Wild Lilly (32 page)

Closing her eyes, Estrella dropped her hands to her lap as sorrow filled her beautiful face. Abruptly she turned away. “I’m a whore.”

Lilly held her breath. What was Estrella doing? Was she trying to chase him away?

Leaning forward, Cìarán grabbed Estrella’s hand in his. “Who said that about you? I’ll kill him.”

Her bitter laugh was cut off by a sob. “You don’t understand. I work at a dance-hall in Caldwell.” She turned to him, shame and anger pinching her beautiful face into a mask of hurt. “I was Paul’s mistress, not his fiancé.”

Estrella’s shoulders hunched as if she were expecting a blow. Lilly realized that was exactly what Estrella feared, not a blow to the body but a blow to the heart.

Cìarán studied Estrella. “Why?”

Looking startled, she repeated his question. “Why?”

“Yes. Why do you sell your body?” He leaned forward and captured her gaze with his own. “Please, tell me the truth. I promise I won’t judge you.”

“I killed a man.”

Lilly bit back a gasp. This must be what Lee was using to blackmail Estrella.

“Why?”

Her lovely dark eyes filled with tears and Cìarán shifted forward on the couch. “He killed my husband after a card game.”

Now he did pull her close, holding her tight as she continued. “He was the son of the governor of Texas.” Cìarán let out a low whistle. “I wasn’t thinking straight. I only wanted revenge. His...his maid saw me leave the bedroom covered in blood.” Her hands crept up around his waist and she held him back. “I rode north until my horse gave out and found myself in Caldwell. Alone, without a past or a penny to my name, I found work at a dance-hall.”

She pushed back from his chest and he stroked a finger down her cheek. “I didn’t just sleep with anyone. I had a few regular customers that paid me well and treated me like a lady. I’ve been saving my money to buy some land in Canada and start a new life for myself.”

“Is that why you’re working for this Krisp?”

“No. Lee is a bastard.” She gripped his shirt with obvious strength. “He wants me to kill Lilly. That’s why I came here. I have to figure out a way to save her and Owen. You can’t let him kill her.”

Gathering her skirts, she slid down to her knees before him. “I will do anything you ask. Please, help me save them.” With trembling hands she stroked his leg up toward his hip.

The heartbreak and defeat in her voice hurt Lilly’s heart. She had no idea how hard Estrella’s life had been, and she felt awful for having judged her so quickly.

“Estrella, no.”

“No?” The word was an anguished whisper.

He shook his head and gave her a small smile. “Yes I will help you, but no, I will not take your body as payment.” He pulled her onto the couch next to him. “We will find a way to save Lilly and Owen. And when this is over, I want more than your body.”

Her eyes fluttered shut as he brushed his lips against hers.

“I want your heart.”

Instead of taking her lips in the passionate kiss Lilly expected, Cìarán stroked Estrella’s face gently, letting Estrella lead their kiss. Lilly’s eyes filled with tears at the sight. That was how Paul kissed her, as if she were the most precious thing in the world. She missed him desperately.

Their lips were ripped apart as the train screeched to a halt with a scream of abused brakes. Falling to the floor, Cìarán narrowly missed being hit in the head by a falling glass.

Lilly rolled out of bed and slammed her shoulder on the doorframe with a curse.

“What’s going on,” she asked, and hauled herself to her feet, trying to look out the pitch-black window.

A loud bang at the door of the compartment made them all turn.

What used to be the lock was now a smoking hole. The wood doorframe splintered and the door was kicked in. A large man with his face covered by a red bandana stormed into the dimly lit room. Another man masked by a faded green bandana under a dark Stetson came through the wrecked door. Both men pointed their guns directly at Cìarán.

Estrella ducked behind Cìarán and Lilly tried to dive back into the darkness of the sleeping quarters. The man with the green bandana spoke firmly.

