The Lawman's Surrender: The Calhoun Sisters, Book 2 (29 page)

“That’s right.” The clerk glanced at the revolver and swallowed hard. “A couple of ‘em ended up sick like the driver. The doc set them up at his place.”

“Here in town?” Excitement shot through him.

“Yup.”

“Thank you for your time,” Jedidiah said, then grabbed Nate’s arm and dragged him out of the depot.

“Do you think your witness is over at the doc’s?” Nate asked.

“We’ll see.”

Susannah left the mercantile with a smile on her lips and several wrapped parcels. With the money Jedidiah had given her, she had bought a new dress of blue-sprigged muslin that made her look fresh and innocent, and the most adorable bonnet adorned with blue ribbons.

If she had to go on trial for murder, at least she would look magnificent while standing in front of the jury.

When she got back to the hotel, she immediately unpacked her purchases and held the dress up against her, standing on tip-toe to see how it looked in the mirror over the bureau. Then she tried the garment on. It fit perfectly, and she grinned, twirling in a circle.

A knock sounded at the door. Still smiling, she went to answer it. “Who is it?” she called.

“Sheriff MacElroy, ma’am.”

“One moment, Sheriff.” She unfastened the locks on the door and peeked out. Sure enough, Ransom MacElroy stood in the hall, hat in hand. He was accompanied by a silver-haired gentleman.

“Sorry to disturb you, ma’am.” MacElroy looked distinctly ill at ease. “You see—”

“Why don’t you let me explain, Sheriff?” The tall, well-dressed gentleman pushed his way past the sheriff and into the room. “Miss Calhoun, I take it?”

“Yes.” Uncertain, she glanced at Sheriff MacElroy. “What is this about?”

“Where is Marshal Brown, Miss Calhoun?”

“He’s out.”

“Out, is it?” The silver-haired gentleman sent Sheriff MacElroy a smug look. “Do you know where he went?”

“Would you care to explain who you are and why you care to know?” she replied in the same snooty tone he had used.

His eyes narrowed. “Who am I, you ask? I will tell you who I am, Miss Calhoun. I am Senator Morris Caldwell, and you murdered my nephew.”

“Senator Caldwell.” Instead of being frightened, Susannah shook with fury. This was the man who had rushed the murder investigation. This was the man who had ruined her life! “I hate to disappoint you, but I did
not
kill your nephew. Though your other nephew, Wayne, tried to kill
me
.”

The senator looked chagrined. “Yes, so I am told. Poor Wayne was driven mad with grief, it seems.”

“I see.” She looked from one man to the other. “Was there something else, gentlemen?”

“Are you staying in this room with Marshal Brown?” The senator began to stroll about the room without so much as a by-your-leave. He fingered Jedidiah’s shaving cup, then picked up her hairbrush and turned it around in his hand.

“I have to. I’m in his custody.”

“Are you?” With a charming smile, the senator replaced her hairbrush. “I find that hard to believe. After all, the marshal is not here, yet you are. If you were in the man’s custody, would it not be more customary for you to stay in the jail rather than in the hotel room with him?”

“I used to do just that,” she replied stiffly. “But there were problems—most notably your nephew—so Marshal Brown took to keeping me with him.”

“But my nephew was arrested yesterday. One would think the jail would be a safe place for you now.” The senator smiled in a blatantly patronizing way. “Yet I understand you stayed the night here.”

“I don’t like your implication, Senator,” Susannah said.

“I haven’t implied anything, Miss Calhoun, simply stated facts. You did stay the night here with Marshal Brown, did you not?”

“Yes, but—”

“Is he your lover, Miss Calhoun?”

She drew herself up indignantly. “How dare you, sir!”

“Sheriff, I think your duty is clear,” Caldwell said, dismissing Susannah by turning his back on her. “Marshal Brown has clearly compromised himself and his position by taking advantage of the young woman in his custody.”

“What!” Susannah cried.

“You know your duty, Sheriff,” the senator continued.

MacElroy reluctantly stepped forward. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” he said in a low voice. “I have to take you over to the jail now. We’ll get this straightened out.”

