Cassidy's War

by Susan Macatee

  Nate grasped the back of the chair, jostling Scott. “Fine by me, Doc.” He leaned in close, the sour stench of his breath assaulting Scott’s nostrils. “But you’d best not cross me, you hear?”

  Scott clenched his teeth but nodded. “You’ll get your money, Bartholomew, just do what I’m paying you to do.”

  Nate grinned.

  ****

  Right after dinner, Cassidy excused herself, claiming she had to look in on a patient she’d treated the day before.

  Quinn’s brows rose. “Mrs. Welkie? Would you like me to accompany you?”

  “No, it’s nothing serious.” She met his gaze as her mother cleared the table. “She just asked me to stop by, and I thought I’d go now. If there’s any problem, I’ll come back and get you.”

  Her brother nodded, but frowned, not looking convinced.

  She ran up to her room, patted her hair in place, and changed into her best dress, wishing she could abandon the dreary mourning clothes. She hoped her mother and Quinn wouldn’t notice she’d changed, but she had to look her best for George. Tonight must be special.

  As she neared the hotel, townsfolk greeted her and wished her a good evening. She nodded and greeted them in return, but eyed them covertly to be sure no one saw her go around the side of the hotel to the back door. She hoped an employee wouldn’t come out this way and think her a scarlet woman.

  She waited a few moments, watching the door, ready to scurry if someone other than George emerged. Her hands trembled at the enticing thought of being alone with him...his naked skin against hers. Anticipation threatened to send her swooning.

  A sound at the back door sent her head swiveling. Her breath caught. A sigh of relief escaped her when George stepped out, devastatingly handsome in his frock coat. His eyes widened at the sight of her. Had he thought she wouldn’t come?

  “Cassie,” he breathed. “You look beautiful.” He reached for her hand and led her inside.

  As they crept up the back stairs, she remained silent. She waited until he’d closed the door to speak.

  “I couldn’t wait to see you, George.” She grasped his hand and raised his callused palm to her lips. The scent of wool, leather, and man thrilled her.

  “I wasn’t sure you’d come...or would be able to get out of the house.”

  She smiled. “I told them I was going to look in on a patient I’d treated yesterday.”

  “Then, you can’t stay too long...” He trailed off.

  “Let’s worry on it later.” She led him to the bed and sat, pulling him down beside her. “I’m here now and I’m not leaving. I never want to leave you again.”

  He smiled, then leaned into her, taking her mouth. Delicious sensations shot to her core. She relaxed, allowing him to lower her until she lay flat on her back, cushioned by the feather mattress.

  “You are so beautiful, Cassie.” He pulled the pins from her bun. She stilled as he loosened her hair and arranged the strands over her shoulders. “I’ve dreamed of seeing you this way for so long.” He fingered a length of her hair, then raised the strand to his nose.

  A thrill sent gooseflesh racing over her. She wanted his hands all over her body, touching her bared skin. She wanted his clothes off, too, so she could run her hands over his chest, his arms, his lower region. She wanted this man so bad, her gut clenched.

  He rose and peeled off his coat and loosened his braces. She didn’t move, just watched, moistening her lips.

  He leaned down and fingered the clasps at her bodice. Her breath caught when he popped the top one, then another and another. A breeze from the open window caressed her exposed skin, adding to her arousal.

  The bodice out of the way, his lips brushed against the edge of her chemise just above the corset. Her breathing grew shallow, and she reached for the buttons of his shirt. She ached to see his naked chest, run her fingers over his skin.

  Once they’d divested themselves of their clothing, she lay atop him on the bed, her lips pressed against his. He brushed his hands along her spine, and tingles raced down to the part of her where she wanted him most. Her breasts swelled against his chest.

  He lifted her, kissing one breast, then taking the hardened nipple into his mouth. The act sent liquid heat shooting between her thighs.

  “George!” she gasped.

  Releasing her breast, he nudged her onto her back and settled between her legs. “Are you sure you want this, darlin’?”

  She gasped for air. “Of course I do, you dolt.”

