Sweet Silken Bondage (32 page)

Still, Reina was his only daughter. When they
spoke again, he would give her a chance to explain
herself. The niggling fear that he might never see
her again, that she might have come to some harm
during her flight, stirred in his thoughts, but he
pushed it away, refusing to think about the possibility. She meant too much to him to even consider
such a terrible thing. No, Luis told himself, Reina
was alive and well and if she wasn't here now, she
soon would be. Cordell was supposedly the best. He
would bring her back.

Entering the main house through the kitchen,
Luis paused only long enough to wash. That done,
he went forth to the main parlor where his guest
awaited him. He was about to call out with pleasure
to Cordell, when his black-eyed gaze fell on none
other than Nathan Marlow. He felt a terrible sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach at the sight of
the American for he knew he had to stall him
again. He said a silent, violent curse as he strode
forward, and he tried to ignore the sudden cold
sweat that dampened his forehead.

"Nathan!" Luis called out in a jovial tone as he
extended his hand. "What a pleasant surprise!"

Nathan rose from where he'd been sitting to return his future father-in-law's greeting. "Luis, it's
good to see you again." They clasped hands.

Luis offered refreshments, but Nathan refused,
preferring to get straight to the point. They sat
down together.

"What brings you to Rancho Alvarez today?" Luis
sounded calm.

"What do you think?" he returned with a slight smile. "I've come to see Reina."

"Oh...Reina..." her father's tone reflected
only disappointment and not the heart-stopping fear
that really gripped him.

"She has returned, hasn't she?" Nathan pressed.

"I'm sorry to say, she has not."

"But she was supposed to be back two days ago,"
he complained. "I waited the extra day to give her
time to rest from the trip."

`That was very thoughtful of you, and I know I
told you originally that she would only be gone a
few weeks. But she sent word just yesterday that she
wanted to spend a little more time with her aunt."

Nathan's eyes narrowed as he regarded the old
Californio. "There isn't a problem, is there, Luis?"

"No," he protested quickly, "there's no problem.
What could be wrong?" He played innocent, glancing at the younger man questioningly, as if completely surprised by the suggestion.

Nathan studied him for a moment, then asked,
"She will be back soon, won't she? I miss her, and
there are a lot of things I want to discuss with her
about the wedding."

"You needn't worry, Nathan. My daughter will be
back home before you know it. She just wanted to
spend some extra days with her aunt now, because
once she's a married woman with the complete
responsibility of running a household, she won't be
able to get away for any great length of time."

"Ali, I see," he agreed. "Perhaps this time apart
will help us to realize just how much we really care
about each other."

"Oh, yes, I'm sure it will do that," Luis said,
feeling cornered. Where was Reina? And just as important, where was Cordell?

"You know, I'm looking forward to the wedding.
It should prove to be the social event of the season."

"I'm certain of it," he responded. "My daughter will be the most beautiful bride Monterey has ever
seen."

"There's no doubt about that," Nathan remarked
as he got to his feet ready to leave. "Please, send
my best to her and let her know that I'm eagerly
awaiting her return."

He stood to usher him from the room. "I shall. I
only regret that you made the trip all the way out
here for nothing. Are you sure you won't stay and
partake of my hospitality for the night? It is a long
journey back to town."

"I appreciate the offer, Luis, but I have pressing
business in Monterey. Had my intended returned, I
could have justified the dalliance. But, since she is
still out of town, I'd better get back to my work."

"I understand, of course. I'll let my daughter
know of your visit, and as soon as I receive word of
the exact date of her return, I'll notify you."

"Good. Until later..."

Once more they shook hands and bid each other
good-bye. Luis felt only relief as he watched him
ride off down the main drive. He couldn't believe
that he had made it successfully through the conversation and that he had managed to put Nathan off
for at least another few weeks. Luis drew a deep
breath, and once Nathan was out of sight, he went
back inside and downed a straight double shot of
his finest, most potent whiskey.

