The sound of Quinn’s name made her heart leap. He was waiting for her, there was no doubt of that, but what were his reasons? Did he want to condemn her for her lies? Zoe was very sure that was the case. She had a lot to answer for when it came to Quinn.
She hardly remembered the ride home. It took some time but it all felt too short for what she had to face once she reached Shaniko. She wanted to know if Quinn was all right, if Victor’s bullets had missed him or not. However, there was still the man himself to stand between them. The Sheriff brought her to her door. Wiley was the first to great her and practically fell over himself as he rushed from behind the bar to hug her.
“Miss Zoe! Miss Zoe, yer back!” he exclaimed her squeezed her.
“Yes, Wiley. I’m home,” she replied with a laugh at his exuberant greeting. It was only the first. The entire hotel knew she was back in a matter of minutes and she was inundated with people welcoming her home. Soon other neighbors were filing in the door to do the same.
“Is Quinn here?” she managed to ask Wiley amidst the commotion.
“He’s upstairs. Docs’ been comin’ to see him and check on him,” the bartender stated.
“Doc?”
“He got shot when yah was taken,” Wiley answered. “He’s been holed up in that room a couple of days now since the Doc let him out the doctor’s office.”
“Wiley, could you clear these people out of here? I need to rest,” she instructed. She was tired, that was true, but her main objective was to see Quinn. She needed to see him as soon as possible.
“All right everybody,” Wiley called loud enough for the entire room of people to stop to look at him. “Right. Miss Zoe needs her rest. She’s been through a lot, and I know yah wanna know what happened and if she’s all right, but she needs to rest. Come back another time. Thank yah,” he continued, as he urged people from the room. Zoe nodded her head in thanks to everyone before she proceeded to the stairs.
Her legs were heavy as she climbed the steps to Quinn’s room, but eventually, she got there and knocked on the door.
“Come in,” Quinn called from inside and Zoe slowly turned the handle and walked in.
She found him sitting up in bed. His right leg was resting on a pillow, but he looked otherwise well. He stared at her for a long time and she stared back, unsure of where to start.
“Are you all right?” he asked in a voice so low it was almost a whisper.
Zoe swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded. “He didn’t hurt me,” she replied.
“How did you get away?” Quinn questioned. His voice was unusually measured and Zoe didn’t know what she found more unsettling, the tone or the way he looked at her.
“I didn’t,” Zoe admitted. “He let me go.”
“Let you go?” Quinn asked in disbelief. “Just like that? He let you go? Why?”
“I don’t know why,” Zoe answered.
“There has to be a reason. What is it?” Quinn questioned. His voice was getting louder and Zoe could see the thin veil of control he had was beginning to slip. He was angry and she couldn’t blame him. She deserved his anger. She deserved his hate.
“He just did. One minute I was bait and the next….”
“Bait?” Quinn interrupted.
Zoe could hardly look at him as she answered. “Yes. He wanted to use me to get to you.”
“And he let you go?” Quinn finished. He continued to stare at her. “Then you tell me, what’s between you and Victor?”
Zoe couldn’t turn her gaze from him, but she couldn’t get her mouth to speak either. Her lips were parted but nothing came out. How was she going to explain? She couldn’t even find the words.
Chapter Fifteen
Quinn could hear the ruckus downstairs long before the knock on his door. However, the voice on the other side was not the one he had expected. His heart quickened to hear Zoe’s voice, both with relief and anger. She was back. A thousand emotions flooded him as she walked into the room. Her hair was a mess. Her skin was patched with dust and her dress was a mess, but she looked otherwise well.
“Are you all right?” he asked. Quinn wanted to say more, to express everything he felt, but he couldn’t. This wasn’t about his emotions. This was about the law and truth.
Quinn listened to Zoe’s story as anger began to take hold of him. It didn’t make sense. Victor just let her go for no reason? That wasn’t how the man worked. He always had a plan and there had to be one now. She admitted that he wanted to use her as bait to get to him, yet he miraculously changed his mind and let her go. Something wasn’t right.
Zoe seemed dumbfounded as she stood in front of him. Her lips trembled but no words came out. He shook his head. She looked so innocent, but her appearance was deceiving. She’d lied to him for weeks. She looked him in the eye every day and lied.
The anger was rising up inside of him. His hands closed into fists as he tried to hold it in, but it was too much. He needed answers and he wanted them now.
“You lied to me,” he said, as anger seethed beneath the surface.
“Quinn…”
“You lied,” he repeated, as the anger continued to build.
“I didn’t want to…”
“But you did!” His voice filled the room and Quinn could feel the heat of his anger as his body warmed. “Every day you knew where Victor was and you told me you didn’t. What was it? A game? You enjoyed playing me for a fool?”‘
“No! It was nothing like that,” Zoe tried to convince him as she stepped closer to his bed. She stood at the foot, her hands grasping the brass frame as she continued to speak. “I didn’t want to lie to you. I swear. I had to.”
