Annabelle Weston (17 page)

Jed shook his head. He could not believe this was happening.

The marshal came around and tugged his arm. Sam and Jack looked bewildered and confused. Jed went willingly to the cell, finding no other choice.

The marshal locked the cell door and pocketed the key.

“
Marshal, this is ridiculous. I didn’t do anything but keep the people of this town safe. We’ve got a gang harassing the town, murderers to catch and you’re going to toss me behind bars for shooting up some damn elixir?”

Marshal Sutton exhaled. “It’s a damn shame, I agree. But the doc there’s got his rights. Nothing I can do. Sit tight. I’ll leave in the morning. Shouldn’t be more than a day’s ride.”

“
You can’t leave me here,” Jed protested.

“
You should have just paid the man.” The marshal turned to Sam and Jack. “You boys get some rest, I’ll spend the night here. In the morning you’ll be standing watch. You let him out of that cell and it’s your asses I’ll be taking before the judge.”

The two deputies paled and nodded vigorously.

Jed sat down on the cot. What he really wanted was to pick the thing up and slam it against the wall.

“
You’ll pay for this, Baxter,” he shouted from behind the bars.

“
Not likely. You see, I’ve got the judge in my pocket.” Baxter was taunting him and Jed clamped his mouth shut before he gave the bastard any more ammunition.

Baxter thanked the marshal and disappeared out the door.

Jed wondered if Baxter and the judge were more than recent acquaintances; perhaps the judge was a customer. Jed’s luck couldn’t be worse. The judge would be in Baxter’s debt and sure to be irate that Jed’d shot up a dozen crates of the elixir.

Jed’s mind raced for a solution. He couldn’t think of anything. How the hell was he supposed to get out of this mess?

* * * * *

“
Well isn’t this a surprise?” Carly exclaimed as Dr. Baxter sauntered through
the doors of the Lonesome.

He puffed out his chest for a moment and then, swiping his hands down the front of his vest, he grinned at her.

“
Miss Buchanan, I have returned.” He took off his fancy gentleman’s top hat and swept a low bow.

Carly took his arm in hers, leading him up to the bar. Much as the man disgusted her, he was a customer. “The sheriff hasn’t set foot in here for a few days, so you’ll be safe here.”

“
I don’t ’spect he’ll be stepping anywhere for a while.”

A frisson of concern whipped through her, which surprised her. She was done with the sheriff, or to be more accurate, he was done with her. What had happened in the alley was her doing. Most likely, Jed would be slow to forgive her.

“
What are you talking about?” she asked, trying not to sound too eager for the information.

Jed’s absence didn’t mean she didn’t think about him. Had he given up on taming Tucson and left town? The thought had occurred to her.

“
A shot for me, good man.” Dr. Baxter tapped the bar then turned to look at her. He seemed to be in a very cheerful mood for a man who’d been banned from town.

“
Tell me,” she said, resting her hand on his arm.

“
Good to see you, Doc,” Blanche said with a wink. She lifted her skirt to show her small feet and shapely ankles. “Need a little bed play?”

The doc took the shot Alvin left on the bar. “As a matter of fact, I do.”

“
Wait a second, Blanche.” Carly wasn’t about to let him go without finding out what he’d meant by his strange remark. “Answer me, Doc. What’s happened to the sheriff?”

“
The man’s got a little trouble with the law himself.” He smiled—all self-important. “Can’t go around destroying my Eight-Day elixir and get away with it.”

She didn’t want to care but what Dr. Baxter said upset her. He couldn’t be talking about Jed Poole.

“
Are you saying he’s been arrested?”

Dr. Baxter nodded. “That and put away in the jail, waiting on the judge.”

Jed must be livid.
Her own blood started to boil.

“
Speaking of my terrible loss, seeing as how it happened when the sheriff followed you out back when you and I were transacting our business, I’m thinking of holding you liable for some of that mishap.”

Carly planted a fist on her hip. “I beg your pardon?”

“
Appears to me, you led the sheriff to my wagon.”

“
So he could smash my purchase?” Carly scoffed. The man was an idiot.

