Touched

by Carolyn Haines

  Something in his voice made me turn back to look at him. There was a secret in the quirk of his lips, in his hot eyes.

  “Ever heard of ‘the chair’?”

  I didn’t answer because I couldn’t. The jangle of the straps and belts on the chair that Sheriff Grissham was unloading came back to me.

  “It’s a new form of execution. A portable chair with a generator. They’ll strap Doggett in that chair and fasten those conductors to his head and heart. When they send that jolt of electricity through him, he’ll jump and buck. I’ve heard it boils a person’s blood. Sort of like being struck by lightning, only worse.”

  I cut the lard into the flour with a fork. I couldn’t afford to let him know how he affected me.

  My silence allowed him to expand, taking up more of the room. “He won’t be such a pretty boy once he’s fried. I guess JoHanna made the right decision. Her husband came home, and she cut her losses. Left old John Doggett to take the rap for killing that family. She realized the stakes were too high for her, so she ran.”

  I glanced up at him. His fear was completely gone. Surrounded by bruises and swollen tissue, his eyes were hard, angry. I couldn’t help myself. “You know John Doggett didn’t kill those people.”

  “Do you think that really matters?” He leaned back in his chair. “Doc Westfall said all of their lungs were full of water, except the man. His neck was broken.” He scraped his chair back from the table. “The bank was getting ready to foreclose on them. Put me on a pot of coffee.”

  Pushing back the bowl, I wiped my hands on a towel and checked the wood in the stove before putting the kettle on to heat.

  “What was the family’s name?”

  “Spencer.” He slipped his suspender down one shoulder.

  “Did you know them?” I got the rolling pin and moved the bowl to the table where I could roll out the dough. Almost as much as beating me, Elikah loved to gossip.

  “They weren’t from around here. Took over the Dalton place last year. The sheriff said they stayed to themselves. They didn’t have any neighbors out on that dead-end road.”

  Behind me the kettle began to boil, and I poured the hot water into the pot. Elikah liked his coffee strong. Strong and black. I knew exactly how to fix it. When it had dripped through, I poured us both a cup and sat his before him. I couldn’t help but look at his hands. “Can you manage?”

  He snorted. “I’ll manage. And when my hands get well, I’ll settle the score with Will McVay, if have to track him down to wherever he’s running off to.” He looked up at me, knowing without asking that I wouldn’t tell him where the McVays were headed. “I’ve got a score to settle with you, too, Mattie.” He spoke softly, but his intention was clear. In the past, it would have been enough to make me cower. I dropped my gaze and went back to my cooking. I got out onions and carrots and potatoes and set them on the table to be peeled and cut.

  Holding the cup with both hands, Elikah drank the coffee and watched me work. He signaled for a refill, and I poured him more coffee and finished putting the pie together. After I slid it into the stove, I turned to him. “Would you like me to draw you a bath? I could put some more water on to heat. It might take some of the stiffness out of your muscles if it was good and hot.”

  “Well, well.” He grinned. “The dutiful wife.”

  I stood completely still, casting my gaze down to the floor. If I looked at him I might shoot him on the spot.

  “Look at me, Mattie.”

  Very slowly I looked up, shifting along the floor to his feet. I made a small sound. Elikah wore the boots Floyd had designed for Sheriff Grissham.

  His laugh was soft, cruel. “You like ‘em? Floyd did fine work, didn’t he? He was nothing but an idiot, but he could make a boot. The sheriff said I should have them for all my skill. Floyd didn’t object much. He was too busy trying to stop the flow of blood …”

  “You cut him, didn’t you?” I grabbed the back of a chair to steady myself and looked at him. I wanted to hear him say it. I couldn’t look away from Elikah’s eyes. They were burning with emotion.

  “I always wanted to be a surgeon.” He smiled. “Now put that water on for my bath.”

  “Why did you shoot him in the back?”

  Quick as a cobra, Elikah leaned forward and swept the bowl and rolling pin onto the floor. The heavy crockery shattered and little pebbles of dough scattered across the floor.

