The Outlaw’s Bloody Redemption (Preview)

Prologue

Colten Bridges was just five years old when his life took a turn that would set the pace for many years to come. 

He was crouched in the corner of his closet, even though just a few days ago, he’d been fearful of the tiny room. He didn’t like closed-in spaces, especially because his mother wasn’t there with him. If she was right next to him, he could do pretty much anything. 

He heard shouting coming from the other side of his door. Whoever was shouting wasn’t near him, though; they must have been in the kitchen or living room. The voice was muffled and he couldn’t understand the words. 

Colten’s room was pitch dark and chilly. There was no fireplace in his small room. And it wasn’t the right time of year for fires, Papa had told him yesterday.

When he heard the sound of fast-moving horses right outside the house, he crawled out from the closet and went to his window on his hands and knees. He only peeked out, lifting up from his crouched position to do so. Then he dropped back down and crawled to the closet again. There were a lot of men out there. He hadn’t had time to count them all. 

Those men scared him. 

Heart thumping with anxiety, he tried to get in the closet and close the door before those men busted through the walls and snatched him up. Before he reached the closet, however, the door to his room burst open. His mother came running in, a long Winchester rifle in one hand, her face panicked.

“Colt!” she barked, though she spoke quietly. “Come here.” She waved her hand at him. 

Colten ran to her, as he’d always done when she called. He wrapped his arms around her waist and she bent over to pat him on the back. Then she set the rifle down on the ground and got down on her hands and knees. She wrapped her arms around him and held him to her. 

He’d thought his heart was beating hard but when his mother hugged him, he could feel hers pulsing against her chest. 

“Come out, Frank!” he heard the men yelling outside. 

He squeezed his mother harder. 

“My boy, my boy,” she whispered. “It’s all right to be afraid. I’m afraid, too. But we can be afraid and strong at the same time, can’t we?” She pulled him away from her and looked him in his eyes. “We have to be strong now.”

“Why do those bad men want Papa?” Colten asked. “What are they going to do?”

“I’ll tell you later, son.” She kissed his forehead. “Do you remember your hiding place? You remember what I told you to do if there was ever a need to run?”

He nodded vigorously. “Yes, Mama.”

“Now is the time. I want you to be very, very quiet, all right? Be quiet.” She placed a finger against her lips. “It’s time to be as silent as you can be.”

“Yes, Mama.”

She pushed her fingers through his brown curls. “You’re my handsome little boy and I love you. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, Mama. I love you, too.”

She smiled at him. The sound of gunshots outside and those bullets making impact with the walls of the house out front made Colten cringe. 

“Mama!” he cried, grabbing her into a hug again. “You come with me. Please come with me.”

“I can’t, honey. They will know I have left and will come and find us. We won’t be safe anywhere. You go right where I told you to go. Aunt Lynn will give you everything you need until you’re a grown boy.”

Colten didn’t like the sound of that. It sounded like his mama didn’t expect to see him again for his whole life. “Where will you be?”

“I will be somewhere safe,” she replied. 

“But I want to come with you.”

The tears that had been welling in his mother’s eyes slid down her cheeks. He hated seeing her cry. “You can’t, honey.”

There was a loud crash and Colten wondered if the front door had been smashed in. His mother twisted abruptly and flew into action. She rushed to the closet and pulled up the two boards, waving at him. 

“Come on. Go. Go.”

She left the closet with the floorboards pulled up, grabbed her rifle, and was at the door in only a few seconds. She turned back, blowing him a kiss before sliding through the door.

“Don’t forget to put the boards back, my son.” Her voice sounded distraught. “I love you. So much. Be safe, sweet baby.”

Colten hated when the door closed and he could no longer see her. 

“Bye, Mama,” he mumbled weakly. Once the door was closed, his shoulders slumped and he went to the closet as he was told. He jumped down into the hole that put him under the house. Reaching up, he was able to drag both the boards back into place. 

He curled up for a moment, holding his legs up against himself. He heard the door to his room open, followed by shouting and the thumping of boots across the floor above him. He heard his mother screaming and squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to block it all out. 

Colten was about to move and get out from under the house, but when he turned to his side, he halted. He was staring straight into the eyes of a snake that had lifted its head and was bobbing back and forth, looking at him. 

He didn’t know what kind of snake it was. His papa had told him there were dangerous snakes and non-dangerous snakes, but he didn’t know what this one was. It was too dark for him to see its markings.

“Burn it down!” cried the men who had invaded his house. “Burn it down!” 

They began to chant the words, but all Colten could think about was the snake directly in front of him. 

What was it his father had told him? He had to behead it. It was the only way.

But Colten was five and had no weapons on him. What could he do?

When he heard crackling from the fire above his head, he knew he couldn’t wait another moment. The underside of the house would soon fill up with smoke and he wouldn’t be able to breathe. 

