“I don’t think that’s the answer,” Hawk said. “But I wish you luck in your endeavors.” It was clear he wasn’t going to get anywhere talking things out with Sol. The man clearly had made up his mind, and as many times as Hawk had tried to reason with him, he didn’t want to be reasoned with.
“Oh, I don’t need it,” Sol said. “This town is ready for a change. It’s time for new leadership. Someone who’s willing to step up and get the job done.”
Before Hawk knew what was happening, the group of men pounced on Hawk all at once, throwing a rope around him and pulling it tight.
“You aren’t going to ruin the train coming to Noelle this time,” Sol said. “If Draven won’t put you in jail, we will.”
One of the men stuck a gag in Hawk’s mouth. As Hawk struggled, the men tightened the rope around him. Hawk looked around, hoping someone would notice what was going on. He’d been in more fights before, with worse odds, but he’d never been bound and gagged during them. As the men dragged him toward the back of the shop, a familiar voice called out. “What’s going on over there?”
Gant. Of course it would have to be Gant to witness his humiliation. Good old Bad Luck Chuck. Only the bad luck always seems to be Hawk’s.
“I caught this man stealing from my store,” Sol said. “We were just holding him until the sheriff could come and deal with him.”
A dirty lie, but it wasn’t like Hawk had expected the other man to play fair.
“Hawk? Is that you?” Gant looked over at him, then back at Sol. “Hawk is one of the stupidest men I’ve ever met. But he isn’t stupid enough to steal. And trust me, I know all the stupid things he’s done. There’s got to be a more reasonable explanation for what happened. What do you think he stole?”
It was probably a good thing Hawk was bound and gagged at this point because as much as he promised himself, he’d be good, what he really wanted to do was pummel Mr. Charles S. Gant. And Gant grinned like he knew it.
The men murmured amongst themselves, trying to find an answer that would appease the marshal. They’d obviously not thought through their decision to go after Hawk. Finally, Sol coughed. “He stole our livelihoods,” Sol said.
“Your livelihoods? How’d do that?” Gant asked.
“Because he helped that Creary fellow blow up the bridge,” one of Sol’s cronies said.
Gant rubbed his chin. “I’ve heard that. But you know, as much as I’ve wanted to arrest him for that particular bit of stupidity, I have no proof. You boys know what happens when you arrest someone without proof?”
The men all shook their heads.
Gant made a disgusted noise. “Paperwork. Lots and lots of paperwork. Do you know how much I hate doing paperwork? Then the boss gets mad, and they send you off to do some crazy assignment in some town whose name you can’t even pronounce. Now you gentlemen might not think that's such a bad thing, but you have never met my boss. The work he makes you do is beyond ridiculous.”
What was ridiculous was the way Gant prattled on and on about paperwork when he’d always been the one to make Hawk do a bunch of useless paperwork. But that was just like Gant. Always talking nonsense because that’s what he always did under pressure.
“You let this man go, and I will personally escort him over to the sheriff’s office. You understand I don’t have any evidence to hold him on. But I can keep him overnight to question him. Maybe it will keep him out of the way long enough for the train to get here. Will that work for you?”
Sol and his cronies looked at each other, then Sol finally nodded. “That’s all we were going to do.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so? You let me take him, and I’ll keep him far out of the way,” Gant said.
The men loosened Hawk’s bindings and let him go. Once free, Hawk joined Gant and Gant took him by the arm.
“Let’s go on down to the sheriff’s office so you can make a statement about your involvement in the bridge explosion,” Gant said, grinning.
Once they were out of earshot and almost at the sheriff’s office, Hawk jerked free of his grasp. “You’re enjoying this way too much,” he said.
“I just never thought I’d see the day when you got roped up like that. Who knew a notorious lawman could be brought down so easily?”
Gant guffawed, and Hawk elbowed him in the ribs. “Only because I promised I’d be good. Those men are up to no good, and you shouldn’t have encouraged them. Given your stance against vigilante justice, I’m surprised at you.”
“It wasn’t my best moment,” Gant admitted. “But we’re all gathered in the sheriff’s office, waiting for you, and I needed some excuse to get you in there. Might as well keep the troublemakers happy and let them think someone’s on their side, protecting them, so they don’t take matters into their own hands.”
They entered the office, and Gant’s description of everyone being assembled had been accurate. Draven and Moses were there, along with a couple of other men with badges, who Hawk assumed to be some of the lawmen he’d gotten to assist with the case.
“Moses was just telling us about what he’d seen earlier today,” Draven said. “We’re putting a party together to stand guard over the site. But with sentiment being what it is against you right now, we’d like you to stay behind and remain here in the office so that if something does happen, it’s clear you weren’t involved.”
On the one hand, he supposed he should be grateful that they were looking out for him and his reputation. But judging by the way a couple of the men were looking at him, Hawk knew that part of it was that the men that Gant had hand-picked didn’t trust him. While that was nothing new, it still stung, being in the situation where he knew he had the skills necessary to do the job, but because of his reputation, he was being shut out on a case he truly cared about.
