Kaitlin's Silver Lining (30 page)

Thirty
Eight

The election was held
in one of the larger churches in town. People flocked to the area in droves.
Platforms had been erected for the politicians to give last minute speeches.
Emotions were heightened and the atmosphere charged.

Bryce tried to push
his way through. He could see the picketer’s signs above the den. If he could
only make his way over to the suffragists, he might be able to find his wife.
His
wife.
He still loved the sound of those two words even if right now, he
wanted to wring her pretty neck.

He’d expressly
forbidden her to come today, thinking it would be too dangerous for her. A
crowd like this was unpredictable. Some would understand her mission, empathize
with these women’s desires. But just as many would hate what these women were
trying to accomplish. Giving women the right to vote was a touchy subject. And
touchy subjects had a way of igniting tempers.

He’d demanded she
stay home. She’d smiled prettily, reminding him she had never promised to obey.
He should have known then she still planned to attend, to lead her group as
they rallied support for their cause. God, he was going to hogtie her to the
bed when he caught up to her.

Over the milling crowd,
he saw their picket signs waving in the air. Thankfully, Charley had gone back
to the Silver Saddle with Sarge and Bangles. Otherwise, Kaitlin might have
dragged Charley to this chaos. He stumbled. Someone had been shoved into his
path. The crowd became rowdy, on the verge of violence. This was definitely no
place for a child. He sidestepped another potential collision, slowly making
his way toward the picketers and toward Kaitlin.

“Bryce! Bryce
Stanton!”

The voice was
feminine, but hard to locate over the noise. His eyes scanned the crowd, hoping
Kaitlin was near. “Bryce!”

His eyes connected
with Emma’s. He groaned. All he needed was another confrontation with the
woman. She’d become more forward in her flirtations. Avoiding her seemed
prudent but unfortunately, she was almost upon him. It would be pure rudeness
on his part to ignore her now. He waited until she reached his side. Her breath
came out in short gasps. Winded from trying to navigate the crowd, she didn’t
speak at first, just leaned on him for support. Her aggressiveness annoyed him.

“You shouldn’t be
here, Emma. You ought to be on the platform with Farley,” he chided gently.
Again, he wondered if she’d been Latham’s mistress. The idea seemed too
coincidental, though—that his wife’s ex-fiancé’s lover might turn out to be the
woman he’d thought to propose to.

“I was for a time,
but I needed to stretch my legs a bit, and I saw you, so I thought I’d say
hello.”

Bryce nodded. “Must
be an excitin’ day for you.”

She shrugged. “More
so for Farley. I’ll be happy when it’s over. He’s been really pushing himself
over this election. Your wife’s group has been aggravating to him. The
incumbent, John Routt, supports suffrage. If he’s elected, the woman’s suffrage
movement has a better chance of succeeding in this state. Your wife and her
friends have been pretty busy campaigning for Mr. Routt. It’s almost as if he’s
had free publicity.”

“Their cause is a
legitimate one. And Farley didn’t have to take a stand against suffrage.”

“Of course he did.”
She tucked her chin. “Once the women have the vote, they’ll unite to ban
alcohol. Farley owns too many saloons. Their efforts could put him out of
business.”

“So you don’t believe
in suffrage.” Bryce tipped his hat back. “You support your fiancé on this
political issue?”

“I’m just a woman who
wants to support her man,” she replied softly. “Whomever that man might be.”

Bryce pulled her hand
from his arm with firm determination. “Emma...”

“Em.”

“Em,” he continued,
eyeing her with a suspicious eye. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t
picture Emma being Latham’s cohort. “I wish you and your new husband a lot of
luck. I want you to be as happy as I am with my new marriage. Now, if you’ll
excuse me, I need to find my wife.”

Sadness flickered in
her eyes for a brief moment, before she graced him with a smile. “And may you
find happiness as well.”

