26
The name of the establishment was inscribed with discreet richness in gold letters on the plate glass window.
Two women were standing in line at the teller’s cage across the room, and a young man with sandy hair was bent over a ledger at a desk immediately to her right. She turned to face him. “I would like to speak to Mr. Durbin, please.”
He looked up. Then he hastily rose to his feet with flattering alacrity. “I’m Mr. Durbin. George Durbin.”
“No, the elder Mr. Durbin. Your father, I believe.”
Disappointment flickered in his face. “Certainly. May I say who wishes to see him?”
“Elspeth… MacGregor.”
He nodded and hurried toward the door of the glass-enclosed office to the right of the teller’s cage. Elspeth’s gaze followed him as he opened the door and spoke to a man at a large mahogany desk. Charles Durbin wasn’t what Elspeth had expected. He was somewhere in his early fifties, with dark hair abundantly flecked with gray. He was slightly rotund. An indulgent smile creased his plump cheeks as his son spoke to him, and the sharp blue of his eyes softened for just an instant as he nodded and then leaned back in his big leather chair.
The younger Durbin came out of the office. “He’ll see you now.”
Elspeth bestowed a glowing smile on the young man as she moved toward the door. “Thank you, you’ve been very kind.” She entered the office and closed the door behind her, smiling coolly at the man behind the desk. “It’s good of you to see me. I’ve come on a rather important matter.”
Charles Durbin rose to his feet, a genial smile on his face. His gaze ran over the lady before him with discreet admiration. No wonder George had run in here all flushed and calf-eyed. He found he was a bit dazzled himself. A gown of emerald green silk displayed the delicate curves of Elspeth MacGregor’s exquisite figure and reflected the deep green of her eyes. A saucy lace bonnet with a green plume was perched on shining hair that might once have been light brown but was now sunstreaked to a shade nearer tawny gold.
“I’ll be delighted to help you, of course. You wish to open an account?”
“No, I wish to close one.” She moved to stand before his desk. “An account that has been open for too long.”
He frowned in puzzlement.
“I’m afraid I didn’t tell the entire truth to your son. I was afraid you wouldn’t see me. My name is Elspeth MacGregor Delaney.” She paused. “I’m Dominic Delaney’s wife.”
The smile on Durbin’s face vanished. “You’re right. I wouldn’t have seen you. Please leave.”
“Presently. After I’ve said what I wish to say.” She placed the tips of her fingers on the desk and leaned forward. “It has to end. You have to stop sending killers like Torres after my husband.”
“Get out of here!” Durbin’s face was suddenly twisted with hatred. “Did he send you to beg for him?”
She shook her head. “He doesn’t know I’m here and I have no intention of telling him about our discussion. This is between the two of us, Mr. Durbin. You see, Dominic is acting under a disadvantage with you. He bitterly regrets killing your son and so he won’t confront you as you deserve to be confronted.” Her eyes widened as she saw a flicker of expression cross Durbin’s face. “Why, I think you must have realized how Dominic felt all along. You knew you were safe to do anything you liked because he was no threat to you personally.” A glint of anger appeared in her eyes and a fierce smile curved her lips. “I’m afraid you’ll find that’s all changed now.
Durbin’s plump face was turning beet red. “I’ll have you thrown out into the street.”
“I think not. It would reflect quite poorly on a respectable businessman like yourself to manhandle a woman. Be patient, I won’t be here long.” Her smile faded. “Just long enough to warn you.”
“Warn me?”
“Oh, yes, I believe your code out here requires a warning.” She paused. “Though the men you sent after Dominic often gave him none.”
“Your husband is a murderer who should be shot down like a dog in the streets.”
“My husband is a wonderful man who deserves to live, and I’m going to see that he does.” She stared unblinkingly at Durbin. “Now, listen to me. If my husband is shot, stabbed, or run over by a coach, I shall make you pay. If he catches influenza or stumbles down the stairs, I shall still make you pay. It would be wise of you to surround Dominic with bodyguards as you did with murderers, if you wish to survive.”
“And what harm do you think you can do to me?”
“Dominic and I have come into a great deal of money. More money than you can possibly imagine. You’re a banker, Mr. Durbin. You know the power of money. I will ruin you.” She paused. “And I will ruin your family. I’ve inquired, and I understand you have another son besides that handsome boy out there; you also have a very pleasant wife, I’m told. I’m sure you wouldn’t want their lives made… uncomfortable.” She took a deep breath. “And after I’ve ruined both you and your family, I will walk up to you and shoot you dead.”
“You’re bluffing.”
“Am I?” She smiled mirthlessly. “Look at my face. What do you see there, Mr. Durbin.”
He studied her. He inhaled sharply. “My God, you’d actually do it. Murder! They’d hang you.”
“Not murder. Justice. And if I’ve learned one thing since I came to your Arizona territory, it’s how much deference is paid to women here. I think your courts would be very sympathetic to a grieving widow.” She straightened and stepped back from the desk. “Now I must leave. Dominic and I are catching a stage for the East in thirty minutes and I mustn’t be late.” She turned and walked toward the door, her silken skirts rustling. “Good day, Mr. Durbin.”
“You bitch.” The curse came with the snarling venom of an animal at bay. “You’re a fit mate for that son of Satan, Dominic Delaney.”
She glanced over her shoulder and smiled with dazzling sweetness. “I hope so. Oh, I
The door closed behind her.
Young George Durbin jumped to his feet and was holding the front door open by the time she reached it. “I hope we’ll see you again soon, Miss MacGregor.”
“Mrs. Delaney,” she corrected him. “Mrs. Dominic Delaney. Thank you, but I don’t think you will. I believe I’ve completed my transaction with your father.” Only time would tell if Durbin would be frightened enough to cease his persecution of Dominic, but the shock and fear she’d seen on the man’s face had made her wildly hopeful. She unfurled her ruffled lace parasol and stepped out onto the sidewalk. “Good-bye.”
Dominic was waiting at the Wells Fargo office when she turned the corner. His frown disappeared and an indulgent smile lit his face as he caught sight of her. “It’s about time you got here. I was just going to look for you. I don’t see why you had to go shopping today anyway. I thought you had already bought out all the stores in Tucson.”
“Not quite. Are we ready to go?”
“Almost. We’re the only passengers, but Ben has to wait for a mail shipment.”
She closed her parasol. “Ben Travis? He’s going to be our driver?”
Dominic nodded as he opened the door of the coach. “I wasn’t sure you’d be pleased. He was here when Marzonoff was lynched.”
“He’s your friend. I can never condone what happened to Andre but I’ll try to understand.”
He lifted her into the coach, brushing her nose with a light kiss. “Do you have everything?” He glanced down at the dainty lace recticule in her hand. “Where are your packages?”
“No packages.” She smiled radiantly. “And yes, I have everything.” A knowledge of her own worth, passion, love, and this man who had given them all to her. “Everything.”
A rattle of shots broke the silence when the coach was only a few miles out of Tucson.
Elspeth’s heart jerked crazily. Durbin? Had she been wrong to believe she had frightened the man enough to stop his pursuit of Dominic? Dear heaven, and she had been the one to tell him they were taking this stage! She
