by Merry Farmer
The dealer made a strangled sound and laid out his cards. “Flush.” Darting his eyes between Mason and Hector, he raked in his winnings and the discarded cards.
“I think you and I need to have a little talk,” Mason seethed, staring down Hector like he was a dog. He pushed back his chair with an angry scrape and stood. “Let’s go somewhere quieter.”
Hector leaned back in his chair and laughed. “You must be a fool to think I’d go anywhere with you.”
Icy dread crept down Mason’s spine. Hector was right. He would be a fool to go anywhere out of the public eye with a man who’d just accused him of assaulting his wife.
Mason shifted restlessly, balling his hands into fists. It would be so much easier if he could just leap across the table and throttle the man to death. He never had been any good at playing cards, and now he’d gone and tipped his hand well before his trap was set. That as much as anything else raised his fury to the point where he could hardly think.
“If you think you’ll get away with this—”
“What’s all the fuss about over here?” Pearl and Rosa sashayed up to the table. With a smile as sweet and wide as a schoolgirl being handed a chocolate, Pearl plopped herself into Hector’s lap. “I just hate to see men frowning. You should be smiling. It’s cold outside, but we’re all warm and cozy here, aren’t we?” She slipped a hand under the collar of Hector’s jacket and teased the other through his hair.
Mason’s gut churned…until Hector’s attention snapped clean away from him and landed on Pearl’s bosom. Rosa snuggled onto the lap of the man who had reached for a weapon. She kissed him square on the mouth…and his hand dropped, empty, to his side.
Mason twitched. The two girls had just stopped a dangerous fight from breaking out—a fight which could have landed Mason in more trouble than he needed if he was going to deliver Hector to Gunn. As grateful as he was, that didn’t fix the situation.
“I don’t care if you want to talk to me or not,” he said, wishing he’d thought this through more. “There are things I want to say.”
“So say them here.” Hector shrugged, reaching a hand to fondle Pearl.
“A neutral spot,” Mason said instead. “You’re staying at the hotel, aren’t you?”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” Hector repeated. He tugged the front of Pearl’s bodice down enough to lay a kiss a little inappropriately low. Pearl giggled, but Mason saw fury behind her eyes. “I might go somewhere with this delectable treasure, though.”
Panic reached through Mason’s chest. This wasn’t going at all how it should be. He needed Hector to confess, not to force himself on another woman.
“Deal the next hand,” the remaining poker player growled, his hands around Rosa’s waist.
The dealer glanced warily up at Mason. “You in?”
He’d already lost two dollars. He was afraid he’d lost his chance to corner Hector into a confession too. All he needed to do was get the man over to the hotel, to Gunn’s office, but that seemed like an impossible task at the moment.
“What seems to be the trouble here, Mason?” Solomon sidled over and thumped a hand on Mason’s shoulder. He too wore a jovial smile, but had fire in his eyes.
“This dumb cow poke can’t decide if he wants to play poker or not,” Hector said. “Frankly, I love to poke her.” He chuckled into Pearl’s cleavage.
Mason grunted in disgust and made a move toward the man.
Solomon held him back. “Looks like there’s not much point to continuing in this game.”
If Pearl had explained even half of what Mason was doing to the clever banker, there was no doubt his words meant more than they seemed. Mason clenched his jaw and turned his head to check.
Solomon nodded once. “Come on over to the bank with me. I’ve got a…a new savings plan I want to show you.”
It flayed Mason alive to leave Hector untouched at the poker table. He’d accomplished nothing but losing money in his attempt to bring Hector to justice, but Solomon was right, this game was over.
“Yeah,” he grumbled and shrugged out of Solomon’s grip.
He stormed for the door, slapping it open and marching into the street. Solomon followed close behind.
“Pearl didn’t tell me the whole plan,” Solomon said once they were out in the cold, mostly empty street. A few shoppers and tradesmen dashed along in an effort to get out of the wind, but none looked to be in a mood to eavesdrop on a private conversation.