He turned, ready to
walk away. His gaze settled on Kaitlin not far off. Her picket sign moved up
and down as she shouted some silly chant. He beamed. As angry as he’d been with
her for coming in the first place, he had to admit how magnificently she
presented her cause. The power of her voice attracted the crowd’s attention.
Dressed in a prim, blue gingham dress, her confidence shone against a chaotic
backdrop of milling people. For all her stubbornness, she was the best thing
that could ever have happened to him.

A shot rang out.

Swiveling toward the
sound, his gaze spanned the crowd. Police converged on a man just a few feet
away. The shocked silence that followed didn’t last long. The crowd went
berserk, panicked by the sniper. He swung his head back toward Kaitlin. She had
disappeared in the crowd.

A feeling of urgency
carried him forward as he ran. He sensed Emma moving behind him, following as
best she could to keep up. He broke through a ring on onlookers. Kaitlin was on
the ground. He rushed toward her. Maggie knelt beside her. Bryce skidded to a
halt and scanned her body for signs of a wound.

“Kaitlin?”

She sat up, dazed. Slowly
she picked up her picket sign. A hole gaped in the center where a bullet had
pierced the paper. “That man shot my sign.”

Is
she insane? Is that all she can say after that man took a shot at her?
“That man aimed his gun at you and fired,” he growled. “Are you hurt?”

“I tripped when the
gunshot startled me. The only thing damaged besides my sign is my pride.”

At that point, Dan
Cochran parted the crowd, forcing them to back away from Kaitlin and Maggie.
“That was too close. You were right, Mr. Stanton. If we hadn’t been watching so
closely, we might not have been able to stop the shooter. But he’s in custody
now.”

“Oh my. I can’t
believe someone took a shot at her.” Emma clasped a hand to her mouth and
looked wide-eyed at the small group.

“Shouldn’t you be
with Farley, Emma?” He didn’t much care for the coincidence of her being here.

Dan turned to Emma.
“Are you by chance Emma Hood?”

She hesitated before
nodding.

“I thought so. I’ve
seen you a couple of times with Farley Kaufmann. I’m afraid you’ll have to come
with me.”

“Why? What’s this all
about?”

Bryce helped Kaitlin
to her feet, before giving Maggie a hand up. Possessively, he wrapped his arm
around Kaitlin’s waist.

“Here comes Farley,
Dan. Emma might feel more comfortable having her fiancé accompany her.”

“I’m glad, cuz I was
about to take Farley into custody as well. Having him come to me makes this a
whole lot easier.” Dan motioned for one of his men to assist him.

“What’s going on
here?” Farley demanded.

“Well, now. That’s
what I was hoping to ask you, Mr. Kaufmann,” Dan said while two other policemen
closed in around them.

“I don’t understand.”

“One of your
employees took a shot at Kaitlin. Ugly critter, with a patch over one eye. I
believe he said his name was Tyrell Ogg.” Dan tilted his head. “He does work
for you, doesn’t he?”

“What?” Farley’s
chest ballooned out, clearly indignant over the suggestion he might be behind
Tyrell’s actions.

“He didn’t like the
idea of being accused of attempted murder.” Dan scratched his head and raised a
brow. “Funny, but he doesn’t seem to possess much loyalty for his employer. He
claims you paid to see Kaitlin killed. So you see, I must insist you accompany
me to the station so we can clear up this unpleasant matter.”

“Of all the idiotic
things.” Farley shook his head. “You know I would never stoop so low. And why
do you want Emma? Besides, I have to campaign. They open the polls in an hour.”

“I’m truly sorry for
the inconvenience, but I must insist. Stephen, Jake, would you kindly take
these two into custody,” he instructed of the other policemen.

Farley continued to
protest, claiming innocence in any wrongdoing. Emma remained strangely quiet.
Bryce noted these things with detached perspective. Right now, his main concern
was Katy.

