A Worthy Pursuit (14 page)

The child wagged her head back and forth as if trying to deny her own admission. “I didn’t want to, Miss Lottie. I swear! I told Grandfather no, that Mama told me I couldn’t play anymore, and at first, he agreed. But then something changed. He got a telegram that must have been terrible news ’cause he started yelling and cursing and slamming doors. Me and Mama stayed out of his way all week until he calmed down.”

She glanced at Stone, her tear-streaked cheeks raising a violent need inside him to hit someone or something. Preferably Randolph Dorchester’s pointy nose.

“He seemed to be doing better,” Lily explained, her voice still
high-pitched and shaky, though she gulped in a few breaths to try to calm herself, “but then he came to my room one afternoon and told me we were going for a drive. He smiled at me, but there was something wrong with the smile. It didn’t seem happy at all. I told him I needed to check with Mama. He said he already had, and that it was all right for me to go.”

“Where did he take you, sweetheart?” Miss Atherton’s carefully modulated tones revealed no shock or disapproval, only compassion. Lily relaxed back into her teacher’s arms.

“To a big house I didn’t recognize. Grandfather didn’t take me to the front door, though. He took me around the side of the house where a window was open a little bit. He told me the man who lived there was mean, that he’d threatened to ruin Grandfather’s business just because a storm sank his boat. It wasn’t Grandfather’s fault there’d been a storm. I felt bad for Grandfather, so I let him boost me up to the window and went in. I searched for papers, books, maps, anything I thought Grandfather might like. Every time I came back to the window, Grandfather would make me recite what I’d found. It was never good enough. So he made me stay inside and look longer. I got so scared. What if the mean man found me?”

Stone’s teeth ground together at the back of his mouth. How could a man do that to his own grandchild? Force her to steal for him, placing her in danger?

And how could Stone have accepted a job from a man like that? Had his instincts failed him, or had he been so eager for the fat payout that he’d ignored the warning signs?

“But you
did
get out,” the teacher soothed, rubbing the girl’s arm. “You’re here now. Safe.”

Lily nodded. “I found a stack of bills on the man’s desk. I’d not paid any attention to them earlier because they weren’t hidden away in a drawer, but when I recited their contents to
Grandfather, he got excited when I told him about the one from someplace called The Red Palace. After I recited that one, he finally let me climb back out the window.”

Miss Atherton shot Stone a questioning look. She obviously didn’t understand the significance of that find, but Stone did. The Red Palace was an exclusive brothel in Houston that catered to wealthy gentlemen. Perfect blackmail material.

“I thought we were going home then,” Lily said, “but he took me to a second house.”

Another house? Was one not enough? Of all the heartless, greedy . . .

“He wanted me to do the same thing there. Said we still had an hour before the second man would get home. He’d given one of the servants some money earlier in the day to make sure the window was left open, so I had nothing to worry about.” Lily shifted and grabbed her teacher around the waist and hugged her tight. “I didn’t want to go in. I begged Grandfather not to make me. He got so mad, Miss Lottie.” Her voice fell to a whisper. “His face got all red. He grabbed my arms and shook me so hard my head started to hurt. Then he told me that if I didn’t obey him, he would take my kitty, tie her up in a sack, and toss her in the river. I c-couldn’t let that happen, Miss Lottie. I just couldn’t!”

“Of course not, sweetie.”

Now the teacher was crying, too.

Stone squirmed in his seat, his hands gripping the ladder-back chair so tightly he was surprised the thing didn’t snap in two.

“I crawled through the window and walked toward the desk. It was dark in the room, though, and I knocked into the edge of a little table. Something fell. It woke the dog.”

Stone jerked upright in the chair. “There was a dog?” He nearly roared the question. Lily shrank deeper into the teacher’s
arms. Miss Atherton shot a glare at him. “Sorry, squirt. I didn’t mean to holler.”

“That’s all right,” she said in a small voice. “The dog scared me, too.”

He imagined so.

Lily gave a little sniff then continued with her tale. “He’d been sleeping under the desk. He growled at me first, then he jumped up and started barking. It scared me so bad, I screamed. I ran for the window. This one wasn’t quite so high off the ground, so I didn’t wait for Grandfather to help me down, I just jumped. My ankle hurt when I landed, and I worried that Grandfather would be angry, but he seemed scared by the dog, too. He helped me up and hurried me back out to the coach.

