Page 79 of A Steadfast Heart
Wallace glared at the cowhand. “That’s enough out of you. Silence, or I’ll make sure you stay a few days longer.” Then he stopped next to Jo and put a hand under her elbow. “You can lean on me, iffen you need to.”
Fire returned to Jo’s eyes. “Ain’t you the one who put my Pa in there? I reckon you done helped enough!” Tears still ran down her cheeks, but her voice was steadier.
Wallace stepped back from her, his expression set and his legs planted wide. “You can stay a few more minutes, then you gotta go. This ain’t no hotel.”
Drew laid a hand on Jo’s shoulder. “Tell me what happened, Jo.”
“Kaitlyn s-saved us, P-Pa.”
What?
Jo’s neck worked as she swallowed another sob. “A b-bad man had a g-gun. He grabbed Tillie. Kaitlyn plowed into him, t-told us to run. B-but she didn’t get away.”
“What if he shoots her?” Tillie wailed.
A gun. Anger ran like fire through his veins. Someone had pointed a gun at Kaitlyn. His Kaitlyn. His wife. Drew glared at Wallace. “You said there wasn’t a gun.”
The deputy’s brow furrowed. “There wasn’t. And I took her several yards from her brother. Plenty far enough for her to feel safe. Be safe.”
Drew shook his head, his mind racing. Wallace was right. Except…He sorted and discarded possibilities until…“Were the kids nearby when you found them?”
Wallace shook his head.
“So he had plenty of time to threaten the children before you got there.”
Jo stepped closer to him, her breath shuddering in and out. “Why’d she do that, Pa? Go with him so we’d be safe.”
Because she cared more about their safety than her own. But Jo needed to come to that conclusion on her own.
“Why do you think?” he asked his middle daughter.
One more tear ran down Jo’s cheek. “’Cause she loves us.”
Drew nodded, the certainty flowing soul-deep. Kaitlyn loved those kids. Enough to sacrifice herself for them. He thought back over her message to him.Mistake.She loved him enough to use the one word sure to push him away, to make sure he focused on the kids.
Maybe even to protect him.
His shoulders shook. She loved him enough to put herself into the hands of a madman, just so he would be safe. How could he have doubted her?
David moved next to his sisters. “What’re we gonna do, Pa? I couldn’t save her. I tried, but I couldn’t…”
“David, you did good. You’re growing into a man that folks can depend on. But you’re not a man yet, and no one expects you to be. As for what we’re going to do? Wallace here is going to let us out of this cell, and we’re going to rescue my wife.”
“Who says I’m letting you out?” Wallace puffed his chest out and raised his chin.
“I do.” Danna slid through the half-open door. Her voice had Wallace whirling to face her. “Or at least, I probably will, once I have a few answers.”
She turned to the McGraws. “I heard the children. Seems like you have a few problems. Kaitlyn’s brother came to town?”
“Yes, and he has her.”
She tapped her fingers on her thigh. “And why are you a guest of my fine establishment?”
Riley leaped to his feet. “Why don’t you ask us that?”
The rest of Quade’s men added their thoughts to the commotion. Then Ed and Nick joined in.
Danna demanded silence and then signaled Drew to continue. He quickly filled her in about the scuffle caused by both groups supposedly thinking they were protecting Kaitlyn. He promised to return in time to face any charges brought if she would release him to find his wife.
