by Renee Ryan
Will glanced over Ben’s shoulder toward the window. The lace curtains were sheer enough that he could see out the window and into the alley. The two guards had been joined by several other men, likely members of Ben’s gang. They appeared to be waiting for some kind of signal.
Stepping between the women and facing Ben, Will pushed the other man’s gun aside. “What’s your game here? You haven’t shot anyone, and you act like you’re at the theater for the evening. This isn’t a show. Let Rose go, and we’ll be on our way.”
Ben chuckled. “Rose is free to go anytime she wants. But you don’t want to, do you, Rosie?” He twirled his fingers in her hair, but Rose looked slightly uncomfortable.
“Why haven’t you found someone to marry us yet?” Rose pulled from his grasp and stared at him. “You said we’d be here only for one night, and then we’d stay in respectable lodgings.”
“Now, Rosie…” Ben reached for her, but she stepped away.
“Don’t ‘Rosie’ me.” When Rose put her hands on her hips, Will knew exactly why the two sisters never got along. They were too much alike. Sure, Rose was the flightier of the two, and definitely pettier, but they were as their last names suggested—stones.
He stole a glance at Mary. Perhaps he was too quick to leap to conclusions in his comparison to Daisy. Daisy was like the flower, weak and easily wilted. Not so with Mary. Mary might have admitted to a few lies, but she was no liar.
Rose strode toward her sister, pulling up the bodice of the revealing dress as best as she could. “If you truly want to marry me, then you will do it right now, or you will take the time to court me properly. I’m not going to let you take advantage of me.”
For a moment, Will almost thought that Ben was going to give in. He looked at Rose with such a calculated expression that it was almost easy to believe that Ben had genuine feelings for her. But then his lips curled into a sneer, and Ben threw back his head and laughed.
“Do you think it will be so easy for Rose to walk away? Even if she hadn’t given up her virtue, her reputation is in tatters. No honorable man would be willing to have anything to do with her.”
And then with a look that was typical Ben, he grinned. “Except buy her for a night.”
Jasper glared at him. “Not all men are bothered by such trivialities.”
“Says the man forced to marry a shrew.”
“Emma Jane is a decent and kind woman. I’m proud to call her my wife.”
“So proud that you’re spending your wedding night in this establishment.”
“To save another good woman from ruin.”
“She’s already ruined.” Ben’s tone couldn’t be mistaken. Especially as he grabbed Rose and pulled her back into his lap. “You’ve got nowhere else to go.”
Will knew this was how a lot of women got trapped into this life. Until today, he couldn’t say that he understood ministries like Pastor Lassiter’s. But seeing an innocent girl like Rose being given no options, he knew.
How many people fought for girls like Rose? How many simply turned their backs the second they left home?
He looked over at Jasper, who held his hand out to Rose. “For now. But it won’t be forever. Don’t let his lies get to you. Yes, people will talk for a time. But then some other scandal will hit town and yours will be forgotten.”
Will was glad his friend could be here to help Rose see reason.
Tears streamed down Rose’s face. “You don’t understand. I am truly ruined. No man will take me for a wife.”
But she slid off Ben’s lap and took a step in Jasper’s direction.
Jasper reached forward and wiped at the tears on Rose’s face. “A man worth having would.”
“It’s true, Rose,” Will added. “I’ve met many respectable women who once had unsavory pasts.”
As the single man in the bunch, the right thing to do would be to say that he’d be honored to have a woman like Rose for a wife. But he couldn’t hint at a promise he’d never be able to make. Marrying Will meant taking dishonor for a name, and he wouldn’t do that to anyone, not even to salvage the kind of damage Ben wrought.
He glanced over at Mary. How could he consider offering to marry someone else when he knew that she was the only one who could make him happy?
“My family will never take me back.” Despite her words, Rose took another step toward them.
Mary took her sister by the hand and led her to the rest of the group. “Why do you think we’re here? Of course we want you back. Frank is beside himself, wondering what he could have done wrong.”