His eyes scanned the
length of her, making sure she wasn’t hurt. Satisfied, he crushed her to him,
oblivious to the curious onlookers who stared. He hugged her tight. “Damn,
woman. You almost got yourself killed again. I’m not ready to plant daisies on
your grave.”

“Bryce, you’re suffocating
me.” She tried to disengage herself from his arms.

Reluctantly, he let
her go. “I’m getting’ you out of here.”

“But, I’m not
finished helping with the campaign.” She waved her damaged poster in the air.
“Routt needs our support.”

“Routt seems to have
things well under control. You, on the other hand, don’t.” Would she ever
listen to reason? The woman proved more obstinate than most, but as much as she
infuriated him, he loved her. “I told you not to come.”

“Bryce, you told me.
You didn’t ask me. You should know better by now that I don’t do well with
demands. I’m a reasonable person. Give me a reason, and I’ll make a decision
based on that reason. But I’m not going to blindly follow your every command.”

He mentally counted
to ten. “Fine. Will you come home, now? I think you’ve had enough excitement
for one day.”

The pause irritated
him, but he showed infinite patience in awaiting her answer. What did she have
to think over? He needed her home where he knew she’d be safe.

“I’ll meet you back
home in an hour. That’s when the polls open. By then, folks will have made up
their minds which of the four candidates to vote for.”

“I’m not leavin’ you
here alone.”

“Then make yourself
useful.” She shoved a sign in his hand. “The chant is quite catchy and easy to
learn.”

“I’ll hold your dang
poster, but I’m not going to chant.”

“Suit yourself.”

He continued holding
the sign half-heartedly for another two hours. Finally he asked. “Ready now? I
think it’s almost over. If this crowd is any indication, Routt will win this
election hands down.”

Kaitlin nodded. She
looked exhausted. “Has your anger dimmed?”

He frowned. “Is that
what we were waitin’ for? My anger to dim?”

She handed him her
picket and wiped her hands on her skirt. Sheepishly she grinned. “I wasn’t
looking forward to fighting when we got home, and you have to admit, you were
pretty upset with me.”

“I still am.”

“In that case, give
me back the sign, and I’ll go back to work.”

He laughed. “Oh no
you don’t. This time we’re headed home.”

“Are you asking or
telling?”

He rolled his eyes
upward. “Askin’. Will you do me the honor of accompanying me to your place?
I’ll make it worth your while.”

She smiled and
nodded.

Just then, Dan
approached. As soon as he caught Bryce’s eye, he started laughing.

Bryce lowered the
cumbersome placards and bristled at Dan’s amusement. His father had claimed on
many occasions that his wife wore the pants in the family. At the time, Bryce
had thought it funny, thinking then it would never happen to him. He glared at
the poster, then he glared at Dan. Somehow, Kaitlin had him prancing to her
commands. Yep, his father had been right. The woman did wear the pants in the
family.

“Got somethin’ to
say?” Bryce asked.

“I wouldn’t dare.”
Dan snickered.

“Find out exactly
what happened?”

Kaitlin joined them
as Dan nodded. Bryce slipped his free arm around her waist.

“Just as you figured,
with a slight twist. I thought Farley ordered Kaitlin killed, but I was wrong.
The only crime Farley committed was arranging to have those first letters sent.
After that, James Latham apparently took it upon himself to carry the threats
against Kaitlin to another level. We had James’s house searched after the
reports of his death. I’ve got a hunk of rock at the office you might be
interested in seeing.”

“Rock?”

“Galena, to be
exact.”

Bryce frowned. “How
does galena have anything to do with Katy’s troubles?”

“Well, I’m not a
geologist, but my understanding is that galena is a lead ore mineral that often
contains silver deposits.”

“As in makin’ land
more valuable.” Bryce shot Katy a knowing look. “Think he found this rock on
Katy’s land?”

“It’s a pretty safe
guess.” Dan let his gaze roam over the din of voters, then centered his
attention on Bryce again. “I suspect it’s the reason he wanted you dead. With
you gone, he would have easier access to your property.”