Courting Will (Escape To The West Book 8) Read online

  Dan rested his hand on Will’s arm. “Will.”

  He glanced around to see they were drawing the attention of the people passing by. He considered asking one of them to fetch Marshal Cade, but Briggs’ statement that he’d never find Daisy and Nicky terrified him.

  Gritting his teeth, he released him.

  Briggs rolled his neck, straightening his collar. “Get me that money and Mrs. Monroe and her son will be just fine.”

  Will swallowed the urge to grab him again, and this time pound him into the ground. He looked at Daniel. “What do I do?”

  “I can’t make that choice for you,” he said, looking for all the world like he wished he could.

  Closing his eyes, Will prayed for wisdom. When he opened them again, he’d made his decision. “Are they safe?”

  “For now,” Briggs replied.

  “I’m going to get you the money, but you’re going to stay right here. I don’t want you anywhere near them.”

  Briggs shrugged. “As long as that money is in my hands by the end of the day.”

  Will looked at his brother. “Dan…”

  “I’ll stay with him,” he said. “I won’t let him out of my sight. You have my word.”

  Will nodded his thanks.

  And with one last glare at Briggs, he walked into the place he swore he’d never enter again.

  Chapter 21

  Daisy swallowed a growl of frustration as her fingers slipped from the knot again.

  “Ouch!”

  She flinched at Nicky’s exclamation. “I’m sorry, sweetie. I’m trying not to hurt you. You’re being very brave.”

  She wished she could see him, but the cellar their captor had left them in was close to pitch black. Once again, she berated herself for not sending Nicky with her father when he offered. If anything happened to him…

  She pushed the thought from her mind. Nothing would happen to them. She was going to get them out of there.

  “I’m scared,” Nicky said, his voice quavering.

  “I know. But we’re going to be all right. We’ll get out of here just as soon as we get these ropes off.”

  He sniffed and every fiber of her being screamed at her to draw him into her arms and hold him tight. She would have done just that, if her hands hadn’t been bound firmly behind her.

  She returned her fingers to the knot on the rope around Nicky’s wrists and resumed the seemingly impossible task of freeing him. “There’s a verse in the Bible about being in the dark,” she said as she worked. “It’s in the Psalm about God being our Shepherd. Do you remember that one?”

  There was a pause. “I think so.”

  “How about I say it and you say it after me?”

  “All right.”

  His voice sounded so small and afraid and she had to blink back tears as she spoke.

  “The Lord is my Shepherd.”

  He repeated the words after her.

  “I shall not want.”

  “I shall not want. Want what?”

  She smiled. “Anything. It means God will give us everything we need.”

  “Oh.”

  She continued to recite Psalm 23 as she worked at the knot, Nicky repeating each line. “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of…” She stopped. The next words were the shadow of death, but she didn’t want to mention death to her already frightened son. “Through a really dark valley, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table…”

  She stopped as she felt the rope shift between her fingers. Holding her breath, she pulled gently and the knot loosened.

  Breathing out in relief, she slipped the rope free.

  She felt Nicky move from behind her, and then his small arms were wrapping around her neck and his head pressing into her shoulder.

  She rested her face against his hair. “It’s all right, baby. We’re going to be all right.”

  She let him hug her for a few more seconds before drawing back. She would have left him there forever if they’d had more time, but she didn’t know when the man who’d brought them there would return.

  “Can you untie me?”

  She heard Nicky sniff in the darkness. “I think so.”

  She smiled as he moved back behind her and tugged at the rope binding her wrists. Her son was brave.

  “Ma?”

  “Yes, sweetie?”

  “Will you say the rest of the verses?”

  She continued as he worked at the rope, pausing at the end of each line so he could repeat the words. “Thou preparest a table for me in the presence of mine enemies: Thou hast annointed my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.”

  As he repeated the final word, she felt the rope around her wrists slacken. Shaking it free, she turned to gather Nicky into her arms, holding him tight against her and whispering her thanks to God.

  After too little time, she drew back and kissed his forehead. “Let’s get out of here.”

  They both stood and Daisy felt her way around the perimeter of the dark room. Nicky held onto her skirt, so close she almost tripped over him a couple of times. Although it was too dark to see anything in the cellar, there was a direction in which the blackness was a little more gray. She headed that way and came to a set of stairs.

  “I think I’ve found the door,” she told Nicky. “We just have to go up here.”

  She counted eight steps before she abruptly encountered the doors to the cellar. Berating herself for not anticipating it, she rubbed her head then raised her hands to feel above her.

  She moved her fingers across the wooden surface until she found a set of handles. Grasping them, she pushed. The doors shifted and a sliver of light appeared between them.

  Then they stopped.

  She pushed harder and chains rattled on the other side. Still the gap would open no more than an inch.

  Desperate, she slammed the doors upwards, shoving with all her strength. It didn’t help.

  “Ma?”

  She turned to look down at Nicky. This close to the exit, his face was just visible where he stood on the step below her.

  “I’m sorry, Nicky. It’s chained shut. I can’t get it open.”

