Mail Order Bride 22 Book Boxed set: 22 Brides Ride West :CLEAN Western Historical Romance Series Bundle

by Faye Sonja

  “I understand that you will have good reason to shut this place down after sending a young lady in trouble with the law. I can assure you at the time, I knew nothing of it and sent her to you in good faith.”

  “Miss Kitty, if I may?” Bobby interrupted her. He had no time to waste. “I’m not here to complain. Quite the contrary. I need to know the story of what happened before Ada left here. I need to know the details of what she’s being accused of.”

  “You still want to marry her?”

  “We’re already married, Ma’am. I’ve no wish not to be married.”

  “So you knew of her situation and thought the marriage might aid her in some way?”

  Bobby shook his head. “I’ve only just found out yesterday from the Marshal in Brookstown that a warrant for the arrest of my wife had been issued.”

  “And you’re here already? You must be in love, Mr. Grant.”

  Bobby wasn’t here to talk about love. “Did Ada tell you anything about the time leading up to her looking for a way out of Salt Lake City?”

  “She said they were getting away from the father, who turns out isn’t their father at all. He made them go stay in the lodgings on Main St. But, everyone knows it’s a brothel and not safe there for any young woman with a rough bar being in the same establishment.”

  “I see. Is there somewhere we can talk more privately?” Bobby didn’t trust that someone wouldn’t be listening at the door. Plus he wanted to know if Emma or Anna were still here.

  “Come out to the small kitchen. No windows. I’ll light the lamp.”

  “I wasn’t expecting you to open this early, Miss Kitty.”

  “I need to be open when the first train gets in and the last train leaves to support all my ladies and gentlemen.”

  “That’s very honorable.”

  “I believe in love, Mr. Grant. I hope that all of my charges end up with long and happy lives as the good Lord intended.”

  Bobby followed her out the back and waited while she lit the lamp. The kitchen was tidy but he noticed 3 cups on the sink. “Miss Kitty, where are Anna and Emma? I would like to talk to them.”

  “I’m not sure I should tell you…”

  “I’m not here to persecute you. I’m here to clear my wife’s name, or at the very least be sure she isn’t put on the hanging list.” Bobby’s fists clenched at those words. He couldn’t lose her that way.

  Miss Kitty’s shoulders fell and she sighed. “Both young ladies are still here. The police haven’t asked about them at all. Emma will leave next week for her young man and Anna has just begun writing to one.”

  “The police didn’t want to interview either of them?”

  Miss Kitty shook her head. “They have a body, they have someone to blame. No one here cares about justice, as long as a case is wrapped up. I don’t believe Miss Ada could’ve killed a man in that way, even if he was pushing himself onto her.”

  Bobby was interested now. “How was the man found? God rest his soul.” Bobby took off his hat and placed it over his heart and placed it on the table.

  “Here.” Miss Kitty handed him a newspaper. It was headlines.

  Politician found dead in an alley. Shot twice in the head.

  Shot in the head? Ada couldn’t shoot a gun at all, let alone shoot someone twice in the head. Why would she be out in an alleyway in the dark? He read on that the man’s wife was the one pressing murder charges against Ada after discovering they’d been together earlier that night. So did they have a murder weapon?

  “May I speak with the other girls? They can both come in together if it makes them feel better.”

  “I’ll fetch them.”

  “Assure them I’m no threat. If anyone can get Ada out of this, it’s me.”

  “I will let them know.”

  In about five minutes Miss Kitty came back in and behind her were the two young ladies. Anna had the same black hair and striking blue eyes of Ada, and a quite large pink-brown mark stretched across her cheek that was partially hidden under her hair. Emma was rather plain of face and hair; she looked sad, and scared. He’d start with her first.

  “Good morning ladies. I’m Bobby Grant. Your brother-in-law, as it happens.”

  Both girls were wide-eyed now.

