Tracie Peterson - [New Mexico Sunset 03] Read online

  “And would that be so bad?”

  “It would be a nightmare. It’s bad enough they gave slaves the right to voting. Look what that’s brought us to.”

  “And what is that?”

  “They want more rights, of course. If women were given the right to vote, what would they want next?”

  “I’m sure I don’t know,” Angeline replied evenly. “Perhaps they would strive to marry for love and not because someone, some man, arranged to force it upon them.

  “Perhaps,” Douglas smiled. “But then again, women are like children. You need a good pat on the head when you behave properly,” he said and did just that to Angeline. “And a firm hand otherwise when they step out of line.”

  “I see,” Angeline said in a stilted voice.

  “I’m glad you do,” Douglas said and dropped his hand from where he’d rested it casually on her shoulder, “because Gavin Lucas’s life depends on you.”

  Angeline entered her room and closed the door gently. Leaning hard against it, she began to cry. At first the tears just welled up in her eyes, but soon she was sobbing and there was no turning off the water.

  “What do I do?” she cried and threw herself down into a chair. Her hand fell across the table and beneath it she felt the Bible and suddenly knew what she had to do.

  Chapter 16

  The Bible fell open to the fifteenth chapter of Luke, and Angeline immediately read the story of the prodigal son. She saw herself in the selfishness of the prodigal. She felt the heaviness of guilt weigh her down as she read of the childish demands the boy had placed on his father.

  “I placed so many demands on my parents,” she whispered and wiped at her tears with the back of her sleeve.

  Continuing to read, Angeline watched the tale unfold much like her own. The boy had gone away to a far-off land in order to live as he wanted. Then one day the joy of it was gone and there was nothing left. That was exactly how Angeline felt.

  She thought for a moment of Gavin facing death knowing that he couldn’t help himself, and she shivered. “I have to help him, Lord.” She looked up at the ceiling and wondered if God even bothered to listen to her anymore.

  “The prodigal repented,” Angeline whispered and moved her gaze back to the Bible. “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,” the eighteenth verse said. Nineteen continued, “And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.”

  Angeline paused and tears anew streamed from her eyes. “I’m not worthy,” she said with a moan. “I’ve followed God only because it suited my purpose to do so. It was my cause and I wore it proudly, but it means nothing. Oh, God,” she whispered and threw herself to her knees. With hands clasped together she raised them heavenward. “Please forgive me! I know how wrong I’ve been. I see it all now. When I was young it was a game to play. I went to church because that was the place to be seen. I played at being good, because that’s what people expected. I mocked You and Your service, however, and I don’t deserve forgiveness, but I plead for it.”

  She sobbed into her hands, her heart nearly tearing in two from the admission of all that had gone along in the past. “I am a vain and prideful woman, Father. I also sought my will first and never considered what other people wanted. I certainly never considered what You might want. And now. . .” She couldn’t say it. She couldn’t bring herself to imagine that even now Gavin might already lie dead in some dark alleyway.

  “I love him, Father. Oh, I really, really do. I couldn’t see how much, until. . .until. . .” She looked at her hands and felt the helplessness and hopelessness threaten to swallow her. “Oh, God, help him. Take me, but don’t let them kill Gavin.” She thought of her words for a moment, then knew without a doubt that she meant them with all of her heart.

  “Yes, Lord,” she nodded, suddenly more sedate, “take my life, if a life must be given, but please spare Gavin. I can’t bear it that I’ve put him in this position. He wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for his love for me. Now, Father, I realize my love for him and I want to exchange places with him. You sent Your Son Jesus to take my place on the cross, so I know You understand about exchanges. Forgive me, Father. Forgive me and let Jesus live in my heart as King. I want only to serve You now. I’m not worthy to be a son, but I will happily be a servant.” Angeline’s words brought immediate comfort. They didn’t offer her an answer to her plight, but they did give her the peace that God was now in control. And for the first time in her life, Angeline knew she’d truly come home.

