Payton's Woman

by Marilyn Yarbrough

  “Haul him up to the headboard,” he ordered.

  Payton lay face down. She slipped one arm around the crook of his elbow and pulled at him until she turned him onto his back. His body sprawled out in the middle of the bed.

  She sat on the edge next to the footboard and put her hands against Payton’s side. “I’m worn out from lifting him. Can you stretch out the cuff so I can see how far I have to push him?”

  Dunbar hobbled to the headboard and grabbed Payton’s arm with his left hand. Groans of pain came out of his mouth with every step. He attempted to grab the cuff, but his right hand held the revolver. He glanced at Julia.

  For fear he’d see a hint of her plan, she cast her gaze downward. She leaned on her elbow and slumped onto the bed while letting out an exaggerated sigh of exhaustion.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him grab the nightstand and slide it closer to the bed. He laid the revolver on the top before grabbing Payton’s arm again. His right hand snagged the cuff.

  “Shove him this way,” he said.

  Her hands pressed against Payton’s side. She uttered a loud groan as she pushed against him. His body barely budged.

  “Shove harder,” he ordered. “This time, put your back into it.”

  She pushed again. Slowly, she scooted his body toward the head of the bed.

  Payton moaned. His eyelids fluttered.

  “Harder,” he demanded. “I’ve almost got it.” Dunbar pulled at his arm while stretching the chain to its limit.

  She pushed again and watched him struggle to put the cuff around Payton’s wrist. After he accomplished the task, he staggered back a step. Her hand clinched into a tight ball. She jumped off the bed and leaped toward him. With all her strength, she slammed her fist against his wounded leg.

  Dunbar collapsed onto the floor. He writhed in pain while shouting obscenities.

  She grabbed the revolver from the nightstand and pointed it at him. “Shut you’re filthy mouth.”

  The shouting caused Payton to stir. He touched his hand to his forehead. His other arm stretched out taut, his wrist shackled in the cuff. He groaned as he lifted his head to look around the room.

  “Julia?” A dazed look covered his face.

  “It’s all right. I’ll get you loose in a minute.” She glanced at the nightstand.

  Dunbar sprawled on the floor between her and the key. He squirmed around on the floor. His body rocked back and forth in pain. He clutched at his leg with both hands

  “Move away from the nightstand,” she ordered.

  He swore at her and called her several names from between clenched teeth.

  “Move,” she repeated.

  He struggled into a sitting position and flopped back against the nightstand. “I can’t walk.”

  “I don’t want you to get up.” She motioned with the revolver to where she wanted him to go. “Crawl over there away from the bed.”

  “What are you going to do? Shoot me if I don’t move?”

  Her lips curled into a smile. “Don’t tempt me.”

  The jangling of chains made her look in that direction.

  Payton lifted his body onto one elbow. “What happened?”

  She put her attention back to Dunbar, but spoke to Payton. “Everything’s all right. I’ll have you out of those cuffs shortly. But stay where you are. Lawrence Dunbar is on the floor.”

  “What?” He struggled into a sitting position so he could see the floor. One leg curled under him for balance. He rubbed the back of his hand over his eyes as if he couldn’t see. “Who’s on the floor?”

  “You won’t shoot an unarmed man.” Dunbar glared at her. “You don’t have the nerve.”

  “Don’t bet your life on it. I’ve got plenty of reason to kill you. It wouldn’t take much for me to shoot you where you sit even if you’re unarmed.”

  “What reason could you have? I don’t even know you.”

  “My name is Julia Anderson. You murdered my brother.”

  “I’ve killed a dozen men. I don’t remember any son of a bitch by the name of Anderson.”

  Her blood ran cold. Her body tensed. She used the palm of her other hand to cock the hammer.

  The click of the turning cylinder got his full attention. His eyes opened wide. His jaw went slack.

  Payton seemed to come out of his daze. He held his hand out to her. “Give me the gun.”

  Without looking at him, she shook her head.

  “Julia.” The chain rattled as he scooted closer to the edge of the bed. “He’s going to hang for everything he’s done. That’s worse than shooting him. You’ll only be doing him a favor it you kill him now.”

