Victor stared at her for a long time. “If I go back, I die.”
She couldn’t say anything. No one wanted to go back to certain death, but running like this was only going to end up with him dead anyway.
“Then let me go. Maybe I can convince Quinn to stop all this,” she said weakly, but she already knew the truth. Quinn would never give up, and now that he knew she and Victor were acquainted, he might never listen to her again. Still, she had to try.
“You can’t go back,” Victor replied. “Not yet, at least. I need to figure out my next move.”
“Victor, please, don’t involve me anymore in this. I just want to go home to my bar and my hotel, and live my life in peace.”
“Well, you can’t. Neither can I. I never had a day of peace in my life, yah know that? Not a single day. It was fight, fight, fight from mornin’ to sundown and over again.”
“At some point Victor, you have to let it go. You have to let the past go,” she pleaded. “It’s not doing you any good and it will only bring worse.”
“Easy for yah to say,” he retorted. “You had a peaceful life.”
Zoe stared at him. “You don’t know about my life, so don’t you talk about it,” she answered. “I got to where I am because I worked day and night to feed and care for men just like you. No one helped me. I did it myself.”
“But you didn’t have no one beatin’ you every step of the way,” Victor answered.
“No, not physically. But I had my own whips in my head pushing me,” Zoe answered. “And I realized the only way I was going to keep making it, was to stop letting the past be my force and let my future be what led me.”
“This is my past, present, and future,” Victor replied. “Ain’t nothin’ more for me but what yah see ‘ere.”
Zoe looked around her. If this was all Victor saw his life to be, then there was nothing. The room was bare except for that one table and chair, which meant he was sleeping on the floor. She couldn’t imagine there was much to eat in a gorge except for snakes. She cringed.
“You better rest. It’s been a long few days,” Victor stated as he walked away from her. Zoe’s eyes followed him as he went back to the chair he’d knocked over in his haste to stand. He set it right and sat on it with a long sigh. He was tired. She could see it, but no matter how tired he was, he didn’t know how to stop.
“Victor, we can’t stay here. I can’t stay here,” she continued gently, as she walked over to him once more. “I have a life in Shaniko, and by now people will be lookin’ for me.”
“Don’t you think I know that? The whole town will be on my heels for takin’ yah.”
“Then why did you do it, if you knew that would be what would happen?” she asked in bewilderment. It didn’t make sense to her. He was only making his situation worse.
“I wasn’t thinkin’,” he answered. “I just saw yah with Mortensen and acted.”
“That isn’t like you,” Zoe answered. “You’re a man who’s always five steps ahead.”
“I don’t know. I just snapped. I’ve shot that man three times and he still keeps comin’,” Victor continued. “He just won’t quit. I needed to stop him and I knew that if you were there, he wouldn’t fight much.”
“So why did you take me?”
“As protection,” Victor continued. “I know I got ‘im, but if he lives he’ll be comin’ for me, and I need to make sure that there’s somethin’ standin’ between him and me.”
“So you’re using me as cover?” Zoe asked.
Victor lifted his head to her. “Or bait.”
Zoe swallowed hard. Bait? “Victor…”
He got to his feet again, with a glint in his eyes that made her blood run cold. “Yes, bait,” he repeated. “If Mortensen lives, he’ll come for yah. And if he comes for yah, then I can get ‘im.”
Zoe shook her head and then turned and ran for the door. She wasn’t going to let Victor use her like that. She wasn’t going to be the lure in his trap to kill Quinn. She wasn’t going to have his blood on her hands. She reached the door but the second she did log-sized arms wrapped around her middle and hoisted her into the air and away from it.
“Let me go!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. “Let me go!” she repeated as she flailed and scratched at him. “I won’t let you use me. I won’t be a part of this.”
Victor dropped her in the corner and hovered over her. “Yah already are. Now, yah stay put. I don’t wanna hurt yah, but I can’t let yah go.”
“Victor please,” Zoe pleaded. “Please.”
He looked at her with remorse, but it was only for a second before determination covered his face. “Sleep.”
“No!” she yelled at him as she kicked her foot in his direction. Victor caught it and held it.
“If yah won’t stay nice, then I’ll have to restrain yah.”
Zoe continued her fight. She couldn’t be the reason Quinn got killed. She could be anything else, but not that. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she began to cry. “Please, let me go.”
Victor released her leg and set it on the floor. “I’m goin’ to get some food. Maybe somethin’ to eat will calm your spirit,” Victor answered. “That will mean I have to tie yah up for a while.”
Zoe’s eyes grew wide. “No,” she pleaded. “Victor please, I won’t go anywhere.”
“Yes, you will,” he answered. “You’re a survivor like me. You’ll find a way to get yourself free, but it won’t matter much. You won’t be able to find your way out ‘ere. You’d only end up hurt or get yourself killed,” Victor replied. “I’ll be doin’ yah a favor.”
