Lawless Love (Lawmen and Outlaws) (3 page)

His yearning to hold her wasn’t only lust, which he had no doubt he felt, but a desire to protect her and give her comfort she most definitely deserved. As if he had no control over his own actions, he rose from his bed, quickly pulled on his pants and slowly twisted the knob of his bedroom door. Stepping out barefoot into the hall, he stopped. Just what was he doing?

And then he turned and saw her.

Lacey stood at the far end of the hall, a light cotton shift barely giving her form decent covering. Her fair hair hung loose in tendrils that almost pointed to the pert breasts Dylan could see in the light coming from her room. For a second Dylan wondered if she were sleepwalking, so hushed was the night.

“I…I couldn’t sleep.”

Dylan thought her voice was like a Siren’s song, mesmerizing him to go to her. The words, “Me neither,” escaped his lips before he took a step toward her. “I…I…”

As Lacey turned and moved slightly, she caught the light, and he could see the outline of her whole body, the peak of her breasts, the curve and round swell of her hips.

“I…I couldn’t sleep either,” he finally got out.

He was drawn to her, as if someone had thrown a rope about him and was pulling him in. Lacey hadn’t moved but stood waiting for him, waiting to feel his arms about her, to be embraced in the safety of his strength. When he embraced her, she sighed, which Dylan thought was the breath of night, a sound he had been waiting his whole life to hear. His hands slipped down the length of her night shift then moved back up to remove it, revealing the satin of her skin. And then he stopped. Releasing the shift, he let it fall back to cover her as he stepped back.

“I can’t. I…it isn’t right. I can’t dishonor you this way.”

Lacey’s head tilted as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him. Dishonor. Could a woman ever understand how such a stain would destroy him?

Dylan turned back to his room as Lacey stood there. A breeze slammed a door shut.

****

In the morning Dylan sat and prodded the eggs in front of him, the enticing smells of bacon and coffee not doing much for his appetite. He ate mechanically, his fork lifting food, finding his mouth, before searching round his plate once again. He chewed without tasting, his eyes avoiding Lacey as she pushed some home fries around before stabbing one.

“I’ll be off.” He rose suddenly. “It’s best if I go.”

Her hands were on her hips as she stood and tapped that delicate foot he had seen. “You’re an honorable man, Dylan Kane. I don’t reckon I have anything to fear from you as far as my own honor goes.” A minute passed in silence. “Are you heading off from hereabouts or just leaving me? ’Cause if you think you’re gonna find another place to stay, you’ll be wasting your time. You know that.”

“I can sleep out. It’s best.”

A moment passed in which her chest rose and fell with a deep intake of air. “I need the money. Plus, of course, if I’da said no, you’da stopped. I know that.
You
know that.”

“Mebbe. But that don’t make what happened right. You sayin’ yes, if you did, don’t make it right.” Why had the woman let him lift her shift like that?

Lacey studied her toe for a moment.

The front door opened and banged shut. “Laaaaace?” a voice called familiarly. “Got off early—I’m…” Luke Everhart tossed his hat on the hallstand as he entered the kitchen, then stopped. His glance darted from Dylan to Lacey and back again as he bit his lower lip. “What...”

Dylan spun round,
eyes narrowing as he assessed Lacey’s brother. Luke Everhart was young.

And his coloring was fair.

Part Two

With introductions made, Lacey busied herself clearing up. She violently pumped water to wash the dishes, breaking one plate as she banged it, tutting as she tossed it aside.

Dylan had sunk back down onto his chair. He crossed one long leg over the other as he leaned back sizing up Luke Everhart, whose hands shook slightly as he helped himself to a cup of coffee.

“I thought you said you’d be off?” Lacey’s plates had never been so clean with scrubbing. Outside, a ball of tumbleweed spun by as branches tried to meet the earth and the gate crashed open and shut. “Luke, go close that dang gate; seems you left it open,” she snapped. She waited until her brother was out before challenging, “Well? You haven’t answered me!”

