Texas Rain

CHAPTER 31

Travis helped Rainey get Mrs. Vivian into her room. The scarecrow of a woman seemed nervous that they were in her private quarters. Travis figured it was because she had enough furniture for five rooms crammed into the space. She'd even suspended drapes in places where there were no windows to give the look of tiny rooms within the area. He felt like if he breathed he'd knock something over. He stopped about three feet inside and watched the landlord crumble into a chair by the window.

"Lock the door when I leave," Travis whispered to Rainey. "Will you be all right in here?"

"I'll be fine." Rainey didn't look too sure.

He turned at the door and took one last glance at the woman he knew very well by touch. Rainey looked so beautiful when she was trying to be brave, he thought.

"I'll not open the door until I hear your voice on the other side," she whispered, and he fought the urge to return for just one last kiss before the world stepped between them.

Travis looked over at Mrs. Vivian and decided he had the easier job of going to look for a body. Rainey had to deal with her.

He stepped to the front porch and yelled at the first rider passing to go to the Ranger station and tell anyone there that McMurray needed assistance at Askew House. The young kid of about fifteen galloped away, excited to help.

Then, Travis walked through the kitchen to the back door forcing his mind to not allow his body to react to whatever he might find. Something had frightened Mrs. Vivian into hysteria and she didn't seem the type to rattle easily.

The kitchen was a mess with laundry and dishes piled around.

He stood in the shadows by the back door for a few minutes waiting to see if anyone or anything moved in the alley. But all was still. He lit one of the kitchen lamps and placed it in the window so that he could see the porch more clearly. Mrs. Vivian had been correct. Looking like a rag doll, the body of a woman sat in the corner of the porch, her eyes staring sightlessly at him. Her arms were at her sides, a knife in one. Deep cuts ran across her wrists. Blood pooled around her.

It took him only a moment to recognize the woman who'd ended her own life. Rainey had called her Whiny, the thin barmaid. The one the Rangers thought was sweet on Seth Norman.

"McMurray!" a man yelled from inside the house. "Travis, it's Dumont and Price. What's the problem?"

"Ask the boy who delivered the message to wait on the front porch!" Travis yelled back. "I have something important I need him to do." The last thing Travis wanted was for the young man to witness this suicide. It wasn't one that would wash out of anyone's mind easily.

Two Rangers had followed his voice and stood at the kitchen door.

"Oh, my God," Roy whispered as he lowered his gun. "What happened?"

"Looks like she killed herself," Travis answered. "Bring the other lantern and we'll have a closer look." Travis was glad Roy Dumont had answered the call.

As Roy lit the lantern, Travis heard him say to the other, younger, Ranger, "Stand guard at the front, Philip. We don't want anyone showing up just to sightsee."

The Ranger seemed happy to accept the new assignment. Travis had no doubt he could smell the blood from the kitchen and probably see the outline of the body through the kitchen window.

Reluctantly Roy joined him on the porch. He'd pulled a sheet from the laundry piled by the door and covered the dead woman almost tenderly. Blood soaked through immediately.

Roy squatted and took his time looking at details. The man was hard as they come at being a Ranger, but he had a soft spot for women.

"I was directly upstairs." Travis also began to study the area. "I didn't hear a sound. How could a woman slit her wrist without making a sound?"

Roy tugged at the rope holding one of the dead woman's hands. "She must have really wanted to die."

Travis nodded and lifted the sheet. "She's got bruises all over her. My guess is life finally got to be too much for her."

Roy moved the lantern. "She works at the saloon across the alley."

Travis took a closer look. "She looks younger here than she did the other night when I talked to her." He headed back inside ordering, "Stay with the body."

Roy nodded.

Travis stopped long enough to tell the kid at the door to find Judge Gates's home on Eight Street and tell a man named Dillon to come fast.

"There's been another murder?" the kid asked.

Travis shook his head. "Suicide." He offered the kid a coin.

The boy waved his hand. "I'm happy to help. One of these days I'm going to be a Ranger."

Travis watched the youth run for his horse. Then he crossed to Mrs. Vivian's room one door down from the drawing room. When he knocked, Rainey answered too fast to have been anywhere but beside the door waiting.