As Will watched Mary put her arm around her sister, Jasper indicated the direction of the window. Will realized that several more gunmen were approaching the building.
“If we’re free to go, then why do you have so many hired guns surrounding the place?”
“I said Rose was free to go.” Ben’s eyes glittered in the moonlight. “As for you, well, I have other plans.”
“Me?” Will could easily guess what they were. Fine by him. He could take Ben before Ben’s men entered the room. As long as he could ensure the safety of Jasper, Mary and Mel. “What about the others?”
Will looked over at Jasper, who nodded slowly in the direction of the window. Sharpshooters were getting into place as though they were waiting to take a shot. Ben had no intention of letting any of them leave the place alive.
“I haven’t decided yet—I have a score to settle with Miss Mary Quite Contrary.”
Mary didn’t flinch. Instead she stared directly at him. “I’m not afraid of you.”
“No, you aren’t, are you?” Ben looked at her intently. “That’s all right. You will be.”
Will turned his attention to Rose. “This is the sort of man you fall in love with and want to marry?”
Rose blanched. “I didn’t mean what I said about hurting Mary, Ben. I was angry. She’s my sister. The fact that she came here for me and said that the family is willing to take me back… Don’t hurt her.”
“We all know Mary is a liar,” Ben said, so smoothly it would have been easy for anyone to believe him if they didn’t know any better.
And it seemed Rose did. Was she really such a fool to believe in Ben even after all the evidence to the contrary had been presented?
“We’re supposed to forgive one another’s sins, and Mary is my sister.” Rose’s voice wavered.
“I thought you said you weren’t sure you believed all that Pastor Lassiter taught you.”
Couldn’t Rose see what Ben was doing? Twisting her words to turn them into what he wanted? Was it any wonder no one believed Will when he said he was innocent? Will glanced at Mary. Now more than ever, he was convinced that there had to be a reasonable explanation behind Ben’s accusations—one that had been twisted into something that made Mary look bad.
“What are you going to do to her?” Rose looked at Mary as if she finally believed her sister might be in real danger.
“Nothing she doesn’t deserve.”
Will tried to determine Mary’s reaction, but she remained expressionless. Mel, on the other hand, looked as though the end of her fuse had been lit, and she was about to blow.
“What do you know of what Mary deserves? Despite the risk to her reputation and safety, she climbed to my window to rescue a spiteful sister who wanted to steal her beau. Rose should be grateful for such a sister.”
“Stop.” Mary glared at Mel. “I appreciate you taking up for me—but this is between my sister and me. Rose, I hope that we can work this out between us. If you truly love Ben, despite what everyone here has told you, then I’ll support your marriage. I only want you to be happy. But I hope that you’ll decide to come home with us tonight.”
What was Mary up to? Will could hardly imagine that Mary would actually leave Rose here. Not after everything they’ve been through. So, why was she acting as if she would countenance the match?
Rose looked at Mary. “You would support me? Truly?”
“I would.”
“How do you know about that?” Rose said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I never gave details. And the pie? How do you know he went for pie? I didn’t even know that.”
Rose slowly began to back toward the door, toward where her sister stood. Will could only hope that Rose was finally beginning to realize that this situation had nothing to do with her, and everything to do with Ben’s evil plans.
The door flew open, and three armed men entered, led by Rusty Horton, Century City’s sheriff. He’d always suspected Rusty was dirty, and now he knew for sure.
“Will Lawson,” the spindly man said, not masking his unpleasantness. “I’ve come to arrest you for the robbery of the Colorado Citizens Bank and the murder of Eldon Wormer. I do hope you resist, because putting a bullet in your head would be a pleasure.”
Rusty grinned, showing a few more missing teeth than when Will had seen the man last. “Now that I see you with the murder weapon you said had been stolen, getting a conviction will be easy. That is, if the lynch mob doesn’t get you first.”
