The twinkle faded from Jessica's brown eyes as she gazed at him. How silly. She wasn't the swooning type at all, but just then her legs started trembling and the flutter in her stomach had her placing a hand over it, surprised not to feel the skin jumping under her fingers. She took a step forward, her free hand reaching out toward the callused palm waiting for her to grasp it.
The rapping sound of someone knocking echoed through the room. Jessica's eyes flew to the door, but Storm grabbed her hand when she moved toward it.
"Not there," he said as he nodded behind her. "Over at the tunnel door."
"Who...?"
"Don't worry. No one knows about it except people we can trust. Go ahead." He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before he dropped it.
Jessica hesitantly crossed the room and stopped by the panel of wood. Realizing she didn't know how to open it, she glanced back at Storm.
"To your right," he said. "Just above your shoulder. Press the panel fairly hard."
When Jessica complied, the door swung back silently to expose Ned standing there.
"Jes, I'm glad you're finally awake," he said as he hurried past her. "We've got to talk."
"What is it, Ned?"
"I ran into that Jackson fellow." Ned glanced at the bed and his voice lowered as he asked, "Are you all right, son?"
"I'm getting there, Ned," Storm answered. "What about Tobias?"
"He didn't believe me when I told him we hadn't found you," Ned replied. "When I left him, he was on his way to the sheriff's office to tell him about you being at his place and him shootin' you. I figure the sheriff's gonna start askin' questions real fast."
"And they'll probably search here first," Storm informed Ned. He struggled to raise himself. "I've got to get out of here."
Jessica gasped and hurried over to Storm. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, she pushed gently against Storm's chest.
"You're too weak to leave here." Her face creased with worry when he gave a groan and fell back against the pillow.
"I have to," he said in a voice laced with pain. "Idy's the one who'll pay if they find me here. And all the rest of you, too."
"Son," Ned said. "I don't know all of what's going on here, but Elias told me a little. Reckon we're in this with you now."
"No!"
Jessica jumped slightly at Storm's loud voice. When he pushed himself upright this time, she glanced helplessly at Ned as her ineffectual hold on him failed to push him down again.
"Let him talk for a minute, Jes," Ned said quietly.
Storm steadied himself on one arm and glared at Ned.
"I don't want your help. I appreciate all you've done so far, but I can handle it now."
"Been used to ridin' a lonely trail, ain't you, son?" Ned drawled. "Leastways, when you were free to ride."
Jessica's eyes flew to Ned. He knew. He definitely knew and still wanted to help.
"Help me get my clothes on, Ned," Storm almost pleaded. "That's the last thing I'll ask of you."
The pounding on the door two stories below reached even their ears. Jessica gave a start and Ned moved to the bed, a grim smile on his face.
"Don't reckon we've got time for that now. Come on, up with you."
Jessica quickly rose to help Ned. Between the two of them, they managed to swing Storm's legs over the side of the bed.
"Wait, Jes," Ned said. In two quick, limping strides, he crossed the room and grabbed the blanket from the cot Jessica had used. He brought it back to the bed and slipped it around Storm's shoulders. Elbowing Jessica gently aside, he threw the comforter back and pulled the blanket around to cover Storm.
"Now, Jes," he said. "Help me get him up and into the tunnel."
Storm swayed alarmingly when they got him to his feet, and Jessica took as much of his weight as she could on her own shoulders. Heart pounding in fear, she staggered beside Storm and Ned across the room. When they finally got Storm onto the landing outside the tunnel door, Ned propped him against the wall.
"The cot, Jes," he gasped. "Hurry. God, he's heavy."
Storm muffled a groan as Jessica slipped out from under his arm. She spent a valuable second glancing at his pain torn face, then ran to get the cot.
A few seconds later, they had Storm lying on the cot. It barely fit on the small landing and Ned had to move to the first step on the stairs. He leaned across the cot and placed his hands on Jessica's arms.
"Go back in there and get in the bed, Jes. Pretend you've been asleep."
Jessica nodded and reached down to run her hand over Storm's forehead. It came away covered with sweat.
Storm caught her hand, then looked up at Ned. "You're both a couple damned fools, you know that?"
