A Texas Sky (Yellow Rose Trilogy) (28 page)

"COME AND GET IT," DAKOTA TOLD THE MEN that evening,

thinking he would have to start some bread; they wouldn't

miss it tonight since he'd made biscuits, but they would

surely expect it in the morning.

The men were slow to join him, but in time they gathered

around the table at the far end of the kitchen area, no

more talkative than they had been at the noon meal; that is,

until they tasted the food.

"This is good/' Gordie said, shoveling in more spoon-v

fills of the beef, potatoes, and thick gravy.

"So are the biscuits," Roy added.

Dakota reminded himself to thank Katy when he got

home. She was the main reason he knew his way around

the kitchen.

"You boys worked here long?" Dakota now felt free to

open some conversation.

The answers varied, one man as many as ten years, the

others somewhat less. The youngest of the group, Dakota

remembered his name to be Scooter, said that Q had been

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on the ranch the longest, way back before Mrs. Robinson

had married her husband.

"So this is his ranch, but he lets her handle it?" Dakota

asked, thinking about the man he'd first seen in town.

"Robinson's dead. You're thinking of Eliot McDermott"

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Dakota nodded as though that explained everything. It

didn't, but he still refrained from asking any more questions.

He was sitting quietly over his own plate of stew when Roy announced to the group that he was going to ask his girl to marry him come Saturday night. Dakota knew that

a longstanding joke was in play because his comment

brought gales of laughter, something he could see they all

needed.

"Will we be invited to the wedding?" Adam asked. "111

polish my boots if you let me dance with the bride."

Dakota had to put up with a few comments about the

other things Adam wanted to do with the bride, but overall

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he could see that the men respected each other. He also

caught a note of respect for Mrs. Robinson and the others

living in the house.

Thinking of the house shifted Dakota's thoughts back to

Darvi. Though he didn't know it, he was experiencing

some of the same emotions she had struggled with, especially

that of not wanting to get too dose to these people.

What '$ the balance here, Lord? I want to be a witness far You,

but I've had to come here under pretense to get Darvi. What is

my main role?

The answer was not obvious to Dakota. The men

thanked him and left him to the cleanup. Dakota was glad

to be on his own.

grgr'S-

"Is

there anything else you need from town, Mrs.

Robinson?"

"No, Dakota. I didn't mink you'd need to be going this

soon, but I'm low on flour too," Cassy said, standing next

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to the wagon. "No, Undy, you can't go." The mother

directed this to her daughter, who was tapping her and

looking up with pleading eyes. Cassy looked back to

Dakota. "Why don't you grab a little candy or something?"

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He smiled. "I'll do it."

Dakota put the team into motion, finding he wasn't

enjoying this at all. From what he could figure out, Darvi's

predicament all revolved around the wants of one man. He

didn't know his name yet, but clearly the man wanted

Darvi.

At moments like this Dakota had to remind himself that

the other people at the ranch might have been able to help

her escape. He needed to think this way to keep things in

their proper perspective. Most things could not be blamed

on just one person. The man, a brother to Eliot McDermott

if their looks could be trusted, must have instigated the

abduction, but Cassy Robinson was a capable woman. If

she had wanted to help Darvi, she would have.

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Dakota pushed these thoughts aside. He was determined

to speak with the sheriff but knew that at least one

of the men and the boy had gone into town earlier. It could

get a bit tricky. He was thinking about how to handle it

when he realized he was on the edge of town and had

better look for Dawson's. Then something wonderful happened.

About a block from his destination he spotted Joe

Laverty, who had spotted him as well. They had managed

just enough eye contact to give Dakota hope, and sure

enough, when he was almost through with his list, the law

man appeared at his side.

"Is there somewhere we can talk?" Dakota said without

introduction.

The sheriff was right glad to see this Ranger after so

many days. Without a word he moved toward the back

room. Dakota waited a moment and followed.

"I thought you might have moved on by now."

"No, but thafs my plan for the end of the week."

"And you need me," the sheriff said with some satisfaction.

"In a way I do. Can you answer some questions for

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me?"

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A Texas Sky 191

"Maybe," he said thoughtfully, not wanting the

younger man to sense his need to be needed.

"Is there a woman in town who works for the newspaper

named Ann Bell?"

