Lawman in Disguise (14 page)

“I'll pray for a safe journey for her,” she murmured. “Enjoy your meal, sir.”

The day dragged after that. Now that she'd been reminded that the kidnapping was to be tomorrow, she couldn't help wondering if Thorn would come to see her, and what he was doing today. Were all the plans in place?

Tilly came back after being away for an hour—far longer than she was supposed to be gone, and unapologetic as ever. “I had chicken and dumplings at Ella's café—very tasty! Oh, and I had a nice chat with your son,” she announced breezily as she came in through the back door. “You didn't tell me he was working there.”

Why would I? It's not as if we ever have a friendly conversation
, Daisy thought, even as she wondered what Tilly and her son would find to talk about. Aloud, she said, “I didn't? Yes, he's quite proud of earning a wage.” She didn't like the idea of Tilly speaking to her son, and wondered what they could have talked about. Billy Joe knew how Tilly treated his mother, after all, and he tended to be protective of her, sometimes to the point of being rude to those who he believed snubbed her. But Tilly exaggerated a lot; likely the “nice conversation” had been no more than an exchange of hellos.

“I could have sworn I saw that nice Mr. Dinwiddy riding into town as I reached Ella's,” Tilly remarked. “You remember him? That traveling parson who came to the dining room the other day?”

Daisy froze. Was Thorn in town, disguised as he'd been when he came to the restaurant?

“Oh? Did you say hello?”

Tilly shrugged. “I waved, but the man rode right on by as if he didn't know me,” she said with a sniff. “Maybe it wasn't him, after all, but he looked like him...”

“Now that you're back, I'm going to take my break,” Daisy said. “Don't worry, there's no one new in the dining room so far.”
Had
Tilly seen Thorn in his disguise? Was he even now in Simpson Creek?

“Aren't you going to take some of that delicious catfish to eat?” Tilly asked snidely, just as Daisy reached for the doorknob.

She shook her head. “It's all gone. The mayor asked for seconds, he liked it so much. And I already ate while you were gone,” she said. “I nibbled that roast beef between orders, since I was so hungry, so I'm just going to take a walk and get some fresh air.”

As much fresh air as I can get between the restaurant and the sheriff's office, anyway.
Maybe she'd be in luck and find Thorn there, making plans with Bishop about tomorrow.

Chapter Thirteen

I
t was hard to tell which man was more startled when she threw open the door of the sheriff's office, Thorn or Bishop. Both men jumped to their feet.

The sheriff found his voice first. “Miss Daisy? Is something wrong?”

Thorn just stood there watching her, his eyes asking the same question. She saw that he was dressed as Dinwiddy, the traveling preacher, just as Tilly had said.

“I thought you might be here. Tilly said she saw Mr. Dinwiddy riding into town.”

Thorn grimaced at that. “Yes, I saw her. I was hoping if I didn't wave back, that'd convince her she was mistaken about recognizing me. Guess it was too much to hope for that she'd be occupied with work if I came to town during the day.”

“She should have been,” Daisy agreed grimly. “But she is now, so she won't know I came here. I had to see you, Thorn...” She felt suddenly awkward, with the sheriff looking on. “I—I was wondering if everything was in place for tomorrow...when Mrs. Gilmore comes back on the stage. The mayor was in the restaurant, and he's so pleased she's coming home.”

The men exchanged looks, and then Thorn turned back to her. “Yes, all the arrangements are made. The sheriffs' offices in the area know where we're stopping the stage, and they'll be lying in wait not far from us, ready to capture the Griggs gang. But you shouldn't be here, Daisy—it's too dangerous. I don't think Griggs had anyone follow me to town, but I can't rely on it. Someone might see you...”

“I—I'll go out the back way,” she murmured, and headed for the rear door. Before she could push it open, though, Thorn caught her wrist.

Bishop suddenly became absorbed in a pile of wanted posters on his desk.

“Daisy, it'll all be okay,” Thorn assured her, looking down into her eyes. “Before you know it, Griggs'll be behind bars and we'll be able to start a life together.”

“I'm praying for you,” she said, and then she was in his arms, and he was kissing her, and she quite forgot there was anyone else in the room but the two of them.

* * *

“Tilly tells me she had a nice chat with you at the café,” Daisy said that evening as she watched her son pick at his food. She'd saved a serving of catfish for him, but perhaps he preferred catching them over eating them, she mused. He seemed distracted, almost as if he was as consumed with thoughts of tomorrow as she was. But he didn't know anything about the planned kidnapping of the mayor's wife.

“Yeah. It was okay,” he mumbled, keeping his eyes on his plate.

“Was it? What did you two find to talk about?” Daisy asked, trying to keep her tone one of mild interest.

Billy Joe shrugged elaborately. “Nothing much. You know...how did I like working for Miss Ella and Mr. Bohannon, that sort of thing. She was nice...”

Nice?
Tilly was never nice unless there was something in it for her, Daisy thought tartly, and immediately chastised herself for the uncharitable idea. Maybe the woman was trying to reform, and it would be a shame if no one gave her credit.

