Jed didn’t come off as very hospitable—he just stared at the doctor, glaring, his jaw muscles clenched. Carly had to do something fast.
“Where’s my manners? Alvin, bring Dr. Baxter a drink.” She turned to Jed. “I believe you had important work to do?”
Jed stood his ground. “You’re not welcome in Tucson, Baxter.”
“He’s a guest of the Lonesome, Sheriff. I won’t have you mistreating him.”
Dr. Baxter lifted one corner of his mouth. His lopsided smile had no conviction. “Just passing through, Sheriff. As soon as I take care of my business with these ladies, I’ll be on my way.”
Carly couldn’t let him leave before she’d made a purchase. “Alvin, where’s that drink?”
Her barkeep scurried from around the end of the bar and placed a full glass in front of the new arrival. Dr. Baxter’s gaze kept darting from the door to Jed and back. Beads of sweat broke out on his upper lip.
Jed strode over to the bar, his spurs singing. He rested his boot on the rail.
She hated when he got all authoritative. If Dr. Baxter fled the premises, she’d never see him and his elixir again.
“Don’t pay the sheriff any mind,” she told Dr. Baxter. She grabbed his shoulder and pushed him down in a chair.
The good doctor bounced his leg and left his whiskey untouched.
Carly sat down beside him and leaned closer. “He’s not used to our kind of entertainments.”
Dr. Baxter nodded but didn’t look persuaded. He didn’t stop fidgeting. The man was close to bolting, Carly realized. She must act fast.
Judith draped a fleshy arm about the doctor’s neck. The smell of patchouli wafted in strong currents from her body.
“If we could have a word in private,” Carly said quietly. She intended to buy what the doctor was selling. The less Jed knew, the better off they’d all be. She couldn’t have him emptying out her elixir bottles again.
Jed stared at them like a jealous lover. It had been a revelation to her when she realized he didn’t want her taking care of her customers. Even more of a surprise that he’d made such a confession outright. She shot him a look filled with a promise for a good time. Later.
He downed a glass of whiskey in one gulp. He’d already had one too many and she worried what he might do.
“Where’s your wagon?” Carly asked the sweating Dr. Baxter, keeping her voice low.
“Around the corner,” he mumbled.
“I’ll meet you there.”
Dr. Baxter stood and pulled down on his jacket. “If you ladies will excuse me.” He nodded at Jed. “Sheriff. Alvin.”
Carly watched the man scurry out of there.
“Hope that’s the last we’ll see of him,” Jed said. He saluted her with his empty glass.
Carly huffed. “You weren’t very friendly.”
“I don’t make friends with polecats.”
He wiped his mouth. His gaze breached her defenses as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. It sent her nerves into a tizzy. Without a further lecture on the evils of the elixir, he tipped his hat and ambled through the doors, in no particular hurry.
Judith crossed her arms. “Why did the sheriff go and spoil all our fun?”
“Because that’s what he does.” Carly shook her head. She hadn’t exactly defended Jed but there was a small measure of pride in her for what he’d done. He’d seen Dr. Baxter’s arrival and hadn’t hesitated to follow him into the saloon. He knew the man was bad news and didn’t want him around Carly or the other women.
“Maybe he’ll pester somebody else for a change.” Judith wouldn’t stand down.
“Find something to cover yourself,” she told Judith. “The doctor is waiting on us.”
Alvin took a shawl off a hook and tossed it to her. Judith tied the shawl around her shoulders. Peeking through the doors, they looked up and down the street for the sheriff but he was long gone.
“What a prick,” Judith said under her breath. “I’d like to give him a piece of my mind.”
“You’ll do no such thing,” Carly answered. “Won’t do the Lonesome any good to make an enemy of the sheriff.”
Judith frowned. “I suppose.”
“Come on.” Carly pushed through the doors. They hurried down the boardwalk and turned the corner. Dr. Baxter’s wagon was there. His nag munched out of a feedbag and kept swishing his long tail.
Dr. Baxter poked his head out of the back of the wagon. “Got what you’re after right here.”