  “I need your help to help Ada. I’m a man of the law, and I want to know if either of you know what happened that night.” He trained his eyes on Emma and she looked away immediately, giving a fidget of her feet. “If you know anything at all. Where would Ada get a gun?”

  “Ada can’t shoot.” Anna frowned. “I’m going to tell him what happened.” She looked at Emma. “Ada is not going to jail after everything she’s done for us. I know you’re scared you’ll go back in there, Emma, but we can’t let this happen to our sister.”

  Emma hung her head and cried. He’d come back to her. “Go ahead, Anna. Everything how you remember it.”

  “We’d locked ourselves in that horrid room in that place with a chair jammed under the handle. We were all scared and Emma had to go to clean the bar that morning, as that was her job.”

  “I see. Why were you there and not at home?”

  “Our father…we thought he was, anyway. He said he had a husband for Ada and she was to take care of us two. He was getting a new wife with younger daughters to work his bakery and wouldn’t be needing us any longer.”

  “I see.”

  “Ada and I had always thought them to be our real parents. Mama died and it was she that wanted us. We’ve always known Emma wasn’t our blood but she is still our sister in our hearts.”

  “So Emma went to clean the bar…” Bobby wanted to keep her on the right track.

  “We’d been talking about Miss Kitty’s through the night. Emma said she’d been writing and was planning to leave, she just didn’t know how to tell us. So we all decided that we’d go there as soon as Emma had finished her cleaning. Ada was wanting to leave right away before that awful man came to see her. Turns out he was already married and he’s a politician.” Anna shuddered. “What he wanted with Ada, I don’t know.”

  “Go on…”

  “We were all packed up and ready, and Ada wanted to send our luggage over first and have the driver wait there for her to arrive so she could pay him. She sent me along as well.”

  “And that’s all you know? You weren’t with Ada? Why would she be in a dark alleyway meeting a man she feared so much?” He looked again to Emma.

  “He came. He tried to drug Ada with chloroform; it’s common in the brothel for pain relief and such. She fought back and pushed him, and he fell and hit his head on the corner of the table. That’s when I came in a saw him lying there. I panicked.”

  “Was the man still alive when you left him?”

  “He was groaning and breathing heavy.”

  “Did you see any blood?”

  She shook her head.

  “Why didn’t you simply report it?”

  “He’s a politician, and I’ve been in jail before’ cos someone bribed the police and as I was cleaner at that bar, I got jailed as a prostitute. I begged Ada to leave before they found us and threw me back in jail for another thing I never did. I can’t go back to that place. I’ll die first.”

  “Stay calm, Emma. I have no intentions of seeing anyone in jail, except those that deserve it. So that was it? You came here and Ada came out to be married, and you ladies have been hiding out here since. Did you even tell Miss Kitty any of this?”

  Both girls shook their heads.

  “You will need to come forward and let them know what you’ve just told me, Emma. You cannot let this go any longer. I love Ada, and I don’t want to lose her.”

  The girls looked at him with wide, shining eyes as if it was a miracle someone had finally seen the wonderful person Ada was.

  “I’d hope the three of you might be able to have a reunion at our home. There’s plenty of room, once you’re settled with your prospective husbands, of course.”

  “I…I’ll tell ‘em
what happened.” Emma shook and Bobby comforted her.

  “I will be by your side, Emma. I can assure you no one will be putting you in jail again, nor Ada for that matter. What we need is the real killer and the gun that shot that man.”

  “Let’s have some breakfast. I’ll pop to the bakery. Please tell anyone I won’t be but five minutes if they come in.” Miss Kitty walked to the door. “I’m sure this will work out just fine with Mr. Grant on the job.”

  “After breakfast I’ll go and see the police and see what information they have. Then I’ll be going to see if anyone else saw anything after you ladies left the lodgings.”

  “Are you here for long, Mr. Grant?” Miss Kitty asked with a smallest hint of a smile.

  “I’m afraid not. I must get back on that train this evening and home to Ada. She doesn’t know I’m here and I fear she’ll be quite fraught wondering what I’m thinking of her.”

