Renegade

by Anna Schmidt

  Without a word, Cody turned the buggy off the trail and headed cross-country toward a cluster of trees. Lily recognized it as a place she, Jake, and some friends had picnicked once. “Why are you stopping?”

  He shrugged. “Thought we might enjoy that food you brought. I missed lunch. So did you.” After setting the brake and jumping down, he came around to her side. He held out his arms to her, offering to help her down. “Coming?”

  Lily placed her hands on his broad, sturdy shoulders, his hands practically circling her waist. When they were both standing steady on the ground, he immediately stepped away to retrieve the sack of food before offering her his arm. He led her over the uneven ground to the rocks near the creek. There, he unpacked the food and spread it out on a flat rock. Not once did he look directly at her.

  “I suppose you have questions,” she ventured, breaking a small piece off a muffin.

  “It’s your story to tell or not, Lily. All I ask is that you tell me anything you know about…your husband that might either clear him or help me.” He sounded tired or—dare she hope—disappointed?

  She continued to pick at the muffin while he consumed two cold lamb chops plus a muffin. He peeled an orange into six pieces, leaving the fruit on a napkin between them.

  “I left home just after I turned sixteen,” she said. It seemed the place to start.

  “Why’d you leave?”

  “My stepfather liked rules, and I didn’t. We didn’t get along.” She decided not to mention that her stepfather had also liked her—and not in a fatherly way.

  “So he put you out?”

  “I ran away. I had a little money put aside, money he’d given me thinking it was for a new outfit for church. He was very religious.”

  Cody handed her a tin cup of water he poured from a canteen. Her hand shook as she accepted it. “Where did you go?”

  “I bought a train ticket—one way—and ended up in Kansas City. With the money I’d saved and earned working at a department store in Chicago before I left, I had enough to rent a room in a boardinghouse for a week, but I needed a job. Fortunately, I’m pretty good at meeting people and talking my way into things.”

  Cody smiled. “Yeah, I know.” He sucked the juice from a section of orange. “Go on. You got to Kansas City, then what?”

  “I got hired on cleaning rooms at a hotel—not a Harvey establishment. That’s where I met Victor. He was so sophisticated and charming. He dressed so nice, and at first, he seemed to genuinely care about me. I could talk to him. Or I thought I could.”

  “At first?” He continued to eat the orange. A drop of juice lingered on his lower lip, and Lily fought the temptation to touch her finger to it. “How did that change?” he asked.

  Lily forced her mind back to the past. Reliving the memories let her see things she’d been too desperate—or perhaps too young—to notice then. “He kept pushing me. A kiss on the cheek became a kiss on the mouth. Holding hands became touching me in places I’d never been touched. And he wanted more—always more.”

  “So you married him.”

  “I told him I could not do what he was asking of me. I was saving myself for marriage. I never thought he would take that so literally. Actually, once I said that, I thought I would never see him again.”

  “But instead, he asked you to marry him.” Cody rinsed his hands in the creek and dried them on his trousers.

  “No. He never asked.” It was the first time Lily had recognized this. Oh, how stupid she had been! “One night, he called for me, and instead of taking me to dinner as was usual for us, he took me to an office. There was a man there he called ‘Judge,’ although we weren’t introduced. Before I knew what was happening, the man was having us repeat the wedding vows, Victor slid a gold ring onto my finger, and the judge pronounced us man and wife.”

  She stopped, unable to go on, embarrassed to tell him what happened next. To her relief, Cody did not press her.

  “When did he leave you?” he asked.

  “The next day,” she said softly. “Actually, it was some time during the night. I was asleep.”

  Cody sucked in his breath, and she noticed how his fingers curled into fists. “He left no word?”

  “Only a note saying he had business back east—where he was from—and he would be in touch.” How little she knew of Victor even now.

  “Where in the east?”

  Lily shrugged. She felt stupid. She, who had always been so confident and sure of herself, felt embarrassed by what she had failed to ask. She’d married Victor knowing nothing about him. The first tear hit the back of her hand. The second followed and then a third and then a steady rainfall.

