Read The Lawman's Agreement (Entangled Scandalous) Online

Authors: Nancy Fraser,Patti Shenberger

Tags: #historical romance, #post civil-war, #cowboy, #Patti Shenberger, #doctor, #fake engagement, #U.S. Marshal, #Nancy Fraser, #McCade Legacy

The Lawman's Agreement (Entangled Scandalous) (22 page)

BOOK: The Lawman's Agreement (Entangled Scandalous)
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Chapter Twenty-Four

Suzanne handed Zack the last of the boxes to be placed on the top shelf in the clinic storage room. When he took them from her hands, the usual tingle of desire coursed through his arm.

“You didn’t have to help me unpack the supplies, you know.”

Zack shrugged. “I don’t mind. With the
River Maiden
out for her last voyage the town is nearly empty, save for the few men gambling at the hotel.”

“I don’t think we’ve had a weekend this quiet in months. It’s a welcome change to not have to worry about an over-flowing clinic.”

They left the storeroom moments later and Zack locked the door behind them. “What else is there to do?”

“I’ve got about a half-hour’s worth of cleaning in the exam room and then we can leave. I put two pots of water on the wood stove just before we went into the storeroom. They should be about ready.”

“If you’d like, I’ll go get them for you.”

Suzanne laid her hand against his arm, her gentle touch sending yet another shock wave through his body. “I’d appreciate that. You can pour them in the big basin over by the sink.”

Zack left to retrieve the water, returning moments later with the first of the two heavy pots. “Isn’t this something the nurses usually do?”

“Yes, it is part of their job. However, every once in awhile, I like to get my hands into it, just to make sure nothing’s been missed.”

“I’ll be right back with the second pot, and then we can get started.”

He imagined he’d surprised her when he’d volunteered to help clean the clinic. He suspected that most men would never lower themselves to do what was often deemed “woman’s work”. Yet, here he was, willing to get elbows-deep in hot, sudsy water, anything to please Suzanne.

Once he’d retrieved the second pot from the stove and poured it into the basin, he asked, “Where would you like me to start?”

“If you’d like to begin there by the sink,” she told him, “I’ll disinfect the exam table and cover it with new linens. And, if you could, maybe move the table. It’s too heavy for the nurses so we don’t often get to clean behind it.”

“Whatever you need,
cher,
just let me know.”

Zack emptied the shelf above the sink and using the cleaning supplies she’d given him and the hot water, he scrubbed the surface until it shined. Next, he moved the heavy table, the wooden legs scraping across the clinic floor. A bit of water from the basin sloshed out onto the worn linoleum and Zack bent to wipe it up.

That was when he saw it, a quick flash of something shiny stuck between the table leg and the wall. He crawled along the floor until he could reach the object that had drawn his gaze.

Backing out from underneath the table, Zack held the small item up to the light.
Suzanne’s missing engagement ring
.

He turned to tell her he’d found it. She was engrossed in scrubbing the exam table, her back facing him. He was about to call out her name to get her attention when a thought occurred to him. What better surprise for later that evening, after they’d made love, than to return the lost ring?

Zack tucked the ring into the watch pocket of his vest and did his best to suppress the grin he could feel spreading across his face.

Their work done, Zack carried the basin of water out to be emptied while Suzanne packed away the cleaning supplies. He’d just returned to the front of the clinic, eager to lock up and escort Suzanne home for a night of relaxation and, as always, indescribable pleasure when a wagon pulled up to the front of the clinic. Pete Bailey’s son Brent came rushing through the clinic door.

“Doc, Marshal,” the young man called out, barely able to catch his breath. “You’ve got to come quick. There’s been an accident.”

“Where?” Zack asked. The words barely out of his mouth, Suzanne was already on her way back to the exam room to retrieve her stash of emergency supplies.

“At the mill. One entire wall has collapsed.” Brent drew a breath and added, “I’ve brought the wagon to fetch you.”

Suzanne returned seconds later, dragging a large supply bag with one hand while carrying her medical bag in the other. Zack took the heavier bag from her grasp and they hurried out the door.