“Sell me a case,” Carly said. “No telling when you’ll be back.”
He climbed out. “I’ll need cash. Silver dollars. Gold, if you have them.”
“Suits me fine.” Carly lifted her skirt and removed her reticule from her garter. “You still charging a dollar a bottle?”
He rubbed his chin, as he watched her. “Price has gone up. I’ve had expenses.”
“How much?”
“Two dollars.”
Carly sucked in a lungful of air. “That’s twenty-four dollars.”
“Yes ma’am, and I’m firm on the price.”
Twenty-four dollars was a small ransom and not the amount of money she cared to part with. However, she had to have that elixir. Carly peered behind her. Thankfully, Jed hadn’t sneaked up behind them. She counted out the silver and handed it over. Her reticule was sadly near empty.
Dr. Baxter squinted at the coins, rubbed each one of them between his thumb and finger and then smiled. “Thank you kindly.”
Carly was losing patience. She couldn’t wait for the first taste of the elixir. “I’ve paid my money. Where are my goods?”
He reached into the back of his wagon and brought out a crate of bottles. They clinked together when he set them on the ground.
“Twelve bottles of the finest elixir this side of the Mississippi.”
“Save your speech.” Carly had what she’d come for. “Judith, help me heft this crate. We’ll use the back door of the saloon.”
She leaned over to pick up the crate when she heard the spurs.
Judith dropped her end of the crate. Carly didn’t dare turn around.
“Well hello, Sheriff.” Dr. Baxter looked ready to pee his pants. “Would you care to try some of my one-of-a-kind elixir?”
Jed growled low in his throat. Carly had heard that sound before. She shivered.
Dr. Baxter reached into the back of his wagon and brought out a bottle. “It’s on the house. Yes siree. It’ll cure all that ails you.”
Jed walked up to him and knocked it out of his hand. The bottle fell and broke into a hundred pieces, the precious elixir seeping into the dirt.
Carly sighed. The smell of that elixir satisfied her senses like a favorite blanket on a cold night. She sucked in a deep breath, ready to tell the sheriff to mind his own business. They weren’t breaking any laws.
Jed’s nostrils flared. “I told you to git.”
Dr. Baxter withdrew his hand and shoved it in the pocket of his fancy trousers. “I was on my way when these two ladies waylaid me. I won’t trouble you any further.”
Jed didn’t stop there. Carly watched with dismay as he shoved the doc aside and emptied the wagon of its cargo.
“What are you doing?” Dr. Baxter didn’t try to stop him. “My elixir is perfectly legal.”
Jed ignored his pleas as he stacked ten crates of the elixir, ignoring the frantic protests of her and Judith to let the doc go about his business.
Jed had gone to some dark place, she could plainly see. To her shock, he took out his shooter and started firing at the crates.
Dr. Baxter covered his ears. Judith screamed. The commotion brought a number of people into the side street as their sheriff proceeded to break every bottle.
Carly watched with horror as the contents of those bottles soaked into the hardpan.
She positioned herself in front of her purchase and pulled Judith closer. Jed’s gaze, full of menace, frightened her.
“Step aside, Carly,” he said.
>
“You can’t do this, Jed.”
He grabbed her arm hard, murder in his eyes.
“You’re hurting me.” She shook free.
Judith did as he asked, stumbling as she joined the crowd of onlookers, but Carly stayed rooted where she stood. He clamped both hands around her waist and picked her up. Before she could protest, he swung her around and put her down next to Judith.
Her crate of elixir didn’t stand a chance against the wrath of their sheriff. He overturned the crate and smashed each bottle against the side. When he finished he was breathing hard.
“You’ll pay for this.” Spittle flecked Dr. Baxter’s chin.
“You’re done here in our town,” Jed told him. “Move on before I put you in a jail cell.”
Dr. Baxter took one last look at the bottles and the elixir-drenched ground. He grabbed hold of the back of his wagon as if he might fall.
“I’ll not forget this.” Dr. Baxter was determined to get in the last word.
Carly had a few of her own.