  “I want to kill him.” She licked at her dry lips. “But at the moment, I haven’t quite made up my mind.”

  Dunbar tried to get to his feet.

  Her arm stiffened. She aimed the revolver directly at his chest. “But if he gives me cause, I’ll shoot him now.”

  He eased back against the nightstand. “How do you know it was me that killed your brother?”

  “He wrote a letter as he lay dying. He named you as his killer.”

  He looked dumbfounded, but quickly stumbled for excuses. “Maybe it wasn’t me. Maybe he was mistaken.” His lips formed a snarl. “Maybe he lied.”

  “My brother never lied.” Her finger tensed on the trigger. “Reginald Eddington was a good and decent man. And you murdered him.”

  “Who?” Dunbar asked.

  “Julia, let me have the gun.” Payton got his feet squarely on the floor, but when he stood, the chain jerked against his arm. His body swayed. He fell back onto the bed.

  “Eddington?” Dunbar scrunched up his face. “Red Eddington?”

  Payton kicked at him with his foot. “Get out of the way.” He reached for the drawer, but Dunbar’s body prevented him from opening it. He put the bottom of his boot against his shoulder and shoved the man away.

  “His name was Reginald Eddington,” she corrected. “You probably never knew him since you only consorted with murderous scum like yourself.”

  A confused look crept over Dunbar’s face. He glanced at Payton. “Her brother was Red Eddy?”

  Payton didn’t answer. His attention focused on the nightstand. Frantically, he clawed through the open drawer.

  Dunbar glanced at Julia. The puzzlement on his face changed to humor. He let out a sharp crack of laughter.

  “You’re going to shoot me for killing your brother?” he said to Julia before looking back at Payton. “She doesn’t know. You never told her.”

  Payton quit searching for the key. He held out his hand to her. “Give me the gun, Julia. You’re not going to shoot him.”

  “That’s right. Don’t waste your bullets on me,” Dunbar agreed. “You’re going to need all six of them if you’re going to kill the man that shot your brother. But it’s not me you’re going to have to kill.”

  “Shut your mouth, Dunbar.” Payton’s voice sounded like a growl.

  “Maybe you’re the one who’d like to shoot me, Tyler. Is that why you want the gun? You want to kill me so you can shut me up?”

  Julia glanced back and forth at the faces of the two men. Payton looked angry. Dunbar seemed happy. It should be the other way around.

  “Should I tell her, or would you like to?” he said to Payton. “Maybe you’d rather wait until you’re in bed together. Then you can whisper all the details in her ear while you’re rutting between her legs. That ought to endear her to you.”

  “I told you to shut up.” He kicked at Dunbar, but he crawled just beyond his reach.

  She rubbed at her forehead in an attempt to clear her mind. “What are you talking about?”

  “Maybe you and I can make a deal, honey.” A cruel smile spread across his face. “I’ll hand over your brother’s killer if you let me walk away from here a free man. How’s that sound to you?”

  “You’re not going anywhere except to the gallows,” Payton said.

  “What’s happening?�
�� she shouted over their arguing. “Something is wrong here.”

  “Do we have a deal?” Dunbar asked. “You get your brother’s killer, and I walk.”

  “You killed him. He named you in his letter.”

  “I’m not the one who shot your brother, but the man who did is sitting right here in this room.”

  “You’re lying. There’s only you and Payton in this room. I know he didn’t kill my brother.”

  She glanced at Payton. He sat motionless on the bed, his body ridge. His chest didn’t move, as if he held his breath. His mouth opened, but no words came out. No denial rolled off his lips.

  “Look at him,” Dunbar said. “It’s written all over his face.”

  “Payton?” A cold chill traveled up her spine.

  “It was an accident,” he said, his voice barely audible. “I didn’t know it was him. It was dark. There was a lot of confusion—fighting, shooting. I spun around and saw a man point a weapon at me. I shot first. He didn’t fire because he recognized me, but I didn’t realize he was Eddy until I leaned over his body.”

