Snatching The Bride (Family of Love Series) (A Western Romance Story)

by Elliee Atkinson

  Bruce felt a wave of fear pass through him. He nodded his head best he could since it was smashed against the inside wall of the jailhouse.

  “Tell me you understand.”

  “I understand,” Bruce said weakly.

  “I want to know what happened to your sister, Bruce. If you know anything about where she is, you better tell me now.” Deputy Barnes eased up on the man’s arm, aware that if he pressed any harder, it would break. The sudden lessening of pain made Bruce relax a bit. This time, instead of rage and fury filling him, he felt like a child, weak and defenseless. He hadn’t done anything to Becky. However, if they wanted to try him for her murder, they would, whether he was innocent or not. He thought about what it would be like to be sent to prison.

  “I don’t know where she is,” Bruce said in a pleading tone. “I really don’t know where she is.”

  “Did you kill her?”

  “No!”

  “How about if it was an accident. Did you kill her by accident and bury her somewhere?”

  “No! No, I didn’t.” Bruce felt his knees weakening. He almost fell when, suddenly, the door opened and Sheriff Anderson came into the station. He looked at his deputy holding Bruce up against the wall and shook his head.

  “Let him go, Tyler. You’ve had your fun.”

  The deputy breathed hot air over Bruce’s neck, sending chills down the man’s spine. He pressed hard against Bruce before letting him go and taking a few steps back. He brushed his hands against each other as if they were now covered in slime.

  “What are you here about, Bruce?” Sheriff Anderson asked. “If we had anything new on Becky, we would have told you.”

  “I have something new to report,” Bruce said in a hurt voice, rubbing the back of his neck where the deputy’s arm had been pressed only moments ago.

  “Oh? Tell us about it.”

  “I woke up this morning and all of her things are gone.”

  The sheriff and the deputy stared at him.

  “Her things were gone?” the deputy repeated.

  “Yeah. I… I was drinking last night with this man and I must have passed out, because when I woke up, all her things were gone and I guess he stole them. Why would somebody come in and steal all of Becky’s things?”

  “Do you know who the man was?” the Sheriff asked.

  Bruce was quiet for a moment. He tried to think, tried to recall the man’s name, but it still escaped him. He didn’t know why a bottle of vodka could affect him that way. It wasn’t the first bottle he had drunk in just a few hours. He shook his head. “I just can’t think of who it was. I can kinda see his face, but I can’t remember if he said his name. I just don’t understand it. I’ve been robbed. You have to do something about it.”

  “What do you want us to do about it?” The deputy sounded sarcastic. “You invited a man into your home to drink with you, you passed out, and he took all of your sister’s things, but none of yours?” Tyler looked at the Sheriff. “Sheriff Anderson, it’s obvious what’s happening here. This man killed his sister and buried her somewhere, and now he’s gotten rid of all her possessions because he knows she isn’t coming back. You can’t believe this story about a man coming in and taking only Becky’s things, can you?”

  The Sheriff held up one hand. “Now, hold on just a minute, fellas. We gotta think about this first before jumping to any conclusions. There’s been no evidence that Bruce here killed his sister, and it is innocent until proven guilty. Bruce, my suggestion to you is that you go out and see if you can find a man to match the picture you have in your head. If you see him somewhere, you come back and tell us. You hear?”

  “Yes, Sheriff.” Bruce lowered his head and picked up his hat from the floor where it had fallen when the deputy tackled him.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  TO REMEMBER

  TO REMEMBER

  As Bruce stepped out from the sheriff’s office, he almost ran into Adam, who was walking with Mark.

  “Just the man I wanted to see,” Adam said. “I was wondering where you’ve been the past couple days? We haven’t seen you around. You haven’t found anything new, I take it?”

  Bruce shook his head and turned away from the men, ashamed of his behavior. He didn’t want them to know how low he was feeling at that moment. Mark and Adam glanced at each other before flanking him, walking with him in the direction they had come from.

