The Mail Order Bride's Deception (19 page)

“You’re here to please the men,” Madame said, her voice firm.  “While they enjoy looking at you, there’s more to it than just showing them your pretty face.” She motioned to the tray of untouched food.  “Aren’t you going to eat anything?”

“I can’t,” Sadie replied.

Madame’s eyes narrowed at her.  “You’re not with child, are you?”

“No.” And even if she was, Sadie would never tell the truth because then Madame would bring Jefferson in to ‘resolve’ that inconvenient problem.

She scanned Sadie’s body.  “You don’t look it.  When was the last time you had your cycle?”

Sadie gulped.  How she hated answering these kinds of questions.  “
Twenty days ago,” she forced out.

“Then we’ll know in a few days.” She picked up the tray.  “You won’t get anything to eat until tomorrow morning.”

The last thing Sadie wanted to do was eat, even if Madame did hire one of the best cooks in Omaha.

“It’s like starting over,”
Madame grumbled before she left the room.

Sadie placed her hand over her stomach, already sick.  She couldn’t be with another man.  There was no way she could get through it.  Not after she’d been with Al.  Not after everything he’d taught her about the love that was possible between a man and a woman.

As soon as Jefferson put his hands on her, she was going to throw up.  She just knew it.  And then Madame would be right.  It would be as if they were starting all over again because she had the hardest time being able to get through those lessons without losing her breakfast.

Closing her eyes, she crumbled to the floor and gave into the urge to cry once more.

Chapter Nineteen

Al pushed his way off the train.  Despite his exhaustion, he had to keep going.  He wasn’t going to stop until he got Sadie back.  It wasn’t going to be easy.  He might not know anything about brothels, but he doubted the owner would be willing to just hand Sadie over to him.

“Excuse me,” he told an old man when he bumped into him on the way down the steps off the train.

Once his feet hit the platform, he ran over to one of the baggage handlers.

“Sir, may I please interrupt?” he asked as someone took the brass tag from the baggage handler.

The baggage handler and the man turned to him.

“I’m in a hurry,” Al explained.  “All I need to know is where something is.”

The man nodded and tipped his hat.  “
Go ahead.  I’m done.”

As he left, Al looked back at the baggage handler.  “Do you know whe
re I can find Madame Eleanor’s Brothel?”

The baggage handler rolled his eyes.  “You don’t have an emergency.”

The baggage handler turned away from him, but Al grabbed his arm.  “Yes, I do.  My wife was abducted and taken there.  I need to get her.”

The
baggage handler shook his arm away and straightened his uniform.  “If you’re going to lie, the least you could do is come up with a believable story.”

“It is the truth.  It happened…”
Al stopped himself.  The man didn’t need to know the details.  “Fine.  Whether you believe me or not, can you tell me where to go or should I report you to your superior for not taking care of a patron?” Al held up his ticket stub to show him he’d been on the train.

The
man stiffened.  “There’s no need for that.  You can find the brothel six blocks from here.” He pointed to the left.  “Go that way three blocks, take a right, go two more blocks, and take a left.  It’s on the right.”

Al hesitated for a moment, wondering if this uppity young man had been there.  He sure seemed to know how to find it easily enough.  Maybe he’d been with Sadie.  Shaking off the image, he mumbled a thanks—only because society dictated he show his manners—and hurried down the platform.

Keeping in mind the man’s directions, Al ran down the boardwalk, lanterns lighting his way as he went.  He glanced over his shoulder and saw a man on a horse galloping down the street.  Irritated, he stopped and waited for the man to ride by before crossing it.  There weren’t nearly this many people in Rapid City, and it annoyed him to no end that he had to either dodge or wait for so many.  The longer it took him to get to the brothel, the greater the chance that he’d find someone in bed with his wife.  And if that happened…

He shook off the mental image from his mind.  No.  He wouldn’t use his gun to hurt anyone.  He’d only use it to get her out of there.  That was it.  It was a threat.  Nothing more.

By the time he reached the brothel, the adrenaline pumping through his body prompted him to bang on the door.  Above the door was a sign that read
Madame Eleanor’s Establishment
.  He grimaced.  Why didn’t these people just call this place what it was?  Why pretty it up as if it was something respectable?

He banged on the door again, and this time it opened right away.  An older man in a well-dressed suit stood in front of him.  Before waiting for him to speak, Al said, “I came for Sadie Gro…Miller.”