  “Because he tried to run.” Elikah stood up. “He couldn’t believe I’d cut him. When he finally realized it, when the shock wore off and he started to feel it, he tried to run. None of us wanted to chase him down, so Clyde shot him.” He shouldered off his other suspender. “It was a kindness.” He stepped toward me where I stood, unable to move, air whistling through my teeth as I tried hard to breathe. “Now put that water on. I need a bath and a shave. Tommy’s coming by for me later. We have some business. Now that Will’s stepping aside, Tommy sees opportunity in the import-export business.” He raised his eyebrows at the look of confusion I wasn’t quick enough to hide. I had never thought to question what it was that Will sold on his trips.

  Elikah chuckled, his delight an unexpected bonus. “You didn’t know Will was a bootlegger. A high-level one, to be sure. Booze opens a lot of doors in real high places, Mattie. With Will out of the way, Tommy’s star is going to rise.”

  No matter the consequences to me or John, I could not wait to kill Elikah. It had to be done now. I needed time to think, so I refilled the kettle and put it on. I had not counted on Tommy Ladnier’s presence in the house. Tommy would recognize me as the girl who’d been at his house to sell sandwiches. I couldn’t allow Elikah to become suspicious of me. He was cruel, not stupid.

  “Mattie, get the tub.” He walked into the bedroom. “Then get in here and undress me.”

  “Yes, Elikah.” I gave him my meekest voice.

  If I could have willed the water to boil, it would have been bubbling off the stove. I set up the tub and got out his shaving tools. The handle of the razor was crusted with a small, dark stain, and I knew it was Floyd’s blood. It was something I couldn’t dwell on. I had to turn my mind in another direction. Revenge. That was what I had to focus on. Cool, satisfying revenge. To see Elikah grovel and beg before I blew his brains out. To watch the blood seep up in the water of the tub. The image calmed me and I patted the derringer in my pocket as I put the flat iron on the stove to heat so I could press a shirt for Elikah while another kettle of water heated. The bath was almost ready. Time ticked in my head as I listened to him, naked, walking about the bedroom, waiting for me to serve him.

  At last the water boiled and I added the second kettle to the water I’d already drawn. Dipping my wrist into it, I tested the temperature. “Perfect,” I said.

  “It had better be.” He stepped into the tub, easing down into the water with a sigh. “You’ll have to shave me.” He held up his bandaged hands. “Thanks to you, I’m an invalid.”

  I lathered the soap in his cup and carefully applied it to his bruised and swollen face with the soft brush. He tilted his head back, eyes closed, confident that I would not dare to inflict the tiniest pain.

  When I lifted the razor, I thought how easy it would be to slit his throat. How terribly easy. Would I ever feel any remorse? I couldn’t be certain, but I didn’t think so. I stroked the razor across his cheek, scraping away the soap and stubble. The blade inched below his chin. The only thing that stopped me was the idea of shooting him in the privates. I wanted that satisfaction. The blade would be too quick. And sitting behind him, I couldn’t see his eyes.

  I finished shaving him. “Let me get you a hot towel,” I said, rising. My intention was to go into the kitchen and come out, gun in hand. To watch him as I walked up to the tub as he realized what I meant to do.

  I was halfway across the room when I heard the footsteps in the hall. Panic froze me as I watched Tommy Ladnier walk into the kitchen, white shirt crisp, black boots gleaming.

  His eyes brighten
ed with recognition. “Hello, little sandwich girl.” He grinned as it all clicked into place. “Well, well, when you buried that idiot today, you forgot the most important part of him. Ah, the missing part.” Laughing, he brushed past me and went into the bedroom.

  “Tommy.” Elikah’s greeting was warm. “My wife was just getting me cleaned up.”

  “Your wife is an interesting woman.” While I stood helpless, Tommy started to tell Elikah about my appearance in his house.

  My brain finally started to work. Pulling the gun from my pocket, I went to the doorway. Tommy had taken a seat in the chair I’d used to shave Elikah. He was behind Elikah’s head, but I could still hit him. And then Elikah. It wasn’t what I’d planned, but maybe it was better. Two for the price of one.

  Neither of them moved when they saw me in the doorway. Tommy’s light eyes looked me over without a hint of emotion. “I think you’re going to have to kill her,” he said, his voice conversational. The water in the tub sloshed as Elikah started to rise.