  Cody wrapped his arm around her and guided her head to rest on his shoulder. “Okay,” he said. “No more questions.” He smoothed her hair away from her face, caught her tears, and brushed them away with his thumb.

  She relaxed against him, soaking up his strength. They stayed like that for a long moment.

  “Lily?”

  She sat up. “I’m fine.” Her admission that she and Victor were married had destroyed any chance there might ever be more than friendship between Cody and her. “We should get going. Your friend will wonder what happened to us.” She busied herself packing up the leftover food, her back to him so he could not see how humiliated she was.

  He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her so they were face-to-face, only inches apart. “Want to know what I think?” he asked. “What I hope?”

  She nodded.

  “I think Johnson tricked you. I think that so-called judge was just a friend of his playing the part. I think Victor is a man very accustomed to having what he wants, when he wants it. He wanted you, and he did what was necessary in order to have you.”

  It all sounded reasonable. “And what do you hope?”

  He ran his finger along her cheek. “I hope I’m right, because I’ve never met a woman like you, Lily. And I want to know I’m free to get to know you a whole lot better.”

  “Me too,” she admitted, lost in his gold-flecked eyes. He looked at her as if trying to make a choice, and she realized her hope was that he would decide in favor of kissing her.

  He let out an audible breath and stepped away. “Let’s go,” he said, his voice husky. He took the sack of leftovers from her, then cupped her elbow as they walked back to the wagon.

  Chapter 6

  Cody filled the time it took to cover the rest of the distance to Santa Fe pointing out the beauties of the desert, a soaring eagle, and plants in full bloom. He wasn’t usually so talkative, but standing so near to Lily at the creek, wanting more than anything to kiss her, had unnerved him. He had a murder to solve, and he couldn’t ignore the possibility that a gang might be looking to rob the hotel. What he didn’t know yet was whether the two events were connected.

  Beside him, Lily sat quietly. He’d never known her to be so passive. As they reached the outskirts of town, he placed his hand on hers. “We’re going to find out who did this to Jake.”

  She nodded.

  “And if you’ll allow it, I’d like to look into the circumstances of your marriage to Victor.” To his surprise, she smiled. “What?” he asked.

  “Emma suggested I confide in you. Of course I refused. I was just thinking how she’ll react when she learns I did exactly that.”

  “And how will she react?”

  “Oh, she’ll try real hard not to smile and say ‘I told you so.’ Of course, she’ll fail miserably, but we’ll both have a good laugh about it.” She turned toward him. “Do you think you can learn anything? I mean, it’s been three years.”

  The way she was looking at him, Cody would have walked through fire if she’d asked him to do so. No wonder Jake had been willing to do whatever she wanted—even give her up. Lily Travis was a woman no man in his right mind could ever refuse—unless, of course, that
man had political ambitions. “I’ll do my best,” he murmured and turned his attention to navigating the narrow side streets on the way to the impressive La Casita Hotel.

  Sheriff Ty Drake stood at the entrance, tipped his fingers to his hat when he saw Cody, and crossed the street to meet them with his eyes on Lily. Cody jumped down and shook hands with his fellow lawman, noting the way Drake kept glancing over her way. “Sheriff Ty Drake, this is Miss Lily Travis. She may have a connection to what we need to discuss.”

  “Howdy, miss,” Drake said, helping her down from the buggy. “Ever been to Santa Fe before?”

  “No, sir.” Cody saw her eyes widen at the sight of the hotel. “I’ve heard about La Casita, of course. Everyone who works for Mr. Harvey in this part of the country has. It’s quite…” Words failed her.

  “Let me show you the inside.” Drake offered his arm, and Lily grinned up at him as she took hold, gathering her skirt with her other hand.

  Pure, unadulterated jealousy rushed through Cody’s veins as he followed them inside. Drake had a reputation among his fellow lawmen as something of a ladies’ man, and the way he paraded Lily through the doors and into the impressive lobby made Cody’s blood boil. He hurried forward.