The man snorted in amusement.  “What man doesn’t come for the prettiest one we got?” He clasped his hands in front of him.  “I’m afraid she’s not available tonight.  You’ll have to wait about a week.  In the meantime, we have other ladies—”

“I’m not here as a customer,” Al snapped and shoved him aside so he could enter the place.  She was here.  That was all he needed to know.  “I’m her husband.  Where is she?”

“Jefferson, what’s all the commotion about?” a woman wearing a modest dress asked as she came into the entryway.

“I’m Sadie Miller’s husband,” Al told her.  “Where’s my wife?”

“A mad man,” Jefferson replied with a shrug.  “Seems like it’s one of those days around here.”

“I didn’t come here to talk,” Al spat then walked to the
parlor.

He stopped in the doorway. 
Yes, he knew in theory what happened here, but it wasn’t anything like he imagined.  He had thought the prostitutes would be scantily clad, sitting on men’s laps, flirting with them.  But it wasn’t the scene he witnessed.  The women were wearing very little.  That much was right.  But none of them looked happy to be there.  Not truly happy.  A couple giggled, but it was forced.  One was staring at something in the corner of the room.  Another closed her eyes and winced.  Music drifted from the phonograph, playing loud enough to hinder any real conversations that they might have engaged in.  The men fondled the women between sips of brandy, oblivious to the fact that the women didn’t want them there.

His mind flashed back to the first nights he’d been with Sadie.  The women looked just like she had.  They were forcing themselves to be with the men.  But they really wanted to be somewhere else.  Why didn’t the men notice it?  Maybe they did but they didn’t care because they were only interested in satisfying their needs.

He swallowed.  No wonder Sadie hadn’t understood why he wanted to wait until the time was right.  And now he knew why it was so important they didn’t rush that part of their marriage.  Sadie had been miserable here.  She ran to be with him because she needed to get out of this place.

He recalled the night she’d told him the truth.

“If James hadn’t shown up, were you ever going to tell me?” he’d asked her.

S
he’d turned her gaze away from him.  “Why would I tell you something like that?”

“Because it’s the truth.”

“Maybe,” she’d softly said, “but it’s not a pleasant one.”

“I had a right to know.”

“And if you knew, would you have married me?”

He didn’t answer her question because he
knew she wouldn’t have liked what he’d say.  He had wanted to say yes, but he couldn’t.  The truth was, he would have asked her to return to the stagecoach, and he even would have paid for her fare back to Omaha.  She did the right thing in not telling him.  In lying, she had saved herself from this life.  Not that it was much of a life.  All these women, who looked as if they’d given up all hope, were waiting to die so their misery could end.

Forcing his eyes off the couples who had stopped what they were doing so they could stare at him, he reminded himself that he was
going to get Sadie out of there.  He’d get her out and she’d never have to be at a place like this ever again.

He turned from the parlor and came nose to nose with Jefferson.  “You have no business being here,” Jefferson growled then pushed him further into the hall
way.  “Sadie belongs here.  Madame paid for her.”

Before he had time to think, Al struck Jefferson across the jaw, sending him stumbling until his back hit the wall.  He fell to the floor in an unconscious heap.

“There’s no need to get violent,” Madame Eleanor said, her tone indignant as she stared at him with wide eyes.  “I run a peaceful establishment.”

Ignoring her, Al ran for the stairs.

Al made it to the top and his gaze swept the hallway.  He cursed under his breath.  All the doors were closed.

“Sadie!” he yelled, hoping she’d
come out of her room.

God knew he d
idn’t want to open the wrong door and find a man intimately engaged with a prostitute.  But what if that prostitute was Sadie?  His jaw clenched.  He’d get the man off of her faster than he could blink, that’s what he’d do.

A door opened and he headed
for it, hoping it was her.  “Sadie?” he called out as he came closer.

Sadie
peered into the hallway.  “Al?” she asked, sounding as if she wasn’t sure it was really him.

Al hurried in her direction, relieved to see
she was fully clothed.  He finally reached her and brought her into his arms, holding her tightly to him.  “I’m sorry.” He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her lips, her cheeks, her neck.  “I’m so sorry, Sadie.  Please forgive me.” He brought his arms back around her and buried his face in the nape of her neck, inhaling the wonderfully comforting scent of her soap.  “I had no idea how bad it was for you before we got married.”

