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  Tougher than the Rest, Book One

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  Harder than the Rest, Book Three

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  Wilder than the Rest, Book Six

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  Redemption’s Edge, Book One

  Wildfire Creek, Book Two

  Sunrise Ridge, Book Three

  Dixie Moon, Book Four

  Survivor Pass, Book Five

  MacLarens of Boundary Mountain

  Colin’s Quest, Book One,

  Brodie’s Gamble, Book Two

  Contemporary Romance Series

  MacLarens of Fire Mountain

  Second Summer, Book One

  Hard Landing, Book Two

  One More Day, Book Three

  All Your Nights, Book Four

  Always Love You, Book Five

  Hearts Don’t Lie, Book Six

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  Brodie’s Gamble

  MacLarens of Boundary Mountain

  Historical Western Romance Series

  SHIRLEEN DAVIES

  Book Two in the MacLarens of Boundary Mountain

  Historical Western Romance Series

  Copyright © 2016 by Shirleen Davies

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  For permission requests, contact the publisher.

  Avalanche Ranch Press, LLC

  PO Box 12618

  Prescott, AZ 86304

  Brodie’s Gamble is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used facetiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is wholly coincidental.

  Book design and conversions by Joseph Murray at 3rdplanetpublishing.com

  Cover design by Kim Killion, The Killion Group

  ISBN: 978-1-941786-34-5

  I care about quality. If you find something in error, please contact me via email at [email protected]

  Description

  Brodie’s Gamble, Book Two, MacLarens of Boundary Mountain Historical Western Romance Series

  “Every book of Shirleen's never fails to draw me in and make it impossible to put down until I devour it!”

  Brodie MacLaren has a dream. He yearns to wear the star—bring the guilty to justice and protect those who are innocent. In his mind, guilty means guilty, even when it includes a beautiful woman who sets his body on edge.

  Maggie King lives a nightmare, wanting nothing more than to survive each day and recapture the life stolen from her. Each day she wakes and prays for escape. Taking the one chance she may ever have, Maggie lashes out, unprepared for the rising panic as the man people believe to be her husband lies motionless at her feet.

  Deciding innocence and guilt isn’t his job.

  Brodie’s orderly, black and white world spins as her story of kidnapping and abuse unfold. The fact nothing adds up as well as his growing attraction to Maggie cause doubts the stoic lawman can’t afford to embrace.

  Can a lifetime of believing in absolute right and wrong change in a heartbeat?

  Maggie has traded one form of captivity for another. Thoughts of escape consume her, even as feelings for the handsome, unyielding lawman grow.

  As events unfold, Brodie must fight more than his attraction. Someone is after Maggie—a real threat who is out to silence her.

  He’s challenged on all fronts—until he takes a gamble that could change his life or destroy his heart.

  Brodie’s Gamble, book two in the MacLarens of Boundary Mountain historical western romance series, is a full-length novel with an HEA and no cliffhanger.

  Visit my website for a list of characters for each series.

  http://www.shirleendavies.com/character-list.html

  Acknowledgements

  Thanks also to my editor, Kim Young, proofreader, Alicia Carmical, and all of my beta readers. Your insights and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

  As always, many thanks to my wonderful resources, including Diane Lebow, who guides me through my social media endeavors, my cover designer, Kim Killion, and Joseph Murray who is a superb at formatting my books for both print and electronic versions.

  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Brodie’s Gamble

  Prologue

  York, Pennsylvania

  1858

  “Hold him down.” The tallest of the boys put his hands on his knees and bent over, laughing at Brodie MacLaren, who glared back as he tried to free himself. Sixteen years old, tall and strong for his age, it took five boys to hold him down—six if you counted their leader, Horst Ackermann, the oldest of the bunch.

  “Did you think you could pass through our neighborhood without paying for the privilege?” Horst glanced at his friends. “These arrogant Scots believe they can go anywhere they please.”

  Brodie’s body twisted in rage, his face red with anger. “It’s a free country. I can go anywhere I want.”

  “Well, you can’t go through here without paying the toll.” Horst rifled through Brodie’s pockets, knowing he’d left his Saturday afternoon job an hour before. Finding what he sought, Horst gripped the coins, holding them in the air. “Look here. Appears we will have a fine time tonight.”

  The boys loosened their hold on him long enough for him to wrench his hands free. Jumping to his feet, he kicked the knee of one boy, slamming a fist into another’s face, sending both crumbling to the ground. That was all the satisfaction he got before his arms were, once again, wrenched behind him.

  “It’s a miserable group of lads who steal.” His defiant yell earned him several fists to the face and stomach.

  Horst counted the coins, then looked at Brodie’s bleeding face.

