Every vile word the man spoke still echoed in her ears, as though he’d just uttered them.
“I’ve put up with that troublesome girl far longer than I thought this situation would require. At the very least, I assumed I would have charmed her into my bed by now. I’ll give her until the end of the week to come to her senses and marry me or I’ll take what I’ve wanted all along. Either way, I’ll have her. If I have to ruin her in the process, she’ll make a lovely mistress. My preference is to have her as my wife, but I’ll take whatever I can get. If she wasn’t such a tempting little morsel, I’d have finished her a long time ago.”
She recalled the ribald comments from his assistant that followed her up the stairs as she returned to her room and frantically packed her bag and trunk. Once Davis and his assistant left, she made plans to disappear and paid a driver to take her to the train station in the wee hours of the morning.
Fearful Davis would follow through with his threats if she remained at home even one more day, she wrote him a letter saying she needed time to grieve her father and would be in touch with him soon. Distance was the only thing that would keep her safe until she figured out the best way to pay the bank, clear her father’s name, and break off her engagement.
Davis arrived at her house the following afternoon to find her gone and nothing but an envelope with her note waiting for him.
As she thought back to the day of her father’s death, Davis had been the one to arrive at the house and tell her the tragic news. He’d also been the one to assure her the bank would take everything she and her father owned if she didn’t come up with the money by August. He did emphasize marriage to him would cancel the debt, but she remained firm in her refusal to exchange vows immediately.
Now, she was grateful she hadn’t given in to his incessant demands they wed as soon as possible.
After meeting Tully, she couldn’t imagine spending her life with anyone but the teasing, trying, tempting Sheriff.
However, with Davis’ unexpected arrival, she doubted Tully would have a thing to do with her. The pain in his eyes and hard clench of his jaw as he rode away left her aching to run to him and confess the truth.
Until she figured out a way to get rid of Davis and come up with the money to pay the bank, she had to push Tully away.
“Are you wool gathering, my precious, or weary from whatever ordeal you endured today?” In spite of the pleasant smile on his face, Brianna detected a hint of venom in his voice as he spoke.
She released a careworn sigh. “I suppose I’m rather weary. Wonderful surprises, like your arrival, are taxing to a body.”
“You poor little dear. After we finish our meal, I’ll escort you back to your apartment and you can get some rest.”
“Thank you, Davis. You are so understanding and such a considerate gentleman.” The words almost choked her as she spoke them. She wondered if lightning might bolt out of the sky and strike her dead for speaking such lies, but she didn’t know what else to do.
Treading light and careful around Davis was the best way to keep her virtue intact until she could figure out why he’d tracked her down and what he wanted.
He might pretend to be a doting fiancé, but she had an idea their supposed relationship was the last reason he traveled all the way across the country. If he merely wanted her return to Rhode Island, he would have sent one of his assistants to bring her home.
No, there was some other motive that drove Davis Gordon to track her down, and she’d figure it out soon enough.
In the meantime, she’d just hope and pray Tully would forgive her for her deception.
Once he finished eating, Davis took Brianna’s elbow in his hand and escorted her out of the dining room and through the hotel lobby.
She waved at Mr. Isaac as he worked at the front desk. He returned her greeting, although he seemed rather confused by her appearance with Davis.
“Are you certain you wouldn’t rather stay here at the hotel, dearest? I can get you a room next to mine.” Davis placed his hand on her back as they stepped onto the boardwalk and began meandering down the street toward Maggie’s shop.
Brianna would prefer Davis have no idea where she was staying, but in a small town, the information would be hard to keep a secret.
Terrified of what he would do when he found out the door she needed to enter was in a back alley, she scrambled to come up with some reason to get away from Davis before they reached the shop.
“It’s such a pleasant evening, let’s stroll to the park,” she said, turning down a busy side street.
“Pleasant? Has this primitive atmosphere addled your sense?” Davis asked with what he probably assumed was a playful smile.
Brianna thought it looked more like he had a bad case of indigestion.
