Chapter 1 - The Woman Who Chose the CondemnedShe had three cents, nowhere to sleep, and one night to find a husband.
Ariel Ruth Baker had never imagined that desperation could make a woman brave.
She had always believed courage belonged to other people.
To women who had money in their pockets and family names behind them.
To men who carried revolvers.
To people who belonged wherever they stood.
Ariel belonged nowhere.
Not anymore.
She stood beneath the pale moonlight, staring across Bitter Creek at the iron cage.
Inside it sat Gerard Jimenez.
The Mountain Devil.
The murderer.
The savage.
The man scheduled to hang at dawn.
And, according to Sheriff Clayton Briggs, the most dangerous creature ever to walk out of Black Ridge.
Ariel swallowed hard.
Her hands trembled beneath the thin sleeves of her dress.
Three cents.
That was everything she owned.
Three copper coins in a leather purse.
Not enough for bread.
Not enough for a room.
Not enough to buy a ticket out of town.
And certainly not enough to buy protection from Sheriff Briggs.
She looked toward the darkened street where the sheriff had disappeared.
Then she looked back at Gerard.
There was something strangely peaceful about him now.
The crowd was gone.
The drunks had disappeared into the saloons.
The women who had screamed insults at him had returned to their houses.
Only two deputies remained near the gallows.
Gerard sat with his back against the iron bars, wrists shackled, head tilted slightly upward.
He was looking at the stars.
Not pleading.
Not praying.
Simply looking.
As if he had already accepted the fact that morning would be his last.
Ariel stepped forward.
Her boots sounded absurdly loud against the wooden planks.
One deputy glanced over.
"Town's closed for the night, miss."
"I need to speak with him."
The deputy laughed.
"Nobody needs to speak with him."
"I do."
"You planning on confessing to murder?"
"No."
Ariel's voice shook.
"I'm planning to ask him something."
The deputy looked at her dress, then at her face.
Whatever he saw made him grin.
"Tomorrow's a better day for asking favors."
"It won't be."
Something in her tone wiped the smile away.
The deputy stared at her.
Then he shrugged.
"Five minutes."
He unlocked the outer gate but left Gerard's chains secured.
Ariel approached.
Every step felt like she was walking toward an animal trap.
Gerard didn't look at her.
"What do you want?"
His voice was deep.
Lower than she expected.
Not wild.
Not angry.
Just tired.
Ariel stopped three feet away.
"I need a husband."
His head lifted.
For the first time, those gray eyes fixed completely on her.
"What?"
"I need a husband."
The deputy behind her snorted.
Gerard stared at her as if she had lost her mind.
Ariel forced herself to continue.
"Arthur Pendleton was supposed to marry me."
"He is dead."
"I know."
"I am sorry."
"I need a legal husband before sunrise."
His brows drew together.
"Why?"
"Because Sheriff Briggs wants to take everything I have left."
"You have nothing."
"Exactly."
Silence.
Ariel's throat tightened.
Then she whispered the words she had never imagined saying to a condemned stranger.
"Please marry me."
The deputy burst out laughing.
Gerard didn't.
He leaned forward slightly.
"You know who I am?"
"Everyone in this town knows who you are."
"And you still want to marry me?"
"No."
The answer came so quickly that one corner of Gerard's mouth almost moved.
Ariel took a breath.
"I don't know you."
"Then why?"
"Because if you die married, Sheriff Briggs may not be able to steal your land."
Gerard went still.
Ariel watched his expression change.
That was the moment she knew she had guessed correctly.
"You know about the claim."
"I know enough."
"Who told you?"
"No one."
He studied her carefully.
"You've got the wrong idea, Miss Baker."
"Then correct me."
Gerard looked past her toward the sleeping town.
"The Black Ridge claim isn't worth anything."
"That is what Briggs says."
"Briggs lies."
"Then so do you."
His eyes hardened.
"I don't lie."
"Then marry me."
Another silence.
The wind rattled the cage.
Gerard looked down at the chains around his wrists.
"You understand I'll hang at sunrise?"
"Yes."
"You understand that makes you a widow by breakfast?"
Ariel's heart pounded.
"Yes."
"You understand if Briggs learns why you're doing this, he'll come after you?"
"He's already coming after me."
Gerard looked at her for a long moment.
Then he said something that made her blood run cold.
"You're not the first woman Briggs has threatened."
Ariel stared.
"What happened to the others?"
Gerard's eyes moved toward the dark end of town.
"They disappeared."
Ariel's stomach tightened.
Before she could ask anything else, footsteps approached.
Sheriff Briggs.
He emerged from the darkness with Deputy Carson beside him.
His gaze landed on Ariel beside the cage.
A slow smile spread across his face.
"Well, well."
He removed the cigar from his mouth.
"Looks like our little Easterner finally found herself a friend."
Ariel stepped backward.
Briggs chuckled.
"Come along, Miss Baker. We need to discuss where you're sleeping tonight."
Ariel didn't move.
"She isn't going with you."
The sheriff looked at Gerard.
Then laughed.
"You won't be saying much tomorrow morning."
Gerard slowly rose.
The chains scraped across the ground.
The movement alone made Carson's hand drop to his revolver.
Gerard stared through the bars.
"I'll say enough."
Briggs's smile vanished.
Ariel saw something in the sheriff's eyes.
Fear.
Only for an instant.
But it was there.
That frightened her more than anything else.
Briggs turned to her.
"You have until midnight to make your decision, Miss Baker."
Then he leaned toward the cage.
"After that, Mountain Devil, you die."
He walked away.
Ariel looked at Gerard.
"Why was he afraid of you?"
Gerard said nothing.
"Gerard."
His jaw tightened.
Finally, he lowered his voice.
"Because I know who killed his deputies."
Ariel's breath caught.
"You?"
"No."
He looked directly into her eyes.
"Briggs did."
Ariel felt the ground disappear beneath her feet.
And suddenly, her desperate plan to marry a condemned man no longer seemed insane.
May you like
It seemed dangerous.
Very dangerous.
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