“I’m not going anywhere!” She whirled on the senator. “You have a lot of nerve accusing Jedidiah Brown of any wrongdoing!” she snapped. “I’ve never met a more dedicated, honorable lawman!”

“I’m afraid your opinion carries absolutely no weight,” the senator informed her. “The facts speak for themselves. Sheriff?”

“He’s right.” With a shrug of apology, Sheriff MacElroy held out his handcuffs. “I’m afraid you have to come along with me, Miss Calhoun. Senator Caldwell and his party will escort you the rest of the way to Denver.”

“But what about Jedidiah?” she cried.

“Jedidiah, is it?” the senator sneered. “Your lover will learn what it means to trifle with a United States Senator.”

Her protests went unheeded as the sheriff snapped on the handcuffs and escorted her to the jailhouse.

Doc Benson didn’t like having his patients disturbed.

“This is completely unacceptable!” the wizened physician cried as Jedidiah and Nate attempted to climb the stairs to the rooms above his office.

“We have no intention of disturbing your patients, Doctor,” Jedidiah reassured him. “We’re just looking for someone.”

“You can’t just barge in here like this!” the doctor protested as Nate pushed past him to follow Jedidiah up the stairs.

“I’m calling the law!” Dr. Benson threatened.

“We are the law,” Jedidiah returned, then entered the sickroom.

Neat beds lined the walls, three on each side. Four of them were occupied, and only one by a woman. Jedidiah’s heart pounded as he approached the sleeping female. She had dark hair, that much he could see, but so did many women. It wasn’t until she sighed and turned over in her sleep that he saw she was indeed Abigail Hawkins.

“It’s her,” he said to Nate, and his low-voiced remark woke her.

For a moment she stared at them in confusion. Then terror crossed her face. She struggled with the bedclothes as if trying to escape them, all the while whispering, “No! No! No!” in a weak, raspy voice.

“Mrs. Hawkins, don’t be afraid.” Jedidiah pulled aside his duster so she could clearly see his badge. “I’m a U.S. Marshal. My name is Jedidiah Brown, and I’ve been looking for you.”

“Please don’t kill me.” The words shocked him.

“Kill you? Why would we do that? We just want to talk to you,” Nate reassured her.

“No. He’ll kill me.”

“I have no intention of hurting you,” Jedidiah said soothingly, pulling a chair up to the bed. “I just want to ask you some questions.”

“Not you.” She pressed her lips together and turned her head away.

Jedidiah sat back, tapping his fingers on his knee. “Mrs. Hawkins, do you know Susannah Calhoun?”

Silence.

“Susannah’s been accused of killing Brick Caldwell,” Jedidiah continued, watching the woman carefully for any sign of interest. “I know she didn’t do it, Mrs. Hawkins, but no one can prove it. Unless you saw something that night.”

“Nothing. I saw nothing.” She glanced at Jedidiah, resolve in her dark eyes. “I’m sorry about Miss Calhoun. She’s a nice lady.”

“If she gets convicted, she’ll die, Mrs. Hawkins. Do you want that on your conscience?”

“I’m sorry,” was all she said.

“You know,” Nate mused, “we’re sure Susannah didn’t kill that Caldwell fellow. And Mrs. Hawkins here was the only other person there that night. How do we know she didn’t kill him? Might have been an accident.”

“Is that how it happened?” Jedidiah asked the woman. “Was there an accident?”

“It wasn’t me,” the woman said with such conviction that Jedidiah automatically believed her.

“Then who was it?” Nate asked. “We need your help, Mrs. Hawkins.”

The woman remained mute. Jedidiah pulled Nate aside for a whispered conversation.

“She’s not talking,” Jedidiah observed as the witness obstinately pressed her lips together. “Maybe we’re going about this the wrong way. Maybe she’ll talk to Susannah.”

“Good idea,” Nate said. “Why don’t you go get her, and I’ll stay here with Mrs. Hawkins?”

“Good plan,” Jedidiah approved. “Don’t let her out of your sight, Nate.”

