Once the prisoners were secured and the posse was ready to depart, Gibson told Violet and Morgan, “I won’t be returning to Butte with you. I’m going to take half the posse and the prisoners and veer off to Helena where the territory judge is holding court this week. I don’t want to wait for the trial to be held in Butte. That’s just asking for a riot, and I don’t doubt it will happen if Sullivan’s miners get wind that’s he’s under arrest and they might lose their jobs if their employer gets convicted.”
“But what about Sullivan’s sister, Kayleigh?” Violet asked. “She knew my father was a prisoner in that house and was in on the plot to steal our mine.”
“I went to their house to see for myself where your father had been kept and to confront Miss Sullivan for her part in it. She started crying and confessed that she’s had to do whatever her brother ordered because she is utterly dependent on him, so she had no choice. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know, but I’m not partial to arresting women, so I told her to catch the next train out of town. The judge will decide if that family gets to keep their holdings here.”
Violet immediately thought of Katie. She didn’t think the daughter should be punished for the father’s sins. “Other than Kayleigh, who knew exactly what her brother had been doing and seemed as rapacious as he was, I doubt the rest of his family knew how ruthless he could be.”
“That family is rich as sin. I wouldn’t worry about the rest of them.”
Morgan didn’t look happy that any Sullivan was escaping justice, but then he’d come very near to dying today. But maybe his disgruntled look was just for her. She was still getting the cold shoulder from him. Even after she’d told him last night that she hadn’t betrayed him. Even after he’d just heard about the part she’d played in their rescue. He had heard it, hadn’t he? How could he not?
Nine men escorted them to Butte, but they were widely spread out along the road since Violet and Morgan didn’t need protection now. Violet wasn’t sure how she ended up riding next to Morgan a few hours later, but it was just after they passed his mountain, which was the perfect time to break the ice with him.
She glanced his way and asked, “You aren’t going. . . . ?” She didn’t say “to your mine,” just nodded back toward his mountain range.
He shook his head. “And miss seeing Charley alive and kicking?”
“I don’t think he’ll be kicking for a while. The ordeal has left him very weak. But you can’t imagine how happy I was to find him alive.”
“That must have been an incredible surprise.”
“I confess, at first sight I was afraid he was a ghost! But of course that was silly, and yes, it was unbelievably amazing that he isn’t dead after all.”
“You’re fortunate that someone in that house knew what Sullivan was up to and didn’t like it.”
“Yes, today would have turned out quite differently without Abigail Hall’s help.”
He still looked so unapproachable, reminding her of the bear she’d first met. She regretted thinking the worst of him, not that he’d been the best company those first few days she’d known him, but she’d been at her worst, too. While he’d protected her again and again, from wild animals, from muscle pain—well, he’d tried to—from outlaws. He’d even taught her to shoot so she could protect herself. And he’d danced with her under the stars! Yet she’d repaid him by disappearing without a word. She was afraid she might have hurt his feelings or his pride. And he’d obviously looked for her. All those days since she’d left his camp? No wonder he was so mad!
She’d been trying to speak normally, as if it didn’t feel like they were complete strangers again, but she had to explain. “You may not have guessed, but I was terribly distraught by the violent encounter with those two outlaws. When you went to work the next day as if none of it had happened, the horror of it all came back to me and I sort of panicked. I simply had to get back to civilization immediately, but you’d said you wouldn’t take me until the following week.”
“You could have said so, instead of taking off on your own when you didn’t know where you were.”
“But I did know. One of those outlaws mentioned Butte and gave me rough directions to town before you arrived to rescue me. He said it was only a half day’s ride away, so I thought I could get there before dark.” She wasn’t going to mention that that hadn’t happened, but did admit, “Yes, it was beyond reckless, and I walked right into Sullivan’s plot when his men found me before I got to town. But I was never a party to any of Shawn Sullivan’s illegal machinations.”
“Doesn’t matter. You made your choice,” he said, and spurred his horse forward, ending the conversation.
What the bloody hell did that mean? But she was afraid she knew. He wasn’t talking about trusting him to change his plans and take her to town if he knew she couldn’t bear to stay at his camp another minute. Her “choice” had been to leave him instead of pursuing a relationship with him. With everything this man could make her feel, she wasn’t sure she’d made the right choice.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
THEY ARRIVED BACK IN Butte by dusk. Violet went straight to the sheriff’s office. Morgan followed her. Deputy Barnes immediately stood up from behind the desk. “Been expecting you after one of the posse rode ahead to give us the good news. Heard congratulations are in order, that you were quite the heroine, Miss Mitchell.” And then he glanced at Morgan and laughed. “What happened to you? Misplace your beard somewhere?” And then he laughed harder.
“Not funny, Deputy.” Morgan glowered at him. “Where’s Charley Mitchell?”
Morgan left as soon as they were told which hotel Charles was in. Violet ended up following him now. All without a word to each other. And she was annoyed that the hotel happened to be the very one she’d been kicked out of—Morgan’s hotel. Yes, of course it would be. The one time Charles had come to town with Morgan, they’d probably both stayed there.
She wasn’t happy about it. She even glared at the desk clerk, daring him not to speak to her when she asked for her father’s room number and requested a room for herself for the night. The bloody fool actually looked at Morgan first to get his permission. And Morgan gave it with a nod.
Her annoyance mounted over that ridiculous byplay. While Morgan asked for his messages, she marched upstairs and knocked on her father’s door. She had to knock several times before he answered. She entered to find him lying in bed, looking as if he’d just awakened from a nap. Her anger was replaced by a burst of happiness. She was never going to get over this joy that he was alive.
She gave him a brilliant smile. “It’s done, Papa. Shawn Sullivan has been arrested and taken to Helena to be tried in a court of law.”
“That’s wonderful news,” Abigail said from a chair by the window.
“Abigail! I didn’t see you there.”
Charles chuckled. “I keep telling her to stop watching me sleep.”
The housekeeper stood up with a slight blush and approached Violet. “I was just making sure he didn’t need anything while we waited for you to get back. I’m very pleased you’ve returned safely.”
“It all went as planned.” Violet hugged the older woman. “Thank you so much for everything you’ve done to help us. We couldn’t have come through this without you.”
“I’m just glad it all worked out. But now you’re here, I could do with a nap myself. I was falling asleep in that chair. We’ll see each other later, dear.”
Violet nodded and turned to her father again with another wide smile. “We can go home now and—”
“Hell, Charley, you’re skin and bones,” Morgan interrupted as he came into the room moments after Abigail left.
“Not quite, though it feels like it,” Charles admitted with a grin as he sat up. “Good to see you again, partner.”
“Not nearly as good as it is to see you,” Morgan said with a chuckle. “I’m sorry you had to go through that hell, but as your daughter told you, it’s over.”
“I slept through most of it, and you never knew it happened. We were both spared that, at least.”