"Well, that ain't the case. Obviously,” Oscar interjected.
Jonas waved him off. "Let him speak.”
Seb turned away. He rubbed his hands down his face and back up to push them into his hair.
"I fell in with some unfriendly folk down in Denver. If one of them followed me here—"
"And tracked down your family?" Oscar guessed.
"I don't know how he got the jump on Matty." Seb's brother was one of the best lawmen around. He was sharp as the point of a nail, too smart to ride into an ambush. "We need to keep everybody close." He inhaled sharply as he remembered Emma and Susie riding off in a wagon toward town hours ago.
Back in Denver, Beckett—Tolliver’s right-hand man—had seen Emma's face. She could be in danger this very minute.
“Susie and Emma went to town by themselves earlier." He headed for the door.
Jonas extended his arm, stopping Seb. “Surely whoever did this wouldn't hurt a young woman."
Seb scowled. "You don't know him. And you don't want to." Seb ran for the door.
Oscar followed him. "I'll go with you."
Seb shook his head. "It's me he wants."
"All the more reason why you should have someone to watch your back."
Seb stole a moment to look at Sarah and Oscar's two youngest, sitting at the table. "You've got people who need you here. I’m good.” He slammed the door in his brother’s face.
His hands were shaking as he rushed to saddle a gelding in the barn. If Tolliver touched one hair on Emma's head…
But Seb was hours behind the girls. Even if he killed his horse in a wild gallop, he might be too late.
* * *
Emma heard the cracking of the keys as Phillip finished typing the last sentence of her manuscript. She heard the funny squawk when he pulled the paper from the machine, the tiny flutter as the paper landed on the stack of others lying between them on the table. Phillip had brought the entire manuscript today, and she'd flipped the pages through her fingers earlier.
They were finished.
When they had met that morning, she had asked him if they could jump right into their work and talk afterward. He’d agreed.
And now afterward was here. And she was going to have to let him down.
She heard Susie’s voice from the hotel lobby. Otherwise, it seemed the dining room was empty. There were sounds of cooking and low voices from the kitchen, but she and Phillip were alone. He boxed up his typewriter, giving her another few moments of reprieve.
And then he cleared his throat. “I realize that after what happened with your sister’s family last night, the timing of this conversation isn’t ideal.”
She held her breath. Maybe he was going to let her off the hook.
“But I do have to catch a train this afternoon.”
Ah. He still wanted an answer.
"Phillip, I—”
“You've been a bundle of nerves all morning," he said. "As you aren't fluttering with joy, I think I can guess your answer to my proposal."
She’d hardly slept a wink at all the night before. Partly from worrying about Matty and his injuries, but there’d also been many thoughts about this moment.
She braced for his hurt to spill over as anger. That was why she’d asked Susie to come inside. To watch over her.
"I'm sorry. I just don't feel the same way. I think of you as a friend, a dear friend."
There was an awkward pause.
"Of course I wish things could've been different," he said, "but I understand."
His voice was tight. She wanted to reach out to him in comfort but was afraid he might take it the wrong way.
"Should I look for someone else to work with me on my next book?" she asked tentatively.
"I'll be devastated if you do. I can't wait to find out what kind of trouble you get your next character into."
In the past they had celebrated finishing each manuscript by sharing a meal, but this time Phillip begged off.
Emma couldn't blame him.
She wasn’t hungry either. She just wanted to return to the homestead and find out if there’d been any change in Matty’s condition.
She was standing up to fetch Susie, who was flirting with the front desk clerk, when awareness raised goosebumps on her arms. Someone slid into Phillip’s now-vacant chair.
"Hello, Emma."
* * *
Seb must have looked like a crazy person as he rode into town like his rear end was on fire. He knew Emma would be at the hotel. Would Susie be with her?
He saw Emma's bright hair in the front window that opened up to the boardwalk. Relief sliced through him, visceral and powerful. If her fiancé was still around, he would tell the man to get her on a train back to Colorado. If Tolliver was in Wyoming, Colorado should be safe enough.
But as he drew up at the hitching post, he couldn't quite make out the figure sitting across from her at the table.
The man’s seat was angled behind the window frame. To Seb’s consternation, he couldn’t make out that stupid derby hat that Phillip had worn yesterday.
Was that…?
Fear grabbed him by the throat, and he leaped off his horse, bolting for the hotel’s front door. By the time he got inside, Emma and Susie were emerging from the dining room, arm-in-arm. Emma clutched a sheaf of paper to her midsection.
"Who was that?" he demanded.
Emma's head came up at his strident question.
It was Susie who answered, an ornery smile crossing her lips. "Emma, honey, don't tell him anything. You don’t have to air your private business to Seb or any of his brothers.” Susie grinned at him. “Emma can have as many suitors as she wants.”
He didn't have time for Susie’s nonsense. "That wasn't Phillip,” he said to Emma.
Her forehead pinched as if he was speaking a foreign language and she was trying to understand him. "It was not, in fact."
"Who was it?"
Out of the two young women, Emma seemed to grasp his urgency. "Mr. Richards is a surveyor. He's been in town for several weeks. He's not a suitor."
