The Heart's Pursuit Page 16

“They weren’t bothering me,” Jared said.

  “Perhaps not, Mr. Newman,” Corinne replied as she came toward him. “But they know the rules.”

  “Rules?”

  “Gentlemen callers are rarely received. Only on very special occasions. As for those two?” Her smile was tender. “Idonna and Helene are much too young to entertain gentlemen callers at any time.”

  “Where is Silver?”

  “She’ll be down presently. In the meantime, let’s sit down. Oh, good. The coffee is here.” She settled onto a sofa. “Chung is the most remarkable man. I have two maids who help with the housework and a wonderful woman to do the cooking. And, of course, there’s the groom to care for the horses. But Chung truly runs everything. Did you see the gardens? They are his creation.”

  “Very pretty,” he replied, not caring one bit about her gardens.

  Corinne poured coffee into a china cup and held it out to him. He took it, then set it on a table next to his chair. He wanted answers, but he wasn’t going to get them from this woman. He could tell that.

  “Hello, Jared.”

  His pulse jumped at the sound of Silver’s voice. He rose and turned toward the doorway.

  He hardly recognized her. The simple blouse and split riding skirt were gone. In their place she wore a rose-colored gown that had to be in the latest style. It made her look like royalty, framed by the archway, holding her slender form erect, her head high, her expression sure and proud. Trail dust was gone, as was the exhaustion that had weighed upon her shoulders for the weeks they were together. A beautiful, confident woman had replaced the desperate girl.

  “I didn’t know if I would ever see you again.” She moved toward him, accompanied by the soft swish of silk skirts.

  “I can explain.”

  “Can you? I believe I’d like to hear that.” She turned toward Corinne Duvall. “May we have some privacy, Miss Corinne?”

  “You know the rules,” the woman answered, “but I shall withdraw across the parlor.”

  Jared longed to put her from the room, forcibly if necessary. Instead he drew Silver to the mantel beneath Corinne’s portrait. “What is this place? Where’s Dean? Are you all right?”

  “Dean is here. We’re both fine.” Her voice was soft and calm, but he heard the hurt all the same.

  “I didn’t just leave you in Winnemucca.”

  Silver’s eyebrows rose.

  “No, I did leave you, but there was a good reason. I heard Carlton might be in jail up in Idaho Territory, so I went to see if it was him.”

  “And it wasn’t,” she said.

  “No, it wasn’t.”

  “So you came to Virginia City to find him.”

  “No, I came to find you.”

  The look she gave him said she didn’t believe him yet.

  He pressed on. “Before I caught the stage to Silver City, I sent you a note of explanation along with money to hold you over until I got back. I was wrong not to tell you in person. And I sure never expected the clerk would keep the money himself. I couldn’t believe it when I got back and found you’d sold Cinder and caught the train to come here on your own.”

  “What else could I do?” she asked softly. “I had only a little money, and you were gone.”

  You could have waited for me. You should have trusted me. “I brought Cinder with me.”

  “Cinder?” Silver whispered, eyes widening again.

  He jerked his head in the general direction of the front door. “She’s tied up outside.”

  “You bought her back from the blacksmith?”

  “Yes.”

  “How could you afford it?”

  “Wells, Fargo didn’t want a disgruntled customer saying their agents can’t be trusted. They gave me back what was stolen and then some. Enough to take us back to Colorado if we’re careful.”

  “Back to Colorado,” Silver said softly, then walked back to the settee and sat, folding her hands in her lap.

  He followed and sat beside her.

  She stared at her hands. “A week ago I saw a man who looked like Bob. It frightened me, even though I knew it couldn’t be him. It made me wonder if I should ever have hired you to chase Bob down. I’ve become so obsessed with getting the money and jewels back or maybe getting some of the reward for Matt Carlton, and it’s made me imagine things and make foolish choices.”

  Jared had thought her foolish too, but he understood a thing or two about that kind of obsession.

  “If Miss Corinne hadn’t rescued Dean and me off the streets of Virginia City, I don’t know what would have become of us.”

