Page 40 of Inventions of the Heart

CHAPTER

TWELVE

HE’S GONE, ZANE. I COULDN’T HOLD HIM.”Stockwood’s face was taut with anger. “He had the judge with him who would oversee the trial. It was next thing to a jailbreak, but they had the right paperwork and the force of law on their side.”

Mrs. Stiles gasped so loud it was almost a scream.

Michelle went to her side and hugged her. Jilly came near, her red hair such a contrast to her mother’s. Laura, all blond prettiness, threw her arms around all three of them.

“Edgar could be here any minute.” After that first gasp, Mrs. Stiles’s chin firmed, and her shoulders squared. “He might not have controlling interest in Stiles Lumber, but he still has patriarchal power over Jilly.”

“She can come back home with me,” Michelle said. “We’ll post a guard so no more nighttime intruders get inside.”

“Jilly can stay, and Mrs. ... uh ... Mama, you can stay here, too,” Zane said.

“Laura and I need to get to work removing Edgar’s name from the company records,” Caleb said. “We can ride toSacramento right away with proxy voting rights from Michelle.” He turned to Zane. “Is there a lawyer in town who could draw up such papers?”

“Yes, we’ll go there before we head home.”

“We can block his ability to take money out of the accounts,” Caleb said. “Banish him from your San Francisco house, then ride to your mountain home and fire all his cohorts.”

Laura nodded. “But if Edgar knows where Jilly is, no matter how well you guard her, Zane, she’s not safe. If we shut down his access to the accounts, he’ll have all the more reason to move fast to marry her to someone.”

Jilly, with her flashing eyes, gritted her teeth. “He really does have a fair amount of power over me, as far as pushing me into a marriage with his awful companions.”

“I’m going with you to Sacramento,” Margaret said. “I plan to talk to a lawyer and see what can be done about barring Edgar from my property.”

“You could see about a divorce,” Nick said uncertainly. “It’s not easy, ma’am.”

Zane wondered how he knew such a thing.

“So I’ve heard,” Margaret said. “My understanding is he has to agree to it. We both do. He can’t be forced to accept a divorce. And I doubt he will. I once knew a woman who had to chase down the man who’d abandoned her and run off with another woman. When she found him, he laughed in her face and refused to sign, and there was nothing she could do. She’s still legally married to him, and it’s been years. No doubt she’ll remain married to him for the rest of her life.”

Then Margaret added with a hint of shame, “And I took vows before God. I took them fully and sincerely. To breakthose vows, even though he’s broken them dozens of times, is still an awful thing.”

Caleb rested a hand on Margaret’s shoulder. “The Bible allows a divorce. In Corinthians, it says, ‘If the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace.’ God doesn’t call you to live in bondage with an unbeliever if he wants to go. And chances are,” Caleb said with grim certainty, “if you can block him from all the money and keep him away from your homes, he might seek out a divorce just so he can find some new woman to cheat. Maybe at the end of this, somehow we can lock him away in prison so he won’t harm anyone else.”

“For all that he’s a horrid beast, I’m not sure if anything he’s done is really a crime. Is hitting your wife illegal anywhere? Arranging marriages for your stepdaughters, however abhorrent the grooms? Draining funds from the business your wife brought into the marriage? No, I doubt he’s committed a crime.”

“This isn’t over yet, ma’am,” Zane said. “We’re about to give a good hard yank on the devil’s tail. Then we’ll see how he acts. Let’s go to the lawyer’s office and get those papers. You can’t head for Sacramento today. The evening will be on us before we get those proxy papers in hand. Let’s spend the night here in Dorada Rio. You can have the evening and morning with your daughters. It would give me great pleasure to have you to my ranch for a stay, but right now, there’s no time. At least tonight will give the Stiles family a chance to spend time together before we get back to fighting Beaumont.”

Caleb looked at Laura, who nodded and said, “We’ve already ridden miles today. I’m about ready to drop.”

“So am I.” Then Caleb looked at Margaret. “You look exhausted, Mama Stiles. Are you sure you want to come to Sacramento and San Francisco? You could stay here with Michelle and Jilly.”

Margaret hesitated, then nodded. “I think I have to. I can do a few things in Sacramento none of you can. The governor will act if I tell him about the judge who helped a man escape from jail, a man who attacked two of my daughters and stole a ranch from ... my daughter-in-law, Annie.”

Annie arched one eyebrow as if surprised to find herself adopted into the Stiles family. But she didn’t look upset about it.

Margaret went on. “No local judge”—she slammed one fist into her other palm—“not anywhere in the state of California”—she punched her palm again with a loud smack—“is going to take the law into his own corrupt hands. He’s been bribed or is being blackmailed. However it’s been done, he’s definitely acting under the orders of Horace Benteen. That is going to stop, and I think I’m the woman to stop it. I want this judge’s name before I go. He’ll soon find out he’s not as powerful as he imagines himself to be.”

She slammed that fist into her palm one more time.

Fierce woman. Zane decided to never make her angry.

“Let’s go talk to the lawyer.” Zane started for the door.

“You’re sure he’s trustworthy?” Margaret asked.

Zane grinned at her. “He’s only a part-time lawyer. He’s also the parson who performed our wedding service. The church was his second calling. He’s a good lawyer but without a ruthless bone in his body. Anyway, he’s too poor to be corrupt. In gold country, corruption pays very well.”

They headed for the lawyer, Parson Lewis. Caleb seemed especially eager to meet him.

Zane led the parade, and as he approached the parsonage, he spent some time fretting about all the trouble swirling around him. The women needed to be guarded. If they stayed in a hotel, the men needed to take turns outside a door with the women inside.

He wondered if he’d even manage to get his wife to share a room with him. If she wasn’t in the mood for that, or if he decided he didn’t dare be ... distracted ... he might find himself sleeping on the cold floor of the hotel hallway, his body stretched across Michelle’s door. It would be a disappointing way to spend a wedding night.

---