  When he didn’t answer, she gathered him into her arms. “But we’re still going to be all right. Will will find us. He’ll rescue us. We just have to be brave until he gets here.”

  Nicky nodded against her and she held him tighter.

  Will would try to come for them; she had no doubt of that.

  She only prayed he would be able to find them.

  Chapter 22

  The first thing Will noticed as he walked into the Royal Flush saloon was the smell. Alcohol and tobacco smoke and stale sweat and kerosene, all mixed together in one heady, stifling aroma.

  It brought back a thousand different memories, and for a moment, all he could do was stand and absorb it all.

  “Will!”

  He was wrenched back to the present by a flurry of pink as two bare arms threw around his neck and a full, soft mouth collided with his.

  “Are you back?”

  Reeling a little, both from the slightly cloying perfume wafting around him and the unexpected kiss, Will cleared his throat. “Hi, Peg.”

  She pulled away just enough to look him up and down. “Still as handsome as ever. Have you gotten taller?”

  “Pretty sure not.”

  “Well, you look taller.” She gave him a sultry smile. “You look good.”

  “Thanks. So do you.” He returned her smile uncomfortably. He’d never felt awkward around the girls who worked in the saloon before, but encountering Peg after a year of being away was unexpectedly embarrassing.

  “So are you back?” she asked again.
/>   “Only for tonight. And only to play poker.”

  Her bottom lip protruded in a seductive pout. “All the girls have missed you around here. You were our favorite.”

  He glanced around the room. “I, erm, was?”

  “Of course.” She leaned closer and stood on her toes so her breath brushed his ear. “You were the best looking man in here. You were also the nicest man here. You treated us with respect, not like a lot of the others. We used to take turns to serve you drinks so we’d each get a turn with you upstairs.”

  His face was burning, he was sure of it. “You always did flatter me, Peg.”

  “Only with the truth.” She smoothed out the collar of his shirt where her embrace had rumpled it. “Are you here for that big game Rufus is holding in the back room?”

  He nodded. “Who’s serving the players?”

  “Rebecca.”

  He looked around the saloon, locating Rebecca at the far end of the bar. “Thanks.” He kissed Peg’s rouged cheek. “It was good to see you.”

  “It was real good to see you, too.” She winked. “Come find me if you decide to stay after the game. And good luck!”

  Despite the circumstances, he smiled. Beneath all the lipstick and rouge, Peg was pretty, and under the brashness, she was sweet.

  Making his way across the room, he waved to Solomon Filbert in his usual place by the door and nodded to a few of the men he knew. Two more of the girls came to greet him with hugs, and the others all smiled.

  Nothing had really changed, except for him.

  Rebecca smiled as he approached. “Will, I never thought I’d see you in here again.”

  With her neatly pinned dark hair and the piles of books she always kept in her room, Rebecca resembled a schoolteacher more than a woman who worked upstairs in a saloon. Will never thought she belonged there, but then none of the women did.

  “Hi, Rebecca. I’m just here for the high stakes poker. Peg says you’re serving tonight.”

  “That’s right. You want me to bring you in something?”

  “Not right now, no.” He glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot. “Would you do me a favor?”

  “Sure. What do you need?”

  “I won’t be drinking at first, but when I do, I’ll ask you for a gin. I want you to bring me water instead, but don’t let on.”

  Her eyebrows rose. “So the other players will think your judgment is impaired when it isn’t? Clever.”

  “That’s what I’m hoping. Do you mind? The winnings won’t be for me.”

  “Not at all. Anything I can do to help relieve those men of their money is just fine by me.”

  He smiled his thanks and turned to go.

  “Will?”

  He stopped and glanced back.

  “Are you all right?”

  Rebecca always was observant.

  “I…” He considered telling her the truth, but there wasn’t really any reason for him to do so. “It just feels strange to be back in here after so long. But it’s good to see you, and all the others.”

  She nodded and he carried on to the back of the room.

  He paused at the door and closed his eyes. Enable me to do this, Lord. Give me wisdom and insight in the game so I can win that money. And please, give me the strength to walk away for good after this is done.

  Opening his eyes, he took a deep breath, grasped the doorknob, and stepped inside.

  Will had only been in the private back room of the saloon once before, when he played in the one and only high stakes poker game Rufus let him into. It wasn’t a large room, and the dark wood paneling made it seem even smaller, but there were red velvet drapes at the window and an expensive patterned rug on the floor, and the round table and padded chairs in the center of the room were of exceptional quality. Will could have thought he’d stepped into some upper class gambling parlor in the big city, if he didn’t know he was still in Green Hill Creek.

  Five men stood casually about the room, including Rufus, the owner of the Royal Flush, as impeccably and expensively dressed as ever with a cheroot in one hand and a glass of whisky in the other.

  He nodded in Will’s direction. “William, good of you to join us.”

  “Rufus,” Will said in greeting. “It’s good of you to let me in. May I ask why?”

