Owen crumbled the piece of paper and smiled. They had valid proof that Mr. Dalbow lied. Mr. Wyatt Dalbow is mine. That notion almost made him smile.
“What does it say?” Kit asked, expectantly.
“It’s hunting time,” Owen replied wickedly. “Gather up all the men. I want you all armed and ready to leave in five minutes,” Owen ordered.
“With pleasure,” was Kit’s reply before he went to do his bidding.
Meanwhile, Owen went to the church. He fell to his knees and started to pray for Hope’s safety. Never in his life was he this scared. He was not letting it paralyze him, but motivate him.
Please Lord, do not take her away from me. I need her. I love her. After he finished, he went toward the exit, not wanting his men to wait for him too long.
Father Clemente met him by the door. He was a bit startled by Owen’s appearance for some reason. Mentally checking his features, Owen discovered he was deeply frowning, and that his jaw was clenched. He tried to relax it. It wouldn’t budge. “You look like you are readying yourself for war,” Father commented.
Owen smiled without actual humor. “That is because I am, Father,” and this time he planned on being victorious.
He started walking again, not hearing Father’s parting words. That might be rude of him, still, Owen was too focused at the moment to bother with pleasantries. The good Father would forgive him that much.
Owen was highly motivated to succeed this time and save a girl for a change. His life, his love was at stake and he planned on defending it with every breath he had.
25
Hope woke up with a groan. Her head was hurting terribly, and that wasn’t the only part of her aching. She tried to stretch and failed. Something was preventing her from moving, from breathing deeply. In a surge of panic, Hope opened her eyes only to discover she was lying on a dirt floor, in an unfamiliar place, while her hands and feet were hogtied. There was a gag in her mouth as well, which caused her to panic even more.
Hope started to struggle, trying to loosen the ropes. It was no use. The ropes only burned her skin for all her efforts.
“Help! Please, can somebody help me!” She tried to scream over the gag. Only a bunch of gibberish left her mouth.
How did I get here? What happened to me? Who did this? Hope could not remember. Her vision was a bit blurry, from remnants of sleep or from what was done to her, Hope couldn’t be sure. She tried her best to focus and decipher where she was.
At the same time, something else caught her attention. Something sticky was on one side of her face, and there was a not so subtle taste of salt and rust in her mouth. Is that blood? It was. She was bleeding. If her head was injured, then no wonder she had trouble concentrating.
She tried nevertheless. Hope was in some kind of a barn, that was for sure. Whoever did this to her left her on cold, hard ground, completely powerless, and the only source of light were a few rays of sunshine that managed to break through between wooden beams
Overall, her surroundings told her nothing about where she was or how she got there in the first place. Hope tried to determine the last thing she could remember.
An image of a man, a beautiful man with a distinct pair of eyes came to mind at once. Owen. A piercing pain to her temples brought her to tears and she whimpered as images, bits and pieces of her past, her life, flashed before her eyes, and just like that, Hope remembered everything.
* * *
Returning to the ranch, Hope felt infuriated and heartbroken at the same time. During their trip to Black Creek, she and Deputy Gibson learned nothing about Jessamine. On the other hand, Hope learned plenty about Sheriff Owen Rundell. That man is maddening!
There was no denying the fact she grew close to the man. Perhaps she even started to develop feelings for him. Perhaps? A small voice inside her head reprimanded.
She developed feelings for him, especially after he took her to his home and cared for her when she was feeling devastated by the news of her friend. Despite claiming he felt the same way, he had no problem lying to her.
Why did he do it? She couldn’t help but wonder. It doesn’t matter why, the other part of her argued. The point was that he did, which showed her anew Mr. Dalbow was right all along. Owen was not to be trusted. That pained her a great deal.
Thinking of Mr. Dalbow brought her a different set of troubles. Luckily, he did not return from his business trip so Hope had some time to compose herself before his arrival.
I will need to speak with him candidly as soon as he returns. She was not a coward, at least she thought she wasn’t, however, she was not looking forward to that conversation. Needing something to do, physically, as she stressed about her life, Hope started doing household chores.
It became apparent to her rather quickly, as she cleaned, that she could not stay in Mr. Dalbow’s house any longer. It was true Mr. Dalbow was nothing but kind to her, if not a bit impatient. Sadly, she could not return his affection. And not just because she had feelings for Owen. There was not a connection between them. She considered him a friend, and that was not how she wished her marriage to start. She wanted true love so she needed to go.
Hope did not know where she would go exactly. She couldn’t return home, that was for sure, and staying at the ranch would be unbearable. The guilt alone that she did not care for her host would break her. Perhaps, I could stay with the Reynolds for the time being, she mused.
That would mean she would have to speak with them first. Maybe she could find a way for Mr. Reynolds to not contact her father. If I explain everything to him, he will surely understand. The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. Hope wanted to be there for them during this trying period.
