Lara's Wild West Adventure
A tribute to a great heroine

Chapter Eight - Missing
Lara glanced around just in time to see the sheriff pulling his gun. Desperately she tried to turn, her brain telling her she wasn't going to make it.

The sheriff's weapon came up. There was a shot and to Lara's amazement, Branson's nametag lit up and he clutched his stomach.

She glanced around to see smoke coming from the barrel of Belle's gun. Lara stared in amazement. Belle had shot the sheriff?

Movement in her peripheral vision caught her attention and she saw Wyatt ducking behind the file cabinet, lifting his weapon toward Belle. Lara brought up her own guns. Twin shots rang out Wyatt stumbled backward, a look of surprise on his face.

For a few seconds no one spoke.

"Marshal, I hit you with my gun," Lara reminded him. "You're out cold. Lie down on the floor."

"She's right, Bill," agreed Branson. Lara could see the sheriff's nametag was glowing a bright red. She glanced at Wyatt. His nametag was glowing, too.

"C'mon, Annie," Belle said, "It's time to boogie."

Lara stared at her. "I beg your pardon?"

Belle shrugged. "Oh, all right then. Let's make tracks, pardner."

The two women backed to the door.

"Which bank did you rob, Belle," called Branson.

"Why, sheriff," the black-haired woman said sweetly. "Thank you for asking. Both of them, of course."

A few seconds later they reached their horses and swung up in the saddle. Lara turned to her companion. "This is where the bank robbers make their escape, correct?"

Belle nodded. "Absolutely. We just have to make sure we're back by four o'clock."

Lara looked at her in puzzlement. "Four o'clock?"

Belle smiled. "I'll need some extra time to get ready for dinner. With you and Britches at the table, I have to be extra careful. I don't want Bill lookin' at anything but me."

"Speaking of Britches," Lara replied. "I wonder what my gunslingin' roommate is up to now."

        * * * * *

Bill Dugan knelt beside the unconscious body of the young woman, waiting for his racing heartbeat to slow down. He was gonna have to start working out more. She'd put up a lot more fight than he'd expected. Now he had to get her outta here before someone else showed up.

Reaching down, he unfastened her gunbelt and pulled it from around her hips. She wouldn't need it where she was going, that was for sure. He unfastened her nametag, too, and his gaze lingered on her young face for a moment. Man, she's pretty, he thought. It would be a shame to kill her.

After throwing the gunbelt and nametag into a clump of thick bushes, he picked up Julie Darwood, and with a grunt, threw her over his shoulder.

        * * * * *

It was just after four o'clock in the afternoon when the two bank robbers returned to Silverado. Lara and Belle had enjoyed their ride, although Lara found herself feeling her lack of sleep. They'd had a chance to get to know each other and Lara had learned that, as she had expected, Belle and her husband were financially well off.

"Bill started a high tech company about fifteen years ago," Belle had told her. "It was one of those classic cases of having the right product at the right time. Our stock took off and never stopped. Last year he sold the company and today he has a consulting position that lets him work only as much as he wants to. So we travel a lot and get to play cowboy."

Lara smiled as she remembered that last comment. Belle and her husband were pretty down to earth people, and it might be fun to stay in touch with them after Silverado. For her part, Lara had been guarded when asked what she did, saying only that she collected "old artifacts."

They turned their animals into the corral and Lara looked for Britches' brown and white paint horse. But it wasn't there. Hmmm. Where was she? By the time they got to the front entrance of the hotel, it was bothering her that Britches had not returned.

"Belle, I'll see you at dinner. I want to speak to the sheriff."

"Is anything wrong, Annie?"

"I'm just a little concerned about Britches. I thought he might know where she is."

Ninety seconds later she pushed her way into the sheriff's office. Branson looked up from his desk and frowned. "Returning to the scene of the crime?"

Lara put on a look of surprise. "Why, whatever are you talking about, sheriff?"

"Bank Robbery. I can prob'ly come up with a half dozen more charges if I work at it."

Lara nodded. "Bank Robbery is a serious crime. You have a…what do you call it?…a warrant for my arrest?"

Branson looked uncomfortable. "Well, as it happens, no. The bank robber was masked."

Lara smiled sweetly. "Too bad."

Branson smiled. "Yeah, it is, isn't it? Is there something I can do for you, Miss Annie?"

