“I told you he’d be here,” Hope informed her father with a proud smile. She watched, transfixed, as Frazier stopped to exchange greetings with a ragged miner.
“Hmph!” Bart snorted, then turned to old Joe, but not before Hope could spot a hint of relief shimmering in his steely eyes. “For one hundred dollars, I didn’t think he’d show.”
Old Joe plucked off his hat and scratched vigorously at the weathered bald spot crowning his scalp before setting the worn leather back atop his head. His angular shoulders rose in a lazy shrug. “Some men’ll do anythin’ for a buck. Specially a fella like that ‘un.”
Money? Ha! If they only knew the half of it. She hadn’t told them about the deal she’d struck with Frazier, and she didn’t intend to. She hadn’t even told Luke. There was no need, since she had no intention of honoring it.
Hope winced. Many times they had questioned Frazier’s reasons for accepting a mere pittance for risking his life in going up against the Swedes. Never once did they question Hope’s methods of getting him to do so. Their open trust ate at her conscience, such as it was. In securing her brother’s life, her pride had taken a mortal blow. Never before had she given her word then reneged, and to do so now disturbed her more than she cared to admit.
“Think he can do it?” Luke asked Old Joe, as Frazier shook one miner’s hand, then cheerfully clapped another on the back.
The old man jammed his fist in his pockets, cackling “He’d better. We already got a shaft dug. Hate like hell to leave it now.” He nodded to the men gathering on the other side of the crowd. “Especially knowin’ they’d be benefitin’ from all our hard work.”
Hope followed his gaze, her throat tightening. With the exception of one, all were tall, brawny men, almost equal to Luke in size and stature. Like the Bennetts, they’d traveled from camp to camp, looking to stake a rich claim. This time, they’d picked one already taken by the Bennetts. Things had turned nasty and then the Swedes came up with their idea. What could be simpler than having each group pick their biggest, strongest man to wage a fistfight, winner take claim? Hope, to her eternal regret, had somehow agreed. Since the idea didn’t go against the town’s bylaws, the agreement was considered settled.
Unfortunately, Hope had overlooked the most important aspect—who would fight. Old Joe was too old. So was her father. The Manchester twins weren’t big enough to stand half a chance at winning. That left Luke. With his size and strength, he was the obvious candidate, and yet, because of his mental impairment, he couldn’t be. The only flaw in an otherwise flawless plan, she belatedly mused.
“What if we lose?” Luke asked Old Joe. When he received no answer, he tapped his father’s shoulder. “Does that mean we still have to pay Frazier, Pa? Even if he loses?”
“Dead men don’t need money,” Bart grumbled.
Drake Frazier emerged through the men to Hope’s right and approached the group. A quick glance at the Swedes, who were eying them carefully, told her that this
new development hadn’t gone unnoticed. He didn’t break stride as he latched onto Hope’s arm and continued to move, with her in tow.
“A moment alone with your daughter, Bennett,” was all the greeting he gave as he dragged a protesting Hope in his wake.
The shade of the granite boulder two feet away was a welcome respite from the heat. Hope took no time to enjoy it. She swept a few chestnut wisps back from her brow and glared at him angrily. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded when they stopped short, out of the crowd’s hearing distance.
Although the hand was no longer pulling her, it was still painfully attached to her arm. She tried to shake it off, but like a pesky fly, it refused to leave.
“I’m upping the ante,” Drake replied with a wry twist of his lips. His eyes shimmering in the rays of the late morning sun.
“Upping the—? What!? You can’t do that!”
He chuckled sarcastically, running a roughened palm over his stubbled jaw. “Why not?” he shrugged. “I thought your offer over and realized that what you’re offering is not worth risking my neck over. Now, either you make swallowing a few teeth worth my while, or your brother can do the fighting himself.” He grinned wickedly, knowing damn well she wasn’t in a position to refuse him. “Which will it be, sunshine?”
Hope’s eyes narrowed and her stomach felt as though it had been tied in a strong, hard knot. What, exactly, did he want more of? “Isn’t it a little late for this, Frazier?” she asked, her cheeks draining of color. “I told you before, one hundred dollars is all we have. Less now. What else is there?”
“What I want,” he replied, his words slowed to prolong her agony, “is a cut of the take. If I win, I want part of the mine.”
“Part of—but that’s ridic—!” She snapped her mouth shut and took a few quick breaths to calm her temper. It didn’t work. “What if you lose?” she asked tersely, as he dropped his hand from her arm. “What then?”
“I never lose.” Drake caught and held her gaze, his smile outrageously confident.
Hope tore her attention away, sparing a glance at the tall, robust, blond men. Which one would fight? It would have been tough to decide which of the four was the largest, the most foreboding. They all looked like they could easily tear the large boulder beside her out of the ground with their bare hands.
Frazier’s gaze followed her own, but Hope noticed that it was entirely lacking in fear. Instead, every fiber of his body seemed rigidly self assured. The man’s ego was truly amazing.
“Let’s suppose you do lose,” she continued tightly, crossing her arms over her chest. “Whether you want to admit it or not, there is that chance. If we’re going to make a deal here, I want to know exactly what I get out of it.”
“Spoken like a true southern brat,” he quipped sarcastically. “If I lose, Miss Bennett, you’ll hardly win.”
“As it stands right now, Mr. Frazier, if you lose, we move our camp. Obviously, no one will profit if that happens.”
He smiled dryly. “Obviously. Any suggestions?”
“Yes, actually. On the off chance you do lose, I want all debts to be considered null and void.” She averted her gaze to a pebble near her foot. “I think that’s fair.”