Victor turned his back to her, but Zoe didn’t attempt to go anywhere. His words were turning in her mind. He was right. If she did run, where would she go? She was days away from civilization. She had no horse and she didn’t know her way out of the gorge. She had never been to the Picture Gorge before; she didn’t even know what it looked like.
“I won’t go anywhere,” she said defeated.
“You say that now, but once I’m gone you’ll start thinkin’ that runnin’ is a good idea and that maybe someone will come along and help yah,” Victor said, as he gathered a ring of rope and stooped in front of her. Zoe met his gaze.
“Victor, don’t make this worse than it is,” she said.
“There is no getting’ worse,” Victor replied. “It’s just how it is. Turn around.”
Zoe hung her head and turned her back. She brought her arms behind her and let him tie her up. He set her back against the wall.
“I won’t be too long,” he said, as he got to his feet and got his gun. “The gorge is real busy at night. All sorts of things find their way down here,” he stated. “I’ll lock the door.”
Zoe watched as Victor walked away from her. She jumped as she heard the door lock behind him. He was gone, and there was nothing and no one with her but her thoughts. She couldn’t think. She could hardly breathe. She couldn’t believe this was happening. It felt like a moment ago she was standing with Quinn, about to have the evening of their lives. Now, where was she?
Tears began to roll down Zoe’s cheeks as she thought of the look on Quinn’s face when Victor called her name. She could see the betrayal in his eyes and the hurt, and it was her fault.
“If something happens to him I’ll never forgive myself,” she said into the empty space. “Never.”
She began to think of what might have happened if she told him the truth long ago. If he had caught Victor, or killed him. She shook her head to dispel the idea. She didn’t want anyone dead. She just wanted peace, but there was no getting it anywhere she looked. Victor would never stop and Quinn wouldn’t either. There only seemed one end ahead, and it was one that ended in a coffin and a funeral.
Chapter Thirteen
Quinn was more frustrated than ever. He looked at his leg in disgust.
Useless. It’s completely useless! I’m stuck here with this bum leg and no one’s telling me a thing about Zoe’s whereabouts. I jus
t want to know if she’s safe. Where is she? What has The Boar done with her?
He slapped his fist into the mattress beneath him.
“That won’t help any,” Doctor Martin said as he stepped around the corner. He had his glasses in his hand and was cleaning the lenses as he walked.
“Well, it’s something to do,” Quinn replied shortly. “I can’t do anything in this bed and no one’s telling me anything.”
Doctor Martin walked towards him with a sympathetic smile. “I know this must be frustrating for you, but you have to trust us to do what’s expected in this situation,” he replied.
Quinn noted the man didn’t have an accent like the others who lived in Shaniko. “Where’re you from?” he asked.
“New York,” the doctor replied, as he looked at him. “I came out here because this town needed a capable doctor. They got me,” he continued.
Quinn looked at his leg. “You seem to do a good job,” he replied.
Doctor Martin smiled. “I’ve handled my share of gunshots in my time. Yours wasn’t too complicated.”
Quinn sighed. “Is there any word on Zoe?”
The doctor’s expression was grave. “The Sheriff is trying to think of options. How best to handle this.”
“I want to see him,” Quinn demanded.
“I don’t know,” Doctor Martin answered.
“Doc, I want you to tell the Sheriff that I want to see him now,” Quinn demanded more forcefully. “I’ve chased this man for five years. I know him better than anyone. I can help.”
The doctor looked at him pensively. “All right,” he said. “I’ll call him. I can’t promise he’ll come, but I’ll try. The Sheriff is a proud man, and Miss Ferguson is a very important person in this town. He won’t want to be seen as having to get help to find her.”
“He’d be a fool not to,” Quinn answered. “You tell him to come to see me, or else I’ll let everyone know that he had a direct source to the man who took Zoe, and he refused to listen.” Quinn stared at Doctor Martin intently. “And if anything happens to Zoe, I’ll be sure that he loses his badge.”
“He won’t like being threatened,” the Doctor Martin answered.
“I don’t like seeing innocent people get hurt,” Quinn answered, despite the sting the words gave him. Zoe wasn’t as innocent as she appeared to be. She knew about Victor and hadn’t said anything. He wanted to know why.
Quinn waited anxiously for Doctor Martin and the Sheriff to return. Why did Zoe lie to him? What did Victor have on her? There had to be something. Victor wasn’t the kind of man that people did things for willingly—unless they owed him. Still, she had lied to him. Zoe had looked in his eyes, shared meals with him, and knew where Victor was all along.
“I was such a fool,” he murmured to himself as he looked up at the ceiling. He was getting far too many views of ceilings from doctor’s beds of late. He was going to have to do something about that.
Quinn heard the sound of the doctor’s office door opening. He forced himself to see who was entering. He found Doctor Martin, and the man he believed to be the Sheriff, walking in behind him.
Good. He came.