Ned chuckled. "Maybe so."
"Thanks," Storm whispered. He squeezed Jessica's hand and looked up at her. "Thanks, pretty lady. But don't do anything foolish in there to protect me."
"Oh, you know us brothel ladies," she said as she gave his hand an answering contraction. "We're pretty good at thinking on our fe...backs," she finished with a giggle and pulled her hand free.
"Jes."
Jessica paused in pulling the tunnel door closed.
"What, Ned?"
"His clothes. They're on the foot of the bed."
"I'll take care of it, Ned."
She closed the opening and hurried across the room. Grabbing the denim jeans and blood-soaked shirt, she shoved them under the comforter and climbed into the bed. Footsteps pounded on the stairwell. Loud footsteps, probably made by men wearing boots. She pulled the comforter over her and her eyes fell on the moccasins on the floor. The footsteps came down the hall toward the bedroom and she glanced at the door. They had to be just outside!
Just as a knock sounded on the door, Jessica stuck out one bare foot and kicked the moccasins back under the bed. She didn't have time to see if she had managed to hide both of them. The door creaked open a crack as she tugged the comforter over her and laid her head on the pillow.
"Jessica." Thank God, Idalee's voice.
"Jessica, are you awake?"
Jessica turned her head on the pillow and raised one hand to knuckle at her eye. She gave a yawn and lowered her hand.
"Well, if I wasn't, I am now. Heaven's, Idalee. It sounded like you had a herd of cattle climbing your stairs."
"Not cattle, Jessica," Idalee said as she stepped into the room. "Just a couple jackasses."
"Idalee!"
"Miss Morgan!"
Idalee whirled to face the two men behind her. "I'll thank you both to remember that I'm the owner of this place. I've agreed to let you search, but I didn't say I'd keep my mouth shut about my opinion of your tactics!"
"Yeah," Harlin Baker said from beside the sheriff. "You always were an opinionated little brat that didn't know when to keep its mouth shut. You just better remember whose town your damned whorehouse is setting in."
"And maybe you should remember that it's the only house like this for fifty miles, Harlin. And who some of my visitors are."
"You'll go too far one of these days, Idalee. Come on, Sheriff. We came here to search, not get into a useless discussion with a brothel madam, remember?"
"But I wasn't saying anything, Mr...."
Idalee threw her hand out behind her. "Search!" she said. "Help yourselves. I'm sure Jessica has nothing to hide."
Harlin Baker stared at the bed as Jessica sat up. "Miss Callaghan? What the hell are you doing here?"
"Obviously, I was trying to get some sleep." Jessica had no trouble putting the proper amount of disgust in her voice. She couldn't abide the men standing in front of her, staring at her silk clad body. She gave a slight shiver and pulled the comforter up over her breasts.
"But...but this is a wh...whore...." Harlin Baker stuttered to a stop.
"A brothel, Mr. Baker?" Jessica asked with raised eyebrows. "Yes, I know what it is." She glanced briefly at Idalee, but saw only a serene smile on the other woman's face.
"And it's a heck of a lot mo
re comfortable than that cheap hotel you own, Mr. Baker," she continued. "More civilized, too. They've even got running hot water here."
"But Miss Callaghan," the sheriff said. "You shouldn't be in a place like this."
"How do you know, Sheriff?" Jessica said with a wide-eyed stare at the man. "You don't even really know who I am. Why, maybe that ranch I own back in Wyoming is really a place just like this. Maybe Mr. Olson won't loan me any money because he wants to get his lecherous hands on my ladies back there."
"Miss Callaghan!" Harlin Baker's voice thundered through the room. "I insist you get dressed and leave here with us right now. The sheriff's right — this is no place for you. I can't imagine what you're trying to pull, but Olson would have mentioned anything like you claim in his wire to me."
"Mr. Olson. Pooh!" Jessica steeled herself and threw back the comforter. "I'm tired of fighting with Mr. Olson over my ranch. There's no way I can get the money to save it in time and there's not really that much back there to save. Besides, this seems like a much more pleasant way to make a living than dragging cows out of the snow all winter."
