Southern Seduction [Bride Train 8] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (31 page)

“I expect Jennet won’t be eating any food unless he orders it from the hotel,” said Gibson. “He already had an idea his wife wanted him out of the way. Told me he expected poison rather than a hired killer.”

“Did he admit to hiring Sheldrake to take her?”

“He’s not that stupid. But I wouldn’t want to be in that house tonight.

“You think they’ll run for it?” asked Marshall.

Gibson shook his head at the screams and shouts coming from the jail. “They may just kill each other before they even leave the jail.”

“That would solve a few problems.”

“Including my need for sleep.”

They watched the Jennets exit the jail, noses in the air and stomping down the boardwalk as if nothing had happened.

“Guess I’ll be keeping watch again tonight,” said Gibson. He looked up at the sky. “I’ll set my chair on the hotel’s verandah. It’ll at least keep the rain off.”

“But how’ll you watch their back door? They could slip out while you’re staring at the front.” Marshall snickered. “I heard you Pinkerton agents were something, but even you can’t be in two places at once.”

Gibson opened his mouth to answer, then sighed.

“Since Billy O’Keefe’s off to Virginia City with the rest of them, I’ll ask Paddy to keep an eye on the back door. He could use the dollar.” He cleared his throat. “I’d best go speak to him.”

Gibson continued past the hotel to what used to be Miss Lily’s Parlor. Billy and his father, a carpenter, lived there now. Rumors were that Grace, hired to replace Rosa as Lily’s housekeeper and cook, fancied Paddy O’Keefe.

Marshall pushed everything out of his mind but Casey. He and Byron had flipped a coin to see who’d be keeping Cole busy and who’d be making Casey feel a whole lot better. By now Byron should have Cole thinking they were at Baldy’s Saloon to listen for rumors and news about the kidnappings.

Casey would be coming home with him, alone, once the judge was finished lecturing the women. Marshall headed into the hotel with a spring in his step.

* * * *

Casey kept her eyes down and her shaking hands clasped in her lap. Doc had checked her first, then Mrs. Jennet, and declared they would both recover. The bruises would heal, but she’d never get over her memories of Mama’s death.

She’d asked Doc how she could forget something like that for six years. He’d coaxed her until she told him. He’d taken her hand between his and explained how her unconscious mind had done it to protect her. The shackle had triggered her memory but only because she was now safe. He’d urged her to tell Cole about it, but it was still too raw to tell anyone but a doctor. He said it had taken his dear wife most of her life to release her demons.

One day Casey would tell Cole. But not until, or if, he trusted her enough to let her be strong. If she told him now, he’d try to hide her from the world just in case, and she couldn’t bear that.

While she’d kept her mouth shut so far, the older women didn’t hold back. Judge Thatcher had demanded they tell him everything they’d discovered, rumors and all. He’d paced back and forth like a caged animal as he listened. His face got redder with every turn.

Casey hadn’t seen much of the judge except during her wedding. She’d stayed far from the man because she thought he could send her back to Pappy, or sell her as a servant. She’d heard on the train about children in the West, orphans, who were sold as slaves to work on farms. The people doing the selling were sheriffs and the like. Now that she’d met Lily, she wasn’t afraid of Judge Thatcher, but she wouldn’t be sticking her neck out to be hanged, either.

“And that is why we women are gathering our own information,” said Lily. She gave a pert nod of her head to show she was finished talking.

Thatcher narrowed his eyes at her. He stalked over and set his hands on the table in front of her. He leaned forward until his face was close to his wife’s.

“You’ll not be sticking your nose in this business again.”

Lily acted as if he wasn’t there. She shook out the lace cuffs of her pale green dress. Only when she had arranged it just so did she look up. Her glare was so intense that he should have been struck dead.

“You do not own me.” She spoke quietly, with total control over her face and body. “I will continue to do what I know is best. I hire others to gather information. They are people you have no access to. People you lawmen dismiss as beneath contempt.” She lifted her jaw. “I listen to them. And I find out the real story. Women are being tortured and killed by Mr. Isaac. I care not where the information to stop his crimes comes from. If you wish to continue to be my husband, Ambrose, you will work with me in this, not against.”