From the way Gant looked at him, it was clear Gant expected him to do something crazy or stupid. Unfortunately, the look Draven gave them didn’t make him feel any better. It was like Draven was silently reminding him of his words earlier today, where he’d confidently told Hawk that he believed that Noelle had changed him.
Two men were taunting him, and all he really wanted was to bring a murderer to justice and keep anyone else from being killed. Was that really so much to ask?
Apparently, it was, and even though Hawk would have liked to have argued, he was willing to accept it for the sake of justice.
Maybe he had changed after all.
“It seems like you have enough men to handle it,” Hawk said. “As much as I want to be part of this operation, I don’t want people’s prejudices against me to prevent my dear friend from finally having justice for his murder. But more than that, I don’t want another tragedy to befall this town.”
As the men made the arrangements, Hawk listened in and gave input as was appropriate, but part of him regretted giving in so easily. He liked being part of the action, liked the thrill of the hunt. But he’d given his word, and he’d abide by it.
Even if something in his gut told him that something was wrong.
16
Rosalind knew that something wasn’t right. She’d heard about the scuffle outside of Sheridan’s hardware, and even though Hawk had gotten word to her that everything was fine, it made her nervous to see tensions so high. She’d had the same uneasy feeling the day her father had been killed, and she’d wished she’d done more about it then.
As she went out to the barn, she noticed Reggie skulking around the side of the depot. A man had a right to go where he wanted, she supposed, but it didn’t seem like the depot was somewhere Reggie, or anyone else, would be hanging around. At least not at this time of day, with the railroad not yet arrived.
She pulled her cloak over her head and looked around. No one else was about, but she did her best to cover herself so no one would recognize her. As she got closer to the depot, she hid under the porch, grateful there was enough space underneath that she could crawl along the edge and remain unnoticed.
“I can’t
believe it worked,” Reggie said. “They only left one man here and sent the rest off on that wild goose chase. You were right about Moses being eager to keep Hawk updated on everything. The two of them couldn’t have played into our hands any better. And Hawk getting himself arrested? Who could have planned for that stroke of luck?”
The other man gave the same evil laugh she remembered having heard before. “Yes, but it makes it harder to pin things on him. This town really hates that man.”
“I planted a few things in Moses’s tent to make him look guilty,” Reggie said. “When they come back empty-handed in the morning, and our surprise awaits them here, everyone will think that Moses intentionally led them astray. Along with the notes he and Hawk have been passing back and forth, everyone will think that Hawk is the mastermind, and Moses is his henchman.”
It was all a trap. Rosalind should have known that everything wouldn’t be solved so easily. Draven should have known that it all sounded too good to be true. Gant, she could believe would be easily duped, but surely with so many intelligent lawmen, someone would have figured it out.
But at least she was safely concealed here under the porch, where hopefully the men would remain talking so she could find out more information.
“Have you heard from the boss?” Reggie asked.
“No,” the other man said. “But I don’t expect to. He made it clear that, succeed or fail, we are to avoid him for the next several days so that no one connects us. I shouldn’t even be here talking to you. But you said you needed help, so here I am. Let’s get this over with because there’s a card game at the saloon and a chair with my name on it.”
“Rosalind!” She could hear Horatio calling her from across the street at the boarding house. She’d said she was stepping out for a moment, and supper was almost ready.
The two men moved closer to the depot. “Let’s come back when it’s dark,” Reggie said. “It’ll be harder to see what we’re doing, but with all the activity at the boarding house, it’ll be safer that way.”
“I thought you took care of that problem,” the other man said.
“With Stiles firing Hawk, he had nothing better to do than hang around the place. Besides, as it turns out, they don’t own the land. Charlie Hardt is just leasing it to them. Even if we drive them out, we’re still not getting our hands on that property,” Reggie said.
The other man made a disgusted noise. “Fine. We’ll get it soon enough. I’ll be back when it’s dark.”
“Rosalind!” Horatio called again. From the sound of the crunch of gravel, she could tell that the men had left, but she wanted to wait a little longer just in case they were still hanging around. Maybe, if Horatio was looking for her, he would run into the men and be able to identify the one she only knew by voice.
She scooted out from under the porch, looking around as she did to make sure her actions went unnoticed. Her heart thundered in her chest, and even after she’d made sure no one had noticed her, it was hard to force herself to relax.
When she got into the boarding house, everyone was already seated at the table. Her mother had even gotten out of bed for a change. She hated to miss the family meal, but she had to get word to Hawk about what she’d heard. Hopefully, his being in jail meant he was just sitting in the sheriff’s office, waiting for everyone to return. Of course, knowing Hawk, they’d probably have to lock him up to get him to stay put.
“Where were you?” Horatio asked. “I was out searching for you.”
Rosalind smiled at him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you worry. Did you run across anyone else while you were looking for me?”
He shook his head. “Why?”
“Just wondering. I’ve been thinking a lot about Hawk spending the night in jail tonight, and even though I know it’s for his protection, I think he must be lonely there, and I don’t know if they thought to make provisions for him to eat tonight. I’d like to fix a plate and bring it to him if you don’t mind my leaving.”
