“I shouldn’t be here at all,” she mumbled back. “Degan was already taking me home, you know.”
“Yeah, sure. Jackson Bouchard said the gunfighter was wounded bad.”
“Jackson was a train-robbing liar,” she retorted. “Degan had mended enough to travel. We were leaving for Texas the next day. All you accomplished in stealing me from him was to piss him off. Betcha can guess how that’s gonna turn out when he finds you.”
Saul backed away from her. “Grant won’t think we headed west to go to Texas. Grady outsmarted him. I think you should put that gag back on before Grady gets here.”
She ignored the suggestion and went to stand at the window, letting the warm breeze help her clothes to dry. It was pointless to lie to Saul. He might be gullible enough to believe her every word, but what good would it do her? Grady was the one in charge, and Grady wouldn’t leave her ungagged long enough to let her say anything to him. Nor would he believe her if she did. None of which mattered. The deed was done. She was in their custody now. And Degan would come or he wouldn’t.
Chapter Forty
GRADY AND SAUL LET Max have the bed that night. She was surprised until she saw where they were sleeping. Grady stretched out in front of the door despite its being locked. Saul lay down in front of the window. She supposed that was one way to make sure she didn’t sneak off while they slept. But if there had been something hard in the room that she could have used to hit Grady over the head without waking Saul, she would have tried. But there wasn’t, at least not anything that wouldn’t make too much noise when it broke. So she was the first to drift off to sleep, and the last to rise.
Saul took her downstairs to eat breakfast while Grady went to visit Andy. Saul told her Andy was lucky. The bullet had lodged against one of his ribs before it could hit his heart. He had a cracked rib as well as a gunshot wound, but the doctor was optimistic and had assured Grady that Andy would make a full recovery with proper care—which didn’t include traveling anytime soon.
Grady obviously did care about his friend, but something was driving him to get back to Texas immediately, and it wasn’t her. Bingham Hills had waited nearly two years to hang her. A few extra weeks wasn’t going to make a difference. She suspected Grady’s fear of Degan was making him hurry. It had to be.
Did Grady expect to be killed the very moment Degan spotted him, no questions asked? Maybe. But then he didn’t know Degan, just that he was a gunfighter, dangerous, and fast. Reputations got exaggerated and tales got tall, depending on who was doing the telling, and Grady could have heard one of the more colorful tales about Degan that included body counts and the names of other famous gunfighters he’d supposedly killed. Either way, Grady wouldn’t know that Degan had a code of honor that demanded fair fights, and she wasn’t about to volunteer that information. Grady, worried, suited her just fine.
Grady returned before Saul and she finished eating and hurried them out of the hotel. By her reckoning they had about thirty minutes before the train departed. She was running out of time to come up with a plan to avoid getting on it. She gazed up and down the streets, looking for Degan. He’d be so easy to spot. But he wasn’t there, and the station was now in sight, the small building that housed the ticket-sales window and the telegraph, the platform where quite a few people were waiting to board or saying their good-byes, and the long train stretched out behind it. Degan wasn’t there either, the one place she figured he’d be—if he was in Butte.
She hadn’t done much fighting when she was put on that first train because her hands had been tied behind her back and the gag had been so tight. But knowing she was a dead woman the minute she stepped on this train, she yanked off her gag and started screaming and trying to yank her arm away from Grady. People began coming out of the shops to see why. Grady didn’t like that. She was making a spectacle of them. He was about to slap her into silence, drew his hand back for it. A shot was fired.
The sound wasn’t near them, but it was loud enough to give Grady pause. Max stopped screaming and tried to figure out where the shot had come from. She looked behind them, expecting to see the local sheriff or Deputy Barnes, but neither man was there. Ahead, the people on the platform had scattered and her heart leapt. Degan was stepping off the train. He’d heard her screaming! He’d been on the train making sure she hadn’t already boarded it.
She started to run toward Degan, but she’d forgotten about Grady’s hand on her arm, which had just tightened. So she swung around and slammed her bound hands toward his head. Damn, that hurt, but his grip went slack enough for her to pull away. She raced toward Degan before Saul tried to stop her. She wanted to throw herself into Degan’s arms but stopped short when she actually reached him. She wasn’t nuts. You didn’t do that to a man like him, especially when he might be getting into a gunfight at any moment. Actually, she was nuts. She couldn’t stay away from him and looped her arms around his neck. His arms moved around her and she heard him whisper, “Maxie.” Surrounded by his strength, she felt safe and happy.
He lifted her bound wrists from the back of his neck and set her back from him so his eyes could roam over her from top to bottom. They lingered on the gag at her throat that lay against the top of her bandanna. She brought the knot around to untie it. He moved her hands aside and did it for her.
She was grinning now, widely. He’d come for her! And he’d had to travel the same way they had, without stopping for baths or shaving or changing his clothes, without a decent night’s sleep. He wasn’t his usual spotlessly clean self, either. He was as dusty as they’d been when they’d got off the coach yesterday. He had to hate that, as fastidious as he was, but still he’d put up with it to travel the fastest way possible—to rescue her.