  “You know nothing of misery, MacLaren. Stay out of our part of town. And if you run to the sher
iff, we’ll find you again and it won’t end so well.”

  A last retort died on his lips as a final blow to his head blackened Brodie’s world.

  “There’ll be no going to the law and no retaliation, lads. You’re to quit the job, Brodie, and I’ll hear no argument.” Brodie’s father, Ewan MacLaren, stood a few feet away, as his wife, Lorna, washed away the blood on Brodie’s face, then bandaged the cuts.

  “But, Da, we need the money, and I like working for the gunsmith.” Brodie’s protests fell on deaf ears.

  “Aye, and look what happened.” Ewan looked around the room at the oldest MacLaren cousins, Colin, Blain, and Quinn. “I’ll be talking to my brothers about this, so don’t be going against what I’m saying. You four are to stay away from Germantown. Am I clear, lads?”

  Shoving hands into their pockets, each nodded.

  “Good. Now, be gone with you. Brodie needs to rest.”

  Sending glances to Brodie before they left, Colin, Quinn, and Blaine walked out, stopping a hundred yards away to huddle together.

  “What do we do, Colin?” The youngest of the four, Blaine, always looked to his older brother, the oldest of the male cousins, for guidance.

  “We wait for Brodie to heal, then go after Horst and his lads.” Colin’s steely voice held a firm conviction when he’d made up his mind about something. “Uncle Ewan means well, but he doesn’t know what we face at school and whenever we go to town. Attacking Brodie is the last of it. I’ll not be having my family threatened and robbed.”

  “The punishment will be severe.” Quinn glanced behind him, confirming their uncle had not come outside.

  “Taking your punishment has never bothered you before,” Blaine joked. Of all the cousins, Quinn snubbed authority more than any of them, uncaring of the penalty doled out.

  “I didn’t say it would bother me.” He slapped Blaine on the back of his head and laughed. “I agree with Colin. It’s time someone stood up to Horst and there are no better lads to do it than us MacLarens.” He sobered as he considered Brodie’s reaction. “You know he’ll want us to hold a trial.”

  Colin let out a breath. “Aye. It’s his way.”

  “We take Horst, the four of us have a trial, then we teach him a lesson.” Blaine grinned, glad to have contributed.

  Colin nodded. “It’s settled then. We wait for Brodie to heal, then do what’s needed.”

  “You don’t need to get in the middle of this, lads. I can take care of Horst.” Brodie crossed his arms, wincing as pain from two broken ribs shot through him.

  “Not by yourself. We’ve a plan and we’re going through with it.” Colin’s calm resolve made him the perfect leader of the cousins.

  “I won’t have you acting the same as his gang of hooligans.”

  “We plan no beating, Brodie. The four of us will wait for him after school, get him away from his lads, and question him.” Colin glanced at Quinn and Blain, who nodded in agreement.

  “He won’t confess.”

  “Aye, Brodie, he will. It’s his arrogance that will fail him. When it does, we dispense the punishment.” A smile crossed Colin’s face at what they’d planned.

  “I don’t know, Colin. As much as I want justice, and my money back, I don’t want us to turn into savages like him and his lads. We came to America to rid ourselves of tyranny and punishment without being allowed to defend ourselves.”

  “That was one reason, Brodie. Mainly, we came because we might have starved to death if we stayed. Do you remember the nights we fell asleep with wee amounts of food in our bellies?” Quinn asked.

  “Aye, I remember.”

  “And do you remember the raids when neighboring clans swooped in to burn our crops and kill our families?” Quinn’s gaze hardened, remembering the violence. “We canna let it happen here by brutes such as Horst. He needs to be taught a lesson, and we MacLarens are the ones to give it.”

  “Are you with us, Brodie?” Colin stepped up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

  Brodie nodded, his face a mask. “Aye. I’m with you.”

  “There he is.” Blaine and the others waited on the trail Horst used each day to go home. His family wasn’t farmers or ranchers. Instead, his father and uncles were harness makers, farriers, and tool makers. When he and his boys weren’t harassing or threatening others, Horst joined them to learn the trade. He had little respect for those who worked the land or weren’t of German descent…and he had no problem acting on his disdain.

  Horst whistled as the trail crossed over a stream, then made a sharp turn at a brick building used for storing tools. He didn’t see the hand shoot out to wrap around his arm until he landed on the ground.

  “What’s going…” His voice faded as he stared into the faces of the four MacLarens.

  Without uttering a word, Quinn grabbed Horst’s arms, Blaine stuffed a rag in his mouth, then Colin and Brodie picked up his legs, carrying him into the building and locking the door. Setting him on the floor, they tied his hands together, then his legs, and hoisted him up to rest against a stack of wooden crates.