“You don’t know what you’ve done,” she screamed at Jed. Her anger knew no bounds. She was ready to explode. Her need for the elixir had only been worsened by the tangy scent of it filling the air and now she had none. And she was out twenty-four dollars. The bastard!
Jed shook his head. “I can’t let you poison yourself. That shit is not something you should mess with. It will surely kill you.”
“The elixir is for medicinal purposes. I’ve been taking it for years.” Her voice was high-pitched, frantic, even to her own ears.
He scowled. “How is that working for you?”
Nothing would convince him, she realized. He always had to be right.
Her heart was heavy with revenge.
“We were just fine until you arrived in Tucson.” She turned to the crowd for confirmation. The women were huddled together. The men looked at their feet. No one agreed with her. She scoffed. They were all cowards.
She rounded on Jed, close to sobbing. She never cried. Never. What was happening?
“Why can’t you leave me alone?”
He pushed his hat back on his head. “You want to run a business in the territory, you need your wits about you. You know it as well as I do.”
“I thank you to keep your opinions to yourself. From now on, you’re not welcome in my saloon.” She picked up her skirts and headed up the alley.
Jed’s words echoed in her ears the whole march back to the Lonesome. I can’t let you poison yourself. That shit will kill you.
What did he know?
She pushed through the swinging doors and made it to her room just in time before many years’ worth of pent-up pain and misery poured from her soul.
Chapter Eleven
“You are going to pay for what you’ve done. You had no right!” Dr. Baxter shouted, shaking his fist at Jed.
Jed stood his ground. “Get out of town, Baxter. I’ll not ask you again.”
The man turned splotchy. Spittle ran out of the corners of his mouth. “You’ve destroyed my living. Where am I supposed to go?”
“What do I care? The hooch you were selling was bad medicine. People have died drinking that shit.”
The man recoiled. “I’ve done nothing illegal.”
Jed gritted his teeth. Unfortunately, it was true. “Don’t matter. You won’t be selling your elixir in Tucson anymore.”
“I’m gonna send for the U.S. marshal out of Tombstone. Just see if I don’t.”
“Go right ahead. I’m confident the marshal will agree with what I’ve done here today.” Inside, Jed was seething. He took multiple calming breaths to keep from the satisfaction of shooting the good doctor.
He knew all about Dr. Baxter and his kind, and quite frankly, he was surprised the man hadn’t been strung up long ago. Jed would bet his bottom dollar, the bastard had no medical training whatsoever. What he peddled was no good to anyone—selling his laudanum-laced gin all over the territories was nothing more than stealing money from folks who didn’t know any better.
And his damn elixir did kill people. Killed someone Jed had loved.
He could not believe that Carly had become a victim of such a scheme. He wanted to shoot the doc all the more. He refused to go through the pain of losing someone else to that dangerous substance. Flashes of a beautiful woman played in his mind. Her smile, her laugh, twirling in a circle when Pa had bought her a new dress. Then his memories turned dark. Ma stumbling around the room, guzzling from a small brown bottle, tripping, falling…the breaking of glass. He could smell the blood, even after all these years later.
“Sheriff?” Deputy Sam said in an uncertain voice.
Jed looked down at his hand. He’d cocked his shooter and was pointing it at Baxter. The man held his hands up in front of him, shaking with fear, his eyes wide with uncertainty. Jed swallowed hard, released the hammer and stuck the gun back in his holster.
“Get out of here, Baxter. And don’t come back or I’ll put you in jail.”
The man lowered his arms slowly. Obviously, he didn’t trust Jed, which made him smarter than Jed had given him credit for.
“Oh, I’ll come back,” Baxter hissed. “I’ll come back with the law!”
“Around here, I am the law,” Jed said through gritted teeth. “Something you’d be wise not to forget.”
Baxter muttered obscenities as he unbuckled his nag’s feedbag. The horse objected by jerking his head, nearly knocking Baxter to the ground.
He recovered his balance and climbed aboard his wagon, cracked the whip and started down the road. The wagon swayed as Baxter shouted a string of oaths at the poor beast.
