The Lawman's Bride (28 page)

“Yes, sir. That was me. That one, too.”

He continued, and she admitted responsibility for taking part in each one. “I’m not sure about those,” she said at one point, “but that was one of our usual scams, so I can’t deny it.”

Ten minutes later the older man leaned toward her. “Young lady, you’ve just admitted to over sixty acts of crime. Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Just the truth,
she remembered Clay saying. She swallowed hard. “Did any of those papers tell you that Garrett bought me? I was about twelve.”

The judge’s expression showed his surprise and interest. “
Bought
you?”

She nodded. “Yes, sir. I remember standing on a public street in the fall. It was a couple years after my mother had died. The Sioux were selling hides and jerky. I’d never been taken on one of their trips before. I had this ring with me.” She fingered the band. “Hidden on a leather thong under my tunic. I wanted to touch it for comfort, but I knew I shouldn’t let anyone see it.

“I saw the goods trade hands, but didn’t realize what was going on right away. Whiskey. A rifle. And then I was being pushed toward the white man. The sun was warm on my face and head, and I remember the way he looked down at me.”

Sophie paused. It felt good to have the truth about her life out in the open at last. “Could I have a drink of water, please?”

The judge’s assistant got up and poured her a glass of water. She took a fortifying sip. “Thank you.”

She told how Garrett had purchased clothing for her. How he’d paid for tutors and teachers of deportment. How he held his own session each day, coaching her to recognize people’s weaknesses, how to play into those, how to play a role.

Occasionally Judge McNamara asked a question.

Sophie didn’t leave out a single detail. Her explanation of when and how their relationship had changed made the men in the room uncomfortable. Sophie noticed they shifted in their chairs. But Judge McNamara looked right at her without flinching.

“How did you come to be here today?”

She went on to explain how Garret had killed the man in Denver and that she’d taken the money and run.

At that point Clay spoke up again. “Judge, there’s someone who’d like to say somethin’ now.”

“Who is it?”

Clay gestured to a woman sitting in one of the rows of seats Sophie’d avoided looking at.

A woman wearing a homespun dress raised her hand tentatively, then stood. “I’d like a chance to make mention of what I know about Miss Hollis’s character.”

“What’s your name, ma’am?”

“Gretchen Forrester.”

“Come on up here, then.” The judge motioned her forward.

The woman stood three feet from the table. “Miss Hollis or Dumont or whoever she is…” she pointed at Sophie. “She came to my home nearly two years ago and returned money that had been taken from my husband.”

“How did your husband lose the money?”

“An investment of some sort that he told me went sour. He didn’t wanna admit he gave it to a flim-flam man. But then when this lady came and offered it back, he told me what really happened. That was money I’d inherited from my father, and I intend to send my son to university with it.”

“I hope your husband has learned his lesson.”

“Oh, he has, sir. He has.”

“You can sit down, Mrs. Forrester.” Judge McNamara turned to Sophie. “What happened when the money ran out?”

“I saved enough back to see me through if I didn’t find work. I was in Dubuque when I saw the advertisement for the Harvey House positions. So I came up with letters and references and traveled here.”

“What did you hope to gain in coming to Kansas?”

Sophie took a moment to form her answer. “I wanted to live like other people. I had to lie to get the position, but lies were all I knew how to do. I figured if I could set aside a nest egg, I could start my own business eventually. I’d be independent. Most of all I wanted to be in control of my own destiny. That’s all I ever thought of really.”

The judge looked to Clay. “How’d you find Mrs. Forrester?”

Clay stepped forward. “Once I started tracin’ Sophie’s trail, the Pinkertons caught on. They’d been lookin’ for Garrett. We shared information, and I got names of people she’d visited.”

Clay glanced at Sophie before addressing the judge again. “What I’m hopin’ you’ll see, Judge, is that Miss Hollis—er—that Sophie was a scared kid doin’ what she had to just t’ survive. She got away. And when she did, she paid back many of the people they’d taken money from.”

