to hogtie him. Bean him, Joe."
    Joe was trying to oblige, but he had a difficult time working his gun free while still holding on to Gabe's collar with only one hand. He finally had the weapon raised above Gabe's head, waiting for a clear whack at him when a new voice joined the chaos, coming from a rider racing in. The words carried over Hedges' wild shouting and made Joe jerk erect and stiff in obedience, even if the voice was female.
    "You hit him, Joe, and you'll draw your time in about five seconds flat."
    "Little Sam, there wasn't no call for this," Hedges cried, wiggling himself free from the man that held him.
    Little Sam Mentrol sat still in the saddle, surveying the men as a group, then each man separately. Tall and slim, though difficult to see in the shapeless jacket and full split riding skirt she wore, her scorn touched every man. None could meet the dark green eyes, and all looked away in shame, except Pierce.
    "What happened?" she asked Pierce.
    "They bit off more than they could chew," Hedges snorted. "Pierce jerked Gabe here off the wagon without a word. He just rode up here, hell bent for leather, jerked him off, and started whaling on him."
    "He was moving in," Pierce roared. "Gonna take the place over."
    "Weren't," Hedges cried. "Just passing through on the way to your place."
    "Who is he?" she asked quietly.
    "Gabe Taylor."
    She asked Gabe, "Are you the man who won that deed last night?"
    Gabe glared at her with such intense hatred that she turned again to Hedges with her brows drawn together in puzzlement. Hedges answered her unspoken question by chewing his lip.
    "Let go of him," she told her men, looking back at Gabe. "I'm sorry this happened. I—"
    "The hell you are," Gabe said, pulling away from the men and the post. "You get men to do all you want done, then act like you're innocent of their crimes."
    "Why, you—" Joe said, raising his gun again.
    "Joe, get away from him!" she shouted, recovering from her shock enough to stop the attack coming this time in the name of her honor.
    Gabe shoved the last of the men away. "You aren't getting what you want this time," he yelled at her. "Hell