"Do you happen to know where Britches might be? I haven't seen her since this morning."

He shook his head. "She said she was going for a ride and wanted to know some places to see. I told her about a place called The Bottoms. It's a ghost town about four miles south."

"That was this morning?"

"Yep. I warned her to be careful, what with the Spade gang around, you know."

Lara's eyebrows lifted. "You pointed her into a trap?"

Branson held up his hands defensively. "I warned her there might be trouble, that's all."

Lara bit back the sarcastic remark on the tip of her tongue. Instead she said, "Is there any way we can check to see if anyone's seen her?"

Branson's smiled faded. "You're really concerned aren't you?"

"Yes. I've got this feeling that something's wrong. It's a feeling I've learned to trust."

Branson drummed his fingers on his desk for a moment, then got to his feet. Lara followed him into the back room and watched him pick up the phone.

"Matt Branson here, is Spade up yet?" He waited for a moment. "You get some sleep?" Another pause. "Listen, did you send a couple of the boys down to The Bottoms this morning?"

He listened for a moment. "Well, she hasn't come back and I've got Miss Oakley here in my office, concerned about her." Another pause. "Okay, call me back."

He hung up the phone and turned to Lara. "He did send some men to intercept her, but that was this morning. He's gonna talk with them and see what happened."

Lara headed for the front door. "I'm going to ride down there and have a look. I'll check back with you later."

When she got to the livery stable, she happened to glance into the corral…and stopped dead in her tracks. Standing near the back fence, right next to Feathers, was the brown and white pinto.

"When did Britches get back?" she asked the farrier.

His answer had her racing for the corral.

        * * * * *

Three quarters of an hour later, Lara rode down the street of the ghost town. Ghost town is the right term, she thought. It looked like no one had lived here for a very long time.

Swinging down, she had just tied Feathers to the hitching rail when she heard horses approaching. Turning she saw Spade and three of his men coming toward her. Great. Branson had sent them to ambush her. Quick as a flash, she pulled her guns and broke for the nearest building. How was she going to get away? She couldn't get back to her horse without getting shot.

"Miss Annie," Spade's called. "We're here to help you look for Britches."

Lara peered around the edge of the building. "How do I know this isn't some kind of a trick, Spade."

"It isn't. These men saw Britches this morning. Don't you want to talk to them?"

She did. Spade made the introductions and Lara was surprised to find that one of the men, Arizona, was the man she'd seen in the caboose with Britches yesterday. She remembered Chad from the train, too. Spade had them tell of their encounter with Britches and it was clear that Britches had some real admirers.

"Bravest gal I ever saw," said Chad. "I had my rope around her and next thing I knew she was off of that horse and I was lookin' down the bore of her gun."

"Chased me half way around town," agreed Pete. "Shot me, too."

Lara turned to Arizona, half expecting him to say something. The man in black hadn't said much so far. "She's pretty good," he allowed. "But there's something holding her back. 'Till she gets past it…" he shrugged.

When Lara told them that Britches' horse had come home without her, Spade suggested they split up and search the place. Ten minutes later Pete's shout brought them all running. One minute after that, Spade pulled a cell phone from his saddlebag and called Alison Kennedy.

"All right," he told her after listening for a moment. "We'll look around a bit further." He punched off the phone and turned to the others. "She's called the county sheriff. They've got someone on the way. While we wait, let's see what else we can find."

        * * * * *

It was well after dark when Lara and Spade returned to Silverado. After meeting with Alison and Jason Trimble in Alison's office, the two made their way to the dining room. It was closed, but Alison had made special arrangements for them and Lara was grateful to find a hot meal waiting. She was really feeling her lack of sleep and it was hard to stay awake.

The sheriff's office had declared Britches a missing person for the moment, but after learning she was the daughter of someone important, everyone feared that she might have been abducted. Mr. Trimble had ordered the park sealed and every vehicle going out was to be searched. The sheriff's detective was questioning the gate personnel about vehicles that had left earlier.

"You know, Spade," Lara said. "I think she's still here somewhere."

"What makes you say that?"

"The place is huge. Lot's of places to hide. If they went out through the gate, someone might remember a face."

Spade nodded. "Or they could've gone through the fence."

Lara blinked. "Through the fence?"

Spade took a sip from his coffee cup. "Sure. If this is really a kidnapping, we're talking about a felony crime. Whoever did it wouldn't hesitate to cut through the fence to get out."