  “I’m here now,” he said. “I’ll take care of you.”

  “Why?” She looked up. “Why would you?”

  Because I’ve fallen in love with you.

  “Why, Jared?”

  “I hoped you’d know why.”

  He placed the flat of his hand against her cheek. All he wanted to do was draw her into his arms and kiss her until they were both breathless. He wanted to take her in his arms and carry her out of this house and out of this town. He wanted to put an end to the old chapter of his life. He wanted something better, something finer, something new. He wanted Silver.

  Corinne Duvall cleared her throat, and Jared stopped himself from following his instincts. A good thing too. He needed to capture Matt Carlton. He couldn’t have something better and finer and new without putting an end to the old, once and for all.

  He rose to his feet. “I’m going to talk to the sheriff and look around Virginia City. But I promise you this, Silver: I won’t leave again without you. Not for any reason. I think you’re safe here with this woman, or I’d take you and the boy with me right now. I’ll be back for you. Trust me.”

  CHAPTER 30

  The man from the street, the one who looked so much like Bob Cassidy, was in the Rainbow Saloon that night, playing poker. And when Silver saw him from across the vast public room, her reaction was the same as it had been before. Surprise. Shock. Dread.

  But it’s not Bob. It’s not him, no matter how much he looks like him. Bob is dead. Jared buried him.

  Jared. She would concentrate her thoughts on Jared instead of that stranger. She had no reason to be afraid of anything now. Jared had promised he would return for her. She would watch for him. She would watch for him tonight and, if needed, the next night and the next. She would watch for him here at the Rainbow in the evenings, and she would watch for him on the road leading to the Duvall home in the daytime.

  “I hoped you’d know why.” The memory of his words and the way he’d said them poured over her like warm honey. It might be crazy, but she did know why. Why he’d bought back her horse. Why he’d come to Virginia City. Now. At last. Somewhere between Twin Springs and Virginia City, she’d learned to love him—and he’d learned to love her too.

  It worked . . . a little. Thinking about Jared made her forget for a time the man who resembled Bob. Made her forget him right up until he left the card table and came across the vast room to where she stood, momentarily alone.

  “Pardon me. Is your name Silver, by any chance? Silver Matlock?”

  Her stomach seemed to drop and her breath catch. How could he know her name? He was a stranger to her.

  “I see I have surprised you.”

  She looked around for one of several men Corinne employed to protect her girls and keep order in the saloon. They all seemed to have disappeared.

  “Might we sit down and talk for a bit?” The man motioned toward an unoccupied corner.

  She didn’t want to go with him, didn’t want to be near someone who reminded her of her erstwhile fiancé, now dead and buried on a homestead in eastern Nevada. But providing feminine conversation and company was what Corinne had hired her to do. What else could she do but nod and walk to the indicated settee?

  The stranger sat beside her, a polite distance away. “When I saw you, I couldn’t believe it was really you. You are even more beautiful than your photograph.”

 
Her pulse hiccupped again. “My photograph?”

  “The one my brother carried with him.”

  “Your brother?”

  “Robert. Robert Cassidy.”

  Bob’s brother? She’d thought him dead too. Hadn’t Bob told her his half brother was dead?

  “My half brother,” he said, confirming her thoughts. “We got our looks from our mother rather than our different fathers.” He smiled slowly. “My name is Carlton. Matthew Carlton.”

  Her blood turned to ice in her veins. This man had murdered time and again. And now he knew who she was.

  “I’m curious to know how you wound up in Virginia City, Miss Matlock.”

  She forced a soft laugh, pretending an ease she didn’t feel. “I’m not sure how it happened myself.”

  “Please. Amuse me.” His gaze was as sharp as a razor.

  Think, Silver. You must think clearly. “When did Bob show you my photograph?” she asked.

  “We came to Nevada together.”

  Silver had admired the actors and actresses she’d seen in the theater in Denver. She hoped she could be a good actress herself and play a convincing part. “Is Bob here in Virginia City with you? Is he here in this saloon?” She let her gaze sweep the room, as if looking for the man she knew was dead.

