Prince Charming (42 page)

Lucas hailed a cabbie three blocks away. He had the driver wait for him in front of the hotel while he went upstairs to get Taylor.

She opened the door for him. She took one look at his dark expression and tried to brace herself for bad news.

He stopped her questions with an abrupt order. “Get your coat.”

She didn't take the time to ask him where he was taking her. She ran to the wardrobe, grabbed her coat, and went running back to her husband. She patted the pocket to make certain her gun was still there.

Lucas gave her only a partial explanation of what had happened. He didn't go into any detail about Boyd. He didn't want to waste the time.

Taylor was gripping her hands together. She was tense and frightened.

“You say the little girls have an older brother with them?”

“That's what we were told.”

They reached the vehicle. Lucas assisted Taylor inside. She waited until they were on their way before speaking again.

“If they have an older brother, they can't be my sister's twins.”

“Do you want to go back?”

“Of course not,” she cried out. “You insult me by asking such a question. We're going to get these children away from the vile animals first. Then we keep looking for my babies.”

He was pleased with her answer. “I want you to stay between Hunter and me the entire time we're inside.”

“Yes.”

“You'll do exactly what I tell you to do. No arguments.”

“No arguments,” she promised.

The list of his orders continued. Taylor understood why he was being so harsh and sounding so angry. He wanted to keep her safe. Worry made his voice take on a hard edge. She found it comforting.

They were nearing the tenements when Lucas finished with his instructions. Because she looked so frightened, he decided to give her something positive to think about.

“By next week, you could be on your way to George's relatives with the twins. Think about that happy reunion, Taylor.” He was offering her a glimmer of hope. He was surprised when she shook her head. She was staring out the window, taking in the godawful view, and barely paying any attention to what Lucas was saying.

The smell of boiling cabbage and human stench made her want to gag.

“Did you ever meet any of George's relatives?” he asked.

He had to repeat his question because of her inattention. “The twins' father,” he said. “Did you meet any of his relatives?”

She couldn't imagine why he was asking such a strange question now.

“No, George was an orphan. He didn't have any relatives. Look, there's Hunter. He's walking toward us.”

Taylor had the door opened before the vehicle came to a complete stop. Lucas paid the driver and offered the man a handsome bonus if he would wait for them. The lure of the money outweighed the cabbie's concern about the safety of the neighborhood. He pulled out a rifle from under his perch, put it across his lap, and then promised to wait as long as thirty minutes.

Taylor waited next to Hunter until Lucas crossed the street. Then she moved to his side and took hold of his hand. She put her other hand in the pocket of her coat and held onto her Colt.

They walked in silence up the rickety steps of the tenement. Lucas went inside first. Taylor followed. Hunter was right behind her.

The apartment they were looking for was on the third floor and in the very back of the building. The floorboards creaked, but there was so much noise inside, they could have pounded their way down the hallway and not been overheard.

The walls were paper thin, as were the doors. When they reached the number they wanted, Lucas motioned for Taylor to stand against the wall several feet away. If there was gunfire, he didn't want a stray bullet hitting her.

Hunter already had one of his guns out. Lucas readied his own, nodded to his friend, and then slammed his shoulder against the door and rushed inside. Hunter followed him.

A young man, around the age of twenty, had been asleep on the divan. He awakened to find Hunter's six-shooter pressed against his temple.

A woman twice his age came running into the living room from the kitchen. She wore only a sheer nightgown. She had orange-colored hair and a heavily painted face. She didn't try to cover herself. She sneered at Hunter and went running toward him with her hands out and her jagged nails ready to do injury, but she came to a quick stop when he pulled out his second gun and leveled it at her.

She apparently decided to take a different approach. She put her hands on her hips and pulled the material of her nightgown tight against her so he'd be sure to see what she was offering and thrust her breasts out. “My name's Shirleen. I do my business out of the bedroom back yonder. Why don't you put your guns away, sugar? I can show you a real good time. It will only cost you a dollar, two if you want to use my mouth. I'm worth the money, aren't I, Charlie?”

The man on the divan was too frightened to answer her. He didn't even nod.

“You wouldn't shoot a lady, would you, sugar?” she crooned at Hunter.

His voice was devoid of emotion when he answered her. “I'm not looking at a lady.”

She didn't care for the insult. Her eyes became bare slits again. Hatred glowed from her expression. “You're in the wrong place,” she told him. “This here belongs to the Borders.” The sneer was back in her voice. “They don't take kindly to being robbed. They'll cut you good if they catch you. You'd best get out of here while you still can.”

Hunter didn't show any reaction to her threat. He simply stared at her and waited for her next move. Lucas had already made his way around the cramped apartment. There were two bedrooms. The first was empty, and from the rumpled and soiled bedding, he assumed that was the room the woman used to conduct her business. The second bedroom door was locked. He started to use his shoulder to break the barrier down, but then he heard the sound of a child crying. The noise was faint, yet still recognizable. Lucas stepped back. He was afraid to crash through the door for fear he would injure the child if he or she were standing close to the opening.

He needed the key.

“Surely you've heard of the Borders,” Shirleen muttered. “Everyone has heard of Billy and Cyrus.” She snorted with laughter. “You got to be new in town, sugar, or you'd know how dangerous and foolhardy it is to dare to rob . . .”

“Give me the key to the bedroom door.”

Lucas issued the order from behind the woman's back. She jumped a foot and whirled around. Until he spoke to her, she hadn't realized there was more than one man inside the apartment with her.

This one was far more threatening to her than the other one holding Charlie captive. He didn't make a sound when he moved. Only a man used to breaking the law knew how to walk like a shadow. Shirleen took a step away and tried to hide her fear.

Taylor walked inside then. Hunter told her to shut the door. She did as she was ordered, then turned around again.