“That’s because there was no plan,” Mason admitted with a growl. He turned to face Solomon fully. “Gunn thinks he can get Hector to confess to…to his crimes, but we have to get him over to the hotel, to Gunn’s office first.”
Solomon crossed is arms, either from cold or calculation. “And you thought a man like that would drop his cards and follow you into a trap.”
It stung to see his plan ripped apart so easily. “I have to do something, Solomon. That snake hurt Libby, and I want him brought to justice, at least.”
Solomon nodded in sympathy. “And Gunn thinks he can get him to confess?”
“Yes.”
“And all you have to do is get that man over to the hotel.”
“That’s what I said.” Mason was losing patience with the whole thing. Solomon was a friend, but that didn’t mean Mason wouldn’t shove him aside if it meant he could get closer to achieving his goal.
“That Hector fellow isn’t ever going to follow you or do anything you ask him to do,” Solomon went on after a long pause. Mason winced at the truth of it. “In fact, there’s only one person I can think of in town who he would follow. If everything I overheard and everything Pearl told me is right, I think he’d follow Libby to the grave.”
Tension cracked through Mason like a whip. “I won’t put Libby in danger.”
“I don’t blame you,” Solomon said. “But she might be the only person who can lead Hector where he needs to be led.”
Mason hated every last detail of the statement. He hated it, but he acknowledged it was probably true. He wasn’t going to be able to solve Libby’s problems and keep her safe unless he involved her in the solution.
With frustration heating him to the core, Mason let out a sigh. “I need to go find my wife.”
Chapter 10
Libby paced through the lobby of The Cattleman Hotel, wringing her hands. She could do this. She wanted to do this. She needed to do this.
She was so nervous she could barely feel her feet.
With a hand pressed to her stomach, she turned and paced to the other side of the lobby. Her thoughts had been taken up with nothing but prayers and memories since she’d arrived at the hotel. Her lips moved as she continued to pray. A young man in a hotel uniform sitting behind the large front desk was the only other person in the lobby, but he wasn’t the only person watching her.
Mason had been in a terrible state when he’d come by Josephine’s house a little over an hour ago. He’d found her in the kitchen, up to her elbows in bread flour and canning supplies. Josephine was still putting up apple preserves and sauce. For the first time since arriving in Haskell, Libby had been enjoying going about domestic duties and talking freely with Josephine and Muriel. Without the fear of being turned out of Haskell society for her wrongs hanging over her head, she was able to bond with her sister and the woman who had saved her siblings from more trouble than they deserved.
As soon as Mason had arrived, all that changed.
“I should have known better than to rush into the saloon without a plan,” he grumbled as Libby and Josephine served him tea and apple tarts. “I just want this over with so badly that I leapt before I looked.”
“You’re a good man, Mason Montrose.” Josephine patted his shoulder and added another sugar cube to his tea. “I can’t tell you how much it eases my heart to know you’re taking care of Libby.”
Mason gave her a weak smile. “I don’t know how good a job I’m doing if a rat like Hector is still running free in town. It eats me u
p that I let that opportunity slip by. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive myself if—”
“Stop.” Libby reached across the sofa where she and Mason sat to take his hand. “Stop right there.”
Mason pivoted to face her, ignoring his tea for the moment.
“I’ve spent the last two months punishing myself with guilt,” Libby began again, emotion pounding through her. “I worried that all that time I’d done something unforgivable.”
“You didn’t.” Mason rushed to reassure her, his face pinched with frustration.
“I know.” She caught his other hand, holding both of his between them. It had felt so joyous to say those words, to know what they meant, that a giggle escaped from her. She couldn’t keep herself from smiling, even as tears threatened. “I know that it wasn’t my fault,” she went on.
“You…do?” The hope she felt reflected in Mason’s eyes.
Libby nodded. “All this time, I thought because…well, because of the way things happened that I was at fault. But I see now that I did everything I could possibly have done. Hector was intent on causing me harm.”