  Getting to her feet, Angeline picked up the Bible and finished reading about the prodigal. He too pled his case to his father and his father, like her Heavenly Father, accepted him home with open arms. “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry,” Luke 15:24 stated.

  “I want to be merry, Lord,” she whispered, “and I want Gavin. I want us together and I want to share his life. Please help me to free him from his captivity, and if I can’t help him, then please, God, please don’t let me harm him with my carelessness.”

  Angeline’s first thought was that somehow, some way, she had to get to Gavin. But how? And even if she got there, how could she free him? No doubt Douglas would have left him guarded by his two friends. “What do I do?” she questioned aloud. Then as if her mother were standing beside her, Angeline remembered her saying, “God guides our every step, Angeline, but we still have to be the one to pick up our foot and move forward. When we do, we find out that He was there all along, just waiting for us to trust Him.” Angeline smiled. She’d move forward and trust God to show her what to do.

  Feeling revived, she stripped out of the jacket and skirt she wore and went to the wardrobe. She wanted to find something attractive, yet sedate. She needed to find Douglas and try to talk some sense into his head. She would plead for Gavin’s life, and she would happily offer up her own if necessary. Flipping through the dresses, Angeline gave each one careful consideration. She didn’t want to encourage Douglas to believe her truly happy with their arrangement, yet she wanted to keep his eye on her.

  A black satin gown crossed her eye and Angeline pulled it from the wardrobe to consider it. It was absolutely stunning with its flared skirt and fitted sleeves. The bodice was cut low, then overlaid with a fine, black lace that came high and was secured to the neck with pearl encrusted, black velvet ribbon. Angeline immediately knew it was the gown she should wear. Digging through the dresser drawer, Angeline found that Willa had thought of everything. Beautiful black lace gloves were carefully resting beside white and rose colored ones, and beautiful things to wear underneath the dress were waiting just one drawer down.

  Angeline quickly went to work. She knew Douglas and Willa were to have dinner together and what happened afterward would be anyone’s guess. She washed and dressed, noting that the hour should still afford her enough time to catch them in the dining hall.

  With rapid brush strokes, Angeline quickly twisted her hair into a stylish chignon and looked at her face in the mirror. She couldn’t do much about her eyes. They were red but looked more like she’d missed many hours of sleep rather than spent many hours in tears.

  “It’ll have to do,” she said aloud and made her way to the door.

  Outside, she was surprised to nearly run into a man who was trying to unlock the door adjacent to hers.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said and tried to back up.

  The older man steadied her and smiled. “Angeline Monroe. My, my, but you’ve grown up to be a beautiful young woman.”

  “Dr. Jacobs!” Angeline exclaimed. The man was a good friend of her father’s. “How nice to run into you here. Are you taking some time away from your practice?”

  “No, I’m afraid it’s all business for me. I’m here to attend a lecture,” he said with a smile. “What about you? You look like you’re on your way to some place important.”

  “Oh, it’s re
ally nothing. I’ve been kept very busy helping with the suffrage cause, but I’m hoping to go home very soon.”

  “You look quite tired,” he stated in a concerned tone. “Are you all right?”

  Suddenly a thought came to Angeline. “I am tired,” she admitted. “I haven’t been able to get much rest.” It certainly wasn’t a lie, Angeline thought with relief. She wanted to rescue Gavin, but she didn’t want to sin against God in order to do so.

  “You mustn’t let it take its toll on you, Angeline.” The doctor’s words led Angeline in exactly the direction she wanted to go.

  “I know,” she said with a sigh. “Perhaps you could give me something to help me sleep at night. Denver is such a noisy city, and this hotel has so very much going on. . .” She let her words trail off, hoping it was enough to elicit sympathy from the old family friend.

  “Of course,” Dr. Jacobs replied. “I have some excellent medication for just that purpose.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a small vial. “A little of this in warm milk will put you to sleep in no time. Just don’t mix it with alcohol or you’ll sleep a whole lot longer than you planned.”

  “You mean it would kill me?” Angeline asked, trying hard to sound horrified.