  “No. Bob isn’t here.”

  She looked at Carlton again. “You must know, of course, that he left me at the church on our wedding day.”

  “Yes. I knew. I’m sorry he hurt you.” He was the better actor. His words sounded genuine.

  “I’m surprised he kept the photograph I gave him.”

  “My brother never had much backbone. Perhaps you were too much woman for him.” His smile returned, broader this time. “I would not have left you behind.”

  His words made her skin crawl. What a fool she was, to have thought she could chase down this ruthless killer on her own. It took all of her resolve not to rise and run away from him.

  “Please continue with your story, Miss Matlock. Tell me why you are here and not back in Colorado with your parents.”

  Silver stiffened her spine and lifted her chin. “Before he left Twin Springs, Bob broke into my father’s safe and took everything of value. He ruined us. The bank will take my father’s store and our home. I don’t know where my parents will go when that happens.” Enough of the truth. Now back to the performance. “I couldn’t be a burden on my father and stepmother. Not when I was the reason for their ruin. So I came west to forge a new life for myself. Someone I met on the train mentioned Virginia City and Miss Duvall’s Rainbow Saloon. It sounded . . . safe. So here I am.”

  “So here you are,” he echoed softly.

  Jared had been inside a dozen saloons already, looking for Matt Carlton. But he hadn’t come to the Rainbow to find Carlton. He’d come to the Rainbow because he wanted to see Silver again before he bedded down for the night somewhere beyond the borders of the town.

  When he saw Silver on that settee, his first response was jealousy. He didn’t want her sitting and talking to any other man. He wanted her to himself. But then the man turned his head, and Jared got a good look at his face. He looked a lot like Bob Cassidy. He looked—

  And then the puzzle pieces fell into place in his mind. It seemed so obvious. That man was Matt Carlton, and he resembled Cassidy because they were related. But at the moment, what Jared cared about most was the woman seated with Carlton. Had she any idea of the danger she could be in, bringing herself to Carlton’s attention?

  He forced himself to study every detail of Carlton’s appearance, from the color of his hair to the patrician lines of his face to the fancy suit he wore. He looked every inch the refined gentleman, moneyed and educated. But Matt Carlton was no gentleman. He was an animal, and if he took an interest in Silver—

  That thought spurred Jared forward. His advantage was knowing who Carlton was and Carlton not knowing the same in return. Did he even know a bounty hunter had been looking for his trail for six years? Maybe. Maybe not.

  Silver glanced up as he drew near. Relief flashed in her eyes. “Good evening, Mr. Newman.”

  “Miss Matlock.” He gave her a nod. “A pleasure to see you again.”

  She smiled briefly.

  “I apologize for interrupting.” Jared looked at Carlton, then back to Silver. “But I do need to speak with you for a moment, Miss Matlock. It’s important.”

  With a nod, she excused herself and rose from the settee. Jared offered his arm, ignoring the irritated look Matt Carlton shot his way. She took Jared’s arm.

  “Do you know who that was?” Jared demanded in a low voice as soon as they were out of hearing distance.

  “Bob Cassidy’s half brother.”

  Jared stopped. “Does he know who you are?”

  Silver nodded.

  This wasn’t good. Not good at all. Matt Carlton had been able to avoid the authorities for years because he’d left no clues. Little physical description other than that scar. No name to go on either. He wasn’t a fool. He would wonder why his brother’s jilted bride was in the same city he was in. It would make him suspicious. As it should.

  “I’ll need to act fast,” Jared said, thoughts churning. “Before he has a chance to leave town.”

  “He might not leave. I told him I came because Bob’s theft ruined my parents financially. I think he believed me. So why should he go anywhere else?”