Dylan slowly put his feet to the floor as if he would leave but leaned back once more instead. “You said you knew Morgan?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Something’s been botherin’ me. Well, two things in fact. One, where were you comin’ from or goin’ to yesterday dressed thataway? And second, you say you knew Morgan but didn’t know he’d been killed? Strange that. Morgan’s been dead sev’ral days now. Most people hereabouts knew he was dead. I’da thought you owin’ him money and all, you’da been one of the first to hear.”

“Why? There’s no law that says people who owe a body money get to hear bad news first. I’m out here, outta town. No one came by to tell me Morgan’s been shot.” She waited. “And as for my denims, I thought I’d told you I’d brought some things over to Luke yesterday—”

“But you didn’t know he was comin’ home today?”

“No. Neither did he when I saw him!”

“All right.” Dylan played for a moment with the sugar bowl left on the table. “I still think you knew about Morgan.”

Lacey faced him, hands on hips, before she yanked the dish cloth off a rail and started to dry the waiting dishes. “What possible difference would it make anyway?” She tried to get the quaver out of her voice. “You think I’m a horse thief? Or just a plain, good ol’ fashioned murderer?”

“Not. You.” Dylan dropped the lid of the sugar bowl into place with a clack. “I was told the horse thief was young and fair. Your brother fits that description. Folks said—”

“I don’t give a hoot what folks said. What folks? Folks with eyes?”

“Lacey. Folks said they saw a young man with fair hair leading Morgan’s horse at a run, right through town. Luke fits the description. All I’m doing is checking, not accusing no one.”

“Well, you can stop your dang check right here. Luke was working since five weeks ago, and every hand on the Dupree’s ranch can vouch for him.”

“I’m sure—”

“Well, you better be.”

“I’m just askin’.”

“Well, you’ve asked your questions. Now you can go.”

“A while ago you wanted me to stay.”

“A while ago you were minding your own business.”

“This
is
my business, damnit!” Dylan’s hand came smashing down on the table before he stood, his breath coming in an angry snort. “What the heck do you think a marshal does? Why do you think I’m here?”

“Here? As in my house? Or here, as in this town?”

“The dang town, of course.”

The front door squeaked shut as Luke sauntered back inside. Dylan and Lacey silenced their bickering for a moment as they peered down the hallway at the young man. Luke proceeded toward the warmth of the kitchen and waited in the archway before he asked Lacey if there were any breakfast left.

Lacey’s glance darted from her brother to the marshal and back. “I’ve just cleared, Luke, but I can fix you eggs if you like.”

He took a step then stopped. His mouth opened, puckered, and opened once more. “Naw, it’s all right. I’ll wait on dinner.” He looked again from Lacey to Dylan. “Guess I’ll go on up to my room and settle back in.”

“You do that school work I gave you, Luke, that reading?”

“’Course.”

“Well, you go on and settle back in. When you’re finished, the chicken coop needs some repairs; have a look. And take the slops out to the hogs for me, please.”

Luke nodded and was gone. Lacey stood, listening to the sound of his retreating footsteps. She started to talk in the same instant as Dylan before he stopped and waited.

“That’s really some murderer I got there for a brother. A right killer.” She snapped out her dishcloth and pushed it on the rail to dry. “You best be careful, Marshal; he’ll take you down like a flash!”

“Well.” Dylan slid back into his vacated chair. “They don’t have to look the part, now, do they? Anyways, it mighta been an accident. Mighta been unintentional. Who knows? But the fact is, I gotta ask if he’s the one townsfolk saw with Morgan’s horse. If he is, I gotta find out why he had it. Did he
find
it?” An almost hopeful upbeat note could be heard in that word
find
.

“You don’t even know that he has the dang horse. You see Morgan’s horse here?”

“Could be hid.”

“Yeah. We put it in the outhouse, didn’t you notice?”

Dylan suppressed a smile, but it snuck out at the corners of his mouth. “You can be right sarcastic when you wanna be, can’t you?”

