Hannah fell asleep recalling hungry kisses
devouring her, the hard, solid weight of flesh, bone, and muscle pressing against her . .. wild, desperate embraces, moans, sighs .. . and the sweetest, most tormenting rapture she had ever
known.
She awakened the following morning feeling
as if she hadn’t slept. Dark circles marred the delicate skin around her eyes, and her stom
ach felt raw and unsettled. An eerie, unnatural
silence prevailed in the inn, for normally it was
a place of loud voices and raucous laughter. Sickened by the thought of food, she made a cup of tea and sipped it, wondering what was
to become of her. Later, she forced herself to
perform a few simple chores, mainly to keep
from thinking about Ryder and wondering if
he hated her for telling him that she and Trent
were lovers.
Lunch consisted of dry bread, cold meat,
and water, which Hannah was barely able to keep down, so unsettled was her stomach. The
events of the past few days had taken a toll on
her, she decided, although if she was truthful,
she’d admit that her stomach had been upset
often since she had left Fort Laramie. Lost in her morose thoughts, Hannah didn’t hear the
door open or see the tall, broad-shouldered man
enter.
“Hello! Is anyone here?”
Hannah started violently. Rousing herself from her reverie, she left the kitchen, won
dering if Sheriff Douglas had returned. Or
Lieutenant Gilmore. She didn’t recognize the
powerfully attractive man standing in the center
of the common room. He was looking about the
deserted inn curiously. He heard her enter the room and spun on his heel to face her. Hannah
drew in a sharp breath, stunned by the magnetic
intensity of his vivid blue eyes.
“What happened here? The place is deserted.
Are you Hannah McLin?”
“Yes. Who are you?”
“Zach. Zach Mercer. I’m looking for my
brother-in-law. He promised to come out to
the farm to visit his sister and we haven’t seen
him. Abby was worried and insisted I come to Denver to look for him.”
“You’re the man who married Ryder’s sister! He spoke often of you and Abby.”
“Do you know where he is? I’d hoped I’d find him with you.”
“I’m sorry. I don’t know where he is.”
“What happened here? Something is wrong; I can sense it.”
“There’s been an accident. Mr. Harley is
dead.”
“Good God! Did Ryder...”
“No! Ryder had nothing to do with it. It was
an accident!’
“Where is Ryder?”
‘”We argued, and he left. I haven’t seen him
since.”
Zach regarded her with obvious skepticism.
“That doesn’t sound like Ryder. He wouldn’t
run away from trouble. More likely, he caused
it.”
Hannah flushed and looked away. “I’m sorry;
that’s all I can tell you.”
Zach still had questions ... and doubts. But they were left unspoken when Lieutenant
Gilmore walked through the door. For the
space of a heartbeat Hannah panicked; then
her green eyes widened in sudden inspiration. Plunging her hand inside her bodice, she with
drew her indenture document and shoved it into
Zach’s hand.
“Take this,” she hissed, trying to convey her
urgent message in the short amount of time allotted to her. The dimly lit room served her well. She knew Gilmore couldn’t see what she
had done, for her back was to him and he was
still halfway across the room.
“What the. ..” Zach stared at the paper in his hand and then at Hannah.
“Don’t argue, please. Just take it and follow
my lead. If you want to help Ryder, it’s impera
tive that you do exactly as I say.”
Zach had no idea what was going on, but he
decided to go along with the woman Ryder
loved. There was more here than met the eye, and he intended to get to the bottom of it. He placed the document in his vest pocket.
“Are you all right, Hannah? I had some spare
time and thought I’d drop by and check on
you.” He sent Zach a piercing look. “Is this
your new owner?”
“Yes, yes it is,” Hannah said quickly. “Zach
Mercer, this is Lieutenant Trent Gilmore.”
Zach extended a hand, immediately recogniz
ing the name. Ryder had told him it was Gilmore
who had taken Hannah from Red Cloud’s camp
and ordered Ryder imprisoned.
“Zach Mercer,” Gilmore repeated thoughtfully. “Funny; I don’t recall Harley mentioning
your name before. In fact, I’m surprised he
sold Hannah’s articles of indenture at all.
He seemed reluctant to discuss it when I
approached him.”
“You
wanted to buy Miss McLin’s articles of
indenture?” Zach said, arching a thick blond
brow.
Suddenly Gilmore realized how that sounded,
since he was an unmarried man. “Well, yes,
but only in order to free her of her obligation,
you understand. Hannah and I have an
...
um . .. understanding. I’d hoped to make her
my wife.”
Hannah started violently. Wife? Trent had
made it clear that she was to be his mistress. “That’s not possible, Trent. I told you I was
married to Ryder.”
“That heathen ceremony wasn’t legal,
Hannah. But all that aside, I’d like to see
Hannah’s articles of indenture, Mr. Mercer, if
you have them.”
“Of course,” Zach murmured, removing the
document from his vest pocket, and realizing now what Hannah was about. It didn’t even
matter to him that Hannah had stolen the docu
ment. He spread it out for Gilmore to peruse.
“When did this sale take place? Why haven’t I seen you in the inn? Lord knows I’ve been
here often enough. Do you have a bill of sale?”
