To Tempt a Rogue

by Connie Mason

  “I’ll… try not to.” His lids fluttered downward, and Kitty knew it was time to leave.

  “Try to get some rest, Father. I’ll return later.” Bert was already asleep when Kitty quietly let herself out of the room.

  There was no way now she could ask Bert to help save Ryan. In all likelihood Bert would never leave his bed again. With a heavy heart, Kitty went to the kitchen in search of Teresa. If Bert couldn’t testify on Ryan’s behalf, perhaps Teresa would be willing to aid Ryan.

  The doctor had already left when Kitty arrived in the kitchen. But Teresa was still there, conferring with the cook. Rosita went to Kitty immediately and gave her a hug. “It’s so sad, Kitty,” Rosita sobbed. “Senor Bert is such a good man. I’m glad you’re here to comfort him in his last days.”

  “So am I, Rosita,” Kitty replied, giving the woman a quick hug.

  “How was Bert?” Teresa asked. “Did he recognize you?”

  “He’s not good,” Kitty replied. “And yes, he did recognize me. If you have a spare moment I’d like to speak to you in private, Teresa.”

  “Will the parlor do?”

  Kitty followed Teresa into the parlor, waited until she settled into a chair, then said, “I need your help, Teresa. Will you go into town and tell the marshal that Ryan is no outlaw? I had intended to ask Bert for help but that’s impossible now.”

  “Of course,” Teresa said with alacrity. Had Kitty not been so distraught she would have known Teresa was too accommodating to be believed. “I’ll ride into town tomorrow and speak with the marshal. You’ll stay with Papa Bert while I’m gone, won’t you? I can’t leave him alone.”

  “Yes. Anything. Just convince the marshal that Ryan is innocent.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Teresa promised.

  Kitty didn’t know why, but Teresa’s words gave her little comfort.

  Chapter 14

  Marshal Pringle offered Teresa a chair and resumed his seat behind his desk. “What can I do for you, Miss Cowling?”

  Teresa smoothed her skirts over her knees and gave the marshal a brilliant smile. “I understand you have Ryan Delaney in your jail.”

  “Not another one,” Pringle groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re Delaney’s cousin, too.”

  “Oh, no, Marshal, Ryan and I are definitely not related. I thought you should know that he’s been staying out at the ranch with Papa Bert and me.”

  “Is that so, Miss Cowling. Bert is a good man. Did he know he was harboring an outlaw?”

  “Well,” Teresa began coyly, “I did hear Ryan tell Papa Bert that he rode with the Barton gang at one time.” She batted her eyelashes at the marshal. “And Ryan did ride out alone the day of the attempted bank robbery. There is something else that might interest you. My stepsister also rode with the Bartons. She dressed as a boy and called herself Kit.”

  Pringle shot to his feet. “That lad who came to see Delaney! He said he was Delaney’s cousin. Was that your stepsister?”

  “I’d be willing to bet on it, Marshal,” Teresa said with conviction.

  “This is my lucky day. You’re going to be our star witness, Miss Cowling! Are you willing to testify in court? All you need do is to repeat what you just told me.”

  “Of course,” Teresa said complacently. “Everything I just told you is the truth. You can depend on me.”

  She rose to leave, then, almost as an afterthought, asked, “May I see the prisoner, Marshal? I’d like to ask him how he could abuse our trust like he did. Papa Bert thought he had reformed.”

  “I see no harm in that,” Pringle said. “Fifteen minutes is all I can allow.”

  “That’s all the time I need, Marshal.”

  Pringle escorted Teresa to the corridor. “Delaney’s cell is at the end of the corridor. Do you want me to accompany you?”

  “That won’t be necessary, Marshal,” Teresa said as she started down the dim passage.

  Ryan heard footsteps padding down the corridor, and he pressed his face against the bars. The rustle of skirts told him it was a woman, and he feared it was Kitty. He couldn’t bear seeing her again, knowing that he might be dead in less than two weeks. The steps came closer. He squinted into the murky passageway and was more than a little dismayed to see Teresa.

  “Hello, Ryan,” she said in a tone that raised hackles on the back of his neck.

  “Teresa, what in the devil are you doing here? Have you come to speak to the marshal in my defense? Did Kitty tell you what happened?”

  “You mean did Kitty tell me you attempted to rob the bank with the Bartons, don’t you?”