As Rusty’s men barked their laughter in unison, Will met Ben’s eyes. This whole thing, from the moment they’d walked into The Pink Petticoat, had been a setup.
He should have killed Ben when he’d had a chance.
Chapter Twenty-Two
A murderer? Mary looked over at Will in hopes that he would deny the charges. He was too good of a man to be involved in such things. Besides, Mary already knew that the gun had been taken from that other man, Colt.
“Then you have the wrong man,” Mary said, looking at the sheriff. “Will borrowed that gun from a man named Colt.”
“Ah, yes, Colt.” Ben got up from his seat and walked over to them. “And where is my dear friend?”
Ben’s gaze landed directly on Mel. From the intensity of it, Mary was glad it wasn’t her.
“He had one of his headaches. I gave him something to sleep it off.”
But of course, Mel wasn’t her, and she had so much strength that Mary admired. Why, she didn’t look frightened at all.
“Idiot.” Ben turned and walked over to the sheriff.
“You said he’d do the job for me,” the sheriff whined.
“And he will. As soon as he wakes up. That Mel creates havoc with all of her potions she gives out. Can we hang her for that?” Ben smiled in such a way that made Mary’s stomach turn.
“I’m the sheriff. I can hang whoever I want.”
Mary should have known not to trust any lawman affiliated with Ben. But she’d have liked to have believed that they weren’t so easily persuaded. She looked over at Mel, who didn’t appear worried.
“You won’t hang me, and you know it.” Mel stood straight and proud. Mary wished she had the kind of courage the other woman had. She glanced over at her sister, who seemed to finally be realizing the full extent of the evil they were dealing with.
Mary didn’t need to know anything about criminals to know that these were bad men. This sheriff might have a badge, but she didn’t feel safe knowing a man like him was the law. And, from the looks of everyone else in the room, they all felt the same way.
Mel continued staring the sheriff in the eye. “Will took the gun off Colt. If you’re looking for the man who had the gun, then you need to look in my room. Will is no murderer.”
“Isn’t he?” The sheriff looked at Mel with stone-cold eyes that made even Mary shudder. “You’ve just named him a thief. Is it so hard to imagine he might also be a murderer?”
This time, when the sheriff asked his question, he looked at Mary, as though he was trying to convince her of Will’s guilt.
Only Mary knew better.
“He didn’t steal the gun. It was his to begin with.”
“So he says.”
Reasoning with the sheriff was as futile as reasoning with Ben. The two men were cut out of the same rancid cloth.
Mary glanced over at Will, whose hand rested on his gun.
“Go for it,” the sheriff urged. “Though I’ve been looking forward to a hanging, no one will fault me for killing a man who drew on me.”
“Do you know who my father is?” Jasper stepped forward, his hands out. Anyone who shot him would be labeled a coward, if they lived long enough to tell their side of the tale.
“Accidents happen.” Ben spoke smoothly, easily. He pointed his gun in Mel’s direction. “It wouldn’t be unheard of for a disgruntled soiled dove to shoot a man. Everyone knows that you married the town shrew. No one would be surprised you spent the night here.”
“That’s a dirty lie!” Jasper’s face reddened.
Ben shrugged. “The victor is the one who gets to write the history.”
“You’re not shooting him,” Mel said quietly. “He has no part of this.”
Jasper glared at Ben. “Despite what you think of my marriage, I aim to be a good husband to Emma Jane.”
Mary should have found comfort in his words, but Emma Jane was still at home alone on her wedding night.
Ben laughed. “Don’t make no never mind to me. You couldn’t pay me enough to tolerate that shrew.”
Such a harsh description of her friend made Mary cringe. Though she was certain Ben had no such opinion of a woman he couldn’t possibly know, she knew his words had nothing to do with Emma Jane, and everything to do with riling up Jasper. The redness to Jasper’s cheeks told her it was working.