“Maybe you'll like dessert better than you did the catfish,” she stated, bringing out the bowl she'd kept covered until now. “Peach crisp.”

“Yum!” Billy Joe said appreciatively. But Daisy thought he still looked preoccupied.

“Yes, well, it's getting late. Finish up and then it's time for bed.” She wasn't sure
she
would be able to sleep a wink, but Billy Joe would probably be sawing logs inside five minutes.

“Ma, I love you,” Billy Joe said a few moments later, after he had eaten every last crumb. “You're the greatest ma a guy could have.”

“I—I love you too, son,” she murmured, watching as he walked out of the kitchen, down the hall and into his room. It wasn't unknown for him to say “I love you” to her, but he didn't say it often, and now the timing struck her as odd. Had he sensed something was about to happen tomorrow?

* * *

Thorn returned to the outlaw camp before time to turn in, as he'd agreed, only to find that Tomlinson and Pritchard were missing around the suppertime campfire. When he mentioned it to Griggs, however, the outlaw leader was unperturbed.

“Those two had some unfinished business to take care of,” the outlaw leader said. “Nothin' t' worry about.” Yet there was something in Griggs's eyes that made Thorn worry more, not less. There were four horses missing from the picket line, not just the two that Tomlinson and Pritchard rode. What were they up to?

The two still hadn't returned by the time Thorn stretched out on his bedroll and finally dropped into an uneasy doze, only to be awakened a couple of hours later by the sound of horses approaching camp.

Who was supposed to be on watch? Had Bishop decided to spring the trap before they could even kidnap the mayor's wife?

It was only Tomlinson and Pritchard returning at last, but they weren't alone. Thorn saw a woman dismounting from one of the horses, and thought for a horrified moment that the two outlaws had decided to take a woman prisoner. But it was clear she was no captive when she uttered an excited squeal and went streaking across the campfire area, dodging bedrolls and men newly roused from sleep to throw herself into the arms of Gordon Griggs.

“There's my sweet woman!” the outlaw leader crowed, wrapping her in an embrace.

“Here I am, all ready to skedaddle over the border to Mexico with you!” she trilled, before planting a big smacking kiss on Griggs's scarred, whiskery cheek, to the hooting cheers of the gang.

Disgusted, but wary of letting the others see his distaste, Thorn shifted his gaze back to the other newcomer, and saw to his horror that it was Billy Joe Henderson.

Thorn crossed the distance between where he'd been standing and where the youth was dismounting before he even had time to think about it.
“What are you doing here?”
he demanded in a harsh whisper.

The face Billy Joe raised to him in the flickering light was dull with misery. “I... Miss Tilly, she said I could come with her and be an outlaw with you. She says you're holdin' up some stagecoach tomorrow. But I didn't think you'd want me doin' that, 'cause of how it would affect Ma, so I said I wouldn't. Then she said if I didn't come, the gang would sneak into town and kidnap Ma, this very night.” His gaze left Thorn's and he peered around the camp as if to check that Daisy wasn't there.

Fury blazed within Thorn. “You shouldn't have done that, Miss Tilly,” he said, even as she turned to face him in Griggs's embrace.

“Gordon thought we needed a little
insurance,
didn't you, sugar?” Tilly purred, gazing up at her outlaw lover adoringly.

Thorn was chilled by her open declaration that the gang leader didn't trust him fully.

Griggs's eyes gleamed like silver slits as he looked back at Thorn. “I didn't think it would hurt to be a little more certain you were 100 percent committed to our success, Dawson. Tilly had come to suspect that might not be so...”

The waitress met his gaze without blinking. Somehow she'd seen something, overheard something... Thorn didn't know what, but it seemed his careful disguise had become threadbare, at least to this sly woman, and as a result, Griggs had a hostage who Thorn would do anything to protect.

“I've given you no cause to think I'm two-faced,” he insisted. “So you're going to send an untried boy into danger tomorrow when we hold up that stage the mayor's wife'll be on—aren't you afraid he might affect your ‘success', too?” Thorn asked.

“Simmer down, Dawson,” Griggs ordered. “He ain't gonna be with the men. He's going to stay with Tilly in the cave. He kin help guard our hostage.”

One glance at the woman confirmed she wouldn't hesitate to be as ruthless with the boy as Griggs would have been.

“You said I'd get to ride with Thorn!” protested Billy Joe, his hands clenching into fists at his sides as he faced Tilly, then Griggs. “I want to stick with him, not stay behind like some baby!”

If the kid wasn't careful, he'd end up in danger this very night and not have to wait until tomorrow, Thorn thought. “Hush up, Billy Joe,” he snapped, praying the boy would have sense enough to heed the warning. “You have to prove yourself before you can be an outlaw,” he added, though he suspected that by this point, Billy Joe had no desire to be an outlaw left. After all the stories he'd told the boy about the rough, unpleasant life of an outlaw, this taste of the reality of it all had finally made the point. “And proving yourself means following orders and not talking back.”

