Castillo's Fiery Texas Rose(33)

She turned. “No.”

His face took on a puzzled expression. She gave a nervous laugh. “What I mean is, I’d like for you to wait while I give Mr. Gentry some closing instructions. When we leave here, I would like to get some things and go over to the hotel.” She felt a blush creep up her neckline. “For a bath.”

Instead of being upset, he took her hand. “Of course,” he agreed, as if this happened every day. “Go speak to Mr. Gentry. I will wait here.”

With a nod of her head, Mary Rose moved up the steps, crossed the platform, and saw the door still closed. A look through the glass panel told her the office seemed empty. She took a step back, but no sign was on the door. Grasping the handle, she turned it and entered.

****

Trace watched her climb the steps and disappear into the shadows toward the office. The loud banging of a hammer drew him, and he moved across to the open barn where two men were busy taking the hubs off the wagon wheels and liberally applying grease.

His shadow blocked the light, and the men looked up. The large man swinging the heavy hammer narrowed his gaze. “Can I help you?”

“Marshal Castillo,” Trace replied.

The two men exchanged a glance. The second man rose from his crouched position. Trace could see they were making a consolidated front.

“I’m here to find Daniel Thornton’s killer. Can you tell me about Moe Horne?”

“Moe drove for the company. He was sort of a solitary fellow.”

He nodded. “Did he live around here?”

“Had a room over at Lucille’s. With him dead, I reckon she’ll be cleaning out his things sometime today.”

Lucille’s? He turned the name over in his thoughts, then remembered seeing the boarding house down past the saloon. “Thanks.” With a nod and a touch of his brim, he began to turn away, then swung back and gestured toward the wagon. “Tell me, do you do that before every run?”

The men looked down at the wagon joint now fully exposed. “Most drivers take care of their own equipment. Daniel kept the supplies, and we maintain the equipment.”

He nodded. “So you’d know where you were going? I mean, whether it was a long haul or short?”

“Yeah,” the second man replied. “We’d get a list of runs for the week, with the destinations.”

“How’d you get ’em?”

“Gentry would give them out at the end of the week, with the pay.”

“So Gentry knew.”

The tall man shrugged. “I don’t know. I wasn’t privy to that. I know the envelopes were sealed, so I assumed Mr. Thornton did it.”

Trace nodded. “Yes, makes sense.”

“Marshal?” Mary Rose’s voice called out.

“Gents,” he nodded again and walked away. Interesting, he thought as he walked toward where she stood. “Find Mr. Gentry? Will he lock up?”

She gave a nod.

“Then, are you ready?”

“Yes, please.”





Chapter Sixteen

“Do you want me to check the house?” he asked as they stood by her doorway.

“No, I don’t think anyone would be brazen enough to come in the daylight.”

“Perhaps not yet,” Trace agreed. “Your key?”

“Over the door.” He followed the direction as she pointed to the decorative scroll of wood over the entry.

Stepping forward, he reached up, and the toe of his boot nudged the soft leather of her slipper. It seemed only natural he should reach out and capture her body against the door as his fingers felt for the keys. She took a deep breath, allowing the swell of her breasts to brush against him. He looked down and gazed into her wondrous eyes.

A much more experienced woman would have known how the lure of her charms seduced a man. Perhaps this proved to be the appeal that drew him to her side—then again, perhaps not. Those luminous eyes held him tight and seemed to draw him to the edge of sapphire pools. His head spun. Fingers grasping the key, he smiled down at her, and the color ripened. She was like an open book; he could easily read her desire to be kissed.

Not a man to disappoint, he lowered his head and captured her mouth. The soft tissue molded to his. He heard her sigh, and she placed a hand upon his sleeve. As their kiss deepened, he felt a squeeze of her fingers. Reluctantly, he drew his head away.

Under his watchful gaze, she lifted those smoky lashes from her cheek and stared back at him. “If we do this again, we’ll miss our dinner.”

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. “Would that be such a bad thing?”

