“So you just left? You left him laying there dead?”
Gabe nodded, closing his eyes. “It’s my biggest regret. But I can’t do anything about it now. And I don’t know where Annie is. She’s the only one who can corroborate my story.”
“Is there any way to find her? You will have to clear your name. I don’t even know if either of us should go back to the hotel until we find her.”
“I can’t go back to Kentucky,” Gabe said. “I’m going to have to rely on the town trusting Mark’s version of events.”
“She doesn’t know me. I can go and find her. I would try.”
Gabe stared at her, his eyes wide. “You want to go to Kentucky and try to find a woman you’ve never seen before to make sure the town of Wickenburg doesn’t look bad on me?”
She smiled softly. “Well, they are talking about me too, you know.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I see. So it’s all about you saving your own reputation, huh?”
Her smile widened. “That’s right. I don’t care what they say about you.”
Claire could barely get the words out. She wanted to take them back immediately. She didn’t like to lie and that was a bald-faced lie if there ever was one. She moved a little closer to him, wanting to wrap herself around him or shrink up tiny and jump in his pocket. That way she could go with him wherever he went.
“I want to go find her, Gabe. It’s the only sensible thing to do.”
He shook his head. “The sensible thing to do would have been for Annie and me to confess to the police before it could get this far. I… I didn’t expect to fall in love coming here, Claire. I honestly didn’t. But I have. And I want you to know that. I can’t hide it from you or from anyone else anymore. I really don’t think I was hiding it to begin with. I think that’s why Agatha got so angry. She could see I was attracted to you from the beginning. You are… so easy to get along with.”
“I feel the same way about you, Gabe. I really do. I don’t want to see anything happen to you. Of course I’m worried about myself. However, not nearly as much as you because I wasn’t accused of a horrible crime. I’m not the one whose name she’s smearing in town. Well, I guess in a way she is because she has said that we knew each other before I got here and I was scouting the town to see what kind of crimes we could commit.”
Gabe let out a sharp burst of air and shook his head. “She said that? That’s one of the stories I didn’t hear.”
“You realize she’s going to hang herself with her own rope, Gabe.”
He looked away from her, staring at the table next to the couch without really seeing it. “You’re right. The more versions of the story she tells, the more people will compare. They will realize she is telling lies. They might not even believe that I killed someone when they are done comparing notes.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I think the first thing I should do is talk to the sheriff. Do you think I should have him come here or go to him in town?”
“I think I should go get him and bring him here. There’s no way to get Mark to bring him back because he’s already left. I know a way around the main streets so no one will see me if they are coming out of church. I’ll bring him back here and you can talk to him.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
GOING TO THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE
GOING TO THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE
Gabe took Claire back to Mark’s house to see if anyone was there. They were alone in the house. He told her to take his horse and go to the sheriff’s office.
“Will your horse be all right with me riding him?”
“Yes. He’s an accommodating horse. Just make friends with him and it’ll be fine. Here.” He went around the corner and rummaged about in the kitchen. He came back with a carrot. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”
“Are you sure you will be all right here? I worry that a bunch of men from town will come and hunt you down.”
He shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. Mark has had time to get back to town. It won’t take long for him to spread the word.”
“Where do you think he went? To the church?”
“He probably went to the Horse N Saddle since church isn’t over yet. He’ll wait there. Men who have the temperament to come after me will all go there. He’ll talk to them there. And Molly will probably go to the church with the other lady that brought you.”
Claire nodded, taking the carrot from him and pushing it into her sleeve. “That was Miss Berry, the schoolteacher.”
Gabe nodded. “Oh, yes. I met her at the school that day.”
“Yes, you did. I think you’ve met her on several occasions.”
“You be safe, okay? Come on, I’ll walk you out.”
Claire stepped out onto the porch and walked to Gabe’s horse, which was waiting where they’d left him only moments ago. She undid the reins, wishing once more she had her riding breeches on. It was going to look strange for her to be wearing her dress and riding. She was hoping no one would see her.
“You are going to be careful, aren’t you?”
“I will. No one is coming after me, though, are they?”
“Didn’t you say you were confronted by someone?”
Claire shuddered, remembering how it felt to have the woman screaming her venomous words. “Yes. I was. I don’t want that to happen again.”
“If they see you, they might come after you. Try to be careful.”
“You don’t really think I’m in danger, do you?”
She reached in her sleeve and held the carrot up to Gabe’s horse. “Here you go, boy. Here you go.”
The horse nibbled the carrot out of Claire’s hand and she patted him on the back. “Good boy, good boy.” She looked back at Gabe, who was watching her with adoring eyes. She smiled. “I guess you don’t think I’ll really be in any danger.”
He didn’t reply. He looked at her, taking in her beauty, wanting her in his arms. He couldn’t resist it any long. He pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes, glad to finally be enveloped by him. His muscles pressed against her as he held her to him.