  “We’ve had a long trip. Maybe Miss Travis would like to freshen up a bit,” Cody suggested.

  Drake’s attention remained on Lily. “Now where are my manners? Ladies’ room is right there.” He pointed to a hallway off the main lobby.

  “I won’t be long,” Lily promised and hurried away.

  When Drake tore his gaze away from her, he was grinning. “You devil,” he said, punching Cody on the arm. “How did you manage to land that?”

  “That is a lady, a respectable one at that.”

  “Oh, don’t go all self-righteous on me, Daniels. None of my business what you’ve got going on the side. Have to admit I never used the excuse of being part of a case to keep a woman around.”

  Explanation and debate were obviously useless. “Is there somewhere quiet the three of us can talk? Miss Travis is a Harvey Girl and has a curfew we need to respect.”

  “Sure.” Drake led the way to a small table near a window, well away from the hustle and bustle of guests coming and going. He indicated a seat for Cody, then pulled over a third chair for Lily. “Ah, here she is,” he said, a broad grin spreading across his face as he went to meet her.

  Cody stood. Lily had washed the dust of the trip from her face and done something to repair the damage the wind had done to her hair. And once again, she had taken Drake’s arm and was laughing at something he said. Cody pulled her chair out and waited for her to be seated. As soon as the three of them were settled, a Harvey Girl appeared to take their order, but Cody noted Lily made no effort to share the fact that she, too, worked for Fred Harvey. Instead, she studied the menu offered for afternoon tea, and it dawned on him that for once, she was playing the role of the one to be served rather than the server.

  “My treat,” Drake boomed. “Whatever strikes your fancy, Miss Travis.”

  She smiled at him, but Cody realized this was that Harvey Girl smile—the one that didn’t quite reach her eyes. It dawned on him that she didn’t especially care for Drake. His heart filled with joy, and for the first time since arriving, he relaxed.

  “How about a pot of tea and a plate of assorted sandwiches and cakes?” he suggested.

  “That would be lovely,” Lily said, and the smile she gave Cody made her eyes sparkle.

  “Coffee for me—black,” Cody said and then looked at Drake, one eyebrow cocked.

  “Yeah, coffee,” the other man said. “Cream and sugar.”

  They talked of mundane things until they were served, and then Cody got straight to business. “Tell me what you know about Victor Johnson.”

  Drake took his time adding three sugars and an ample amount of cream to his coffee. “He was in town about a week and caught my attention right away. I guess it was the fancy clothes and no sign of having spent any time doing regular work.”

  Cody understood by “regular work” Drake meant manual labor. “You said the hotel here was robbed. Do you suspect Johnson of being party to that?”

  “Just a hunch. Haven’t been able to prove anything. But there was something about him. He looked like he never sees the sun.”

  “How did he spend his time here?”

  “That’s just it. Days, he would be out and about in town, stopping in at the shops, flashing a wad of money. Nights, he was either in the saloon across the plaza or stepping out with one of the girls here. He made no attempt to keep a low profile.”

  Lily gasped. “A Harvey Girl?”

  “That’s right. Seemed partial to one in particular. Word has it she got so tangled up with him, she quit her job.”

  “And when he left town?”

  “He left alone. Not sure what happened to the girl. I tried to find her after the robbery, to see what she knew about Johnson. The Native couple that runs the trading post just outside town said a girl matching her description stopped there one day looking for work. They didn’t have anything for her, and last anybody saw of her was at the train station.”

  “Did she have a roommate?” Lily asked.

  Drake rubbed his hand over his chin. “Not sure what difference that would make, Miss. I mean…”

  “We girls confide in each other,” Lily continued. “She might have told her roommate—or one of the other girls—something that could help.”

  Cody could see Drake was impressed. For his part, he was bursting with admiration. Lily was not just beautiful, she was smart.

  Their waitress returned with fresh pots of tea and coffee, and Lily wasted no time introducing herself. “I’m Lily Travis,” she announced. “I work for the Palace Hotel in Juniper.”