  “You doin’ all right, Bruce?” Mark asked. “You look a bit pale. You been eating?”

  “I guess I’ve been eatin’ all right. I just go to Sam’s when I feel hungry.”

  “I hope that’s actually eating enough,” Mark mumbled under his breath. Drinking three bottles of vodka a day didn’t count as eating, but Mark didn’t continue on to say that.

  “I got up this morning and her things are gone.” Bruce said, his voice so low, the two men barely heard what he said.

  “Her things are gone?” Adam asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Can we go to your house and look around? Investigate a little bit? What can you tell us? Did you hear anything?”

  The string of questions proved to be almost too much for Bruce, who suddenly put both hands up over his ears and let out a grunt as though he had been hit with a sharp pain.

  Adam put a hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “Calm down. We’ll go to your house and look around. Will the sheriff or deputy be there?”

  “They told me to go looking for the fella.”

  Mark and Adam looked at each other. Then both moved their eyes back to Bruce, who was still walking with his shoulders slumped and his head down.

  “What fella?”

  “Some fella came by last night… well, yesterday, it was still daylight. All I remember is that he had a bottle of vodka and wanted to share it with me. I don’t remember his name, and can only see his face in my mind vaguely. I… I didn’t know him. I don’t think I knew him.”

  “What did he look like? Tell us what you remember.” Mark prompted.

  Bruce was quiet for a minute. “He had blond hair and blue eyes. Hair was short. He was medium build, shorter than me, about your size.” He pointed to Mark, who nodded.

  “Do you remember anything else about him?”

  “I… no. He had a shirt on and pants on and shoes on. He had a scar on his neck.”

  Mark frowned. “A scar on his neck? Are you sure?”

  “Yeah. But that’s all I remember about him.”

  “But you let him in and drank vodka with him?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why would you do that?” Mark sounded flabbergasted at the thought that a man as unfriendly as Bruce would invite a stranger in to drink with him.

  Bruce thought about it hard but it was such a fog, it made him frustrated. “I… I don’t know. Musta been a good reason. He… maybe he knew somebody I know or something. I… I can’t remember.”

  “Did the vodka taste the same as it always does?” Mark asked.

  Bruce looked at him. “You think I was poisoned?” His voice raised an octave. “I’m gonna die. Oh God, I’m gonna die.” He looked panicked.

  Adam shook his head and took the man’s shoulder in his hand again. “Bruce, calm down. It was probably something that this fella used to put you into a deep sleep. If it was poison, you’d be dead by now.”

  Mark snorted and turned away to hide his amusement. Bruce looked at them both. He didn’t look anything like Adam was used to. This Bruce looked broken, like he was a ceramic doll about to fall apart.

  “Let’s get you back to your house, Bruce. You look like you need to lie down for a minute.”

  “That deputy thinks I killed Becky,” Bruce mumbled in a desperate voice. “He thinks I killed her.”

  He pulled himself up on his horse and turned it in the direction of his house. Mark and Adam ran to their horses and followed behind Bruce after closing the distance that had been between them.

  Adam came up alongside Bruce and looked over at him.

  “Di
d the deputy tell you he thinks you killed Becky?”

  Bruce nodded without a word.

  Adam looked back at Mark, who was slightly behind him. He knew they both had the same thought. The two of them had searched the property and didn’t see any shallow graves. However, that didn't mean the idea hadn’t crossed both their minds, and only a fool would bury a murder victim on their own property.

  “Do you think I killed her?” Bruce looked over at Adam. Adam was taken aback by the question, but answered it quickly.

  “I do not think you killed her.” He said clearly. He wasn’t about to set the man off in a rage. In his state of mind, he could easily commit murder. Adam wanted to live another day.

  They reached the Dupont house after ten minutes of steady riding. Bruce didn’t seem to have anything to say and Adam felt they were better off that way. What he really wanted was to see what was different about the house from when he and Mark were there.