  Jared had to fight the urge to look behind him. He didn’t like not knowing where Carlton was, but he didn’t want to appear interested in the man either. “He’s nobody’s fool. He suspects something. I guarantee it. I can’t do anything in a place like this. He’s not a wanted man in Nevada. I got the feeling when I talked to the sheriff that he wasn’t interested in the story I had to tell. I’ll need to get Carlton away from town where there isn’t a crowd before I take him into custody. We’ve got to get him back to Colorado where that girl in Central City can identify him by his scar. It won’t do us a bit of good if he is sitting in a jail cell here. And besides, the sheriff would need more evidence than our say-so. He’d be free in no time.”

  “I could get him away from the Rainbow. Someplace you could apprehend him.”

  He frowned.

  “I could ask him to meet me somewhere so we could talk privately.”

  “No.” Jared shook his head. “That’s too risky.”

  She gave him one of her determined looks. “It’s why I’m here. It’s why we’re both here. And what danger could I be in if you’re nearby?”

  “Silver—”

  “I’m going to help you whether you like it or not.”

  He didn’t doubt it for an instant. “All right, Silver. We’ll come up with a plan together. The two of us.”

  CHAPTER 31

  Early the next morning, Silver went to talk to Corinne. In her brief time in the Duvall home, she’d come to feel a great affection for everyone who lived within its brick walls, especially for the mistress of the house.

  “Come in,” Corinne called when Silver knocked on the door to her bedroom suite.

  “I hope I’m not disturbing you.”

  “Not at all.” Corinne lay on a lounge chair, holding a china cup in one hand.

  “I . . . I’ve come to tell you I’m leaving Virginia City.”

  “With Mr. Newman?”

  “Yes.”

  “I thought you would the first time I met him.”

  Silver cleared her throat as she settled on a nearby chair. “He is here, Miss Corinne.”

  “Mr. Newman is here?” She looked toward the door, as if expecting to find Jared standing there.

  “No. Not Jared. The man we followed from Colorado. He is here in Virginia City. He was at the Rainbow last night. I . . . I spoke with him.”

  Corinne straightened. “The man who killed Dean’s parents?”

  Silver nodded.

  “Are you in danger? Does he know you followed him?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  Corinne lea
ned back again. “Well, thank goodness for that.”

  “I have a favor to ask, Miss Corinne.”

  The woman cocked an eyebrow in question.

  “I told you before how Dean came to be with me. With us.”

  “Yes?”

  “May I leave him here until . . . until this is over? I don’t want to put him in danger. But I’ll come back for him as soon as it’s safe.”

  Concern flooded Corinne’s face. “Will you be safe, my dear?”

  She thought of Jared. He was strong. He was smart. He was determined. She trusted him. She loved him. She wouldn’t doubt him again.

  “Yes,” she answered confidently. “I’ll be safe.”

  A short while later, her conversation with Corinne Duvall completed, Silver went looking for Dean. She finally spied him kneeling on the flat stones that surrounded the pond and fountain at the center of the terraced gardens. He leaned forward at the waist, staring intently into the water.

  “Dean?” Silver called as she drew near. “Don’t fall in.”

  He didn’t look up. “I won’t.”

  “What are you doing?”

  “Just watchin’ the goldfish.”

  Silver couldn’t help noting the changes the past week of good food and plenty of sleep and the kindness of the women in the house had wrought in Dean. He was so much more the little boy he was meant to be. She wasn’t foolish enough to believe the pain and anger of losing his parents were so swiftly forgotten. But for today, for this moment, he was merely a child at play. She wanted to make certain he could continue that way in the future.

  “Come over here, please.” She settled onto a nearby bench and patted the space beside her.

  Dean dropped a couple of small pebbles into the pond. Then he jumped to his feet and came to her. “Is Mr. Newman comin’ back today? You said he might.”

  “Perhaps.” Silver put her arm around his shoulders. “Dean, I have something important to ask you. When . . . when I leave Virginia City, I want you to go with me. To Colorado. Would you like to do that?”

  He tipped his head, peering up at her with a puzzled expression. “I thought that’s what I was doing all along. I mean, you coulda left me plenty of times if you’d wanted. You coulda left me with that sheriff.”