by Carol Finch
“Kidnapped!” Percy and Meg Hampton howled in dismay as they stood beside the ashes of their once prosperous business.
“How dare that conniving bastard use my only child to force Harold to do his bidding. Is he mad?” Percy asked the world at large. “Does he think we will allow him to continue living in this community as if nothing happened here? He is deranged!”
Miguel listened to Percy rant and rave, while Meg stood quietly beside him, bleeding tears. When Percy finally wound down, Miguel requested his assistance. “Detective Wyatt Cooper is on this case,” he told the Hamptons. “We plan to meet up at Webster’s favorite bordello shortly. If you and your men could surround his ranch house we might be able to apprehend him before he stashes Kate in an unknown location.”
“Yes, of course.” Percy bobbed his head repeatedly. Then he motioned for his business partners, Andrew Barrett and George Figgins, to approach. “Webster, the madman, took my daughter hostage for bargaining power,” he explained hurriedly. “I could use reinforcement in sealing off his ranch and finding Kate.”
Miguel watched the men leap into action to organize a manhunt. He noticed Coop and the marshal striding swiftly around the square, apparently headed for the jail. When Miguel offered to rent Meg Hampton a room in town, she readily agreed. The poor woman nearly collapsed twice on the way to check into the hotel.
“Bring her back to me, Miguel,” she begged brokenly. “She’s the only child I have.”
“I will do whatever it takes to get her back,” Miguel promised faithfully as he escorted Kate’s frantic mother to the hotel desk. “She will be back with you soon.”
Miguel clamped his mouth shut, realizing that he had accepted the same kind of tall order Coop had sworn to Alexa. Damn, he hoped both of them could deliver.
“Now what’s happened?” Gil asked as he hurried to keep up with Coop’s swift strides down Main Street.
“Doc treated Alexa’s gunshot wound and she’s sedated. But Webster took Kate Hampton hostage and forced Miguel to telegraph Harold Quinn with demands,” Coop reported concisely.
“Damn it to hell,” Gil growled. “First the fire, then Alexa’s injury and another accusation of rustling by Webster’s hired guns. Now this. So much for enjoying a quiet life in this mountain haven.”
“Webster purposely has us running in several different directions at once,” Coop said, then gestured to his left. “Why don’t you check Webster’s storeroom and back office to see if he might have stashed Kate in there until he settles on an obscure hideout. I’ll contact you after I check Lily’s bordello. Miguel should be along in a minute to join us.”
Coop and Gil parted company. Coop strode quickly down the boardwalk, drawing befuddled stares from passersby who noticed he had suddenly lost his limp. “Webster took Kate Hampton hostage,” he announced loudly. “Be on the lookout for him and contact me or the marshal if you have information.”
Coop hurried on his way, passing the unusually silent saloons and gaming halls. The thought that Webster might have taken advantage of an abandoned business or storeroom prompted him to press several men on the street into service. He’d have the whole blessed town on the lookout if it helped, he decided. Webster had very few allies and that might become his downfall in Questa Springs.
The instant Coop entered Lily’s Pleasure Resort his attention fixated on the painting of a nude Greek goddess lounging in a chariot pulled by two white horses. He could only imagine Alexa’s offensive reaction to the painting. His gaze shifted to several soiled doves who were draped seductively over couches and chairs. There wasn’t a gentleman in sight this evening. They had raced off to view the high drama of the fire.
“Where’s Lily?” Coop asked without preamble.
“In her suite. Last room at the end of the upstairs hall, sugar,” the buxom redhead purred as she looked him up and down. “But there’s no need to look farther than right here.”
Without comment or a second glance, Coop headed for the stairs, taking them two at a time to reach the landing. Pistol drawn, he moved silently down the hall to enter the room next door to Lily’s suite. Then he exited through the window so he could use Lily’s private entrance—in case Webster or one of his henchmen was lying in wait.