“We need to stop at the jail and have your deputy round up every able bodied man they can find,” Suzanne said. “Also, if he can track down Kristine and Sara, I’ll likely need their assistance as well.”

Zack helped Suzanne into the wagon. “You go on out to the mill with Brent. I’ll get the word out and grab my horse. I should arrive at the same time, if not sooner. Do not attempt to go into that site on your own.”

“Don’t worry,” Suzanne assured him. “I’ll get my supplies set up and wait for you.” As an afterthought she added, “When they reach Sara, have her stop at the hospital and pick up a couple of extra bottles of laudanum.”


Suzanne couldn’t believe the sight that greeted them when they arrived at the mill. Injured workers were stretched out on the ground, a few sat on nearby tree stumps. She’d barely climbed down from the wagon when the sound of an approaching rider drew her gaze.

Zack pulled his horse to a stop beside the wagon. “Tom Stiles is rounding up everyone he can find. Unfortunately, it’s not that many, given most are out on the River Maiden. Kristine is away visiting family, but Sara should arrive with the medication within the next few minutes.”

Suzanne pulled an apron from her bag and put it on, using the big pockets to hold bandages and small splints. “I’ll start over here and work my way closer to what’s left of the building.”

Zack nodded. “I’m going to see if it’s safe enough to go back in and look for others.” He turned toward Brent and asked, “How many men are still inside?”

“I’m not sure. I know it was a full shift because Mr. McLeary promised a bonus to keep the fellows here rather than out on the water gambling.”

“There are eight men out here,” Suzanne said, her gaze moving from side to side to double check her count.

“There are twenty men to a shift and three of us were outside stacking scraps,” Brent said. “That leaves nine men.”

Zack started in the direction of the collapsed wall with Brent close behind. “Let’s see what we can do to get the rest out.” Turning back in her direction, he narrowed his gaze and ordered, “When you get to the front of the mill, do not come inside, no matter what.”

She realized he only intended to protect her. Yet, if push came to shove, she knew she’d do whatever necessary to help the injured.

Suzanne moved from man to man, bandaging cuts, applying splints, and in a couple of cases removing wood shards from arms and legs. Sara worked diligently beside her until they’d come to within twenty feet of the opening to the site.

Sara reached out and touched Suzanne’s shoulder and then pointed forward. “Marshal McCade’s coming out with another one.”

Suzanne looked up in time to see Zack emerge from the rubble for the fifth time and, as before, he carried the injured worker braced across his broad shoulders. This time the man surely outweighed Zack by at least fifty pounds. He was obviously running on nothing more than sheer guts and determination.

She raised herself from the ground, dusted off her skirt and moved in Zack’s direction. “Is he conscious?”

“Yes, but just barely. There are three men left to bring out.”

When he would have gone back inside, Suzanne slowed him down with her hand on his arm. She handed him a canteen. “Take a few drinks of water and rest for five minutes.”

He took the canteen and swigged a few mouthfuls, spitting out the first two along with what Suzanne suspected were mouthfuls of sawdust and dirt. “No time to rest. We don’t know how long we’ve got before the other wall comes down.”

“Who else is helping you?” she asked, certain she’d seen no one else emerge with injured.

“I’m not allowing anyone else inside. It’s too dangerous.”

Suzanne glanced around, and then lowered her voice to a whisper. “Is there another saboteur? Is this what Ripley meant?”

“As far as I can tell, the support beams were cut halfway through. It was likely done weeks ago. The strain of everyday work eventually wore through the uncut sections. This is, no doubt, the surprise he promised.”

Zack leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Suzanne’s mouth, not a deep, soul-searching kiss, but a kiss meant to soothe, relieve.

“You be careful in there.”

“Don’t worry,
cher
. It’s almost over.”

Suzanne returned to her patients and oversaw the loading of the two worst onto a buckboard.

“Doc Miller is waiting for them back at the hospital,” Sara confirmed. “And both night nurses have come in to help as well as Mrs. Baker.”

“Thank you, Sara.”

