Renegade

by Anna Schmidt

  “I figured he’d holed up at the miner’s cabin again, so I headed there. There’s a trail down to the cabin that follows the side of a steep cliff. It’s narrow and slippery, the rocks are loose, and it’s washed out in places, making the journey even more difficult. My plan was to get as close as possible and then go the rest of the way on foot. I could see smoke rising from the chimney, so I was pretty sure I was on the right track.”

  “Your horse slipped?”

  Cody shook his head. “Victor came outside. He had binoculars and was scanning the area when he spotted me.”

  “Why didn’t you just shoot him?”

  “I thought about it, believe me. But I knew I was too far away and the terrain was too unsteady to get off a good shot.” He hesitated. “You’re sure you want to hear this?”

  For an answer, she looked up at him. “Tell me all of it,” she said, stroking the side of his face with the backs of her fingers. “I need to know.”

  “I navigated a tricky patch of the trail that took me around a stretch of boulders and out of sight of Victor. When I reached the open again, I saw Victor watching for me, sawed-off shotgun aimed right at me. He fired.”

  “And missed, obviously,” Lily said with a satisfied nod of her head.

  “He didn’t miss, Lily. He shot my horse.”

  Lily gasped, imagining the horse shrieking as it lost its footing and went tumbling over the cliff’s edge, Cody powerless to stop it. She sat up and tried to examine Cody for signs of injury.

  “I’m okay,” he assured her, pulling her close again and kissing her temple. “We’re okay.” There was a catch in his voice.

  She snuggled a little closer to him. “Tell me the rest, Cody.”

  “Fortunately, the horse and I weren’t too far from the base of the trail, so the fall wasn’t nearly as bad as it might have been. We landed hard, and my horse was still thrashing around in pain and panic. I had all I could do to dodge being kicked when I heard a second shot—closer—and the horse went still. When I looked up, Victor had the gun barrel inches from my head, and he ordered me to get up.”

  He didn’t say anything for a long moment, and Lily began to regret forcing him to relive his ordeal. “It’s okay,” she whispered. “That’s enough for now.”

  “Might as well get it told, and then, Lily, we leave it.”

  She nodded.

  “I got to my knees and closed my fist around a handful of loose dirt, intending to fling it in his face, but he musta seen what I was planning. He hit me hard with the butt of the shotgun, and I blacked out. When I came to, Victor was gone, and so was my gun. I’m not sure how long I’d been out, but it was coming on dark, and I figured I’d best seek shelter. I managed to get to the cabin, and that’s where I spent the night.”

  “How did Nick and the others find you?”

  “When I woke that morning, I started several campfires around the place, hoping the smoke would draw somebody in so I could borrow their horse and go after Victor. Nick knew about the cabin—it was near a piece of land he’d once tried to buy—and when he saw the smoke, he had a hunch I’d gone there.”

  “And how did you know Victor was headed to find Grace?”

  “I found a map in the cabin, something he’d drawn out while he was staying there. It showed the miner’s cabin and Nick and Grace’s place. My name was next to the miner’s shack, but next to their place, Victor had written Hopkins’s wife and kid. And I’ll be honest—seeing that made my blood run cold.”

  “But he didn’t even know them.”

  “He knew they meant something to both of us. Who knows what goes on in the mind of a monster like that? He was desperate.”

  “But why not come after me directly?”

  “I expect that was to be the next part of his plan. Finding you there with Grace must have seemed like a real bonanza.” He hugged her closer. “None of it matters now, Lily. The only things that matter are you’re safe, he’s locked up, and we’re together.”

  She couldn’t argue with that. “I must look a mess though,” she fumed, gently touching her injured face. To her surprise, he reined in the horse and dismounted. “Why are we stopping?”

  “Because I will not have you fretting over this.” He held out his arms, grinning up at her.

  She placed her hands on his broad shoulders, and he lifted her to the ground. “Never could resist those dimples,” she said when he continued to hold her close.

