“Welp, looks like the little lady might need some help after all. Looks like she’s in trouble.”
Bobby nodded. “Yeah, that’s what we thought, too. Will ya help us?”
“Now, you know I will, friend,” Deputy Clark replied, coming out from behind the desk and passing them by. “Might need somethin’ a little extra. You both have guns?”
“I do,” both men replied at the same time.
“All right, boys. You got a plan in mind?” He looked at Bobby when he asked the question. Bobby turned his eyes to Steven, who shook his head.
“I don’t know what to do, Bobby.”
“Well,” the deputy said. “We can’t just go in guns ablazin’. We gotta have a plan. Three of them, you say? They are probably still sleeping. They the kind of men who get drunk at the saloon till early in the mornin’?”
Bobby shook his head. “I don’t know anything about them.” A thought came to his mind. “Do you remember that fight outside the saloon yesterday? Those boys that won the game against Tom. Gave him his money back.”
“Yep, sure did give him his money back.” A disappointed look crossed the deputy’s face. “Don’t tell me it’s those boys. Them and their pa, huh?”
Bobby nodded. “Yeah, I was disappointed, myself. But we gotta hurry. She could be in danger right now.”
“Hold yer horses, son.” The deputy held up one hand, his index finger lifted toward the sky. “We ain’t just goin’ in blastin’. That’s a good family right there and we don’t want them gettin’ hurt or their property bein’ destroyed. Ain’t that right?”
Bobby nodded. “Yes, sir. It is.”
“Then calm yerself. I’m sure if there was a problem there, we’d already know. Jon would at least be over here telling us. Don’t you think?”
Thinking about the Habiba family made Bobby nod once again. They were an efficient, professional couple with a smart and capable son. They had never allowed any violence in their establishment and Jon was quick on his feet if someone threatened to start something in the Inn.
“Still, I think it would be a good idea to see if Sarah is there,” Bobby said, glancing at Steven for affirmation. When Steven nodded, Bobby turned his eyes back to the deputy. “Come on. We’ll figure out what to do as we go along.”
Deputy Clark frowned slightly but gave Bobby a knowing look, coming around the desk. He picked up his gun belt as he did so and slung it around his waist. “You boys are gonna be the death of me.”
Steven, who was about two years younger than the deputy and quite a few years older than Bobby, let out an abrupt chuckle. He and Bobby shared a smile as they followed the deputy out the door.
“Don’t need to take our horses, do we?” Deputy Clark said over his shoulder. “We may need to do a sneak attack, and that means going quiet.”
“I think we can handle walking,” Bobby said, refocusing his attention on the hotel as soon as the men stepped outside.
“You don’t know anything at all about these men?” the deputy asked.
“Nope. I met them both yesterday, and you saw how the sons are. I was impressed when Danny gave Tom his money back.”
“Yep.” Deputy Clark nodded. “Same with me.”
“I saw the father on my way home yesterday, too,” Bobby went on. “He was coming from my house. I guess he must have threatened Sarah. I think he probably talked to my daughter, too.”
Deputy Clark frowned, turning to glare at Bobby as if he was blaming him. “What? Why would the man talk to a five-year-old?”
“I don’t know the story. I don’t even know if he did have contact with Sammy. But it seemed to me like he did.”
“Did you ever ask Sammy about it?”
“No. We took Sammy to Steven’s for the night so Sarah and I could have some time alone.”
“I don’t suppose she told you anything about this last night, did she?”
Bobby remembered the love and care they had shared with each other the night before. His heart was at once warm with passion and then tight with fear. He didn’t want to lose her now. They had just sealed their bond of marriage. He couldn’t lose her now. It would simply be too much for him.
And Sammy would be absolutely devastated.
“No, it wasn’t discussed. I think she was trying to forget about it for a while. She needed to relax for a while and think.”
“I’m not real impressed with the decision she made,” Deputy Clark turned his head to respond. He gave Bobby a sympathetic look. “But I understand why she did it. I know she was just trying to keep the two of you safe. The men shouldn’t give us any trouble since I’m with you. I’ll take them straight to the jail and lock ‘em up.”
They were close to the hotel when Bobby saw someone sitting in one of the chairs outside. He stopped and grabbed Steven’s arm. “Look!” He pointed.
She was alone, holding something in her hands. He couldn’t tell what it was.
“What’s she doing?” Steven asked quietly. Bobby could see the deputy had also seen Sarah.
He looked like he was about to call out when all three men stopped abruptly in the middle of the street. An older man had come out of the hotel, a menacing look on his face. He went directly to Sarah.
