Harnessed Passions (51 page)

“
Okay, that’s a place to
start. I think I’ll ask Williams at the general store. He’s a
wealth of information; he may have a forwarding address on the
family. Tell me what you know about Dourn?”

Daniel spent the next half hour giving his
friend the information he needed and telling him everything he
knew, or was told, before the two decided to call it a day and go
back to Harold's home.

The thought of Julia being responsible for
everything happening at the ranch was hard to swallow and Daniel
swore he wouldn't think about it again, yet as they rode back to
the house in silence the words his friend had said began to echo
through his mind. He had managed to put an end to the gossip at the
ranch, but to hear it from his best friend and know the rumors had
reached as far at town, didn't sit well on his nerves one little
bit. He turned to Harold narrowing his turquoise eyes.

"Goddam you Leonard," he growled. "Why did
you have to go and accuse my wife?"

"Look, just forget I mentioned it, alright?
Chalk it up to a lawyer's curiosity; my meddling instincts are
running overtime."

"I can't forget it; it's too crazy to
conceive, but the bloody thoughts are still there, no thanks to
you."

"Daniel look; the day of Victor’s funeral,
Julia was attacked from behind, right? She hates snakes, as you
have pointed out and if her near drowning wasn't an accident, then
somebody had to have been behind that as well. The only thing she
doesn't have an alibi for, was the night the fire started."

"Like hell she doesn't," Daniel snapped,
irritated beyond rationality. "She was in bed with me and damn
close to losing her virginity. If it hadn't been for her brother
banging on the door, I would have made her mine, then and
there."

"There you have it; she couldn't possibly
have started the fire when she was in bed with you."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you,
you son of a bitch!"

"So you proved your point." They again fell
into silence until they neared Dr. Stewart's office. The old man
was just coming out the door when he spotted Daniel and Harold
riding by in the Turner's Dearborn. He waved at them; stopping them
before they could pass.

"How's that wife of yours Daniel?" he asked,
stepping to the carriage and reaching up to shake the two men's
hands.

"She's just fine thank you," he answered
turning to his friend and added, "innocent as an angel." The old
man cleared his throat and looked back to Harold, who offered him a
shy smile as explanation.

"How's your baby coming along?" the doctor
asked him, making an attempt at polite conversation. "Getting
settled in with him, alright?"

"Everything's great, but it'd be better if I
could sleep through the night. Harrison has a habit of waking up
every two hours to eat and that usually wakes up Maggie who comes
into our bed. I’m about ready to sleep at the office."

"Sounds like his father," Daniel remarked
with a snarled grin. "Always has to have something in his
mouth."

"Yes, well," the old man stammered, as he
shuffled his feet in preparation to leave.

"Hey doc," Daniel said, stopping him from
turning away. "I was wondering if you could answer a few questions
for me."

"Depends on what they are."

"A few years back, a young girl died at the
swimming pond on the Turner property."

"Heather Farnsworth. I remember; sad
situation, especially for your wife. She took it hard. What do you
want to know?"

"Do you remember how she died?"

"We don't have that many young girls drown
around here to forget them."

"So she did drown?" Daniel commented,
eliminating the idea of the same person being behind Julia's attack
as well as Heather's death.

"That's the official cause of death. She was
alive when she fell in the water and dead when she was pulled
out."

"How can you be sure she drowned?" Daniel's
attention was on full alert as his partner confronted the aging
physician.

"Her lungs were filled with water. You have
to be breathing for that to happen."

"I remember at the time, people said she was
struck on the head. Could that have been what killed her?"

"She did have a severe laceration on the
head, but she wouldn't have died from it normally. If she hadn’t
ended up in the water, she would have suffered a concussion, been
in bed a few days, nothing more. No doubt she fell and struck her
head tumbling into the water and drowned. She wasn’t a very good
swimmer as I recall."

"Could somebody have struck her and then
perhaps pushed in the water?" Harold asked, receiving a questioning
look from Daniel.

"It's always possible, but I doubt it.
Heather was a friendly little girl; well-liked and easy to get
along with. I just can't imagine anybody wanting to hurt her."

"Do you remember anything else happening at
the time, anything unusual that could prove useful?" Harold
continued his examination, while Daniel listened with interest.

"Why all the questions? What are you getting
at?" The doctor eyed the two men suspiciously as he confronted them
both.

"Sharon Farnsworth is back in town, did you
know that?" Harold asked.

"I hadn't heard, but I don't keep an ear on
the gossip."

"I know she blamed Julia at the time for
Heather’s death. I just want to clear up the suspicion." Daniel
glared at his partner, anger burning hot within his blue eyes.

"That's absurd. Julia would never have
harmed that girl; they were like sisters, everyone knew that. Those
two were never seen without the other one." The doctor eyed the man
sternly before turning to Daniel, narrowing his examining eyes on
him. "Do you believe those rumors about your wife?"

"No, I do not," Daniel answered confidently.
The doctor nodded his head as though to silently applaud the man's
insight and turned, stepping up to his own carriage. He stopped and
turned back around looking at the men for a moment, before
speaking.

"There is one more thing now that I think of
it, though I probably shouldn’t be telling you," he said,
scratching the grey stubble on his chin. "I suppose there’s no harm
to it now. The doctor over in Graves County is a friend of mine. A
couple of weeks after Heather's death, we were talking and he told
me she'd gone to see him."

"She saw another doctor, why?" Harold's
years of cross examination was beginning to pay off and he pushed
for more information from the old man.

"He said she came in to confirm her
pregnancy. There was a young man with her, but he didn't get his
name. Heather told him they had gotten married in secret and didn't
want her family to know about it; they wouldn’t approve of the
social differences. He put her on a special diet and sent her home
with instructions to come talk with me, but she never did. If you
think anyone would have had a motive to kill her, try finding that
man who was with her and see what he has to say." The old man shut
the door to his carriage and pulled it onto the street, leaving
Harold and Daniel to watch his departure.

