Soiled Dove (29 page)

“The blood on Loretta’s face tells me different,”

Clare said as she gripped the rifle tighter and took a step closer.

Loretta managed to get to her feet and wrapped an arm around her ribs. They ached, but she’d been hurt worse. She looked at Clare and then at Clement, anger building inside her. She straightened the skirt of her dress and walked toward him, stopping in front of him, glancing down. She smiled and leaned closer to him. “No wonder you have to pay for a fuck. You’re pathetic,” she laughed.

Loretta saw Clement’s facial muscles twitch at her comment. Suddenly, filled with humiliation and rage, she grabbed his arms and brought her knee up solidly against his crotch. As his face contorted in pain and he fell to the floor grabbing his privates, Loretta leaned over him. “No one will
ever
rape me again and get away with it! The next time you come near me I’ll kill you myself, you son-of-a-bitch!”

Clare was startled by Loretta’s outburst, but kept a wary eye on the man writhing on the floor. She glanced at Loretta, who was breathing heavily and shaking with anger. Loretta looked up and saw the question in Clare’s eyes before she turned away and made her way to the bedroom.

Clare snatched Clement’s shirt collar and unceremoniously dragged him out the front door of the house, depositing him half-naked in the dirt. She saw Ino unsaddling his horse next to the corral and motioned him over. He trotted toward her and stopped abruptly when he saw Clement, still tenderly cradling his crotch.

“Get this piece of shit off my property.” She leaned down and grabbed a fistful of Clement’s hair and pulled his head closer. “That’s the second time that woman has kicked you in the crotch, Clement.

Next time I’ll save her the trouble and shoot your dick off.”

“She’s a whore,” Clement croaked. “And a thief.”

“What the fuck are you talkin’ about?” Clare asked. She clenched her hand into a fist and drove it into Clement’s face to shut his filthy mouth.

“There’s a guy in town lookin’ for her,” Clement said, spitting the blood from his mouth.

Clare released Clement with a shove, walked back in the house, and slammed the door. She leaned against the front door and took a deep breath. She made her way to the bedroom she had been sharing with Loretta for the past two months and cracked the door open enough to see Loretta. “Are you all right?”

she asked quietly.

She saw Loretta’s red-rimmed eyes when she glanced up and nodded. “I’m fine,” Loretta said. “I’ll be fixin’ dinner in a little bit.”

“Want to tell me what Garner was talkin’ about first?”

Tears filled Loretta’s eyes and she couldn’t bring herself to look at Clare. “Before I came to Trinidad I worked as a whore for Jack Coulter in St. Joe. He beat me and raped me. Cyrus isn’t my brother-in-law and Amelia isn’t his sister. Amelia and I were prostitutes working for Jack. Cyrus was one of my customers and saved my life after the beating.”

“So everything you’ve told me has been a lie?”

Clare asked.

“Only the part about my past.” Loretta looked up, her eyes begging for Clare’s understanding. “I wanted to start a new life and I couldn’t if anyone knew about me.”“What are you planning to do now? Run again?”

Loretta shook her head slowly. “I’m tired of running, I can’t hide forever. I need to speak to Jack.”

Loretta sighed and stood up. “I’ll stay in town with Cyrus and Hettie.”

“Is that what you want?”

Loretta spun around and glared at Clare. “Of course it isn’t what I want! Now that you know the truth the best thing I can do is leave as quickly and quietly as I can. I didn’t want to leave my home or work for Jack. I hated the life I had to live to survive.

I didn’t have a choice then. I don’t have a choice now.

If I stayed I’d only hurt the people I care about.”

Clare stepped across the room and stood in front of Loretta. “No one would be hurt if you stayed.”

“You don’t think the people in Trinidad won’t start wagging their tongues once they know what I am? Cyrus will be run out of his church. He and Hettie will be forced to leave town. And what about Amelia? She’s just a kid. But worst of all, you will always know you’re sleeping with a whore.”

“Don’t say that. You’re not a whore.”

“But I was, Clare, I was,” Loretta said softly.

“Would you be able to put the thought of others touching me out of your mind? Touch me the same way again? But I’m not a thief.”

Clare’s eyes squinted. “And I’m a murderer. Do you think they’d like knowing that any better? Are you afraid of me, knowing what I did to those men?

Knowing what I’d do if I found their leader?”