  “Eddy?” she repeated as her bewilderment grew. “My brother’s name wasn’t Eddy. It was Reggie. Reginald Eddington.”

  “Eddy was short for Eddington,” he said. “Your brother went by the nickname of Red Eddy because of his red hair.”

  Her world tilted. The wall behind Payton spun into a blur. Her knees went limp. Her body swayed.

  She managed to regain her balance, but she stood in the middle of the room in stunned disbelief. The words had come from his lips, but she didn’t believe it.

  “Do I walk?” Dunbar asked.

  “No.” Payton glared at him.

  “Yeah? Well, maybe I’ll just take you to hell with me.” A glimmer of evil gathered in his eyes. His lips curled into a sinister smile. “Why don’t you tell her why there was so much fighting and confusion? Tell her about the raid, and the pirates who boarded the ship.”

  Dunbar smirked with satisfaction as she glanced at Payton and waited for an explanation.

  “Pirate, you say,” Dunbar said in a mocking tone. “They were on opposite sides—Eddy and Tyler. Would you like the honor of telling her which one of you was the pirate?”

  “You’re the only pirate here,” Payton said hotly. “You blood sucking, murderous bastard. You knew how to corrupt a saint. Catch him in a weakened moment, then turn him into something to use to your own advantage.”

  “He was no saint,” Dunbar said. “But do tell who I corrupted. It was someone we all know. He became a pirate, preying on others, plundering and killing for profit.”

  “It wasn’t my brother,” she said. “He’d never do anything like that, no matter how desperate he was.”

  “Not your brother?” Dunbar repeated. “Two men shoot it out on the deck of ship. One of them is a pirate. If not your honest, decent brother, then who? Tyler?”

  Her free hand pressed against her ear. She didn’t want to hear any more, but the venomous words spewed from Dunbar’s mouth.

  “I could be wrong. Maybe it was Tyler. I heard he bought this crappy little dump. The Double Eagle Shipping Company is his now. Could it be he’s planning to carry on in Hennigan’s footsteps?”

  She tried to blink away the dazed look she knew hovered in her eyes. Payton had explained to her, but she’d forgotten. She looked at him. “Why did you buy the Double Eagle?”

  “I bought it for us. You didn’t want me to go back to sea.”

  “Are you involved in piracy?”

  “You know me better than that.”

  “I thought I knew my brother.” She shook her head to clear her thoughts. “All those things you told me about your friend Eddy. That was actually my brother?”

  “We can talk about this later. First, help me get out of this cuff. Then we’ll turn Dunbar over to the law.”

  “Hold on. You said I could go free if I handed over your brother’s killer.”

  Her gazed darted back and forth between the two men. Dunbar may not have been the one who pulled the trigger on the gun that took her brother’s life, but he was still a cruel and evil man.

  “I never promised you anything,” she said. “And whatever my brother was, whatever he became—,” The revolver jerked in her hand as her body shivered. “Reggie wrote in his letter that the man responsible for his death was you. I believe my brother’s dying words.”

  Payton let out a visible sigh of relief, but his alertness remained. “Don’t let your guard down, Julia. Keep a close eye on him.”

  “I am.” Without looking away from Dunbar, she nodded with her head to a spot near Payton’s feet. “I remember where the key is. It fell on the floor and bounced under the bed.”

  He scrambled to the floor. The chain stretched taut as he got on his knees and searched under the bed. When he found the key, he unshackled his wrist. All the while he kept an eye on Dunbar. He worried that in her dazed condition, Julia might not react quickly enough if Dunbar tried to take the gun.

  As soon as he freed himself from the cuff, he grabbed Dunbar’s arm. The man didn’t go easily. He fought viciously to get free. During the scuffle, Payton kicked against his wounded leg. Dunbar gave up his fight and collapsed on the floor in defeat. Payton dragged him closer to the bed and tightened both cuffs around his wrists.

  The exertion of shackling the struggling man caused Payton’s head to throb. He touched his scalp where he’d been hit and felt a knot on his head, but no blood showed on his fingertips.

  He took a deep breath to steady his nerves. He needed to talk to Julia. She may never forgive him, but he had to tell her the truth.

