Page 75 of A Steadfast Heart
Drew grimaced. He’d been thinking the same thing but had hoped he was just being paranoid. Not likely, if his brothers thought so too.
Six steps. Turn.
Ed rested his head against the stone wall behind him. “Hope that deputy gets here soon.”
Drew grunted his agreement. It had been long enough already. Would the deputy bring Kaitlyn with him? His heart was torn. He longed to see her, but he didn’t want her to see him here.
Six steps. Turn.
The door opened, and Deputy Wallace entered, his smooth face looking like it didn’t need a razor more than once a week. If that. How had Quade arranged for Danna and Jack to be called out of town? Drew shook his head. He’d probably never know.
Quade followed Wallace through the door, a smirk matching the gleam of satisfaction in his eyes as he glanced around.
Drew squared his shoulders and straightened to his full height. What was Quade doing here? And why hadn’t Wallace brought Kaitlyn?
“Where’s my wife?”
“On the train to St. Louis.” Quade’s smirk grew more intense.
Couldn’t Wallace hear the man’s perverse glee?
Drew inhaled and released the breath slowly.
Nick stepped beside him. “My brother wouldn’t trust a word you said, Quade.”
True, he shouldn’t. And yet that glee had a source.
Quade adopted a more serious expression and stepped into the deputy’s line of sight. “You tell him, Wallace.”
“She caught the train.”
Drew’s knees weakened. He grabbed the bars in front of him. The deputy backed up a step, and his hand dropped to his gun. “Don’t go getting riled up. It was her choice.”
“Was someone with her? A blond man?”
“Yes.”
Rough areas of the bar bit into his palms. “You’ve got to let me out of here. Her brother’s a no-good rotten scoundrel?—”
Wallace dropped his hand to his pistol. “Calm down, McGraw. I questioned both of them. Thoroughly. She made it quite clear she was going of her own volition.”
Drew’s blood ran cold. She’d gone willingly? He shook his head. He’d seen the terror on her face when Michael cornered her.
“Sounds like your city peacock didn’t take to country ways.” Conchas chuckled. “Guess you weren’t man enough to winorkeep her, either one.”
“Shut up,” Ed muttered.
Nick shook his head. “She wouldn’t have agreed, not unless he’d threatened her. Was he holding a gun on her?”
The deputy glared at Nick. “You think I didn’t think of that?”
“I think you’re holding us in here while the real crook gets away.” A muscle ticked in Nick’s jaw. “She’d never go with him. Never.”
The deputy’s glare intensified. “I questioned them separately. She sent a message to McGraw. Wanted me to tell you that the marriage was a mistake and she wished she’d never done it.”
Drew sagged against the bars, his knees refusing to hold him. The words hit him like Crazy Cow’s hooves, knocked the breath out of him. If the kid had questioned them separately, Michael couldn’t have threatened her into leaving.
Mistake.