Hope couldn’t see Owen for a while, that was obvious. She needed time to regain her balance before facing him, yet she still wanted, needed, to help find Jessamine.
Hope tried to prepare a meal for her and Mr. Dalbow, thinking she would have an easier time conversing with him if they shared a meal first. Hope was very fond of griddle cakes drenched with sorghum syrup. However, she chose to prepare something else since she did not believe that was an appropriate dinner meal. Unfortunately, after burning everything she tried to cook, she abandoned the endeavor.
We will just have to talk while having some lovely tea. After that unfortunate business in the kitchen, Hope refocused on cleaning and tidying the whole house up.
She was silly, doing all of this. It was as though he would feel less disappointed she was leaving because his house was at least clean. That did not stop her from continuing.
Folding some of his clean shirts, she carried them to his room. At first, she simply planned on leaving them on his bed as before, then reconsidered. It would not be considered snooping if she placed them in their rightful place. Besides, she just made his bed and did not want anything to ruin its perfect surface, so Hope opened the crate that stood next to the bed and carefully placed the shirts inside.
She was about to close it when something violet and a bit shiny caught her attention. What is this? She did not believe Mr. Dalbow would own a shirt in that particular color. Without a thought, she reached for it and pulled it out. As it turned out, it was not a shirt at all. It was a woman’s glove.
Hope realized two things at the same time. First was that there was blood on the glove. It appeared to be all dried up, and old, still, there was no mistaking it for what it was. And the second was that she recognized the glove. It was a handmade birthday gift Hope ordered and gave to Jessamine. Just to be sure, she turned the glove inside out, and true enough, Jessamine’s initials were there.
Oh, Jessamine, she sobbed. She feared the worst. Hope’s world came crashing down as she put all the pieces together. There was only one possible explanation of why Mr. Dalbow had Jessamine's bloodied glove. Mr. Dalbow had something to do with her disappearance, and this was Hope’s proof.
He lied! He told her and the Sheriff he never met Jessamine and now Hope knew the real truth. He did
something to Jessamine. Did he kill her? No, she couldn’t go there yet. Then he covered it up and lied! Mr. Dalbow had an alibi, that was the only reason Hope stayed in this house in the first place. She was certain he lied about that as well.
How? That was of no importance at the moment, Hope needed to share this news with Owen right this instant. She turned to leave and stopped dead in her tracks. Mr. Dalbow was standing by the door, blocking her way to freedom.
Oh, no, I am doomed.
Hope tried to hide the glove behind her back, alas, it was too late. He already saw her holding it. Besides, there was no telling how long he stood there before she spotted him.
“Oh, dear me,” Mr. Dalbow said with a sad face. “I really wish you did not find that.”
Then why did you keep it? Hope wanted to say. She held her tongue.
In a panic, Hope tried to run past him while screaming at the top of her lungs. “Help me!” Then Mr. Dalbow pulled out a gun and hit her on the head with the butt of it.
After the initial pain, everything turned black and blissful nothingness engulfed her.
* * *
Well, now I know exactly what happened, Hope thought without humor. Mr. Dalbow did this to her because she knew too much. He was responsible for Jessamine. He must have dragged and tied her up while she was unconscious. What does he plan on doing to me now? Hope dreaded the answer, since she could pretty much guess it.
He killed Jessamine. Hope started to sob. And it was all Hope’s fault, her doing after all. She placed Jessamine on this killer’s path out of her own selfish reasons, and now Hope was going to join her friend in the afterlife.
Hope rued the day she even looked at Mr. Dalbow’s advertisement and decided to answer it. Jessamine would still be alive if she hadn’t and Hope would certainly not be in this predicament at the moment.
Mr. Dalbow must have returned early from his business trip and caught her while she discovered the truth. That is some rather bad luck. Hope felt like cursing.
Hope started to wonder what Mr. Dalbow actually did on his business trips. She had to presume that was a lie as the rest was. Considering her current predicament, it was safe to assume he was conducting some nefarious business. The mere thought of him, in this new light, as a murderer, and God only knew what else, caused all the blood inside Hope’s veins to turn to ice.
On second thought, maybe she didn’t need to know what he did. It was better for her sanity that way. Unfortunately, being tied up inside an old barn, it was to be expected she was about to find out regardless and first-hand.
“You are awake, good,” Mr. Dalbow’s voice startled her. No, she was not going to call him Mister any more since he clearly wasn’t one. He was the worst kind of man. Her pulse quickened instantly, and she started to sweat. The urge to run away was overwhelming, suffocating her, clouding her judgment. There was no way to do that, not while she was gagged and tied up.
After being alone for so long in the quiet, his voice sounded too loud to her, and she recoiled. Also, it was rather alarming she didn’t even see him coming in. That could be explained with the fact that he came in behind her back. Nevertheless, Hope should be more careful of her surroundings, especially now when her life very well depended on it.