  I lifted the hand with the gun. The barrel was silver and it caught the light from the bedroom window. “Sit down or I’ll shoot.” The trigger pressed back against my finger, a slight tension that I liked.

  Stunned, Elikah sank back into the water.

  “Kill her,” Tommy said. He crossed his legs, the black boots soft and beautiful in the light from the window.

  Elikah stared at me, his swollen face now slack-jawed by his disbelief at my actions. Then his pride kicked in. “By God I will.” He started to rise again, but I cocked the gun, and he settled back into the water, aware that I knew how to use the derringer.

  Propped back in his chair, Tommy sighed and gave Elikah a contemptuous look.

  “I know Elikah cut Floyd.” I spoke to Tommy. “Clyde killed him, but he would have bled to death anyway. How is it, Tommy, that you never do your own dirty work? Elikah may go to prison, but your hands are clean. You put them up to it, didn’t you?” It wasn’t until he walked into the room that I understood his role.

  “You stupid bastard.” Tommy grabbed Elikah’s hair with a swiftness that almost made me discharge the gun. “You told her, didn’t you? You had to brag about it. I told you all to keep your mouths shut, but you had to brag.”

  Elikah jerked his head free. His grin was ugly. “She can’t do a thing. No matter what I told her, she can’t speak against me.” He smoothed his hair down with his bandaged hand. “She can’t do a thing. She’s my wife.”

  I knew the truth of his words. I could not do a thing. As Elikah’s wife, my testimony against him would be worthless.

  “She can’t be forced to testify.” Tommy was coldly furious. “She can still do it.”

  “Nobody will listen to her.” Elikah’s confidence was returning. He squirmed in the water, ready to get out but not certain how to do it without looking foolish.

  “It won’t matter much when you’re dead.” I could see that my words held less power. There were two of them and only me. They didn’t believe I’d shoot them.

  Tommy pushed back the chair, clearing a space between him and the tub. He was going to try to jump me. At the same time, Elikah shifted his legs, getting his feet up under him. They didn’t bother to look at each other.

  “Seems to me your wife hasn’t learned her place.” Tommy put both feet on the floor. “I thought you were more man than that, Mills.”

  “Oh, Mattie’s tractable. Now that that McVay woman is gone, me and Mattie are going to come to an understanding.” Elikah rose in the tub. The water sloughed from his slick body, spattering into the bath. Even with his bruises and bandages, he was a handsome man. His stomach rippled with muscles, the water making his skin glisten and shine. He was partially aroused, primed by the danger and the idea of making me pay.

  “You’re right, Elikah.” I spoke so softly the sound of the water dripping off him almost drowned me out. “I’m your wife.” I held the gun pointed directly at his chest. “Nobody would believe my word against yours.”

  Elikah’s grin was slow, confident. “I told you, Tommy. Mattie won’t be a problem.”

  “She’s holding a gun on you, you idiot. And you say she won’t be a problem?” Tommy’s voice was cruel. “We should kill her and be done with it.”

  “No.” Elikah held out a hand and stopped Tommy as he started to move. “Not now. That’s the one thing that would keep McVay and his wife in town. As it is, they’re leaving. Once Doggett is dead, they’ll be gone.” Elikah licked his lips. His mind was clicking away. I always knew he was a cunning man.

  Tommy relaxed in his chair. “You’d better make certain she doesn’t open her mouth. I don’t care how you do it, but I’m telling you to do it. She can make trouble for all of us.”

  “Give him the gun, Mattie.” Elikah’s voice cracked like a whip. “Give him the gun, because if I have to come take it from you, Tommy will get to hold you while I beat you.” He glanced sideways. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Tommy?”

  I lowered the gun and watched the smiles of victory creep across their faces. In one smooth motion, just as Jojo had taught me, I lifted the gun and pulled the trigger. Blood sprang across the white front of Tommy Ladnier’s shirt.

  “Mattie! Jesus, Mattie!” Elikah leaped from the tub, almost slipping as he banged his injured hands against the side. “Jesus Christ, Mattie!” He grabbed Tommy just as he fell. The two of them, Elikah slick with soap and water, tumbled to the bedroom floor. Elikah held Tommy in his arms.

