A Walk in Heaven (2 page)

Or was it?
Everyone she’d ever loved had left her – or died. Her mind scrambled to the past, a place she didn’t visit often due to the pain it brought. Could Matthew’s death have been her fault after all?

Luther
tsked
, drawing her from the morbid trail of thought.

“What…are you doing here?” she demanded. “How did you find me?”

“I’ve come to take you back home.”

She scowled. Impossible! That’s one place she wouldn’t go, especially with him. “But, how did you know I was here?” She thought she’d covered her tracks. There was no way Luther could have known about her secret marriage.

“It doesn’t matter now. I’m here and I’m going to fix things.”

“
Fix things?
I declare, Luther, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Advertising yourself as a mail-order bride was bad
enough,
I don’t need you making another terrible decision like thinking you can get married without my permission.” He wrapped his strong fingers around her arm in a painful grip.

“You’re too late!” She glanced at the wagon carrying Matthew’s body and pointed in that direction. “That’s my…husband.”

The vicious gleam in Luther’s stare pierced right through her as he smiled with insincere compassion. “
Which is why I’m grateful I arrived when I did.
Now I can help you.”

“
You,
help me?” She clamped her mouth tight. It wasn’t wise to make Luther angry. She’d learned her lesson by now. Her cousin was a heartless, selfish man, and any time he gave his so-called
help
he expected something in return.

She tried to jerk away from him, but his fingers clasped her arm too tightly. Stumbling, she stepped on the hem of her pale blue wedding gown and ripped the edge.

“Come, let’s get you home,” Luther said. “I’ll take care of everything.” Luther shifted his hold from her arm to her wrist. “Careen honey, I’ll handle things. We’ll have him buried in Iowa—”

“I’m taking him to be buried at his family’s ranch in Virginia City,” she interrupted.

“But that’s too far away. The journey will take you three or four days.”

Straightening her shoulders, she met Luther’s wide-eyed expression. “Yes, I’m quite certain it will, but I’m going nonetheless. It’s the least I can do for him.”

Luther cleared his throat. “Fine, you can go to Virginia City, but I’m coming with you.”

“No, you’re not. This trip I’ll make on my own.”

Luther growled. “I don’t think so! It’s very improper for a woman to travel alone.”

“Has it escaped your attention that I’m married now?” She swallowed back the sob rising in her throat. “I’m a widow, Luther. I don’t think it’s going to matter how I travel. Besides, I’ll take Betsy so I won’t be completely alone.”

In silence he scratched his chin, his scowl darkening by the second. Careen’s cousin had a temper to make an ornery mule run for cover. In the past, his anger had frightened her, but this time she wouldn’t let his stubbornness win. No matter what he said, she would take Matthew back home.

“Fine,” he snapped. “How long do you plan on staying?”

She scowled. “I don’t know. Good grief, Luther, my husband just died. Don’t you think I should get to know his family a little?”

“Of course you should, but don’t be gone longer than a week.”

“Are you jesting? You just pointed out the trek will take four or five days.”

He narrowed his steely eyes on her and folded his arms. “Listen to me, Careen—”

“No,
you
listen to
me
for once in your miserable, pathetic life. No longer am I the simpering female who will cower to you every time you raise your voice in anger. I married Matthew Grayson to get away from you. That’s the reason I didn’t tell you and Aunt Charlotte about advertising myself as a mail-order bride. I didn’t want either of you to know until
after
I was married.”

Careen couldn’t believe she had found the strength to blurt out the truth. It spilled from her mouth before she could stop it. It was something she should have said a long time ago. Strange, but even at a time like this, her confession made her emotionally stronger.

His eyes widened and his face flushed a bright red. “You don’t say… Then it’s a
very
good thing I arrived when I did. You’re coming home with me.” He gripped her wrists, his fingers digging into her flesh.

She yanked her hands away. “Leave me alone. I don’t need your help. I don’t
want
it. Never did.”

“Careen, don’t fight me. You’ll lose. You know I don’t want to hurt you.” He patted his holstered gun. “I especially don’t want to hurt anyone else who tries to stop us.”

She cringed, remembering the last time he’d used the back of his hand to remind her who had control. “No, please Luther, don’t.”

“We’re leaving.
Now!”

Fingers like steel held her wrist as he pulled her along. She struggled for release, but his strong hold kept her following. “Release me this minute!”

“Never.”
He glanced at her. “Haven’t you realized by now that I will
never
let you go? You are mine and will always be mine.”

Anger surged through her. “But I’m not yours! I’m Matthew’s – or I was.” Her voice broke as sorrow once again stung her heart.

He arched a bushy brow. Loathing darkened his brown eyes. “Matthew Grayson deserved to die for marrying
my
woman.”

Bile rose to her throat. “I declare, Luther, you are as dim-witted as you are ruthless. How many times do I have to tell you we will
never
marry?” Even as she said the words, she knew they held no meaning to him. Luther had always been spoiled. He’d always gotten his way no matter how many people he hurt.