“You had to do what you did to get justice for your family,” Loretta objected.

“You had to do what you did to survive.” Clare put her fingers under Loretta’s chin and lifted it to look into her eyes. “I’ll take care of it.”

Loretta grasped Clare’s forearm. “Don’t get involved.”

“I already am.”

CLARE WAITED UNTIL dinner was over before saddling her horse and heading to Trinidad instead of riding out to check her herd. A man Clement had called Jack Coulter was in town looking for Loretta. It was after dark when she reined the horse to a stop in front of the Columbian Hotel. She was out of the saddle and approaching the door before her horse was fully stopped.

“Is Jack Coulter here?” she asked at the front desk.

“I think he’s left to have dinner and visit the Cattleman’s,” an older man Clare recognized from past poker games answered.

Before he could respond further Clare ran out the door again. She vaulted onto her horse and turned toward Commercial Street. She pulled her rifle from its case as she stepped down from the horse once again and strode onto the walkway that ran in front of the saloon. Willis and Mavis looked up when she entered and nodded as she strode toward the bar.

Clare motioned to Willis for a drink as she glanced around the tables.

“You lookin’ for Jack Coulter?” Mavis asked as she sidled nonchalantly up to the bar.

“Word gets around fast,” Clare answered before tossing her shot back and wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “What’s he been saying?”

“He claims he’s here to take Loretta back to St. Joe so she can be arrested for stealin’ money while she worked for him,” Mavis answered. Clare noticed, gratefully, that Mavis didn’t mention what Loretta had once done for a living.

“Has he filed that bullshit with Sheriff Beutler?”

“He told Clement Garner he didn’t want to involve the sheriff.”

“I expect the sheriff will be looking for me later tonight anyway. I roughed Clement up some when he tried to force himself on Loretta this afternoon while I was gone. Thaddeus won’t be happy with how he looked when he got home.”

“Everybody knows Beutler works for Thad. What are you gonna do?”

“Nothin’ yet.”

“Maybe you should talk to Reverend Langford.

They all came to town the same day and Amelia hasn’t been to work at Rosario’s in a couple of days.”

“Maybe she’s sick.”

“Rosario’s kids say she’s been at school.”

“What time does Coulter usually come in?”

“Later than this. Maybe in another hour or two.”

Mavis rubbed the bridge of her nose. “He’s a rough one, Clare. I had to tell him my girls were off limits.”

Clare pushed away from the bar. “I’ll be back.”

CLARE STEPPED UP to the front door of Cyrus Langford’s home. She pounded on the heavy wood and waited for someone to open it. She knocked on the door twice before the door finally cracked open.

“You all right, Amelia?” Clare asked. “I heard you haven’t been to work in a couple of days.”

“Yeah. I just needed a few days off. Working and going to school is wearing me out,” Amelia said softly, careful to keep her face in the shadows.

“Reckon you’ll be rested up by the time Jack Coulter leaves town.”

“What? How do you…,” Amelia began.

Clare saw that Amelia’s lower lip was cracked and there seemed to be small bruises on the teenager’s cheeks. “Reverend Langford home? I need to speak to him…alone.”

“Yeah. He’s here,” Amelia said as she opened the door. “You can wait in his study.”

Clare removed her hat and walked into the study.

She twirled the hat in her hands and stared into a small fire glowing in the fireplace. A few minutes later she heard the doors of the study slide closed.

“What can I do for you, Miss McIlhenney?” Cyrus Langford asked.

“I wanted to talk to you about Loretta. And Jack Coulter.”

“I don’t know anything about Jack Coulter.”

“He’s in Trinidad. Got here a couple of days ago.

Right before Amelia took some time off work.”

“She hasn’t been feeling well.” His demeanor didn’t change although he did find something interesting to examine on his desk.

“I know you and Loretta aren’t related,” Clare said matter-of-factly.

“Not blood related, no.”

“Not in any way except as a prostitute and her customer.”

“What exactly are you implying?” Cyrus demanded.

“Loretta told me she was a prostitute who worked for Coulter and that you were one the men who paid for her services. And that you saved her life.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“It’s not my place to judge you. What about Amelia?”

“I have never been with Amelia. She’s only a child, for God’s sake!”

“Coulter plans to take Loretta back to St. Joe and have her arrested for stealing from him.”

