Kaitlin's Silver Lining (11 page)

“Of course,” Kaitlin
replied. “Church is a crucial part of a child’s upbringing. You have about an
hour before we leave.”

“Mighty fine. Maybe
them boots’ll be dry by then.”

Kaitlin glanced over
at the soggy boots and stifled a laugh, remembering how Charley had declared
them smellier than manure. The idea of Bryce having stinky feet somehow made
him seem more human, more approachable.

She smiled. “You’re
welcome to borrow my talcum powder.”

“Why would I want to
do that?” Bryce gave her a puzzled look.

“For those smelly
boots. Why else?”

His composure
slipped, and his skin warmed to a rosy hue. She’d made him blush with her
reminder he was less than the perfect catch. Then he surprised her by laughing.
“Katy, you do say the darndest things. I’d be mighty obliged to borrow some of
your talc. I can’t think of anything I’d rather smell than the scent of your
lilac powder against my skin.”

“It’s always nice to
know my scented powder will hold a special place on your person,” she replied
with all the sarcasm she could muster.

Bryce whole body
shook. “You make me laugh, Katy. You’re too good for my soul.”

“Don’t you mean, sole
as in soles of your feet?”

He roared then,
filling the room with boisterous laughter. Kaitlin joined him, enjoying the
simple camaraderie. It had been too long since she’d allowed herself the luxury
of such abandonment. Humor felt good. Too good. She would miss Bryce when he
had to leave. It was sobering to think her time with Bryce would be very short.
She was actually beginning to enjoy having him here.

Thirteen

“So, Miss Kanatzer, have
you received any more of those hate letters recently?”

Bryce looked up from
the photographs he perused to hear Kaitlin’s reply to Dan Cochran’s question.
With her back to him, her comment sounded muffled. Frustrated, he bent to his
task. Bryce scanned the few pages of faces, knowing the attempt would be futile.

Across the room, Dan
had Kaitlin seated in a chair. The policeman took notes as Kaitlin imparted
everything she knew about the latest incident.

Bryce tossed the
tintypes aside and sauntered over to Kaitlin and Dan. Propping a leg on the
desk, he listened while Kaitlin answered each of Dan’s questions.

“You’ve been
receiving letters in the mail for over a month now, but until last Tuesday,
nothing about these missives appeared different?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have the note
you found wrapped around the rock?”

Kaitlin pulled out
the wrinkled slip of paper and handed it over. Dan studied it for a minute
before setting it next to one of the other notes. Bryce leaned over to get a
better view.

“The handwriting is
different,” Bryce observed.

“So it would seem,”
Dan murmured. “Looks like we’ve got two culprits to look for.”

“But what does that
mean?” Kaitlin asked.

Dan scratched his
balding pate. “Could mean nothing. Then again, it could be ‘the something’ that
solves this case.”

Kaitlin frowned.
“Great. Now I can look forward to the unguarded interest of more than one beau.
Just what a girl longs for.”

Bryce snorted but
refrained from comment. She didn’t need him adding to her frustration.

“Let’s examine all
the possibilities,” Dan said. “This person could either be part of an organized
effort to influence you to give up your involvement with the suffragists’
movement, or this person could be some kind of mentally ill fiend who’s singled
you out.”

Dan took out a piece
of paper and began making notes. “The fact the handwriting differs from note to
note does indeed suggest the possibility of more than one villain. So let’s
assume the first scenario. If this is part of an organized effort, we need to
make a list of all those who might benefit from seeing you leave town.”

Kaitlin threw up her
hands. “That’s easy. You can put down the owners of every bar in Denver for
starters.”

Her bitter tone did
not deter Dan, who jotted down copious notes.

Bryce removed his
foot from the desk and pulled up a chair. “Katy, Mr. Cochran doesn’t need your
sarcasm. The more information you can give him, the more ideas he can rule
out.”

“Thank you, Bryce,
and call me Dan. I figure we’ll be working together for some time on this case.
I doubt we’ll solve it overnight.”

Kaitlin gave them
both a sullen look. “Farley Kaufmann isn’t too fond of me right now. You know
he’s running against John Routt for governor. He’s firmly against our suffrage
movement, but he also owns several saloons, so our protests against drinking
have ruffled his feathers.” She added a few more names to the list.

Dan took out a
pocketknife and paused to sharpen his pencil. Bryce’s respect for the police
grew since Dan so quickly analyzed the implications of the differences in
handwriting. In addition, Cochran asked a lot of questions, things Bryce
wouldn’t have thought of. All in all, this might prove to be more productive
than he’d thought.

“Okay, that takes
care of the first scenario. Let’s think about the second. Do you have any personal
enemies? Jilted boyfriends, for example?”

“Mr. Cochran, I do
not entertain gentleman callers, and I doubt I ever will.”

Her innocent remark
struck a nerve, making Bryce frown. She always seemed to have a low opinion of
her appeal.

“What about family?”

“What about family,
Mr. Cochran?” Kaitlin was purposely being difficult, but why?

“Do you have any
family left, and if so, are you on good terms with the members of your family?”

“My family is dead to
me, sir,” Kaitlin replied flatly. “Now then, I think I’ve answered enough
questions for the day. If something else comes to me, I’ll let you know.”

Kaitlin motioned to
Bryce. “Will you ride the streetcar back with me, or do you have other errands
to attend?”

“You go on back. I’m
going to jaw a bit more with Dan and do a little investigative work before I
head back to your house.”

Bryce waited until
Kaitlin closed the door behind her before turning his attention toward Dan.
“So, tell me, Dan, what do you really think about all of this?”

