The Lawman's Agreement (Entangled Scandalous) (12 page)

Carter Temple
.

Zack checked for a pulse and found it beating faintly. He holstered his gun, and lifted Temple over his shoulder for the short walk back to the wagon. Well, at least now he knew what Mrs. Temple’s no-account grandson had been up to. With any luck, Suzanne would be able to patch him up and keep Zack from having to tell the old woman that he’d killed her kin.

…

It was past midnight when they reached the sheriff’s office in Vicksburg. Suzanne sat in the back of the wagon, tending to Carter Temple’s injuries. They’d barely pulled up to the front of the jail when both Matt and the sheriff came out to meet them.

“Thank heaven you’re both safe,” Matt said the moment he’d reached their side. “The telegraph lines have been down due to the rain and the sheriff just got your deputy’s message about twenty minutes ago. He came and got me immediately. We were getting ready to saddle up and come looking for you.”

“Matt, if you and Zack can get this man out of the wagon and into some light I can get a better look at his wounds,” Suzanne said.

Zack jumped down from the wagon seat and circled around to where Matt stood. “Can you believe that, Matt? The man wanted to kill me, and all she’s worried about is patching him up.”

Suzanne shook her head and shot Zack a glare she doubted he could see in the dark night. “You said you wanted to question him, didn’t you? If he dies, you won’t get those answers.”

“We can move him into a jail cell,” Sheriff Pachem said. “There’s light and room there for you to work.”

Once they’d placed the injured Temple on the cot in one of the cells, Suzanne took out her medical bag and began to work. “I’ll need a basin of water if you don’t mind.”

“She knows what she’s doing, right?” the sheriff asked.

“Oh, yeah,” Matt and Zack said in uncanny unison.

“Why don’t you head home, Matt,” Zack said. “I’ll stay here with Suzanne until she’s done, and then we’ll go over to the hotel for the night.”

“You’re welcome to come to our place,” Matt suggested.

“It’s late. I don’t want to disturb Miri and Molly.”

“I’ll stop by the front desk and tell them to give you Jake’s suite when you arrive. You’ll be more comfortable there than in a regular room.”

“Matt,” Suzanne called out from where she worked. “Be careful. From what I overheard back in Greenville, these men have some sort of grudge against the McCade family. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to either you, Miri or Molly.”

Matt shook his head. “Don’t worry, Doc. I can protect my own. You worry about saving that scoundrel there. I’m just as interested as Zack to know what’s going on.”

Chapter Fourteen

Zack unlocked the door to the suite at half past two, escorting Suzanne across the threshold and then carrying in her medical bag, tote bag, and his own belongings.

Suzanne took a moment to appreciate the beautiful sitting room of the hotel suite. “This is Jake’s apartment?” she asked.

“Yes,” Zack confirmed. “When he ran the hotel and Matt the
River Maiden
, Jake chose to live here rather than buy a house. After they traded places, Matt bought a home here in Vicksburg for himself, Miri and Molly. Now they keep the apartment for friends and family.”

“It’s lovely. But what about Matt? What will he think of us sharing the room?”

Zack shook his head and took hold of her hand, drawing her close. “First of all, Matt isn’t a prude. He also knows our first and foremost concern at the moment is keeping everyone safe. We couldn’t very well do that in separate rooms.”

“I suppose not. And, the hotel staff surely don’t care.”

“Speaking of the hotel staff, the desk clerk said they took the liberty of lighting a fire under the outside boiler if you’d like to get out of those muddy clothes and into a nice, hot bath.”

Suzanne raised her arms above her head, intent on stretching out the cramped muscles in her back. “A bath sounds heavenly, despite the fact that I’m just as tired as I am sore.”

“I’ll go start the tub for you.”

“I never thought to bring a change of clothes. I truly hate the thought of putting this muddy riding skirt back on in the morning.”

“We’ll worry about that when the time comes. I can always go over to the mercantile and get you a new outfit.”

“That’s not necessary.”

Zack chuckled and shook his head. “It’s the least I can do for the fearless woman who rode at top speed all the way to Vicksburg and, quite possibly, saved my life.”

“I have a feeling, Zack, once that first man was down you’d have prevailed over Tucker McGinty as well. If anything, my arrival may have been what helped him escape.”

“It’s possible. However, now that we know exactly what’s going on, it’ll make finding McGinty and the people he’s working for a lot easier.”

Zack left the sitting room to attend to the bath, leaving Suzanne to restore order to her medical bag and the remainder of her belongings. Moments later, she went into the bedroom and stood at the door of the adjoining bath.

“I’m glad Mr. Temple didn’t die,” she said. “Surely he’ll be willing to give up some information once he regains consciousness.”

“I hope so. However, at the moment, I say we forget about Temple and the elusive McGinty, and concentrate on this big, two-person tub.”