She still wanted to throw her arms around him, but caution prevailed. “I didn’t think you’d get here in time.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“No.”
“Are they legitimate?”
“Yeah, straight from Bingham Hills.”
He threw the gag on the ground behind him. His eyes were back on Grady and Saul, who were approaching so cautiously they weren’t even halfway there yet.
“Four tickets were bought in Bismarck,” Degan said to Max. “Where’s the third man who was with them?”
“Andy Wager got shot. He’s with the doc here in Butte. They’re in such a hurry to get home, they’re leaving him behind.”
“Did you do it?”
She shook her head. “It was stage robbers, who didn’t survive the attempt. I haven’t been able to get my hands on a gun since I left the cabin in Dakota. They have mine. I’d like it back. They gave away my horse, too, the bastards.”
“But otherwise you’re fine?”
“Aside from some chafing on my wrists from the ropes tying my hands, yeah, I couldn’t be better—now.” She smiled up at him.
“How did they manage to keep you gagged if you were able to reach the gag?”
“With threats of tying it tighter each time I did remove it,” she huffed.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t want to shut her up, too,” Grady said to Degan. “She jabbers incessantly.”
Max stiffened. She hadn’t heard their footsteps behind her. Grady had just sounded jocular. Really? This was how he was going to deal with Degan? She turned. Their weapons weren’t drawn. Smart of them. But they had to know they weren’t getting her back.
“It’s not what you think, Mr. Grant,” Grady continued hesitantly when Degan didn’t say a word to him. “They want her back in Texas for a different reason. But that’s not your concern.”
“Isn’t it? When you stole her from me?”
“If it’s a matter of the reward—?”
“It’s not.”
“Good, because all charges against her were dropped last year.”
Oh, sure, him they tell. Max snarled at Grady, “And why couldn’t you tell me that?”
But Degan pointed out, “You didn’t need to take her as you did if tha
t’s true.”
“No offense, Mr. Grant, but after what we heard about you, we didn’t want to butt heads with you out in the wilderness. And I wasn’t sure if you’d believe us when I told you that there is no longer a reward for her return.”
“I’m not a murderer,” Degan said coldly. “And I’d prefer not to become one today. So I suggest you tell me pretty quick why you took her at all—if she’s no longer wanted by the law.”
Grady started to reach inside his coat. Degan proved how fast he was with his gun. It was simply just there in his hand before anyone even saw him draw it.
Grady threw his hands up in the air quickly, saying, “The document in my coat will explain it.”
Degan didn’t holster his gun yet. “Get it and give it to Max—after you take that damn rope off her.”
With a wary eye on Degan, Saul stepped forward to cut the rope from her wrists. Max was amused that Degan sounded offended that they’d tied her when he’d done the same thing himself. But she didn’t show it. Both Grady and Saul looked tense. None of this made a lick of sense. The charges against her had been dropped? She couldn’t believe it! She was free? Unless Grady was just making a lame attempt to get Degan to simply walk away by feeding him some lies. But he could have done that at the cabin in Dakota if the charges against her had really been dropped. Actually, they had no business even being here if she was no longer wanted by the law.
Grady handed the folded document to her. She opened it and started reading, but didn’t get far. Wide-eyed, she looked up at Grady.
“Carl’s alive? I knew that old fart was too ornery to die!”
“Have some respect for our mayor—and your guardian,” Grady said testily.
Max paled. “My gran is dead?”
“No, she’s not. But the court ruled her incompetent to raise you.”
Max exploded, “Like hell she is!”
“It’s true,” Grady assured her. “Read the rest of the legal document and you’ll understand why. Ella Dawson let you grow up a wild tomboy. No one doubts she loves you, but she still let you do as you pleased instead of giving you proper guidance. She even let you take off on your own. Since there’s no male adult in your family, you and your brother were appointed a new guardian by the court. And I was tasked with bringing you home so you could get some proper rearing.”
“Why was Carl appointed?” she demanded.
“He was willing to take on the responsibility when no one else was.”
Her eyes narrowed on Grady. “Do you even know how old I am, Grady Pike? I don’t need a guardian.”
“You’re not twenty-one years old yet or married. And the law requires you to be in the care of a responsible adult until you are.”
Degan took the document from her, but was still staring coldly at Grady. “Wards aren’t supposed to be treated as prisoners, Mr. Pike.”
“It’s Sheriff Pike, and they are when they won’t come along peacefully.”
“Did you even ask her if she would?”
“He wouldn’t tell me a damn thing, Degan,” Max put in, “because he knew I wouldn’t believe him if he did.”
“You would have disappeared the first chance you got if you knew who your new guardian was.” Grady turned to Degan. “That document is legal, Mr. Grant.”
“The same way those wanted posters were legal?” Degan asked.
Grady turned red with anger and embarrassment.
Max demanded, “Why was I charged with murder when no one died?”
Fuming, Grady said, “You shot a man and he almost died.” But then he told Degan, “Show that document to the local judge if you still have any doubts. I knew Max would fight it, so we didn’t tell her. It’s that simple.”
“So is this,” Degan said. “She stays with me.”
Grady stiffened. “We can’t go home empty-handed.”