She moved out into the hallway and silently closed the door. She didn't say a word, just waited.

He wanted to touch her, to hold her, but now was not the time or place.

"It's bad." Travis didn't have time to break it easy. "The woman you called Whiny took her own life."

Rainey's eyes filled with tears, but she stood straight and still. "She kept saying she'd find a way out."

He caught her as she began to crumple and held her tight. She felt so good against him. He wished he could take the sadness away.

"I should have broken that a little easier, Rainey. I'm sorry." He kissed the top of her head.

"No, there was no easy way." She took a deep breath. "I'm fine. I just felt a little light-headed. Mrs. Vivian's been crying and mumbling about how this has all been her fault. Somehow she blames herself. She keeps saying that no one would have been killed if she'd been here when the kidnappers came."

Travis brushed her hair away from her face with his hand. "As soon as Dillon arrives, I'm getting you out of here."

His fairy looked up at him with her huge green eyes. "You still think I'm in danger?"

"I'm not taking any chances. If Eldon is out there, he'll want both of us dead. And if there was a forth man the day of the kidnapping, he might be helping Eldon find us."

Rainey shivered as if the hallway had suddenly grown cold. "You have to send someone to check on Snort."

Travis wanted to tell her he couldn't worry about every woman in the world. He had his hands full with her. "I'll tell Roy to check on her."

"What about Mrs. Vivian?"

Travis didn't want to talk about the details. He had a feeling Mrs. Vivian was up to her neck in trouble. The fact that she'd been gone when it happened had nagged at the back of his mind for days.

He held Rainey close and asked, "Where's Mamie? I saw laundry piled up in the kitchen and you told me she did it every night."

A single tear rolled slowly down her face. "Mrs. Vivian said she's disappeared. Oh, Travis, you don't think someone took her?"

He wished he could lie to her, but he only said, "I hope not." Mamie had seen the Norman brothers in the alley.

The blast of a gun rattled through the hallway. Travis pushed Rainey against the wall and covered her with his body as he pulled his gun.

Before the echo died in the air, he heard Philip running from the porch and Roy stomping through the dining room. Both were shouting his name.

"Stay here," Travis ordered as he pushed her into the dark corner. "Don't move unless I call you."

Rainey nodded.

He joined the other Rangers at Mrs. Vivian's door. "It came from in here!" he shouted as he tried the knob.

The door was locked.

"Ready?" Travis said as all three men raised their guns. A moment later Travis's shoulder slammed against the door, shattering the lock.

They all rushed into the cluttered room. Dressers and chests, tables loaded down with keepsakes, chairs stacked on top of other chairs, all made a jungle for them to stumble through.

Roy mumbled an oath as he knocked over a chair. "What a mess."

By the window sat a small table with one chair. On the rug beside the chair lay a body curled up like an infant asleep.

Roy reached her first. He knelt and grabbed her shoulder. With little effort he rolled the thin woman onto her back. "Mrs. Vivian," he whispered as they all stared at a gaping hole that now marked the center of her chest. Her eyes were open, but there was no sign of life left. The gun rested a few feet from her.

"She killed herself!" Philip's voice squeaked with youth. "She had to have killed herself," he mumbled, trying to make sense of the death he saw. "She was locked in here alone."

Roy's gaze met Travis, and Travis knew they were thinking the same thing. Women take pills or cut their wrists; they don't shoot themselves.

Travis was out the door and back into the hallway. He didn't breathe until he had Rainey in his arms.

She was shaking as if near frozen. "I saw… I saw…"

He moved her into the light coming from Mrs. Vivian's room.

"I thought I saw a shadow move out the door right after the three of you went in," Rainey whispered. "I'm not even sure it was a person. Just a shadow. It must have been in Vivian's room."

Travis didn't want to tell her any more bad news, but he couldn't protect her unless she knew the danger. "Mrs. Vivian is dead," he said as calmly as he could. "It was made to look like a suicide."

She wrapped her arms around him and held on as tightly as she could. He hugged her, wondering if his arms were enough to protect her.