Alvin set a full glass of whiskey in front of the doctor.

“
Thank you kindly.” He downed the drink in one gulp and set the glass down on the counter with a clink.

“
If you recall I never did get back my twenty-four dollars.”

“
We made a deal and you received your purchase. How was I to know the sheriff would resort to violence?”

Regretfully, the doc made a good point.

“
Have you brought us some more of your elixir?” Blanche asked.

“
I’m sorry to say I’ve not replenished my stock.”

“
Pity,” Blanche said and she turned away.

Carly smelled a favor about to be asked. “What are you after?”

Dr. Baxter grimaced. “I need a place to stay. Somewhere to mix up a fresh batch of my brew. What do you say? Seems to me that shed out back of the Lonesome will work just fine.”

Carly wanted to shake the man. He was under the mistaken impression she owed him.

“
You’ve come to the wrong place.” She turned away, disgusted. Jed would have her hide if she helped the doctor.

“
The marshal will be back with a judge in a few days, Miss Carly. I’ll be out of your hair by then.”

“
You’re a no-good snake, Baxter. I don’t want you around here.”

“
Yeah? You and I are more alike than you think.”

She gasped. How could he make such a claim? “That’s a lie.”

“
Maybe so.” The doc sucked his teeth. He seemed to be thinking. She had a mind to throw him out on his ear.

“
I tell you what,” Baxter said. “I’ll give you a free crate to make up for our misunderstanding.”

Tempting as it was, she shook her head. After Jed had destroyed Dr. Baxter’s elixir, she made a vow to never take the stuff again. She realized the elixir had too powerful a control over her. She didn’t need it.

“
I don’t want any of your elixir.”

“
Then I got no more to say except you’ll be sorry.” He grabbed Blanche by the hand.

“
What’s happened to you, Doc?”

“
Hard times, my girl, hard times.”

She couldn’t risk getting mixed up in his schemes but she had an idea brewing. Something that would benefit both of them. She’d have to let the doc use the shed and ignore what he was doing in back of the saloon. She’d turn a blind eye to all of his activities and hope he would be done and gone before Jed found out.

“
You need a place to mix up your elixir but there’s something I need. Maybe we could work something out.”

“
What kind of deal are you offering?”

“
Drop your charges against the sheriff and you can have the shed.”

“
That don’t sound fair.”

“
I’ll pay you for what you lost.”

“
In silver?”

She hesitated, knowing this meant she’d have to work extra hard to earn that type of coin. “Yes.”

His eyes narrowed into slits. “If the sheriff is out of jail, he’ll be sure to come after me.”

“
We’ll leave him there until you’re done. I’ll give you twenty-four hours.”

“
I need more time. Two days at the least.”

Carly didn’t see any harm in having the sheriff locked up for a couple of days where she could find him. She stuck out her hand.

Doc eyed it thoughtfully.

“
What do you say? You’ll get your money and your precious bottles of medicine.”

A sly smile curved his lips. “You drive a hard bargain.”

He shook her hand. She’d made a deal with the devil but she couldn’t be happier. She watched as the weasel went up the stairs with Blanche, pinching her curvy bottom as they mounted the steps. As soon as she heard the door click shut behind them, she stormed out of the Lonesome. Dr. Baxter had pulled a fast one, having Jed arrested.

She’d bet her bottom dollar her man needed company.

* * * * *

“
If you don’t quit pacing, you’ll wear a hole clean through the floor.” The marshal drew a match across Jed’s desk and lit the stub of his cheroot.

“
See here, Sutton, you got no call to keep me locked up.”

The marshal drew a deep breath and blew out a puff of smoke. “Why’d you get yourself mixed up with the likes of Dr. Baxter anyway?”

“
The man’s a menace peddling his elixir.”

“
There’s no law says he can’t sell it.”

Jed snorted, madder than a bee-stung bull. “There ought to be.”

Sutton crossed his legs on top of Jed’s desk.

Jed took hold of the iron bars. “Don’t you have a judge to find?”