"Pregnant?" Harold said in a shocked
tone.

"That could explain her death," Daniel said
softly. "Perhaps the father didn't want to marry her and decided to
get rid of her before she had a chance to tell her own father,
either that or he was already married."

"But Heather told the
doctor in Graves, they
were
married. If she was telling the truth why kill
her, especially since he went with her in the first place? It
wasn't as though it was a surprise to him. Something doesn't add up
here. I'm going to take a trip over to Graves County in the morning
and check out this other doctor's story. Want to come
along?"

"I can't. I've got to get the horses ready
for the sale and there's Roustabout's training to take care of, but
I want to know what you find out the minute you get back."

"You'll be the first to know."

When Daniel walked into the large
well-furnished house, he spotted Julia and Margie deep in
conversation. Julia's face was a deep red and Margie was laughing
openly at something she either said or something Julia had told
her. He walked over to her with deliberate slowness leaning his
arms on the back of the small settee, pinning his wife in the
cushions.

"Hello Princess," he said smoothly, leaning
down to kiss her cheek. Julia lowered her eyes at the man's intent
stare, the color burning hotter against her ivory complexion. "I
thought I warned you to keep quite?" His tone was even as he
confronted her, but his eyes sparkled like rare gems, reminding her
of the consequences for talking.

"Oh stop it, Daniel," Margie growled,
slapping his arm. "She didn't tell me anything I didn't guessed
myself. It wasn't that hard either; after all, you practically
raped her on the front walk."

"He did what?" Harold snorted, laughing and
slapping his leg at the vision he imagined of his sophisticated
partner attacking a woman in broad daylight.

"I did no such thing Mrs. Leonard and you
know it," Daniel sat next to his wife, laying his arm around her
shoulders. "I merely kissed her good-bye. If that's rape, then I
think half of this country is in trouble."

"You did more than kiss her, Daniel
Browning. Why she nearly swooned before she reached the steps."

"My wife does not swoon, Margie
Leonard."

"Exactly what would you call it, when she
can barely walk two steps without passing out?"

"Did you pass out?" Daniel asked his wife,
concern etched on his handsome face.

"No, Daniel. Margie's exaggerating," Julia
answered, blushing again under his inspection.

"Enough," Harold argued, interrupting his
wife from commenting. "We’ve had a long day and I'm starving, so
let's eat." The four walked into the dining room where Sylvia, the
Leonard's maid, was just setting dinner on the table. There was
roast turkey with hazel nut dressing, fresh cream corn, grits and
corn bread with strawberry preserves. The table was set with gold
trimmed china and crystal goblets and Daniel noticed the look of
total awe from Julia and leaned close to whisper in her ear.

"Margie likes to go all out," he whispered,
sending warm shivers running along her spine. "It's rare when she
can show off her good stuff." Julia giggled softly, as he wrapped
his arms around her waist pulling her back out the door and away
from preying eyes.

"I missed you," he whispered softly,
covering her mouth with the gentle pressure of his own. Julia's
arms wrapped around his neck and her lips parted eagerly kissing
him back. She felt the muscles respond in Daniel's neck and
shoulders as he restrained to keep his control; their tongues
battling the secret war she loved participating in, anxious for the
evening to wind down so they could go home. She delighted in the
feel of him next to her and her fingers toyed with the leather lace
he had wrapped around his hair, holding it in a tight ponytail
behind his neck. She played and twisted with the length of the dark
strands until the broke free and she could twine her fingers
through the mass.

Julia lingered in her husband’s embrace for
several long moments; kissing, tasting, feeling his heated response
press against her thigh until Margie called to them. Daniel growled
a reluctant moan, as he pulled away from her slowly. He kissed the
tip of her nose and pressed the hard evidence of his desire against
her thigh one last time before he took her hand and led her to
their waiting meal.

Glancing at the clock as she sat in the
chair he held for her, Julia mentally began calculating the hours.
It was five o’clock now, an hour to eat and share pleasant
conversation then back home; another forty-minutes; a drink with
her mother before they could retire. That would mean by eight
thirty at the latest, she would finally be able to enjoy her
husband’s charms without interruption. She was certain she could
wait that long, unless she could convince him into pulling over
under a tree. After all, the Dearborn did have a covered roof.

As predicted, Daniel pulled the carriage
away from the walkway at ten minutes after six. Julia made
arrangements to come back and visit soon and Daniel exchanged a
private conversation with Harold, assuring him he would be waiting
for his visit on the following day.

They drove the short distance back to the
office Daniel shared with Harold and pulled the horses up to the
livery where Ben Winslow was working outside the large barn,
shoeing an old black mare. Julia frowned; this wasn’t where she
wanted to be; she was eager to go home and be alone with her
husband, not visiting the local merchants.

“
Hey Ben,” Daniel called
out as he jumped from the Dearborn and tethered the horses around
the post. He shook hands with the heavy set black man and patted
the horse on the neck. They spoke for several moments before he
shook his hand again and went back to Julia.

“
I need to get some things
from my flat, and Ben said he’d feed the horses for us.” Julia
narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but accepted her husband’s help
climbing down from the carriage. They walked hand-in-hand to the
three story brownstone that stood on the corner about a block away
and stopped. The large window outside held the words
Stone and Browning, Attorneys at Law.
Daniel saw the confused look on his wife’s young
face and smiled

“
Why are we here?” she
asked; chills traveling up her spine as he squeezed her hand
gently.

“
I told you, I have some
things I want to pick up from my flat. I figured we might as well
stop now rather than make another trip into town.”