  They went in the house one by one, Bruce leading the way. Adam and Mark immediately noticed a different air in the house. They looked at each other but neither wanted to speak in front of Bruce.

  “I think you should go lay down for a few minutes, Bruce. You look pale. Get some sleep or something. You need it.”

  Without a word, Bruce went to the back bedroom and the door of his room closed.

  Mark looked at Adam.

  “He left the door to her room open. Look, he’s right, everything is gone.”

  Adam came around the corner from the kitchen, holding up two glasses. “These have to be the glasses used when the man was here. But they’ve been washed. We know Bruce didn’t do that.”

  “This guy is clever. So I guess we can assume someone kidnapped Becky.”

  Adam nodded. “I think that’s pretty clear. But why? She’s a gentle soul. Who would want to harm her?”

  Mark shook his head.

  “I don’t think that’s what happened, Adam. That description. It sounded pretty vague until he said something about the man having a scar on his neck.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “Well, I know someone who has a scar on his neck, from a knife wound he sustained in a fight. And he’s got short blond hair and blue eyes. His eyes are bright blue like the sky on a cloudless day.”

  Adam snorted. “How poetic of you.”

  Mark shrugged. “It’s what Maggie always says when he comes in the Horse N Saddle. I ain’t seen him in ages, now that I think of it. I think the last time was some time back at the beginning of the year. He was in town for some supplies. He’s got a cabin in the woods up yonder from the Bennington Ranch.”

  He stopped short and stared at Adam.

  “He has a cabin in the woods?” Adam asked.

  Mark nodded. “He sure does. The perfect place to hide a pretty girl. But, Adam, Kenny isn’t that kind of guy. I’ve known him for years. He’s always been a real gentleman. Not real educated, but then, how many of us are? He can read and write, and that’s all that matters. The man is good. He’s no bad guy.”

  “Wickenburg isn’t big. We’re not gonna find very many men that fit that description. I think it might be a good idea to pay a visit to your friend. What’s his name again?”

  “Kenny Abramson. He’s a good fella. I’d hate for him to be responsible for this.”

  “If he’s as good a man as you say he is, there may be reasons why he did it. If he even is responsible.”

  The men walked around the house looking for anything else that might have gone missing. They didn’t bother with Bruce’s room. Why would anyone want to take anything from there? It was obvious the target was Becky’s possessions.

  “I’ve got to finish a job today,” Adam said, meeting Mark in front of the front door as they prepared to leave. “Meet me at the Horse N Saddle later. What are you doing today?”

  “I have to meet a contractor at the bank in a half hour. I’ll grab something to eat on the way and meet you at the Horse N Saddle around 5. We’ll take a ride out to Kenny’s and see what we can see.”

  As the two men left, they both scanned the grounds for any freshly made dirt piles.

  Satisfied that there were none, they mounted their horses and parted ways.

  Adam went home to see Alice before going to finish the job he’d mentioned to Mark. She was sitting on the porch enjoying a cup of sweetened tea. She stood up and peered out at him approaching, a large smile on her face.

  He dismounted and came up the porch steps to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “How is my lovely bride today?” He asked.

  Alice giggled. “I’m feeling all right. I do hope you are not coming to give me any bad news about Becky.”

  “Sit down and let’s talk. No, it’s nothing bad,” he said in a hurry, seeing a worried look cross her pretty face. “I just want to sit and talk for a minute. I have to be at work soon enough.”

  “All right, what’s happened?”

  “Yesterday afternoon, someone went to Bruce’s with a bottle of vodka that must have had some kind of sleeping potion in it. He let Bruce drink it, and when Bruce passed out, the man took everything of Becky’s out of the house.”

  Alice’s eyes grew wide in shock. “You must be joking me.”

