by Ava Winters
“Stop it!” he scolded himself. He huffed and slapped his hand against the desk in frustration. He needed to walk. Peter strode around the room, trying to take deep breaths and closing his eyes to clear his mind, but nothing was working. The only thing he saw was Layla’s face.
The sound of the door brought Peter back to reality. He turned to find Annabelle, who was standing in the doorway with a concerned look on her face.
“Sheriff,” she greeted him. She walked into the room and Peter stepped toward her. She was clearly in distress; there were deep wrinkles etched into her forehead and she wore a frown, something he had never seen before.
“Miss Annabelle, come sit,” he offered as he pulled out his chair for her.
“Thank yah,” she said quietly as she sat. She looked up at him and pursed her lips with a deep breath.
“Is something wrong, Miss Annabelle?”
She nodded silently. “I would say so,” she answered. “Very wrong, indeed.”
Peter pulled the other chair around and set it in front of her. “What’s the matter?” he asked as he leaned toward her.
Annabelle sighed again, and her foot bounced up and down nervously. Something was very wrong. She wasn’t an anxious woman, but everything about her now was telling him that something was amiss—and he already had a suspicion what it was about.
“I shouldn’t be here,” she started. “I promised Layla I wouldn't say anythin’.”
“Anything about what?” Peter questioned.
Annabelle’s gaze bore into his. “The truth.”
Peter’s mind was already reeling. Truth? What truth?
“She didn’t want yah to know,” Annabelle continued. “She just wanted yah to be happy.”
Peter listened, but doubt filled his mind. He couldn’t imagine how Layla could have wanted him to be happy while leaving the way she did. Still, he wasn’t about to make judgments until he’d heard what Annabelle had to say.
The older woman smiled meekly. “She really loved yah,” she stated. “All she could think about was you. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone love another person so much as Layla felt for yah.”
Peter sat back. “Then why did she leave?”
“’ Cause of that man,” Annabelle said seriously.
“McCarthy?”
“Yes. It was his doin’. He made her leave,” Annabelle explained. “He had somethin’ on her. He was threatenin’ her, but she didn’t want yah to know.”
Peter’s jaw clenched. “Did you hear him threatening her?”
“No,” Annabelle answered. “But I know he had to be. That man was nothin’ good, and he meant nothin’ good for her.”
Annabelle wanted to believe Layla had been threatened and that was why she’d left, but that couldn’t have been true. Layla would have told him and she’d said nothing. She knew he would’ve protected her. He would have done anything for her.
“Peter?” Annabelle called. “Didn’t yah hear me? I said Layla loves yah and that McCarthy made her leave.”
“I heard you,” Peter replied. “I just don’t know what you want me to do about it.”
She looked at him as if he’d grown another head. “I want yah to go get her back.”
Peter shook his head. He couldn’t sit anymore. What Annabelle was saying was what he wanted to hear, but he knew better. He wasn’t about to risk everything for anything but something sure, and he simply didn’t have it.
“Peter?” Annabelle called again. She got to her feet and stepped in front of him. She looked at him questioningly.
“Miss Annabelle…”
“Don’t yah Miss Annabelle me,” she stated. “I don’t understand yah. Don’t yah love Layla?”
“Yes. Of course, I do.”
“So why are yah still standin’ here after what I just told yah?”
He looked at her seriously. “Because I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
Annabelle frowned.
“You don’t understand, Miss Annabelle—”
“Then explain it to me,” she interrupted, looking up at him sternly. “I’m not understandin’ myself.”
Peter stared down at Annabelle as his heart began to quicken. “She left.”
Annabelle sighed. “I know, but there was a reason for it.”
“What? What could Jacob McCarthy have on her that she couldn’t tell me? We said we were being honest with each other. She told me she was leaving him, and then she tells me that she’s leaving Richstone with him.” His head shook gently. “I told her that I loved her. I showed her how committed I was and I got nothing back. She didn’t even see the lawyer about leaving Jacob.”
“I told yah—”
“I know what you said, Miss Annabelle; but with all due respect, if there was something wrong, Layla would’ve told me. She should’ve told me. I told her I’d protect her, and when I tried, she got angry at me for doing it. She didn’t want my help.”
“That doesn’t mean she didn’t need it,” Annabelle replied.
“I can’t say that,” Peter responded. “I can’t say anything for Layla anymore. She said enough when she walked away from me and this town.”
“So yah aren’t gonna go get her back?” Annabelle questioned.
“No, Miss Annabelle, I’m not.”
************
A week had gone by and Peter was still missing Layla, but his ability to hide his feelings had increased with time. Some things weren’t quite right, however.
