Dropping her gloves onto the side table, she sat down on the bed. “In about an hour, Mr. Tuttle and Mr. Holmes will have been informed about the fake gold shipment, and we will be in position to follow them.”
“That is assuming Mr. Murray doesn’t botch his assignment,” he said. “Garrett is a smart man. He may call it for what it is… a ploy. We shouldn’t get our hopes up when he doesn’t show up.”
“Do you want Tuttle or Holmes?” Rosalie asked with an exasperated look, blatantly ignoring his concerns.
Paden ran his hand through his hair, attempting to formulate a new plan of action. Rosalie’s plan was risky, and he couldn’t even count the different ways that it could go wrong. “Our first course of action should have been to break into the bank and see if there is any incriminating evidence.”
“Of course, because criminals typically leave incriminating documents laying around for people to find,” she replied sarcastically.
Leaning back, he rested the back of his head against the wall. “Need I remind you that I am the lead agent, and you are still in training?”
Rosalie visibly grew rigid. “Meaning?”
If Paden had been smart, he would have regarded her tone as a warning, and changed the subject. Instead, he pressed, “Meaning… I dictate our next move. Not you.”
Without saying a word, she rose from the bed and knelt beside her trunk. She opened the lid, pulled out a gown, and walked behind the paneled changing screen in the corner. He could hear her shifting out of her clothes, and he turned his attention toward the window.
A few moments later, Rosalie stepped out from the privacy screen wearing a calico prairie dress. The gown was simplistic in nature which seemed only to enhance her beautiful facial features. She grabbed her reticule off the side table and approached the door.
When she placed her hand on the handle, Paden jumped off the settee and demanded, “Where do you think you are going?”
“Out,” she answered, refusing to look at him.
“Out?”
“Yes. I am going to finish what we started.”
He sighed. “I am worried that you are not thinking clearly, and that is going to get you killed.”
Rosalie slowly turned to face him. “My plan will work,” she replied deliberately. “I have made it my life’s work to know everything I can about Garrett. He is a greedy, egotistical man. He is always about an easy score, and he will kill anyone that steps in his way.”
“I know this…”
She spoke over him. “No, you don’t. Even if Bill does suspect it’s a trap, he will still show.”
“Why is that?” he asked in a disbelieving tone.
Removing her hand from the door, she answered, “Garrett knows I’m in town, and he blames me for his stagecoach failure. More importantly, he has an old score to settle with me.”
“Why do you say that?”
She winced as she revealed, “I was the one that gave him his scar.”
Rearing back, Paden’s mouth dropped. “How? When?” he exclaimed.
He saw hesitation flitter across her face before she began her story. “About nine months after I left Waterglen to search for him, I found him, and a group of men holed up in a cave near Pike’s Peak. They were all sitting around the fire, drinking heavily, and swapping stories, as if they didn’t have a care in the world.” She clasped her hands in front of her. “I waited for Bill to leave the security of the cave before I approached him.”
Rosalie shuddered, before continuing. “If I shot him, then it would have alerted the other men to my position. So, I crept closer to Bill and was about to plunge my dagger into his back when he turned around.” She walked silently over toward the window. “He recognized me, calling me ‘Sheriff Addis’s daughter’, and sneered at the dagger in my hand.”
“What happened next?” he asked.
“I flew at him and we fought. We both were fighting for our lives,” she revealed. “At some point, I slashed his face, and he took off through the woods like the coward that he is. He started shouting for help from his men, and I had to run for my life.”
Paden walked closer to her. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”
“About my failure?” she huffed.
“No,” he replied, reaching out and touching her sleeve. “About how you were close enough to slash Bill Garrett and live to tell about it.”
She shook her head, her eyes downcast. “No, I failed that day. If I had killed him, then I could have returned home to my previous life…” she paused, and her next words were so soft that he almost missed them, “to you.”
Paden pulled her into a tight embrace. “My dear Rosie,” he whispered against her hair. “I can’t even imagine the pain that you have had to endure these past few years, but I am here now. You are not alone anymore.”
Wrapping her arms around his waist, Rosalie surrendered to his touch and sighed. “I can’t do that to you. Garrett wants me dead, and he won’t hesitate to kill anyone I associate with.”
“Don’t worry about me,” he asserted. “We are partners, and I will keep you safe.”
For a long moment, she was silent. Then, she whispered, “Thank you.”
“I’ll take Tuttle,” Paden said, knowing that he was most likely their suspect based upon his nervous reaction when they opened an account at the bank.
“I will follow Holmes then.”
As much as Paden wanted to stay in their room embracing Rosie, he knew they needed to wrap this case up. He stepped back, creating a bit of distance between them.
“Stop trying to tempt me. We have suspects that we need to put under surveillance,” he declared in a mock-chiding tone.
Rosalie rolled her eyes, but he