"Her name's Annabelle. Annabelle Hewett. She writes

for the paper every week"

"What contact does she have with the men from the

Robinson ranch--Eliot McDermott and the other man?"

"The other man is Seth Redding, and they're half-brothers.

They work for Jared Silk, a banker whose dealings

are called into question by Annabelle on a regular

basis."

"But the brothers themselves," Dakota went back to

them. "You've never brought them in for anything?

"No, they always have airtight alibis."

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"What kind of things do you suspect of them?"

The sheriff's smile was bitter.

"Thaf s the problem. They don't often get their hands

dirty, and neither does Silk. The brothers have connections

who give them what they want and still let them come out

smelling like a rose. I've never heard of them having

someone murdered, but I'm not too sure they're above

much else."

Dakota nodded, but the sheriff wasn't about to provide

information without gaining some in return.

"Now if s your turn. What does this have to do with the

woman you're after?"

Dakota knew it was time. "Her name is Darvi Wingate,

and she's a near mirror image of Annabelle Hewett."

The sheriff let out a low whistle. "Abduction is not the

brothers' style, but it sounds as though they tried it and

grabbed the wrong woman."

"And decided to keep her," Dakota finished. "Do you

think this banker is behind that?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out"

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"I would appreciate your sitting on that until I get Miss

Wingate out of there."

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"I can do that."

A creak in the floor caused the men to cut the conversation

short. Dakota left the room first, and the sheriff hung

around just long enough to let him get on his way.

Neither man noticed the way Nate Robinson kept

behind the shelves, his eyes peeking just above the large

sacks of meal as he watched the men's mouths move and

listened to their words. He eventually left the storeroom as

well, but by the time he got out front, both men were gone.

%r%r%r

Darvi opened her window very slowly, listening for

creaks and groans. Not hearing any this night or the previous

nights, she pushed it all the way up and settled back into bed.

The first two nights she'd done this, she'd heard other noises

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in the house and even someone outside, but not now. Whoever

was checking on her must have figured that she was

just sleeping with her window open, which was partly true.

She had started opening her window the day after

Dakota had arrived, all the while hoping not to draw suspicion.

After Dakota's words that day, she acted the scene

out in her mind. It all worked beautifully until she thought

of opening the window with a loud creak and bringing the

entire house down on her head.

Darvi stiffened suddenly when out the window she

heard a door open and close. Was tonight the night and had

she missed it? Another door, farther away, opened, and

Darvi knew someone was using the outhouse.

She made herself breathe normally and tried to pray. At

moments like this she wondered if she was going to make it

Helplessness and frustration had begun to be the norm in

her world as Seth would not listen to reason. Now all of that

was replaced by tension and fear. She didn't think anyone

was noticing--Seth and Eliot both went off to work as usual,

and Cassy and the kids had nothing but the wedding on

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their minds--but inside Darvi felt like a tightly stretched

thread.

Doors moved again, and Darvi knew all would be quiet

now. One of the children shifted in bed, and Darvi was

once again set to wondering how she'd come to be in this

place. It was all so unreal at times, and altogether too real

at others. Sleep finally came, but not before Darvi muffled

unexpected tears. Dakota had come to rescue her; she was

still so amazed over that fact that she could hardly believe

it would happen.

gr-S"5r

When the plan hit his mind, Dakota wanted to laugh. It

was so simple, and yet it took some days to perfect He had

discovered that every man in the bunkhouse went to town

on Saturday night. Dakota would simply join them. He

knew they all drank, visited friends, or played cards and

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came back with great hopes that their horses could find the

way. It couldn't have been more perfect if he had planned

it with them.

Dakota had meant what he said. There would be no

guns fired nor anyone chasing them, not even Seth Redding.

That the man was besotted with Darvi was more than

obvious, and Dakota had no doubt he would take action to

keep her, but the Ranger wasn't going to give him that

chance.

Letting Darvi know had been tricky. He hadn't been certain

just how he would do it, but burning the biscuits and

needing to have all doors and windows open gave him an

excuse to be outside by the barn and available when Lindy

came to see about the smell. Even Mrs. Robinson had

checked on him. The single word tonight had been easier to

pass than he'd figured, and the brief moment of eye contact

with Darvi told him he'd been understood.

Now as he made his way to town, having told the men

he would bathe last and to go on without him, it felt like

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