The Heart's Pursuit

by Robin Lee Hatcher

  He spun away from the bar and strode toward the staircase.

  CHAPTER 8

  Silver couldn’t sit still any longer. She’d eaten her early dinner and consumed too many cups of coffee while waiting for Jared to return to the restaurant. The afternoon shadows had grown long. Dusk would soon arrive.

  Glancing out the window, she confirmed that all three horses were still tethered to the rail beyond the glass. Good. It meant the bounty hunter hadn’t abandoned her. But he had left her there a long while, and if she didn’t get a bit of fresh air, she would explode with frustration. Jared Newman had told her to stay put. He’d warned her what would happen if she disobeyed him, promising to send her back to her parents if she caused him any trouble. But surely he couldn’t object to her waiting with the horses.

  After paying for her meal, she went outside, pausing on the boardwalk to look up and down the street. Many more horses were tied at the rails outside the numerous saloons. Many more men stood and walked on the boardwalks too. Boisterous and loud men.

  She stepped into the street and moved to stand near her mare’s head. Stroking the horse’s muzzle, she said, “Cinder, do you suppose he’s learned anything about Bob?”

  The buckskin snorted and bobbed her head.

  Silver laughed softly. “I wish I could be as optimistic as you.” Then she pressed her forehead against the mare’s neck. “Please, God. Let Mr. Newman find Bob and all that he stole. Help me restore what was taken from my father. None of this was his fault. Father shouldn’t be punished for my poor judgment.”

  Tears sprang to her eyes, and her throat tightened. Perhaps if she’d asked the Lord if she should marry Bob, she might have saved herself and her family this grief. Surely God would have warned her of her fiancé’s true character.

  Only You did warn me, didn’t You? I just wouldn’t listen.

  Heaven help her. It wasn’t that she didn’t try to do the right thing, but her impetuous, headstrong nature too often overruled common sense. She spoke her feelings aloud when she should keep silent. She challenged the way things were, believing she could make them what they ought to be by sheer determination. She thought herself as worthy as any man, despite society’s mores that told her otherwise. Her mind was filled with ideas, the kind women of good character and respectable families weren’t supposed to have.

  Bob Cassidy had seemed to like those traits in her. He’d seemed to appreciate and approve of them. What an actor he’d been. What a liar.

  She sniffed as she straightened away from her horse, then wiped her tears with her fingertips. She mustn’t let the bounty hunter find her crying. Jared Newman was looking for any excuse to send her home, and she mustn’t give him one.

  It wasn’t easy for Jared to convince the protective Claudette to let him talk to Felicity. But when he told her he was searching for a man who’d done to others what had been done to this girl, the woman relented.

  He leaned forward on the chair next to the bed. Felicity might have been a pretty girl at one time, but it was hard to tell beneath the ugly bruises that marred her face. “My name is Jared Newman. I want to find the man who did this to you. It’s possible he’s done it before, and I want to bring him to justice. Can you tell me about him, miss? Anything you can remember might help me.”

  Felicity could open only her left eye. Her right was swollen shut. But he saw the stark fear in the other one. Would she ever again be able to look at a man without terror icing her veins? He hoped she could.

  “It’s all right, honey,” Claudette said. “Mr. Newman wants to help. Not sure why, but I think he can be trusted.”

  Jared forced himself to speak in a soft, calm voice. “Can you tell me what he looked like?”

  “I . . . couldn’t see . . . him good. It was dark and . . . and he wore something over his face.”

  Jared glanced toward Claudette.

  “She was attacked on her way home. Felicity doesn’t live at the Crystal Palace. She and her little boy have a place of their—”

  “Scar . . . ,” the younger woman whispered. “He . . . had a scar.”

  Jared’s gut tightened. Although he was certain what the answer would be, he asked anyway. “What kind of scar? What did it look like? Where was it?”

  “Above his . . . collarbone.” Felicity swallowed. “Here.” She touched the spot at the base of her throat. “It was shaped like . . . like a half . . . moon.”