“You won’t.” Degan put his gun away. “I finished my business in Dakota. We would have been on our way to Texas, would have been married by now, too, if I didn’t get shot—and you didn’t interfere.”
“You were going to marry her?”
“I still am.”
It was a pretty good bluff, Max thought with a smirk.
But Grady called him on it. “Prove it.”
“Excuse me?”
“If she’s not married by the end of the day, she comes with us.”
Chapter Forty-One
“IN CASE YOU WERE wondering, I think your chatter is charming,” Degan said with his usual deadpan expression as they walked away from the train station.
Max burst out laughing. The remark definitely eased her tension. She wasn’t sure how Degan was going to get them out of this mess, but he must have something planned.
“I have your horse,” he added.
She squealed in delight and threw her arms around him again. He put his arms around her and squeezed her briefly, maybe a little too tightly, then let her go. His hands didn’t leave her though. They lingered on her waist. She liked the way they felt there. But she knew Grady was behind them, had begun following them the moment they’d left the train station. Degan was just putting on a show for him, no doubt, trying to convince him they were a happy couple. But he couldn’t appear too affectionate. He had his reputation to maintain, after all.
When they started walking again, she thought to ask, “How’d you get my horse back?”
“Bouchard was happy to return him.”
“Happy?”
“He felt obliged. Also felt obliged to tell me Grady was so desperate to get out of Bismarck he took the early westbound train.”
She grinned, but then groaned in disappointment. “But you couldn’t bring Noble with you, could you? If you took the stage to get here as fast as you did, you couldn’t have brought our horses along. They wouldn’t have had a chance to sleep.”
“The stage driver solved that dilemma. He suggested attaching a wagon bed to the back of the coach. He’d done it before, just not for such a long distance. But it worked. The wagon only needed to be replaced once because it wasn’t as sturdy as the coach. And since I bought all the seats in the coach, there wasn’t a lot of extra weight for the stage horses to pull.”
Max was amazed that he’d gone to so much trouble and expense for her. It smacked of his being desperate, yet she couldn’t imagine Degan Grant desperate.
“I really didn’t think you’d get here in time because I was sure you wouldn’t leave your palomino behind. I’m glad you figured out a way not to.”
“We’ll visit Noble after I have a bath.”
The church was in sight now and he was leading her toward it. “You were just kidding, right?”
Degan merely said, “I’d like to know what all my options are.”
They entered a plain, little church with a white steeple, but no one was there. Max sighed with relief until Degan took her hand and led her to the house next door. Max heard women talking and laughing inside.
Degan’s knock on the door was answered by an older woman, whose eyes widened at the sight of him. “Is this the preacher’s house?”
“Yes, it is, but he’s not home right now. I’m his wife. Perhaps I can help you?”
Two of the woman’s friends had joined her at the door. One held knitting needles and a spool of yarn in her hands. They’d apparently interrupted a sewing circle.
“I need the preacher to perform a marriage ceremony,” Degan explained.
“Your names?”
“Degan Grant and Maxine Dawson.”
The woman’s eyes widened even further, and one of her friends whispered something in her ear. The woman then smiled at Degan. “My husband should be home by five o’clock. I’m sure he’ll be able to oblige.”
“That’s fine, as long as he can marry us before sundown.”
Max knew Degan added that for the benefit of Grady and Saul, who were still following them at a discreet distance. Max and Degan continued on to find a hotel. Max directed Degan away from the one she’d
stayed at the previous night with Grady and Saul. Degan ordered bathwater. In their room, he sat down to read the guardianship decree. Grady had asked him to give it back, but Degan had ignored him. It was nice to know she wasn’t the only person Degan ignored.
But it was too bad his bluff had been called. He wouldn’t have been expecting that.
She moved to the window and saw Grady standing across the street watching the entrance to the hotel. Saul was probably around back doing the same thing. She and Degan wouldn’t be getting out of there before dark without being seen and stopped.
When Degan set the document aside after reading it, she asked, “Are you going to find a judge to verify that? Is that why you kept it?”
“I studied law at the college in Chicago at my father’s insistence. He wanted me to be capable of dealing with his lawyers as well as the ones they dealt with.” Degan waved a hand at the document. “I don’t doubt that the document is legitimate. But Carl Bingham’s means of obtaining it probably wasn’t.”
She nodded. “Bingham Hills doesn’t have a resident judge, just a circuit judge that comes by from time to time. He always stayed with the Binghams. Grady is in Carl’s pocket, the judge probably is, too.”
“Whether he is or whether he merely did his ‘host’ a favor is irrelevant. The document needs to be negated, and it specifically states what will do that, your reaching the age of twenty-one or your marrying. So we get married today.”
“But you weren’t serious about that!”
“I am now.”
“Why?”
“It’s the safest way to get you back to Texas and find out why Carl Bingham is so determined to control you. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to be a marriage in every sense of the word, merely one of legal convenience. I haven’t forgotten your prerequisite for marriage—some good, happy reasons I believe you said. Besides, there are ways to get ‘unmarried’ after we find out what’s going on in Bingham Hills.”
“You’re talking about an annulment?”
“Yes.”