  Tommy struggled to breathe. His gaze darted around the room as if he hoped to find something that would save him. There was nothing anyone could do. I’d hit his heart, and with each beat, blood pumped out of him. Elikah planted a palm over the wound, but the blood flooded between his fingers. Tommy Ladnier would be dead in a matter of seconds.

  “Remember, Elikah, I’m your wife. Your testimony against me is as worthless as mine against you. Tommy Ladnier attacked me. I was defending myself.” I lowered the gun and stepped back, thinking of only one thing. I’d done exactly as John Doggett had told me. I’d aimed for the chest.

  “I’m going to the jail to get Will and that high-priced lawyer from Hattiesburg. They’ll be interested to hear how Tommy Ladnier confessed to killing the Spenser family and then tried to attack you in the bathtub. When I came in to help you, he turned on me.”

  Elikah held Tommy Ladnier in his arms. The blood had almost stopped. Shifting, Elikah glared up at me. “I’ll see you burn in hell first. I won’t lie to save your skinny ass.”

  Elikah would lie. I would make certain of it. “You can lie or you can tell Will McVay the truth. Just remember, Elikah, Tommy Ladnier isn’t here to protect you.” I hated him with a pureness that was fire in my veins. “Once John Doggett is free, I’m going to divorce you.” He started to rise, but I lifted the gun. “I have one shot left. Jojo taught me not to flinch.” I lowered the gun to his crotch. “I intended to shoot you right there, and then finish you off after you’d had time to think about Floyd. Tommy Ladnier saved your life. You’d better take it.”

  He stilled, staring at me as if he were trying to gauge whether I would shoot him or not “If you doubt what I’m capable of, look at your friend.” I waited until he dropped his gaze. “I’ll be back shortly.”

  He rose suddenly. Tommy slid away from him, eyes open but unseeing. “No divorce.”

  I didn’t bother to answer him.

  “I’ll agree with your story, but no divorce.”

  There was something in his eyes. “I’d kill you rather than stay married to you.”

  Elikah shook his head slowly. “If you were going to kill me, you would have.”

  His confidence was completely insane. I hadn’t killed him because only Elikah could clear John Doggett. As he rightly said, no one would take my word.

  “It’s my bargain.” He spoke quickly. “We’ll say Tommy came to kill me because I knew he had killed that family. You killed him first. That way Doggett is freed. But you have to stay with
me.” One corner of his mustache quivered. “As a married couple, we can’t testify against each other. It’s a draw.” His lips twitched again, and then I saw it in the corner of his eyes, the crinkling of skin. He was laughing at me.

  “I’d rather burn in hell than live with you.”

  “It’s the only way to get Doggett off. He could be free in an hour. The people in town will believe me if I tell them about Tommy. Sheriff Grissham will have to believe me.”

  “And Floyd?”

  Elikah shrugged, not bothering to hide his grin anymore. “Tommy can take the rap for that one, too, if anybody decides to prosecute.”

  “I won’t stay here.”

  “Oh, yes you will. That’s the bargain. You stay.” He stepped over Tommy and went to the bed to pick up the towel I’d put out for him.

  “I hate you enough to kill you right on the spot.”

  He toweled his hair, then began rubbing his arms and shoulders. Supremely confident. “But you won’t. Not today. You need me today. And by tomorrow, I’ll have a paper drawn up with everything in it so that if anything untoward happens to me, you’ll be accused.”

  He didn’t even bother to look at me as he spoke. He’d set a better trap than I had. I could kill him, but that wouldn’t free John. Only Elikah could do that, and he had to be alive to do it. John Doggett’s life was more important than my freedom. He knew that. He didn’t even have to bluff.

  “Why are you doing this? I hate you. Why do you want me to stay? You hate me as much as I hate you.”

  He turned slowly and the grin was gone. In its place was a black hatred that made me step back. “That’s exactly why. You’ll pay each day. In little ways. I’ll have the pleasure of making each day a living hell for you.” His cocky grin was back in place. “That McVay bitch is ruined and out of town. She’s gone, and you’ll stay here as my wife.”

  “What makes you hate me so?” The question slipped out of my mouth. “I tried to make you a good wife. I honestly tried at first. I wanted to please you, to make you happy. You hated me from the first. Why?”