“But—”
She squeezed his hands to silence him. “I did the right thing by taking the boys and leaving Pine Arbor too. I should have gone sooner, but I didn’t know Hector would go as far as he did.”
“You couldn’t have known.” Mason freed one of his hands to brush along the side of her face. “Your soul is far too good to know what a man like that had in store.”
“Maybe.” They could argue that point later. “You did the best you could too, Mason. You are my champion, and I didn’t think I would have one of those. I didn’t think anyone at all would support me. Having you on my side is a blessing.”
“You have so much support, Libby.” Mason chuckled, stealing a sidelong glance at Josephine, who still hovered near her tea set on the table next to the sofa. “Why, practically everyone in town who knows anything at all about the circumstances of you coming here and about Hector wants to help you.”
Libby sucked in a breath, remembering what the conversation was all about. “So you say that Solomon Templesmith suggested I’m the only one who could lure Hector into Mr. Gunn’s office?”
Mason’s shoulders dropped. “Yes.” He didn’t like the idea, she could tell, but he saw the truth in it.
“And Mr. Gunn is certain he can convince Hector to confess what he did to me?”
Mason shrugged. “That’s what he says. If anyone can do it, Gunn can. He has a way of making people want to talk to him.”
Libby nodded. “I got that impression. You also said that the sheriff will be there in Mr. Gunn’s office?”
“And Solomon offered to be there too,” Mason confirmed.
“That’s a lot of people for a hotel office.”
“There’s a lot more to Theophilus Gunn’s office than meets the eye,” Josephine said. They both turned to her. “He told me all about it, once. Charlie Garrett hired Gunn to run his hotel before the hotel was built. Gunn insisted that his office have plenty of closets. Only they aren’t exactly closets, if you know what I mean.”
“I’m not sure I do,” Libby answered.
Josephine chuckled. “You’ll know once you’re in there.” She returned to pouring tea. “I tell you, I would pay a pretty penny to find out what Gunn did for a living before turning his hand to running luxury hotels in the middle of Wyoming Territory. Someone said they thought he’d spent some time abroad.”
“I don’t care if he spent time on the moon,” Mason said. “If he can keep you safe and wring a confession out of Hector, then he deserves my eternal gratitude.”
Libby remembered those words, that conversation, as she paced through the hotel lobby. An hour had passed. Mason had checked in with the sheriff and Mr. Templesmith and even Bonnie. Apparently Hector was still at the saloon where Mason had left him, and Pearl was still keeping him company. Gunn had returned to the hotel, ready to play his part. He and Mason, the sheriff and Mr. Templesmith had all disappeared into Mr. Gunn’s mysterious office over twenty minutes ago. All Libby had to do now was wait for Hector to show up at—
The hotel’s front door blew open with a blast of cold air. Libby caught her breath, whirling to face Hector as he strode into the lobby. He was alone. That set Libby’s heart racing. Bonnie’s plan was to get word to Pearl to bring Hector to her place, where they would be turned away. Pearl was then supposed to suggest they transact business at the hotel and bring him right to Libby. But Hector was alone. Was Pearl in danger?
“Well, well. Good afternoon, Mrs. Montrose.” Hector removed his hat and sauntered toward her.
Libby didn’t have time to worry about Pearl. The girl may have looked sweet and vapid, but she could take care of herself. She only had time to worry about one thing—getting Hector to Mr. Gunn’s office.
“I need to talk to you.” She started toward him, biting her lip and wringing her hands. Her pulse pounded so hard it made her dizzy, but too much was riding on her part in the plan to lose her nerve now.
Hector smirked. He came to a stop, meeting her in the center of the lobby. “Now you want to talk to me?”
She couldn’t make it look too easy. If she so much as hinted at a change of heart, Hector would know something was wrong.
“I want you to leave,” she demanded in a whisper. “Just go. Now.”