  Ryan spit out a curse. “You know better than that. What did Kitty tell you and Bert?”

  “Papa Bert doesn’t know. He had another attack, and the doctor said that any kind of excitement or stress would kill him.”

  “I appreciate you coming here to speak on my behalf,” Ryan said. “Did the marshal believe you? Did you tell him who I am, and that I have never been an outlaw?”

  Teresa’s smile did not reach her eyes. “I told Marshal Pringle the truth, Ryan. How could I lie when I knew you had ridden with the Bartons? I have no idea what happened after you left the ranch the day of the attempted robbery. You could have joined the Bartons.”

  Ryan paled. He didn’t even know this woman standing before him. She embodied everything he despised in a woman. Deceit, jealousy, lack of morals. She was vindictive and a liar to boot, no better than Cora Lee Doolittle, who had caused Pierce and Chad such anguish.

  “Why are you doing this, Teresa? Will seeing me hang make you happy?”

  Teresa tossed her head. “You spurned me. We would have been good together had you not lusted after Kitty. You deserve everything you get. I’m not going to lie on the witness stand, Ryan. Everything I say will be the truth as I know it.”

  “You know I’m not an outlaw,” Ryan spat, wishing he could get his hands on the lying witch, but she stood just out of his reach. “How do you think Bert will react when he learns what you’ve done? He cares about you, Teresa, but he won’t be able to forgive you for what you’re doing to me.”

  “Papa Bert will never know,” Teresa contended. “The doctor says it will take a miracle to bring him out of this latest attack. His heart is too weak to recover.”

  “Gloat all you want,” Ryan said from between clenched teeth. “The fact remains that Kitty will inherit the bulk of Bert’s estate.”

  “I’ve already engaged a lawyer to contest the will,” Teresa claimed. “It won’t be difficult to prove that Kitty is an imposter.”

  “I’m glad Bert never glimpsed your true character,” Ryan said sadly. “He’ll die thinking only the best about you.”

  “Your fifteen minutes are up, Miss Cowling,” the marshal called from the end of the hallway.

  “Thank you, Marshal,” Teresa answered. “I’m ready to leave. Good-bye, Ryan. I’m sorry it had to end like this.” She turned on her heel and walked away without a backward glance.

  Ryan sagged against the bars. He wondered if Kitty knew about Teresa’s duplicity and quickly decided she didn’t. Teresa had done him irreparable damage, and he doubted his brothers could get him out of this one. Teresa’s damning testimony was likely to hang him. Barring a miracle, he was doomed.

  * * *

  Kitty waited anxiously at the ranch for Teresa to return. She might not like Teresa, but she appreciated her effort to defend Ryan. Kitty thought Bert’s condition seemed somewhat improved today, but she was no expert. Only the doctor could determine that. Still, Bert recognized her and even let her feed him some broth. When he’d asked about Ryan, Kitty told him Ryan had gone with the hands to mend fences. Bert seemed to accept that and had soon fallen asleep.

  Kitty walked to the window and peered out through the gloomy dusk. Teresa should have returned by now, and Kitty paced back and forth before the front door, filled with nervous energy. She uttered a cry of gladness when she finally saw a cloud of dust approaching the house. She stepped out onto the porch and
waited for the wagon to grind to a halt before the house.

  One of the hands had driven Teresa into town, and the wagon bed was loaded with supplies. Kitty fidgeted impatiently while Teresa waited for the cowboy to hand her down and then for him to remove her purchases from the wagon bed.

  “Where have you been? It’s getting late,” Kitty chided. “Did you see Ryan?”

  “Oh, yes, I saw him,” Teresa said as she carried her packages into the house. “I did some shopping. Wait till you see. I picked up the prettiest bonnet, and some silk stockings, and…”

  “Dammit, Teresa! Stop jabbering and tell me what happened. Did you inform the marshal that Ryan couldn’t possibly be an outlaw?”

  “I’m to testify at the trial,” Teresa said, deftly skirting the subject.

  “What did you tell Marshal Pringle?” Kitty persisted.

  “I told the truth as I know it,” Teresa said smugly.

  A prickle of suspicion slid down Kitty’s spine. Teresa’s words did not offer the comfort she expected. “What about the trial? Is it still on? Weren’t you able to convince the marshal to drop the case against Ryan?”