Lara jumped to her feet. "We've gotta go check…"

Spade pointed at the chair. "Sit, woman. You're dead on your feet."

"But…"

"Sit. A few minutes more or less won't matter. If they've already cut the fence, they'll be long gone."

Lara slowly sank back into her chair, her fatigue eating into her strength. Britches kidnapped? How awful. They just had to find her.

"Eat." Spade's words broke into her train of thought. Lara smiled sheepishly and picked up her fork.

"Get your batteries charged," he said, pointing to her plate. "Then we'll go take a look."

Finished a little later, Lara finally put her cloth napkin back on the table. "That was good. Can we go now?"

Spade chuckled. "Sure. But if we're goin' after genuine bad guys, wouldn't you rather have some guns that can really shoot?"

Lara was taken aback, not sure what to make of his words.

"Nine millimeter's your favorite, isn't it?" he said with a grin. "To each, his own, I suppose. Personally, I still like my Browning .45 auto. When I hit something, I want it to go down and stay down." He shrugged. "Still, I guess there's something to say for ten rounds in the magazine."

Lara shook her head. "What in the world are you talking about?"

Spade grin was wide now. "I'm talking about a world-famous adventuress who just happened to show up in my town this week. Who better to be Annie Oakley than Lara Croft?"

Lara sputtered. "Preposterous. I don't even know this 'Lara Croft' person."

Spade's grin faded to a smile. "You can't fool me, Miss Croft. I knew it was you the moment I saw you on the train. It takes more than a cowboy hat and a pair of pigtails to hide someone I admire very much."

Lara sat back in her chair and regarded the man in front of her. Spade, too, leaned back in his chair, clearly amused, waiting for her reaction.

"So you've known all along?"

"Yes. I wouldn't run half my crew around all night for just anybody, you know."

"And I suppose you've taken great delight in shooting me in the back and taking me prisoner."

Spade laughed. "Sure. Isn't it every man's dream to take Lara Croft's guns away from her and chain her to his bed?"

Lara turned about three shades of purple. "And I suppose you're gonna tell all the tabloids about it, too? They'd just love it. 'Lara in chains.' Great."

Spade's smile disappeared. "Not on your life. You came here as our guest. The boys and I are thrilled to have you, although they won't learn who you really are until you're ready to leave. You're a classy lady, Miss Croft. We wouldn't think of doin' anything to hurt you."

"It was still a dirty trick," she retorted, still somewhat upset.

"But it was a challenge for you wasn't it? And you had a good time, didn't you?"

Lara had a hard time holding her anger. Finally, she took a deep breath.

"Friends?" he asked and held out his hand.

She slapped it away, hard. "Not on your life, Mr. Spade. You can't do that to me and get away with it. I'll get even with you if it's the last thing I do!"

Spade nursed his hand. "Man, remind me not to do that again." He stood up. "I had all of your luggage placed in your room. My guess is you've got more guns up there than our armory." He turned for the door. "I'll make some calls and meet you out front in ten minutes."

        * * * * *

Lara stepped out onto the sidewalk, the familiar weight of her 9mm pistols riding comfortably at her sides. She had assembled her combat shotgun, but decided she didn't need it, given the class of the likely opposition. She had remained in her cowboy clothes, retaining her fiction for those who didn't know who she was.

Spade glanced down and nodded in approval. "I thought you might have brought your stuff with you. And just so you know who you're runnin' with, I was a Seal before I became a cowboy. So it's fair to say I've been shot at before, too."

A seal? As in Navy Seal?

She heard the sound of engines and Lara glanced around to see four big pickup trucks coming up the street. The first truck pulled up next to them and a familiar figure hopped out.

"Thanks, Chad," Spade told him. "Make sure my horse gets back, would you?" He assigned each of the other trucks to a search area. Lara could see two men in each cab and they were obviously loaded for bear.

Finally he turned to Lara. "Miss Annie, the stage is leaving, please get aboard."

Lara ran around the truck and climbed into the passenger side, just in time to see Spade pull something from under the seat. It was a .45 automatic. Spade slipped a magazine into the weapon, pulled back the slide and pressed the safety.

"Passengers will please fasten seat belts," he said as he turned the key.

Ten seconds later they headed into the darkness and Lara murmured a silent prayer that they would find Britches before it was too late.

Go to Chapter Nine.