“Come on! We need to hear their conversation to know whether she needs our help or not.”
Bobby looked sharply at the deputy, but the older man wasn’t paying attention to him. His eyes were focused on Sarah and her father.
The deputy was now crouching as if there was something in front of him that would keep Sarah and her father from seeing him. He moved stealthily to the side of the street the inn was on. He moved like a cat. Bobby followed, with Steven behind him. The three men moved up the street toward the hotel, staying out of sight. They made it all the way to the bushes just before McKinney jerked on his daughter’s arm and forced her off the main walkway and into the corner square.
It put the two of them in a prime position for Bobby and his companions to hear everything they said. They were able to stay out of sight behind the tall bushes, as long as they crouched slightly.
When he heard the scuffle and the sound of Sarah falling to the ground, he almost went through the bushes, but the deputy grabbed one arm and Steven the other.
He glared at both but settled his eyes on Steven, who put one finger up to his mouth and shook his head. He leaned over and whispered in Bobby’s ear. “He could grab her and hold her hostage. He could kill her. Just wait. She’s okay.”
“You aren’t entitled to that money unless you leave Bobby and Sammy alone,” he heard Sarah demanding on the other side of the bushes.
“I’m entitled to whatever I want. You’re my daughter, so everything that’s yours is mine.”
“No!” Sarah cried out. Bobby could hear the terror in her voice. As strong as she was, she was still afraid of her father. He must have been brutal to her.
The thought made Bobby’s temper rise. He wanted to bust through the bushes and throttle the man to death.
But Sarah was there. How could he strangle her father and kill him right in front of her? What kind of memory would that give her?
He struggled with his instincts, unsure how long he could wait before he made himself seen.
One thing he knew for certain was that Sarah truly did love him. She didn’t want to lose him or Sammy any more than they wanted her to go away.
“You can’t have it, Bruce!” Sarah cried out. Her voice was immediately muffled as her father must have covered her mouth with one hand. Bobby clenched his hands into fists, in a struggle with himself not to go through the bushes and attack the old man. One punch was all it would take. One solid punch to the gut. Or to the temple. A kick to the groin. That’s the weapon Sarah needed to utilize. Bobby understood if she didn’t, though.
“I’ll take what’s mine!” McKinney hissed at her. He was doing a good job keeping his voice down low enough that people walking on the roadside nearby wouldn’t hear him. “You owe me.”
“I don�
��t owe you anything!” Sarah’s voice was so angry. Bobby had never heard her that angry. Thinking back, he couldn’t remember her being angry at anything since she’d gotten to Comstock.
“You owe me your life, little girl,” McKinney continued, hate lacing every word out of his mouth.
“I didn’t ask to be born,” Sarah responded, sounding like a wounded little girl. Bobby’s heart squeezed in his chest as if a large hand was suddenly clenched around it. He wanted to sweep her up in his arms and kiss her till she wasn’t afraid anymore. “You did this, not me. Why do you think Bart and Danny don’t want to be around you anymore? Look at you! Look what you’ve become, how you treat the only daughter you have, the only woman on earth who still cared about you? You’re a disgrace! I’m ashamed to call you my father. I won’t call you my father! I disown you. Do you hear that, Bruce? I owe you nothing, and in return you owe me nothing. Except peace! And your absence!”
“How can you talk like that to your own father, you vile little girl! This is just the beginning! There will be more coffee cans just like this in your future. You will deliver many more to me.”
“Oh no, I won’t,” Sarah replied defiantly, her voice raising to a high level that Bobby was sure was intended to notify the people on the street that there was a problem.
Bobby heard something he didn’t recognize and immediately figured out what she’d done when McKinney yelled out. Pride for his wife slid through him.
“Give that back! That’s my money!”
“It’s not your money! It belongs to Jon Habiba and he’s going to get it back because you don’t deserve even a dime of this! Get away from me. Get away!”
When Sarah mentioned Jon, Bobby abruptly turned his head to give both the deputy and Steven a startled look, one that they mimicked back to him. Jon Habiba had given Sarah money? Why? When?
Those questions would have to wait for later.
He could hear more scuffling, the sound of feet moving in the dirt and Sarah grunting with effort.
Bobby broke away from his friends and leapt through an opening in the bushes. He didn’t come out directly in front of Sarah and her father. In fact, the two were caught in a struggle that took both their attention and neither had noticed he was there.