  “Countin’ on that,” he said as he gently cupped her face in his large palms and kissed her. “Lily Travis, the first time I set eyes on you, I thought you were the most beautiful woman God ever made. At the time, it was your face and those incredible green eyes and that halo of hair that made you look like an angel.”

  She looped her arms around his neck. “And then you got to know me and realized I was no angel at all,” she teased.

  He chuckled. “I’ll admit I had some doubts you and me might ever find the road leading us together. But when it comes to something I want, I can be pretty stubborn.”

  “And am I something you want, Cody? Messed-up face and all?”

  “What I want is a life with you, Lily. And what I see when I look at you now that I know you is a woman who is more beautiful on the inside than she could ever be on the outside. Any man would count himself the luckiest cowboy alive to have you say yes.”

  She pretended confusion. “Yes to what? I didn’t hear a question.”

  He released her and dropped to one knee. He held her hands in his and looked up at her. “Lily Travis, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?”

  Her heart swelled with joy. “Yes,” she said, barely able to believe what lay in her future. She’d made mistakes, and she’d survived abuse, and now at last, it was her turn for happiness. She tightened her hold on his hands. “Yes,” she repeated.

  He stood and whistled for his horse. “Let’s go home,” he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

  Home. Right now, it was a small room on the third floor of the hotel for her and a similarly small room at the jailhouse for him, but in time…

  * * *

  The following morning, Lily studied her face in the bathroom mirror. One side was swollen and bruised where Victor had hit her with the gun. She could hardly show up in the dining room looking this way. But how could she not? They were fully staffed, true, but Emma was a little overwhelmed with the new girls as she tried to train them and do all the other duties required of a head waitress and housemother. Still, she had insisted Lily take time off to recover.

  Everyone had been so sweet and caring once Cody brought her back to the hotel. The kitchen staff had prepared her special meals of soft foods, and the other girls had taken turns checking in on her through the evening and refreshing the ice pack Doc had instructed her to keep on her cheek and eye to reduce the swelling. Of course the only person she’d really needed was Cody, but Emma had been firm on that point.

  “No men upstairs,” she’d announced. “You know the rules, Lily.”

  She’d had to be satisfied with standing at the window while Cody waited below in the yard. She blew him a kiss that he pretended to catch. Later on, Emma had delivered a note from him.

  Sleep well, knowing you and everyone you care about is safe. I’ll be gone for a few days—to Santa Fe to give my testimony.

  Love, Cody

  A light tap at the bathroom door roused Lily from her daydreaming.

  “Lily? It’s Emma.”

  Lily opened the door. She was dressed in her full uniform, but she gingerly touched her face. “I insist on doing my part, but I simply can’t appear in public looking like this, Emma. I’ll scare the customers.”

  Emma’s mouth worked the way it did when she was trying to come to a decision. “I won’t deny we could use the help.” She smiled. “I have an idea,” she said as she took Li
ly’s hand and led her toward the back stairs. “The new girls are working the counter. What if we station you just out of sight where you can observe them? You can help if they need someone to tell them what to do or where to find something. Then that will free me to work your shift in the dining room.”

  Lily smiled and then grimaced. Smiling was still painful. “Brilliant,” she managed as they went downstairs. “You know, you make a very good boss lady, Emma Elliott.”

  Emma’s cheeks flushed, and she ducked her head. “Flatterer,” she muttered, but she was smiling as she instructed one of the kitchen workers to set Lily up with a stool, paper, and pencil near the kitchen entrance to the lunch counter.

  “You want me to take notes?”

  “I want you to jot down anything you think might help with training in the future. Where do the new girls seem to struggle? Is there a better way of organizing things behind the counter to make the work more efficient? That sort of thing.”

  “Got it.” Lily realized she was glad to have something productive to occupy her and keep her mind off her injuries—and Cody.