“I told you once that I’ll never let you marry another, and I stick to my promises.” He motioned his head toward the street. “If you had only married me, that man back there wouldn’t be dead.
You
had the audacity to coax him through letters to meet you halfway across the states for a quick marriage. It’s your fault he met his maker at such a young age.”

Pain sliced through her chest.
He is
wrong,
she tried to convince herself as her previous doubts rang in her mind. Scrambling to think of something to say, she glanced over him once again. His holstered gun still puzzled her. Suddenly, his fingers drew her attention. Dark markings – like gunpowder sprinkled the skin on his right hand. Even the scent of gunpowder clung to him.

Oh, dear Lord! No!

Slowly, Careen shook her head. Luther had always been evil, but enough to…kill?

“No,” she whispered brokenly. “Luther, tell me you didn’t do what I think you did.”

He arched a bushy eyebrow. “What is that?”

“Did you…kill Matthew?”

His lips stretched into a grin, showing his yellow and brown teeth. “What makes you think that?”

Betrayal filled her, and pain from the mere idea made it hard for her to breath. “Just tell me. Quit playing these games with me.”

He threw back his head and laughed. Tears rushed to her eyes again and her head pounded. She opened her mouth to speak, but someone else’s voice stopped her.

“He’s right there!” the person called from behind Luther.

Through blurry vision, she noticed the sheriff and two deputies running toward her, with an older man trying to keep up. The older, gray-haired gentleman pointed toward Luther.

“That’s him, I tell you. I saw him shoot the man coming out of the church.”

Luther jerked his head toward the
men,
disbelief followed by panic drained the color from his face. He spun and sprinted in a different direction. The sheriff and the other two lawmen dashed after her cousin.

Holding a shaky fist to her mouth, Careen silently prayed they would catch her cousin and bring justice for her fallen husband.

The sheriff pulled out his gun. “Stop or I’ll shoot.”

Luther failed to heed the sheriff’s command and careened down the dusty street, rapidly putting distance between the shorter legged lawmen and
himself
. Startled bystanders parted like the red sea, unsure how – or perhaps unwilling – to offer any aide.

Careen’s heart plummeted. Luther was going to escape. He was going to get away with murder. Just as he approached a crossroad, the owner of the mercantile, a brute man who still wore portions of his confederate army uniform, plunged into the roadway, wrapping burly arms around Luther’s lanky frame and bearing her fiendish cousin into the ground.

“Yes!” Careen shouted, caught in the moment.

The sheriff and his deputies quickly rushed to them, weapons at the ready.

Careen approached the fray more slowly.

The lawman and mercantile owner dragged a seething Luther to his feet.

“I didn’t shoot anyone,” Luther raged.

“Is that so,” one of the deputies drawled. “If you’re innocent, why did
ya
run?”

“You were chasing me with guns!”

The lawmen shook their heads, and yanked Luther down the street, a deputy on each side, and the mercantile owner flanking the rear.

“This is a travesty,” Luther fumed. “I demand you release me.”

A crowd gathered, pointing and murmuring. Luther’s murderous gaze raked over them before turning back to Careen. Pure ice poured from his eyes, chilling her to the bone. Despite today’s warmer weather, Careen shivered, wrapping her arms around herself.

Finally, the sheriff approached, steadily holding her gaze. “I’m so very sorry, ma’am, but it seems Mr. Rader witnessed this man shooting your husband. There will be a formal investigation, but I see no reason to think this man won’t stand trial.” He shook her hand. “We will find justice for your husband. You have my word.”

Squaring her shoulders, she took a deep breath. “I understand, Sheriff. My cousin definitely needs to be punished for his crimes.”

His eyes widened. “
Your…
cousin?”

“Yes, unfortunately.”

“Then I’m truly sorry.”

“Thank you for everything.”

He tipped his hat to her, turned and walked away, hurrying toward his deputy and her cousin. The shock of everything that happened today left her numb, but she found the strength to move her sluggish legs up the street. She needed to return to the hotel where she and Matthew had planned to spend their first night together as husband and wife…

Her heart dropped with each step. How could she go to the place knowing Matthew would never be with her again?

It took Careen longer than anticipated, but finally she entered the hotel room. A noise came from the adjoining room, and Careen stopped. It sounded like her maid was doing as Careen had asked before she’d gone to the church this morning. Careen had instructed Betsy to pack for their journey to Montana – the one Careen and Matthew would have taken as husband and wife. “Betsy?”

The shuffling of feet vibrated on the wooden floor from the other room before the maid exited the master bedroom. Slightly younger than Careen by a few years, her maid smoothed her hands down the front of her white apron. “Yes, Miss Kennedy…umm, I mean Mrs. Grays—”

Her words stopped as the servant’s gaze roamed over Careen from the top of her head to her tattered gown. Betsy’s eyes widened. “Good heavens, what happened to you?”