"I'll get you out of here as soon as it's safe."

She cried softly against his chest.

The silence ended with the arrival of Dillon, Mike Saddler, and Sage along with what seemed to be half the Rangers stationed in Austin. Suddenly their shouting and questions were coming from every direction.

Travis handed Rainey over to his sister and moved directly to Mike. "Why'd you bring Sage here?" Travis fought to keep his fists balled at his sides.

Mike looked miserable. "You ever try to stop her when she gets something in her head? I'd sooner milk a bull."

Travis almost felt sorry for Mike. "I understand," he mumbled without smiling.

Dillon organized the men, then asked to see Mike and Travis in the dining room. Neither man wanted to leave the women in the hallway unprotected, so they asked Sage and Rainey to join them. When the door was closed, Dillon stated the obvious. "I think this might have been Eldon's work. Maybe he thinks if he gets rid of everyone who might have seen him kidnap Rainey, we'll have nothing on him."

"So the barmaid might not have killed herself?"

"It's just a theory."

Dillon paced as he talked. "I sent a man over to the three dressmakers' apartment. They'll be sleeping below in the shop tonight to make sure no one gets to them. Dottie says she has a safe place. Other than them"-he looked at Rainey and Sage-"you are the only two alive who saw the kidnapping. We need to get you somewhere safe fast. Somewhere no one will think to look for you."

Sage met her brother's glance. "I'm going home," she said simply.

"But…" Mike started to argue.

Travis understood. For a McMurray there was no safe haven but Whispering Mountain. "Let her go," he said, knowing that whoever was killing the witnesses would be after Rainey next, not the old maids or Sage. "Mike, get her the best horse you can and ride with her. Even if you two are followed, there's not an outlaw in Texas who can keep up."

Mike smiled. "I'm not sure I can even keep up with her. Once she switched saddles the other day, I saw what riding-like-the-wind truly looks like."

Dillon stopped pacing. "I can send guards out with them the first day."

Travis shook his head. "They'd be safer leaving town unnoticed"-he looked back at his sister-"and well armed."

Sage nodded slightly. "I'll be ready to leave in an hour. We'll be well away from Austin before dawn. The roads are good for miles. We'll make good time."

Travis looked at Sage. "You'll be home in less than half the time it took to get to Austin. I'll hire someone to follow in a few days with the wagon."

"What about Duck? He won't go with me without you along. I left him with Dottie, but he won't stay for long. She said if you can get Rainey to her, she'll take her into hiding."

"I'll take care of Duck and Rainey," Travis said. "You worry about getting home safely." He wished he could send Rainey and Duck to Whispering Mountain, too, but Rainey couldn't ride well enough to keep up, and if they slowed they'd be sitting ducks on the road.

Sage hugged her brother.

"I wish I could ride with you," he whispered, hating that he wasn't the one taking her to safety, but his leg, even now that it felt like it was healing, would only slow Sage and Mike down.

"I know," she answered. "But you're needed here."

Dillon interrupted. "Right, McMurray. And the first thing we have to do is get Rainey out of here without anyone seeing her. I'd bet a month's pay that someone is watching the house right now just waiting to see where she goes."

Sage hugged Rainey and left the room, but Travis stopped Mike Saddler before the young Ranger could follow.

"I'll get her home safely," Mike promised.

Travis didn't let go of his arm.

Mike smiled. "And you don't have to say it. I know, you'll kill me if I touch her."

Travis smiled. "She's not the kid I thought she was. She'll kill you if you touch her. I'm just telling you to take care of her."

"I will."

He disappeared and Travis turned back to Dillon to plan how they would get Rainey out of the house safely.

A tap on the dining room door disturbed them a few minutes later. "Sorry to bother you," Roy said. "Your sister left here riding lightning fast. Anyone following her would have to have wings."

"Good." Travis smiled. He knew Mike would circle until he knew no one followed before he took her back to the Baileys' place so she could change.

Roy handed over a coat lined in fur. "Only problem is she picked up the wrong coat. I could have sworn she wore this in." He turned to Rainey. "I think she must have taken yours."