She stood up and stretched as though to awaken muscles relaxed in sleep. A smile quirked her lips when both men's mouths fell open as they stared at her. A glance at Idalee showed the small woman biting her lower lip to stifle laughter and green eyes gazing merrily back at Jessica.
"I thought you said something about searching this room, Sheriff," Jessica said. "Well, hurry up. I want to take a bath. Oh, I guess you'll want to search the washroom before I use it, won't you?"
Jessica glided across the floor toward the washroom. A quick glance showed her the toe of one moccasin barely peeking from under the bed. She stopped to arch her back and place her hand in the small of it, turning slightly so the profile of her body was outlined to the sheriff and Harlin Baker.
"Oh, my. I seem to have gotten a kink in my back." Assured of the men's eyes on her, she slipped her foot out and nudged the moccasin under the comforter hanging down over the side of the bed.
"Will you two please hurry up and search?" she said grumpily when both men continued to gape at her. "I find myself having to use the other facilities in the washroom, also."
Both men gave a start and Harlin Baker walked across the bedroom. "You check the closet, Sheriff," he said over his shoulder.
"What in the world are they looking for, Idalee?" Jessica asked in a puzzled voice.
"An escaped convict," Idalee said around pursed lips. "For some reason, they think I might have him hidden here."
"A convict? Why, Idalee, a convict wouldn't have any money. And didn't you tell me earlier that the first thing you did when a man came here was make him show you the color of his money?"
"Shut up, both of you!" Harlin Baker growled. He shoved open the washroom door and took a quick glance inside before her faced Idalee.
"You know damned well why we came here. And I'm not leaving until we've searched every one of these rooms!"
Idalee sighed and walked over to the door. "In that case, I guess I better accompany you," she said. "I don't think my girls would like you waking them up and poking around their rooms by yourselves."
The sheriff slammed the closet door, making Jessica jump.
"He's not in there, Mr. Baker."
Harlin strode across the room, his face dark with anger. Grabbing Idalee's arm, he shoved her through the door ahead of him.
"Oh, Sheriff," Jessica called sweetly as the sheriff moved to follow them.
"What, Miss Callaghan?" he asked. "Have you come to your senses about leaving here with us?"
"Why, no, Sheriff. I'm perfectly content here. It's just that...." Jessica bent down to lift the comforter from the side of the bed, though not high enough to expose the moccasins lying hidden behind it. She allowed the dressing gown to fall free and her breasts swung loosely against the front of the gown, still covered fully.
"I just thought I'd remind you to look under the bed, Sheriff," she said with a saucy smirk over her shoulder. "Don't bad guys always hide under the bed?"
The sheriff snorted loudly and strode through the door.
Jessica quickly straightened and ran lightly across the room. Closing the door, she turned the key in the lock before she collapsed against it.
Chapter 14
Jessica tightened her arms around Prudence as the first clods of earth fell onto the wooden pine box and pulled her cloak around them both when the rain fell still harder. Even the heavens were weeping, she thought as Prudence buried her face in Jessica's neck and sobbed silently.
Ronnie lifted her bowed head and moved a step closer to Jessica. "Why don't you two come on back to the hotel with Buster and me now?" she murmured quietly.
Prudence clung firmly to Jessica and shook her head against Jessica's shoulder.
"We'll be along in a while, Ronnie," Jessica told the older woman. "I'll stay with Prudence until she's ready to go."
"Don't be too long," Ronnie said. "There's nothing else you can do here now and there's no sense in you both catching a cold." She took Buster's arm and the two black-clad figures moved away.
Jessica's eyes fell on Tobias on the other side of the grave. The only other mourner left, he stood with his head bowed, his hat in his hand and the rain cascading down his face to mix with his unashamed tears.
Suddenly Prudence pulled away from Jessica and removed the bouquet of flowers she shielded under her own cloak. She turned and stared down into the gaping hole for a second and even the grave digger paused in his attempts to hurriedly fill in the hole and get out of the pouring rain when Prudence stepped over to the side of the grave.
Prudence dropped the flowers onto the pine box, then resolutely straightened her shoulders. She glanced at Tobias and held out a hand across the opening in the ground.