“On the way home, he said he was sorry about making me go into the house. He didn’t shake me or yell or anything. Just sat there looking worried. He promised to buy me a whole shelf of books, but only if I didn’t tell Mama. Said Mama would get mad at me and think I was a bad girl.”

Miss Atherton gently pushed Lily away from her, just enough to look directly in her eyes. “Your mama would
never
think you were a bad girl.”

Lily nodded. “I know. She’d told me to tell her right away if Grandfather ever tried to make me play his game again, so I did. She let me sleep in her bed with her that night, and we left the next day to visit a friend of hers in Austin. That’s when we found your school.”

Lily wrapped her arms around Charlotte’s neck and pressed their two cheeks together. “I’m so glad that Mama sent me to live with you, Miss Lottie. I’m never gonna leave. Never.”

Charlotte closed her eyes and returned the girl’s hug, but Stone noticed she made no response to Lily’s dramatic declaration.
Probably didn’t want to make a promise she wasn’t sure she could keep. Thanks to him.

Stone unwrapped himself from the chair and stood, wishing with all his being that he’d never taken this job. Miss Atherton rose as well, setting Lily on her feet.

“Would you set the table for me, please, Lily? The boys will be in with the cider soon. Have them fill the glasses. John can do the napkins. I need to have a quick word with Mr. Hammond, then I’ll be back to carve the roast.”

“Yes, Miss Lottie.” Lily nodded and rubbed the remains of her tears from her cheeks with her sleeve. Then she looked at Stone. “Now that you found me, you can tell Grandfather that I’m all right. He doesn’t have to worry. Miss Lottie’s taking good care of me.”

Stone swallowed. “Yes, she is, squirt. I can see that real clear.”

She smiled at him then. Heaven help him. He couldn’t take her back. Not to a man who would willingly place her in danger to fuel his own greed.

“Mr. Hammond?” The teacher caught his attention and gestured toward the back door.

Stone dipped his head. “After you, ma’am.”

Expecting her to turn and confront him the moment he pulled the door shut behind them, he was surprised when she kept walking. Past the outhouse. Past the garden. She didn’t stop until she reached the clothesline. She scanned the yard, her head swiveling from side to side before she finally pivoted to face him. “What are you going to do?”

Well, at least the woman didn’t beat around the bush.

“I’m going to wait for that letter from Austin, just like we talked about.”

Sparks flew from her eyes. “After what that child just told you, you still have to wait for written proof before deciding
that you’re working for the wrong side?” She trembled from the force of her outrage. “I should have known. You and your kind words, your heroic deeds. You almost had me fooled. But you don’t care about Lily. All you care about is the money Dorchester’s dangling in front of you.” She spun away from him and started marching back toward the house.

Until Stone snatched her arm and turned her around to face him. “Hold on there, Charlotte. I never said anything about needing that letter to make my decision. I need it to help me determine my next move.”

She scowled up at him and yanked her arm free of his hold.

“Look.” He blew out a breath. “I’m sickened by what I just heard. There’s no way I can continue working for Randolph Dorchester with a clean conscience.” He hesitated, not sure if he should share the rest of his thoughts.

Charlotte must have sensed he was holding something back. “But . . . ?”

Stone held her gaze for a long moment. “But others won’t be as discerning.”

She grabbed his forearm as if someone had just kicked her legs out from under her. “Others?”

He had the strangest urge to pull her against his chest and console her as she had done with Lily. Yet even as the idea sprouted in his brain, she chopped it down by releasing her hold on him and wrapping both arms around her waist as if warding him off.

“Others are coming? I thought you said you were the best in the business.” Panic pushed her voice into a higher octave. “Why would he hire others?”

“To hedge his bets.” Stone watched her face. Shoot. Her eyes had a wild look about them, and her lips were trembling. She pressed them together, though, mastering her emotions. He
couldn’t help but be impressed. The woman had a steel core. “I may be the best, but you did a right fine job of hiding. I’ve been hunting for two months without much to show for it. Dorchester got impatient. He hired a second man.”

