Love in Disguise (29 page)

Without waiting for a reply, she set off toward the mercantile, walking quickly to put as much distance as possible between herself and the irate marshal. Steven joined her without a word. She could see the muscles in his jaw bunch as he marched along.

Just past the corner, he stepped off the boardwalk and drew her into the alleyway between the dressmaker’s shop and the mercantile. Without preamble, he blurted out, “How is your aunt?”

Given his brusque manner, that question was the last thing Ellie had been expecting. “She’s shaken and sore but as well as can be expected under the circumstances.” Her voice trailed off in a quaver when she finished.

Steven seemed to notice her unease and softened his tone. “I’m sorry. Learning she’d nearly been run down must have come as a shock to you. I’m sure you must be rattled, as well.”

More than he knew. Ellie lifted her chin and tried not to think about the way her left leg throbbed and how sore her arms were where the smithy grabbed her before throwing her to safety. She fully expected a bumper crop of bruises to blossom by morning.

“I’m not sure how to say this. There’s something I feel your aunt should know, but I don’t want to alarm her, especially after what she’s been through today.”

Ellie’s hand flew to her throat. “What has happened? Another robbery?”

“I wish it were that simple.” Steven paused a moment as if searching for the right words. “I’ve been talking to Jake Freeman. He told me about pinning Clifford Watson’s ears back after he let that team run away. Clifford swears those old horses of his are the laziest pair around. He didn’t think they had that kind of life left in them, said they acted like they’d been stung by a hornet. When Jake helped unharness them, he checked the horses over to see if he could find anything to explain them acting up like that. He found a good-sized welt on the flank of the near-hand horse.”

Ellie nodded, trying to appear attentive while her gaze roamed over Steven’s rugged features. This was the first time she’d been with him since their unexpected meeting at the river. If she hadn’t let her emotions get the better of her and hurried off so abruptly, she felt sure their time together would have ended much differently. Perhaps with a stroll along the river beneath the arching canopy of cottonwood branches. She even dared to imagine him taking her in his arms.

Her heart beat faster at the mere thought.

She traced his lips with her gaze and realized Steven had quit talking and was looking at her as if expecting a response. What had he been saying? She ran her mind back over the last words she remembered hearing. “Oh yes, the welt on the horse’s flank. So it was a stinging insect of some sort?”

Steven looked at her with the same expression one would use in dealing with a backward child. “This is February. Do you see any bees or wasps flying around?”

Ellie shook her head, feeling every bit the dullard he evidently thought she was.

“Jake checked the welt closely. It was tender—the horse flinched when he touched it. But he couldn’t find a stinger or anything else to account for it.” A ridge formed between his eyebrows.

Ellie tried hard to keep her attention focused on the topic at hand, but it was hard to do when her mind kept wandering. What would it feel like to rub those creases from his forehead? He’d lost her, at any rate. She hadn’t the slightest idea what he’d been getting at. Still, she ought to make some effort at keeping up her end of the conversation. “So the horse is all right?”

Steven shook his head. “All Jake could think of was that the welt looked like something you’d see as the result of a whiplash, or maybe a rock flung from a slingshot. But Clifford swears he never picked up a whip, and Jake believes him.

“So do I, for that matter. Clifford doesn’t have any more get-up-and-go than his horses do. He’d not be likely to hurry them along that way, especially not in the middle of town when he’d almost reached Jake’s shop.”

A feeling of foreboding crowded out the delight of imagining what it would be like for Steven’s lips to touch hers. The contrast jarred her, something like the way Juliet would have felt if she’d toppled off her balcony, plummeting past Romeo to land on the cobblestones below.

“You’re saying it was a prank? Some urchin with a slingshot caused that accident? Why, I could have been . . . I could have lost my aunt.”

“I don’t think—”

“Which boy was it? Billy Taylor?” The more she remembered the fear and danger of that moment, the more her anger grew. “That sounds like something he might do. Do you think it was him?” If it was within her power, Ellie would have been glad to rain fire down on the little wretch. “I’ll tell his mother. No, better yet, I’ll wring his scrawny neck myself.”