With a dismissive gesture, he waved a hand around, as though encompassing the entire town. “I’ve never experienced such unyielding heat, dust and misery. I insist on taking you to your apartment before this hideous sun scorches your delicate skin.” As though he just noticed the lack of it, he stared at Brianna. “Where is your parasol? Don’t tell me you’ve abandoned every trace of civility. Really, darling, you must not allow the lax behavior of these westerners to corrupt you entirely.”
Barely suppressing the urge to roll her eyes, Brianna slowed her pace as Davis turned her around and directed her back the way they’d come.
A block away from the shop, Brianna spied Dugan Durfey walking on the other side of the street.
Relief filled her as she grasped a means to escape Davis, at least for the evening.
“Deputy Durfey!” she called, waving to him.
He jogged across the street and tipped his hat to her. “Howdy, Miss Dumont. How does this evening find you?”
“Perfectly well, Deputy. Are you on duty this evening?”
“I sure am.” Dugan glanced over at Davis. His face remained impassive even though Brianna sensed his dislike of the man.
“I’m sorry, Deputy. This is B. Davis Gordon. He was my father’s banker,” she said, sidling away from Davis as he glared at the lawman.
“You forget to tell him I’m also your fiancé, my dearest.” Davis held out his hand to Dugan. “Is the town always so…” Davis gestured to the street, “like this?”
Dugan took a step back and spoke with pride in his voice. “Yep. It’s one of the largest cities in the state and attracting more businesses all the time.”
“Did you hear Mr. and Mrs. Greenfield purchased the boarding house?” Brianna asked, looping her arm around Dugan’s, much to Davis’ displeasure.
“Sure did. I helped Edwin move in a table this afternoon. He was trying to unload it himself and having quite a time of it.” Dugan noticed the stranger’s cold stare as Brianna chatted about the wallpaper she’d helped Hattie select the previous day.
“Oh, Deputy, I just recalled the sheriff asked me to drop by the office to sign a statement regarding Mr. Darcey’s arrest. May I take care of that now?” Brianna asked, offering Dugan a sweet smile.
“Sure, Miss Dumont. It will only take a moment then you and Mr. Gordon may get on with your evening.” Dugan noticed Davis glowering at him.
Much to the bafflement of both men, Brianna turned to Davis. “Why don’t you return to the hotel, Davis? I’m sure you’re exhausted after such a long trip in this heat. Deputy Durfey will escort me home.” She turned to Dugan with a pleading look. “Won’t you?”
“It would be my pleasure,” he said. After giving Davis a curt nod, he and Brianna strolled down the boardwalk.
She looked over her shoulder at her fuming fiancé and waved at him, rambling enough that it was even getting on her nerves.
When Davis turned and marched back to the hotel, she released a relieved sigh and snapped her mouth shut.
At the sheriff’s office, Dugan located the paperwork, but Brianna had already signed it.
“Silly me, I must have forgotten,” she said, batting her eyelashes at Dugan. “I apologize for bein
g such a bother.”
“You’re no bother, Miss Dumont. Do you want to go back to the hotel to see Mr. Gordon?” Dugan asked as they stepped outside.
“No!” Brianna shouted, panicked. She lowered her voice and forced another smile. “It’s been a long day and I’d prefer to go back to my apartment, if you don’t mind escorting me.”
“Not at all.” Dugan matched his pace to hers as they walked back to Maggie’s shop and down the alley. The deputy waited as she unlocked the door then tipped his hat to her and left after she closed the door and locked it.
Brianna hurried up the stairs and collapsed on the sofa, weary beyond anything she’d ever experienced in her life.
Living a lie might prove more taxing than she had the strength to endure.
Chapter Sixteen
“Confounded, dad-blamed, goldurn…” Tully fumed around his office, slamming a desk drawer. When that didn’t bring the satisfaction he sought, he slammed it again for good measure.