“That’s ridiculous! Loretta never took anything from Jack. She wasn’t even conscious after he assaulted her. He tried to kill her once and he’ll do it again. We should go to Sheriff Beutler. If I know Jack, he got one his customers who’s a judge in St. Joe to issue a warrant for Loretta’s arrest.”

“The sheriff won’t do anything.”

“I need to talk with Jack. His pride is hurt because he lost his most profitable girl.”

It hurt Clare to hear Loretta described as if she was a piece of merchandise, but she managed to keep her demeanor calm. “I’ll take care of it, but thought I should warn you there could be trouble.”

CLARE SWUNG HER leg over the saddle and turned her horse back toward the saloon. She had no doubt that the evening wasn’t going to turn out well for someone. It was possible she wouldn’t make it back home alive.

She tied her horse to the railing outside the saloon and walked to the back of her saddle to get her rifle.

She reached up, but before she could withdraw it from its case her arms were seized and a thick arm wrapped around her neck. Her horse danced nervously around when she was spun around and slammed into its side. A fist plunged into her abdomen that drove the air from her lungs. The strong hands released her and she fell to her knees, gasping for air.

She was finally pulled up by the collar of her shirt.

She blinked her eyes open and stared into the face of Thaddeus Garner. She caught a glimpse of Clement’s bruised face over his father’s shoulder.

“You shouldn’t have hurt my boy,” Thad hissed.

“He tried to rape my housekeeper. He’s lucky I didn’t cut his balls off,” Clare managed.

Clement Garner lunged at Clare and his fist snapped her head back. “She’s a fucking whore!”

Clement screamed at Clare as she spat blood from her mouth. “Ain’t that right, Jack?”

A mustachioed man wearing a suit and vest and hat that rode low on his forehead stepped out of the shadows. “That’s correct,” he said. “As well as a thief.”

“Then get Beutler and tell him so he can arrest her,” Clare said.

“I’m taking her to St. Joe and let the sheriff where the crime occurred arrest her ass,” Jack said.

“We got things to settle here first,” Thad said.

“You assaulted my son. I can’t let you get away with that, Clare.”

“He was trespassing on my property. Loretta can testify to what he tried to do to her.”

“You ain’t even got a title to that property and no one’s going to believe the word of a whore. You must be gettin’ soft, Clare,” Thad said with a chuckle. “Let her go. We’ll take care of several problems at once. No one will be upset to see you gone, Clare. Now get your rifle!” he ordered. Thad pulled a pocket watch from his coat pocket and flipped it open. His eyes shifted up to see the look on Clare’s face. “You been wondering why I wanted your property. I knew who you were the first time I laid eyes on you. If I could get your ranch, you’d go away. But you’re too goddamn stubborn for your own good and now I’ll have to kill you.”

Clare stared at the watch in Thad’s hand and then back up at her nemesis. “You’re gonna die tonight, Thad. I’ve waited twenty years. I killed the others and now it’s your turn.” She brought her boot up and pushed him backward a few steps. Before he could react she pulled her rifle from its case and rolled under her horse’s belly.

Thad reached for his pistol, but it didn’t clear its holster before Clare squeezed off two rapid shoots, striking him in the chest. Clare’s shoulder and leg burned as bullets struck her. She forced her body up and fired over the saddle of her frightened horse, watching as Clement Garner and one of Garner’s men fell to the ground.

“Clare!” Mavis’ voice called out. “Behind you!”

Before she could turn to face the danger behind her, a shot rang out, the force of it knocking her to the ground. As she fell she saw the smoke from Jack Coulter’s gun and fired a shot in his direction. The echo from her final shot sounded as if two guns had been fired. Clare scrambled behind a water trough in front of the saloon. Suddenly there was a flurry of activity and gunfire. She glanced around the trough.

She didn’t see Jack Coulter and looked around to find him. A block away she caught a glimpse of a woman’s silhouette holding a rifle, a hint of smoke still curling from its barrel. By the time Clare blinked the woman had disappeared down an alley next to where she stood.

“Don’t move!” Sheriff Beutler ordered. His pistol was aimed at Clare’s head. She laid her rifle down, but was unable to stand up. Willis came out of the saloon and went to her side.

“Put that damn pistol down, Beutler,” Willis said as he and Mavis covered Clare’s wounds with towels to staunch the bleeding. “And get the damn doctor!”