“Paying back stolen money with more stolen money doesn’t right the wrong,” the judge replied.

Clay’s expression was grim at that remark.

The judge leaned back in his chair. “I’m beginning to see something here. Have you done all this research into Miss Hollis’s background purely as your official duty?”

Clay looked uncomfortable with the question, and she hoped it was because he didn’t want to compromise the facts and not because he was embarrassed about their association. “No, sir, I didn’t. It’s more personal than that.”

“Did you ever wonder, Marshal, if she was pulling a con over on you?”

Clay nodded, regret evident in his posture. “Wouldn’t be human if I hadn’t. I had feelin’s for her, and as a lawman I wondered if I was lettin’ those shade my judgment.” He glanced at her. “Sorry, Sophie. We’re tellin’ the truth today.”

“It’s okay,” she said.

The judge looked at her again. “Sophia, did you use the marshal?”

She felt like she’d been struck. She couldn’t catch her breath for a moment and her ears rang. Used Clay?
Used him?

“Well, I—I guess in a way it would seem I did. I mean I knew he cared for me and that he wanted to help.”

“Have you ever asked him to do anything for you?”

“Yes, sir, I have.”

Clay frowned at her, but she went on.

“I asked him to help me trap Garrett. And—” She’d asked him to spend the night with her, but she couldn’t say that, even if it was the truth. She raised a hand as she thought of something else. “I asked him to let me see the body once Garrett was dead.”

“So, Marshal, the plan to catch Garrett in one of these blackmail schemes was entirely Miss Hollis’s?”

Clay shifted uncomfortably. “It was.”

“But you agreed to go along with it. Care to explain why?”

“Had no idea the man would be killed, o’ course,” he answered. “I thought once he was caught right here in Kansas, there’d be a better chance of a trial here, rather than escorting him directly to Colorado.”

“And what did you hope to gain by holding his first trial here?”

“I was hopin’ Sophie’d stand a better chance of pardon.”

Clay moved to pick up another stack of letters and telegrams and handed them to Judge McNamara. “More people want to say somethin’ on Sophie’s behalf.”

The judge gestured with a sweep of his arm. “Where are they?”

One of the other marshals went to the door and opened it. One by one a dozen or more men and women filed into the room and took seats.

Sophie stared, recognizing some of them as either people she’d returned money to, others as girls from the Arcade. Louis Tripp was there, and even Mr. Webb had come! Her heart could hardly contain her joy that so many people cared and believed in her enough to speak on her behalf.

Clay sat down and one by one the judge let each person say their piece from where they sat. A Pinkerton agent shared his findings. Citizens thanked her for her honesty in bringing them their stolen funds, others shared her kind deeds or her work ethic. They would’ve been passing out lemonade in hell if Mrs. Winters had shown up, she thought.

The door opened again and Caleb and Ellie Chaney entered.

“Dr. Chaney, I suppose you wanted to say something about Miss Hollis’s character, and I suppose too that it would all be glowing.”

“It would.”

Ellie gave Sophie an encouraging smile and Sophie’s throat tightened with humble appreciation.

“One more, Judge,” Clay said.

Deputy Sanders strode to the door. A young woman accompanied him back. Blond hair.
Amanda!
Sophie covered her trembling lips with her hand.

“I’m Amanda Pettyjohn,” she said. Her cheeks were bright with color. “Your honor, Sophie is a dear and loyal friend. She taught me to dance. That’s not why you should let her go, though. You should let her go because she saved me from getting mixed up with Monte—I mean Tek Garrett. She risked our friendship and a lot more to tell me the truth. And then she gave me money she’d earned so I could go home when my cousin Winnie had her baby.” She turned a beaming smile on Sophie. “It’s a girl!”

Sophie smiled through tears.

“Thank you, Miss Pettyjohn. Take a seat.”

Amanda sat two chairs away from Deputy Sanders.

The judge laid his glasses on the tabletop. “I don’t see much sense in taking this any further.”

Sophie anticipated the worst.