“Stop calling Emma Jane a shrew.” Jasper pulled out his gun. “Emma Jane is a decent woman.”
Though it didn’t look as if Jasper had any intention of shooting, Ben drew his gun and fired. Mel seemed to catch the motion of Ben drawing because Mary heard her shout something just before jumping in front of Jasper.
Next thing Mary knew, Will had shoved her to the ground. His body trapped her against the soft carpet. She couldn’t see what was happening, but the sound of rapid gunfire echoed through her ears. Don’t let Will die for my sake, Mary prayed. She thought to Jasper, and Mel and Rose. She tried to lift her head, but as soon as she moved, Will pushed it down with his hand. “Don’t be stupid.”
“But—”
“Stay still and be quiet or we’ll both be dead.”
A bullet grazed the floor beside them. Mary clamped her mouth shut. Then the shooting stopped. As suddenly as it began, all was quiet. Still. Like death. Though it must have only lasted a few seconds, the exchange seemed to have gone on for hours, Will’s body pressing her against the ground the entire time. He’d been so close. Making her feel so safe.
Yet as the air stilled around them, Mary was more terrified than ever. She’d come to rely on Will.
“You idiots,” Ben said, his voice growing louder as he crossed the room toward them. “I was only trying to nick the boy and teach him a lesson. What were you thinking, opening fire like that?”
“Sorry, boss,” one of the men mumbled. “We thought—”
“I don’t pay you to think.”
Will stirred, allowing Mary to shift her head to watch as Ben hit one of the men with the barrel of his gun.
How had she fallen in love with a man like Ben? No, that wasn’t love, Mary realized as Will’s solid mass remained firmly covering her. Love was a man who would shove a woman to the ground and cover her with his own body to keep her from getting hurt.
Not a man who would use a woman as a cover to steal.
Ben’s boots crunched the floor around him, probably from the broken glass of lamps being shot out, and stopped in front of them. “You can get up now. These numbskulls aren’t going to shoot.”
Will rolled off Mary and got to his feet before helping her up. Once they were standing, she saw her sister, huddled in a corner, but obviously alive.
Mary looke
d over to where Mel had covered Jasper. Mel lay motionless.
“Get a doctor!” Jasper’s voice was muffled by Mel’s body.
None of this was supposed to have happened. Will dashed over to Mel and Jasper, quickly rolling Mel off his friend.
So much blood.
“I’m fine,” Jasper said before Will could ask. “It’s Mel. She’s been shot good.”
“No doctor,” Mel rasped. “No time.”
The gurgle coming with her voice agreed with her. Her lungs were filling with blood, and she’d be dead before the doctor arrived. Even if a doctor arrived before Mel died, there was no saving her. Will had watched too many others pass this way.
“I…” Jasper looked worse than Mel as he seemed to comprehend what she was saying. “You saved me. Why?”
“Can’t let an innocent…” Mel gasped, choking on her blood. Will tried to prop her up better to make it easier. Not that there was anything easy about dying this way.
Mel’s sacrifice humbled Will. Sure, Jasper was the son of one of the wealthiest men in the state, but Mel’s sacrifice wasn’t about money. It was about doing the right thing and protecting an innocent man.
“I can never repay…” Jasper’s voice wavered as he shifted to better accommodate Mel and make her last moments more comfortable.
“Yes,” she said, her voice thready and garbled. She wouldn’t last much longer. “Help.”
Mel tried to cough, but the effort took more color out of her skin. “Daisy.”
The word was but a whisper of a breath and barely discernible. But Will heard. And from the look on Jasper’s face as Mel closed her eyes for the final time, so did he.
Ben gave them no time to reflect or mourn. As Mel slipped from the earth, Ben let out such a cackle that Will had to wonder if such evil could exist in a mere mortal.
“Touching, but let’s not waste our breath on a harlot. We still have the matter of Will’s arrest and—” Ben blew on his nails in such an affected gesture that Will wanted to punch him “—a wedding to arrange.”