  For the truth was, even with Victor in jail and the absence of any further threat to either of them, she could not help jumping at every unidentifiable sound. And she couldn’t stop thinking about how close they’d come to losing each other before they’d had a chance to start the happy life they both dreamed of. But the past weighed on her, and she found it hard to believe she had nothing to fear. Anything might happen.

  But it won’t, she told herself. She and Cody were safe, and they deserved to be happy. And she vowed she would spend every day of whatever time they might have together making sure they were.

  * * *

  At the jail in Santa Fe, Cody met with Captain Troutman and gave him all the details of what had led to Victor’s capture.

  “Do you want to see him?” Troutman asked.

  It was a strange question. “Why would I?”

  Troutman shrugged. “Let’s just say that after everything you told me—what he did to Miss Travis and her friend—I could make sure you had a few minutes alone with him.”

  Revenge. That’s what Troutman was suggesting. The opportunity to torment Victor for what he’d done to Lily, Grace, and Jake. He considered the idea. Maybe he should. Then he’d be able to tell Lily he’d gotten his own brand of justice for her friend.

  “Sure. I’ll see him.”

  Troutman smiled and led the way to the cells. He dismissed the soldiers on guard. The other outlaws had been transferred to the courthouse that morning to stand trial, leaving Victor as the sole occupant of the jail.

  “I’ll be right outside here,” Troutman said as he handed Cody the keys.

  Cody stepped inside the shadowy interior of the building. The first two cells were empty, the doors standing open. The door on the third cell was closed, and Victor stood near the small, barred window high on one wall. He’d cleaned up some—shaved and combed his hair—and when he turned to face Cody, his eyes widened in surprise before narrowing in suspicion. He saw the ring of keys in Cody’s hand and took a step back.

  “What do you want?” He delivered the question in the dismissive tone of someone in charge.

  Cody smiled.

  “I want a full confession, Johnson. It’s just you and me now. Admit you’re responsible for the murder of Jake Collier, and I’ll go.”

  Victor smiled and turned back to the window. “You must think me stupid, Sheriff Daniels. Right now, I have a chance of beating the charges against me, and you want me to tie the noose for my accusers?”

  “Actually, I want you to live. So does Lily.”

  He saw the other man’s shoulders tense at the mention of her name, but then he gathered himself and turned to face Cody. “I must admit I’ve never quite understood the fascination good men like you and Collier have for that woman. She’s not worthy of either of you, and she was the one who got Collier killed.”

  Cody felt the keys dig into his palm as his fist tightened. He’d never wanted to smash that fist into a man’s face more than he did now. He was tempted to unlock the cell and drag Johnson out, beat him the way he’d allowed Jake to be beaten, cripple him for what he’d personally done to people Cody cared about. He wanted to see the man bleed and suffer and hear him plead for it all to stop, admit to anything just to save his own skin.

  But he knew in some way that’s what Victor wanted—for Cody to lose his temper and surrender to his baser instincts. For Cody to come down to his level. He wouldn’t give the man the satisfaction.

  “I knew you were a coward, Johnson, but I never thought you’d stoop so low as to hide behind a woman.”

  Johnson spat a glob of saliva on the ground. “If you think I’m a coward, unlock this cell and let me show you.”

  Cody laughed. “I don’t want to fight you. I don’t even want to touch you.”

  “Think you’re a better man than me? I could buy and sell you three times over.”

  “I doubt that. According to the authorities back east, you’ve piled up quite a bit of debt. Your fancy house is gone, and your bank accounts are empty. Probably doesn’t matter, because you’re going to prison, where money—even if you had it—won’t do you any good at all. And you are scum. Any man who relies on others to do his dirty work, any man who torments babies and innocent women—”

  “Innocent?” Victor hooted. “Lily Travis is no more…”

  Cody took one step closer to the cell and held up the keys. “You mention her name one more time and I’ll open this cell, throw you out, and shoot you, and Troutman and his men will agree I did it in self-defense.”