Tobias met her eyes, shaking his head. "Go on, Sis," he said. "Go back to the hotel. I'll be there shortly."
Prudence stared at her brother for a moment before she turned and took Jessica's hand. Side by side, they walked away from the grave, leaving Tobias to say his last farewell to Eloise alone.
When Jessica stopped at the hotel door, Prudence took a firmer grip on her hand and tugged her onward. Reluctantly, Jessica followed her.
"Prudence," she said as Prudence began to hasten her steps. "Your brother said to wait at the hotel."
Prudence shook her head inside the hood of her cape. Dropping Jessica's hand, she strode on ahead.
Jessica hurried after the young woman as Prudence neared the door of a saloon at the edge of the better town buildings. She caught up to her at the door, but Prudence only shot her a glance and hurried onward. A moment later, Jessica stifled a horrified gasp when Prudence left the board walkway and started across the space separating Idalee's house from the rest of the town.
"Prudence, no!" she called and began to run. She slipped in the mud and when she regained her balance, she looked up to see Prudence climbing the steps to Idalee's house.
"Oh, my God," she breathed. "Tobias will kill her."
She had to admire the plucky young woman, she told herself seconds later as she climbed the steps. She heard the door open and Idalee give a glad cry as she gathered Prudence into her arms.
Idalee quickly drew Prudence into the house and held the door for Jessica. As Jessica paused to remove her cloak and shake out the rain, both women turned at the sound of heels tapping on the stairway. Jessica's cloak fell unnoticed to the floor as she and Idalee made a beeline for the stairwell.
"Prudence, stop!" Idalee called frantically as she lifted her skirts and ran up the stairs.
Prudence paused on the landing and waited for them. When Idalee took her hand, Prudence pulled away and faced her determinedly.
"Sss...Sss...."
Jessica met Idalee's puzzled look. "Somehow she knows he's here, Idalee. And I don't think she's going to leave without seeing him."
"Who?" Idalee questioned.
"Storm," Jessica replied. She faced Prud
ence and confirmed the young woman's suspicions in a hushed voice. "Yes, he's here, Prudence. But no one else knows and, if your brother finds out, he'll have the sheriff back out here."
Prudence covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. Her brown eyes pleaded with Jessica.
Jessica nodded slowly. "All right, Prudence, though we'll have to be quiet. We don't want to wake Idalee's other...uh...guests."
Prudence shot Jessica a look that told Jessica she knew exactly what type guests resided in Idalee's house before she gazed questioningly at a bedroom door over Jessica's shoulder.
"He's on another floor, Prudence. Come on, Idalee," Jessica said as she moved toward the stairwell on the far end of the hall. "We can always tell Tobias she came here to see you if he shows up."
"Oh, he'll show up," Idalee grumbled as she followed the other two women. "He'll know where to look when he can't find her and then all hell will break loose."
"Maybe not if we hurry," Jessica said as they quietly made their way up the final flight of stairs. She stopped outside Idalee's bedroom door and turned to Prudence.
"You can only stay a moment, you know that, don't you? It will be too dangerous for Storm if you're caught here."
As soon as Prudence nodded, Jessica pushed open the door. They found Storm sitting up on the side of the bed, struggling to pull the newly-washed plaid shirt over the bandage on his arm.
"What are you doing?" Jessica gasped, but Prudence shoved her aside and ran across the room, into Storm's welcoming embrace.
Storm hugged her tightly to him. He grimaced in pain when she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face on his shoulder, but his hand came up to stroke her hair.
"Shhh, sweetheart," Jessica heard him murmur. "It's all right. I'm going to be fine."
Prudence clung tightly to him for a moment, then straightened in his arms. While Jessica and Idalee watched in amazement, she began twisting her fingers strangely as she stared at Storm's face.
Storm reached up and covered her hands with his own, stilling them.
"Good. Good, darlin'," he said. "You're learning fast."
Prudence drew her hands loose and made a few more nonsensical — to Idalee and Jessica — motions. Storm answered her with a nod, and Prudence placed her hand over her heart. Then she leaned down and kissed Storm on the cheek.
Montana Surrender Page 15