Jed was satisfied he’d seen the last of him. He took off his hat, wiped his neck with his handkerchief and returned his hat to his head. Broken glass glinted in the sun. The odor competed with the pile of horseshit.
Jed’d made a righteous mess but it’d been worth the effort. Nobody would die of this home brew while he wore the badge.
“Sam, see if you can’t find some boys to help clean up this crap. I’ll buy a couple of rounds for whoever helps.”
Sam nodded and turned to the crowd, ferreting out a few of his friends.
Jed walked slowly back to the jailhouse, suddenly overtired and drained. There hadn’t been a down moment since he’d arrived in Tucson and he needed some rest. What the hell had he gotten himself into, coming to such a lawless place? There didn’t seem to be any end to the ne’er-do-wells who found their way to this town.
He’d made a vow, one he intended to keep.
As for Carly, no doubt he’d ruffled her feathers. He hoped she’d come to appreciate what he’d done, seen it was for her own good.
* * * * *
Jed stood on the boardwalk outside the sheriff’s office a couple of days later, his arms crossed over his chest as he observed the town. Things had been pretty quiet since Dr. Baxter left in such a hurry. The citizens mostly kept to themselves, although some gave him wary glances, but most just smiled—the latter most likely pleased with the take-charge attitude he’d brought down on the criminal element.
But still, it was the wary glances that ate at Jed. Although he was confident he’d done the right thing when he’d blasted up the bottles in the memory of his poor ma, he still didn’t have everyone’s support. His emotions had gotten the better of him when he’d destroyed Baxter’s stock. Baxter had been right—no laws had been broken.
Carly was wreaking havoc with his good sense. He knew better than to get involved with her but she meant something to him—more than she should. He was fed up with her excuses and her lies. He couldn’t stay away from her. She made him angry but she made him hard. What was he going to do about it?
Jed surveyed the empty street. The blazing sun made the air shimmer and wave in front of him. Man, it was a hot day out. The little shade cast by the jailhouse gave him no relief.
He was about to go back inside, when the sound of horses caught his attention. He turned to see a couple of s
trangers riding. No one in their right mind traveled at this time of day.
He stood straighter, called Sam and Jack outside in case there was going to be trouble.
One of the riders wore a top hat. Jed bristled. Baxter was back in town. But what shocked him next was the glinting of metal shining from a marshal’s badge.
“What the hell?” he growled.
“Who is it?” Sam asked.
“Will you take a look at that? The doc is back.” Jack nudged Sam in the ribs. “And look who’s with him—the marshal…”
Jed rolled his shoulders and took a deep breath. He was surprised to see the marshal with Baxter. What the hell had the crook told the lawman that would entice him to come to Tucson?
“Good day, Sheriff Poole.” The marshal tipped his hat.
Jed didn’t recognize him. “Marshal.”
“Told you I had cause to involve the law,” Baxter said.
Jed glared at the scoundrel but didn’t give him a greeting. He wouldn’t waste his breath.
“Name’s Sutton, out of Tombstone.”
Jed’s attention shifted to the new arrival. “Marshal Sutton, you’ve come a ways for nothing.”
“Mind if we come inside?” The marshal nodded his head toward the jailhouse.
“You’re always welcome, Marshal. Can’t say the same for your friend though.”
Jed’s muscles tightened as Baxter opened his mouth to speak.
Luckily the marshal held up his hand, cutting off the huckster before he got his two cents in. “We’ll state our business inside. This heat is killing me.”
Jed ground his teeth and nodded. He turned to Sam and Jack. “You boys come on in. I might need your help.”
They nodded soberly and followed him into the small building. What Jed needed was two witnesses to the exchange between him and Marshal Sutton.
Jed went behind his desk. Sam and Jack moved to stand behind him just as he’d taught them to do when trouble was brewing. He wanted the desk as a barrier. He wanted the marshal and Baxter to know he was the law in this town.
“What can I do you for?” he asked as the marshal had a look around. He stopped at the empty gun rack.
He turned to Jed. “Well, Sheriff Poole, Dr. Baxter here claims his property was wrongfully destroyed and he’s asking for compensation.”
Annabelle Weston Page 12