  “No, no,” the man answered. “Not unless you used the whole bottle. It’s just that the effects are magnified with alcohol, but I don’t imagine that’s a concern for you anyway.”

  “No, of course not,” Angeline smiled. “Thank you so much, Dr. Jacobs. I will tell my father how very kind you were to me. I’m running a little short of cash, but if you would send him a bill for this medication, I will personally see to it that it’s paid.”

  “Nonsense. It’s my pleasure to help. Now you run along and tell whomever you are meeting that you have doctor’s orders to be in early tonight.”

  “I will,” Angeline said with a smile. She hurried down the hallway and felt for once that the answer to all of her prayers were held in her hand.

  ❧

  It took almost a half an hour, but by the time Angeline was finished, she was more than confident the plan would work. Standing outside the room where Douglas had taken her and Gavin earlier, Angeline could only pray that they hadn’t moved him. She also prayed that Douglas would be nowhere in sight, otherwise she was certain her scheme would fail.

  Knocking lightly on the door, Angeline was relieved to find the one Douglas had called Joe answering the door.

  “What’da ya want?” He growled the question.

  “I’ve brought you boys some refreshment,” Angeline said and batted her lashes coyly. “Douglas thought you might enjoy some food.”

  The man leered a smile, giving Angeline the once over and allowed her into the room. “Look at this, Ralph. Baker must be softenin’ a bit. He let his woman bring up some eats.”

  “Good thing too,” Ralph replied and did a double take when he spotted Angeline. “Whew! I thought you were a looker,” he said and sported a grin which revealed several missing teeth. No doubt acquired, Angeline presumed, from the fist which had left his nose permanently listing to the left side of his face.

  “What’d ya bring?” Joe asked, taking the tray from Angeline.

  Angeline refused to look at Gavin for fear she’d lose her nerve.

  “I hope you like ham sandwiches.” She rather purred the words. “I also brought coffee.”

  “Ugh! That all?” Ralph asked, taking a look at the tray’s contents when Joe put it down.

  “Well, you know how it is, boys. Douglas figured you might like something to help flavor that coffee.” Angeline produced a quarter bottle of whiskey and poured a generous amount into each cup of coffee.

  The men eagerly took the treat and without so much as thank you, slammed it down and asked for the remaining contents of the bottle. Angeline shrugged her shoulders and shared the whiskey between the two men. “Sorry there wasn’t more, but you know how it is these days. It was hard enough just to get this much. I suppose you can get something else later.”

  “That is if Baker turns us loose. You and him patch things up, eh?” Ralph asked her, helping himself to a sandwich.

  Angeline nodded, still refusing to look at Gavin. She was painfully aware that he was watching, but she knew she couldn’t see his expression just yet. It would be her undoing for sure.

  “Certainly. Douglas and I have an understanding, and I’ve promised to be most cooperative. I never knew what a helpful man he could be.” Angeline hoped she sounded convincing.

  “Helpful, eh?” Ralph seemed unconcerned and yawned with his mouth full of sandwich. “Hey,” he called to Joe. “Kinda warm in here isn’t it?”

  Joe suppressed his own yawn and nodded. “I’ll open the window,” he said and put his empty mug on the table.

  Angeline wondered silently how long it would take the sleeping medication, via the whiskey and coffee, to drug the men into sleep. They were already showing signs of fatigue. Please God, she prayed, don’t let it be much longer.

  Ralph sat down and yawned again. “I’ve been working too many hours.”

  Joe finished opening the window and stuck his head out into the crisp night air. “Me too,” he grumbled and pulled back inside.

  Angeline felt her nerves begin to fray. “We could play cards,” she said as though the men had complained of boredom instead of exhaustion.

  Joe shook his head and sank into the nearest chair. “I don’t think so.” His eyes were drooping, and his speech sounded slightly slurred.

  Angeline couldn’t risk a look at Ralph without having something to say. “How about another sandwich, Ralph?”

  “Huh?” Ralph yawned and put his head down on the table. “Think I’ll just rest for a minute.”