Judge Thatcher’s hoarse breathing filled the room. He continued to lock eyes with Lily. Casey glanced up to see Rosa smirking. Sophie sat back in her chair with her arms crossed, watching intently. Since she was interested in the Pinkerton twins, also lawmen, perhaps she was taking mental notes as to how to handle them.

The judge finally heaved a great sigh. He dropped his head. He was a big man, and broad with a full head of thick hair with silver at his temples.

“I am as unused to being a husband, my dear, as you are to being a wife.”

He went down on one knee beside Lily. She pretended to ignore him but her cheeks turned pink. He lifted her hand and brought it to his lips. His stare was as intense as before, only it was heated rather than chilled. Instead of kissing her knuckles as Casey expected he inserted her first finger into his mouth. He suckled it, as if it was a nipple. Casey jerked her eyes away as her breasts responded. It had been too long since she’d been touched that way.

“I worry about you, Lily,” he said gravely. “Please, don’t put yourself in danger. I roar and bluster because I’m afraid to lose you again. I missed you every day for twenty years, my love. If you were gone, my life would be worth nothing.”

Tears prickled Casey’s eyes at his heartfelt words. Would she ever be loved like this? The love they shared was so strong Casey could feel it wrap around her own shoulders.

“Please, love. Give this curmudgeonly old man another chance.” He heaved a sigh. “We’ll work together from now on. I promise.”

Lily cleared her throat. “We’ll discuss this later, Ambrose.”

Thatcher sighed as if her words answered his questions, and not necessarily in his favor. He kissed her hand briefly, this time the usual way, and set it back on her knee. He winced and, using the table as a lever, pushed himself to his feet.

“I’m too old for this,” he said with a groan.

“Are you
sure
you’re too old, husband?”

Lily’s batting eyes teased as much as her words. Casey caught the flash of the question asked and immediately answered with no words spoken between them.

“I’d never thought I’d say this to someone so much older than me,” said Sophie, fanning her face, “but could you two wait until you’re home alone? As the only unmarried woman here—”

“I apologize if I’ve offended you,” said Thatcher, now every inch the judge.

“You didn’t offend me,” corrected Sophie waspishly. “I’m jealous!”

“Then you’ll be pleased to learn a certain Pinkerton agent should have returned to town.”

Sophie’s ears turned almost as red as her cheeks. Even her neck turned pink. Casey felt her own face heat up. Once this was over she wanted to go home and sleep. After she rested she wanted to stay awake all night. Her three men might not love her as deeply as the judge did Lily, but they did care for her. She’d heard a few whispers of love but wasn’t ready to believe them yet.

“About Eudora Jennet,” said Thatcher, changing the subject, “I can understand why she urged her husband to shoot Rivers for defiling her daughter. But would she hire Sheldrake to kill her husband just because it wasn’t his bullet that killed Rivers?”

Casey cleared her throat. The judge’s keen eyes sliced into her.

“You have something to add, Mrs. Taylor?”

She blinked at the name, then realized he meant her. “I heard Mrs. Jennet tell Sheldrake she wanted to start her own bank, but she’d need to marry her new partner first.”

He shot a glance at his wife, who hadn’t mentioned that detail.

“If she got a divorce she’d lose everything,” murmured the judge. “She needed Sheldrake to turn her into a widow. But why take Mrs. Taylor?” He turned sharp eyes on Casey.

“I did warn you that evening about the odious man going after both you and Eudora,” reminded Lily.

Casey flushed, also remembering how Lily had said she was smart. Getting caught, especially by someone like Sheldrake, was anything but. At least she’d pretty much escaped before Cole and the others arrived. She hadn’t needed to be rescued but did appreciate the ride into town. Sitting on Byron’s warm lap with his strong arms around her had helped her over her terror and rage.

“Is the sheriff going to send a posse after Sheldrake?” asked Rosa. “His word could get Eudora hanged. I can’t abide the woman, but I don’t want to see her feet dangling in air.”

“While she’s said a few things, there’s no proof she hired him,” said Judge Thatcher. “We’re keeping her in jail more to keep her separated from her husband than anything else. We want to have a few words with Sheldrake and Jennet.”

“But why take Casey?” asked Rosa. “Just because she shot Rivers?”

“That had little to do with it,” said the judge. “Mrs. Taylor is very lucky.” He looked right at Casey. “If Sheldrake had sold you as he no doubt planned, your life would have been painful, humiliating, and short.”