  It was him. He was here in Central City—or had been when this young woman was assaulted more than a week ago.

  When he looked at Felicity again, he no longer saw her. He saw his sister. He saw Katrina’s swollen face and battered body as she’d told him of her assailant’s scar on his chest. That was the last thing she’d said to him before she died.

  “Mr. Newman?” Claudette said, intruding on the dark memory. “I think you’d better leave now.”

  “Just a few more questions.”

  “No. Felicity’s not strong enough. Please go now.”

  Jared wasn’t going to change the woman’s mind. He could tell that by the set of her mouth and the look in her eyes. As he got to his feet he said, “I’d like to come back in the morning, if that’s all right. To see if there’s anything else she remembers.”

  Claudette led him out of the room before answering. “I’m not convinced she can tell you anything more that would help. The sheriff said there was too little to go on. Not that he cares about a girl like Felicity. Still, if the law can’t find him, why do you think you can?”

  “Because I’ve been looking for him for six years, and I won’t give up until I find him.” The rage that filled him was a familiar companion. “He did the same thing to my sister.” He drew a deep breath. “Only she didn’t survive. My sister died from the assault.”

  Claudette’s expression changed to one of sympathy. “I’m sorry to know it. If Felicity is stronger in the morning, I reckon you may see her.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Where are you staying?”

  “I don’t have a room yet.”

  “The Colorado is a decent hotel.”

  “Thanks. I’ll go there.”

  “Mr. Newman, the sheriff said it isn’t likely the man who did this is still in Central City. Drifters and gunslingers pass through the gold camps all the time. And I remain doubtful there’s anything helpful Felicity can tell you about the man who attacked her.”

  “I know, Miss Claudette, but you never can tell what someone will remember that can help. Even something small.” He put his hat on his head. “Let me know when I can come back in the morning.”

  “I will. Good night, Mr. Newman.”

  Despite the gray light of early evening, Silver recognized Jared as he strode along the boardwalk toward the restaurant. It was more than his height or the breadth of his shoulders. There was something in the way he moved that was already familiar to her. A strength. A sense of purpose.

  Odd, wasn’t it? That she should know that about him after so short a time.

  Before Jared reached the restaurant doorway, Silver stepped away from the horses and into the pale light spilling onto the boardwalk through the restaurant’s window. “Did you find Mr. Carlton?”

  “No.” He frowned. “I thought I told you to wait inside.”

  She straightened her shoulders, standing tall. “I sat there as long as I could, but I needed to stretch my legs. I was waiting with the horses.”

  “This isn’t a safe town. Not for a woman alone.”

  “Perhaps not, but I’m unharmed. You can see that for yourself.” She wished she could read his face better. “What did you learn? Anything that will help us?”

  At last he too stepped into the lantern light coming from the restaurant. “I confirmed that a man named Matt Carlton used to work as a dealer at a place called the Crystal Palace.” He jerked his head, indicating it was somewhere behind him. “But he quit and left town about a week or so ago. No one knows where he went for sure. Just that he talked about heading
farther west.”

  The strength that had kept her shoulders straight drained out of her. She’d hoped—

  “I’ll take you back to Twin Springs in the morning, Miss Matlock.”

  “Take me back?” She stared at him. “After spending one afternoon in one town?”

  “It’s more than—”

  “I haven’t given you reason to go back on your word. You agreed to find Bob, and you agreed to take me with you as long as I gave you no trouble. Which I haven’t, have I?”

  “Miss Matlock, this isn’t a game. We could be tracking a desperate man.” He rubbed his forehead. “I saw a young woman awhile ago, probably not much more than nineteen or twenty, who was beaten within an inch of her life by some man on a dark night. What if something like that was to happen to you? You don’t know what kind of trouble we might find on the trail or in the next town we come to.”

  “I’m not going back until we find Bob, and if you leave me in Twin Springs, I shall simply follow you on my own.” Panic welled inside of her. “I won’t be left behind, Mr. Newman. I can’t be left behind.”