Susie smirked.
Seb ignored her.
He’d only had a glimpse of the man’s profile through the window. He could've sworn it had been Tolliver sitting across from Emma at that table. What if he’d used an alias?
“Where did he go?"
"Didn't he come out the front door?” Susie asked.
No one had exited as he’d been running into the hotel. If the man had left a few moments before Emma, he should’ve been in sight where they stood in the hotel lobby.
Seb’s eyes lit on the wide staircase that took up half of the space.
"I'm going to see if he went upstairs."
If this Richards was a real surveyor, he might have a room at the hotel. If he was who he said he was, then Tolliver was still out there.
Seb leveled a look at Susie. "Matty came to." There wasn't time to tell the whole story, nor was this the place. "There's danger, and I want you to stand right here until I come back. Do not move."
He could only hope that Emma would listen if Susie refused to wait.
He ran up the stairs. The hallway ran both directions. To the right was a dead end. Empty.
To the left, the hallway made a turn. Seb thought he saw a flash of clothing disappear around the corner.
He hurried in that direction.
He rounded the bend, walked smack into…
A fist.
Seb was shoved up against the wall.
Tolliver pressed a forearm against his throat, cutting off his air supply. The older man had been a fighter in his day, and he knew just how to stand to keep Seb from gaining any leverage that he could use to get loose.
That didn't stop Seb from landing a punch to Tolliver’s ribs. Tolliver didn't even grunt.
"So you finally made it back home."
Seb tried to shove the other man away, but he was trapped. He couldn’t move.
"It was sheer chance that I remembered the
name of your hometown. Such a quaint little place. It wasn't even on the map."
Tolliver’s forearm pressed into his windpipe, and Seb gasped for breath.
Tolliver sneered. "It's been a pleasure getting to know the folks around here. Including your family."
Seb couldn’t breathe. His vision was starting to go dark at the edges. But that didn't stop him from struggling.
"Did you get my message?" Tolliver chuckled. "I wasn't certain whether he would survive to pass on my name, but I had some other ideas if he didn't."
Seb used the last of the air in his lungs to speak through clenched teeth. "Stay. Away. From. My. Family."
Tolliver laughed.
"I don't think so. I could kill you right now." He used his eyes to gesture down to where his jacket had fallen open. He had a revolver strapped to his side. “But that wouldn't be enough."
Seb had known Tolliver was no good. But the pure evil now revealing itself in Tolliver’s icy gaze was something altogether different.
Seb was afraid.
"You took everything from me," Tolliver said. "And I'm going to return the favor."
He let go just as Seb’s brain was about to shut down from lack of oxygen.
Seb fell to his hands and knees, coughing and shaking as his lungs expanded. By the time he stood, Tolliver was nowhere to be seen.
Had he gone into one of the rooms?
No. There was another exit at the end of the hall, one that led to a stairway that descended into the alley behind the hotel. Or maybe he'd gone back down the front stairway.
Seb thought about Susie and Emma in the lobby, sitting ducks.
He ran down the stairs, still coughing and gagging through his bruised throat.
Susie was scanning the area, seeming bored, but when her eyes flicked up to the stairway and saw him, her entire demeanor changed. “What happened?"
Emma had been standing quietly beside her, but her head came swiftly up.
He coughed once more. "I'm all right.” His voice rasped. “We need to get back to the homestead."
"I was hoping to stop at the post office to mail my manuscript," Emma said softly.
"The only place I'm comfortable with you going is straight to the train depot with your fiancé. It's too dangerous otherwise."
Emma’s brow crinkled with confusion.
Susie snorted softly.
Emma’s mouth moved. After a moment, she said, “I don't have a fiancé."
Susie was looking at him speculatively. "She turned him down."
His two sides were at war. Joy. She wasn't engaged to Phillip. Terror. If she stayed in Wyoming, she would be in danger.
"I'd still feel better if you got on the train and went with Phillip back to Daniel’s place in Denver.”
He saw from the stubborn light in her eyes that she wouldn’t heed his advice. "This is my home. I'm not running away."
Her word struck like a barb. And he was out of time to argue. He needed to get the girls home, where he was going to have to confess everything. He felt sick to his stomach just thinking about it.
But there was nothing to be done.
15
Everyone in the family was gathered at the picnic tables, waiting for Seb’s announcement. Emma sat with her hands in her lap, relying on the little patience she could muster.
She hadn’t been able to get a word out of Seb on the way home from town. He’d been silent, reminding her more of the hardened man she’d come to know in Denver than the young man she’d fallen for years past.
What was so important that he had to gather the whole family?
The children had been settled inside with Velma and Walt in charge. That might not last long.
Catherine remained inside at Matty's side. He’d been slipping in and out of consciousness. It was clear he wasn’t out of the woods yet.
On their flight from town, Seb had thought to visit Maxwell and Hattie and asked them to come too. He’d insisted that it was an emergency, and they’d close the clinic, though they hadn’t seemed happy about it.
Fran had suggested none-so-gently that Emma stay inside and help watch over the children.
But Seb had overheard and said, "Emma needs to stay. This involves her.”
“What is going on?” Fran asked in a whisper.
