Between Two Worlds (23 page)

“I’ll take that under advisement, Doctor.” Delaney blinked. He was
becoming more outspoken about wanting her to stay. “I think I’ll go out front
and tell Jasmine’s friends they can leave. You’ve done all you can for now.”

“We,” he corrected again.

When Delaney returned to the exam room for the second time,
Gabriel had moved the sleeping Jasmine from the table to the soft cot in the
corner of the room. Her bright red hair was fanned out around her. She looked
even younger with the gaudy makeup washed off. Underneath the black eye and
swollen lip was a pretty, fresh-faced girl, who could have been the girl next
door in another lifetime.

“I told her friends I’d let them know when she can go home,” Delaney
whispered, as she tucked a lightweight blanket around Jasmine’s shoulders.
“Home. Isn’t that a joke? The top floor of a saloon is not a home. I wish there
was something we could do, Gabriel. I hate to think of her going back there
after she recovers. She could get beaten again, or worse. What kind of life is
that for someone her age?”

“If you can’t change her life, then you have no right to intrude,”
he said. He led her by the arm back out to the parlor.

Exasperated, Delaney shot him daggers. “How can you say that?
Don’t you care what happens to this girl? I’ve read all about how prostitutes
in the Old West suffered. They didn’t live long, and they usually died a
horrible death of consumption, syphilis, or a myriad of other awful diseases.”

“You’re talking about the past the way you’ve read it in some
history book or dime novel, Delaney. You’re
living
the past, right now.
Remember? I
know
what happens to these women. And of course I care.
That’s why I’m going to see the sheriff about Warren Hooper.”

“We have to do more,” she insisted.

Gabriel stood firm. “It’s not up to us to judge. We’re doing all
we can for this girl. We’re treating her injuries. That’s our job.”

“That’s
your
job,” she reminded him.

“Yours, too. We shook on it. Remember?”

“But…”

He put his finger to her mouth. “There’s nothing more we can do.
Unfortunately, this is how life is in 1888 Arizona for a lot of women. It’s not
right and I don’t like it, but it’s the way it is.” He walked her to the door
and swung her to face him. “If Jasmine’s lucky, all of her injuries will heal
and a half-decent cowboy will fall in love with her pretty smile and fiery
disposition. Maybe, if she’s real lucky, he’ll want to marry her, and she’ll be
able to retire from that line of work.”

“Wonderful.” Delaney’s tone dripped with sarcasm, though
unintentionally. “Then she can live on some isolated ranch and raise a bunch of
babies and work herself to the bone. She’ll grow old before her time, just like
Alva.”

Gabriel shook his head in disapproval. “You’re quick to judge
these people’s lives, Delaney. You’ve only been here a couple of days. Who are
you to say what makes these women happy? For your information, Alva
is
happy
raising her children and working alongside her husband. I’ve heard her say so.
Most of the ranch wives are satisfied with their lot in life. You just said you
wish Jasmine didn’t have to be a whore. Now you don’t want her married to a
cowpoke. What
do
you want, Delaney? You can’t have it both ways.” His
hazel eyes flashed.

She had a feeling Gabriel wasn’t talking about Jasmine anymore.
His words stung, as if he’d slapped her in the face. He was right, of course,
but that stubborn Irish streak kept her from admitting it. Softly, she replied,
“If you don’t need me for a couple of hours, I think I’ll go back to the boarding
house and get cleaned up. Charlotte’s keeping breakfast for us, remember?” She
gazed into his face hopeful. She didn’t want him to be angry with her, but she
wasn’t willing to apologize for the way she thought, either.

“Go on,” he said, pushing her out the door.

“Will you be along soon?”

“No. I’m tired. I’ll eat something here, right after I go to the
jailhouse to see if Hooper’s been arrested.”

“Oh. All right.” It was difficult to keep the disappointment from
her voice. “I hope you find him in a cell. He deserves a harsher punishment,
but I’ll be satisfied as long as he’s locked up. I’ll see you later then.” She
stepped onto the boardwalk and looked over her shoulder, expecting him to stop
her. “Gabriel. Are you upset with me?”