“Somethin’ eatin’ at you, boss?” Dugan asked from his seat behind the desk across the room. Tully had been in a rank temper from the moment he arrived that morning. Generally, the sheriff was full of smiles and teasing. However, the past few days, he’d gone from surly to downright cranky. No one seemed to know the cause of his foul mood, but everyone hoped it would soon pass.
Tully shot a scathing glare his direction then returned to mumbling under his breath as he searched through papers on his desk, tossing around files.
From what Dugan observed, he wasn’t actually trying to find anything, although he made a good show of it.
Suddenly, Tully stopped and stared out the window. Dugan followed his glance, observing Brianna Dumont stroll by on the arm of her fiancé.
The town seemed to have little else to talk about since B. Davis Gordon arrived and announced his plans to wed Brianna once they returned to Rhode Island.
As much as the man appeared to despise Baker City, Dugan didn’t know why the couple remained in town. He got the idea, though, that Brianna wasn’t in a hurry to leave.
In fact, Dugan didn’t think she seemed sold on the idea of marrying Mr. Gordon. The citified dandy was handsome, in a pasty sort of way. He had charmed many of the women in town with his idle flattery and impeccable manners. As the son of a banker, Dugan assumed he probably had plenty of money.
Yet, something about the man didn’t seem quite right to Dugan. Seth said the same thing after he met Gordon.
They’d both tried to discuss their thoughts with Tully, but as soon as they mentioned Mr. Gordon’s name, the sheriff’s jaw clenched and his eyes took on a cold, deadly glint.
Unaccustomed to seeing him in such a state, they quickly changed the subject.
Tully stood and his hand dropped to the gun strapped on his hip as he followed the couple’s progress down the street.
“Boss?” Dugan asked, concerned by the sheriff’s actions. “Everything okay?”
“No. No, it’s not okay.” Tully slumped into the chair and slammed another drawer. He took a deep breath and another. Visibly calming, he straightened the scattered papers on his desk then read each one.
An hour later, he looked at Dugan. “What do you know about all these robbery reports?”
“Robbery reports? I’ve filed a few the last month or so.” Dugan took the file Tully held out to him and scanned through the paperwork. He sat in a chair in front of Tully’s desk and read them again. Baffled, he looked at his boss. “What’s going on here?”
“That’s what I’d like to know.” Tully had been so preoccupied with Brianna, apprehending Dale Darcey, and trying not to shoot Davis Gordon, he’d somehow overlooked the variety of thefts that had taken place in his town.
After seeing Brianna stroll by earlier with her sissified husband-to-be, Tully concluded it was time to forget about her and move on.
He’d forced himself to sit at his desk and read through a stack of reports he’d ignored the past few weeks.
The individual robberies didn’t seem that unusual, but when he put them together, it made him question if the same person committed all the crimes.
Mr. Irwin claimed a basket of peaches vanished. The bakery turned in three reports of stolen bread. The butcher declared a roast and a chicken had disappeared. Frank Miller was missing an entire box of handkerchiefs, a tin of crackers, and two bottles of cough syrup. Four women in town reported stolen eggs. One woman claimed her son’s clothes were taken right off the clothesline as they dried. The creamery turned in six reports of missing bottles of milk. Mr. Patterson reported the theft of a berry pie from the windowsill where his wife had set it to cool. A dozen other reports contained similar claims of missing food.
In addition, there were Brianna’s two reports for her missing bag and shoes.
Of all the thefts, her bag seemed the most valuable, but her losses didn’t fit with the other thefts.
“I think we’ve either got a thief living on the streets, stealing to stay alive, or someone too lazy to work.” Tully tapped his finger on the file Dugan set on his desk. “What do you think?”
“I believe you’re right, boss. We’ve all been taking the reports, knowing consumables aren’t going to be recovered, but not putting them together as an ongoing problem with one thief.” Dugan leaned back in the chair. “But Miss Dumont’s missing bag and shoes don’t fit with the other crimes and neither do the handkerchiefs. Everything else that was stolen was food, except for the Palmer boy’s clothes.”