“Hold it right there, Miss. Don’t you go makin’ no sudden moves, less’n you want yer husband here full of holes.” His eyes darted behind Estrella. “I see you hiding back there. Best join your friends ’fore I have ta come back there for ya.”

Cìarán cut Estrella off as she opened her mouth to protest. “Do as they say, my love.”

Slamming her mouth shut, Estrella watched the two men look around the private car as Lilly came out of the bunk area and gripped her hand.

“Woo-wee, this sure is a nice place. Takes lots of money to ride in one of these.” The man in the blue bandana held up the crystal glasses at the bar.

“Sure do,” the man in the green bandana said.

Cìarán shifted forward and both guns swung in his direction. “Don’t get jumpy, my friend. Jes’ give us the money in yer wallet and we’ll be on our way.”

Cìarán took out his wallet and tossed it on the floor. “My wife and sister have no jewelry on them. We left it at home.”

“Well, ain’t that too bad.” The man in the green bandana flipped through the wallet and whistled. “This sure is a lot of money to be carryin’ around. Bet you have a lot more back home.”

“Bet he do,” agreed the man in the blue bandana.

The man in the green bandana jerked Estrella from behind Cìarán. “Here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna take yer wife with us. Then yer gonna find a way to get some money real quick-like. We’ll keep her nice and safe with us, and send a friend to Kansas City in five days. He’ll find you at the Gibson Hotel in the parlor at five o’clock.”

He clasped Estrella to his side. “If you ain’t there, well, we’ll just have some fun with your missus.”

Cìarán’s jaw clenched as he said in a deadly calm voice, “You’re making a big mistake.”

The men laughed as Estrella struggled to get out of his grip. He slapped her and Lilly lunged forward, grabbing at his arm. “Stop that!”

The man in the blue bandana hit Estrella square on her temple with his fist and she slumped to the carpet. Lilly screamed as the man holding her brought his fist around. Bright stars flashed before her eyes and she slouched in his grip.

With a roar, Cìarán charged at them and tripped on the empty bourbon bottle.

The man in the blue bandana pistol-whipped Cìarán across the back of the head. Blackness totally claimed Lilly’s vision and she slipped into unconsciousness.

Chapter Twenty Two

Feathers and Bullets

Paul stared into his coffee cup and watched the dark liquid sway with the movements of the train. “It’s my fault.”

“What’s your fault?” Catherine asked in a gentle voice as she set her fork down.

From the table next to them, an elderly couple laughed together as they shared their breakfast. Their joy only served to deepen his misery and self-disgust.

“God took Lilly away from me as a punishment for my sins.”

“Paul! That is the silliest thing you’ve ever said.”

Raising his dry and aching eyes from the coffee cup, he found Sleeping Bear watching him closely. “You were right, you know.”

“Right about what?” Sleeping Bear asked.

“I was only using Lilly to get to her land.” He ignored Catherine’s gasp of shock. “At first I was just going to get her to sell it to me. I figured she was one of those flighty socialites and I could charm it out of her. When that didn’t work, I….” Guilt closed his throat and he coughed. “I was going to marry her, and then do something horrible so she would go back east and leave me with the land in Caldwell.”

Sleeping Bear growled and his big hands tightened into fists.

Catherine’s eyes snapped with fury. “Paul McGregor, somewhere in heaven our parents are ashamed of you. Lilly loves you! How could you even imagine doing that to her?”

He held his hands out to them, desperate to make them understand his self-loathing. “I know. That’s why God is punishing me by taking her away. I took his greatest gift, love, and spit all over it. I was too stupid and afraid to admit even to myself that I loved her.”

Rubbing her face, Catherine said, “God doesn’t work like that, Paul. While I think you’re a horrible person for manipulating such a sweet and innocent girl that way, God would
not
put Lilly’s and Owen’s life in danger just to punish you.”

For a brief moment her words soothed him, but he damned himself for even thinking she could be right. “I’ve been praying for a second chance, for an opportunity to make this right. With all my heart and soul I’ve been begging God’s forgiveness.” His voice broke. “The only answer I’ve gotten is an endless stream of horrible visions about all the things that could be happening to Lilly.”

