Lone Star Lover

by Debbi Rawlins

  The thought made her shiver again as she paused outside the door and looked up and down the street. For a second, she thought she saw someone slip down the alley next to Doc Davis’s living quarters, but decided it had to be her imagination. The only one who used the alley was the doctor and he was miles away by now. Only one couple appeared to have braved this frigid bleak evening, and they were about to enter Isabella’s boardinghouse at the far end of town.

  She pulled the wool shawl tighter around her shoulders and kept her face down from the sudden brisk wind as she hurried across the street. Loud laughter and piano music spilled out from the saloon, but she hoped it was early enough that the men weren’t too drunk yet. All she needed to do was get Kitty’s attention. Jake would be there, too. He’d help if she needed him.

  Drawing in a deep punishing breath, she pulled the icy air into her lungs. She didn’t know Jake, she reminded herself, not really. What she did know for sure was that there was more than one side to a man, not all of it good. Jake was no different. She had to stop looking to him to rescue her. If she were to survive, she needed to rely on herself.

  Lifting her chin, she pushed the doors open. With so much noise, no one heard the hinges squeak. The place was as crowded as she’d ever seen it, with men playing cards or drinking and talking at tables. Ruby was easy to spot with the tall blue feather sticking out of her hair, but Kitty was nowhere in sight.

  Hoping to spot Kitty’s red hair, Rebecca scanned the men at the bar, and saw Jake. He was sitting with Captain Wade, who said something that made Jake laugh. The scene left her heartsick. How could he keep company with the likes of the Rangers? How easily he seemed to become one of them. His behavior only proved to her that men were thorny creatures, sweet one minute, and prickly the next.

  Anxious that she couldn’t find Kitty, she stepped tentatively into the room. The smell of liquor and sweat made her stomach turn. At the end of the bar she saw Trixie with her arms draped around a tall thin man. If Rebecca could get her attention, she could at least leave word for Kitty.

  Clutching her shawl to her breasts, she lowered her head to avoid eye contact with anyone, and hurried toward Trixie.

  “Well, looky here.” A man as big as an oak tree blocked her way. “Ain’t seen you before. I like yeller-haired women.”

  His arm snaked out and he clamped his hand hard around her wrist. “Let me buy you a whiskey, little darlin.’”

  Rebecca gasped. “No, thank you.”

  He laughed, his foul breath nearly suffocating her. “I got me a shy one.”

  “Please.” She twisted her hand but his grip was too tight. “I have to see Kitty.”

  “You come with me, and we’ll find Kitty together.” He laughed, along with a group of men sitting at the bar.

  “Come on, Ralph.” Trixie sidled up to him, pursed her lips temptingly and placed a hand on his arm. “Let her go. She’s busy tending to Otis at Doc’s place.”

  He shook her off. “Mind your own damn business.”

  “Yeah, Ralph, come on. Let her go.”

  Rebecca’s heart did a flip.

  It was Jake, right next to her, his mouth curved in a faint smile, that deadly glint in his eyes that she’d seen earlier focused unblinkingly on the other man. The two of them stared at each other for several seconds, and then the man named Ralph released her.

  “Come here, Trixie,” he said, hooking his beefy arm around her shoulders before steering her toward the stairs.

  “You ought not interfere with the customers and the whores,” one of the Rangers sitting at the bar warned Jake under his breath. “Unless you’re aiming to make Wade spitting mad.”

  Jake shrugged, his gaze on Rebecca’s face. “You have news about Otis?”

  She’d almost forgotten why she’d come. “Yes, he’s awake.”

  “Is he talking yet?” Jake asked.

  “No, not to me. That’s why I want Kitty to come.”

  “Kitty?” Jake’s voice rose over the crowd. “Anybody know where Kitty is?”

  Feeling calmer now with Jake so near, Rebecca skimmed the nameless faces, until her gaze locked with Captain Wade’s. He’d swung toward them, his back to the bar, and he was staring right at her. Another Ranger whispered something in his ear. Captain Wade gave a small nod, as he slowly, purposefully shifted his attention to Jake, his mouth curving in a crafty grin. She felt sick. Not for herself. She would leave this place, no matter what it took, but she didn’t want to cause trouble for Jake.