  “Connie Evans,” the waitress replied with a grin. “Welcome to La Casita.”

  “I’ve got a little bit of time in town today. I don’t suppose you could arrange for me to maybe tour the kitchen and meet some of the other girls?” Lily ventured.

  Both Cody and Drake sat slack-jawed at her brazenness.

  “Sure. Things are slow today. Let me just check with our head waitress, but I’m sure there will be no problem.” She hurried away.

  Lily popped a tiny cake into her mouth. “And that, gentlemen,” she said as she licked a dab of frosting from her lips, “is the Harvey Way.” She was clearly quite pleased with herself.

  Drake scowled at her. “Young lady, I don’t think you should insert yourself into matters that don’t really concern you.” Suddenly, all hint of charm was gone. It was evident Ty Drake didn’t like someone else being in charge, even for a minute.

  “Actually,” Cody said slowly, “I’d like to talk to you some more about the robbery, Ty. I suspect there are things you’ve learned that might best not be shared with…civilians just now.” He nodded toward Lily.

  Across the room, their waitress stood chatting with an older woman. After a moment, she beckoned Lily to join them. “I won’t be long, gentlemen,” Lily said as she touched her napkin to the corners of her mouth and then hurried away.

  Cody turned his attention back to Drake. “What are the chances the gang that hit the hotel here are casing the Palace Hotel for another hit?”

  Drake drained his coffee and reached for the pot. “Pretty good, I’d say. Trouble is I don’t know how you might stop them.”

  “Assuming Victor Johnson is involved, any chance he tried to use people from the hotel staff to set things up?” Cody was thinking of Jake and the meeting in the yard. Had Victor been trying to use Jake for the same thing?

  “Maybe. Are you thinking this was an inside job? That girl he was courting?”

  Cody shrugged. “I’ve spoken to the manager of the Palace. From what he told me, it looks like anyone trying to get to the payroll and valuables would have to have
inside information—schedules of money coming in and going out, location of the safe, that sort of thing.”

  Drake nodded. “Makes sense.”

  “And there’s one more piece to this,” Cody said, lowering his voice as he leaned in closer. “Things might have gone from robbery to murder.”

  * * *

  Once she’d been introduced, Lily followed Connie and the head waitress, Miss Spencer, into the kitchen. It was larger than the one at the Palace, but any difference ended there. The place ran like a perfectly timed Swiss clock—cooks and chefs turning out orders and Harvey Girls delivering them exactly as the process worked in Juniper.

  Miss Spencer continued the tour of the common spaces after Connie went back to work. “How is Bonnie Kaufmann?” she asked.

  “You know Miss K?”

  Miss Spencer laughed. “We went through training together. It seems a long time ago now. Please give her my best.”

  “I will.” Lily was trying to think how to broach the subject of the unnamed waitress who had gotten involved with Victor when Miss Spencer gave her the opening she needed.

  “We have an opening for an experienced waitress, Lily, if you know of anyone interested in making a change,” she said.

  “You’re shorthanded?”

  Miss Spencer sighed and indicated for Lily to join her sitting on a settee at the base of the hotel’s stairway. “Yes, quite suddenly,” she admitted. “Molly was one of our best. While the other girls are good, Molly is exceptional. At least she was until she started stepping out with that man.” This last was said almost as an aside, and when she realized she’d spoken aloud, she looked slightly alarmed. “Of course, that’s not information you need to share.”

  “Of course not.” Lily searched her mind for a roundabout way to lead in to her question and then decided there was no time for beating about the bush. “Was that man named Victor Johnson by any chance?”

  Miss Spencer bristled. “How would you know of Mr. Johnson?”

  As briefly as possible, Lily told Miss Spencer what she knew of Victor, skipping the whole marriage part but including the fact that he had appeared in Juniper and was harassing her there. She also did not include Cody’s suspicions that Victor was somehow connected to the hotel robbery. “So you see, he tricked me the same way he did Molly. He uses false promises to have his way with girls and then leaves. He really must be stopped before someone gets hurt.”