  Colin crossed his arms, letting his gaze roam over Horst, then shook his head. “You aren’t too bright of a lad, are you, Horst?”

  The rag stifled his scream as his eyes widened in what could’ve been fear or anger. Either was fine with Colin.

  “You see now, Horst, when you attack one MacLaren, the rest of the family believes it’s our God-given right to discover why. Did Brodie attack you first? Did he steal something of yours? Perhaps the lad smiled at a girl you like.” Colin walked up to him, leaning into his face. “We are not animals, Horst. Before we decide if there is to be retribution, we need to know the reason you beat Brodie, then stole his money.”

  Blaine stepped forward, removing the rag from Horst’s mouth.

  “Now is your chance to say your piece. Me and the lads are willing to listen.” Quinn crossed his arms and leaned against a wall.

  Horst’s eyes darted from one boy, then to another, his gaze resting on the door.

  “Ah, now, laddie, that would be a mistake. You will be leaving here, but not until you’ve answered Colin’s questions.” Brodie’s smile was feral as he took in the sight of a trembling Horst. “You don’t seem so brave when you don’t have your lads about you. Lucky for you we aren’t like them.”

  “I don’t have to tell you anything.” Horst’s face twisted into a scowl before he spat on the floor.

  “True, but then we’d be thinking you have no sense and I, for one, think you’re smarter than that.”

  “I don’t know, Brodie. Seems the lad’s as dumb as a post.” Quinn crossed his arms, laughing.

  Horst uttered a stream of curses, trying to lunge toward Quinn, tripping over his bound ankles and landing on the floor.

  “See, Brodie. Dumb as a post.”

  “Enough, Quinn,” Colin broke in. “Answer the questions, Horst, so we can get back to our chores.”

  Horst glared up at them from the floor, his face the color of a ripe plum.

  “We don’t like you MacLarens. You Scots always think you’re better than us, flirting with the girls and taking our jobs.” He nodded at Brodie. “You shouldn’t be the one working for the gunsmith. It should be one of my boys taking home the coin. We hate your kind.”

  “So you decided beating Brodie and stealing his pay was a fair way to get back at us?” Colin’s gaze narrowed, his face turning to stone at the venom in Horst’s voice.

  “And I don’t regret it. He deserved it for talking to Polly, taking her attention from me.”

  Quinn shot a look at Brodie. “Polly is it now?”

  “Nae. I spoke to her a couple times. It’s of no importance.” Brodie turned his attention back to Horst. “The pay you stole is of importance and I’ll have it back.”

  Horst tilted his head and laughed. “Too late. The money’s gone, MacLaren.”

  “Well then, since you admit to stealing and beating Brodie, there’ll be a need for retribution.” Col
in paced in a circle, as if considering what would be appropriate. “Lads, what do you think?”

  “Aye, he’s admitted it right out,” Blaine agreed, taking a stand next to Colin.

  “I’m with Blaine.” Quinn stepped next to his two cousins.

  “Brodie?” Colin asked.

  He stared at Horst, pitying the boy who allowed hatred and jealousy to rule his life. “We can’t let him do this to others.”

  Colin and Quinn jerked Horst up off the floor, leaned him against a wall, and stepped aside.

  Colin rolled up his sleeves, locking a cold gaze at the prisoner. “Horst Ackermann, you’ve admitted to the crimes, been found guilty, and have shown no remorse.”

  “Wait,” he screamed, horror twisting his face. “You can’t kill me.”

  Quinn laughed. “Sure we can.”

  “But we won’t,” Brodie smirked. “Right, Colin?”

  “Not this day, laddies.” Colin glanced at Horst, whose body began to shake. “Remember, you brought this on yourself.”

  Quinn doubled over, holding his stomach to contain his laughter. “I wish we could have stayed to watch. It’s sure they’ll be looking at Horst in a different way after today.”

  The others joined him as they pictured the way they’d left Horst in the building. They’d stripped him down to nothing except his drawers, then leaned him against a post. Tying his hands together, they wrapped the rope around a nail above his head, securing it with a well-placed knot. Last, they tied his legs to the bottom of the post.

  “You’re certain the message you sent went to Polly’s home?” Blaine asked Colin.

  “I am.”

  “An invitation from Horst for Polly and her friends to come see the surprise he’d created.” Blaine shook his head as he gulped in large amounts of air. His eyes watered from laughter. “Quinn’s right. I wish we could see their faces.”

  “It’s good you warned the lad once more about what would happen if they bullied anyone else. I believe he may have gotten the message, Colin.”