He placed both hands on her shoulders and spun her around, pulling
her into his chest. He kissed her—a long, passionate, hot kiss. A ditzy smile
plastered her lips when he released her.

“You drive me mad, woman.” After giving her a gentle shove down
the boardwalk, he soundly closed the door behind him.

Delaney strolled, trancelike, all the way to the boarding house
with a silly grin on her face.

~ * ~

The moment Gabriel stepped through the jailhouse door, he felt
dark eyes boring into him. He glanced over and was relieved to see Warren
Hooper locked up, standing with his nose poking out and fingers gripped around
the iron bars.

Deputy Sheriff Jake Bowman had been leaning back in his chair with
his boots propped up on his desk. The front legs dropped forward with a
kerplunk
.
They scraped against the plank floor as Jake scooted back from the big wooden desk
and rose to shake Gabriel’s hand.

“Mornin’, Doc. Can’t say I’ve ever seen you in here before. What
can I do for ya?”

Gabriel returned the shake and stared at Hooper. “I came to see if
you’d arrested that man. I’m glad to see you have.”

Hooper glared at him with stone-cold eyes. “What’s it yer
business?” he spat from behind the bars.

“My business is that young girl you beat up,” Gabriel retorted. He
looked back at the sheriff. “He nearly killed her.”

“I know,” Bowman said, shaking his head. “I heard. Is she gonna
live?”

“She’ll live. By the grace of God. How long until he goes to
trial?”

“Can’t say. I have to find some witnesses first.”

“What do you mean? I understand there were a couple of cowboys who
pulled him off the girl.”

The sheriff nodded. “There were. They weren’t local men though.
Took off before I could take their statements. No one knew their names.”

“What about the other women? The two that brought Jasmine to me
saw what he did. They can identify him.”

Jake glanced at Hooper and then back at Gabriel. He lowered his
voice, “I talked to ‘em already. They’re afraid to testify against him. They
think he’ll give them the same beatin’ the other one got. He has friends that
have already threatened ‘em. I’m not sure what can be done if we can’t get any
witnesses to come forward. I suppose I’ll have to let him go.”

Gabriel narrowed his eyes and walked straight to the cell and
stared Hooper down. “Sheriff, this man also assaulted Delaney Marshall.”

“Bullshit!” Hooper exclaimed. “That bitch is lying!” He rattled
the cell bars like an ape.

Gabriel lunged forward and smacked the bars with the palms of his
hands. “I’d advise you not to speak of her that way,” he warned ominously.

The long-legged sheriff strode over, placed his hand on Gabriel’s
shoulder and wheeled him away from the cell. “Step back, Doc.”

“She’s a damn liar!” Hooper yelled.

The sheriff whirled. “Shut up, Warren.” To Gabriel, he asked, “Is
that the new woman in town you’re talking about?”

Gabriel kept one eye poised on Hooper as he answered. “Yes. This
man attacked her in the alley behind Donovan’s Café. Fortunately, she was able
to get away, unlike poor Jasmine, who’s lying in my clinic near death.”

“You’ll be sorry if you get mixed up in my business,” Hooper
spewed.

“I thought I told you to shut up!” Bowman demanded. “You’re gonna
find yourself with more charges leveled on ya if this new allegation is true,
Warren.”

“It’s true, all right,” Gabriel said. “Miss Marshall is willing to
testify to it.”

“Why didn’t she come forward when it first happened?” the sheriff
wanted to know.

“She wishes she had, now. Miss Marshall didn’t know what Hooper
was capable of until she saw Jasmine’s battered body today. She fears he’s a
danger to the community, and so do I.”

“All right,” Bowman replied. “I’ll speak with her and get her
statement.”

“You and that skinny bitch will regret it if you mess with me,”
Hooper threatened from across the room.

“For the last time, shut the hell up!” the sheriff growled. Baring
his teeth like a rabid dog, the tall, lanky man warned his prisoner. “You keep
flapping your jaws, there won’t be no need for a trial. If anything happens to
the doc or that woman,
you’ll
be the one with regrets, Warren. Should I
have the boys start building the gallows?”