  “I think she’s in the back.” It was Ruby. “I’ll go get her.”

  Rebecca expected the captain to stop Ruby, but he didn’t say a word. Just lifted the whiskey to his lips and tossed his head back.

  “I’ll go sit with Mr. Otis and wait for Kitty,” Rebecca murmured, shrinking back toward the door.

  Jake pressed a hand to the small of her back. “I’ll go with you.”

  “You can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  She glanced toward Captain Wade, glad that she could no longer see his face. “He won’t like it.”

  “Tough. Let’s go.”

  They stepped out into the cold, and though Jake had no coat himself, he drew a protective arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. By the time they got to the sickroom door, Kitty had run out of the saloon with only a shawl.

  She came in right behind them, and rushed past Rebecca to Mr. Otis’s bedside. Gasping, she jumped back.

  “Kitty? What?” Rebecca pressed closer to the older man.

  He lay just as she’d left him, except now, with his sightless eyes focused on the ceiling.

  “He’s dead,” Kitty whispered.

  “No. He can’t be. I was only gone for a few minutes. He was awake. He was trying to talk.” Horrified, Rebecca stared at the man. His lips were parted as if he’d been trying to say something, as if he’d screamed for help. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have left him.” She covered her face with her hands, choking back a sob.

  Jake put his arms around her and rubbed her back. “It’s not your fault.”

  The tears came then. She felt so safe and comforted against his broad solid chest, something she hadn’t felt in a very long time. But she had no right. She’d been careless, and now a man was dead.

  OVER REBECCA’S HEAD, Jake met Kitty’s speculative eyes. He had a feeling she was thinking the same thing he was. Otis Sanford had been murdered.

  Jake hugged Rebecca tighter, held her for a moment longer, before setting her back. Her face was red, her cheeks damp, and she blinked rapidly trying to stop the tears. Shame flickered in her eyes before she averted them. He caught her chin and brought her face back to his.

  “Listen to me. This is not your fault,” he said sternly. “Do you understand?”

  She sniffed. “It is.”

  “No.” He shook his head, and gestured for Kitty to step aside. “Do you mind?”

  Kitty lifted the hem of her voluminous satin skirt and moved back, solemnly glancing from Jake to Otis. His gut told him that she knew there had been foul play, although why she would follow that line of thinking he had no clue. His suspicion was based on years of experience as a lawman, and what modern medicine had taught him.

  Aware that both women watched his every move, he lifted one of Otis’s eyelids. Petechial hemorrhaging was evident but that would’ve occurred during the hanging. He closed the man’s eyes, and then checked his hands. There was skin and fresh blood under his fingernails.

  “When he came to, did he struggle with you?” he asked Rebecca, while giving her a cursory once-over and seeing no marks on her exposed skin.

  “No. He didn’t want to drink any water, but he just turned his face to the wall.”

  Kitty moved closer and peered at Otis’s hand. “What are you looking at?”

  Jake hesitated, not sure what it would accomplish letting the women know his suspicions. Then, too, he didn’t want Kitty running to Wade with the information. But Jake couldn’t let Rebecca believe
the man’s death was her fault.

  “See this?” He indicated the tissue and blood under the nails. “Looks as if someone attacked him, and he tried to fight them off.”

  The women frowned at the evidence, and then they both peered at him with a mixture of fear and surprise. Kitty moved in for a closer inspection. She folded her arms across her chest and hugged herself. “I washed him myself. There was no dirt or blood or anything under those fingernails.”

  “No, it’s fresh.” He drew the tips of Otis’s fingers across the back of his own hand. Faint traces of blood smeared his skin.

  Kitty stepped back, gasping. “Holy Mother of God.”

  “I should have been here.” Rebecca bit down on her knuckle.