“Will he find us here?” Her eyes begged him to say no, but he couldn’t offer her false hope.

“It’s possible. If Dorchester shares my information with him. With no confirmation from me, he might assume my lead didn’t pan out. Or he could grow suspicious. Either way, if he doesn’t hear something from me soon, he’ll send Franklin to investigate.”

“Franklin is the other retriever?”

Why did she have to look at him like that? All scared and brave, begging him for reassurance even as her body clearly signaled that he wasn’t to touch her.

Stone exhaled and scratched at the stiches on his chest beneath his shirt. “Yes.”

“He’s good?”

“Yes.” Franklin wasn’t as adept at puzzling through clues and fitting things together, but once he got the scent, the man was like a bloodhound. And he didn’t care about the hows or whys. He just cared about the paycheck at the other end. Not that Stone would admit as much to Charlotte. She had enough on her plate already. “I’m better, though. That’s why Dorchester hired me first. I’ll not abandon you to him, Charlotte.” Stone moved closer, his jaw working back and forth like the arguments in his head. Stuff it. The woman needed comfort. Ever so lightly, he cupped his palm around her shoulder. She flinched but didn’t move away.

“We have a few days to strategize while we wait for that letter from Austin.” And he
had
to wait for that letter. He believed Lily’s story. She had no reason to lie nor the understanding to
fully grasp the ramifications of what she’d revealed. Yet the story alone wasn’t evidence. Getting confirmation of Charlotte’s legal guardianship would give them the freedom they needed to take action. “In the meantime, I’ll need to go to town and wire Dorchester. Give him just enough to hold off Franklin without tipping our hand.”

“What will you tell him?”

Stone grinned as he squeezed her shoulder, trying to infuse her with a confidence he didn’t feel. “I’ll think of something.”

14

What would she do if he didn’t return? Charlotte let the curtain drop back into place in her front bedroom window after checking the drive for the hundredth time, looking for any sign of Stone Hammond and his monster horse. After their discussion the day before yesterday, she’d known he needed to travel to Madisonville to send that telegram, but he’d been gone four hours. He could have walked there and back in two.

She’d wanted to go with him, to see the message he sent with her own eyes, to make sure he didn’t betray them, but he’d insisted on going alone. Said it was better if no one in town saw them together. He even planned to stop by Dr. Ramsey’s office to suggest the man
forget
where they’d met. It was the best way to protect Lily if Franklin came looking later on. There’d be no evidence that Stone was helping them.

If he actually
was
helping them. Charlotte’s assurance on that point dissipated a little more with every fruitless glance out the window.

He’d left his cache of weapons locked away in her barn as collateral. Surely he wouldn’t abandon such valuable items. Didn’t
men like him feel an attachment to their weapons? She’d seen how well kept they were. Clean. Oiled. The handles worn in places as if they’d been shaped to their owner’s hand over time. The leather of his gun belt even bore his initials. He wouldn’t just leave all that behind. Would he?

She’d gambled on him. Gambled on the Bible he’d brought in from the bunkhouse that listed his name in the birth records in his mother’s handwriting. Gambled on his outrage over Dorchester’s behavior. Gambled on his heroic nature. But what if she’d misread him? Money wielded a powerful influence. It took a strong man to escape its lure. She’d known Stone Hammond only a matter of days. How could she possibly judge the depth of his character with any accuracy?

The arguments tugged back and forth in her brain like a logger’s saw, its jagged teeth tearing deeper and deeper into her until she was nearly torn in two. Her legs trembled, threatening to topple her. Her breath rasped. She needed a distraction. Needed . . .
music.

Charlotte wrenched the bedroom door open and made a beeline for the parlor, for the only thing certain to soothe her chaotic spirit.

The piano beckoned to her like a lost love, promising solace. She slid onto the bench and positioned her hands over the keys. Dobson had taken the children fishing down at the lake. There was no one to hear. No one to see.

As a music instructor, she’d played in front of her students countless times, but always when she was in full control. Never when the storm raged so recklessly inside her that she had to play or be consumed. Not when her soul would be vulnerable, exposed. No, those times required privacy. And God’s providence had provided precisely that at the moment she needed it most.