“Isaac,” she gasped. But no, the second man was too big for Isaac. It had to be…
“Thomas!” What was he doing here?
Her attacker twisted beneath Thomas on the floor and let his fist fly.
Crack!Thomas’s head snapped back.
“Thomas, please. Knock him out. He wants to burn the building down. He covered my feet in kerosene, and half the room too.” She was babbling now, yanking furiously at the ropes that prevented her from escaping. If she could just loosen the rope a bit more, then she might be able to wriggle her hand out. She gave a yank so hard the legs of her chair wobbled, buther wrists still didn’t break free. She tried again, but her second effort proved just as futile as the first.
On the floor, Thomas locked his hands around the other man’s neck and pressed his thumbs to the man’s throat. The man tried to buck him off, but Thomas somehow managed to jam his knee into the other man’s stomach.
Dear God, give Thomas strength. Let him defeat this man.
The man lurched upward, trying to knock Thomas’s hands from about his neck. Then his eyes rolled back in his head, and he slumped to the floor with a thud.
Jessalyn let out a small cry. “Is he… dead?”
Thomas scrambled up and rushed toward her. “Unconscious. Are you all right?”
“I’m not hurt, just…” Terrified. Her heart still thrummed against her ribcage like a pickax pounding against mine rock, and her breathing refused to slow. “Hurry and cut me out of this.”
Thomas touched her shoulder, but only for an instant before he went around to her back. “My shoulder’s too weak to drag him into a cell by myself. I’ll need this rope to tie his feet.”
“All right.” She sucked in another frantic breath. Calm. She needed to calm herself. There was no reason to still be upset, not now that she was safe, not now that Thomas was back.
He worked at the knot, causing his fingers to brush against her wrists, and she winced at the contact.
“You rubbed your skin raw trying to get free.” His voice was so gentle moisture welled in her eyes.
It was foolish of her. Why did she want to cry? The time for tears had been earlier, when she was pleading for her life. The ropes finally fell from her arms, and she turned to Thomas, but he’d moved behind the desk, where he grabbed a pair of handcuffs before heading across the room toward the man on the floor.
“How are you here?” She slumped into the chair, her legs trembling too badly to stand. “Shouldn’t you be in Calumet?”
Thomas rolled the man over with a painful grunt—likely due to his shoulder—and snapped the handcuffs into place with two clicks. “I turned around.”
“Why? What about… No, wait, your hotel isn’t in danger.” She’d nearly forgotten as she’d watched her assailant douse the office in kerosene.
Thomas looked up and met her eyes. “Why do you say that?”
“He said something about needing you gone. Said you were sniffing too close, asking too many questions.” She glanced around the kerosene-soaked room and another urge to cry welled inside her.
Thomas tied the man’s feet together, his legs bent at the knees so the rope attached to the chain that linked his handcuffs as well. “Whatever the reason I got that telegram, I came back because it’s not as important as you or our daughters. You were right about me leaving too quickly, and I should have seen it sooner. I’ll wire Deadwood first thing in the morning and ask the sheriff to look into anything if he needs to.” He checked the bindings, then stood and looked down at the man. “This is one of the loggers that runs with O’Byrne. What was he doing here? And with you? What did he want?”
She started trembling all over again. “He… he…”
Thomas stepped over the man and came toward her. A moment later she was folded in his arms, his hold strong and steady. “Shhh. When you’re ready, angel. Tell me when you’re ready.”
“He was going to… going to…” The flood of tears she’d been holding back hit her then, and there was no stemming them. She buried her head against Thomas’s shoulder and shuddered in his arms. “He was looking for a map. He dropped off mending before Thanksgiving and said he left the map in his pocket.He thought I’d seen it, that I’d given it to you and you were searching the woods for him. But I don’t remember anything from his pockets.”
“Did he say what the map was to?”
“Only that he had to k-k-kill me since I knew about it.” Another bout of tears surged.
He stroked hair back from her face, then settled his arm around her again, pulling her close. “Shhh. It’s all right. You’re safe now. I’ve got you, and I’m not going anywhere.”
“I’m so sorry,” she mumbled over her tears.
He held her tighter. “For what? You did nothing wrong.”