“You can count on me,” Nate said.

Jedidiah clapped him on the back, then headed downstairs. It would only take a few moments to fetch Susannah—as long as she hadn’t bought out the whole mercantile.

Ten minutes later, Jedidiah stormed out of the Benediction Hotel, his fists clenched with fury. People cleared a path as he stalked down the street. By the time he reached the sheriff’s office, he could barely see through the red haze of rage.

Someone had taken Susannah from him.

Sheriff MacElroy looked up from behind his desk as Jedidiah all but knocked the door from the hinges.

“Where is she?” he snarled.

“She’s in back,” MacElroy said, standing. “Now, Marshal Brown, just calm down.”

“Calm down!” Jedidiah slammed his hands down on MacElroy’s desk. “You came into my hotel room and removed a prisoner from my custody without any authority whatsoever, then put her in the same prison as the bastard who tried to kill her! Who the hell do you think you are?”

“I’m the sheriff of this town, and I was trying to do you a favor.” MacElroy folded his arms across his chest and met Jedidiah’s gaze evenly. “Senator Caldwell was all set to remove her himself. I convinced him to do it my way. At least in my jail, she’s safe.”

“You had no right,” Jedidiah said, straightening. “Now get her out of there.”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” MacElroy replied. “The Senator seems to think that you’ve taken advantage of Miss Calhoun, and the evidence seems to support his theory. Until I get word to the contrary, I’m afraid I have to keep her locked up for her own safety.”

“You can’t do this. She has to be in Denver tomorrow for a murder trial.”

“Then my men will escort her there, along with Senator Caldwell’s party.”

“You’re overstepping yourself, MacElroy,” Jedidiah warned.

“I’m trying to protect Miss Calhoun,” the sheriff corrected. “No one says you can’t come with us to Denver, Marshal. But you’re not going to be alone with that gal anymore. It’s for your best interest as well as hers. Senator Caldwell wants your badge. The way you’re acting, he might just get it.”

Jedidiah forced the anger back, forced himself to think. MacElroy was right. As long as Susannah was in jail, she was safe from anyone who might want to harm her.

“I’d like to see her,” he said calmly.

“She’s right back there,” MacElroy said with a wave of his hand. “I’ll give you five minutes, but that’s it.”

“I’m obliged.” Jedidiah stalked back toward the jail cells.

Susannah, dressed in her new blue and white dress, occupied the cell closest to the door, while Wayne Caldwell, surly and sulking, occupied the one farthest away from it. Jedidiah looked at Susannah, a pretty picture of innocence in a place that routinely housed murderers and drunks, and he felt the rage rising again. With effort, he restrained himself and stepped up to the bars of her cell.

“Jedidiah!” She reached for him through the bars, her long, slim fingers closing over his hands. “There was nothing I could do. The sheriff just took me away and brought me here.”

“I know.” He leaned closer, lowered his voice to a murmur. “I found Mrs. Hawkins.”

She gasped with surprise, joy lighting her features. Then Jedidiah glanced at Caldwell, and she schooled her expression to sobriety.

“I’m going to get you out of here,” he told her, reaching through the bars to touch her cheek.

“I know you will.” The utter faith in those lovely blue eyes humbled him. She looked at him as if her were a hero, when instead he felt like a failure. He wanted to rip away the bars with his bare hands and carry her away from this foul place.

“Jedidiah, don’t worry about me,” she said with a reassuring smile. “I’m not going anywhere, and I think Sheriff MacElroy is on our side. The senator wanted to take me to Denver himself, but the sheriff wouldn’t let him.”

“Thank God for that.”

“Do what you have to do to get me out of this place,” she said meaningfully. “I heard the senator say he wants to leave at one o’clock.”

“That gives me about an hour.”

“You can do it,” she said, then whispered, “I love you, Jedidiah.”

“I love you, too,” he murmured in return. “You know, it’s getting easier and easier to say.”

“Keep practicing,” she advised with a flirtatious grin.

He chuckled. “If you had agreed to marry me, you might not have ended up in here.”