Annabelle wasn’t talking to him. She was upset that he hadn’t gone after Layla when she came to him. He understood, but she needed to understand him. He wasn’t chasing a woman who didn’t want him, no matter how much he loved her. He had a responsibility to the people of Richstone, and he couldn’t just leave them to chase someone who didn’t want to be there.
He was sitting at his desk, reviewing some old files Bill had left in the office after he left. Not much happened in Richstone, but it was always good to review old cases that had yet to be solved—sometimes, something hit you that didn’t before. He was considering a case of some stolen cattle from a small ranch near the border of the town when the door to the sheriff’s office opened.
Peter looked up to find a dust-covered man removing his hat. “Sheriff,” he said as he patted some of the dust from his clothing.
“Can I help you?” Peter asked, getting to his feet.
“Yes, I’m here ‘bout some trouble we were havin’ down at the mine,” the man explained. “Name’s Silas Gutch.”
“What seems to be the problem, Mr. Gutch?”
“I heard them boys that were panning down at the river left town,” Silas said. Peter looked at him keenly.
“You mean Jacob McCarthy and his boys?”
“That’s the ones,” Silas continued. “Since them boys have been gone, there haven’t been any hold-ups.”
Peter looked at the man sharply. “Hold-ups? What hold-ups?”
“The ones that were happenin’ fer weeks down there. Miners were getting’ hijacked on the way to town with their gold. McCarthy and his boys offered protection at a price. Most of us were willin’ to pay ‘em, but now that they’re gone, so has the trouble, which got me thinkin’ that they had somethin’ to do with it. I ain’t the only one thinkin’ it; a bunch of the boys is outside to talk to yah.”
“Call them in. I wanna hear all about this,” Peter said. “While you’re at it, could you go down to the saloon and ask for Bill Dawson?”
“Yah mean the old sheriff?” Silas questioned.
“Yes. Tell him I need him over here now,” Peter explained.
The miners marched into the room and Peter was shocked to see how many of them there were. There had to be over a dozen men there, most of them older.
No wonder Jacob had all that money to try to tempt Layla. He was robbing these old boys and then charging them to keep them protected. If only they had come to me before.
A few minutes later, Bill hobbled into the room with a
confused expression on his face. “Peter, what is all this?”
“This is what we were worried about,” Peter answered. “These men believe that Jacob McCarthy and his boys were robbing them for all these months.”
Bill’s eyes widened. “Robbing them? What’re you talking about?”
“It seems these men were being threatened, robbed, and then being charged protection money by Jacob and his gang. They just didn’t bother to tell us about it,” Peter recounted with some sarcasm.
“You don’t say,” Bill replied. “Where’s your deputy?”
Peter had hired Eustace Rock as his new deputy only two days before. “He’s out checking the farms on the border of town. He’ll be back later,” Peter answered. “I’ll update him then, but I wanted you here now to hear this."
Silas interrupted their exchange. “They threatened us. They put a beatin’ on Bob Dunn that no one wanted to challenge ‘em. Besides, no one was willin’ to risk their stakes if things got worse. We paid the protection and nothin’ happened to yah. Those who didn’t took the risk until they got held up themselves.”
Peter shook his head and balled his fists. He knew Jacob McCarthy was no good. Now he had his proof, but the man was already long gone. There was no telling where they were now.
“I’m going down to the telegraph station. These boys mentioned something about Colorado. I’m gonna check it out,” Bill stated after he’d heard the report of every man in the room. Peter’s arm was aching by the time he’d finished writing the information down.
“I’ll be right here,” Peter replied. He ushered the miners from his office with the promise of getting to the truth and bringing Jacob and his gang to justice. The men trusted him now, but they hadn’t before. If only they had, things might be different. Maybe Layla would still be in Richstone, still in his arms. Why hadn’t he gone after her when Annabelle had come to him before?
You can’t beat yourself up about that now. You have to think about what to do next.
Was this what Jacob had over Layla? Had she known what he was doing? Peter shook his head. There had to be more. It couldn’t just be that she knew he was robbing the miners.
Peter was sitting at his desk when Bill returned. His expression was grim. He dropped the response from Colorado before him. It was a piece of warrant information on Jacob McCarthy and his gang. They were wanted in several states for a spate of robberies and attacks.
“How did we miss this?” Peter asked Bill angrily.
“Because we didn’t know to look,” Bill replied. “We checked Silvertown and there was nothing. We checked the neighboring towns and there was nothing. We didn’t know to check Colorado. Now, we know.”
Peter crumpled the paper in his hands as it all became clear to him. This was what Jacob was holding over Layla—the fact that she was married to an outlaw. That was why she’d run away from him in the first place. She wanted to escape him, but he’d pursued her. He’d hunted her down and trapped her with the truth. She knew what he’d done, and because she was married to him it made her just as guilty as they were in the eyes of some.
