Czytaj książkę: «Honor-Bound Lawman»

Chapter One

Leadville, Colorado

1884

Owen Hamilton shielded his eyes against the sun as he tried to make out the rider coming toward him. His small ranch outside of Leadville, Colorado, was too far from town to get many visitors.

His sister, Lena, stepped out of the house. “Were you expecting company?”

“No. Get inside and bar the door. Keep the girls close. You know what to do.”

Lena hesitated. “Should I get your shotgun?”

“I’ve got my belt,” Owen said, patting his hip. “No sense in drawing trouble if there is none.”

They’d had this conversation enough times that Lena gave a nod. “We’ll be inside. I’ll wait for the signal.”

Owen walked off the porch and headed down the path toward the oncoming horse. Now that the rider was closer, Owen recognized him.

He called over his shoulder at the house. “It’s just Will. Put on some coffee and see what you can round up for refreshment. I’m sure he’s tired after his long ride.”

Though he sounded cheerful, his stomach filled with dread. The only reason Will would come to see Owen unannounced was if it was about a case. When Owen had turned in his badge several months ago, he’d made it clear he wasn’t available to help his friend. Both Will and the sheriff had tried talking him into at least remaining a consultant. But after Owen’s last mistake, he couldn’t bring himself to potentially endanger anyone else. True, on that last case, no one had died. But Owen had gotten distracted, and because of it, a woman and her children nearly died. Though everything turned out all right in the end, he still couldn’t forget how easily things could have gone bad.

As Will dismounted, Owen walked over to greet him. “Go ahead and put your horse by the barn. There’s plenty of hay, and I’ll get some water for him.”

“Thanks,” Will said, sounding out of breath. He must have been riding hard. And from the horse’s sweaty flanks, Owen could tell that his initial instinct that this wasn’t a social call was correct.

“Lena is fixing some refreshments. Then you can be on your way.”

“You haven’t even heard what I have to say.”

“I figure I already know what you’ve got to say. When I turned in my badge, it was for good.”

Before Will could respond, Owen’s six-year-old twin daughters, Anna and Emma, came running out the door. “Uncle Will!”

“Pipsqueaks!” Will gathered the girls in his arms and gave them a big hug. Though Owen had no regrets in moving out to the ranch, sometimes he thought about how isolated they were out here. Living in Leadville, Owen’s children had the chance to socialize with a number of families, including Will’s. Though Will wasn’t their real uncle, their families were close enough that it felt like it at times. Leaving behind their social connections had been a small price to pay for his privacy. If he wasn’t living in town, no one could ask him to help on a case.

Maybe it sounded selfish, but Owen knew that if his fellow lawmen could just run down the street to ask for his help, keeping his badge hung up would be near impossible. Besides, he and Lena had grown up here. Lena hated the city, and they’d both agreed that they wanted the same kind of childhood for Owen’s daughters that they’d had.

Lena had given up so much for Owen, quitting her job as a teacher to move in with him and help take care of his daughters when his late wife left him nearly six years ago. It seemed only fair that Owen look toward Lena’s comfort. Lena had no intention of ever marrying, and after Owen’s disastrous marriage, he wasn’t too interested in finding a wife either. Which made being out here, several miles from town, perfect for both of them.

But as Owen watched Will laughing with his daughters, he couldn’t help but wonder if the best thing for him and Lena was not the best thing for his girls. Even though they had each other, the twins missed their friends in Leadville.

“Are you going to spend the night?” Emma asked.

“Why didn’t you bring Mary and Rosabelle?” Anna added. The girls loved spending time with Will’s wife, Mary, and doting on baby Rosabelle.

Will laughed and gave the girls another squeeze. “I’m afraid I’m here on business. I can’t stay long because I need to get back. But hopefully, you can come to town soon and stay with us.”

“Then you’d best come in and have some coffee, so you can be on your way.” Owen gave his friend a firm look. “Any business you have for me is no business I want. I told you, I’ve put that life behind me.”

“You haven’t even heard what I have to say.”

Will’s stubborn expression matched Owen’s. They’d been friends long enough that they could spend hours staring each other down in this manner. They’d done so often enough in the past, with each of them having their share of wins and losses. But this time, Owen wasn’t going to lose.

“Don’t need to. I won’t turn a friend away without refreshment, but you might as well get back on that horse and go home. Nothing you have to say is of interest to me.”

Lena stepped out of the farmhouse, wiping her hands on her apron. “Now, Owen, that’s no way to treat a friend. After all he’s done for us, you at least need to hear him out. Will, nice to see you again.”

Growing up, Owen used to tease Lena that being a schoolteacher was her destiny because of the way she always bossed everyone around. Even having quit her job, she was still good at giving orders. Lena was also his elder by a couple of years, which meant Owen got more than his share of Lena’s commands.

