Love on the Range (Brothers in Arms #3)(25)

“There is, Molly, if you know what to look for, and I do. He has a way of treating women. Amelia and I discussed it, and I think you’ll see it, too, when you go to work there.”

At the word when, Wyatt’s jaw clenched in fury and fear for Molly.

“At the start, Hawkins is very charming, engaging, full of compliments and lavish with attention. He’ll want to watch you work, be in the same room as you. At first, it’s a little strange, but if a woman wasn’t suspicious, she wouldn’t be afraid. She might even be flattered. Then he’ll begin to make demands. Small things at first, reasonable things considering he’s your boss. But they struck me as odd, and they will you, too, especially since I’ve told you to watch for them. He’ll ask you to do things he could so obviously do for himself that it’s strange he doesn’t. Things like asking you to pour his coffee when you’ve got your hands in dishwater or coated in flour while you’re kneading bread. And the coffee-pot is sitting right in front of him. And he’ll expect you to do it quickly. He comments on it if you’re not grateful and demure. Mostly, he wants you to do as you’re told, and if you don’t, he expresses displeasure, first mildly, then with increasing severity. He is frightening.”

Molly gasped, then clenched her jaw as if to keep her fear tightly under wraps.

“When Amelia began to fear him, she accepted Percy Ralston’s offer of a runaway marriage. She really saw Ralston as a savior. And he told her she had to live secretly so Hawkins wouldn’t find her. Amelia was frightened enough of Hawkins to believe it. But Ralston’s real purpose was to hide that he was a cattle rustler.

“I’ve done some study of killers like this, the ones who do it out of some mad need for power over a woman. They often keep a record of those they kill or collect something that belonged to them. A keepsake of some kind. It’s part of that need for power. If Hawkins is the kind of man I think he is, he’ll have something from each woman. There’s a good chance he has it in his secret safe.”

Wyatt’s stomach twisted at the thought of a man collecting things from women he’d killed. There was no color left in Molly’s face. But she also looked determined. Quietly, he reached across the table and rested a hand on Molly’s little clenched fist. “You shouldn’t do this.”

Molly met his gaze. “I probably shouldn’t. It’s not safe. But how many people protect themselves at the expense of another life? How many women die at the hands of brutal men while other people refuse to interfere? Hawkins isn’t an elderly man. If he was, maybe we could lie to ourselves that his life is almost over, and God would sort him out in the next life. But he has time to hurt or kill more women. I will not stand by in safety while he goes on his way. Not when I can help.”

They looked into each other’s eyes for a long moment.

“You’re going to have to leave Molly alone, Wyatt.”

He snatched his hand away and glared at Hobart.

She didn’t even flinch.

Wyatt had to admit, to himself only, that he had a sneaking admiration for Rachel Hobart. He’d made more than one man back down with his glare. She looked right back at him and never wavered.

“If she’s to do any true detective work. Part of her job is observing the way Hawkins treats her. He’ll move slow, but he will move. He did with me. In some ways it’s a shame Cheyenne found Amelia because Hawkins’s behavior was becoming alarming.”

“Then why was it a shame you got out of there?” Molly asked.

Hobart’s teeth clenched. “Because I wanted him to try to hurt me, so I could make him sorry. I wanted the pleasure of fighting him when he attacked. I’m not some helpless young miss who doesn’t know how to protect herself. When he finally acted with violence, I would have come back at him hard, and I would have won. And he’d’ve hanged by now.”

Admiration burned in Molly’s eyes. Wyatt had thought Molly might end up married to him. Instead, she looked like she wanted to team up with Rachel Hobart and head east to become a Pinkerton agent.

Wyatt rubbed both hands over his face. “He’ll know I’m there with her. He won’t bother her.”

“That’s true if you’re showing special interest in Molly or spending time with her. To catch him, you’ll have to stay away. And if you do that, I doubt he can stop himself from . . . bothering her. I doubt he can stop himself from bothering any woman in his household. If he did it to me and Amelia, and if Win is right about her mother, then it’s his way. His habit. And the other two women who went missing—two I’ve found out about, there could be more—add to my suspicions. I’ve spent a lot of time on this case with Senator Bishop’s full support. He’s contacted men he knows in Wyoming, including the territorial governor in Omaha, that’s how I got hold of those floor plans and purchase orders. And his associates in Chicago helped me dig into Hawkins’s background and found nothing. Nothing is almost as bad as finding something sordid, because I should have been able to trace him right back to infancy. Senator Bishop opened doors I’d have never gotten through so I could look into this. If I’m right, then Oliver Hawkins is a man who badly needs to be stopped.”

Molly nodded, looking straight at Hobart as if the woman were writing law right before Molly’s eyes. “I’m going to be the one to stop him.”