By pure instinct, he shot out with one hand and snatched the snake by its neck, just behind its head. The snake reacted with panic, but Colten didn’t care. There was just enough room for him to stand up, so he did so, holding the snake’s head to the ground.

He’d gotten dressed, even putting on his boots when he’d heard the shouting, before he got in the closet. Just in case he would need to run. 

He placed one small boot on the snake’s head and crushed it, using all his weight. 

Smoke curled in from the floorboards of the house. He had no time left. He had to go. As he crawled out from under the house, he stumbled, leaning against a board that was charred from the fire consuming the house. 

He tried hard to contain the cry that came from his mouth. His cheek had touched the burning log, searing it. He’d never felt pain like that before. He had to get to his aunt’s house as quickly as he could. 

Colten started to run.

Chapter One

Twenty-five years had passed and Colten could still recall that day. He absent-mindedly touched the scar the burning log had left on his right cheek. Over the years, he’d made up some outlandish stories to explain that burn. Not once had he told the truth. 

He’d lost both his parents that day, and the following investigation into their deaths had pinned the murders on a ruthless criminal named Burnes. Henry Burnes. He was the leader of a gang of elusive outlaws, and even at his advanced age, he was still running things like he was twenty. 

Henry and his gang had never paid for their crime. Colten remained angry about it.

“Howdy.” 

Colten looked at his friend and fellow thief, Rory McDonald, who had dropped down on the elevated walkway in front of the general store. He and Rory were temporarily residing in the boarding house in Brenton, Nebraska. 

“Howdy,” Colten responded.

“What are you up to?” Rory asked, narrowing his eyes and gazing in the direction Colten was looking. 

“See that man and that woman getting out of the coach?” Colten was staring across the street at the inn where the coach had just pulled up. 

“Yeah,” Rory replied without looking at his friend. “What about ‘em?”

“Those people are rich. That’s Reginald Houser and his secretary, Laura Plato. He’s a land baron out in Ohio.”

Rory looked at him, his eyebrows pulled together. “How come you know so much about them? You check the registry?”

Colten raised his eyebrows, glancing at Rory. The man was his best friend. He knew Colten had done exactly that. It was common for him or Rory to ask Billy, a young man who often let them see who was coming to town. Colten had a feeling Billy thought they were interesting. He wasn’t a thief or a criminal, yet he respected Colten and Rory for some odd reason. They used the information he gave them to case out possible robbery victims. They liked to pick the richest and most vulnerable.

Colten tilted his head to the side and spoke in a sarcastic tone. “They’ll be the only ones arriving today. I think they’re planning to join the wagon train that’s supposed to be here tomorrow. You know anything about that?”

Rory raised his eyebrows. “Wagon train? Nah, didn’t hear about that. You think they’re gonna join ‘em, huh?”

“Yeah.” Colten nodded. “And that fancy carriage of theirs ain’t gonna cut it. They must have a wagon around here somewhere.”

Rory nodded. “You gonna rob ‘em?”

Colten didn’t answer his friend. He just gave him a look. It made Rory chuckle. 

He got up and strolled away from Rory, who didn’t follow. He kept his eyes on the woman. That would be his ticket. She was single and pretty, small and delicate. He had no doubt he could charm her. The old man with her wasn’t strong enough to stop Colten, he was sure of that. 

However, Colten liked to be strategic. He didn’t let any fear in because it didn’t matter what he did in his life. When he died, he would see his parents again. He’d give them big hugs and kisses. 

He loved them even more now than he had when he was a child, but he didn’t miss them as much after all these years. He’d grown to accept what had happened and made peace with it. 

That didn’t mean he wasn’t still desiring revenge. He’d been too young to do anything at the time, but as he grew, he began to feel more and more resentment toward the men who’d taken their lives. He’d never been able to prove it was Henry, and neither could the sheriff who investigated the attack. Henry’s boasting to his peers that he was responsible wasn’t enough to bring the outlaw to justice. 

That would fall to Colten.

Colten wanted them to suffer, to pay for what they’d done. He had hated living with his aunt. Lynn and her husband, Joe, were not nice people, at least not to children. Colten had left the family home at fifteen and never looked back. Ten years of hell for him. Ten years of resentment and pain that had filled him to the breaking point. 

He was lucky he’d never committed murder and spent time in prison.

No, Colten’s worst crime was stealing, but he only did what he had to do to survive. He had somewhat of an innocent face, though he’d lived his life rough. 

Colten went into the inn, following the rich man and his assistant. He wandered close by, staying out of sight so when the caretaker came to check the couple in, he could hear their room number. 

He imagined all the fine things those people had in their rooms. He smiled with one side of his lips, wondering what items of value he would find.

Chapter Two

“What say we get something to eat and drink before we go to the room, Laura,” the older man said in a friendly way.