  He chuckled, then stroked her, almost causing her to erupt. When he, at last, thrust into her, she raised her legs, wrapping them around his waist. She wanted him closer. Closer.

  His hot breath brushed her ear as they rocked together. At the height of rapture, when she thought she could bear no more, she completely shattered.

  Later, she woke beside him. A rosy glow lit the room, the air humid and still. He lay on his side, his arm thrown over her waist. She relaxed in his warmth and strength. If she lost him now, she didn’t know if she’d survive.

  He stirred and opened his eyes. Glancing at the window, he started. He pulled his arm from around her taking his warmth.

  “George? What’s wrong?” She propped herself on her elbows.

  He reached for his pocket watch, opened it, and grimaced. “As much as I’d like you to stay the night, I think it best if you went home.” He sighed. “This way your mother and Quinn won’t be suspicious.”

  She bit her lip. “I guess.” Not wanting to move from the warmth of his bed, of him, she stretched and sat up, clutching the sheet to her chest.

  He slipped off the bed and climbed into his clothes. He threw her underclothes across the bed. She dressed, knowing she didn’t dare alarm her mother again.

  As she shrugged into her bodice, she glanced at him. He adjusted his braces.

  “That was so much better than the last time, George.” Her face flamed. “Will it be even better the next time we’re together?”

  He grinned as he reached for his vest. “I surely hope so.”

  She smiled and fastened the hooks and eyes of her bodice. “Then I can hardly wait for the next time.”

  “The next time...” He buttoned his vest, then reached for his coat. “...I plan for us to be legally wed.”

  A thrill raced through her at his words. “I’d like that.” She flushed again and glanced around the room to be sure she didn’t leave anything.

  “I want to marry you as soon as possible, Cassie.” His gaze sought hers. “How does next week sound?”

  She nodded. “I’ll tell my family as soon as I get home.”

  “Good.” He reached for her hand and kissed her wrist at the pulse point, his lips starting another round of tingles racing through her. “You’ve just made me happier than I’ve been in my whole miserable life.”

  ****

  After the meeting with Bartholomew, Scott left the house to see a patient in town. Afterward he decided to take a walk. He needed to calm himself. The anticipation of taking revenge on Masters and having Miss Stuart at his complete disposal, without the protection of Masters or her family, sent his pulse racing.

  As he passed the hotel, the thought of Miss Stuart and Masters, alone in his room, infuriated him. What if he went up there and confronted the man? She could be with him now.

  He strolled through the lobby. The clerk glanced up and nodded, likely thinking Scott there to see a patient. After ascending the stairs, he realized he didn’t know which floor Masters stayed on. Perhaps he should go back and inquire at the desk, but he might raise suspicions. He continued to the third floor, hoping he’d guessed right.

  He stepped down the hall, unsure of what to do next. He couldn’t just start knocking on doors. As he neared the end of the hall, footsteps sounded on the back utility stairs the service people used. He caught voices...a man and woman. They sounded familiar. He crept to the back stairwell and caught a glimpse of a woman’s dark skirts sliding down the stairs. Ducking back, he flatten
ed himself against the wall and listened as they continued to the first floor.

  He peered over the railing and sneered. Masters and Miss Stuart. She must have been in his room again. He clenched his fists.

  Where the devil is Bartholomew when I need him? He rifled through his medical bag but had no time to look for his knife. He cradled the bag against his body.

  Slipping down the front stairs, he hoped no one else would appear and get in the way. He wanted to catch them before they left. Since they’d descended the back stairs, he should be able to catch them at the back entrance. He hoped no one was out this time of evening.

  As he rounded the back of the hotel, he caught a glimpse of them entering the alley beside the mercantile. He reckoned they expected to get out of the hotel unnoticed.

  He raced toward the alley, the bag still in his hand. He needed to get to the knife. He kneeled and opened the bag, glancing up.

  Two figures embraced. Miss Stuart clung to Masters as they kissed. Jaw clenched, Scott located the knife. Fingering the sharp blade, he rose and raced toward them.