  “No.” Jake forced her hand away from her mouth, and pulled her against his chest. “You would’ve been hurt, maybe killed. You did exactly what you should have done. Someone obviously wanted Otis dead, and nothing would’ve stopped him.”

  “What were you doing looking under his eyelids?” Kitty asked, her brows drawn together in suspicion.

  “There are red dots around his eyes. It’s called petechial—” He mentally chided himself for getting too literal. All that would get him was more questions. “The dots mean that his airway had been blocked, like if someone had been smothered or strangled, but in this case, the hanging—”

  The blank looks stopped him. He was totally blowing it. More than ever he needed them to trust him. “I think it’s better we don’t tell anyone about my suspicion.” He looked at Kitty waiting for her to object.

  “I agree,” she said, surprising him. “Not that I know what the hell to do about it, though.”

  “I do,” Jake said, sighing.

  Both women looked expectantly at him. Shit, he had some explaining to do.

  11

  JAKE PULLED THE SHEET over Otis’s face as soon as the door closed behind Kitty. No sense exposing him to Rebecca any longer, and there was nothing more Jake could learn to help him find the killer. Not without a crime scene unit and a forensics lab, anyway.

  They decided Kitty would go back to the saloon to break the news about Otis. Jake and Rebecca would follow soon, after the hoopla died down. Rebecca was still a wreck, no matter how much Jake had assured her that she wasn’t to blame, and he wanted time alone with her to get her settled down.

  Damn, he was being a fool. Doing exactly what he’d promised himself he wouldn’t do. He was letting his feelings for Rebecca get in the way. The smart thing would be to go with Kitty and watch the reactions when she announced that Otis was dead. Most people were going to be surprised and saddened, but there would be relief, maybe even satisfaction on the face of the guilty party. Or more likely, guilty parties. Just a feeling Jake had.

  To ease his conscience for not doing the right thing, he reasoned that Otis had marked his assailant and that was enough of a lead. Jake also needed time alone with Rebecca. He wanted to know what she’d intended to do with that shard of glass he’d taken from her. He also needed to tell her more about his situation. The problem was, he still didn’t know how much he should tell her about how he’d ended up in the 1800s. Would it be better for now to keep it simple and tell her he’d been sent from back East to investigate the corrupt Rangers?

  “You’re still shaking,” he said, taking her cold hand in his. Even though Otis was covered, she stared at the form of his body beneath the sheet.

  “It’s cold.”

  “You’re right. We need to get that fire going again.” He urged her to the stove and made her participate with feeding in logs and stirring the dying coals.

  She worked diligently, but he knew her mind was replaying the events of the last half hour. Hell, maybe it wasn’t a good time to lay a bunch of crap on her that she wouldn’t understand. Was he being selfish wanting her to get why he’d socialized with Wade? Her look of shocked disappointment at him sitting with Wade had been hard to chase from his mind. Still was.

  “Was that the first dead body you’ve seen?” he asked, hoping that talking about the tragedy would help her detach.

  She blinked at him, seeming surprised at first, and then grimly shook her head.

  Right. Around here? She’d probably seen far more than any person should have to. “Do you know when the doctor is supposed to return?”

  “No.” She laughed humorlessly. “But it’s too late for Doc Davis.”

  “He’ll want to examine the body.”

  She stopped stirring the coals and looked quizzically at him. “Why? Mr. Otis is already dead.”

  Jake shrugged. “He might notice something that will help us find who did this.”

  She turned back to stare at the fire, undisguised anger in her eyes. “You know who did this.”

  This was his cue. “You do know why I was talking to Wade earlier, don’t you?”

  She tensed. “You want to work for him.”

  “It’s not that I want to work for him. I might not have a choice.”

  Judging by the way she viciously stabbed at the logs, she wasn’t convinced.

  “Rebecca.” He took the poker from her, set it down, and held both her hands, forcing her to face him. “There’s something I have to tell you about me, but first, I need to know why you hid that piece of glass.”

  Her eyes widened. She stubbornly pressed her lips together, and then said softly, “For protection.”