“I don’t
want
to be. But I sure as heck feel I’m being forced to be, what with you being so dumb about all this.” She ignored Dylan’s look, the cogs of his brain turning things over. “I got work to do, a house to keep. You said you were going.”

“Well. Now your brother is here to chaperone, I may as well stay the night so’s you can make money. But for now, I’ve
my
own work to do. See if I can find out anything more in town or back over at Twin Pines.”

Dylan strode over to get his hat and gun belt down off the peg rack before buckling the belt on and tying the holster round his thigh. Lacey tried to avert her gaze, but from the corner of her eyes, it settled on the bulk of his thigh muscle as he leaned slightly, tying the knot.

She quickly turned away as she caught the smile that lit his face before he straightened. “Supper’s at six sharp. You got a watch, Marshal?” Her voice held a prim quality. She fixed her hair at the nape of her neck with a practiced movement.

“I’ll be here.” He touched the brim of his Stetson before heading down the hall. The screen door whined open and banged shut before Lacey let out a long sigh and started with her chores, but concentrating was hard. Marching to the stairs, she rested her chin a moment on her hand gripping the banister, then shouted for Luke.

Her brother appeared at the top of the steps and took them two at a time before landing in front of her.

Lacey opened her mouth to speak just as the front door opened.

Dylan leaned into the frame, a tightness in his face, eyes steely with anger.

“Morgan’s horse,” he said.

Lacey gasped and looked at Luke. She turned back to Dylan, a finger of fear running down her spine. “What about it?”

“It’s in your pasture.”

A look darted between Luke and Lacey. “Well, heck. I don’t know how it got there. Anyway, how do you know it’s Morgan’s horse?”

Exasperated, Dylan crossed his arms. “Fits the description, Lacey. A blue dun with white socks and a star. Luke?”

Luke straightened up. “Yes, sir?”

“That your horse?”

“Yes, sir.” Lacey tried to catch his eye, but he wasn’t having any of it. “Been my horse, Bossy, for several weeks now.”

“Several weeks, huh?”

“Yes, sir.” Luke crossed his arms and smiled smugly.

“You got witnesses to vouch that?”

“Well, Lacey—”

“
Aside
from your sister.” Luke’s hesitation was all Dylan needed. “All right.” He grabbed Luke by the arm and steered him to the parlor. “You wanna tell me what happened, or am I gonna take you in to Sheriff Brady’s jail?” He shoved Luke into a chair and towered over him. Lacey stomped after them and poked Dylan in the back.

“He’s thirteen, and he didn’t do nothing. You can’t do this!”

Dylan turned and lost himself in the green eyes that pleaded before he shook himself free. “I haven’t done anything yet. But I will. The two of you are up to somethin’. You’ve got somethin’ to do with Morgan’s death, and I wanna know what.” A beat of silence filled the room before he added, “I told you before—my world is black and white, right and wrong. That’s what I live by. There is no other way.”

“Well, that’s a sad thing, Marshal Kane, if you have no other way, no gray areas in your life. No decisions to make because everythin’ is so clear-cut.”

“I deal with the law, Miss Everhart. And the law is law. You break it; you get punished. It’s as simple as that.”

“Luke didn’t do nothin’!” Her teeth were gritted in a snarl.

“Then tell me what the heck happened, ’cause I know sure as hell something happened between him and Morgan.”

“Nothin’ happened between Luke and Morgan. It was me!”

“Lacey!” Luke’s arms gripped the chair as he rose.

“Sit down!” Dylan clutched Luke’s shoulder, forcing him to sit. “Tell me what happened,” he ordered. “You owed him money.”

Lacey’s eyes widened. “You think I killed him, or Luke killed him because I owed him
money?
That’s what you think of me?”

Dylan swallowed. “I think if a body gets desperate enough, anything is possible. I seen it time and time and time again. Did he threaten to repossess the house?”

“No!”

Luke stood suddenly, ducking the marshal and striding to Lacey’s side. “Lacey’s lying,” He planted himself by his sister as if ready to take on the world. “I did it.”