“Good to see you, too, Lena. Mary sends her regards. Even though this is a quick trip on business, there are some cookies in my saddlebags that she insisted I bring.”

“Cookies!” The girls spoke and jumped up and down in unison. “Please, Papa, may we go and get them?”

Owen sighed. Getting rid of Will wasn’t going to be so easy. Not that Owen wanted to get rid of his friend because entertaining guests was always a pleasurable endeavor. But business, that was another story.

“Let’s go get Will’s horse settled in the barn. Then we can get the cookies and bring them in the house. It’ll be a nice treat for all of us.”

His daughters didn’t need further encouragement. Laughing, they ran to the barn.

Owen looked at his friend. “I guess that settles that, then. Go tie up your horse, and I’ll get a bucket of water.”

Before Owen could head over to the water pump, Lena stopped him. “I don’t know why you’re being so prickly with him. You don’t even know what he wants.”

“Doesn’t matter. He’s wearing his badge, which means it’s official business. This isn’t the first time he’s tried to drag me in on another case. I can’t do it anymore, Lena, I just can’t.”

His sister looked at him sympathetically. “I know it’s hard. Don’t you think he knows that, too? If anyone understands the difficulties you have with going back, it would be Will.”

“Then why is he here?” Owen shook his head as he looked at the ground. “All these years Will has been telling everyone that I’m the finest lawman he knows. But I’m not. Will has more faith in me than he should. He’s better off without me.”

The crunch of boots on gravel made Owen turn. “I stand by my assessment of your abilities. That’s why I’m here.”

Owen stared at his friend. “You’re wasting your time. Our friendship has blinded you to my faults.”

“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t important.”

Lena stepped in beside Owen. “That’s what I was just telling Owen.”

He’d been prepared to fight Will. But with Lena on Will’s side, it seemed almost impossible to consider doing battle.

“Fine. What do you want?”

Will shoved his hands in his pockets and leaned back on his heels. His face squeezed tightly into an expression of a man bearing the worst kind of news. Owen had seen that expression on his friend’s face often enough, probably too often, that had Will opened with this expression, Owen wouldn’t have had to debate with himself. The words that were to come out of his mouth were irrelevant. No matter what they were, Owen would help his friend.

“James Booth has escaped from prison.”

The words were as shocking as if Will had pulled the gun out of his belt and shot Owen.

“How can that be? They had him in maximum security.”

Will’s brow furrowed. “Apparently not maximum enough. Two guards are dead, and they aren’t sure the third will last the night. When they catch him, he’ll hang for sure.”

“When did this happen?”

“A few hours ago. The prison sent a telegram right away. They think he’s headed to Leadville.”

Owen’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He’d promised Laura Booth, James’s ex-wife, that this wouldn’t happen. Every day, when he’d escorted her to the courthouse for James’s trial, Owen promised her that James would go to prison for the rest of his life and never bother Laura again. One more promise Owen had broken as a lawman.

“Does she know?”

Will nodded. “Laura’s scared, but she thinks he’ll head to Mexico, where he has connections, something he’s always talked about doing. Laura believes that James will value his freedom more than anything else. She doesn’t think he’ll risk getting caught again.”

Unfortunately, Owen knew better. The man thought he was invincible, which meant he wouldn’t consider it a risk to come after Laura.

“Has she forgotten how many times he’s threatened her? At the trial, at his sentencing and even when I went with her to give him divorce papers. The last time she saw him, he was like a madman, giving in graphic detail a list of all the horrible things he would do to her before he killed her in revenge for testifying against him.”

When Owen had met Laura, she was terrified of her husband. James Booth was a womanizing charlatan, hurting everyone in his path who did not give him his way. He’d beaten Laura into submission, making her one more of his victims. But Owen, along with Will and several of their friends in Leadville, had convinced Laura to testify against James in a case where he had been accused of murdering his mistress. At the time, Laura had been hesitant to speak out against him. He had many friends and associates, and she feared that they would help him avoid the consequences of his actions.

Owen had been the one to convince her otherwise.

And now James had done the very thing Laura was afraid of. He’d gotten out of jail, and he was coming after her.

Will had been right to ask Owen to come out of retirement for this. He’d made a woman a promise—that he would keep her safe.

Hopefully, Owen would be able to keep that promise.

* * *

Laura Booth smoothed out the sheets on a recently vacated bed in the boardinghouse she owned, trying to eliminate every last wrinkle despite her shaking hands. A menial task, and folks often chastised her for taking on those jobs when someone else could easily do it for her. However, in the past year and a half since her husband—no, ex-husband—had gone to jail, Laura had found a new strength in life. Before James’s downfall, she’d been helpless. A spoiled heiress who had servants for everything. And now she could do it all herself.