“I understand Mrs. McCade’s on her way with additional medical supplies and big jugs of drinking water.”

“As soon as she arrives, have the men who are able, unload everything over there where I’ve set things up. And, have someone start a campfire to ward off the evening bugs and to heat water for sterilization of my instruments.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Sara said before scurrying off to follow her orders.

Suzanne was just putting a bandage on the last man pulled from the rubble when Miri arrived with the mentioned supplies. Suzanne looked up and waved, drawing Miri to her side. “I’m glad you’re here. I can use an extra pair of hands to tie bandages.”

“I came as quickly as I could. I’ve sent a telegram on to the sheriff in Natchez to see if he can wave down the River Maiden and let them know what’s happening. They still won’t be able to reach here before morning, but that would be better than the usual one o’clock arrival.”

“Zack says there are only three men left inside, so I’m truly hoping to have this all cleaned up and the patients in the hospital before then.”

Miri raised her head, diverting her attention from the bandage she was tying to the front of the mill. “Make that two men left inside. Here comes Zack with one slung over his shoulder.”

“He’s going to be sore tomorrow,” Suzanne said, trying to laugh to lighten the moment, yet the relief wouldn’t come.

“You go check on the new patient. I’m fine with these bandages.”

Suzanne got up from where she worked and moved over to where Zack had placed the latest injury. “How badly is he hurt?”

“It looks like a broken arm.”

“I’ll sedate him here,” she said, making a cursory inspection of the man’s limb. “Then send him on the next wagon. Doc Miller can set the arm better once he’s at the hospital. What about the last two men?”

Zack released a long sigh. “We’ve got problems with both. The man farthest inside is trapped beneath a fallen beam and I can’t lift it alone. I may have to take Brent inside, not that I want to. At the moment, the man’s unconscious, but breathing like normal.”

“And the other?”

“I don’t think he’s going to make it. He’s got a piece of wood running through him like a stake. I can’t get the bottom part of the wood loose, and if I pull him off the stake, he’ll bleed to death before I can get him out.”

“You’ll need to place compresses on his front and back and tape him up before you can carry him. And, if there’s an artery ruptured…” Suzanne turned and ran back to get her bag.

“Oh, no,” Zack said, the moment she returned to his side. “You’re not going in there. It’s too dangerous.”

Resolutely, Suzanne started toward the narrow opening. “And, I’m not letting a man die if I can help it. So, either you’re coming inside to help me, or you can take Brent Bailey and work on freeing the other man.”

Zack followed closely behind. “Have I ever told you how infuriating you are, woman?”

“Repeatedly. However, now is not the time to discuss my personality flaws no matter how much they aggravate you.”

“Brent,” Zack called out as they reached the opening. “The doc and I are going in to free one of the men. Once we’re back out again, I want you to be ready to go in with me to lift a beam off the last fellow.”

“Harley and I can go in now and do that while you and Doc Martindale work on the other man.”

“No, that’s too many people inside at one time. You stay out here until we’re done.”

They started forward with Zack leading the way and she gladly followed in his wake. The walls narrowed the farther in they went, Suzanne wondered how Zack had ever made it out carrying those men on his back.

Above their heads, sawdust fell like a light rain. “How much farther?”

“About another twenty feet. Be careful though, the ceiling gets low in another ten or so.”

When Zack crouched to negotiate the space, so did she, finally coming to a halt where the injured man lay. She ran her hands over the man’s arms and legs, checking for other injuries. Finally, she cut open his shirt to get a look at the extent of his wound.

“You were right. It would be much easier to move him out of here if we could take the wood stake and all. Is there any way to cut it loose from underneath?”

“I thought of that, but he’s lying against a metal support. We’d still have to raise him at least six inches up the stake to get a hand saw underneath to make the cut.”

To their left, the other man woke up and began struggling to free himself from beneath the fallen beam. With each shift of his weight, each push on the wood trapping him, sawdust rained down on their heads. From sheer instinct, Suzanne placed herself across the open wound of her patient.

BOOK: The Lawman's Agreement (Entangled Scandalous)
12.17Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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