Destiny remembered Sylvia’s earlier offer of help, and she knew the servant’s home was one place she would be safe for the time being. She ran through the night-shrouded alleyways, trying to stay out of sight and praying Sylvia would be at her home where she lived with her thirteen-year-old daughter, Mary. Destiny’s relief was great when she saw the soft glow of a lamp coming from the front window of the small cottage located behind her own house. Destiny ran up to knock quietly on the back door.
Sylvia heard the knock and went to see who in the world could be at her door at this time of the night. She opened the door and was completely shocked to see Destiny standing there, her lip swollen and her gown torn.
“Come in—Hurry—” she whispered, urging Destiny inside as she looked up and down the alley to make sure no one else had seen her. She closed and locked the door behind her and then quickly pulled down the window shade to ensure no one would be able to look in. She turned to Destiny and saw the misery in her expression. Sylvia led her over to the small sofa so she could sit down.
“Who is it, Mother?” Mary asked, appearing in the doorway. She gasped at the sight of Destiny looking so abused and ran to her mother’s side.
“Mary—go to your room—” Sylvia insisted.
“No, I want to help,” the girl said.
Sylvia sat down beside Destiny, and Mary stayed nearby, looking on nervously. “Destiny—What happened? Who did this to you?”
Destiny was trembling as she told her friend the awful tale. “He was terrible…,” she managed, realizing for the first time that her lip was swollen where he’d slapped her.
“Who was?” Sylvia asked, expecting to hear that Raymond had attacked Destiny.
“Bryce Parker—It was Bryce—He tried to force himself on me, and when I resisted him, he hit me—” She went on to tell them all that had happened, how Bryce had told her Raymond had sold her to him to pay off his debts.
“Mr. Howard is a horrible man. I knew it.” Sylvia swallowed nervously as she asked, “Are you sure Bryce is dead?”
“I think so—He wasn’t moving, and there was blood—” Destiny lifted her tortured gaze to Sylvia’s. “Oh, Sylvia, I have no place to go—I can’t go home ever again—”
“I know…” Sylvia had had enough. She had loved Destiny almost as if she were her own daughter, and there was no way she was going to let the girl suffer any more because of Raymond and his horrible ways.
“What am I going to do?” Destiny asked tearfully.
“I heard some talk a few days ago from one of my friends about a situation that might help us—”
“What kind of situation?”
“Let me check on it and see. You wait here with Mary. I’ll be back shortly.”
“Where are you going?”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll explain once I know all the details.”
“But Mother, what should I do if someone comes here?” Mary asked, truly frightened by everything that was happening.
“Go back in my bedroom with Destiny and stay there. Don’t come out no matter what.”
“All right.”
Mary led Destiny back to the safety of her mother’s room.
Sylvia slipped out of the house, locking the door behind her, and hurried off down the alleyway. She had to move fast if she was going to be able to save Destiny. She couldn’t let anyone find the girl—not after what had just happened. Faithful servant that she’d been to Miss Annabelle, there was no way she was going to let Destiny come to any further harm. Somehow, someway, she was going to get her safely out of town that very night, and she had a pretty good idea of how she was going to do it.
Bryce stirred and slowly began to regain consciousness. He tried to sit up but groaned aloud as the movement sent violent pain shooting through his head and face. He collapsed back on the floor and lifted one hand to his throbbing forehead. He felt the wetness there and took his hand away to discover it was covered in blood. Rage filled him as he slowly began to recall what had happened.
“Destiny…” Bryce snarled her name as he finally managed to pull himself up to sit on the sofa. The pain was still savage, but his anger sustained him. He looked around, and when he saw the shattered remains of the vase on the floor, he realized what she’d done. “You little bitch—You’re not going to get away with this…”
He struggled to his feet and staggered toward the door. As soon as he got himself cleaned up, he was going after her. He paused as he passed by a small mirror on the wall and was horrified by his own reflection. He realized then that he was cut up so badly he was going to have to send a servant for the doctor. Throwing the door wide, he slammed out into the hall, shouting for one of the servants as he moved unsteadily toward the staircase.
The sleepy-looking doorman appeared a moment later and was shocked at the sight of Bryce leaning weakly against the wall, covered in blood.
“Mr. Parker! What happened?” He rushed to put an arm around his employer to help support him.
“To hell with what happened!” he snapped. “Get me upstairs and send someone for the doctor!”