“Jessie.” She felt a gentle pressure on her shoulder. Through the mist of rage that shrouded her vision, she realized Steven was squeezing her arm.

“What?” With an effort, Ellie reined in her ire and pulled herself back to the moment.

“I don’t think it was a childish prank.” Steven stared at her intently, as if waiting to see whether his words would sink in.

“Then what . . . ? Who . . . ?”

“It could have been done intentionally.”

Steven had her full attention now.

“What I’m trying to say is, there’s a possibility that someone deliberately spooked those horses in an attempt to run your aunt Lavinia down.”

Ellie gaped at him. A tendril of dread coiled its way up her spine. “That’s ridiculous! Why would anyone do such a thing?”

“I’m not sure, but it may not be the first time they’ve tried.” His lips pressed together. “Did your aunt tell you about the collapse in the mine?”

She nodded her head.

“My foreman discovered that was no accident, either. At first I assumed it was an attack directed at me, that somebody wanted me out of the way so they could get their hands on the Redemption. I never dreamed anyone might be trying to harm Lavinia until this happened today and I started putting the pieces together.”

“You mean . . . you’re saying someone is trying to kill . . .” Ellie’s vision closed in around the edges, as if she were looking down a long, dark tunnel. Her knees buckled, and she began to sway.

She heard Steven say something, but his words were distorted, as if coming from a great distance. His hand slid past her shoulder and circled around her back, catching her before she could slump to the ground. She leaned against him as he half led, half carried her to the bench in front of the dressmaker’s shop.

The irony of the situation didn’t escape her in spite of her hazy thoughts. Only moments before she had been longing for Steven to take her in his embrace. And now she rested in the circle of his arms, but she was too numb to fully appreciate the experience.

He let her sink onto the bench and steadied her with one hand while he fanned her with the other. Keeping a firm grip on her arm, he knelt down beside her, his face mere inches from hers. “I guess I should have broken the news to you a bit more gently.”

His breath grazed her cheek, jolting Ellie back to awareness as effectively as if he’d waved smelling salts under her nose. She looked deep into his eyes, feeling as though she were being drawn into their deep brown pools.

The crease between his eyebrows deepened. “Are you all right?”

Ellie nodded. The numbness was definitely fading now, leaving her all too aware of the warmth of his touch. Every nerve ending in her arm tingled.

A warm smile curved his full lips. “I’m glad, Jessie. Really glad.”

“Me too.” The simple statement was truer than he could imagine. It was worth that kind of shock to experience this closeness and see the tender concern in his face. She longed to admit to every deception, every lie, so nothing stood between them and they could start anew.

I’m the Pinkerton agent you sent for. I’m here to find the men who have been stealing your silver.
The words trembled on her lips, ready to spill forth and end the secrecy. It was time he learned the truth.

Much of the reason for keeping her identity secret was to protect her from those who would want to thwart her efforts. But Steven was not one of those evildoers. She knew it in her heart. He was the soul of integrity through and through. She should tell him. They could work together to find the robbers and bring them to justice. And then . . .

And then . . . what?

The tenderness she saw in Steven’s eyes was for Jessie Monroe, not for Ellie Moore. What would he do if she stood before him as herself? If Jessie’s wig and makeup were gone, and he saw her as just plain Ellie?

She knew the answer to that question. Jessie dazzled everyone who met her—Steven included. But he wouldn’t look twice at mousy Ellie Moore.

The harsh truth struck her like a blast of icy air off Lake Michigan. She was in Pickford because she had a job to do. And finishing that job would save Steven’s mine. That was what counted, not her romantic fantasies. She needed to keep her focus where it mattered.

Once she solved the case, her future with the Pinkerton Agency would be secured. She would investigate more cases and solve more crimes. She might even build a brilliant career as their premier woman detective.

But she would never find someone who made her feel the way Steven did. He smiled again, and Ellie’s heart wrenched.

“Should we tell your aunt about my suspicions? I don’t want to frighten her, but it’s important that she keep her guard up.”

“But why?”

He leaned back, as if confused by her question. “Why?”