“Claire. I swear if anything happens to you, someone will pay with their lives.”
She put her arms around him and squeezed him as tight as she could. “I know you would protect me, Gabe. Just like you protected Annie. I know you would.”
She couldn’t see his smile when it covered his face. It meant the world to him for her to believe in him.
“When this is all over, promise me you will stay with me forever. Promise me you will be my wife and live in the cabin with me.” He whispered the words in her ear, causing chills to run down her arms and spine.
“I will be your wife,” she murmured into his broad chest. He pushed her away gently and looked down in her eyes.
“I need you to say that again, my love. Please. Tell me again.”
She settled her eyes on his and let herself drown in them. “I will be your wife, Gabe Stapleton. I would love to spend the rest of my life with you.”
The look on his face made Claire want to press her lips against his and kiss him until the end of time. Instead, she moved back into his arms for another hug.
“All right,” she said after a few moments. She didn’t want to let go but she wanted to get the situation under control as quickly as possible. “I’ve got to go get the sheriff. If I see Adam Collins, I’m going to get him, too. He seems to have a lot of influence in this town.”
Gabe nodded. “He does and you should. He’s taken care of a lot of people in this town. They trust and respect him.”
Before pulling herself up into the saddle, Claire reached up and touched Gabe’s lips with two of her fingers. She brushed them lightly and then brought the two fingers to her own lips. “I’ll be back, Gabe. You wait here and stay safe.”
He nodded, looking at her with loving eyes. “I will.”
Claire pulled herself up on the horse and turned him around to go back towar
d town. She knew a path through the woods on the south side that would take her directly to the sheriff’s office. There was even an alley between the two buildings where she could leave the horse while she carefully went around to the door.
She went as quickly as she could, leaning forward and urging the horse to gallop as fast as he could. The ground was dry, so she didn’t have to worry about him losing his footing. They raced past the main road to town and she turned him down to go into the woods on the south side. The trail wasn’t very long. It simply went in the same direction as the main road but behind most of the buildings that flanked the street.
It was an obvious pass and the horse had no trouble following it. As she went, she tried to get a glimpse of the main road to see if there was any action going on. If people were gathered in the street, she would know there was the possibility the men were forming a posse. However, Gabe seemed confident Mark would talk them out of it.
To her relief, she saw no action in the street, no mobs of men storming up and down, no screaming women or babies crying. She smiled as she rode, thinking that would be an extreme reaction to finding out someone in their midst had killed someone. She was fairly certain there were only a few men in town who could say they had never shot a man, whether it be in self-defense, a bar fight, a deal gone wrong, a woman… all the men carried firearms at their side and they were ready to use them when they needed to.
Bar fights were not uncommon in any small town, Wickenburg included.
She turned the horse into the alley between the two buildings and slowed him down to a walk. He was breathing hard and snorting, tossing his head back and forth. She leaned forward and slapped her hand against his large neck. “You’re a good boy. You’re a good boy. Rest yourself. You won’t have to do that again.”
The horse snorted at her, lifting his head up and down as if nodding “yes”.
“We’ll stop here. Whoa. Whoa, boy.” She pulled on the reins until he came to a halt. She slid down, tied the reins to a sapling and stepped carefully to the edge of the alley. She peeked out, looking in one direction and then the other. She didn’t see anyone nearby who would notice her. She stepped quickly up onto the platform that served as a porch for the office and scurried quickly to the door. She turned the knob and slipped in, closing it directly behind her.
Once inside, Claire stood there staring at the men who stood in front of her. She moved her eyes from one to another, not sure what to say to them. Her breath was caught in her throat.
“Oh. Oh my.”
“I guess he wants me to come and see him.” The sheriff stood up, picking up his hat and plopping it down on his head.
Claire nodded, still unable to speak. She was staring into the angry faces of two men she’d never seen before, as well as the determined faces of Mark and Adam Collins. The five men converged on her and she quickly opened the door and went back out.
Mark took her arm, saying in a low voice, “Come with me in my wagon, Claire. We’ll get to the bottom of this, come what may.”
“I’m so worried for him, Mark. What is going to happen to him? He can’t go to prison.”
“The problem now is that Agatha has spread so many wild stories about him, the people in town don’t know what to believe.”
“Why are those two men angry?”
“Apparently those are the men Agatha told the story about you two being conspirators, coming here to steal and cause problems. She said you were his scout, checking out our town for misdeeds.”
“Surely you have convinced them that’s not true.”
“I’ve tried. They want to talk to him themselves. I think it would be helpful if you were there, to clear up any confusion about your part in this.”
“I have no part in this.”
They were at his wagon. He gave her his hand, though his eyes were distracted. “I know you didn’t, Claire. But it’s best if you stick by his side during this. I think it would mean a lot to him.” He rounded the wagon and climbed up into the driver’s seat. “He was really worried that you weren’t going to believe him. He wanted to trust that you would but… well, we all have our doubts, don’t we?”