Only after realizing all of this did Hope register his actual words. It was good she was awake? As though he was relieved since he feared he hit her too hard and would be troubled if she did not wake. Like killing her too soon would be such a disappointment. He must have hit her head pretty hard if she was having such strange thoughts. Focus! Stay calm! Stay sharp! Which was easier said than done.
She shouldn’t be contemplating his personal feelings. Hope should be finding a way out of this mess before he killed her, since there was not a doubt in her mind he was going to do just that.
“Why are you doing this? Let me go, you lunatic! Release me at once! I don’t want to be here!” Hope said. Or at least tried to. Since that darn rag was still inside her mouth, the only thing that actually came out was a lot of nonsense. She sounded like a deranged person. Perhaps she even felt like one, as well.
“I know,” Dalbow said with a sigh, as though he could actually understand her. “I really wish it didn’t have to come to this.” He came to stand right over her, gazing upon her from head to toe. Hope felt the chills over her entire body as he did that, and nausea settled in as well.
“I truly believed we shared something special.” Suddenly, his whole face changed. It was like the mask was gone and she could now, for the first time, see his true form. His eyes held no warmth and the smile was cruel. “Yet you proved to be just like the rest of them.” He emitted hatred. Hope could practically feel it around them. This is one vile man, and Hope was devastated she did not see it before. Owen did. Hope knew these thoughts were utterly useless and came too late.
“Plus, now you know too much.” He crouched next to her and Hope jerked away, trying to move her body out of his reach.
“Do not touch me,” she screamed. She managed to slitter away until she hit the wall. Now I'm truly trapped!
That evil smile of his returned as he petted her hair. “All turned out for the better, though, since I’ve been dreaming about this from the moment I saw you. Unfortunately, that wretched Sheriff spoiled my fun, always lurking about, trying to take what’s mine,” he fumed. Dalbow looked ready to hit something or worse, however, in the next instance, he smoothed his features and was perfectly calm once more.
“I should thank you as well,” he added conversationally. “Thanks to you always running off to meet the Sheriff, I was constantly in the know. You gave me all the information I needed about the investigation.”
He is right. Hope succeeded in failing her friend twice. Unintentionally, she was helping her killer all along. Hope prayed she would find a way to redeem herself for all her wrongdoings. If I survive this first.
“You are a true lucky charm to me, I will be saddened to lose it.”
Hope frowned, not understanding his meaning, at least that first part.
“You know, just the other day, I was on a train, looking for another bride for myself when a robbery occurred. I had to abort my mission.”
A train robbery? Is it possible he was in that train in Black Creek? Unlike him, Hope praised the heavens for what happened, since it meant a young girl’s life was spared.
“I was rather cross,” Dalbow continued, “yet as it turned out, it was rather fortuitous since it meant coming back home early.”
And catching me learning his rather dirty and not so little secret. He is completely mad! Hope already knew that. He moved his hand as though wanting to pet her cheek next. “It was fun while it lasted, I suppose.”
“No, get away from me! Do not touch me,” Hope raged, fully knowing she looked like a chained rabid animal, utterly helpless.
Dalbow chuckled, amused by her behavior. “Let’s take this out for a moment,” he said, and pulled the rag out of her mouth.
Hope instantly started choking, coughing. Luckily, she recovered quickly. “Why are you doing this?” She demanded once she stopped feeling like she would throw up. “Why did you kill Jessamine? She was a sweet and kind girl. She never did anything wrong to you.”
He laughed at her. “All Mail Order Brides deserve to die, and it is my duty to kill them all,” he proclaimed.
All? Hope realized at that moment he did not kill just Jessamine. He killed many others.
Dalbow is the Ghost. Oh, my dear Lord, please save me.
“You are mad,” Hope said before she could stop herself. Luckily, it appeared he didn’t even hear her. He appeared to be lost in thought, seeing in front of him some unseen place.
“When I was much younger, I started seeking a wife,” he started his tale. “I grew tired of being alone. Luckily God gave me what I desired the most. I fell in love with a lady I started to correspond with completely by chance. And when she accepted my offer to come and be my wife I felt like the happiest man alive.”
His mood darkened after saying that, and Hope knew what was going to happen next. “Once she came and discovered I was but a mere rancher who had to work hard all day just to make ends meet, she abandoned me. She found herself another husband with a more substantial source of income.”
He looked at Hope expectantly. Did he truly expect sympathy from her? After listening to his tale, Hope only had one sentiment inside of her. She wanted to slap him senseless, then hand him over to the authorities so he could pay for his heinous crimes.
“So you started to kill girls because one dared to scorn you?” Hope practically screamed at him. She did not care if she got him angry.
The Redemption 0f A Hunted Bride (Historical Western Romance) Page 24