As he spoke, Zack reached for the buttons on the front of his shirt. Suzanne watched attentively as inch-by-inch the marshal’s muscular torso came into view.

“It does look rather large, doesn’t it,” she commented, lowering her gaze from Zack’s chest to the bubble-filled tub.

Zack took a step forward and held out his hand, drawing Suzanne into the room until they stood facing each other beside the bath. “How about I help you out of those rain-soaked clothes?”

“That would be fine as long as I can help you out of yours.”

In barely a heartbeat they’d divested themselves of their clothes, tossing the wet and muddy items aside. Zack stepped into the tub first and then pulled Suzanne in beside him. He lowered himself into the water and drew the doctor down until she sat between his legs, her back to his chest, her head resting against his shoulder.

“There’s nothing quite as relaxing as a hot bath,” Zack said. He reached for the bar of soap and began lathering up the washcloth before laying it against Suzanne’s chest.

“Hmm,” she mumbled, lost in the smooth rhythm of Zack’s sweeping hand. Suzanne closed her eyes and reveled in the feel of Zack’s gentle massage of her breasts, the slope of her midriff, the plane of her stomach, and the tops of each of her thighs.

When he abandoned the washcloth and slid his hand between her legs, Suzanne’s relaxed state evaporated, her languid euphoria replaced by an almost instantaneous desire. Zack slid his hand forward and back, forward and back, the edge of her femininity brought to life by the tips of his fingers.

She shuddered, the first climax flowing through her, making her entire body quiver. When he pressed forward again, he slid his finger into her very being. Once, twice, until another tremble began from deep within. Suzanne pressed herself back against Zack’s chest, raising her hips and urging him to repeat the infinite stroke of her body. He nuzzled the sensitive spot behind her ear, his breathing ragged. Against her hip, she felt the swell of his manhood.

Suzanne lowered herself back into the tub, reveling in yet another release. She rolled over until she could lie on her stomach across Zack’s big body, the soap slick surface of her skin causing a most delightful friction between them.

“I think it’s bath time for you now, Marshal,” she said, gathering the soap up into her hand. “Just lie back and relax.”

Zack chuckled. “Somehow,
cher
, I don’t think there’s going to be any relaxing going on.”

Suzanne began at Zack’s neck and shoulders, using her hands and the soap’s slickness to coat every one of Zack’s muscles, massaging deeply, thoroughly. When she laid her soapy hands against his chest and teased his nipples with her fingertips, Zack groaned softly.

“You like that, Zack?”

“Like I said,
cher
, there’s no relaxing to be had, at least not yet.”

Suzanne braced herself on Zack’s shoulder with one hand until she could push herself up into a kneeling position. She turned the soap over and over in her opposite hand until she’d worked up a thick lather. Setting the soap aside, she enclosed Zack’s erection in her slick grip and began a slow and gentle stroking of his flesh.

Zack growled deeply in his throat, but made no move to stop the fondling of his swollen flesh. Suzanne felt the familiar tensing of Zack’s body, and saw the way he gritted his teeth in an effort to hold back the inevitable. “We could get out of the tub,” she suggested.

“Or not,” Zack said. He reached for her, dragging her up his body until she straddled his hips. Slowly, Zack lowered her over his pulsating shaft. His hands lightly holding her hips, Zack guided Suzanne up and down over his manhood, stroking her as thoroughly as she was teasing him.

Their pace quickened, water from the tub sloshing out over the sides and onto the floor. Still, they kept up the pace, Suzanne’s eagerness to thoroughly spend Zack’s body causing her own to come over and over again. Just when she thought she had little energy left, Zack’s body stiffened. He pressed his back solidly against the porcelain tub and thrust his hips upward, drawing one final explosive climax from within her body and relinquishing the last of his control.

Suzanne awoke a few hours later and reached for Zack only to find his side of the bed empty. She pulled the quilt up to her chin and stretched, sighing deeply. They’d made love again just before dawn and her body still tingled from the pleasure of Zack’s lovemaking.

She sat up in the bed and held the covers to her breasts. She called out, needing to find the man who had created the most carnal dreams she’d had in ages. “Zack, are you there?”

No answer came. Rather than lay about, she slipped from the bed and into the bathroom. There, laid out on the counter were a new packet of tooth powder, a brush, comb and a bar of fresh soap. There were also two large bathing sheets, one of which she wrapped tightly around her body.

Suzanne had just finished her morning ritual when she heard the door to the suite open. The sound of Zack’s and Matt’s voices came clearly through the closed bedroom door. She tightened the knot on the bath sheet and waited.

Zack slipped into the bedroom, a couple of packages wrapped in brown paper in his hands. “Suzanne?”

She poked her head out the bathroom door. “I’m in here, Zack.”