Colten hated to hear it. He didn’t like stealing from nice rich people. But beggars couldn’t be choosers. He did what he had to do, and these people could afford to lose a little. He had nothing he could afford losing. 

The clerk hadn’t said their room out loud, which was terribly inconvenient for him. He wandered into the dining area and took a seat to the far right, hoping the couple would sit close enough for him to hear what they said. Would they be going on the wagon train, like he suspected? 

A plan began to form in his mind. He’d been wanting to get away from Brenton for some time. Before he sat down, he went to the counter and got himself a cup of coffee, dropping a penny in a small jar next to the coffee pot to pay for his drink. 

“It’s just one night, Laura,” the man was saying behind Colten as he came into the room. Colten’s heart jumped in his chest, though there was no reason for this stranger to suspect what was going on in Colten’s head.

“I know, Mr. Houser. I’m not complaining. I promise.”

“You’ll feel much better when we get to California. That’s my promise to you.”

Colten ignored the natural compassion he had for other people. He had to. If he didn’t rob people who were nice, he would likely starve to death. He had ten cents in his pocket, enough to last him a day or two. But that wasn’t enough. He wanted a lot more money, and taking it from those who didn’t need it as much as he did was his only option. He didn’t know how to work the land on a farm or ranch and didn’t have a green thumb of his own. The only skill he had was charming people out of their money.

He’d been saving up for a while. The dime in his pocket was just the tip of the iceberg. He had fifty dollars saved—a fortune that he’d scrimped and put away for the last fifteen years of his life. It was his uncle Max who had taught him the value of money. Unfortunately, it was also his uncle who’d taught him how to be a thief without getting caught.

He was good at living below his means. That money was going to get him out of a jam someday. Maybe tomorrow would be that day. Maybe he could buy the wagon Mr. Houser was going to use. It wouldn’t be the fancy carriage they’d come in, that’s for sure. 

When the serving girl brought a mug of beer to him, he smiled at her. When she didn’t smile back, but looked rather shy instead, dropping her eyes to the floor, he tilted his head. 

“Everything okay, Sarah?” he asked. 

“My boss is here,” she said quietly, leaning forward so he would hear her. He leaned forward, too, one arm draped over the back of his chair as he did so. 

“So?” he asked.

Sarah glanced over her shoulder. “He doesn’t like you.”

This was news to Colten. He hadn’t done anything to the innkeeper. When he looked at the man behind the front counter, who was looking down at a ledger open in front of him, he felt that deep resentment that had been stewing for so many years rise up, making him feel a little sick to his stomach.

He placed one hand over it and frowned at Sarah.

“I have just as much right to be here as anyone else. I’m not going anywhere.”

“I know, Colt. I’m just letting you know he might say something to you.”

Colt nodded and jerked his head in the direction of the newcomers, who had sat at a different table and were paying him and the server no attention. 

“You know them?” 

Sarah glanced over and shook her head, drawing her eyes back to Colten. He sensed she was fearful of what he might do to the strangers. She, along with everyone else in Brenton, should know he wasn’t violent. He only carried a gun because he had to. The bullets in that gun wouldn’t leave the chamber until he had the Burnes Gang in front of him. 

If he were ever to get violent, it would be for a good reason. He’d been in quite a few fights before when he’d needed to defend himself or a helpless person, but that was it. He carried the gun for defense purposes only. 

He didn’t think the Burnes Gang had ever realized there had been a little boy in the house they’d burned down. If they did suspect, they would likely have tried to find him to make sure he was dead. It was incredibly stupid on their part for not knowing, considering they were there to kill his father and, apparently, his mother, too.

After all these years, he could still hear the crackling of that fire as it took away his entire childhood and destroyed his life. Thinking about it made him angry. 

“Bring me a ham sandwich? With some cheese?” He used his kindest voice, the one that charmed all the ladies. As expected, Sarah’s lips twitched as she fought a smile. She looked away bashfully, as if he was flirting with her, which he wasn’t. 

“Of course. But just… be careful. Okay?”

He smiled wide. He’d taken good care of his teeth over the years and they were naturally straight so he had one of the best smiles in all of Brenton, probably Nebraska. And women fell for it every time. 

Sarah went so far as to giggle before she turned away. He was still watching her and even at an angle, he could see the innkeeper looking up at both of them. That made the smile and shyness disappear. Sarah’s body tensed and she walked stiffly back to the counter where her boss was standing. 

He said something to her under his breath and she said something back, prompting the man to give Colten the evil eye. In response, Colten took out his gun and set it in front of him on the table. 

The innkeeper did not approve of the gun. His eyes slid to the weapon and back to Colten. He returned to his work without saying another word to Sarah, who went through the curtain to the back of the inn where the kitchen was.

Satisfied, Colten turned his attention to the newcomers. All he had to do was wait for the man to leave. If he left Laura there all alone, Colten would seize the opportunity to go over and talk to her.