  Rufus gave him the smile that always put Will in mind of a snake. “To try and tempt you back, of course. You were one of my best customers. Other men took their winnings and left with them. Well, some of them, anyway. You always spent whatever you won. My profits took quite a hit when you stopped coming to the saloon.”

  Will doubted that was the case. He probably just didn’t like that Will had broken free of the saloon. Rufus enjoyed having power over others.

  “You seem to be doing all right.”

  Rufus shrugged one shoulder. “I get by.” He raised his voice to address the other four men in the room. “Gentlemen, our final player has arrived. I’d like you to meet William Raine. Don’t let his youth fool you, he’s a fine poker player.”

  “We’ve met,” one of the men said, a portly gentleman in his forties wearing a black jacket over a gaudy pink silk waistcoat embroidered with stylized birds. “I believe I was on the receiving end of that fine poker playing the last time you were in one of these games.”

  Will remembered him now. Well, more specifically, he remembered the waistcoat. “Mr. Lark. Good to see you again.” Bet too high when he had a good hand. The muscle beneath his right eye twitched when it was bad.

  Lark grinned. “I look forward to winning back some of that money you relieved me of last time.”

  That was unlikely. The last time, Will had simply been playing for fun. Now, he was playing for Daisy and Nicky’s lives.

  He simply shrugged and smiled.

  Rufus introduced the rest of the men. “This is Mr. Dunlap, Mr. Howell, and Mr. Lowe.”

  Will was the youngest in the room by a good ten years. He was also the poorest, judging by their attire. That was a good thing. Even if they didn’t intend to, they’d instinctively underestimate him. He could use that to his advantage.

  He nodded to each man, studying their faces as he did. If he familiarized himself with their relaxed expressions, he could more easily tell when they were bluffing.

  “Now we have the pleasantries over,” Rufus said, “let’s get down to business.”

  Rebecca walked in as they took their seats at the table in the center of the room. “May I get you gentlemen anything?”

  Four sets of eyes turned in her direction. Rufus busied himself opening the brand new deck of cards on the table.

  “Are you on the menu, honey?” Howell said, his eyes roaming over her.

  “Not while we’re playing.” Rufus spoke without looking up. “Afterwards, if you have any money left, you’re free to partake of any and all of the pleasures the Royal Flush has to offer.”

  “I guess I’ll have to win big then,” Howell said, winking at Rebecca.

  Her smile didn’t waver. She was used to this kind of thing.

  Will felt a pang of regret that he’d ever been a part of it.

  He watched the four other players as they ordered drinks, the way their expressions changed when Rebecca gave them her attention. There was a certain similarity to the way a man reacted to a pretty woman and a favorable poker hand.

  Once Rebecca left the room, Rufus pulled a roll of banknotes from inside his jacket and placed them on the table. He separated a small pile and pushed them across the table to Will. “Mr. Briggs told me you’d be needing some funds to get you started. I have no doubt you’ll be returning this to me at the end of the game, with twenty percent interest, of course.”

  There was no threat in the way he said it, but Rufus had a way of making things sound like a threat without actually sounding like one.

  Will counted out the money, sorting the fifty dollars into denominations. “That won’t be a problem.”

  He’d have no trouble winning sixty
dollars. It was the extra two thousand that would take some doing.

  “Five card draw,” Rufus announced to the players, dealing the first hand, “fifty cents to three dollar spread bet limit to start.”

  Will lifted his first cards of the game. Two queens smiled at him and the old familiar feeling fluttered through his stomach, the thrill of knowing he had a good chance of winning the hand.

  Instead of enjoying it, he thought of Daisy and Nicky. If it wasn’t for all those years of feeding his compulsion, they would be safe and well and he wouldn’t be playing for their lives.

  And when he won, he would walk out of the Royal Flush and never return. No matter how badly he wanted to.

  ~ ~ ~

  The neat piles of banknotes in front of Will grew far too slowly as the game progressed. He didn’t count the money, but he knew exactly how much was there. Keeping a running total in his head had become his second most important task, after adding to that total.

  It was good to know he hadn’t lost his touch, but the game felt as if it was taking too long. Were Daisy and Nicky all right still? What if Briggs got away from Daniel and went back to wherever he had them? What if he forced Daisy to…

  No. He pushed that thought from his mind. Dan wouldn’t let Briggs do anything to Daisy and Nicky. He needed to concentrate. In the most important game of Will’s life, the last thing he needed was distractions.

  “Mr. Raine?”

  Will looked up from the cards he wasn’t really seeing. “What?”

  Lark smirked, clearly thinking Will had lost his focus. Which wasn’t entirely wrong. “I said, I call.”

  “Oh. Yes.” Will placed his four sevens and a jack onto the table.

  Lark’s smirk vanished and he threw his cards down with a huff. He had a full house, tens over sixes. “You know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were cheating. No one’s that good.”

  Maybe it was the fact that accusations of cheating had got him there in the first place, or maybe it was that two people he loved were currently trapped somewhere, in fear for their lives, but Will’s control had finally stretched to breaking point.

  Thumping his fists down on the table, he surged to his feet. “You want to say that again?”