  He made a sound, part groan, part growl. “You’re a difficult woman, Miss Matlock.”

  “So my stepmother tells me.”

  One eyebrow rose a bit higher than the other as Jared looked at her, his thoughts inscrutable. Finally he said, “Mount up. We’ll get rooms at the Colorado Hotel for the night.”

  Relief eased her panic. She’d won this particular battle. The bounty hunter might try to send her home again tomorrow or the next day or the day after that, but for now he was letting her stay.

  Why Jared found it hard to say no to Silver Matlock, he couldn’t fathom. It had to be more than her pretty face and expressive eyes. He’d never let a woman’s looks alone sway him. In fact, no female in years had gotten the better of him the way Silver did. Not since Katrina.

  As he lay on his bed in the hotel room, muffled sounds from the street below drifting through the closed window, he allowed himself to dwell on memories of his little sister. To remember the sparkle in her blue eyes and that particular smile she’d worn when she was determined to get her way. To remember the sound of her laughter that used to ring through Fair Acres at all hours of the day. To remember her winsome ways.

  Katrina Newman had been the prettiest girl in the county, and while undoubtedly spoiled by her parents and her older brothers, she’d had the sweetest nature and the kindest of hearts. If the war hadn’t taken away so many young men of Kentucky, she might have been married, and if she’d been married, she might have been far from the Newman home when a killer came calling.

  Clenching his jaw, Jared drove away the painful memories. They served no good purpose. They wouldn’t give him back the family he’d loved nor put his life on a different path than the one he walked.

  There was only one thing he needed to think about now—the man with the crescent-shaped scar. He’d been in Central City just the previous week. He might not be far even now. Jared couldn’t let him slip through his fingers yet again. Which meant he didn’t have the time to look for a two-bit thief like Bob Cassidy.

  Trouble was, Jared had given his word to Silver, and as much as he’d changed—for the worst, no doubt—over the years, as much as his heart had hardened toward people and life itself, at his core he remained the son of parents who’d taught him the importance of keeping his promises, the son of people who’d wanted him to be a man of integrity and honor.

  Both of which were an inconvenience at a time like this.

  CHAPTER 9

  Jared was awake and dressed when the message arrived from Claudette, telling him he could see Felicity again. He wasted no time in going. He didn’t even stop to inform Silver of his mission.

  When he arrived at the Crystal Palace, he found Claudette waiting for him at the top of the stairs. “Felicity wants to speak with you alone. But if you do anything to upset her . . .” She shook her head, her warning clear.

  “I won’t upset her. You have my word.”

  The woman didn’t look convinced, but she motioned him toward the bedroom where he’d visited Felicity the previous day. He knocked on the door and waited for a response.

  “Come in.”

  Entering the room, he saw that Felicity was propped up by a number of fluffy pillows on the bed. A bright red scarf covered her shorn locks, but there was no hiding her swollen, bruised face.

  “Good morning, miss.” He left the door ajar behind him.

  “Morning.” She winced, as if it hurt to move her lips even a little.

  Jared pulled a chair from against the wall and set it near the bed. Not too close. He didn’t want to make her feel threatened. “Thanks for letting me come back. I know it isn’t easy to talk about what happened. I can see you’re still scared. But there might be something you know that will help me find the man who hurt you. Some small detail you don’t even think is important. I want to find him. I want to make sure he isn’t able to do this to another woman ever again.”

  Felicity swallowed and turned her head toward the window, where morning sunshine spilled through the curtains. “I was on my way home last week. It was late . . . and the night was dark.”

  It was difficult to wait for her to tell the story in her own way, at her own pace, but somehow Jared kept silent.

  “He came up . . . behind me. Suddenly. I had . . . I had no warning. He put his hand over my mouth . . . and then . . . then he dragged me into an old shed. There was . . . there was a lantern . . . but it didn’t shed much light. I fought him. I fought as hard as I could . . . but it was no use. Then he . . . he—” She broke off, unable to speak the unspeakable.