“I pretty much had my mind made up after reading the reports and the documentation, little lady. But your marshal here and all your friends intrigued me, so I listened to them. Not all my days are this interesting.”

He looked at the people occupying the chairs. “Sophie was a child when this Garrett got hold of her. He purposefully corrupted her to his way of life and used her.”

Sophie listened, hope growing.

He turned his attention to her again. “I’m of a mind that whatever wrongs you may have participated in before, you had no plans for any further con work.”

“No, sir,” Sophie assured him. “I wanted to put those days behind me.”

“And you risked your life to catch the true criminal.”

This was sounding more hopeful every minute!

“Marshal, you will notify the proper authorities that Tek Garrett was killed while carrying out a criminal act. Also alert them that Miss Hollis has been cleared of all accusations subject to my authority and that I am petitioning a federal judge to make certain she is absolved of her part in any and all charges not included here today.”

Sophie stared at the man in disbelief. “You mean I’m free? I’m not going to jail?”

“You’re free, Sophia. Punishing you would just be more cruel and unfair treatment, which you’ve already endured. Go. Create that destiny you’ve wanted for so long.”

Sophie stood. “Oh, I will, Judge. I will! Thank you. Thank you.”

She turned her attention to Clay. He was smiling from ear to ear. She rushed forward and he opened his arms to enfold her, careful of her tender side. “It’s over, Sophie,” he told her. “You’re free.”

Sophie’s friends and acquaintances gathered around her to give her gentle hugs and share their support and pleasure in the judge’s findings.

Sophie made a point of finding Judge McNamara and thanking him before he left. The judge’s assistant picked up papers and folders, and followed the older man from the room. Others were filing out, too, now.

Clay hadn’t left her side. She turned to embrace him. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d done all that?” They hung behind to speak privately. “Why didn’t you tell me you knew my real name?”

“You said you didn’t want to get your hopes up. I wasn’t even sure how much good my efforts would do. I just had to try.”

“You risked your reputation as a lawman for me.” She leaned back and looked up into his clear blue eyes.

“Said it before. You’re a risk worth takin’.”

Oblivious to their surroundings now, without thought to anyone left in the room, Sophie cupped his jaw and raised her face for a kiss.

Clay obliged her, telling her with searing passion that it had all been worth it to hold her like this, to know she was in control of her own life from here on out.

Sophie leaned back to say, “Today is all about the truth.”

His gaze steadied on her lips.

“There’s something I have to tell you now,” she said.

Two tiny lines formed between his black eyebrows.

She hadn’t meant to stab him with concern. “I love you. I couldn’t say it before. I didn’t have the right, and I wasn’t free to. Now I can tell you. I love you, Clay Connor.”

His arm tightened across her back. “I love you, Sophia Hollister.” He kissed her gently. “You only just found out that name an’ all, but before you go getting used to it, I was hopin’ you’d be willin’ to change it one last time. For good this time.”

Hope surged in Sophie’s heart. She’d never anticipated anything this good, this right being hers. She closed her eyes to remember this feeling. She never wanted to forget the way her heart felt as light as a butterfly.

“Open your eyes and say you’ll marry me.”

Her smile came from her soul. She opened her eyes and had to blink back tears of joy. “Only if you promise to kiss me like that forever.”

“I can do better than that.”

“Can you love me forever?”

“I will.”

“Can I smoke in bed?”

He chuckled and she loved the sound. “Only if I’m there with you.”

“In that case I trust you with my heart’s destiny, Marshal.”

He kissed her well, proving his word that he could do better.

“Let’s go celebrate,” he suggested. “I heard cheesecake’s on the menu at the Arcade today, and I haven’t been there since you quit.”

They drew apart, but held hands as they walked toward the doorway. “Good idea,” she agreed. “I have a few bridesmaids to share the rest of our good news with.”

He drew a face. “Just how many would that be?”

“Is twenty too many?”

He laughed and wrapped his arm around her. “Funny, that’s how many
children
I was countin’ on, Sophie.”

Her laughter echoed throughout the empty room.