Hector laughed. It was a slow, quiet, and sounded like it rumbled up from the bowels of hell itself. “Why would I want to leave such a charming town when all of its inhabitants have been so neighborly?” He touched a gloved finger to Libby’s nose.
Libby flinched. It wasn’t part of the act, but it helped her cause. “Don’t touch me,” she hissed.
Hector leaned closer. “That’s not what you said the night we made our baby.” He reached out to slip a hand along her stomach.
Sick chills spread out from the spot he’d touched. Libby backed away from him. “That night was not what you think.”
Hector took a step after her. Libby backed further toward the corridor with Gunn’s office. Hector pursued.
“I know exactly what that night was.” He kept close enough to her to speak low, so that only she could hear.
Libby darted a glance around the lobby. The young man at the desk had disappeared—part of the plan. He’d gone to alert everyone in Gunn’s office that Hector had arrived. Hector followed the line of Libby’s gaze. He broke into a lascivious grin, reaching for her.
“You know, I just turned down a sweet invitation from a delightful woman with the most tempting bosom,” he drawled. “Said she could show me a good time. I need a good time, Libby. It’s been far too long since I’ve had a good time. I need it. I want it. But that girl wasn’t the treat I have a taste for.”
“No, Hector. I’m not your treat,” Libby managed to choke out as her throat closed in panic. Her backpedaled flight to the hallway with Gunn’s office might have been staged, but it wasn’t the least bit faked. “I’m Mason’s wife.”
“You should have been mine.” As soon as they crossed out of the lobby itself and into the corridor, Hector became more aggressive. “You should have been mine from the start.”
He grabbed Libby’s wrist hard enough to bruise. Libby gasped, searching desperately for escape. Four powerful men were ready and waiting to defend her to the death, just on the other side of a door only two yards down the hall from where she stood. If she could reach that door, she would be safe.
Hector took advantage of her slip in attention to step into her, pressing her up against the wall. More than that, he tightened his hold on her wrist, cramming it over his thumping heart between them.
“Can’t you see what you do to me, Libby? Can’t you appreciate all I could do for you?”
“I don’t want you,” she repeated, turning her face away with a grimace. It was the only thing she could think to say and do.
Hector growled. “No one says that to me. No one. Don’t you know who I am? What I could do for
you?” He laughed. “There are women lined up all along the Pacific Coast who would drop to their knees and do whatever I told them for a chance to be my wife.”
“Then pursue them, not me.”
She jerked to the side, surprising Hector enough to break free of him. Off-balance, she lunged toward Gunn’s office door. Hector stumbled as he came after her. It was just the stroke of luck she needed. She grasped the office door handle, turned it, and jumped inside.
Hector followed her, shutting the door behind them. His movements were back to being slow and calculated, his focus zeroed in on her, as if he knew he had her cornered. It was the same as the night he’d forced her. Libby backed toward Gunn’s desk, scanning the office. It appeared to be empty. The desk rested in the exact center of the room. The wall behind it was all wood-paneled with only a few indentations at the level where doorknobs would be. A potted plant sat on a small table next to a window, enjoying the afternoon sun. There was no window in the opposite wall. Instead, a Japanese paper screen sectioned off one corner of the room, reaching all the way to the floor.
There. Someone was behind that screen. They had to be. She could feel it. Libby didn’t know who, but the mere knowledge that she wasn’t alone with Hector gave her the courage to stand straighter.
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that I don’t want you, Hector.” She faced him with her back straight and her head held high, but her eyes continued to dart around the room. Someone was behind the screen, but wasn’t Gunn supposed to be here? Wasn’t he supposed to work his magic to get Hector to confess?
And where was Mason?
“We’ve been through this before, my dear.” Hector stalked closer to her. “You say one thing, but I know you mean another.”
“I don’t,” Libby insisted. “I never did.”
A flash of inspiration hit her. She didn’t need Mr. Gunn to pry a confession out of Hector. They were in the room—four upstanding, reliable witnesses. She could coax Hector into confessing herself. She had all the power, for once. With God on her side, she could do this.