  When he turned, he saw the revolver setting on the dresser. Julia was nowhere in sight. She’d disappeared from the room. Perhaps from his life.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  The sun dipped over the horizon as the crewmen prepared the steamer for its voyage up the Sacramento River. Payton ran up the gangplank. A man in uniform stood on the deck. He grabbed at him to get his attention. “I’m looking for a woman.”

  The officer glanced at his shoulder where Payton’s hand gripped him. He looked back at his face. “Calm down, mister. There’s bound to be a few women like that onboard.”

  “No,” he shouted as his frustration grew. He closed his eyes and shook his head in an effort to clear his thoughts. “I’m looking for a particular woman. She’s young, blonde hair, about this tall.” He gestured with his hand. “Did she come aboard?”

  “Yes, sir, I believe she did. Black dress and dark cloak.” The man wrinkled his forehead as though picturing her in his mind. “A handsome young lady. And her eyes...”

  “Yes,” he prompted.

  “Her eyes looked like she’d cried enough to fill the entire bay.”

  “Do you know where she is?”

  “She didn’t get a cabin. You might try the upper deck.”

  Payton dashed up the stairs. Frantically, he looked for her. As he moved to the fore on the starboard side, he saw her standing by the rail, her back to him, as she stared out across the horizon.

  In the twilight, the dark blue cloak she wore gave the illusion her body blended in with the coming night. At first glance she appeared to be a shadowy figure not of this world, nor even the next.

  His mind grasped for words of comfort, but nothing seemed adequate for the agony he knew she suffered. He approached her slowly, his footsteps barely audible on the wooden deck.

  She couldn’t have heard him, but perhaps she sensed him. Her head turned, but she didn’t look directly at him.

  “How did you find me?”

  He stopped walking. “It wasn’t easy. After I searched everywhere else, I decided you had to be in the one place I’d never expect.”

  She glanced at the water. “That’s because I didn’t want you to find me.”

  “The officer on deck said a beautiful woman who looked like she’d cried enough to fill the ocean had gotten on the ship, but she didn’t request a room.”

 
“I’m through crying.”

  “I can see that.”

  He studied her profile. No emotion showed on her face. No anguish, no misery. Her lack of expression worried him; she seemed too quiet, too calm.

  “Why didn’t you get a room?” He took a step toward her. “Aren’t you afraid of getting seasick out here where everyone can see you?”

  “I don’t need one.”

  The feel of a jagged knife twisted in his gut. “Why is that?” he asked, but he already had a suspicion. Cautiously, he took another step.

  “Go away, Payton.”

  “It seems you’re always telling me to go away, but I never do. I’m not leaving you this time either. At least not until we talk.”

  “There’s nothing to say.”

  “Yes, there is. I should’ve told you earlier today when I realized who your brother was.” He closed his eyes as he recalled the painful discovery. “I couldn’t bring myself to do it because I worried about how it would affect you.”

  “You thought I’d hate you.”

  That invisible knife sliced through his heart. “Not just me, your brother. I didn’t want you hating him.”

  “Oh, God.” She put the back of her hand to her mouth to muffle her sob.

  “Julia—”

  “Stay away from me.”

  When he took another step, she turned away from him and gripped the guardrail. Her upper body hovered over the edge.

  “No!” He ran to her and grabbed her around the waist. He pried at her fingers that clenched the rail. “Let go, Julia. I don’t want to hurt you.”

  She quit struggling and relaxed her grip. “You’ve already hurt me more than I can bear.”

  “I know you’re in pain, but I won’t let you kill yourself.”

  “What?” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “You thought I was going to kill myself?”

  “I didn’t know.” He turned her in his arms. “You came aboard without any luggage, and you didn’t get a cabin. When you grabbed the rail, it looked like you were going to climb over the edge.”

  She twisted out of his arms. “I didn’t have money for a cabin. And the reason I grabbed the rail is because I didn’t want you dragging me off the ship just so we could talk.” Her voice crackled with emotion. “I don’t want to talk. I need to think.”