He glanced down to see a guard blocking Lily’s private staircase at ground level. He inched toward the window to look inside. Sure enough, an armed guard waited by the main door to the suite. Lily sat in a tuft chair, watching the door intently. Webster, Denton and his hostage were nowhere to be seen.
Coop quietly turned the latch to slip unnoticed into the room. He drew a second six-shooter and aimed one at each occupant. Both of them recoiled when they realized he’d sneaked in on them.
“Drop it, Brenner,” Coop ordered the guard that he’d seen often enough at Webster’s ranch to call him by name. He pointed the other weapon at Lily. “You, too, sister. I want the derringer and the dagger you have tucked in the top of your chemise and garter.”
They scowled then disarmed themselves and tossed the weapons on the bed as Coop demanded.
“Where’s Webster? He owes me money and I’m having trouble tracking him down, what with all the excitement in town and accusations coming his way. I’m getting out of here while the getting is good.” Or so he let them think.
“Elliot isn’t here,” said the sultry brunette. “I haven’t seen him in hours.”
Coop cast Brenner a steely glance. “What about you? Are you telling the same tale or are you going to show some originality?”
The brawny guard sneered hatefully and made a rude suggestion as to what Coop could do with himself.
“Kind regards to you, too, friend,” Coop said mockingly then directed Brenner to lie facedown on the floor. When Brenner raised his stubbled chin in defiance and spit at him, Coop backhanded him with the butt of his pistol. The guard dropped to his knees and covered his bloody lip with his hands.
“Get down,” Coop snarled. “You’ve tested my good disposition for the last time and forced me to deal with you the same way I handle other ruthless criminals who choose to defy my authority.”
He glanced at Lily, who didn’t look as smug and confident as she had a moment earlier. “Tie him up and be quick about it.”
When he tossed her several leather strips Lily begrudgingly secured Brenner’s hands and feet to the bedpost. Then Coop lashed Lily to the chair and used her frilly undergarments to gag both of his captives.
“Tell Webster I’m looking for him and I expect to be paid,” Coop said before he exited by the same roundabout route that he’d used to arrive.
Chapter Sixteen
Coop hurried from the bordello then jogged back to Webster’s mercantile shop. Gil and Miguel were waiting for him.
“He isn’t here,” Gil reported. “Any luck with you?”
“No, afraid not. Lily and the guard that I left bound up in her suite insist they don’t know where Webster is.”
“And you believe them?” Miguel asked skeptically.
Coop nodded. “Yes, I do. I think Webster and Denton are playing this hand close to the vest so no one can betray them.”
Coop arched a curious brow when Hampton and his men rode through town, headed north.
“I asked Percy to keep watch on Webster’s place,” Miguel informed him. “It should keep him from going crazy by doing something worthwhile instead of stewing over Kate.”
“Good thinking,” Coop praised then frowned pensively. “From what Webster told you when he captured Kate, it seems he’s planning to pull up stakes and raise money for a new start.”
“I agree,” Gil spoke up. “Webster has burned too many bridges in Questa Springs, especially with these last two schemes. I wonder if he’s taking Lily with him when he leaves.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Coop replied. “According to Alexa’s findings, the Brantley sisters have an information network established. Unless we shut them down completely, Lily will likely set up her business elsewhere. Maybe
all three of them will pull out when they discover we are aware of their unethical practices.”
Coop pushed away from the supporting post then glanced at Webster’s store. A grin spread across his lips, drawing Miguel’s and Gil’s bemused stares. “Seems to me, Marshal, that compensation is due the victims of tonight’s fire. Although I’m not the local law official, I’d be inclined to offer Hampton, Barrett and Figgins the use of Webster’s building and transfer the remaining inventory to them.”
Gil snickered. “Hell of an idea. I was just getting ready to think of that myself.”
“I’m going to swing by Alexa’s room to see if she’s still resting comfortably,” Coop declared. “Then I’ll check the line shack to see if Webster might have taken Kate there.”
“I’m coming with you,” Miguel insisted.