Quinn watched the man as he walked steadily into the back of the doctor’s office to see him. He was stoutly built, with a thick mustache and salt-and-pepper hair.
“Mr. Mortensen,” he greeted. “I’m Sheriff Watts. Doctor Martin here says you want to see me. Says you have information that might help in the kidnapping case of Miss Ferguson.”
Quinn didn’t hesitate. The second the Sheriff had completed his greeting, he let everything he knew about Victor Norton out.
“The man you’re looking for is named Victor Norton. People call him, The Boar,” he answered.
The Sheriff nodded. “I think I’ve heard of him around these parts.”
“He was born around here, in a town not too far away, and he’s been keeping close the past several weeks that I’ve been tracking him,” Quinn explained.
“I see. So tell me, Mr. Mortensen, why is it that I’m only just hearin’ about this?” the Sheriff questioned.
“Because, Sheriff, he was my collar and I didn’t need any help,” Quinn answered. He saw the Sheriff bristle, but he continued. “It has been my experience that the law in a town can sometimes get in the way of my job,” Quinn explained. “I’m sorry for that. Doctor Martin here tells me that you’re a very capable man. I should have come to you earlier.”
Doctor Martin looked at him but did his best to conceal his surprise. He didn’t rebut what Quinn was saying.
Quinn continued, “Before, I didn’t need your help, but now I do. Miss Ferguson needs all of our help,” Quinn explained. “Victor has killed a number of men. He’s never hurt a woman, but he’s never taken one before, either, so there’s no knowing what he’ll do with her. And as you can see, he isn’t afraid to use violence to get himself out of trouble.”
“Any idea where this Norton character might go?” the Sheriff asked.
“You could try Richmond for a start. I’ve chased him back and forth around there several times in the past few weeks. He must have a hold somewhere nearby, maybe near Bone Yard Canyon or even as far as the Gorge.”
“The Picture Gorge?” the Sheriff questioned.
“Yes, he shot at me out there before he wounded me near Bone Yard Canyon,” Quinn stated.
“So this isn’t the first time he’s wounded you?” the Sheriff asked, referring to Quinn’s current injury.
“It would be the third,” he answered. “The first time we met, I was still an officer in Boston. Victor had escaped and I was one of the men sent to apprehend him. After my senior officers told me to stop the search, I went after him on my own as a bounty hunter. I took a bullet to the chest when we met again in Wyoming. Then there was Bone Yard Canyon, and now.”
“So there is some bad blood between you?” the Sheriff continued his questioning.
“You could say that,” Quinn replied. “He knows I won’t stop until I catch him and take him back to pay for his crimes.” He shrugged. “And he probably won’t stop trying to kill me until I’m dead.”
The Sheriff scoffed. “Well, Mr. Mortensen, you do seem to have a colorful history with this man. It’s probably best that you aren’t able to join us to search for Miss Ferguson. The sight of you might only provoke him to violence.”
Quinn exhaled slowly as his fist balled beneath the sheet. He knew the Sheriff was right, but it didn’t make him feel any better about that fact.
“I know,” he sighed. “I couldn’t join you even if I wanted to. He got me good in the leg and it’s no use to me for a while,” he explained. “If it wasn’t for that fact, I’d already be chasing him down. Why have you taken so long to start a search for her?” Quinn questioned.
The Sheriff put his hands on his hips. “Frankly, we needed to be sure what we were dealin’ with. We had no clue who the man who fired the shots was, in the first place. Aileen was too distraught to give much of a description and the Doctor said you needed some time before we could speak to you.”
“So why did I have to call you to come to see me? Why weren’t you beating down the door to talk to me?” Quinn insisted.
“Because, Mr. Mortensen, I do things at my time and my pace. I’m the law in this town and I don’t answer to you,” the Sheriff reminded him. “I was getting my men together and we would’ve spoken to you before we left. However, now that we have a better idea of where to start lookin’, I’ll follow your advice.”
There was a sense of mocking in the Sheriff’s tone that Quinn didn’t appreciate. However, he could understand. The Sheriff was a proud man, as the doctor had explained, and there he was telling him how to do his job.
“Sheriff, I just want Miss Ferguson returned safely. That’s all,” Quinn stated.
“Yes, about you and Miss Ferguson. Is there somethin’ I should know about the two of you?” the Sheriff asked, as he stepped closer to Quinn’s bedside.
“Miss Zoe
and I are friends,” Quinn asked. “I met her when I first came to town and she’s shown me great hospitality.”
“You sure that’s it?” the man continued to question. “Because there must be a reason that this Norton took her, and I think it has everything to do with you.”
“Maybe,” Quinn answered, though inside he wanted to say more. Zoe had her own connection with Victor, but it would do no good to share that now. They might turn their search from a rescue to an apprehension, thinking she might be involved in Victor’s criminal activity. Quinn didn’t know why she lied, but he did know she had nothing to do with the crimes Victor had committed.
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