The servant said no more as he helped Bryce up the steps to his bedroom and onto the bed. He dampened a towel from the pitcher of water on his dressing table and gave it to Bryce before hurrying from the room to find someone to go for the doctor.
It was almost an hour later when Dr. Murray finished tending to Bryce’s injuries. He’d had to wrap the injured man’s head in bandages to stop the bleeding.
“You were very lucky, Bryce,” the physician told him, his tone reflecting the seriousness of the injuries. “You will make a complete recovery, but you could have been killed. Who did this to you? You need to let the law know right away!”
Bryce glared up at the doctor from where he was sitting on the side of his bed. “You don’t have to worry about getting the law involved. I’ll handle this myself.”
“But—”
“You heard me!”
“All right.”
“And you don’t need to mention this to anyone. Do you understand?”
“Yes.” Doctor Murray knew what a powerful, influential man Bryce Parker was. He also knew the man had made some enemies over the years with his cutthroat business dealings. He assumed that it was those business dealings that had caused the confrontation he’d been involved in. He said no more about going to the law, but he advised his patient, “As it is—you are going to have scars, but you will be all right.”
“Scars?” Bryce was suddenly concerned. He hadn’t thought about the possibility of scarring. He’d always prided himself on his good looks. He shifted his position to look at his own reflection in the dresser mirror, and the image that stared back at him actually unnerved him a little. His head and face were mostly swathed in bandages. “How badly am I going to be scarred?”
Dr. Murray also knew what a vain man Bryce was, but he didn’t want to lie to him. That would only make things worse when the time came to take off the bandages. It was better to be forthright from the beginning. “The right side of your face had several deep cuts. There will definitely be some scarring there.”
Bryce swore under his breath.
“The best thing for you right now is rest. Is there anything more I can do to help you?”
Bryce looked up at the doctor, all the hatred he was feeling in his hardened gaze. “No.”
“I’ll be back to check on you in a day or two, unless I hear from you.” The doctor gathered up his supplies and prepared to leave.
Bryce said nothing more. He was just glad when the doctor was finally gone.
He sat on the bed staring at his own reflection in the mirror for a time, until a knock at his bedroom door interrupted his dark thoughts of how he was going to seek his revenge.
“Come in.”
The maid opened the door to inquire, “Is there anything I can do for you, sir?” She tried to mask her reaction to the sight of him so heavily bandaged, but she couldn’t hide it completely.
Bryce saw that she was frightened by him, and her fear infuriated him even more. He was used to charming women with his slick good looks, not scaring them. “Yes. There’s something you can do for me—”
“What is it?”
“Bring me a bottle of whiskey.”
“Yes, sir.” She hastened to do as he’d bid.
As he sat alone in his bedroom drinking, Bryce made his plans. First thing in the morning he was going to find Destiny, and he was going to pay her back for what she’d done. If it hadn’t hurt so much, Bryce would have smiled at the thought of how much he was going to enjoy his vengeance. He kept drinking until the liquor had numbed his pain enough so he could sleep. Morning couldn’t come soon enough as far as he was concerned.
Lane was saddled up and riding out at sunup. He had a lot of miles to cover to catch up with the gang.
Thanks to Dolly, though, he was hot on their trail. Without her help, it might have taken him another week or two to get the leads he needed to go after the gang. He smiled, impressed by the girl’s bravery in seeking him out and grateful for the information she’d given him.
After Dolly had left the hotel, Lane had made a visit to the preacher’s small home out behind the church. He’d met with the reverend and given him the money he’d won playing poker to help take care of the injured girl. When he’d taken his leave of Reverend Thompson a short time later, the reverend had agreed to send a telegram for Lane first thing in the morning.
It was just after eight when the telegraph office opened and Reverend Thompson showed up to send the wire requesting the Texas Rangers send additional men to the Circle D.
“Willy, I have an important telegram to send,” the preacher told him as he handed over the message.
Willy read it quickly and looked up at the preacher nervously. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’m sure.” The man of God spoke with conviction.
Willy just shook his head as he got ready to send the wire. When he was finished, he looked up at the preacher.
“That’s going to be one wild wedding—”
“What are you talking about?” Reverend Thompson asked.
“Before they rode out, one of the gang—I think his name was Seth—Seth Rawlins—Well, he went and ordered himself a mail-order bride to meet him in Bluff Springs. That’s the town nearest the ranch Dan Cooper won in that poker game.”
