Rocky Mountain Dreams & Family on the Range Danica Favorite (warren buffett book recommendations .txt) 📖

barely an inch from touching. “I will get my silver, with or without your help. I’m sure your father will do just about anything to get his precious daughter back.”

So much for her grand plan. Because he was right about her father. He loved her far too much to let her go easily. Tears filled her eyes as she realized how selfish she’d been in wanting to leave. She couldn’t let her father be hurt by all of this.

“All right,” Annabelle said softly. “I’ll do what I can to get Nugget to cooperate, but you’ve got to give us room. You’ve waited this long for the silver, surely a few more hours won’t make that much of a difference.”

If there was ever anything to convince Annabelle of the sheer evil in Slade, it was the way the light shone in his eyes at her offer. He’d thought he’d won. And if there was anything that ever prodded Annabelle into action, it was this.

She was sick and tired of everything evil and rotten in this world winning. This time, if it cost her everything, including her life, Slade would not win. She just had to figure out how to make that happen.

Despite the rain not letting up, Joseph returned to the stable and began saddling one of Frank’s other horses.

“You’re crazy to go out back out there,” Wes told him, handing him a bridle.

“What else am I supposed to do? Based on what you just told me, there’s no way that avalanche was an accident.”

He bent to check the cinch on the saddle. Wes grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at him. “Why do you think I’m asking you to wait?”

Joseph straightened and looked at the other man. “Someone tried to kidnap Nugget. Annabelle was accosted in the camp. And the man that her pa is trusting to keep us all safe just tried to kill me. You’ll forgive me if I’m not going to hesitate in making sure they’re out of harm’s way.”

Lord, I don’t even know how I’m going to do that.

“There’s no way you’ll beat him to the camp.”

Hopefully, Slade would be counting on the fact that Joseph was dead, and was waiting in camp for the storm to let up before doing anything. But why would he act now? They’d come no closer to finding the silver than they were when he first started looking.

Except...

The Bible.

Joseph shook his head. He hadn’t told anyone what he’d found in the Bible. Hadn’t had a chance. He’d have liked to have shown it to Frank or Annabelle, but for whatever reason, he hadn’t felt comfortable trusting Slade.

Maybe God had been protecting him more than he knew.

Joseph looked around for the saddlebag he’d had on the other horse. He hadn’t even thought about whether or not the contents had remained dry.

“Where’s my saddlebag?”

Wes pointed to a rack. “I hung it to dry. But what do you need with some old clothes and a couple of rocks?”

Rocks? “What about the Bible that was in there?”

“You really are a praying man,” Wes said with a grin. “Well, rest your mind about that. It wasn’t in there, so you must’ve left it at the camp.”

Joseph’s stomach turned. He’d put it in the saddlebag. Hadn’t wanted to trust leaving it in camp. Slade must’ve switched it out on the mountain. Joseph had his back turned, looking at his pa’s land. Plenty of time for him to have made a switch.

He should have been more careful. And he shouldn’t have assumed that Slade wasn’t paying attention to his Bible reading last night. Slade obviously knew what Joseph was looking at.

“No, that means Slade took it. Last night, I figured out that my pa had used it as a key for the location of his silver. I had it in my saddlebag until I could talk to Frank and see what he thought of the code my pa left. I couldn’t figure out what all the references to the places meant.”

The loss of color on Wes’s face was all Joseph needed to know. He turned and grabbed another saddle. “Then I’d best come with you. If Slade thinks he has the key to where the silver is, then there’s no telling what he’ll do to finally get it.”

Chapter Twenty

The men were poring over a Bible. How could a gang of kidnapping thieves get any more ridiculous?

Nugget had ceased crying, but she remained listless in Annabelle’s arms. Her brother’s murder must have sucked the last bit of life out of her.

Annabelle looked around for something to use as a weapon. If she got out of this alive, she would absolutely insist on having one of those tiny pistols to hide under her skirts. Fortunately, the men seemed to be focused more on the Bible than on them. Fine time for a Bible study. She supposed she should find comfort that something her father had taught Slade had sunk in.

If only she knew which cave they were in. The landscape would give them a clue, if she could convince them to let her outside for a moment.

“Slade,” she called, trying not to disturb Nugget. “I have to use the necessary.”

“So?” He slammed the book shut, and the men scattered.

“Could you please escort me out so I can take care of my needs?”

Her face was warm at the thought of discussing such a personal though fabricated matter with him.

“Nope.” His grin taunted her.

“Boss,” Tom whispered, “maybe you could get her to...”

She didn’t catch the rest of it as the two men put their heads together and began whispering furiously back and forth.

Nugget stirred. “Don’t leave me alone with them. They’re bad men.”

Annabelle shifted the little girl so she could whisper in her ear unobserved. “I want to look around outside so I can see if there’s a way to escape.”

“Don’t leave me.” Nugget’s wail nearly pierced her eardrum.

Slade looked in their direction. “Don’t worry, she’s not going anywhere.”

He sauntered over to them, Bible in hand. “But we