  Jared understood without the words.

  The room fell silent except for the ticking of a clock on a table against the opposite wall. It was a silence filled with pain. Jared wished he could touch her hand, offer her comfort, but such a gesture wouldn’t be appreciated. Not in her fragile state. Not with the assault so fresh in her mind.

  At long last Felicity drew a ragged breath and continued. “He talked. He talked all the time. And . . . and when he was . . . done, he beat me and . . . and cut off my hair. I asked him why . . . but he only laughed.” She shuddered. “I thought . . . I thought he meant to kill me.”

  Sometimes this man killed his victims. Sometimes he let them live. Either way, he destroyed lives. The need for revenge coiled in Jared’s gut, hot and furious.

  Felicity met his gaze with her one good eye. “He thought I would die . . . before I was found. Didn’t he? He thought I would die or he would have . . . made certain—” She stopped, and something about her expression altered.

  Alert, Jared leaned forward on the chair. “What is it? What are you thinking?”

  “I remembered something. He . . . he said he was going to be . . . the next king of the Comstock.”

  King of the Comstock? Comstock. The silver mines. Virginia City. Virginia City, Nevada.

  At last. A real clue. At last he was back on the killer’s trail. The man he’d sought for six years was headed to Nevada. And that was where Jared was headed too.

  Silver Matlock, Bob Cassidy, and Matt Carlton be hanged.

  Silver poured water from the pitcher into a porcelain bowl on the table beside the bureau. After washing the best she could, she dried off with a towel and donned her clothes. Then she frowned at her reflection in the mirror. There were gray smudges beneath her eyes, evidence of another sleepless night, and she looked unusually pale. She pinched her cheeks, trying to bring some color into them. It wouldn’t do to have Mr. Newman think she was ill. He was looking for any excuse to be rid of her.

  A sharp rap on the door caused her to start.

  “Are you up, Miss Matlock?” Jared asked from the hallway.

  “Yes.” She hurried across the room to open the door. “I’m up.”

  He looked at her, his expression dour. “Meet me out front in five minutes. We’re leaving.”

  “Leaving? Did you learn—”<
br />
  “Five minutes.” He pivoted and walked toward the staircase.

  Five minutes meant no breakfast. At the thought, her stomach growled. But she wasn’t about to complain or keep him waiting. She grabbed her saddlebags and hurried after him. When she passed the hotel restaurant, she held her breath, pretending she hadn’t already caught a whiff of fried bacon, cooked eggs, hot breads, and coffee. Once outside, she stopped, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath of crisp mountain air. If Jared Newman could go without a proper breakfast, so could she. He wouldn’t have a single reason to regret taking her along. Not a single one.

  Opening her eyes again, she saw their horses were tied to the rail right outside the hotel. Which meant the bounty hunter had gone to the livery stables before coming for her. Had he had time to eat too?

  Her stomach growled a second time.

  I won’t complain. I won’t say anything about being hungry.

  Jared straightened from the other side of the packhorse, where she assumed he’d been checking their supplies. “Are you ready?” he asked.

  “I’m ready.”

  “Then mount up. We’re wasting daylight.”

  She bit back a retort. If she could look for Bob Cassidy without anyone’s help, she would do it in a heartbeat, but she didn’t even know where to begin. She was stuck with Mr. Newman. She would have to get used to his disagreeable nature.

  Within minutes they were on their way, and as soon as they were beyond the last row of houses and businesses of Black Hawk, Jared kicked his gelding into an easy canter. Silver didn’t have to ask Cinder to keep up. The buckskin did so on her own.

  The sun had climbed a good distance before Jared finally slowed his horse to a walk.

  Silver rode up beside him before doing the same. “Do you mind telling me where we’re going? Do we have a destination?”

  “Nevada.”

  “Why Nevada? Last night you said no one knew where Bob was going other than west.”

  He turned a hard gaze in her direction. “Nevada is west of here, and that’s where we’re headed.”