Free Dangerous Heart by Tracey Bateman

she’d want to be responsible for unnecessary deaths.
    At least not if she was the kind of young woman he believed her to be. He just hoped he wasn’t wrong about her.
    Â 
    Web eyed his opponent, sizing him up like he would anyone who dared question his authority. “Like I said, we’re waitin’ this thing out.”
    Lane shook his head, refusing to back down. “We’ve got to leave these parts or we’re gonna get ourselves caught.” His words carried across camp. Web sensed the tension in his men. They weren’t used to outbursts such as this one. Web’s word was law, and that was that. Even those who disagreed rarely said so. And if they did, they sure didn’t say it twice. So why, all of a sudden was the one man he thought he could count on betraying him?
    Throughout his years as leader of this band of outcasts and outlaws, Web had been challenged before and had always dealt with the upstart in his own way. This time was different. Lane’s silver-talking tongue had earned him sway with some of the men. But as far as Web knew, they were still loyal to him. For now, anyway. He needed to appeal to their sense of loyalty. And he needed to do it fast. If this stomach ailment was what he suspected, he and two other men in camp had contracted cholera from them Indians.
    â€œListen, men.” Web held up his hand and moved in next to Lane. “A half-day’s ride away is plenty far away from the wagon train. Even the trackers won’t ride too far from the rest of the group. They’re more concerned with immediate danger. As long as we keep our distance, we need to stick with the plan.”
    Lane shook his head and raised his voice. “Don’t be fooled by Web! He’s only saying that because he has Buddy and Ginger both in that camp. You know they’re spying for him right now.”
    â€œWhat?” Web shouted, his head swimming with dizziness. The fact was, he wished he’d thought of planting a spy.He could shoot himself for not, as a matter of fact. He didn’t know where Buddy was, and he wasn’t sure whether Ginger was still loyal to him or not.
    â€œLane, you know as well as I do that Buddy ain’t nowhere near that wagon train.”
    â€œReally? Then where is he, Web?” Lane’s brow rose in challenge.
    â€œWell, I don’t rightly know that. He went looking for his sister—that’s true—but he ain’t daft enough to walk into camp and start callin’ her name.”
    â€œWell, I happen to know he is in their camp.”
    Web narrowed his gaze at the man. In the back of his mind, he thought about Lane riding into camp late with a few rabbits slung across his saddle.
    Lane’s horse had been ridden harder than he let on. And harder than anyone would ride on a hunt.
    Web leveled his gaze at Lane. “You been spying on the wagon train without letting me know about it?”
    Lane nodded. “I saw him. He must have hurt himself, because they carried him into camp. It looked like he was unconscious. Seems like they must have found out he’s connected to Ginger, because they took her to the tent where they’re holding him.”
    The news slammed into Web’s gut, and he fought to keep from retching. He swallowed hard and gathered his composure. “Who told you to hang back and spy on my girl? You plannin’ on doublecrossin’ me?”
    Lane’s desire for Ginger had been common knowledge since she was fourteen years old and began displaying womanly qualities. Common knowledge, that was, except to Ginger. She was oblivious to anything romantic. Just as well. Without a mother, she’d been raised in a man’s world. To her credit, she didn’t have any evil feminine wiles, but also no feminine instincts that he’d ever observed. Her worthless mother had seen to that. The woman never was much of a mother—or a wife, for that matter. But whether Ginger