“I better wait here,” Gil told Coop. “Several of the men you sent to check the alleys and storerooms for signs of Webster’s occupancy haven’t reported in.”
With Miguel keeping pace beside him, Coop strode toward Walker Hotel. He could tell that his new friend was fretting about Kate. And rightfully so. She was in grave danger. No doubt about that. It appeared Webster was preparing to flee. Unless he deemed Kate useful as a shield of protection during his hasty escape, she’d become dispensable.
Coop refused to discuss that possibility with Miguel. He figured the man would arrive at the same bleak conclusion eventually. Coop didn’t know the extent of Miguel’s emotional involvement with the attractive young woman, but he suspected that losing her would devastate him.
Tossing aside the grim thought, Coop veered onto the side street to reach the alley behind the hotel. “I’m going to use the same route to reach Alexa’s room so I can remove the barrier from the door without disturbing her sleep. You can enter through the lobby if you prefer. I’ll open the door for you.”
Miguel studied the drainpipe, and the handholds and footholds available at irregular intervals. “The climb will help me expend my frustration. Standing and pacing haven’t helped.”
Coop grabbed the brace board above his head then clamped his legs around the drainpipe. The climb up demanded more strength and energy than shimmying down. He was slightly out of breath by the time he crawled through the window…
What he saw in the dark room ripped the last breath of air from his lungs.
“Damn it to hell!” he panted when he could breathe again. Still staring at the bed, he stepped aside to allow Miguel to crawl through the window.
“¡Dios Mio!” Miguel gasped in disbelief.
The barricaded door stood wide-open. The chair he’d braced under the knob had been knocked on its side. Instead of Alexa sleeping peacefully in bed, Kate lay blindfolded, bound, gagged and tied spread eagle to the bedposts.
When he noticed the note lying on her abdomen, he hurried over to snatch it up.
Change of plans. Change of hostage. Tell Harold Quinn things have become more personal. I want twenty thousand dollars in ransom for his conniving daughter rather than ten for her friend.
Coop staggered back, as if he’d been sucker-punched. Seeing Alexa bleeding and injured earlier that evening had been difficult enough. Knowing she’d been abducted, when she didn’t have the means or the energy to defend herself, drove him over the edge. And he had bribed her to take laudanum to knock her out completely. Now she didn’t have a fighting chance.
She’s going to die, just like my father and brother. The horrifying thought sent helpless fury coiling like a knot inside him. He stood there, paralyzed by overwhelming terror, visualizing all the terrible scenarios that might befall her.
Suddenly he’d traded places with Miguel in an emotional nightmare and there was no way out.
“Kate!” Miguel rushed over to remove her blindfold and gag and cut her free. “Are you hurt?”
“No, but—” Her voice broke as she surged upward to throw herself into Miguel’s arms. “Oh God, I’m so worried about Alexa! That awful man, Denton, told me how he’d found her in Elliot’s office, searching the desk for information. He cursed her for getting the drop on him and for locking him in a closet so she’d have a head start. He and the other hired guns shot at her and all of them claimed to be the one who found his target. Now—”
Kate burst into sobs. She buried her tousled red-gold head on Miguel’s shoulder and struggled to regather her composure. Miguel held her close, murmuring words of solace and support.
“Lexi was too sedated to realize those bastards captured her,” Kate continued shakily. “They jerked her up, without the slightest consideration for her injury. Then they rolled her in the quilt and carried her down the back steps.”
Coop listened, feeling another corner of his world crumble, imagining the pain Alexa was suffering. “Did they transport you by horses or a wagon?” he asked grimly.
Kate lifted her tearstained face to Coop and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. “They brought me here in a wagon bed, covered with gunny sacks of feed to make sure I couldn’t roll off. They carried me up the back steps. When they broke open the door, the loud noise didn’t bring anyone upstairs. Most folks must still be at the town square.”
“I have to hand it to Webster,” Coop muttered resentfully. “He’s set up smoke screens to cover his tracks. Did he give the slightest indication where he was taking Alexa?”