  Miss Stuart turned her head, her eyes wide, lush mouth agape. He grasped her arm and flung her aside. Raising his knife, he lunged at Masters.

  He grasped Scott’s wrist, twisting his arm to wrestle the knife from his hand. Scott fought, faintly registering pain as he threw all his strength into plunging the knife in his victim’s chest. Masters’ weight against him threw him off balance and he fell. Masters landed on Scott’s chest, knocking the breath from him.

  Scott glanced to his side.

  Where’s the knife? He shoved against Masters, in an effort to throw him off.

  Masters socked him in the face, the blow sending white sparks through battered senses.

  “I will kill you,” Scott hissed.

  “Not from where I’m sitting,” Masters said.

  Scott looked again for the knife. The handle lay beyond his reach. He hoped Masters didn’t catch sight of the blade and try to use Scott’s own weapon against him.

  He needed a distraction. A startled gasp from Miss Stuart did the trick.

  “George!” she called.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  George glanced in Cassidy’s direction. She stood against the brick wall of the hotel. He followed her wide eyed glance. Nate Bartholomew emerged from behind her holding out a derringer.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” George asked.

  Nate edged closer. “I’ve come to take out my revenge.” He smirked, his yellowed teeth and thin face looking like a death’s head.

  “Revenge for what?” From the corner of his eye, he caught Madison’s arm snake out. The knife he’d threatened George with lay on the ground just out of his grasp. “Oh, no you don’t.” He reached for the knife before Madison could.

  “Batholomew,” Scott hissed. “What are you waiting for? Shoot him!”

  Cassidy gasped.

  Nate smiled, waving the derringer. “If you have any brains, Masters, I’d advise you to get off my friend and give him back his knife.”

  George glanced from one to the other. “You’re working with him?”

  “The doc made me a proposition I just couldn’t refuse.” Nate chuckled, then frowned. “Now, get up.”

  George grunted as he rose and dropped the knife, trying to catch Cassidy’s gaze. He wanted her to run, while he had Nate’s attention, and get help.

  But she stood frozen to the spot.

  Nate raised his gun, aiming the barrel at George’s chest. “I know you got a gun on you. Pull it out real easy and drop it here in front of me.”

  George eased the Colt from his pocket and laid it on the ground, then raised his hands. “Before you shoot me, Nate, I have one request.”

  “What is it?”

  “Allow the lady to go. She has nothing to do with whatever quarrel you have with me.”

  Nate glanced at Madison. The doctor rose and brushed off his coat, his face flushed. “I’ll deal with Miss Stuart.”

  “Cassie, run!” George’s heart lurched. He didn’t care what happened to him. Only her safety mattered.

  She held his gaze, swallowed, and stepped toward them.

  His heart sank.

  “Please, sir,” she asked Nate, “what quarrel do you have with George that you’d want to kill him?”

  “He cheated me one too many times at cards.” The man waved the derringer at George.

  George weighed the possibility of wrestling the gun from him, but the sour scent of sweat tinged with tobacco and an audible exhale told him Madison stood inches behind him. George didn’t need to see the knife to know the blade pointed at his back. If he could get Cassidy out of the way...

  “Nate,” he appealed, “she’s got nothing to do with this. Let her go.” He caught her wide-eyed gaze. Would she run this time?

  Nate scowled and turned toward Madison. The doctor shook his head. “She’s coming with me.” He sneered at George. “I’ll take her to my home. You just deal with him, then meet me there.”

  Nate grinned. “All right then.” He pulled the trigger.

  The blast hit George in the side, sending him to his knees. Numbness settled in as he fell forward, his last thought—regret for not saving Cassidy.

  ****

  Cassidy’s breath caught as the blast knocked George to his knees. As if in a nightmare, she watched him fall flat on his face. Her throat closed up, cutting off her scream. Madison grabbed her arm. “Let’s go, Miss Stuart.”

  “No!” She wrenched away, but his grip tightened. “You can’t just leave him here.”

  “Mr. Bartholomew will take care of him, won’t you?” He smiled at his accomplice.