“But Seth Rawlins is an outlaw—”
“His mail-order bride ain’t gonna find that out until it’s too late.”
The preacher was saddened by the news, but he knew a Ranger was on his way to straighten the whole mess out. For the woman’s sake, he hoped Ranger Madison got to the Circle D in time. For an innocent woman to arrive in the midst of such turmoil would be terribly dangerous. He looked down at the telegraph operator seated before his instrument. Knowing Willy was a member of his congregation, he said, “Keep the woman in your prayers, Willy. I have a feeling she’s going to need all the help she can get.”
“I’ll do that, Reverend.”
Reverend Thompson went on about his duties, but as he did, he said a prayer that both the Ranger and the young woman would be safe.
Raymond had been sleeping soundly after his wild night of celebrating when he was jarred from his sleep by a loud pounding on his bedroom door.
“What is it?” he called out in confusion.
“Sir, you’re needed downstairs right away.”
“Why?” he demanded grouchily.
“You have a visitor, sir,” the maid responded. “Mr. Parker is here to see you, and he says it’s urgent.”
“Bryce is here?” Raymond grumbled, throwing himself out of bed.
“He’s waiting for you in your study.”
Raymond could only imagine that the other man had good news for him. After all, things had worked out perfectly for both of them the night before. Maybe Bryce had just shown up this morning to let him know that he and Destiny had eloped last night and were now happily married. If so, it would be the best news Raymond had gotten from anyone in a long time.
Raymond pulled on his clothes and hurried out of his room.
When Raymond walked into the study, he found out very quickly that the news Bryce had for him was not good—not good at all. The other man looked furious, and his head and face were heavily bandaged.
“Bryce! What happened to you?” Raymond asked, shocked. He quickly closed the door behind him to give them the privacy they needed to talk.
Bryce turned his icy glare on the other man. “Let’s just say the evening didn’t work out quite the way I had expected it to.”
“I don’t understand—Who hit you?”
“Your precious little stepdaughter, that’s who!” Raymond raged. “And I want to see her
now!
Get her for me, or I’ll go upstairs and drag her down here myself!”
Raymond rushed from the room and called the maid, ordering her to wake Destiny and bring her down to the study immediately.
Sylvia did as she was told and returned to the study only minutes later, looking most mortified.
“Mr. Howard, I have most distressing news. I expected to find Miss Destiny still in bed sleeping, but—”
“But what?” he demanded, turning on her threateningly.
She looked at him nervously. “Her bed hasn’t been slept in all night! I searched everywhere in the house, but I couldn’t find her. I don’t know where she could be!”
Raymond rushed past the maid and up the stairs to Destiny’s room. He found himself staring around the empty bedroom. He checked her closet to find all her clothes were there. Then he turned back to the maid, who’d followed him.
“When did you see her last?”
“Why, last evening,” Sylvia replied. “When she was leaving the house with you to go to Mr. Parker’s.”
“Has anyone seen her since?”
“I don’t know—I’ll go check with the other servants,” she assured him, playing her role as dutiful servant. She was relieved when Raymond didn’t press her further. It wasn’t often she was forced to lie, but this time she was going to make sure he never found out the truth. He was just as horrible and evil as Bryce Parker.
Raymond returned to the study to tell Bryce what he’d learned.
Bryce was not happy. He looked up at the other man, his eyes shining with hatred and the need for revenge. “I’m going to find your precious little stepdaughter, and when I do…she’s going to pay!”
Raymond swallowed nervously and knew Destiny was in big trouble. He hardly felt sorry for her, though. He just hoped that Bryce’s rage didn’t come down on him in the end. This battle was, after all, between Bryce and Destiny. He’d held up his part of the bargain. It wasn’t his fault Bryce couldn’t convince her to marry him.
“I understand,” Raymond told Bryce. “Where do you want to start looking for her?”
“We’ll start with her friends—with anybody she might have confided in or gone to for help.”
Raymond wanted to find out what had happened between Bryce and Destiny last night to cause her to run away from home, but he knew better than to ask. Clearly, Bryce had come out the loser in their confrontation. Knowing what a vengeful man Bryce could be, Raymond was sure Destiny was going to pay the price for having made an enemy out of him. Raymond had no idea what Bryce intended to do to her once he’d found her, and he didn’t want to know. He would do what he could to help the other man track her down. He couldn’t risk having Bryce call his debt back in.