“Y-you came for me?
” she whispered, still not sounding sure.

He lifted his head so he could look into her eyes.

She blinked a few times.  “Am I dreaming?”

Despite the circumstances, he chuckled.  “No.  No, you’re not
, sweetheart.  I’m here.  And I never should have left you that night you told me the truth.  I should have taken you with me into the house.”

“He took me.” She clear
ed her throat.  “Hazel’s cousin.  James.  He told me you and Gilbert were dead.”

“No, we’re alive.  Gilbert’s with Aunt Betty and Bear.”

He almost told her about the letter James had left but figured they could talk about everything later.  Right now he had to get her out of here.  Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he turned toward the door in time to see Jefferson standing in the doorway, his nose bloody.

Sadie gasped and clung to Al.

“Get out of our way,” Al demanded, not willing to let go of his wife.  Now that he found her, he wasn’t going to release her.  “We’re going home, and you’re not stopping us.”

“That’s not for you to decide.  It’s
Madame’s choice what happens to her property,” Jefferson replied in a tightly controlled voice.

“Sadie’s
not anyone’s property,” Al barked and pulled out his gun.

“Al?” Sadie whispered.

He squeezed her shoulders.  “Get out of our way,” he told Jefferson.

Jefferson’s eyes went to the gun.  “There is the matter of payment.  If you are so insistent on having her, you’ll have to buy her.”

“I’ll do nothing of the sort.  Now, go!” Al waved his gun, gesturing for Jefferson to let them pass.

Anxious footsteps came down the hallway, and Jefferson moved aside in time for
Madame Eleanor to see what was going on.  “He’s demanding I let them go, Madame,” Jefferson told her.  “But I insisted he pay first.  Needless to say, he’s not willing.”

“No, I’m not,” Al said
.  “And if you don’t let us go, I’m going to start shooting the ceiling and telling everyone in this place that you’re holding a husband and wife here against their will.”

Madame gasped.  “You wouldn’t!”

Al cocked his gun and pointed it at the ceiling.

“Let him go,”
Madame finally said.  “The men are already getting skittish with all the commotion.  I can’t afford to lose all this business.  A couple of the men downstairs already left.  As soon as the ones up here are done, who knows if they’ll even come back?”

Jefferson sighed.  “Very well.  Go.  But be quiet on your way out.  We don’t want to upset anyone else.”

Relieved, Al strengthened his hold on Sadie and led her out of the room.  They moved aside for them, and though Sadie glanced over her shoulder, Al refused to give them the satisfaction of looking back.  He didn’t make eye contact with any of the men or women who watched him and Sadie as they walked out of the brothel.  It wasn’t until they were on the street that he felt safe enough to put his gun away.

He felt the tension ease from his body as he led Sadie down the stree
t.  She was back with him, where she belonged.  That was the important thing.  He pulled her closer to him, glad she continued to hold onto him.  It assured him she was with him.  More importantly than that, she wanted to be with him.  And after seeing where she’d been, getting an idea of what she’d been forced to do…  He held her more tightly to him.

His steps slowed and he glanced around them, making sure no one was following them from the brothel. 
Assured when he saw they were alone, he kissed her temple.  “Sadie, I’m sorry I didn’t take more time to listen to you.”

“You were upset, and you had every right to be.  I lied to you about who I was.”

“Yes, but I should have heard you out instead of running to the cabin.”

“Al, wait.” She stopped walking so he turned to her.  “It wasn’t easy
lying to you.  I was just afraid.”

He cupped her face in his hands and caressed her cheeks, noting that her eyes were still puffy from all the crying she’d done
earlier that day.  He didn’t need further proof to know how much it pained her to be at the brothel.  “What you must have gone through at that place,” he whispered.  “No one can blame you for being scared of what would happen to you.  You didn’t have anyone else to help you.  I was the only person you could go to in order to get out of that life.”

She nodded.  “I found Hazel by chance in a restaurant.  She was coughing up blood, so I took her to the doctor.” She swallowed.  “She didn’t make it.  Before she died, she told me she was on her way to marry you.  She gave me her purse and the letter you sent her.  She knew what I’d been going through and wished to rescue me.  You would have liked her, Al.  She was a very nice person.”