“I’m sure you did,” Quinn growled. “I’m sure you had a good reason why you deceived me all this time. Did you and Victor laugh about it? Was this a plan, too? Was your kidnapping a stunt to make me feel sorry for you and to hide your guilt?” he accused as his emotions began to get the better of him.
Zoe looked at him with a pained expression. “No, Quinn,” she answered tearfully. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Then tell me how it was. Explain this to me because I really don’t know what to believe anymore. You knew where he was and you said nothing,” Quinn continued to accuse. “Then what was it like? Did you think it was funny to see me with a hole in my stomach? Did Victor laugh when you told him how I looked laying in that bed?”
“You’re being cruel, Quinn,” she replied. “I know you’re hurt, but you don’t have to be this way. I tried to get Victor to give himself up, but he wouldn’t.”
“You thought he would? What, you were trying to help me by doing that? Is that what you’re saying?” Quinn questioned.
“No, I just wanted this to end…”
“This will end when Victor pays for his crime. So where is he?” Quinn demanded.
Zoe shook her head. “Quinn, you have to believe me…”
“I don’t have to believe anything,” he snapped. “I don’t have to believe a thing you say. I don’t even know who you are. Everything you said to me could have been a lie. How can I possibly know what the truth is?”
“I’ll tell you,” Zoe answered quickly. “I’ll tell you everything.”
Quinn glared at her tear-stained cheeks. It hurt him to see her cry, but she hurt him, too. She hurt him with her lies and deception.
“I really did try to get him to give up,” she continued. “But he wouldn’t. He doesn’t want to die, Quinn. He’s scared of that.”
Quinn scoffed. “Victor? Scared?”
“Yes,” Zoe replied. “You have no idea what Victor went through.”
“Yes, I do. I know all about his life when he was young. Doesn’t mean that he gets away with what he’s done.” Quinn stared at Zoe in disbelief. Did she want him to feel sorry for Victor? It wasn’t going to happen. Victor was a monster and Quinn was going to see that he was put down.
“I know,” Zoe answered. “But despite what you think of him, I owe him,” she confessed.
Quinn’s interest piqued. He was right. Victor did have something over her, which was why she’d helped him. Why didn’t she say something? What did he have on her?
“Tell me, and don’t you lie to me,” Quinn whispered as he brought his temper under control. “I don’t want any more lies.”
Zoe blinked rapidly. She was trembling. “Victor saved my life,” she confessed. “When I first moved here, some men attacked me. Tried to rape me and rob me, and Victor stopped them. He saved me. I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him, and I promised him then that whatever he needed, I’d do it.”
Quinn couldn’t think about what she was saying. The idea of someone harming Zoe only made him angry, but was it true? Or was this more of Zoe’s lies? She continued.
“When he came to me a few weeks ago with a gunshot wound, he told me that it was time to pay my debt. That’s all I thought it would be. I just thought I’d patch him up and send him on his way, but then he made me promise to keep his visit secret. I didn’t want to be involved in whatever he was into. I knew he was in trouble and I wanted no part of it, so when you came asking questions, I lied.”
Quinn’s heart felt calmer at her confession. Was it the truth? He thought she told him the truth before, and he was wrong. Was he wrong now? He always thought he could read people, but Zoe was something different. She confused him and beguiled him. She distracted him.
“I really didn’t know where he was,” she continued. “I didn’t. He left here before you arrived, and I never saw him until he put that gun in my back and dragged me out the door of the boarding house.”
“Then tell me where he is now? You can’t say you don’t know. You went with him and he let you go. You have to know where he is.” He sat forward in bed, his eyes locked on hers as he made his demand. “Tell me where I can find him.”
“I can’t,” she whispered. “I honestly don’t know where he went.”
He didn’t believe her. She was with him. She saw where he took her. She knew where he was, she just didn’t want to tell him. Quinn’s anger flared. “If you don’t tell me where he is, then I’ll have no choice but to tell the Sheriff about your connection with Victor.”
“But I don’t…”
“You hid the fact that he was here, and now you won’t tell me where he is. That’s obstruction, maybe even accessory,” Quinn accused her. He hated to use this tactic on her, but he wanted the truth. The complete truth.
“But I really don’t know,” she continued her denials.
“Then you can explain all this to the Sheriff,” Quinn stated flatly.
“Quinn! You could destroy everything I’ve built. I didn’t help Victor. I swear I didn’t,” Zoe insisted.
“Then tell me the truth.”
Zoe sighed deeply. “He took me to the Picture Gorge,” she answered finally. “But where exactly, I don’t know. I don’t know if he even went back there. He could’ve gone anywhere.”
Quinn nodded thoughtfully. The Picture Gorge. Victor had a hideout there. Quinn thought that was the case when they met, and now Zoe had confirmed it.
