Lady Thief Read Online Free PDF Page B

gent pretty bad.”
    “You guess correctly.” Her voice was grim. “He’ll hang for what he did—or I’ll put a bullet in him myself.”
    Jason studied the young woman silently. He could not see her face—had never seen it—but he knew that she was very young—too young to devote her life to guns and masks and violence. He guessed from the tone of her voice and manner of speaking that she was gently born, and he had wondered from the first moment of meeting her why she had chosen such a violent life. Now he knew. But his curiosity about her remained strong.
    He smiled inwardly as he remembered his one attempt, weeks before, to see her face. He had thought, mistakenly as it turned out, that he could wrest the mask from her by force. The attempt had gone sadly awry. He had found himself looking over the barrel of her pistol into a pair of coldly glittering tawny eyes—this before he had even begun to carry out his plan. She had an uncanny ability to seemingly read his mind.
    She trusted him, but only to a certain point. He respected her for her caution; in fact, he respected the lady herself. She was quite a woman.
    Jenny stirred slightly beneath his intense scrutiny. “Jason, will you please stop staring at me.”
    He grinned suddenly. “You’re no thief. I always wondered about that. You come into the world hosed and shod—you’ve no need for thievin’. Now I see what it is. You want to find this gent that killed your father, so this is how you hunt for him.”
    She shrugged. “I didn’t have much choice.”
    He shook his head slowly. “By choosing this way, though, you’ve gotten yourself in a pack of trouble. You have to watch every move you make because of the Runners. And if some gent gets lucky and finds out who you really are . . .” His voice trailed off. After a moment, he continued slowly, “You’ll hang. Lady or not, you’ll hang.”
    Jenny smiled wryly. “That’s one of the qualities I like about you, Jason—you’re always so cheerful.”
    “You know it’s the truth.”
    “Of course.” Her eyes were grim. “I’m well aware of the fact that I’ve broken the law, and I don’t expect any special consideration because I’m a woman. But, no matter what happens, I intend to find the man who killed my father. If the Runners try to catch me before then, they’ll have to kill me to do it.”
    Jason frowned. “Your father’s dead, lass. No matter what you do, you can’t bring him back.”
    “No, I can’t,” she agreed. “But, perhaps I can help him rest a little easier.”
    “He won’t rest easier if you’re dangling at the end of a rope—or bleeding to death on some deserted back road,” Jason replied starkly.
    Jenny winced slightly.
    He looked irritated. “You’ve got to face facts, Jenny. You can’t help your father—and you’ve got your whole life before you. You’re too young to waste it on some wild notion of revenge.”
    “It’s not a wild notion. Jason, the man is a traitor. He’s also a murderer and I mean to stop him.”
    Jason sighed in defeat. “Well, since you’re hell-bent to get yourself killed, I’ll ask about and see if any of my friends have heard anything about a traitor. Maybe I can find out something.”
    She smiled at him. “Thank you, Jason—I knew I could count on you.” She looked thoughtful. “Why don’t you meet me here tonight?”
    “I can’t find out anything that soon,” Jason objected.
    Jenny nodded. “I know, but I thought that you and I could try to spot that coach you held up the other night.”
    “Oh, you did, did you?” Jason looked glum. “And I suppose you mean to stay out all night hunting for that damn coach?”
    “Now, Jason—you said you wanted to help.”
    “I ought to be shot for what I said,” he grumbled.
    Jenny grinned and rose to her feet. “Eight o’clock, Jason. See you then.” She lifted a hand in farewell and then slipped silently through the door and disappeared.
    Jason stared after her. After