  “There is still going to be a trial,” Teresa said, giving a fatalistic shrug. “Ryan was caught red-handed.”

  “But your testimony will clear him, I know it will,” Kitty said in an effort to convince herself. “Thank you, Teresa. You don’t know what this means to me.”

  Teresa’s eyes darkened with an emotion Kitty found difficult to interpret. “You sound like a woman in love. Have you fallen in love with the rogue, Kitty?”

  Kitty saw no reason to deny what she knew to be the truth. “I fell in love with Ryan a very long time ago, for all the good it did me. Ryan is adamantly opposed to marriage and commitment. He’ll never love me like I love him.”

  “I’m glad you realize that,” Teresa returned. “You once warned me about Ryan’s aversion to marriage and I’m happy to see you’re taking your own words to heart. If you’ll excuse me, I want to try on my new clothes.”

  Kitty had a terrifying premonition that Teresa was keeping something from her. There was only one way to find out for sure. She had to return to Tucson and speak to the marshal. Perhaps he’d let her see Ryan and allow her to testify in his defense.

  Unfortunately, three days went by before Kitty was able to return to Tucson. Bert appeared to approach some kind of crisis, and he clung to Kitty as if she were his lifeline. Doctor Sheedy returned and seemed surprised that Bert still clung tenaciously to life. He told Kitty that her presence seemed to comfort Bert, and Kitty hadn’t the heart to leave Bert’s side. Torn between her father’s need and Ryan’s desperate situation, Kitty felt as if her heart were being split in two directions.

  When Bert’s condition continued to improve, Kitty told him she had an errand to perform in town. At first Bert looked fearful, as if he expected Kitty to run off again. But when she assured him she’d be back long before dark, he let her go.

  Kitty was almost out the door when Bert asked, “Where is Ryan? I haven’t seen him in days. Or is my memory failing?”

  Kitty had no idea how to explain Ryan’s prolonged absence so as not to alarm Bert. The doctor was pleased with Bert’s progress thus far and voiced cautious hope. But he continued to warn against upsetting Bert, insisting that any small upset could end Bert’s tenuous hold on life.

  “Ryan received a wire from his brother Pierce a few days ago,” Kitty lied. “Pierce asked Ryan to check on a prize horse he heard about up near Phoenix. I don’t expect him back for awhile.”

  “Tell him I want to speak to him as soon as he returns,” Bert said. “We have some unfinished business. He was to give me an answer to a question I asked him.”

  “Of course,” Kitty said, relieved that Bert didn’t question her rather lame explanation.

  Kitty dressed carefully for her visit to the marshal. She wanted nothing about her appearance to remind him of the lad who had claimed to be Ryan’s cousin. She didn’t bother with the wagon, nor did she ask one of the hands to accompany her. She saddled her own horse and rode off alone.

  Kitty arrived in Tucson at noon and looped her horse’s reins over the hitching post in front of the jailhouse. Dragging in a shaky breath, she opened the door to the marshal’s office and stepped inside.

  The marshal was seated at his desk, perusing wanted posters. He looked up and smiled at Kitty. “Can I help you, miss?”

  “I hope so, Marshal. I’m Kathryn Lowry and …”

  “Teresa Cowling’s stepsister? Bert’s long lost daughter?”

  “Yes. Teresa told me she spoke with you.”

  “She did indeed. I learned a great deal from your stepsister.”

  Kitty nearly collapsed with relief, but it was short-lived. The marshal’s next words sent her reeling.

  “Perhaps you’d like to explain how you happened to become a member of the Barton gang. I understand you disguised yourself as a boy during the time you rode with them.”

  Color drained from Kitty’s face. Had Ryan divulged her secret in order to save himself? No, she decided. Ryan would never destroy her life. That left only Teresa, unless someone else had recognized her as Kit while she was in town the day of the attempted robbery.

  Unnerved, she gathered her wits and gave a shaky laugh. “You must be mistaken, Marshal. Do I look like an outlaw? Mercy sakes,” she tittered, “I can’t imagine how you came to that conclusion.”

  Pringle searched her face, as if weighing her innocence against Teresa’s claim. At length, he said, “I can’t name my informant but there is a way to settle this once and for all.”

  “I hope you’re not thinking of questioning my father. He’s very ill. The doctor wouldn’t let you get anywhere near him.”