“Do you want the
honest truth?”

“Does a polecat smell
bad?”

“That woman is hiding
something.” Dan started to straighten papers on his desk. “For whatever
reasons, she’s lying to me and to you about the full details.”

Bryce inclined his
head. “I had those same, exact thoughts. So what now? Tell me what I can do to
help you get to the bottom of this.”

“You might start
frequenting the bars. If this person is of a devious nature, he’ll take respite
in some of the less popular spots in town. I’ll make out a list for you. In the
meantime, keep a close eye on Miss Kanatzer.”

Easier
said than done,
Bryce thought. Kaitlin had a mind of her own.

This whole business
with Kaitlin complicated things. He’d come to Denver with two goals. He wanted
Charley to get to know her aunt, and he wanted to find a wife. He’d hoped
Kaitlin might want Charley to stay with her, but Kaitlin’s lifestyle didn’t
lend itself to raising children. Kaitlin was just too opinionated and set in
her ways to bend for anyone, including a child. On the other hand, Charley was
difficult to love, but Kaitlin had made giant strides in the two weeks they’d
come to be here.

With goal one
accomplished, he could start working on goal two. Emma’s unavailability put a
dent in his plans. Having to protect Kaitlin made it difficult to find time to
look for other candidates. He’d run across an ad for a marriage broker, but he
didn’t feel that desperate yet. He just needed some time to find the right girl
and start courting her. If only he had more time. William wanted him back at
the Double S for winter round-up. That left him roughly two months to find a
suitable mother figure for Charley.

It also put a time
limit on his work for Kaitlin. By the end of his stay, he needed to find the
person or persons responsible for her difficulties, or he might not be able to
leave with a clear conscience.

~ *
~

“Kaitlin, you’ve got
mail!” Maggie called out.

Kaitlin immediately
gathered her skirts and ran down the stairs, intent on intercepting Maggie
before Bryce looked through her letters. His investigation into her problems
annoyed her. She enjoyed very little privacy these days.

She hit the last step
in time to see Bryce flipping through the missives.

Maggie looked up from
leaning over Bryce’s shoulder. “Hey, Kaitlin, looks like you got one from
Oresonville.”

Bryce opened the
envelope and took the note out. Kaitlin tried to rip it from his hand, but he
evaded her prying fingers. She folded her arms against her chest and glared at
him while he scanned the contents.

“Who’s Sarge,” he
finally asked, looking at her as if he had every right to know her deepest
secrets.

“None of your
business.”

“Maggie?” Bryce
turned to her friend who merely shrugged.

He scanned the
contents. “Seems this Sarge wants you to come home. I thought you told Dan you
didn’t have any family.”

Kaitlin remained
mute. She couldn’t discuss Sarge with this man. Maggie knew a little about her
past but not all, and she hoped to keep it that way.

“Does this mean you
have a husband out there?”

“You are digging into
matters that don’t concern you.” She tapped her toe impatiently, her hand
outstretched for the letter. To her chagrin, he ignored her silent command.

“Your safety concerns
me.”

“I don’t see why.
Until two weeks ago, I was a complete stranger to you.”

Bryce shoved the
letter at her. “You’re the most difficult woman I’ve ever run across. Cows got
more sense than you, and they don’t have much sense at all.”

She watched him tear
into the second letter. By his expression, she knew what it said without him
reading it aloud.
Leave Denver or else.

“Where are the rest
of ’em?” he asked.

“Rest of what?” She
gave him her most naïve, innocent look.

“These letters.” He
rattled the mail at her. “I haven’t seen any more of these notes since your
parlor got ransacked. I just can’t believe there aren’t more. So where have you
hidden ’em?”

“Most like, they’re
in her dresser drawer upstairs. Want me to go look?” Maggie offered.

Kaitlin stomped her
foot. “Maggie. How could you?”

“Kaitlin, it’s time
you accepted help here. No one is going to think less of you for welcoming a
little assistance.”

Maggie turned away,
her green frock rustling in her wake. Kaitlin felt betrayed. She sent Bryce an
accusing glare for having turned Maggie against her. “I won’t have you digging
into my personal affairs.”

“Why? What are you
afraid of?”

“I’m not afraid of
anything,” she said, silently asking God to forgive her for the white lie. She
feared everything at this point, but she wouldn’t admit it to this man, or any
man for that matter. Fear became a weakness, and she’d spent years proving to
herself how strong she could be.

Maggie returned with
four unopened pieces of mail. She handed them to Bryce. He turned them over in
his hand, examining the envelopes before ripping into each one. Kaitlin could
do nothing but stand and watch. Three came from the unidentified hate mailer
and the other from Sarge.

“Another letter from
Sarge asking you to return,” Bryce commented. He then took time to study the
envelopes. “Postmarks on these three are identical to the one with this
Oresonville return address.”

“That means nothing,”
Kaitlin replied, but her heart skipped a beat at the revelation.

“I think it means a
lot. I think you know exactly who’s been doing this to you and why. The
question I have to ask now is, who are you protecting?”

The arch in her back
stiffened. She didn’t care for his insinuations. She owed this man nothing. Who
did he think he was, coming to her home, forcing his company upon her, and
dredging up old memories?

“Maggie, can you tell
me what I want to know?” Bryce’s eyes held Kaitlin’s as he peppered Maggie for
information. “Who’s Sarge?”

Maggie shook her
head. “No one I can tells you about.”

Thank
you, Maggie.
She just hoped Bryce wouldn’t realize Maggie’s use of poor
English reflected guilt over the half-truth she’d just told.

Bryce meticulously
folded each letter and stuffed them in his vest pocket.