She shook her head miserably. “None whatsoever. He and Denton ruled out the ranch house because they expected it’s the first place everyone looked. The second place was the brothel, but Elliot said too many people knew he was a regular at Lily’s.”
“Where did they stash you until they transported you here?” Miguel asked as he stroked her hair and held her reassuringly against his chest.
“In the wagon bed,” she reported. “I have no idea where it was parked because I was blindfolded and gagged the moment you left to send the telegram to Harold.”
“We have to inform Alexa’s father of the change immediately,” Coop said.
“We’ll go,” Kate volunteered as she climbed off Miguel’s lap and surged to her feet.
“I’ll tell Gil what happened on my way to the telegraph office,” Miguel offered.
His gaze locked with Coop’s. “If we don’t find Alexa quickly her condition might become so aggravated when left unattended—”
“—I know,” Coop interrupted. Hell, he imagined the worst possible scenario already. He didn’t need his deepest fears translated into words.
Left alone, Coop plunked down on the side of the bed. Elbows on knees, head bowed, he cursed himself up one side and down the other. He’d failed Alexa when she’d needed him to protect her because she was weak and vulnerable. He’d fallen for one of the oldest tricks in the book, because his emotional attachment to her had made it impossible to keep a clear head.
Webster had used Kate as a decoy for the real hostage he wanted. He had the whole damn town in a tailspin with the rustling accusations, the fire and Kate’s abduction. But Webster had been biding his time, waiting for the marshal and Miguel to organize a search. Then he’d located Alexa and kidnapped her.
Coop ordered himself to get up and get moving. Criticizing himself for not anticipating Webster’s scheme wouldn’t help Alexa. She was out there somewhere and she needed his help desperately if she were to survive.
A bleak expression tightened his lips, wondering if that lovely firebrand still thought investigation was her true calling. Whether it was or not, Coop prayed this case wouldn’t be the death of her. He couldn’t imagine the world without that blue-eyed beauty out there in it—somewhere.
Alexa’s muffled groan of pain mingled with the creak of a wagon and clatter of horses’ hooves. She had no idea where she was or what was weighing oppressively upon her. She felt too sluggish to think and she was too weary to care one way or another.
The jostling wagon caused her to grimace. Then she heard Elliot’s voice and realized she was in serious trouble. She wondered if her captor was transporting
her to the same location that he had stashed Kate.
“This is far enough,” Elliot announced, alerting her that he wasn’t alone. “You can hole up in one of the caves until I plant the wagon as a false clue and circle back with saddle horses.”
“My pleasure. I have a grudge to settle with this bitch.”
Alexa cursed silently when she recognized Oscar Denton’s voice. Apparently he planned to punish her for getting the drop on him earlier that night. She inched her arm upward to determine the extent of her pain and mobility. Her shoulder hurt like hell, but she figured the threat of abuse and probable death would provide the incentive to work with the limited resources. Which wasn’t much, except the element of surprise that she had regained consciousness.
Although how surprise would help when she’d been bound up like a mummy she didn’t know.
When one of the men shoved aside the feed sack that held her down, she went completely limp. She had to bite her tongue to prevent howling in pain when she was dragged off the edge of the wagon bed.
She could tell by the bulk of the man’s body that Oscar had tossed her over his shoulder. While he carried her uphill, Alexa heard the sound of rushing water. She speculated that he and Elliot planned to stash her in the upper canyon north of town.
Not that the information would do her any good, either. At least she knew the terrain—if and when she escaped.
This was where she’d first met Coop, she recalled. Coop…Alexa wondered if she’d ever see him again. She really hadn’t expected to see him after she’d been shot. But she’d awakened to see him hovering over her while she lay in bed. She should’ve come right out and told him that she’d fallen in love with him, even though she’d tried not to become involved.
Now she might not have the chance to tell him that he was the only man she’d have liked to spend her life with. Not that he returned her affection, but she still wanted him to know he had her heart.