“Yes. We all have things we want to run from. Those things always come back to haunt us if we don’t confront it head on.” Claire was reminded of her conversation with Gabe at the festival when she’d asked him if he had something that might come back to haunt him. He’d looked so guilty. She felt bad now, knowing that she’d brought up something that he was very sensitive about.
Mark got the horses in motion and the wagon rolled down the street.
“People are going to see me.”
“It doesn’t matter now. We’re taking care of this situation.”
“Oh dear. I left Gabe’s horse in the alley next to the sheriff’s office.”
Mark stopped the wagon, pulling the lever to set the brake. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
Mark jumped down and disappeared behind the wagon. She sat patiently waiting before turning around to see where he was. He had run back to the alley and retrieved the horse. He tied its reins to the back of the wagon and climbed back up.
“Okay, we’re ready to go.”
“Is everyone coming to your ranch or is it just us and the sheriff?”
“I think both Mr. Gentry and Mr. Richie will be coming, yes. I don’t know about Adam. Probably. Adam is a good peacekeeper. He sets people straight when they are wrong about something.”
“He seems like such a fine man.”
“He is. He’s been through a lot.”
Claire slid her eyes over the streets as they passed. The sun was burning hot above her. She wished she had a bonnet on to shade her eyes but she hadn’t worn one that day. The jewelry, beads and pins in her hair were long disheveled and she hadn’t bothered to fix them. She patted her hair, thinking Gabe must have gotten a nice eyeful of what she looked like when she didn’t keep herself in check.
“Don’t worry, Claire,” Mark said, smiling. “You look fine. You look the same way you did when you got to the ranch and I’m sure he didn’t mind earlier. I’m sure he thought you looked as beautiful as the most colorful sunset.”
“That’s very poetic, Mark.” Claire smiled at him. “Did you read that somewhere?”
He laughed. “Who says I can’t be poetic? Just because I’m a man?”
She laughed with him. “Oh no, I meant no insult, really.”
“Good. I was worried for a moment.”
“Thank you for taking care of Gabe, Mark. I know you will do everything you can to protect him.”
“I absolutely will. I don’t want anything bad to happen to the guy. He’s been my cousin all his life and he’s been my friend just as long. It was a shame he had to leave Wickenburg and live in Kentucky all these years, but he seems to have enjoyed the majority of his time there. I know he didn’t want to leave. Especially with the circumstances he left under.”
She nodded. “He’s a good man. I just know he is. He didn’t mean to kill that man.”
“No, I don’t believe he did either.”
“We were talking earlier about how Agatha has told more than one story to explain the crime. Don’t you think the people of Wickenburg will see the lies in that? Since the stories are all different, doesn’t that make it obvious that she’s lying?”
Mark nodded. “Adam and I brought that up to Gentry and Richie. But they are stubborn men and want to be convinced by the horse’s mouth.”
“Well, they believed Agatha’s horse’s mouth.”
Mark chuckled. “Yes, they did, didn’t they?”
“Seems a little hypocritical.”
Mark looked at her. “We won’t hold it against them, will we? They only want to protect their families the best they can.”
She nodded. “You’re right. We won’t hold it against them.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
A WOMAN IN PERIL
A WOMAN IN PERIL
Gabe sat on the porch, his eyes
set on the road in front of him, the one Claire would come back on. He thought about how quickly she’d accepted his version of the events. He was the only one who really knew what had happened. He was blessed that she had believed him. He hoped that the sheriff would help him prove his innocence.
He shouldn’t have left Jack the way he was. He should have gone to the sheriff right then. However, he’d been foolish and afraid. He would regret it for the rest of his life. It was a blow to his pride and he’d done it to himself. He would have to pay whatever price was set upon him for what he’d done.
His stomach turned nervously. The more he thought about it, the more nervous he got. When a dust cloud appeared in the distance, he was relieved and stood up. There was only one rider and it was a woman. Surely Claire would not come back without the sheriff. He looked closer.
It wasn’t his horse.
With a sinking feeling, he knew who it was coming out to Mark’s house. The woman was a plague but also a very good detective. She shouldn’t have known where Mark lived but here she was, coming at a gallop, down the road to where he was.
He felt trapped. He didn’t have his horse, he was alone, and God only knew what Agatha had in mind.
“What a menace,” he mumbled, getting to his feet and stepping out onto the lawn. He took a few steps so that he would be away from the house when she got there. He didn’t want her going in. He didn’t want her there at all.
She slowed the horse as she got closer and spied him standing there waiting for her.
He was stunned to see her smiling.
“Here you are!” She called out when she was a few feet away. She circled him with the horse, trying to hold him in place. “I thought I’d never see you again.”
“What in heaven’s name are you doing here, Agatha? You weren’t invited to my cousin’s home.”
“I haven’t seen you since yesterday! I wanted to find you to tell you I missed you.”
An Obsessive Bride Page 17