The low rumble of Sleeping Bear’s voice reached his ears. “We will find her. The Great Spirit brought me with you for a reason. It was not to bury Lilly.”

Squeezing his eyes shut, Paul whispered, “Please God, please help me find her.”

The train screeched to a halt, and Paul hissed as his hot coffee splashed on his hand. The conductor ran toward the engine and the dining car filled with excited conversation. Sleeping Bear glanced out the window with a frown as Catherine stood to try to get a better view.

“Why did the train stop?” Catherine asked and pressed her face to the thick glass.

Paul stood and adjusted his gun belt. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.” Every second they waited could be the second that cost Lilly her life. The combination of adrenaline and coffee made his movements stiff and jerky.

Sleeping Bear followed him to the exit, and together they jumped down from the train. A group of men were huddled around the massive engine, pointing to something ahead. As Paul rounded the car, he was astonished to see another train sitting in the middle of the tracks. There was luggage tossed on the ground, and wooden crates were broken open with their contents scattered. His mouth thinned into a hard line when he saw a body sticking out of the high grass next to the tracks. Relief filled him as he noted the body wore pants and not a dress.

“Sir, you’re going to have to get back on the train,” one of the conductors ordered.

Paul ignored him. Something in his bloodshot gaze made the conductor back up and let them pass. It might have helped that Sleeping Bear gave an impressive growl at the man. They stopped on the edge of the group of men and listened to the bruised and bloodied conductor from the other train.

“One injury when a guy tried to stop the train robbers from taking his wife and sister. They knocked him out and left with the women. We just found him this morning after we managed to untie our ropes.” The conductor pointed to a man who sat on the last step of stairs leading to a private car of the abandoned train. He held his head in his hands and did not look up. “They killed our engineer when he tried to overtake one of the gang.”

Paul’s heart went out to the man whose wife and sister were taken. He knew what it was like to lose your loved one and was in the same hell at the moment. Paul glanced over at Sleeping Bear, who nodded. They went over to the man to offer their condolences. Though no one said it, everyone knew that the women were as good as dead.

“Real sorry to hear about your wife and sister,” Paul lamented in a gentle voice.

The man’s head whipped up. He had a large knot on his forehead. His eyes grew wide in astonishment as he gaped at them. For a second, Paul thought he was going to pass out and he moved closer to catch the man if he fell.

“Paul McGregor?” The man’s voice had a thick rough Irish accent.

Paul jerked back and inspected the man. He wasn’t familiar in any way. Paul would have remembered this man’s strong jaw and green eyes. “Do I know you?”

The man let out a despair-filled chuckle. “No, but I know you.”

Sleeping Bear moved closer to Paul and stared at the man. Paul tried to search his memory, but lack of sleep and a diet of coffee had left his head muzzy.

The man glanced at Sleeping Bear and sighed. “If you promise not to kill me, I’ll help you find Lilly and Estre—”

His hands wrapped around the man’s throat before his brain even had time to process the words. “Where is she?” He tried to choke the answer out of the man.

Hands pulled him off and Sleeping Bear’s thick arm tightened around his neck. Paul fought them all and the man slumped to the ground, rubbing his throat. He managed to rasp out, “It’s all right. This man is a friend of my wife. And as her friend, he’s going to help me find her. Isn’t that right, Paul?”

Paul jerked away from Sleeping Bear and spat on the ground. “Where is she?”

“Robbers took them. They left a pretty clear trail, but I don’t have a horse to follow them or provisions for the trip.” The man staggered to his feet and rubbed his throat again. “Come inside with me, we need some privacy.”

Sleeping Bear and Paul followed the man into the wrecked private car. Glass crunched under his boots as he strode over a carpet littered with shards of crystal. An empty mirror frame hung above the remains of a bar.