Billy Joe turned to him. “But what's this about kidnapping the mayor's wife, Mr. Thorn? I didn't know it was gonna be
her
stagecoach! Mrs. Gilmore's a nice lady. They shouldn't be botherin' her—”

“She won't come to any harm, Billy Joe,” Thorn assured him. “They're just going to hold her for ransom.” He wished he was as certain as he sounded. There would be nothing to stop the gang members from offering the mayor's wife all sorts of indignities if they were sure of escaping punishment. And if there was any hint that her husband might not be willing to pay the ransom... “Time to get some shut-eye. You can curl up on my bedroll,” he said, pointing to where his blankets lay.

“But what will you sleep on, Thorn?” Billy Joe asked.

“I'll lie back against that tree—the one near the bedroll, see? I'll be fine.” He wouldn't sleep sitting up, but with the arrival of the boy and the complications that represented, sleep wouldn't come again tonight, anyway. If anything happened to Billy Joe, Daisy would never forgive him. And Thorn would never forgive himself.

* * *

Early the next morning, Daisy tiptoed down the hall at dawn to peek in on Billy Joe before she left the house to start cooking breakfast at the hotel. Seeing her sleeping son had always been an encouragement to her, a reminder that however hard her life was as a widow, she was not alone...

But this morning his bed was empty. Had he awakened early and gone out to feed the chickens for her? A prickle of alarm danced up her spine, for he'd never done that before...

And then she saw the scrap of paper on top of his pillow, and dashed across the room to pick it up.

“Ma Im with Thorn. Tillys gunna bring me. Dont worry about me” was scrawled across the paper.

“Oh, dear God!” Daisy shrieked, as soon as the words made sense. She flew out the door, not stopping at the hotel, but running until she reached the jail. How had he gotten a horse to ride to reach Thorn? She very much doubted he'd had the money to rent a horse at the livery.

Outside the jail, two saddled horses stood at the hitching post. Inside, she found Sheriff Bishop standing with Deputy Menendez. Both men held mugs of hot coffee and appeared ready to ride. Of course! They were going to ambush the kidnappers, she reminded herself.

“The outlaws—the Griggs gang—they've got Billy Joe!” she cried, as soon as her lungs allowed her enough breath to get the words out. Her hand was trembling as she held out the note.

The sheriff read it in grim silence, then put a palm on her shoulder. “We'll bring him back to you, Miss Daisy, with God's help,” he said, his eyes kind. “Are you working today?”

She gave a shaky nod. “I'm supposed to...”

Bishop said, “Then you go on to work, and try to pray instead of worry.”

Not worry? Go to work?
How could she do that? Daisy stifled a hysterical laugh as she stared at the sheriff, then turned on her heel and pushed open the door, heading for the hotel. She was going to wring Tilly's neck when the waitress showed up, she vowed, for she knew deep inside that the other woman had had something to do with luring her boy into danger. She'd known there was something her son hadn't told her about his conversation with Tilly at Ella's café, but Daisy certainly hadn't expected anything like this.

There was usually an hour between the time she reached the restaurant to start breakfast preparation and when Tilly arrived, for there was very little for the waitress to do until opening time drew near. Normally Daisy treasured the peace and quiet while she set out place settings for breakfast, which disappeared as soon as Tilly started slamming plates down on the tables and rattling silverware out in the dining room, while humming some tune off-key. Now, however, Daisy left off stirring pancake batter and cracking eggs to walk into the hotel lobby every few minutes, staring out into the street to see if she could see Tilly coming as the time to open the restaurant drew near.

“Something wrong, Mrs. Henderson?” inquired Mr. Ellington, the hotel worker who manned the registration desk during the night, after her fourth trip out.

“Tilly isn't here and it's time to open,” she said, pushing back a stray curl that had fallen over her forehead. She wanted to add,
And she's taken my boy with her, the evil woman!
But Daisy didn't want to tell anyone her son might have chosen to run off with the outlaws, and merely added, “I think Mr. Prendergast should be notified.”

“Dear me,” sighed Mr. Ellington, rolling his eyes as if to see through the ceiling to the second floor room where the proprietor lived. “He won't like waking up to that, will he? Still... I suppose you're right. We'd better let him know.” He hefted his bulky body off the chair he'd been sitting on and headed for the stairs.

A late riser who was used to leaving his kitchen staff to cope on their own with breakfast, Mr. Prendergast was
not
pleased to be awakened with the news that Tilly hadn't shown up.

“Mr. Ellington, you'll have to go down to the boardinghouse and see if the silly woman's still abed,” he announced, ignoring the fact that the man's overnight shift was already done and it was time for him to go home. “And if you find her, she's to report to me before she starts work. Mrs. Henderson, you'll have to take care of the dining room
and
the cooking until he returns with Tilly,” he told Daisy, lowering himself onto the chair Ellington had just vacated.