She must haven’t been terrified of me finding out.
Peter hung his head. How could she not have known that he’d protect her, even from a truth such as that? He would protect her from everything, if he could. But Jacob had fear on his side and he’d used it well.
“We have to find them,” he stated. Peter got to his feet and shoved the paper away. He was furious. He was furious that Jacob had gotten away. He was furious that he hadn’t tried harder to find the truth when they were still in town. Mostly, he was furious that Layla was gone and there was no clearing the matter up with her, face to face.
She must have run because she thought I’d arrest her. Why didn’t she tell me? Why didn’t she trust me?
Peter shook his head in irritation. Did she really think he’d do that?
“Are you going to issue a warrant?” Bill asked.
Peter met his gaze. “You bet your life I am,” he stated firmly. “Jacob and his men robbed these men of what they’d earned. They have to pay for their crimes.”
“And Layla?”
Peter’s jaw clenched. “What about Layla?”
“Are you going to issue a warrant for her, too?” Bill asked.
Peter met his gaze. “No,” he said softly. “I believe she left here under duress, and not of her own free will. Annabelle told me a week ago, but I didn’t want to listen. She told me that Jacob had something over Layla; she couldn’t tell me what it was, but now I know.”
“Where will you start?” Bill asked.
“It doesn’t matter where I start, but where I end up,” Peter replied. “I will find Jacob McCarthy, wherever he is, and I will bring him to justice.”
“Wait for your deputy,” Bill insisted.
“No,” Peter replied emphatically. “When he comes back to town, send him south. I’m going north,” he stated. He grabbed his hat and shoved it down on his dark hair. His eyes were immediately shadowed.
Bill grabbed his arm gently. “Be careful, Peter,” he replied. “McCarthy could do anything if he knows you’re coming after him. Remember, he has Layla.”
Peter met his gaze. “Don’t you think I know that? I will bring them to justice, and Layla back safe.”
Bill nodded. “Then go get her. I’ll make sure you have some back-up along the way. You’re going to need it. You can’t take them all on alone.”
“Do what you have to,” Peter replied. “I always appreciate the help.”
Peter rushed from the sheriff’s office. He didn’t wait to see what his horse needed, he would get it along the way. His only thought was to find Layla. There were plenty of places to stop. He’d ask around as he moved from town to town. He’d pick up their trail. He’d find them, and he’d bring Layla back.
He raced from town with his eyes trained on the horizon, leading his horse in the direction Layla had gone. He would find her. He had to find her.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The trip across Nevada was a terrible one. Layla and Jacob bickered every step of the way, and by the time they reached Utah, even his men were tired of it.
“Don’t you two ever plan on quittin’?” Gary questioned. “I mean, we’ve been hearin’ this stuff halfway cross the country. It’s gettin’ a little tirin’.”
“You tell it to him,” Layla retorted. “He’s the one to blame.”
Jacob looked at her coldly. She had made him a promise and she’d kept it. She refused to let him forget how much she hated him. She wouldn’t stop, either.
“Why don’t you shut your—”
“Enough, Jake, we’ve all had just about enough,” Gary insisted. “Why don’t yah just let her go? She doesn’t wanna be here, and life would be easier with her gone. I’m all for it.”
Jacob stalked toward his friend with anger in his eyes. “Never,” he spat. “So you and the rest of you are gonna just have to live with it.”
Layla sighed and rolled her eyes. He was determined to keep her forever. No matter what she did, no matter how she complained, yelled, and bickered, he still refused to set her free. He watched her like a hawk all day and slept nearby at night.
Gary looked at Jacob coolly. “Fine. Have it your way. If she kills you, it’ll be your fault.” He turned his back on Jacob and walked away. She watched as he turned back to her. When their eyes met, it was a war of stares.
“Don’t you even think about it,” he warned.
“Don’t you,” Layla replied.
“Get into town,” Jacob ordered. “We need supplies.”
Layla glared at him but she didn’t argue. She was hungry, and if she wanted to eat, she needed to go into town and help Gary get supplies. She got to her feet and marched away from where they’d been sitting near the horses. Gary helped her up onto the cart before he came to sit beside her. He whistled and the horses set off.
Layla folded her arms over her chest as they rode toward the small tow
n. Gary took a deep breath beside her.
“If you didn’t wanna be here, then why did yah come?”
Layla looked at him incredulously. “I can’t believe you’re asking me that.”
“Well, believe it. If yah wanted to stay in Richstone, yah could’ve stayed. It’s not like any of us care whether yer here or not,” he stated.