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After the Ashes(115)

By:Cheryl Howe


Despite his obvious weakness, Douglas stepped back as if he expected Braddock to leap off the bed and do him serious bodily harm. “I’ve treated her with nothing but respect, Chris.”

“You’d better have. She’s going to be my wife.”

The burly doctor trudged to Braddock’s side and eased him back onto the bed. “You lose any more blood, Mr. Braddock, and there will be nothing anyone can do for you.”

Douglas ran his hands through his hair. He looked as dazed as if Braddock had given him the blow he so dearly deserved. “Is that really necessary? True, she nursed you back to health, but—”

“But what?” Threat remained in Braddock’s voice, though with the help of the doctor, his head again rested firmly on a feather stuffed pillow.

“But nothing.” Douglas seemed to search for something to say. “She just never mentioned you two had that kind of relationship.”

“Would you have believed her if she did?”

“The circumstances of your shooting were strange. You never miss. There was the chance you had a lover’s quarrel. Or Lorelei was in on it with her brother and needed to get rid of you.”

Braddock swung his heated gaze to the doctor, who watched with open interest.

“Get out. I need to talk to Douglas in private.”

The doctor stiffened. “You, sir, are the most ungrateful patient I have ever had the misfortune to treat.” He left the room without a backward glance.

Douglas watched the doctor’s exit, looking as if he longed to join him. He rested his hand on his pistol before he faced Braddock again. “I was just doing my job. Lorelei and her brother are in trouble. Trouble I didn’t create.”

“I know you, Douglas. You’d interrogate your grandmother if you thought she had something to hide.”

“And what does Lorelei have to hide?”

“She’d do anything to protect her brother. Or me.” And for the first time, Braddock knew that to be true.

“Unfortunately, when your brother’s a criminal that’s against the law.” Douglas rubbed the back of his neck. “They’re turning up the heat in Washington. If the Rio Grande Railroad goes belly-up over this, important men will lose their fortunes. They want the gold, but if they can’t have it, they’ll take blood.”

“Fine. But it’s not going to be Lorelei’s or her brother’s.”

Douglas shook his head. “I have no other leads. Mulcahy and his gang are done, but the gold wasn’t at their camp.”

Douglas studied him, and Braddock was too weak to put on a good poker face. “What do you know? You used to be able to tell me anything.”

“I’ll find the gold. You know I’m a better tracker than you.”

“Why did you leave in such a hurry, anyway?”

“I had that feeling. When I didn’t find Ricochet at the camp, I knew Lorelei was in danger.”

Douglas laughed. “Yeah. That feeling used to save your butt.”

Braddock’s dried lips cracked, but it didn’t stop the smile that crept across his face. “It did this time, too. If something had happened to Lorelei, it would have done me in.”

Douglas sank into the chair next to the bed. “I can’t believe this. That bullet did more damage than you realize. You’ve gone soft on me. You of all people.”

In spite of the ache in every part of his body, Braddock laughed. “It’s really not that bad.”

Douglas leaned back in the chair. “Is she pregnant? Is that what all this marriage talk is about?”

“Nah, I’m just in love.”

Douglas made a wounded sound. “Better you than me, pal. Better you than me. I’d rather take a shot to the chest.”

Braddock pressed a hand against the bandages binding his wound. “A shot to the chest hurts worse. Believe me.”

***



Lorelei flinched when a firm knock sounded at the door. She jumped from the chair she had dragged next to the washstand and paced a semicircle around the bed, looking for a better place to hide the rest of the gold. The hotel’s plastered walls collapsed to the stark perimeters of a jail cell.

She glanced at the pitcher. The gold seemed to radiate through the porcelain like the guilt shining off her skin. She feared everyone would know by one simple glance.

“Lorelei? Are you all right?” called Douglas. The slight panic in his voice forced her to forget that the marshal was the last person in the world she wanted to see.

She rushed to the door and flung it open. “Is Christopher all right?”

“He’s fine. He’s up and talking.” Douglas paused. “And yelling.”