  “Ada is a very lucky woman, it seems. I’m so glad I could convince her to give it chance, Mr. Grant. I had a feeling it would work for you. She’s a very genuine girl. I’ve known you to be a man of your word for two years though we’ve never met in person.”

  “I feel I’m the lucky one. Thank you for taking this matchmaking so seriously.”

  Miss Kitty smiled and left.

  “I’ll come back for both you ladies and take you to the police station for a statement. I’ll stay with you both when you give them. Is there anything else you can remember that night about how things happened?”

  They both shook their heads.

  “Good, we have a firm start to clearing my wife’s name.”

  * * *

  Bobby walked into the police station and several policemen were talking. He stopped at a group by a door. “Who do I speak to in regards to the Ada Graa…Ada Bartholomew case? I believe I have evidence that will make a difference.”

  They looked him up and down, and one of the men pointed to an office door. “Detective Brown, in there.”

  “Thank you, constable.”

  He tapped on the office and a rough voice called for him to enter. Bobby braced himself and opened the door and walked in, closing it behind him. His palms were damp and his nervousness gave him pause. After a deep breath he introduced himself and said why he was here.

  “Ada Bartholomew, eh? Interesting case. Open and shut. She was the last person known to be with him, and he was found dead. She disappeared almost immediately, which clearly shows her guilt.”

  “I disagree. I’ve spoken to her sisters and both are prepared to give statement of what happened that night and one sister was there for the whole thing.”

  “Sisters? I thought they’d left town at the same time?”

  “It seems not. There were staying with a friend.”

  “I see. What do they have to say about it?”

  “That the man in question, a well-known politician I believe, was well known for frequenting prostitutes.”

  “Are you saying Miss Bartholomew was a working girl? I heard one of her sisters was.”

  Bobby bit his tongue before he said anything to this lumbering man behind the desk that he’d regret. “No, I’m not. But what I am saying is an altercation happened in a room at the lodgings on Main St, which are known for trouble. She pushed him and he fell and hit his head. Her sister came in and encouraged Ada to leave right away because she was scared of the repercussions.”

  The detective looked at him without expression.

  “Both ladies can attest to him being in the room, unconscious from a hit on the back of the head on the corner of a small table when he fell. Miss Kitty has the exact times they arrived recorded, and that alone proves that Ada couldn’t have been in that alley at the time he was shot there.”

  The detective rubbed his chin. “His wife reported him missing and gave us Ada’s name. When we investigated we found the woman at the desk had given the wife the room number and the name of the Ada.”

  “Ada’s never laid eyes on a gun, let alone fired one. She had no motive for killing him. She was away from him and safe. She was worried only then for her sister, Emma, who’s spent unwarranted time in jail and is deathly afraid of ever going back. They thought no one would believe them against an important man and they’d both be jailed unfairly and, you must agree, that is a logical fear to have.”

  “You’ve done your homework, Mr. Grant. How is you come to have a personal interest in this case?”

  “Ada is now my wife. We were married on Sunday and I’m a prosecutor. I believed I could clear my wife’s name, if I moved quickly.”

  “So who do you suppose killed him if your wife didn’t?”

  “Who had a motive?”

  “I think there’s always someone ready to kill a politician, especially one as corrupt as he was.”

  “Is there a murder weapon?”

  “We haven’t found one.”

  “Perhaps search his home. His wife may know more than she’s telling us.”

  “Jealousy can be a strong motivator, not to mention the fortune he’d have left her.”

  “So, Detective Brown, do you believe there’s enough doubt to not have to arrest Ada in this matter? I promise you we won’t leave our city until we hear more from you. Marshal Blake is the best lawman I know, and he’ll be sure to keep tabs on us.”

  “I’ll write a letter for you to give him. The warrant is revoked but I will need to see her for further questioning at some time.”

  ‘I’ll give you all the information I have. I’ve written it down already.” Bobby handed him the paperwork he had in his satchel. The easier he made this for the detective, the better.