  “I heard your father was critical, but what I propose has nothing to do with Bert Lowry.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kitty claimed.

  “Maybe not, but someone who could positively identify the outlaw Kit is right here. Durango has nothing to gain by lying.”

  Durango! Had he recognized her that day she’d visited Ryan in his cell? Kitty swallowed convulsively and prayed that Durango hadn’t seen her face. “I don’t know anyone named Durango, but go ahead and ask him. I’m sure he’ll verify that I have never ridden with the Bartons. I am a woman, Marshal, only a fool would question my femininity.”

  “Sit down, Miss Lowry,” Pringle invited. “I’ll bring Durango out so he can look at you in the light.” Kitty paid close attention as he removed a key from one of the hooks and disappeared down the passage. She was still sitting stiffly in the chair when the marshal returned with Durango in tow.

  The half-breed was unshaven and disheveled, his expression as surly as always. “What is this all about, Marshal?” he asked, curling his lip in derision. “Ain’t it enough that you’re gonna hang me?”

  “You’ll get a fair trial first, then you’ll hang. Take a good look at the lady, Durango, and tell me if you’ve ever seen her before.”

  Durango scrutinized Kitty through half-closed lids while Kitty forced down her panic. She stared boldly back at the half-breed, chin raised, defying him to identify her.

  “Is this some kind of joke, Marshal?” Durango asked. “I ain’t never seen this lady before. The only ladies I know are whores, and they ain’t real ladies.”

  “Are you sure? Look closely, Durango. Imagine her dressed as a lad, wearing baggy clothing and calling herself Kit.”

  Durango studied Kitty closely. Kitty could feel sweat gathering at her temples and between her breasts. Suddenly Durango gave a shout of laughter.

  “Kit was an ornery brat who swore like a trooper and rode like the wind. His hair was brown, not that purty shade of blond, and he stank like hell ’cause he never took a bath. If that lady is Kit, I’m a cross-eyed polecat. Can I go back to my cell now?”

  Pringle nodded, apparently satisfied that Kitty had never been a member of the Barton gang. “Wait here, Miss Lowry,
I’ll be right back,” he said.

  Kitty collapsed against the chair, shaken to the core. Had Durango identified her, she didn’t know what would have happened to her. She’d probably have hanged alongside Ryan and Durango. Her thoughts skid to a halt when Pringle returned.

  “Are you satisfied, Marshal?” Kitty asked tartly. “That was quite embarrassing.”

  “Sorry,” Pringle muttered. “My informant must have been mistaken. You don’t look like a boy, or someone who could be mistaken for a boy, but I had to follow through.”

  “Apology accepted,” Kitty said haughtily. “But what about Ryan Delaney? Didn’t Teresa tell you that he couldn’t possibly be an outlaw? I can vouch for him. He’s been our guest at the ranch and has never shown any tendencies toward lawlessness.”

  “Miss Cowling gave some valuable information,” Pringle hedged cryptically. “Apparently Delaney fooled you all. Durango positively identified him as a member of the gang. I know Bert Lowry is gravely ill, and has been for some time, but he should have notified the law when Delaney showed up at his ranch.”

  “You don’t understand, Marshal,” Kitty protested. Her next words died before they were born. There was no way she could prove Ryan’s innocence without revealing her identity as Kit. It was Kit who rode with the Bartons, not Ryan. “Ryan Delaney is no outlaw,” she said lamely. If my father were able, he’d tell you himself. Unfortunately his health is too delicate to explain about Ryan. Why can’t you take my word for it?”

  “Your word can’t nullify the fact that I personally saw Delaney ride into town with the Bartons and dismount in front of the bank. All the men I deputized that day can confirm what I saw. Delaney is a handsome man,” he said slyly. “I can understand how he fooled you.”

  “I’d like to see Ryan, if I may,” Kitty said.

  “Sorry, Miss Cowling, he’s not allowed visitors.”

  “Why … why, that’s illegal,” Kitty sputtered.

  “I’m perfectly within my rights. With the trial so close, I can’t afford to take chances. There is already talk circulating about an illegal lynching. The Bartons have terrorized the territory too long, and people are clamoring for their heads. I’ve had to deputize five extra men to keep order and make certain both Durango and Delaney have their day in court.”