Niall paled, before nodding. “Aye. I will.” He took a step away, before lurching forward and hugging his da. “I’m sorry, Da. I’m so sorry.”
“Ah, I know you are, lad. Keep Maggie in your prayers, and hopefully she’ll be returned to us soon.”
Staring at his father with abject terror in his gaze, he whispered, “But what could have happened to her by then?”
Seamus shrugged and shook his head, unwilling to give voice to his worst fears to his son. “Cormac will try to find their trail tomorrow, and I know he won’t stop until he finds wee Maggie.”
When Niall turned away to join Lucien, Seamus looked to the doorway to see Mary, staring at him, the hope in her gaze fading. He shook his head, as he stood tall. “Nay, love.” He grunted as Mary threw herself into his arms, holding her close. “We’ll find her. She’ll be all right.” He repeated the words over and over, as though, if he said them often enough, they’d come true.
Ardan muttered, “Aye,” and Seamus breathed a sigh of relief to have his eldest’s support. “Stay here with Mum. She needs you.” He shared a long look with his father. “You know we’ll do anything we can to help Cormac, until wee Maggie is found. Then all will be well again.”
Seamus held a sobbing Mary in his arms, silently terrified that nothing in his family would be as it had been ever again.
Chapter 7
The following morning, Seamus, Ardan, Kevin, and Niall barged into the jail. “Don’t even think about denying me, Wilcox,” Seamus said in a lethally low voice. He glared at the town’s sheriff, Leander Wilcox, who sat at his desk, his feet propped on top, the ankles crossed. He stared over a pair of reading glasses, appearing unsurprised and unperturbed at the sudden appearance of the O’Rourke men.
“I’m surprised you didn’t arrive last night,” Leander murmured, as he set the book against his belly but made no motion to rise. He stared at Seamus, with a hint of exasperation. “You can’t kill ’em. We have enough people dying each week, without you adding to the tally.”
Seamus flushed red and leaned onto the desk, lowering down so he was near eye level with the lawman. “Don’t tell me what I’m to be doin’,” he snarled. “Those men”—he pointed in the direction of the lone jail cell—“kidnapped my daughter and my daughter-in-law.”
“You got one of ’em back,” Leander said, with a quirk of his lips.
Seamus roared like a wounded animal and slapped his hand onto the desk. “Don’t make me wish I was a man who walked around with a pistol fastened to his belt.” His blue eyes filled with rage. “For my daughter, I’ll do anything.”
Sighing, Leander heaved himself up. “Well, you can talk to ’em, but I’m not letting you into the cell.” He raised a hand and shook his head at the groans of protest from all the O’Rourke men. “No. Don’t even bother wastin’ your breath. You ain’t goin’ in there. I know all about the shenanigans you’ll pull that will lead them to accidentally die.” He put a mocking emphasis on the word accidentally.
Seamus cast a quick glance at his sons, before nodding tersely to Leander. “Fine. For now.” He walked into the cramped dark hallway to stare through the metal bars at the men who had been driving away with Lorena. Nondescript men, he couldn’t recall if he’d ever seen either man in town. He turned and murmured to Niall, “Go for A.J.”
One of the men sat on the cloth-covered bunk, while the other sprawled on the floor. The man on the floor peered up at the group of men with frank insolence. “What do you want?” He shifted as he saw Ardan and Kevin and shook his head. “You’re a fool if you think I’ll talk to you.”
“You’re a fool if you think you won’t,” Seamus growled, his hands gripping the bars and rattling them. “I’ll make you cry for your mother before you die for what you’ve allowed happen to my daughters.”
The man shrugged and rested his head under his bent arm, his bent leg over his knee, as though he were sunning himself by the river and having a pleasant chat with a friend. “Doesn’t matter what you do or don’t do. We’s dead anyway. When ol’ Berg discovers we failed …” He shrugged, as his sidekick grunted in agreement with his statement.
Seamus looked to the sheriff and shook the cell door again. “Let me in to talk with them.”
Leander leaned against the wall, relaxed and unmoved by Seamus’s demand. “Hell no. You’ve already threatened to kill ’em.” His gaze sharpened, as he looked at the irate Irishman. “Somethin’ I’m only comin’ to realize you’re capable of. Thought you were too much of a pacifist to defend what was yours.”
Ardan and Kevin stepped aside from their place behind their father, allowing A.J. to squeeze in to stand beside Seamus. “Now what’s the fuss?” He looked around him, as he sent a glare in the sheriff’s direction. “Never have liked bein’ in these places.”
“These men stole away my Maggie and our Lorena yesterday,” Seamus said in a low voice.
A.J. peered into the cell and nodded. “Ah, that’s where you ran off to last year, Rufus and Clem, rather than returnin’ to Saint Louis with me. Never did have the sense that God gave a goose. Your poor mama had a wake in your honor, although I talked her out of havin’ a funeral.” He rubbed at his head. “Alienated yourself with such a man that you’re now to battle the O’Rourkes?”
Seamus peered at him, murmuring, “Aligned,” before focusing on the men in the cell.
“What did you expect us to do?” groused the one on the bunk, Clem. “We wanted money, and we was promised a bagful of gold, if we got her to VC.”
Leaning forward, A.J. poked his finger