One thing she also learned from Hawk was that by bringing him a meal if anyone noticed her going to the sheriff’s office, she automatically had a reasonable excuse for doing so. No one would think twice about Rosalind bringing him food. True, it would give credence to the rumors about their possible romantic involvement, but she was used to that. It would just look more strange if she were headed there empty-handed.
“That’s a good idea,” Horatio said. “I’ll go with you. It’s getting dark, and with tensions so high in the town, especially with the attack on Hawk, I’d rather you not go out unescorted.”
She hated the thought of putting her brother in danger, but she could also understand his desire to protect her. Besides, with everyone else gone to look out for the suspected sabotage, having an extra person to help out with whatever they were going to do about the situation was a good idea. Horatio still needed his cane to walk, but he was getting stronger every day, and it would make him feel good to be useful. Surely there was something Horatio could do.
“Thank you,” she said.
She prepared a plate for Hawk, and Cordelia came up next to her. “Be sure you take him some cookies,” she said. “He was sniffing around here earlier while they were baking, and even though I’m sure he was mostly here to see you, maybe if you sweeten him up a little bit, he’ll finally declare his feelings for you.”
She nodded, even though she knew Cordelia was wrong. But her sister meant well, and arguing with her would only delay them in getting to Hawk and hopefully stopping whatever Reggie and his crony had planned.
But as Cordelia handed her the cookies, she gave Rosalind a little squeeze and whispered in her ear. “I know you’re afraid to hope. But I can see that he loves you. He just needs a little encouragement to admit it.”
The trouble with hoping was that Hawk had already given her plenty of reason to believe otherwise. But as she gathered her things she glanced over at her family, and they all had the same hope written in their eyes. She wanted to believe, but was she a fool for doing so?
Hawk stared through the jail cell at Gant. “I can’t believe you locked me up.”
“You have a knack for not following orders. This is for your own good.”
“Fine. You want to lock me up, I’ll make you wish you hadn’t. So let’s start by talking. What I’d love to talk about is why, when it was your own sister who died, you don’t seem to care about finding her killer.”
Gant threw down the paper he’d been reading. “I should have known that’s what you’d want to talk about. I don’t know why I drew the short straw on this assignment. But you know, as much as you think you’re annoying me by bringing it up, I’m going to annoy you right back. Do you honestly think that Beth would want you wasting your life obsessing over her death? That’s not who she was.”
It was so like Gant to turn it back on him like that. But Hawk wasn’t going to let him. “She wouldn’t want a murderer out on the street, endangering other people’s lives. And I’m not going to let you get away with not answering the question. You have all these resources at your disposal. Why wouldn’t you help me?”
Gant just stared at him. Hawk knew the stony silence well. Fortunately, they had all night.
“She was your sister,” Hawk said. “Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
Gant pushed himself out of the chair and stood, his rapid action causing some of the folders on Draven’s desk to fall to the floor. “Of course it means something to me. And you want to know who I blame for her death? The idiot who wouldn’t wait to go chasing after a band of ruthless criminals. So rather than catching the criminals, as we would have done had we waited, we gave ourselves away. And to teach us a lesson, they killed her. And rather than taking responsibility for his actions, that insufferable fool blames me.”
It wasn’t the answer he’d expected. But at least it was an answer. For the first time, Hawk heard the pain in Gant’s voice when he talked about Beth. It seemed like they both hated each other over what had happ
ened, but neither of them had all the facts.
“They were already on to us,” Hawk said. “They’d made contact with Beth. She’d written about it in her diary, which I discovered after her death. James Elliott approached her while she was shopping and told her to tell us to stop butting in their business. She spat in his face and told him to tell us himself. It infuriated her that they’d stoop so low as to threaten an innocent woman.”
He couldn’t help chuckling at the memory of reading her entry. He could tell by the strength of her brushstrokes that she’d been absolutely furious when she wrote about it.
“She spat in his face?” Gant sounded incredulous.
But that turned Hawk’s chuckle into a full-blown laugh. “She was mortified that she’d done such a revolting thing. But she was so angry that he dared threaten her that she hadn’t been able to help herself. She wrote that she couldn’t wait for his hanging, because she was going to wear her Sunday best and throw a party afterward.”
He choked on the last few words, the funny memory turning to grief as he thought about how he’d let her down.
“James was one who shot her, wasn’t he?” Gant asked quietly.
“And the first I killed,” Hawk confirmed.
They were silent for a few moments, both lost in their grief, and even though Hawk had intended to get answers, it was good to see that he’d made Gant feel something for Beth. And maybe, for now, it was enough.
Gant looked like he wanted to say something, but then the door to the sheriff’s office opened, and Rosalind and Horatio entered.
“It’s a trap,” Rosalind said, sounding breathless. Then she stopped, looked over at Gant, and groaned. “They would have to leave him here, wouldn’t they?”
Gant straightened. “What you mean by that?”
“I know all about your lawman skills from my friend Dorcas Hunter. And right now, I need someone competent handling the situation.”
Hawk chuckled, having heard the story many times. From the way Dorcas talked about her kidnapping and rescue, Gant was a bumbling idiot at best.
Rosalind: A Thanksgiving Day Bride (Brides of Noelle Book 8) Page 19