She gave the scantily clad woman only a passing glance. It was enough, however, to convey her disgust. Her gaze moved on to the man stretched out on the divan. She noticed what he was doing, and since both Hunter and Lucas were watching her, she gave the warning.

Her gaze was on her husband when she spoke to Hunter. “He's reaching for his gun. It's probably under one of the cushions.”

Hunter smiled. “I know.”

She didn't understand. If he knew what the man was doing, why didn't he stop him?

Lucas understood. Hunter was waiting for an excuse to kill the vermin.

“No gunfire,” he called out to his friend.

Hunter frowned with disappointment. Then he let out a sigh. He flipped the gun around in his hand, and before his prisoner understood his intent, Hunter slammed the butt of his gun against the side of his head. He didn't kill the man, but when he woke up, he was going to wish he were dead. His head was going to feel as though it had been split in two.

Hunter shoved the unconscious man onto the floor, then reached down between the cushions. He found the pistol hidden there and tucked the weapon in his belt.

It suddenly dawned on Shirleen that the strangers weren't there simply to rob the place. Her gaze was locked on Taylor. She watched Taylor cross the room to the bedroom door, thinking that she looked like an angel. And for that reason alone, the threat she issued carried all the more substance.

“He might not kill a woman, but I would. You have five seconds to give me the key,” Taylor said, a chilling look in her eyes. Shirleen didn't think twice about arguing with her. She believed with all her heart the angel with eyes as cold as blue ice was about to kill her.

“One . . .”

Shirleen ran to the stack of boxes near the window, reached into the top one, and pulled out the key.

“I didn't have anything to do with taking those brats. I only work here, that's all. What Billy and Cyrus do doesn't concern me.”

Lucas snatched the key out of her hand, motioned for Hunter to keep his eye on her, and then unlocked the door. He wouldn't let Taylor go inside first. He wanted to make certain there wasn't someone else in the bedroom with the children.

It was dark inside, too dark to see his way around the room. Lucas lit one of the lamps after first scanning the area for signs of shadows moving about.

He spotted the little girls across the room. His heart suddenly felt as though it was going to explode with relief. And with rage.

The two little ones were sound asleep on the floor in front of the closet door. They clung to each other. One was softly weeping with her dream. Lucas couldn't see the other one's face. She had her head tucked under her sister's chin.

They were beautiful children. Babies, he silently corrected. They were so tiny, they couldn't be three years old yet. The one he could see clearly had coloring identical to Taylor's. Both twins had white blond hair. The resemblance was close enough to make anyone believe the twins were her daughters. No doubt about it, they belonged to her.

He motioned for Taylor to come inside, then put his gun away. He moved back to the doorway to watch from a distance. He knew he would frighten the little girls if he got too close to them. He wanted them to see Taylor first.

“They're hers, aren't they?” Lucas heard the woman ask Hunter.

Taylor wasn't paying any attention to Shirleen. She hurried into the bedroom. She stopped just as suddenly when she spotted the babies. Her hand went to her mouth and she let out a low, pitiful moaning sound that tore at Lucas's heart. She stared at the babies and slowly walked over to them.

She felt faint with relief and jubilation. She was crying by the time she reached the children. She knelt down on the floor in front of them but didn't touch either one of them for a long minute. Her head was bowed and her hands were tightly folded together in front of her. Lucas thought she might be praying.

She then reached out and gently shook her babies awake. “It's time to go home now,” she whispered.

One of the little girls opened her eyes. She sat up, rubbed the sleep from her eyes, and stared up at Taylor. She looked curious and only mildly afraid. When Taylor stroked the side of her face and smiled at her, she put her thumb in her mouth and leaned forward. Taylor gently lifted her onto her lap. She held her close and crooned to her, and when the baby at last relaxed against her, she reached for her sister.

The other twin woke up crying. She was quick to stop her tears when she saw Taylor. She seemed to recognize her. Taylor knew that wasn't possible, of course, for the twins hadn't even been crawling when she'd seen them last. The little girl put her arms out to be held. Taylor lifted her onto her lap next to her sister and hugged her tight.

Taylor couldn't quit crying. She rocked her babies in her arms and told them over and over again that everything was going to be all right. She was taking them home.

One fell asleep in her arms and the other let herself be cuddled for several minutes, then began to squirm. She wanted to look up at Taylor, and after she'd wiggled her way around and could see Taylor's face, she pulled her thumb out of her mouth and reached up to touch Taylor's hair.

“Are you my mama?”

“Yes.”

“Are you Allie's mama, too?”

“Yes.”

It was all Georganna wanted to know. She leaned back against Taylor, put her thumb in her mouth again, and closed her eyes.

Lucas walked over and hunkered down next to his wife. “Are they all right?” he asked in a whisper.

“I think so,” she answered. The babies were wearing wrinkled blue-colored day dresses. Their legs and arms and gowns were covered with dirt. They hadn't been taken care of properly, but Taylor was relieved that she couldn't see any bruises so far.

“Let's get them out of here, Lucas.”

He was in full agreement. And yet he hesitated. He turned, bent lower, and looked under the bed. Then he stood up. Where was the boy they'd heard about?

He lifted one of the twins into his arms. She didn't wake up. Her head dropped to rest on his shoulder. Taylor handed him the other baby, and then she also stood up.

Lucas wanted to question the woman about where the boy had been taken. He wouldn't rest until he had all three of them. He led the way into the living room. Hunter held up three fingers. Lucas shook his head. Then Taylor drew his attention. She reached out and touched his arm.

“Wait,” she whispered. She turned around and went back into the bedroom. Something wasn't quite right, but she was so exhausted with worry and relief over finally finding her babies, she couldn't figure out what was wrong.