“I’ve brought you some new clothes. I had to guess at your size, so if they don’t fit let me know and I’ll take them back for others.”

“You could have measured the clothes I’d discarded,” she pointed out, mentally admonishing herself for the snippy remark.

Obviously not the least bit insulted by her verbal jab, Zack chuckled and then confirmed, “I thought of that a bit too late. I’d already sent them to the hotel laundry room to be cleaned.”

“That was very nice. Thank you.”

“If you want to get dressed, breakfast is being delivered in about twenty minutes. Matt is here and we’re going to go over the plan for protecting McCade interests both in Greenville and here in Vicksburg.”

Suzanne dressed quickly, not the least bit surprised to find that everything fit perfectly. She brushed her hair and pinned it atop her head, joining the men in the sitting room just as the breakfast trolley arrived.

“Good morning, Matt,” she said, entering the room.

Matt stood and buzzed her cheek with a kiss. “Good morning, Suzanne. I know things were a little crazy by the time you two reached town last night so, let me say this again. Thank you for rushing to save my cousin’s life.”

“You’re welcome. I couldn’t very well let him run into an ambush, at least not if I could stop it.”

“I had no idea you could ride like that,” Zack said. “We’ll have to go riding more often when we get back to Greenville.”

Suzanne ran her hand over her hip. “Maybe in a month or two. My backside and hips are definitely feeling the strain from yesterday.”

The three of them took a seat at the dining table, and Matt poured the coffee before asking, “Exactly what did you overhear the men say yesterday?”

“The first fellow, the one with the raspy voice, wanted to confirm that Zack had left town.”

“You said the man’s voice had a rasp?” Zack queried.

“Yes, quite pronounced, as if he’d had some sort of damage to his vocal chords.” Matt and Zack exchanged glances and Suzanne wondered what they were thinking.

“What about the other man?” Zack asked.

“The second man was quite pleased that he’d duped Zack into leaving town in search of McGinty. He seemed to have complete confidence in McGinty’s ability to ambush Zack. Of course, had he known what an unsuccessful criminal Carter Temple was, he might have had second thoughts.”

“Did the second man have an accent?” Zack asked.

“Yes, he did, from somewhere in Europe, I’d guess. Possibly German. They both seemed convinced they could go ahead with their plan to not only ruin McLeary’s business but then to take some sort of revenge on Jake.”

“Anything else?” Matt asked.

“They said that once they’d ruined Jake, they would come to Vicksburg and take you on as well.”

“It might be best if you stay here, Matt,” Zack suggested. “Just in case.”

Matt shook his head. “No, I’m coming with you. Your deputies will need to protect the rest of the town. You, Jake, and I can figure out who’s behind this. Although, I think we both have our suspicions.”

“You do?” Suzanne asked.

Matt met Zack’s gaze and when Zack nodded, Matt explained, “Nearly six years ago a man named Charles Ripley came here to Vicksburg to set up shop as a business man, a hotel owner specifically. He invested all his money building
this
hotel. He needed to recoup capital in order to pay his staff and keep the place running until he could drum up business so he decided to hold a half-million dollar poker tournament with an entry fee of ten-thousand dollars. Ripley was known to be a very avid player and most likely went into the tournament with the intention of winning, in addition to the rake the hotel was already taking off the entry fees.”

“I assume things didn’t go as planned.”

“One by one everyone was knocked out until only me, Jake, and Ripley remained. Jake had the most chips, I was second and Ripley was scraping the felt.”

“I was here as well,” Zack said. “Todd Graham and I were sent by the U.S. Marshal’s office to keep the peace among the gamblers. There hadn’t been a game with stakes that high since before the war started, and they were worried someone might try to steal the money and innocent bystanders would get hurt in the process.”

“The last hand, the one that sealed Ripley’s fate, at least, was between him and Jake. When Jake raised Ripley all in, I had enough sense to get out of the way,” Matt admitted. “Ripley raised the stakes with the only thing he had left—the hotel.”

“And Jake called,” Suzanne guessed.

“Yep. Ripley spread out a full house, queens over tens,” Matt said.

Zack laughed. “I’ll never forget the look on Ripley’s face when Jake said, ‘Two pair’. Ripley had been about to rake in the pot when Jake had laid his hand down and showed his two pair: a pair of red deuces and a pair of black deuces for four of a kind.”

“Ripley bounded over the table at Jake, screaming that he’d cheated. Zack restrained him with one sweep of his hand, sending the man to the floor clutching his throat.”

“You damaged his larynx with a karate chop?”

Zack nodded. “That’s where the gravelly voice comes from.”

“So we can assume Ripley is one of the two men Suzanne heard,” Matt surmised. “And, likely given the way he was bragging about getting you out of town, this new partner at the mill must have been the other.”