She ordinarily wasn’t so jittery, but the sheriff had stopped by to let her know that James had escaped from prison this morning. The news wasn’t entirely a surprise—she’d known that James had many associates, and though Laura’s purse was now completely off-limits to James, they probably still felt a certain loyalty to him. Plus, who knows how much of her money he’d taken and stashed away before he’d gotten caught. Getting out of jail would be no problem for a man like James.

None of that mattered. She was fine. Everything would be fine. She had a new routine, a new life, and it would be fine. She just had to stop thinking about James and the potential threat he posed. And get her hands to stop shaking.

Though the sheriff had told Laura to be prepared because they thought James would be coming after her, she was trying not to worry. Many of his associates had gone to Mexico, and James would be safe from the law there. He wouldn’t risk getting caught with freedom so close at hand. Surely he wasn’t that stupid.

Yes. She was safe. Of course, she would be safe. She had no reason to worry, no matter what the sheriff said. He didn’t know James the way she did. James was a coward, who would run rather than risk getting caught. Hopefully soon she would get her nerves to calm down. She wasn’t the woman who jumped at her own shadow anymore.

Gathering the dirty sheets to take downstairs, Laura couldn’t help but smile at how different her life was now. While everyone in Denver had thought Laura had the perfect life back then, it had been the most miserable existence she’d ever known. She’d had money and servants, yes, but she’d also been married to a man who’d only wanted her for access to the wealth and power of her family’s fortune. When James didn’t get his way, he abused her in so many ways that Laura had quickly learned that it was easiest just to give him whatever he wanted.

However during James’s trial, when Laura was sequestered in a hotel where only the law could reach her, she’d been forced to do most things for herself. The more she did for herself, the more she found strength in knowing that she wasn’t as helpless as James had always told her. She wasn’t stupid, incompetent, worthless or any of the other horrible names James had called her.

One lawman in particular, Owen Hamilton, had given her the courage to do a lot of things for herself that she would have never imagined doing. Including divorcing James. Owen had even gone with her to present James with the divorce papers. A formality—however, it made Laura feel good to know that she could stand up to James once and for all.

Laura stood tall as she stepped back and examined her handiwork. The room was crisp, clean and beautiful.

After James’s trial, Laura had moved from Denver to Leadville, where she had opened her own boardinghouse. It wasn’t your usual sort of boardinghouse. Rather, it was meant for women like herself, women who were out of options and had no place to stay. It was so easy for men like James to catch up with their supposedly errant wives. The law was always on the husband’s side. A fact Laura knew only too well, considering all the times she’d tried to escape James’s clutches. Well, it hadn’t been all that many times. She’d learned rather quickly that running did her no good. And so she’d lived her life in meek acceptance because anything else seemed far too frightening.

Laura moved to the next room to pick up the rumpled sheets from the bed she’d already changed. Fortunately the last two boarders had left under good circumstances. They’d gone to stay with relatives who could support and protect them.

For once, Laura’s boardinghouse was empty. On one hand, she’d miss the company, but on the other hand, it was nice to have a break.

As Laura went down the steps, carrying the bundle of laundry, she saw someone on her front porch.

Owen Hamilton.

Funny that Laura had just been thinking about him, and here he was, standing on her doorstep. With sandy blond hair that hung in shaggy waves around his face and blue eyes that probably pierced even the most hardened criminal’s heart, Owen was still as devastatingly handsome as ever. True, his hair was longer and more unkempt, and he’d grown an equally unkempt beard, with rugged clothes to match, but there was no mistaking those warm eyes. Most people wouldn’t recognize him. Except for someone who’d grown to trust those eyes.

Even when Laura had been under his protection all those months ago, she’d felt a strange pull to him. There was something about Owen that drew her in a way she couldn’t explain. However, Owen had always been extremely professional. And so Laura kept Owen in that special place in her heart where all those schoolgirl crushes resided. Something to be sighed over with friends, but never acted upon.

She’d exercised such poor judgment in marrying James, thinking he loved her when he’d only loved her money. Back when they were courting, she’d thought him different from all the other men of her acquaintance. His character seemed above reproach. Back then, she’d mistaken the little ways he’d tried to control her as concern or caring. Of course, it hadn’t been until after they’d been married that he’d first hit her.

Entertaining romantic notions about anyone else... Laura couldn’t fathom doing such a thing except in the secret places of her heart. Her judgment was too poor, and even if someone as honorable as Owen declared his undying love for her, could she believe it to be true?

Laura opened the door and smiled at him. “It’s so nice to see you. What brings you here?”