“Yes, why would anyone try to hurt her?” She thought she knew the answer but was curious about what he saw as the reason for the attacks.

“Well, I’m afraid it is because of her interest in investing in my mine—and she does ask a lot of questions. I’ll talk to her soon about spreading word around town that she is no longer interested in investing in the Redemption, but I thought it best you talk to her first.”

Ellie bobbed her head. “Yes, that makes sense. I’ll be sure to let her know.”

Steven’s smile stretched into a rueful grin. “It’s probably best that you have her sit down before you break the news. I’m sure you’ll do a better job than I did.” The light in his eyes faded, and the grin slid from his face. “I’m not entirely sure that you’re safe, either.”

Ellie’s mouth sagged open.

“It’s something we probably have to face. They might not believe she has changed her mind and could try to get to Lavinia through you.” Steven stroked her cheek with his thumb, sending a delicious wave of warmth surging through her. “I don’t think I could bear it if anything happened to you,” he whispered.

Her throat constricted. “I’ll try to be careful. I’ll do everything I can think of to keep myself safe. I promise.”

“There may be more than one way you need to guard yourself.” Steven looked down and cleared his throat, then resumed eye contact. “I was just talking with Jake Freeman. With all the times you’ve stopped by the smithy, he’s convinced you’ve set your cap for him.”

Ellie caught her breath. “You don’t mean it.”

“I do. More importantly, Jake does. He’s already spinning daydreams and building castles in the air about a future together. Not only that, but I noticed you talking with Marshal Bascomb when I came up. It isn’t the first time I’ve seen you chatting with him . . . and others around town who are no better than he is.”

His words doused the warmth in her veins like a splash of cold water.

“I’m sure you don’t know what kind of man he is, or the sort of reputation he and those other men have. But reputation is a precious thing, and I don’t want to see you get yourself into a situation that would tarnish yours. So while you’re making promises, would you also promise me you’ll be more careful about where you spend your time and who you talk to?” Steven’s dark eyes gazed into hers with an intensity that left her breathless.

She ran the tip of her tongue across lips that felt as dry as sandpaper. “I . . . can’t do that.”

Steven drew back as if she’d slapped him. “What?”

Ellie rose quickly, bringing a stab of protest from her stiff muscles and knocking Steven off balance. “I said I can’t make that promise.”

Steven scrambled to his feet and loomed over her, standing so close she took a step back. “I don’t understand.”

He advanced a step, and Ellie moved back again, coming up hard against the front wall of the dressmaker’s shop. The sharp nubs of the rough-cut boards jabbed into her shoulder blades.

He reached out his hand but drew it back before he touched her. “I thought there was something between us, Jessie. Was I wrong?”

No!
The denial reverberated through Ellie’s brain as she struggled to keep her outward composure. She hated being the cause of the pain she could see etched on his face. But those were Ellie’s emotions. Jessie had to be a stronger person.

She grasped for words, knowing that any explanation she might make wouldn’t satisfy. “I want to experience the West. I know these men are a little rough around the edges, but it’s the only opportunity I may ever have to meet the kind of people I’ve only read about.”

Steven stared at her as though she’d lost her mind. “Don’t you understand? These men aren’t gentlemen. I don’t want to see you hurt . . . maybe even ruined.”

Ellie averted her gaze and looked past him. Farther down the boardwalk, a couple stared at the spectacle she and Steven were creating. A lanky cowboy strolled past, a knowing smirk on his face.

She steeled herself and met his eyes again. “Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.”

The anguish in his eyes was no match for the misery in her heart. With all her being, she longed to reach out, cup his cheek in her hand, and tell him how she truly felt. But that wasn’t possible. Feeling a profound sense of loss, she turned and started to walk away.

Quick as lightning, Steven’s hand shot out and gripped her arm. He spun her back to face him. “That isn’t good enough, Jessie. We need to talk about this.”

Ellie put her hands up to catch her balance, and they came up hard against Steven’s chest. She could feel his heartbeat through the fabric of his broadcloth shirt, pressed flat under her splayed fingers. Everything around them faded away. The only thing she was aware of at the moment was the man standing over her, filling her senses and drawing her ever closer.