“
All in good time, son. I’ll be off first thing in the morning.” He continued his smoke, blowing rings that floated to the ceiling.

Jed collapsed onto the cot. He didn’t regret protecting the community from Dr. Baxter. That was his job. Convincing the U.S. marshal was going to take some doing.

“
Heard a gang of no-accounts shot up the town a couple of weeks back.”

“
They’re wanted for bank robbery and murder now,” Jed replied. “Rancher by the name of Crowley took two bullets in the back.”

“
Any idea where they are?”

“
No, but I will find them.”

“
That’s a tall order, considering you’re behind bars and likely to serve prison time.”

Jed frowned. “There’s no chance of that.”

Sutton chuckled. “You small-town sheriffs think you know all there is about taming this territory.”

Jed reckoned he did. The marshal came off as a know-it-all prick.

Sutton took another draw on his cheroot. “Thought I’d take a look around for Vernon Crosby and his boys while I’m here.”

Jed sat up and glared at him, wondering if this was the real reason the man had come to Tucson. “I don’t need your help.”

The marshal shrugged. “There’s been a sizeable reward offered for the gang and I aim to collect it.”

Jed couldn’t believe he’d let this cow pile get the best of him.

Just then, the door burst open and Carly stood in the entryway. She sure was a sight for sore eyes. Sutton ground out his smoke with the heel of his boot.

She stared hard at Jed. Her pinched mouth told him somebody, hopefully the marshal, was about to get an earful.

She turned to Sutton. “Why, you must be the marshal.”

“
Yes ma’am.”

“
My name is Carly Buchanan. I’m the owner of the Lonesome.”

“
How can I be of help?” His mouth gaped as he perused her from head to toe, bringing Jed to his feet.

Instead of showing the lawman her fury, she replied with a buttery smile. Jed knew her flirtatious ways all too well, and how the marshal wouldn’t be able to resist. He’d be damned before he’d let Sutton touch her.

“
Am I to understand you’ve arrested our sheriff because of what happened to Dr. Baxter’s wares?” Molasses dripped from every word.

“
That’s why I’m here.” Sutton grinned.

“
Surely there’s no need for Sheriff Poole to be in jail?”

“
There’s been a citizen’s complaint. My hands are tied.”

Her hands fluttered to her breasts, drawing Sutton’s regard their way. “I’m sure he’s sorry.”

“
Honey, a man like him don’t know how to be sorry.”

She flapped her lashes. “Perhaps I can be of assistance?”

The marshal adjusted his britches to give his cock more room, which was—much to Jed’s revulsion—jutting from his pants like an adolescent boy’s.

Jed didn’t know what she’d do next but he was certain seducing the marshal was a very bad idea.

She opened her reticule. “What is the fine?”

She drew out a handful of silver dollars.

Sutton eyed the money. “That’s for a judge to decide.”

She dropped the coins into her bag and pulled the strings tight. “Maybe there’s something else that will convince you?”

Sutton sucked in his breath. Jed tensed. Was the marshal about to learn another use for his handcuffs?

She looked back at Jed. All the things he’d come to admire about her, her independent spirit and grit, wouldn’t be worth squat if she fucked the marshal.

“
Best you go back to the saloon where you belong,” Jed said through clenched teeth.

She pursed her lips. Her eyes flashed a warning. He’d piss her off if it was the only way to get her to leave.

“
Maybe a jail cell is the best place for you,” she retorted.

Jed’s gut tightened. She’d turned the tables on him.

She faced Sutton. “Well, Marshal, I won’t keep you from your duties. You will stop by the Lonesome? The first whiskey is on the house.”

“
Yes ma’am. It’d be my pleasure.”

“
Could I beg a little old favor from you?” She batted her lashes like the well-trained seductress she was.

“
Depends on what it is,” the marshal drawled. It appeared to Jed Sutton was enjoying the conversation much more than he needed to be.

She leaned closer, giving Dutton an eyeful. “Could I have a few minutes alone with the sheriff?”

The marshal frowned. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“
I’d be so grateful. You can cuff me to the bars so I’ll be helpless to aid the sheriff in an escape.”