  Angeline held her breath and looked back at Joe. “I guess Douglas really is working you too hard. I’ll have to speak to him about it.” She waited for a response from Joe, but his thick eyelids were closed and a light snoring was already coming up in reply.

  Ralph, too, began a kind of duet with Joe, snoring in loud exhales, while Joe inhaled. Angeline refused to move and refused to look at Gavin. She had to be certain Douglas’s thugs were asleep.

  Tiptoeing to Ralph, she shook him hard and only succeeded in breaking his rhythm of breathing for a moment. “Ralph, wake up,” she said and shook him again. He was out cold.

  Moving to Joe, whose head bobbed up and down on his thick chest, Angeline repeated the action. “Joe, wake up.” Nothing! Not even a snort or a cough to indicate she’d even disturbed him.

  All right, she thought. That’s done. They’re both asleep. Now I get Gavin untied. Straightening up, Angeline felt her head grow light. With a pale face, she turned to look at Gavin just as her knees gave out, and she sank to the floor.

  Chapter 17

  Angeline steadied herself against Joe’s bulky leg. I can’t faint, she thought and caught the look of concern in Gavin’s eyes. Poor Gavin. She smiled weakly at him, but nevertheless, it was a smile.

  “I suppose you’re wondering why I came here today,” she began as though about to offer a lecture. Sucking in her breath and using Joe for support, Angeline got to her feet and adjusted her skirts. Looking back at Gavin, she could see his raised eyebrows.

  “You like it?” she questioned, moving toward him in small hesitant steps. “It’s another of Willa’s dresses,” she mused, trying hard to keep her nerves steadied with the casual banter. Gavin nodded.

  Angeline felt better after the first few steps and hurried toward Gavin. She worked at the knotted scarf they’d used to gag him with. “Oh, Gavin!” she exclaimed, pulling at the material. “I’m so sorry I got you in all of this. I promise to make it up to you, and I promise not to be any more trouble.”

  She pulled the material from his mouth and planted her lips firmly on his, much to Gavin’s surprise. She pulled away, noting his stunned expression. “I’ll go anywhere with you and do anything you tell me. I love you, Gavin!”

  “You sure took your time coming
to that conclusion, Angel,” he finally said with a stern expression replacing the shocked one. “I hope you’re quicker about getting me out of these ropes.”

  Angeline smiled and pulled up her skirt just enough to reveal a knife carefully tucked into her knee garter. “I came completely prepared to assist you, Mr. Lucas.” She pulled the knife out and quickly sliced through the ropes.

  Gavin came up off the chair like it was on fire and pulled Angeline into his arms, crushing her against him. For several moments he did nothing but hold her, and for Angeline it was enough. She clung to him, needing to feel strong again. It was all so right, and she wondered silently how she could have ever doubted that her place was with him.

  “Did he hurt you, Angel?”

  “No,” she assured Gavin. “He didn’t lay a hand on me. He did, however, tell Willa that we were to be married. They’re planning a big, public wedding even now as we speak.”

  Gavin frowned and held her even tighter. “Over my dead body.”

  “It nearly was,” Angeline replied flatly.

  Voices sounding in the hallway disturbed their reunion and with the grace of a cat, Gavin flew across the room and locked the door. With a finger to his lips, he pointed to the open window.

  Angeline paled and shook her head. She had an idea what Gavin had planned, and if her assumptions were correct, there was absolutely no way she was going to agree to the arrangement.

  Gavin crossed the room and took her in hand, with Angeline frantically shaking her head in protest. He pulled her close and bent his lips to her ear. “I thought you said you’d follow me anywhere.” He was grinning from ear to ear as he put his head out the window.

  Angeline was terrified and shaking so hard she didn’t think she’d be able to move. The voices in the hall grew louder, and one of them clearly became recognizable as Douglas. Without second thoughts, she was out the window and standing beside Gavin on the ledge.

  Trembling with her back against the cold brick wall, Angeline thought she would die. She felt Gavin’s warm hand on her arm and prayed God would rescue them from their perch. She heard Gavin lower the window and scoot closer to her.