  The doctor yanked her arm. She stomped on his foot. He swore and raised his hand as if to strike her.

  Voices from outside the alley sent hope surging through Cassidy.

  Nate turned to Madison. “I’m gettin’ out of here.”

  As the voices drew closer, the doctor swore. He released Cassidy and raced down the back of the alley, followed by Nate. Cassidy watched them go, then slid to the ground by George’s side. Turning him over, she gasped at the blood freely flowing from his chest.

  Two men raced toward her. “What happened here, ma’am? We heard a gunshot.” She pointed to George. “He needs help, but I’m a doctor. I need someone to get me a medical kit...” Glancing around, she spotted Madison’s bag. In his haste to get away, he’d left it.

  “Never mind,” she told the men. She scurried over to grasp the bag, then pointed down the alley. “The men who shot him went that way. I’ll take care of him until someone else shows up to help.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” one of them said. Both men raced down the alley in the direction Madison and Nate had gone.

  Cassidy parted George’s coat and pushed back his shredded vest. She had to stop the bleeding. Lifting her skirt, she ripped off a section of her petticoat and pressed the cloth against the wound. George moaned. “It’s all right,” she said. “I’m staying to take care of you.”

  Sorting through the medical bag, she looked for a probe. She didn’t know if the bullet lodged in his body, but if so, she needed to extract it. Grasping the instrument, she prayed. “Don’t die on me now, George.” Wouldn’t be fair if she lost him after all the years they’d spent apart. She couldn’t bear the thought.

  ****

  George cracked an eye. A throbbing pain in his right side grabbed his attention. He lifted his hand and probed. A thick layer of gauze covered his ribs.

  Gasping, he raised his head and caught a glimpse of a woman’s skirt. “Cassie?”

  She stepped to his side. “I’m right here.”

  “This is my room.” He glanced around the familiar setting. “How did I get here?”

  Cassidy smiled. “I had a little help. Two men heard the shot and went after Dr. Madison and his friend. Then more men arrived and carried you up here.”

  “What about the bullet?” White-hot pain shot through his body. He
gasped. “Is it still inside?”

  She nodded. “I tried to probe it in the alley, but I couldn’t see in the dark. I wish Quinn were here. He has more experience than I.”

  George reached for her hand. “If I had to choose my doctor, you’d be the one I’d ask for.”

  “But, George, I-I don’t want to make things worse.”

  “Sweetheart, you could never make things worse. If not for you, I’d likely have died years ago in the Confederate prison.”

  She shook her head. “That’s not true. I had nothing to do with it.”

  “Yes, you did, darlin’. The vision of coming home to you kept me sane. Otherwise, I’d as soon just lay down and died right there.”

  “But when you came home, why didn’t you stay?”

  He shook his head. “I was a fool. Thought myself no good and you deserved much better.” He reached up and stroked her cheek.

  Another shaft of pain shot down his side, causing him to grimace.

  “Now, lie still,” Cassidy said. “Besides likely having a bullet in you, one of your ribs is cracked.”

  “I’m a mess.” George sought her gaze. “How can I protect you now?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think you have to. Likely, Dr. Madison and his friend are on their way out of town, if they haven’t already been caught.”

  George struggled to control his breathing. Every indrawn breath burned like the fires of Hell. But the thought of losing her burned worse. If Madison did come back, what would he do?

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Scott and Nate separated outside of town. He paid Nate the rest of the agreed money. Thanks to forethought, he’d had the bills in his pocket to avoid returning home to retrieve them. Nate decided to hike to the next town to escape detection, to continue with his plans to catch a train and head west.

  But Scott’s dilemma was where to go. He couldn’t chance going home, but all he had were the clothes on his back and the cash he still carried. He had to find a town where no one knew him and start over. He had skills as a physician. He felt sure he could find a town in need of a doctor.

  An image rose in his mind, causing him to wince. His medical bag! He’d left it in the alley when he’d fled. Should he chance going back for the bag? The cost of having to replace his instruments made the decision for him.