  “No. And he doesn’t remember the man’s name and didn’t recognize him as a friend. But he gave us a description of him and Mark thinks he knows who it is. I don’t recognize the name but it might be someone I know by face. He says he owns a cabin in the woods just outside of Wickenburg limits.”

  “What is his name?”

  “Kenny Abramson.”

  Alice thought about it for a moment then shook her head. “No, I don’t recognize that name, either.”

  “I didn’t think you would. But I wanted to tell you that Becky’s things were taken.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Mark and I suspect that this Kenny was the one who showed up yesterday. We think Becky is with him.”

  Alice blinked rapidly. “Willingly?”

  Adam raised his eyebrows. “We hope so. We really do.”

  “Well, I do, too. What kind of man is he?”

  “Mark speaks very highly of him. Says there’s no way he would be abusing Becky in any way.”

  “She was already being abused. That brother of her’s. Oh, what a scoundrel. I do not like him!”

  Adam chuckled at his wife’s sudden burst of energy. He rested one hand on her knee and squeezed lightly. “Calm down, dear. I reckon the new deputy put him in his place this mornin’. You should have seen the way Bruce looked when he came out of that station!” Adam shook his head. “Thought he was gonna cry, to be frank with you, my dear. He was like a different man when we went back to look at Becky’s room ourselves.”

  “You saw her room?”

  “Yes.”

  “Were her stuffed animals gone?” Alice sounded fearful.

  Adam looked at her. “Everything was gone, Alice.”

  Alice shook her head. “If this man took Becky or she went off with him, and she sent him back for her things, she is not there unwillingly. Why would he get the things that mean the most to her if he was hurting her? Something is happening here. I don’t think Becky is in trouble.”

  “We are going to find out either way, Alice. We have to. If Becky is not in trouble, well, I see no reason why Bruce needs to know. Do you?”

  Alice looked him dead in the eye. “No,” she replied simply. “There is absolutely no reason for him to know. He doesn’t deserve her. He never did. Let him fend for himself for a while. I bet he’s having a hard time of it too. All his clothes are dirty. His body, too, because he won’t make his own hot water for the bath…”

  She would have gone on but Adam silenced her with a soft kiss on the lips.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  AN IDEA

  AN IDEA

  As soon as Adam walked into the Horse N Saddle a few hours later, he immediately realized they should not have picked that spot to meet. The chances
were high that Bruce, who was seated at the bar, would be there and they should have realized that. He ducked behind a beam and sat behind it so that he could not be seen by Bruce.

  Sam did see him, however, and watched his behavior with amusement. He said nothing to Bruce, just walked away, rounded the bar, and came out to stand in front of Adam. “Any news on the Dupont girl?”

  Adam looked thoughtful. “We have some ideas. Mark and I are going to see about something. Something that might solve this whole thing.”

  “Care to share?”

  “It’s complicated right now, Sam. We’ll definitely let you know when we know something for certain.” He dropped a pleasant wink and tilted his head. “You know you are always in the know with us, my friend.”

  Sam laughed. “You want a beer? I got a fresh barrel in. Best tasting stuff I’ve had in a while.”

  “I’d love one. And if you see Mark, direct him over here quick before Bruce sees him.”

  “You got it, Adam.”

  The bartender walked away and left Adam hiding behind the beam, his eyes on the swinging doors of the saloon. He would see when Mark entered without a doubt and would attract his attention as fast as possible.

  Sam brought Adam a beer and set a second one down for Mark, who had yet to enter. As Sam turned away from the table, the saloon doors swung open and Mark stepped in. Adam watched the scene from his table and was amazed by how smooth Sam was. He took three steps over to Mark and swung him in the direction of Adam, lowering his head to speak softly to the man.

  Adam could see by the wide smile that spread across Mark’s face, Sam must have made a joke about the whole thing. Mark sat down and lifted the beer glass in Sam’s direction with a nod.

  Sam nodded back and left the two to their discussion.

  “So we havin’ a beer before we go see Kenny, I take it?” Mark laughed.