Zach’s mind worked furiously, “I purchased
them over a month ago, when Harley learned
that Hannah was safe at Fort Laramie and
would be brought back when an escort became
available. I’d been looking for a hired girl to help
my wife with our new baby and learned of Miss
McLin one day when I stopped by the inn to
confer with Mr. Harley about a freighting con
tract. I asked him then if he’d consider selling
her articles of indenture to me. He was reluctant at first, but his business had fallen off lately and he was strapped for cash. When I offered to pay
the reward for Miss McLin’s safe return as well
as purchase her indenture he agreed.”
Gilmore eyed him narrowly. “You waited long
enough to claim your property.”
“Yes, well, Harley asked me to wait until he
found someone to take her place.” Lord, he hoped it sounded plausible.
“Assuming you have one, you still haven’t
shown me the bill of sale.”
Hannah groaned inwardly. She hadn’t con-sidered a bill of sale. She’d thought that mere
ly having her articles of indenture in his pos
session would be proof enough of Zach Mercer’s ownership.
Zach cleared his throat, silently cursing his
brother-in-law for getting him into this kind
of predicament. Not only had he lied, but if
he was found out he could be charged with stealing. How in the hell was he going to come up with a bill of sale?
“What’s this about a bill of sale?” Sheriff
Douglas strode through the door in time to
hear Gilmore ask for one. His face broke into a
grin when he saw Zach. “Zach Mercer; well, I’ll
be damned! You’re the last person in the world
I’d expect to buy an indentured servant. That is,
I assume you’re Miss McLin’s new owner.”
“You know this man, Sheriff?” Gilmore
asked. He still wasn’t convinced of the legality
of the deal.
“Of course, Lieutenant. Surely you’ve heard of Mercer Freighting.” Gilmore had. “Mercer’s
wagons carry just about all the goods reaching Denver from the East these days.”
“Hello, Sheriff Douglas. Good to see you
again. As you’ve just heard, I’ve come to
claim my property. Too bad about Harley.
Nasty accident.”
“Accidents do happen.” He spied the indenture document. “I see you have Miss McLin’s
articles of indenture in your possession.”
“He has the document but no bill of sale,” Gilmore said. He was still highly doubtful that a deal had taken place.
“It was a gentleman’s agreement. I required no bill of sale,” Zach said.
“Sounds phony to me,” Gilmore returned
shortly. His anger was barely contained.
“The word of Zach Mercer is good enough
for me,” Douglas said, sending Gilmore a cen
suring glance. “He has the document in his possession; that’s all the proof I need.”
“I still think . ..”
“Lieutenant Gilmore,” Douglas began, in a tone that clearly displayed his annoyance. “Civil law is my jurisdiction. Please confine your
self to military matters. I’m sure there are plen
ty of Indians for you to chase without involving yourself in something that is none of your
business.”
Douglas’s speech stole the wind out of
Gilmore’s sails. Without making a nuisance
of himself, there was nothing more he could
do, no matter how suspicious he was of a fic
titious sale to Zach Mercer. Something smelled
fishy, and one way or other he’d learn what
it was.
“Of course, Sheriff. I certainly don’t want to
interfere in your jurisdiction.”
Douglas nodded and turned to Zach. “You
and Miss McLin are free to leave any time you
wish.”
“Thank you, Sheriff. Abby will be grateful for
Miss McLin’s help. We’ve been needing a hired
girl around the place for a long time.”
Both Gilmore and Douglas took their leave.
They had no sooner closed the door behind them than Hannah’s knees buckled. Zach
caught her and helped her to a chair. She
sat down gratefully.
“Now, will you please tell me what in blazes
that was all about?”
Hannah nodded, waiting for the furious beating of her heart to slow to a normal cadence. “I was afraid Lieutenant Gilmore would purchase
my articles of indenture, so I stole them. I had
no idea what I was going to do with them until
you walked through the door. Trent Gilmore
had been negotiating with Mr. Harley since we
arrived in Denver, or so he led me to believe. He
wanted to install me in a house he had rented and. . .” Her face turned fiery red, unable to
continue. But Zach got the picture.
”A few minutes ago he said he wanted to
marry you.”
“He was lying. He wanted me to sign a depo
sition accusing Ryder of rape. When I refused
he said I wasn’t good enough to become his
wife.”
“The bastard,” Zach hissed from between clenched teeth. “Tell me about Harley. How
did he really die? Was Ryder involved?”
“Indirectly. Harley found us together in my room. He made some remarks that enraged Ryder. Ryder lunged at Harley, and the coward turned to flee down the stairs. He tripped and fell the entire length. When Ryder went to
check on him Harley was dead. A few min
utes later the sheriff arrived, having heard a
commotion while he was making his nightly
rounds.”
“So Ryder fled,” Zach surmised. “Why in
blazes didn’t he take you with him?”
Hannah’s lashes lowered, unable to look
Zach in the eye. How could she tell him
that Ryder believed she and Trent were lov
ers? Despite the fact that she’d deliberate
ly lied to Ryder to save him from being
sent to prison, it wasn’t something she was
proud of.
“I insisted that Ryder leave without me. I
told him I’d be blamed for killing Harley if I
ran away.”
Zach sent her a searching look. “Are you sure
that’s all there is to it? It just doesn’t sound like
something Ryder would do. Leaving you alone
to face the consequences isn’t his style. I know
he cares for you.”
Hannah flushed. “Yes, but we argued. Please don’t ask me what about.”
“You have no idea where Ryder is now?”
Zach queried.
Hannah shook her head, her eyes sad. “None.
I expected him to return, but...”