“I’m inclined to think Miss Dumont’s missing bag was pinched by someone who jumped on the train. Her shoes… I haven’t figured that out yet, but I’d be willing to bet money all the other thefts are tied together. The handkerchiefs and cough syrup make me think someone is sick, either the thief or someone close to them. Maybe it’s someone with a child and that’s why they stole the clothes off Mrs. Palmer’s line.” Tully glanced out the window and noticed Sammy watching Brianna and Davis saunter down the street. “Or maybe it’s a child trying to take care of someone.”
Dugan looked outside. “You don’t think Sammy is the thief, do you? He’s no bigger than a minute, and he works part-time for Bowen. Does he know anything about him?”
“I keep forgetting to ask him, but I’ll make a point of doing that soon.”
“What if Sammy was stealing all that stuff because he’s an orphan? We can’t throw that kid in jail, boss.”
Tully’s voice was gruff when he spoke. “I know that. What kind of bully do you think I am?”
Dugan grinned and shrugged. “Normally, I wouldn’t take you as one at all, but you’ve been as crotchety as a sore-footed mule in the Sahara since Mr. Gordon arrived.”
The slightest hint of a smirk lifted the corners of Tully’s mouth. “How would you know anything about the Sahara? Do you even know what continent it’s on?”
“Africa,” Dugan said with a self-satisfied smirk. “I’m not nearly as dumb as I look.”
Tully laughed and pointed toward the door. “Why don’t you get out of here and enjoy what’s left of the day. I’ll see if I can make a little progress with our thief.”
Chapter Seventeen
“Do you recall the Vandergards?” Davis asked as Brianna lingered over a cup of tea at the hotel after he’d insisted she join him there for lunch.
Bored with Davis’ jabbering conversation, she wanted to hold her hands over her ears and run out of the room.
The past few days had been the most trying she’d ever known. Not only did he talk nonstop, Davis also operated under the false assumption she actually cared what he had to say.
She wondered how a man with so little intelligence had done so well in his father’s banking business. Then again, Bertram Gordon was the one who handled the big decisions and accounts. It was easy to see why he’d question his son’s judgment and abilities.
When Davis looked at her, waiting for her response, she swallowed down a frustrated groan. “I do recall the Vandergards. They have that lovely
home with the wisteria that grows over the front gate.”
Davis took a breath and continued speaking in a voice that grated on every one of Brianna’s nerves. “Well, their daughter Mildred ran off with one of the Carlyle boys. Quite a scandal erupted, since his father owns the cannery down at the pier. Can you imagine? Why, I heard…”
Ready to scream, Brianna took a final sip of her tea then stood. “Pardon my departure, Davis, but I really must go. I have work to attend to this afternoon.”
A disapproving glare accompanied his haughty sigh as he rose to his feet. “It is unseemly for my wife-to-be to run around this town writing articles for the paper. It is of the topmost importance for you to begin practicing discretion, my dear.”
“And I will, Davis, but I do have assignments I agreed to finish for Mr. Packwood and I intend to keep my word. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Brianna took a step toward the door, but Davis’ hand on her arm stopped her.
“I’ll accompany you. The wild ruffians in this town can’t be trusted and I’m not of a mind to let you out of my sight. By the way, you look ravishing in that gown, my precious darling.” Davis left money on the table to pay for their meals then lifted his straw hat and settled it on his head. “If you refuse to heed my advice, I suppose I shall have to spend my afternoon escorting you around town.”
Davis took her elbow in his hand and guided her out the door. Heat bore down on them as though they walked around the perimeter of a blazing fire.
Expertly snapping open her parasol, Brianna held it over her head, scrambling for some excuse to get rid of Davis. The headache that started as a faint thumping in her head had grown to a persistent pounding that made her want to shove her handkerchief into his mouth for a few moments of quiet. Thoughts of Dale Darcey with his stinky sock stuffed in his mouth made her smile until she recalled the wonderful moments she’d spent in Tully’s arms.
Corsets and Cuffs: (Sweet Historical Western Romance) (Baker City Brides Book 3) Page 21