“Quinn, this isn’t going to end well,” Zoe said sadly. “Victor will never stop, and if you don’t, someone’s going to get killed. I’m afraid it is going to be you.”
“What would that matter to you?” Quinn said sharply.
Zoe’s face looked as if he’d slapped her. “It matters, Quinn,” she said softly. “It matters. You don’t understand. I didn’t even want to leave Victor, because I thought he was just trying to use me to get to you. It would matter to me if something happened to you.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “Whether you believe me or not.”
He wanted to say something, but words eluded him. He could see the pain in her eyes. He could hear it in her voice. He wanted to believe her. He really did, but he just wasn’t sure he could. How could he trust a woman who lied to him for so long? Even if he wanted to.
“I wish I could believe you,” Quinn replied. “But I can’t. Not unless you give me something to show me that you’re really telling me the truth this time.”
“Proof?”
“Yes. Proof,” Quinn replied. It was the only thing he could trust. Evidence rarely lied, while people did far too often.
“Okay,” Zoe answered. “Then I’ll prove it.”
“How?” he questioned. His brow furrowed at her statement. What was she thinking?
“I will lead you to where Victor took me,” she said finally. “I didn’t see all of it. We traveled a lot at night and I didn’t get to see much, but I think I might be able to find my way back, at least part of it.”
Excitement began to rush through Quinn’s veins. A lead to Victor’s door? It was perfect. He was in no position to chase him in every direction. Zoe would lead them there. He’d get the Sheriff and his men together and get a posse together to get Victor. This was coming to an end.
“You’d do that?” Quinn questioned.
Zoe nodded slowly. “I’ll try. I just want you to believe me, Quinn. I didn’t do this deliberately. I just wanted out of it. I just wanted to keep my word and move on with my life.”
“But life isn’t that simple,” Quinn replied. “We all make choices and we have to live with them.”
“Sometimes we don’t have a choice,” Zoe answered. “You don’t say no to Victor,” she continued. “He isn’t someone who understands the word. You promise him something, you keep it. Anyone who knows him knows that. He holds debts and you have to pay. I had to pay mine. I did what I had to, but I never wanted to lie to you. I didn’t enjoy it and if there was another way, I wouldn’t have. I swear.”
Quinn was silent. He knew what she was saying was true. He had done nothing but eat, breathe, and sleep Victor Norton’s life for the past five years. He knew the fear the man could elicit, and as that knowledge returned to him, and was no longer fogged by his anger, Quinn realized Zoe had no choice.
“Zoe.”
“Yes?” she said eagerly.
“You need to get the Sheriff. We need to tell him about this,” Quinn stated.
“That’s all you have to say?” she asked.
“For now,” Quinn replied. He could no longer allow her to cloud his judgment. He had a job to do and he needed to see it through. His eyes met Zoe’s and he could still see all the things he had come to care for, but he couldn’t allow himself to focus on that.
“Very well,” she answered. “I’ll get Wiley to call the Sheriff while I get cleaned up.”
Zoe turned from the room and walked to the door. She looked like the world was on her shoulders. “Zoe?” he called.
She turned to him. “Yes?”
“I’m glad you’re safe,” he said in consolation. “I really am.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, then continued out the door.
Quinn felt more burdened now than when Zoe was missing. While she was gone it was easy to put his anger aside, but now that she was back, and the fear of her being hurt was eliminated, his anger took control. How was he to deal with this? How was he to deal with her? He had to get Victor. Maybe the man could confirm the truth? If someone like him even understood the word. Quinn just needed something that could assure him what the truth was.
Quinn lay back in bed and allowed his mind to wander. It wasn’t long before there was another knock on the door. It was the Sheriff.
“Mr. Mortensen, Miss Ferguson told me that you have some new information,” Sheriff Watts announced.
“I don’t, but Zoe does. She says she thinks she can lead us to Victor’s hideout,” Quinn stated as his eyes drifted to her.
“Is that so? Are you sure?” the Sheriff questioned. Quinn could hear the sincere concern in his voice. Zoe meant a lot to a lot of people. He saw that when she went missing. He hated that he had to threaten her livelihood and her entire life to get what he wanted.
“I think so,” Zoe confirmed. “I’m willing to try.” She met Quinn’s gaze. The sadness he saw before still lingered t
here, and Quinn did his best not to be taken in by it.
“I appreciate that,” the Sheriff answered. “I know this experience couldn’t have been easy for you.”
“It wasn’t,” Zoe answered. “However, I’m doing my best to make things right.”
“Make things right? What do you have to make right?” the Sheriff questioned. Zoe’s eyes grew large.
“I mean to help,” she said with a weak laugh. “I guess I’m more tired than I thought. I’m mixing up my words,” she covered.
Quinn looked at her and saw the woman who had warmed his heart. She wanted to make things right, but she didn’t have to. Their problems weren’t caused by her, it was Victor’s doing, and Quinn was going to see that the man paid for it. All of it.
A Western Tale of Love and Fate: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 13