  “I was afraid of that.” He squeezed her hands. “You try to use something like that as a weapon, you’ll only end up getting hurt. Maybe killed.” He’d added the extra warning to frighten some sense into her, but she didn’t seem fazed.

  She didn’t even blink. “I’d prefer a knife, but Kitty took that away from me.”

  “A knife?” Jake inwardly shuddered at the thought of her going up against one of those thugs with a knife. Didn’t she understand what these men were capable of? No, sadly, she did. He could see the banked fear in her steady blue-green gaze, but she was also too brave for her own good. “Rebecca, you’re no match for any of those men.”

  “They’ll hurt me either way.” Her voice was calm, resigned and she might as well have plunged that shard of glass right into his heart.

  “No, they won’t. Not while I’m alive.” They stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed an eternity. “Can you trust me on that?”

  She wanted to, he could see the yearning on her face. But there was doubt and fear, too, that primal struggle for survival because trusting anyone could make her weak and vulnerable. He hated it, but he understood that he hadn’t yet earned her trust.

  “Just for now, okay? Don’t do anything to endanger yourself. Give me a chance to explain who I am, and what I need to do. If I’m still welcome, I’ll come up to your room later, and we’ll talk.”

  When she nodded, he slowly exhaled. Unfortunately, that wasn’t even half the battle. If he told her the unvarnished truth, she’d be twice as fearful because she’d have him to worry about, as well. How could anyone believe he’d traveled through time? She’d think he was a total lunatic. Hell, he wasn’t sure that he wasn’t completely insane.

  “Thank you,” she whispered, lightly pressing her palms against his.

  “What for?”

  “For protecting me. For stopping that man from—” She briefly closed her eyes. “You’ve made trouble for yourself with Captain Wade. This could be very bad for you.”

  He reared his head back, and gave her a mock look of insult. “You don’t think a big strong man like me can beat up Wade?”

  She seemed startled at first, saw that he was teasing her, and then smiled.

  “I like to see that,” he told her, touching one corner of her mouth with the pad of his thumb. “You should smile more.”

  Apparently that had been the wrong thing to say. She pulled away from him, her lips thinning in a grim line.

  “Rebecca.”

  She turned back to the fire. “You should go. I’ll wait for Doc Davis.”

  “There’s noth
ing more you can do here.” Man, he did not want her sitting here with the dead man. She’d end up feeling morose and needlessly guilty again.

  “I have my book to read.”

  A muted memory of her reading beside his bed when he’d wake up from his drugged sleep flashed in his mind. As curious as he was about Rebecca’s book, he was more concerned with removing her from the death room. “Take it with you and read upstairs. It might not be safe for you here,” he said, annoyed with the defiance that remained in her eyes. “The killer could return.”

  She blinked, and the rebelliousness faded, quickly to be replaced with a sad downturn of her lips. “I don’t expect I’m much safer upstairs in the saloon.”

  “You will be with me there.” He caught her hand and pressed a soft kiss to the back of it. “No one will enter your room. I swear it on my life.”

  Her wary eyes were focused on the spot where he’d kissed her hand, and then she lifted her gaze to his face, briefly touching on his lips. She moistened hers, and that was all the invitation he needed.

  He lowered his head at the same time he lifted her chin, pleased to discover that she needed little prompting. She placed her hands on his chest and softened her lips when he coaxed her response. He asked permission with the tip of his tongue, and as soon as she parted her lips, swept into her sweet mouth.

  Her fingers curled against his chest and when he wrapped his arms around her, she trembled slightly. Jake wished she’d participate more, mostly to reassure himself that she wanted this as much as he did. And then she sighed into his mouth, a soft contented sigh that made his heart catch.

  He deepened the kiss, while exploring her narrow back, running his hands to the curve of her backside, then reeling himself in so he wouldn’t spook her. She leaned into him, her small soft breasts pressing against his chest as she looped her arms around his neck. The shirt she’d altered for him was thin, as was the material of her dress and he easily felt her protruding nipples poking his chest. The sensation nearly drove him off the edge. His thickening cock twitched. Expecting her to shove him away, he braced himself.