  “Thank you, Mr. Grant, for bothering to come and assist us in this matter. I appreciate your expertise. You should be a private investigator.”

  “I’m not sure that I’d like it all that much as a living.”

  The detective smiled. “It’s not so bad. I apologize for your stress in this matter. I’ll come and interview the sisters.”

  “May I be there? I promised them I would be. They’re very scared. It’s been rough on them. But I must leave on the train by seven tonight.”

  “Very well. We can go now, if you like. I’ll send out a team to look for that gun. It’s not in the alleyway but perhaps it’s hidden in a handbag or something similar.”

  “I thank you for your open-minded attitude in this matter.”

  “It’s hard to ignore facts, Mr. Grant, and you have come armed with them today and saved me a lot of legwork.”

  Bobby left the station and headed back to Miss Kitty’s. He wanted to be there and support the girls while they answered questions. But he did believe he was going back to Ada with wonderful news. She hadn’t killed anyone, and her sisters were both safe and well.

  The relief inside him almost overwhelmed him for a second and his breathing became restricted and his chest tightened. No. Not now. I’m so close to going home to Ada. But Bobby couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t get air. He went to his knees on the footpath and then toppled over. Ada…

  * * *

  9

  Forever After

  -

  -

  -

  -

  -

  -

  -

  “ I have to give her a chance… This is

  her new life now. We all have a past."

  .

  “Bobby…I’m here. Can you hear me?” Ada had never been so scared in her life when a message came through to say that Bobby was in the hospital in Salt Lake City. She couldn’t care less if she was to be arrested, she was going to him.

  The marshal had organized to get them here as quick as they could and it’d been two days. She’d no clue what was wrong with her husband but she intended to be by his side no matter what.

  He looked more pale than usual, and his cheekbones looked a little too hollow laying on his back like that.

  “Bobby, please. It’s Ada.” Nothing. “I’ve killed him from stress. Given him a
heart attack.”

  “Now, Ada. The nurse said the Doc’ll be here any second now.”

  “I can’t stand the waiting. When he does wake up he’ll probably want me to leave.”

  “I’m going to check with the detective on your case and see what’s happening. Let him know I’m here if he needs me.”

  “See if he wants to come and arrest me.”

  “Stay here. Bobby will be pleased to see you when he wakes, regardless of your situation.”

  “Would you be so kind as to go to Miss Kitty’s and let my sisters know I’m here with Bobby and I’ll be to see them as soon as I know how Bobby is…if I’m not in jail. I don’t care anyway. Even if I go to jail, it’ll be worth it just to see Bobby is okay.”

  “I’ll do that for you. Take care now.” Marshal Blake left the ward.

  Ada stared at her husband. What was he doing here in Salt Lake City? Had he come to clear her name or to help them with their enquiries?

  “Mrs. Grant, is it?”

  Ada looked up and a tall, broad man in a white coat with a stethoscope hanging around his neck picked up the bed chart.

  “Yes. I am Mrs. Grant…you’re Doctor…?”

  “Roberts. Doctor Roberts. Mr. Grant needs a good deal of rest. This may be a permanent problem with his heart, or it may improve with a slightly more sedentary lifestyle.”

  “What do you mean, Doctor?”

  “What does Mr. Grant do for work?”

  “He’s a prosecutor in Brookstown in Northwest California. He also has a small hobby farming property there.”

  “He’ll need to stop any stress related activities, like his job, and anything too physical if it’s heavy manual farm work.”

  “He has people to work the farm.”

  “Perfect. For the first month I’m recommending complete bedrest with two hours of fresh air and sunshine each day. He’ll need a pushchair. If he feels stronger after that time he can safely take some strolls and build up from there.”

  “Is he going to live, Doctor?” Ada blinked back the tears; her situation had pushed him over the edge. She’d almost killed her own husband. She didn’t deserve him. The best thing she could do would be to leave him in peace, and she may well be doing that depending on this accusation.