A soft rose stained her cheek, accentuating the freckles across her nose. He pressed his mouth to both cheeks. “But I will concede your point today.” Still staring, he inserted the key and turned the lock. She pulled the door open, and he followed her inside.

“You want me to wait down here?” he asked jokingly as she placed a foot on the stairs. To his surprise, she answered, “Yes, I shan’t be long.”

Disappointed, he nodded and moved to her settee. Lowering his body to the cushions, he listened to the thud of her feet as she hurried upstairs. His mind drifted to a delicious daydream, one in which those footsteps would bring her to his bed. Sighing with contentment, he placed his hands behind his head and dreamed.

The vision of his home materialized. The huge master bedroom would be lit by the flames in the fireplace, and she’d come to him. In his mind’s eye, he could see her, the light dancing across her body, wrapping it in a golden glow, and like today she’d be wearing nothing but a smile. “Oh, yes,” he murmured, a grin splitting his face from ear to ear.

****

Mary Rose hurried to her room to pick up her best dress and a corset. Elaine could help her put it on. Tonight she wanted to look her best. Stepping into her room, she moved toward her wardrobe, then stopped. An odd feeling rolled across her skin. Frightened, she glanced around to see if anyone was watching.

Her brow furrowed, she moved toward her bed and, keeping her feet away, lifted the edge of her quilt and peered beneath. No feet, no boots, nothing. Still, the feeling wouldn’t go away. Mary Rose swallowed and felt the rapid beat of her heart beneath her chest. “I’m being foolish,” she whispered.

At her dresser, she opened a drawer to pull out her innerwear. Her eyes continued to dart toward the doorway, making sure no one filled the space. Then, moving again toward the massive wardrobe, she stopped in her tracks. A hem of green silk hung caught in the door. A cold chill ran down her arms as the terror rose in her throat. Someone had been in her home.

Afraid to breath, she listened to the sounds around her. What if they were still there? Her ears strained, but she heard nothing. Keeping a wary eye, she gently opened her wardrobe and looked inside. Her dresses had been pushed around. A drawer on the left had the sleeve of her gown lying against it. There could be no doubt. Her things had indeed been disturbed.

Swallowing the urge to run screaming from the room to let the marshal know, she took down the green satin and folded it over her shoulder. If someone had been in her room, they might be watching her now. Her thoughts turned to the shadow of the man from the other night. Feeling the overwhelming need to get out, she closed the wardrobe and moved toward the doorway. Reaching behind her, she grabbed the door and pulled it closed.

In the shadows of the hallway, Mary Rose waited, yet no one materialized. She inched along the corridor, her eyes alert to any movement. At the top of the stairs, she cast one glance back. No specter of death materialized from thin air. She paused to let the rapid beat of her heart slow, then carefully made her way back down.

At the landing, she could see him, and relief poured over her. His hands behind his head, he wore a self-satisfied smile on his lips. She wondered what he was thinking. Her eyes focused on his lips, and her mouth tingled as she remembered how easily they could arouse her. Oh, how easy it was to fall beneath his spell. U.S. Marshal Trace Castillo had so easily captured her heart.

Hearing her feet upon the stairs, he opened his eyes and stood to walk across the parlor and meet her. “May I take this?” He held out his hands for her garments.

She handed over the dress and pushed her hair back over her ear. “I’ve got one more thing to get. Would you check and make sure I’ve locked the back door?”

“Of course.” He nodded.

Mary Rose waited as he went to the back of the house. Giving the upstairs a nervous glance, she hurried into her brother’s study. Moving behind the desk, she looked at the drawers. Nothing seemed disturbed.

She moved her fingers beneath the blotter and retrieved the key. As quietly as she could, she removed the strongbox and took out the coin and papers. She looked for something to hide them in. Her mind moved to the reticule she kept by the doorway. Locking the box, she put it away and hurried to the hall rack. Pulling her purse from the peg, she nervously looked around before shoving the papers and the coin inside. She had just pulled the strings together when the sound of Trace’s spurs alerted her to his presence.