Hooper retreated from the front of the cell, mumbling, and flopped
onto the hard cot in back.

“I didn’t think so,” Jake said. He and Gabriel walked to the door
and shook hands again. “Thank you for coming in, Doc. I’ll get right on this. And
don’t you or Miss Marshall worry. Warren’s gonna be eatin’ swill and sleepin’
with the roaches for a good while. The judge isn’t due in Phoenix for at least
another two weeks. That’ll give me some time to conjure up some witnesses to
that beatin’.”

“Thanks, Sheriff.” Gabriel threw a look of disgust the prisoner’s
way before exiting the jail. He stepped into the sunshine and stood on the
walk, staring out to the street. A jumble of sounds and colors whizzed past,
but he barely noticed. His mind was elsewhere.

Memories of ten years ago crowded his thoughts. The confrontation
with Hooper had brought the memories back with a vengeance. His hands began to
shake, so he stuffed them into his pockets to keep them still. Ten years ago…
Gabriel was just a kid then, eighteen. If he’d been somewhere—anywhere else, his
life would have taken a different course. But there he’d been, a kid of
eighteen, forced into the actions of a grown man. If only that drunkard hadn’t
come along. All these years later, Gabriel still remembered his features so
clearly. Large ears. Bald. A scar the shape of a lightning bolt cutting across
one cheek. Eyes as vacant as a couple of dark holes. He’d never forget the face
as long as he lived.

Though he’d tried for years to push that moment of time out of his
mind, it seemed like just yesterday. The man, Havers, was as black as ink, with
a soul to match, he’d come to learn. Like Warren Hooper, Havers had no respect
for women. He’d been a repulsive wart on humanity.

Gabriel closed his eyes and, with ferocity, tried to shake the
recollection of that night out of his head. He’d done what he’d had to do, but
that fact hadn’t made it any easier to live with. Havers had left him no choice.
Gabriel had reminded himself over and over again—every time the memory
surfaced—anytime the nightmares woke him in the middle of the night, his sheets
damp with sweat. He’d done what he had to do. Lord knew he didn’t want it to
come to that with Hooper.

“But…if that woman beater lays one finger on Delaney again,”
Gabriel mumbled aloud, “so help me God, he’ll get his just rewards.”

He slumped against a post. The heat started in his chest and moved
through his veins, burning him from the inside out. He felt himself choking.

“Are ye all right, Doc?”

Gabriel’s eyes flipped open as he snapped back to the present.
“Oh. Hello, Donovan.” He adjusted the collar of his shirt and reached out to
shake the Irishman’s hand.

“Ye visitin’ the bastard in jail?” Donovan asked.

Gabriel nodded. “I wanted to make sure he’d been arrested. He’s in
there for at least two weeks, until the judge rides into town.”

“Aye. That’s a good thing. How’s the lass?”

“She’s sleeping. Delaney and I cleaned her up and tended her wounds.
Physically, she’ll come through it. Emotionally, I’m not so sure. The girl isn’t
more than sixteen or seventeen. Delaney’s putting up a fuss about her having to
return to the saloon. Have you got any ideas concerning that?”

Donovan scratched his curly head. “If I could afford it, I’d hire
her as me waitress. Course I’d have to hire the whole lot of ‘em if I did that.
There are more whores in this town than chairs in me café. Anyway, I’ve already
got Hannah. She practically runs the place on her own…” His words trailed off
and both men absent-mindedly watched the stage rumble into town and stop across
the street.

“Well, I was headed to the bank, so I shouldn’t tarry,” Donovan
said. He opened up his jacket and showed Gabriel a small sack of coins sewed
inside the silk lining. He tapped the bag with his finger. “I thank me lucky
stars this town is civilized enough to have banks. Too many ruffians and thieves
lurkin’ about. It sure isn’t like the old days. Not safe to keep me gold in a
pot at the end of the rainbow anymore.” He grinned and winked at Gabriel. “See
ye later, Doc.”

Gabriel tilted his head, wondering about the man. Delaney was
right. He
was
strange. He grabbed the Irishman’s arm to stop him.
“Delaney’s set on catching you alone, you know. She’s like a lion stalking its
prey.”