He dashed to where they were and threw himself on McKinney. Sarah screamed, breaking away from the older man and stumbling backwards, falling on her rear end. Bobby noticed and turned away for just a moment. It was long enough for McKinney to get in a good punch to his jaw, sending him spinning off his feet. He hit the ground hard, anger building up in his chest.
Chapter 28
Sarah stumbled away from the two men, losing her footing and falling back on her rear again. She watched with wide eyes as Steven appeared from behind the bush, Deputy Clark behind him. Her friend came directly to her and bent to help her to her feet.
Bobby and Bruce stumbled around, throwing punches.
“Get away from me!” Bruce yelled, hitting the ground, spinning over, and grabbing two handfuls of dirt. He turned back and threw the dust in Bobby’s face. Bobby turned his head just in time, but it looked to Sarah like some of it may have gotten in his mouth and eyes. He coughed, bending at the waist.
While he was distracted, Bruce was back on his feet and leapt to tackle his enemy.
“Bobby!” Sarah screamed. A knife had appeared in her father’s hand. She was glad it wasn’t a gun, but knives weren’t much better. Her husband spun around, extending his arm swiftly, his fist making contact with Bruce’s jaw. It knocked the older man back. Bobby jumped at him. They wrestled until they were back on the ground, turning over and throwing each other around.
Sarah saw Deputy Clark pull his gun out, but he didn’t aim it. He was watching the two men with concerned eyes.
“You can’t shoot!” she cried out. “You might hit Bobby.”
When Sarah turned her eyes back to the men on the ground, she noticed the look of terror on Bruce’s face. He was glaring at the deputy through narrowed eyes while he struggled with Bobby. She noticed her father kept Bobby between himself and the deputy from that point on.
“You are gonna leave my wife alone!” Bobby yelled.
“I’m her father!” Bruce exclaimed. “I can do whatever I want.”
“She’s not a child anymore,” Bobby replied angrily. “She’s my wife. You have no control over her. If she’s anyone’s property, she’s mine, and I don’t think of her that way. You and your boys get on out of here, take your criminal ways and leave my wife alone.”
Sarah thought about her brothers, wondering where they were. She turned to Steven, grabbing his arm. “I have to find my brothers. He said they aren’t going with him to California, that they want to make a life here. I have to find them!” She kept her voice down and her back to her father so he wouldn’t hear her.
Steven nodded. “Okay, I’ll go with you.”
“No, no,” Sarah shook her head. “My brothers might not know what’s happening. They might think I’m bringing someone to hurt them.”
“Would they think you’d do that?”
Sarah felt frustration well up inside of her. She didn’t have time for a conversation. Her husband was in a fist fight with her father. If either pulled a gun, she would lose one of them. She had to get her brothers. Maybe they could calm her father down. Get him away from Comstock. It was the least they could do after the years of abuse she’d suffered from them.
She frowned at him. “Because I know them better than you do.”
The deputy yelled out for the men to stop fighting, drawing both Steven and Sarah’s attention. A sense of urgency filled Sarah and she dashed away from the men, heading for the entrance to the inn.
She ran through the front doors, looking in both directions to get her bearings. When she spotted a set of stairs in front of her, she ran to them, grabbing her skirt in both hands and ascending as if there was a fire under her feet.
“Bart!” she screamed out as she went. “Danny! Where are you? Bart! Danny!”
She was relieved when she got to the second floor and looked to her right down the hallway as a door swung open and the familiar faces of her brothers came into her view. They both looked at her with shocked eyes.
“Sarah!” Danny, the older of the two, rushed toward her, his arms outstretched.
Sarah halted in surprise. Danny practically tackled her, bringing her up off her feet.
“I can’t believe you came here!” Bart said, joining his brother so Sarah was squished between them. It stunned her so much she was left speechless for a moment or two.
“Sarah, we have been worried sick about you.” Danny held her out at arm’s length, scanning her with his dark brown eyes. He had grown a beard and mustache since the last time she saw him. When she recovered from her initial surprise, she wrapped her arms around him first and then Bart.
“I came because I thought you two and Bruce would hurt my new family. I can’t let you do that. Please don’t hurt my husband and my little girl.”
Bart frowned at her. “Your little girl? What are you talking about? You can’t have had a baby. You haven’t been gone that long.”
Danny knocked Bart’s chest with his knuckles. “Don’t be an idiot, Bart. It’s obviously her husband’s kid.” He turned his eyes back to Sarah. “We didn’t come here to hurt you. Pa told us you had run away and you were staying with some terrible people. Said one of them threatened you and was holdin’ you hostage.”
Daring to Start Again: An Inspirational Historical Romance Book Page 25