As Nathan headed back to town, he was lost in
thought. He had picked up on the old man's anxiety and couldn't help but wonder if his would-be
bride was giving him trouble about their marriage.
He found the thought oddly exciting. He was truly
going to enjoy taming Reina Alvarez.

He had no fear that she would not show up for
the wedding for he credited Luis with the ability to
control his strong-willed daughter. He was fully confident that the wedding would take place as planned. What did it matter if she wasn't around
right now? He had Lilly, and she was all the
woman he'd ever really need.

Charley Stevens, a lean, dark-haired, wild-eyed
young man sat in the back of the Golden Horseshoe
Saloon in Monterey drinking and playing cards with
his two friends, blond, buck-toothed Bucky Porter
and skinny, red-haired, hot-headed Rex Jones.
Though Charley, the leader of the small group, gave
the appearance of being in a mellow mood, he was
really very worried. Nothing seemed to be going
right lately, and it was making him very nervous.

Weeks ago when Sheriff Macauley had arrested
Devlin O'Keefe for Santana's murder, Charley and
his companions had been thrilled. It had left them
off the hook, free and clear. But now things had
turned decidedly sour. Though it appeared to be
such an open and shut case, the sheriff was stalling
about going to trial, and that didn't sit well with
Charley. He couldn't understand why Macauley had
any doubts, and he certainly didn't want the lawman digging around too much for fear of what he
might find out.

Charley took a deep drink of his beer, knowing
that he had to do something. He couldn't risk the
investigation being reopened. He had to protect
himself. He had to make sure that O'Keefe took the
blame and paid the price for Santana's murder.

"Ya know, boys, I think it's time we took matters
into our own hands," Charley said calculatingly to
his two companions.

"You talkin' about this Santana thing?" Rex asked
nervously.

"It's been dragging on for too damned long,"
Charley swore in agitation. "O'Keefe should have
been hung by now."

"What d'ya want us to do?" the drunken Bucky
asked, anxious to do anything that would cover up
their involvement in the crime.

"Well, first we're gonna need some help. We can't
do this alone ...we'd look suspicious." He sat back
giving the impression of being quite relaxed and
then slowly began to talk in a loud voice that was
guaranteed to stir up trouble. "Does everybody in
here know that that Dev O'Keefe fella who killed
Santana, is still sittin' over there pretty as you
please in the jail getting the royal treatment, while
of Pedro is rotting in his grave!"

Understanding his role, Rex picked up on what
his friend was doing. He demanded angrily, "You
mean to tell me there ain't no plans to try him
yet?"

"Yep," Bucky answered playing along, "and it's a
damned shame, too. The man's guilty as hell!"

A murmur of interest rippled through the crowd
in the bar.

"I know it," Charley agreed, seeing that people
were starting to listen and deliberately heating up
the arguments. "I thought they had him good, but I
guess not."

"They found enough damned evidence to arrest
him, but now it ain't enough to convict him?" Rex
went on in irritated disbelief, trying to provoke
people.

"They found some evidence all right, but I guess
for some reason the sheriff still ain't sure," Bucky
complained.

"Ain't sure? How much more sure do they gotta
be?" Charley hollered, slamming his now-empty
beer mug down on the table top. "I know what the
evidence was. I heard tell they found something
personal of O'Keefe's out there at the murder site,
and they found a big roll of money he can't account
for in his saddlebags."

"He's guilty all right!" Rex declared.

A chorus of "Yeahs" came from the bar as the
crowd began to be swayed. Charley was pleased for
this was just what he'd wanted.

"Sounds guilty to me, but maybe we just got
ourselves a coward for a sheriff. Maybe Macauley's
afraid for some reason." Charley raised his voice
again as he made his comments.

"Yeah! What the hell else could he be waiting
for? Pedro Santana was our friend!" Rex argued.

"Yeah! Everybody liked Pedro!" Bucky echoed.
"Yet his killer is still sitting there in jail!"

The men at the bar were getting more and more
caught up in the argument. They, too, had been
wondering what the delay was in prosecuting
O'Keefe. Sentiment was definitely running in Charley's favor. Their expressions were turning hostile,
and their murmurings were growing stronger.