Emma shrugged. She was as clueless as everyone else.
There were so many whispers and murmurs that Emma couldn’t get a good idea of where everyone was sitting. There were just too many of them.
Finally, Seb cleared his throat from several feet away. By the sound of it, he was standing at the head of the table.
"After I left home, I needed a way to make money.” His voice was still raspy, as it had been with the few words he’d uttered since he’d barreled down the hotel stairs. “I started boxing. If I fought a match every other week, I could earn enough cash to get by.”
There was a surprised gasp—maybe from Penny—at the nearest picnic table.
“The places where I fought weren't—well, they were rough."
Emma had only heard of fights like those happening in saloons and gambling halls. Oh, Seb.
"By the time I got down to Denver, I’d gotten pretty good. After I won a few rounds handily, I was approached by a man I’d never met before. He wanted to sponsor me for several fights in a row. I would work for him. I would win, and he would pay me a nice salary. Provide lodging. Provide whatever I wanted.”
He let out a sound of disgust. With himself? "I took the deal. But I lost the second fight. And then I lost the third. And my benefactor wanted to be repaid."
Fran gasped safely from beside Emma. “I can’t imagine!”
Emma didn’t have to imagine. She’d changed his bandages and felt the tremors as he’d worked to regain his strength. Was that what had happened?
“The way he wanted me to repay him… it wasn’t pretty. At first, he had me threaten a few people who he claimed owed him money. There was nothing physical about it, just me knocking on their doors to collect. But then he expected more. He expected me to use my fists to get his money."
There was a long moment of silence.
Seb kept going. ”I saw a lot of things. Bad things. I should've walked away, but by that time, I owed him, and I was so deep… I was ashamed of what I’d done and who I'd become.
"I thought I didn't have any morals left, but then Tolliver wanted me to collect from a woman and her ten-year-old boy. He told me to rough up the boy as much as I needed to in order to get the woman to pay.”
Seb’s voice was rough, as if he was holding off tears. “They didn’t have the money. And I couldn't beat up a kid. I told my boss I was done. I don't know what I thought would happen at that point." His next words came muffled, as if he’d covered his mouth with his hand. "I intended to hop on a train and leave. I didn’t know where. Anywhere but Denver. And then some thugs jumped me. I ended up beaten just as badly as Matty. Someone found me and dropped me off on Daniel’s doorstep.”
Emma’s face flamed as she felt eyes on her. Everyone knew she’d lived with Daniel in Denver. Were they angry that she hadn’t mentioned seeing Seb?
“Daniel and Emma helped me get back on my feet, but before I could leave town, I was attacked again. We were attacked. Emma was there.”
Fran clutched Emma’s hand.
“This time I took care of the two guys."
Emma would never forget the violent sounds of Seb fighting those two men. The fear that had stuck in her throat when she’d worried he hadn't been the one left standing.
"I was…” Here, he stumbled, took a moment before continuing. “The last thing I wanted was for somebody to hurt Emma or Daniel because of me. Daniel helped me go to the US Marshals, and I was there through the winter, helping the law bring down Tolliver’s organization. When it was all said and done, he escaped."
"It’s summer now," Jonas said. “Why didn’t you come home…?”
Emma hadn’t even noticed the discrepancy. She was still trying
to understand how someone like Seb had worked for someone as evil as the man he described. Why hadn’t he told her in Denver? Had he been afraid she wouldn’t understand?
There was a beat of silence. "Part of the deal was that I serve six months in prison."
Someone gasped, and this time Emma was sure it had been Penny.
"It wasn't so bad," he reassured his mother.
But Emma could only imagine the horrors he must have faced. And he’d done it all alone. Why hadn't he told her? She could've written him letters…
It came to her quickly. He’d been ashamed.
He wasn’t done. “Tolliver is here. He’s the one who hurt Matty. He’s been using an alias. You know him as Richards."
The knowledge moved through Emma with a shudder. The man she'd sat across from in the hotel dining room today was the man that had tried to kill Seb? The same one who had nearly killed Matty?
There were more murmurs.
"Believe me," Seb said. "He can make himself seem normal. Even seem like a prince. But underneath, he's a snake. He doesn't have any mercy inside him. I saw him in town today. He could've killed me, but he said he's after everyone I love.”
There were no murmurs now, only stunned silence.
“If the US Marshals want him, why don’t they come up here?” That was Oscar.
“We should talk to the sheriff. See if he can wire them.” Even the usually unflappable Jonas seemed shaken.
“Yes,” Seb said. “But Tolliver is slippery. He could escape by the time they arrived. Or hide out somewhere.”
“We can protect ourselves," Edgar muttered his agreement from the other side of Fran.
"We've got to be careful," Jonas cautioned. “We can’t let him pick us off one by one.”
"Somehow he got the jump on Matty," Maxwell reminded everyone.
"We can't just wait around…” Davy said quietly.
What peace had reigned was over gone as the brother started arguing about what to do next and the women whispered worries to one another.
Emma was too stunned to move.
* * *
Seb felt as if he had the flu. His head felt hot and his hands felt cold.
The Cowboy's Honor Page 11