Casey shuddered. She didn’t know if she would kill herself after being raped all night. But Pappy wouldn’t have hesitated to sell his wife’s body to buy moonshine again, and again. Mama had turned the knife on herself to save it from happening again.

When Casey remembered what happened to Mama she’d gone crazy for a while. She’d feared the same thing would happen to her. But her life wasn’t like her mother’s. Mama had nobody to protect her. Nobody to care about her except her one daughter and Willy. Casey had three husbands, friends, and a town who would help her.

Sarah and Molly hadn’t killed themselves after what happened to them. She stole a look at Rosa. The older woman rested her hand on her belly. A faint smile curved up one side of her glowing face. Rosa had not only endured years of torture, she’d healed enough to choose to marry Doc and create a child. Whatever demons lingered in her past, she chose to look forward to a loving future.

All Casey had to fear was a memory of burying her mother, and why.

She was married to a pigheaded mule who wanted things his way. But Cole didn’t do it to control her for his own amusement, like Pappy. He wanted his wife to be safe, cared for by himself and his partners. That didn’t mean she wanted to give up control of her life.

She and her husbands came from homes where the ones who should have loved them, used them for their own purposes. But they were adults now. It was their turn to have children. They wanted to give the things they’d never had and always craved. A loving home, firm but fair discipline, and the freedom to grow. Her children could put down roots in this valley. Deep roots that would let them spread their wings and fly.

She wanted a marriage as steady, and sensual, as Lily had. But all three men had to first accept her as she was, scars, fears, and all. Just as she had to accept them.

Marshall waited, hands in his pockets, outside the meeting room for Casey. He stood straight when the door opened. He smiled and lifted his hat as Lily, Rosa, and then Sophie walked out. Judge Thatcher waited for Casey, then escorted Lily and Rosa down the hall. Sophie headed down the back stairs to the kitchen. Casey stood before him, twiddling her fingers with her head down.

“You’ve got to learn to keep your head up,” said Marshall with a sigh. “Be proud of who you are.”

“Cole’s mad at me for getting caught. But Mrs. Jennet would never have been found if it wasn’t for me.”

He put his arms around her. “Cole can be an ornery old bear, but his growl is more of a grumble. He’s angry at himself for you being hurt. Not at you.”

“He’s a pigheaded mule,” she muttered.

“Yep. That, too. He’s angry that you were hurt when he was all fired up about protecting you. But he’ll get over it. You are not the type of woman who waits to be rescued.” He used the tip of his index finger to lift her chin. “You rescued yourself, Casey. Be proud of that. I am. We just turned up at the right time to bring you home.”

She finally met his gaze.

“Your eyes are a different color every time I look at you,” he murmured. “Brown when you’re sad and hazel most of the time.” He brushed his hand over the curve of her ass. Her lips parted in a faint gasp. He moved closer, lowering his voice. “And when they turn green, like now, you want to be pleasured.”

Marshall nuzzled her neck, just lightly, using the tip of his nose. Her skin and hair smelled faintly like roses. Her hands crept around his waist. He rubbed his lower chest against her breasts. Slowly, as if it was accidental. She pushed back, encouraging him. Blood thundered in his ears as his heart pumped to catch up with his breath. His pants were so tight that his cock was damn near cut in half. He ignored the pain for more of his woman.

He nibbled the edge of her ear with his lips. She tilted her head so he used his tongue to trace the outer curve. She shuddered and dropped her head farther. He pressed a line of kisses starting just under her ears and trailing all the way down her throat. He came back up the same side. Every time he nipped her he soothed her with his tongue.

“I want to take you home, to bed.” His words came out low and husky. “Just you and me.” He brushed his lips over her cheek. “Zeus stays outside,” he added so she knew he was serious. He caught her nipple between his knuckles. She twitched, making tiny gasping noises that had him near coming in his pants. “Tell me yes, Casey.”

“Yes,” she whispered.

He triumphantly swept her off her feet and hurried down the back stairs. She snuggled her face to his chest, panting just as hard. He’d left his horse ready to go. Casey waited while he tightened the belly strap and mounted. He held his hand out. She put her hand in his, her foot on his boot, and rose into his lap. He held her tight as they left town. She felt tense, but then he was so needy that every muscle felt as hard as a board. Every one.