Owen didn’t smile back. Unfortunately, that lack of smile told Laura everything she needed to know.

“I already heard. The sheriff was here to see me.”

“Good. Then we don’t have to waste time on explanations and small talk.”

“It’s not as though you’ve ever made a social visit before.” She sounded harsh, and she knew it, but after her short reminiscence about him, it stung to realize that he’d simply moved on with his life after the time they’d shared.

He took a step back as though she’d slapped him with the truth. In a way, it felt good to make him feel that way. After all, all those months in Denver, awaiting James’s trial, and the connection Laura had thought they’d shared... But when Owen had moved from Denver to Leadville, he hadn’t once come to visit her. She’d known he was in town, had even waved to him from across the church, but he hadn’t come to call. Even with their mutual friends, Laura was surprised at how little their paths crossed. No one brought up Owen in conversation, and it wouldn’t have been right for Laura to mention him either. It was as though their friendship in Denver had never happened.

Which was why Laura knew anything she felt for Owen was simply a schoolgirl infatuation. To Owen, Laura was just another case. Any thought she had that there might be something romantic was just a foolish notion, best put aside for someone who had more sense about the ways of women and men than she had.

“I suppose I should apologize for that,” Owen said. He shifted his weight uneasily on the porch. “The truth is, I don’t know what to say to you. I mean, we’re not...supposed to...become friends...with the people we’re hired to protect.”

Laura’s heart twisted, and her mouth opened to give a retort back, but then she realized he was only speaking the truth. Any implied gestures of friendship were just that—implied. Further proof that Laura couldn’t trust herself when it came to her heart.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. That was unkind of me.” She softened her expression and started again. “Would you like to come in?”

Owen gave a quick nod. “I think that would be best.”

There was a stiffness to Owen that hadn’t been there before. He was more formal, like her comment about his job had wounded him or perhaps had just reminded him of the truth. She truly had thought they’d become friends. Laura and Owen had been able to talk for hours, and sometimes at night, when Laura could not sleep for fear of the nightmares overtaking her, Owen would open the door to the hallway outside her room and sit with her. He on the chair outside the door, and she on a chair inside, so that no one could question the propriety of his actions.

As Laura stared at the lines on his face, she noted that new ones had formed where previously there been smooth skin. What had happened to him in the past year or so? Then, with a pang, she realized that in all of their talks, it had mostly been about her. She didn’t know anything about Owen Hamilton. Well, she knew that he liked his coffee strong and black. That when focused on a task, he seemed to be able to shut out everything else around him. He laughed at her jokes, which no one else seemed to understand. And he was kind, always thinking about her needs and putting himself out to make sure she had every comfort he could possibly provide. But anything else about him? Laura couldn’t say.

Where was he from originally? How long had he been a lawman? Why had he become a lawman? She couldn’t claim to know anything about his family or his hobbies outside of his work.

No wonder he considered her a job and not a friend. And no wonder Laura was so clueless when it came to matters of the heart. She would do better in the future to remember that any feelings she might be developing were based on her ignorance, not anything real.

Laura smiled at him and gestured toward the sofa in the parlor. “Please sit down. If you’ll give me a moment, I can find some refreshments. It won’t take long to make a pot of coffee.”

Owen shook his head. “As you’ve already surmised, this isn’t a social call. We need to get you somewhere safe.”

“What do you mean, ‘somewhere safe’?”

“James wants you dead. This is the first place he’ll look.”

Laura shook her head. “Maybe, but what he wants more than my death is his freedom. He can’t have enjoyed all that time in prison. Some of his associates are already in Mexico. He’ll go there.”

Information she’d already given the sheriff, which is why it seemed strange to have Owen here. He should know this already.

Owen looked at her like she was still the helpless woman he’d once protected. “You underestimate him. You destroyed James’s pride in the worst way. He’s coming after you. A man as arrogant as James is going to think that he can come to town unnoticed, kill you, then go on his way.”

Determination set in Laura. She wasn’t that woman anymore. The woman James had married didn’t exist anymore, much of that thanks to Owen. Besides, she knew James better than Owen did. “James isn’t stupid. He’s got to know that this is the first place the law will come looking.”

At the core, that’s the only thing that gave her hope that she’d be safe. James always took the easy way out, which was why he’d killed his mistress rather than have his infidelity exposed. But to kill someone he’d publicly threatened, who would surely be guarded...that was too complicated for a man like him.

Owen looked like he disagreed with Laura’s assessment, like she had no clue what she was up against. She squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye.

“Even if he does come after me, I still remember all the things you taught me. I keep a gun in my nightstand drawer. And just like you showed me, every now and again, I go out and practice shooting it.”