Now Charley saw his chance. "I say we settle this
ourselves! I say we go over to the jail and do the
sheriffs job for him since it's obvious that he's too
afraid to do it himself!"

A rousing shout of agreement came from the
crowd, and the atmosphere turned decidedly ugly.
They began milling around excitedly, talking about
the savageness of Santana's murder and how justice
needed to be wrought swiftly.

"Everybody here knew Pedro. How can we just sit
by and act like nothing's happened? O'Keefe killed
him, sure as hell. The man's guilty! He should pay
for his crime!" Charley incited.

"What are we waiting for?" Bucky cried out.

"Let's do it!" Charley came aggressively to his
feet. "Come on!"

"They're right! We been waiting too long!" Someone at the bar called out. "Let's go!"

Standing at the end of the bar near the back of
the saloon, Wily Andrews, a grizzled old-timer, was sipping a whiskey and listening to the talk. As the
crowd began to grow openly hostile toward the
sheriff, he started to get nervous. Lynch mobs
weren't pretty things. Innocent people got hurt. To
his way of thinking, the crowd was beginning to
sound dangerous. When Wily heard somebody yell
that they ought to take care of the sheriffs business
for him if he was too scared to do it himself, he
knew he had to move. As quietly as he could, he
crept out the back of the bar and ran for the jail.

"Evening, Molly," Sheriff Macauley said as the
young woman entered the office with Dev's dinner
pail.

"Evening, sheriff," Molly replied. Her tone was a
little subdued this evening, but Macauley didn't
notice.

"O'Keefe must be hungry tonight. He's been
watching for you for the last half hour."

The news pleased her, and she smiled slightly at
the thought. "I guess I'd better hurry on back and
give him his dinner then." She had more than one
reason for rushing this night.

Macauley waved her on into the back room and
turned his attention once more to the papers spread
out before him on his desk. Since Denton's thwarted
escape attempt, he'd come to trust and respect
O'Keefe. He did not fear for Molly's safety as she
disappeared into the cell block for he knew how the
prisoner felt about the young woman. It had been
evident in his behavior the day of Denton's death
and during her daily visits since.

Macauley let his thoughts drift to his prisoner
then, and the terrible future that he faced. The
sheriff knew he would soon have to go to trial with
his case against O'Keefe, and that was bothering
him. He could tell just from the general feeling in town that Dev's conviction was almost assured. But
ever since Ace Denton's death, he had become convinced that Dev was not Santana's murderer. The
man seemed a decent sort. He was not the kind of
man who would cold-bloodedly back-shoot a stranger.

Macauley attributed his success as a lawman from
being one who followed his hunches, and for that
reason, he'd hesitated to press Dev's prosecution yet.
He kept hoping that something would turn up to
exonerate the young man. He kept hoping his
friend, Cordell, would come back with something
that would prove his innocence. He didn't know
what had happened to the other bounty hunter, but
he wished he would show up soon.

The sheriff sighed in frustration. He knew he
couldn't wait too much longer without people getting suspicious of his motive. A gut feeling that the
man was innocent wouldn't sway a jury or prove
powerful evidence in a court of law. Forcing his
thoughts away from an increasingly difficult situation, he turned his attention back to his work.

Molly entered the quiet of the cell area to find
Dev stretched out on his bunk.

"The sheriff tells me you're hungry," Molly said,
giving him a small smile.

"I'm starving, Molly. What did you bring tonight?" Dev smiled brilliantly at her, bounding up
from his bed, delighted to see her. She was the one
thing in his otherwise long and torturous days that
made life worth living. If it hadn't been for her,
Dev wasn't sure he could have kept up hope.

Molly told him quickly what was on the menu
for him that night, and as she spoke, he noticed
immediately that she was not her usual cheerful self.
He sensed that there was something bothering her,
and he wondered what it could be and if he could
help.

"Is something wrong?" Dev cut in, his expression
serious as he studied her, waiting for an answer.

"No, nothing..." she replied far too quickly,
looking away from him and rousing his suspicions
even more.