  “Don’t kid yourself, Daniels. Lily wanted everything she—”

  In a split second, Cody had the cell unlocked and Victor backed up against the wall, his arm pressed against the man’s windpipe.

  “You need to listen to what I’m saying,” he said, his spit landing on Johnson’s cheek. The man’s face was almost purple with the effort to breathe. He clutched at Cody’s arm, trying to free himself, his eyes bulging with fear.

  Cody pressed harder, so tempted to finish him, but then he let go. While Johnson collapsed to the dirt floor, coughing and gasping for air, Cody walked away, clanged the cell door shut, and relocked it before heading for the exit.

  “That’s it?” Victor taunted, still choking on the words. “Who’s the coward now, Daniels?”

  When Cody stepped back out into the sunshine and handed Troutman the keys, the captain gave him a puzzled look. “You’re done?”

  Cody grinned. “Pretty sure it’s Johnson who’s done. Me? I’m just getting started.” He tipped his fingers to his hat, mounted his horse, and rode away. Back to Juniper and Lily.

  Chapter 18

  “Have you and Cody picked a date for the wedding?” Emma asked a few days later as she and Lily finished cleaning the closed dining room.

  Lily did a little dance as she quoted a popular rhyme. “You know what they say:

  Marry on Monday for health,

  Tuesday for wealth,

  Wednesday the best day of all,

  Thursday for crosses,

  Friday for losses, and

  Saturday for no luck at all.”

  Emma laughed. “So Wednesday, then?”

  “Best day of all,” Lily said, then she bit her lip. “Of course, it’s also a work day, and everyone we want to be at the wedding will—”

  “Be there,” Emma finished. “If you think anyone will miss seeing you and Cody finally tie the knot, you haven’t been paying attention. I’ll speak to Aidan and see what we can work out.”

  Tommy cleared his throat, shifting from foot to foot in the doorway. He was wearing a uniform that Lily suddenly realized was tight on him. “Tommy, you must’ve grown a foot over the last couple of months,” she said.

  The bellboy blushed and du
cked his head. “Only a couple of inches,” he murmured.

  “Even so, we need to make Mr. Campbell aware of your need for a larger size in that uniform.” She walked around him, gesturing measurements with her hands.

  Emma took pity on the boy. “Tommy, was there something you needed?”

  “I brought a telegram for Lily,” he replied, handing Lily the envelope.

  Eagerly, she took it from him. Even though telegrams often brought bad news, Lily was confident nothing could spoil her happiness. She ripped open the envelope and scanned the message—then read it again, her hand shaking so much the paper rattled.

  “Lily?” Emma stepped to her side. “What is it?”

  “It’s from my mother.” The mother she had not had a word from since their exchange of letters after Lily left Chicago. “My stepfather died.”

  “Oh.”

  Lily glanced at her friend, who looked at her with confusion. “I know, Emma. He was a horrid man, and she knew how I felt, so why hunt me down to deliver the news?”

  “Perhaps she’s had a change of heart?”

  Lily thought of the woman she’d known before her father died—a true lady of grace and beauty, a devoted mother, and loving wife. But all that had changed. Lily’s stepfather had demanded her complete devotion. He had been possessive and controlling. Lily’s brothers had left not long after the marriage and so had never experienced the darker side of their mother’s new husband. But Lily knew better.

  “Does she say anything else?”

  Lily reread the message. “She’s selling the house.” She crumpled the telegram in her fist. “So that’s that.”

  Emma chewed at her lower lip. “Lily, she’s reaching out to you. Otherwise, why write you at all, knowing how you felt about him?”

  Lily fought a stew of anger, sadness, and confusion. She had adored both her parents and always hoped to find the kind of love they had shared. Now that she had, she didn’t want to think of those dark times after her stepfather had moved into the large house on Michigan Avenue, the home that had once rung with laughter and been filled with love.