CHAPTER 9

GUNNISON felt the hackles on the back of his neck rise. “Who did she murder?”

“The family who hired her as a maid. Fine people, fine as could be, name of Rawlings. They took in a poor little orphaned English girl, hired her, gave her boarding and food, made her like one of their own family. But one thing they didn’t know about this gal: she’d come from her native land because she was fleeing the charge of murder. Murder of her own parents. Then, once here, she did it again. Murdered the Rawlings family, husband and wife and daughter. Cleaned out as much as she could in cash and jewels and fled.”

“Are you sure? She didn’t strike me as the kind to do something so wicked.”

“Can’t really judge folks that way, Mr. Gunnison. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, both as a Ranger and after, it’s that you can’t tell from looking on the outside what there is down on the inside of a man … or a woman.”

“You’re no longer a Ranger … so you’re chasing her as a hired gun, basically?”

“‘Hired gun’—don’t know if I like that term. I’m not planning to shoot anybody, unless I have to.”

“Just a way of speaking.”

“The answer is yes, I’m hired. Relatives of the slain.”

Gunnison was thinking. “How did you happen to be close by just when I was about to be shot?”

“I’d been following you. Figuring you’d be a lure for our lady friend.”

“Why?”

“Because I know she came to Leadville looking for Brady Kenton. With Kenton winding up not being here, it made sense she would go to see you instead, to try and find out how to get to him.”

“Mr. Best, someone came after Rachel Frye while she was in my hotel room. I was gone to find her food. There was a row of some kind. I had told that the man who fought with her had an English accent.”

“It’s no surprise. There’s people of all kinds in Leadville.”

“But if you are the man who has been chasing her, who would the Englishman who came up to my room have been?”

Best shrugged. “I can’t say. If I had to guess, I’d peg it as someone who saw you leave your room and decided to take advantage of your absence to rob you. He probably didn’t know he would find someone still in the room. And I can imagine how she would have reacted … she’s a violent woman. Quite honestly, Mr. Gunnison, if she was in your room, you’re lucky to not have been hurt, or worse, by her. It may be for the best that that intruder showed up and ran her off.”

Gunnison thought that over. “She told me something very strange…”

“I can guess. She told you that Brady Kenton is her father.”

“How did you know?”

“Because Rachel Bryan Smith Harrington Bailey Frye Jackson … I can’t remember all the other names she’s used … has claimed to be the daughter of everybody from Robert E. Lee to the man in the moon. Hell, she’d have claimed to be your daughter if you’d been a little older. But mostly she’s claimed to be the daughter of Brady Kenton. And the purely queerish thing is, I think she believes it.” Best pointed at his temple and made circles with his finger. “The woman is loco. And dangerous. And I intend to find her. Any notion as to where she is now?”

“No. But I thought that was her today, being attacked.”

“No! Did you?”

“It was part of the reason I was so fast to jump in and try to help her.”

“You believed she was being attacked by the mysterious man who’s been trailing her.”

“That’s right.”

Best laughed again. “And it turned out to be nothing but a couple of married folks who make a habit of beating up on each other!”

Gunnison smiled, though it didn’t seem that funny to him. It wasn’t Best who’d almost had his head blown off with his own pistol. But he couldn’t fault Best, whose fortuitous arrival, and quick gunman’s skill, had probably saved his life.

“So about Kenton being her father … there’s no chance of it being true?”

“Oh, no. Just a tale she tells. It opens doors for you if people think your father is somebody famous. But I do think she believes it’s true when she says it. Where is Kenton?”

“Denver. Visiting an editor for the American Popular Library.”

“But she doesn’t know that?”

“She knows he’s in Denver. I told her that much.” He wished now that he hadn’t.

Best nodded, more serious again. “That’s good information for me to have.”

“You think she’ll go looking for him there?”

“She might.”

“Would she be dangerous to him?”

“She could be.”

“Has she threatened him?”

“Not directly … but look at what she did in England, and in Texas. She’s got murder in her soul, that woman does.”

“I’ve got to warn Kenton,” Gunnison said. “No … I’ve got to go join him, so I can watch for her. Kenton is approached by a lot of people … he wouldn’t know her from anyone else, but I would.” He started to sit up, but a sudden burst of wooziness made him halt.

“Whoa, partner,” Best said. “I don’t believe you’re up to running around just yet. A blow to the noggin takes some getting over. The doc told me you might be laid up for a time.”

Gunnison groaned and lay back down. This was unbelievable. If only he’d simply gotten up this morning, minded his own business, left the hotel, and let Rachel Frye go her own way! He’d not be lying here helpless with a throbbing head.

On the other hand, had he not gone looking for her, he’d not have met Best, either, and learned the truth about the woman.

“What will you do, Mr. Best?” Gunnison asked with eyes closed. “Go to Denver to find her?”

“Unless I find evidence she has remained here or gone elsewhere, that’s the likely bet,” Best drawled.

Gunnison opened his eyes and looked at Best. “How long has she been following Kenton?”

He cocked a brow, thinking. “I don’t know exactly. I only learned in the last two, three months about her starting to claim to be his daughter. That was no grand thing, because she’s made the same claim regarding several other celebrated types, but when I began to hear from folks who’d seen her that she’d been talking about trying to find Kenton, then I realized that a good thing had come about. All I had to do was track Brady Kenton, and she was bound to show up sooner or later.”

“Why hasn’t she been able to connect with Kenton already?”

“Why, Mr. Gunnison, you know better than anybody how busy he is. He moves around a lot, but mostly where he goes ain’t known to the general public in advance. That was what made this scheduled appearance of his in Leadville so important: it was one of the few times people could know in advance where Kenton was going to show up. When I heard about it I knew she’d probably show up here—which she did, though Kenton didn’t.”

“She’s probably still in town,” Gunnison said. “There’s been no train out, I don’t think, since yesterday afternoon.”

“There’s no assurance she’d ride the train, but quite likely you’re right. Her only other options besides stowing away in a freight car are walking or persuading somebody who’s going to Denver to take her with them. If the former, she ain’t gone far, and the latter ain’t likely.”

“So you may still be able to catch her right here in Leadville.”

“I hope I can. That would be best for me, and for Kenton, too. We’d get her out of the way before she could go bothering or threatening him.”

“It’s still nearly impossible for me to imagine her doing what you say she did.”

“Believe me, sir, she did it. You don’t know about that woman like I’ve come to know about her, following her across the country, talking to those she’s talked to, and so on. She’s a great deceiver, for certain.”

A great deceiver. The phrase made Gunnison think of the title of the serial novel that had diverted Kenton to Denver. “The Grand Deception,” he muttered under his breath.

“What did you say?” Best asked.

“Oh, nothing. Just the name of a story. What you said made me think of it.”

Best chuckled. “Name of a story. All righty.” He stood and touched the brim of his hat, nodding. In typical Texan style, he’d kept the big hat on his head throughout the whole conversation. “I’ll be leaving you now, Mr. Gunnison. I hope you recover nicely from getting beat up. By the way, your pistol and other things are stored for you in that box there in the corner.”

“Thank you.”

“The doc will be back in soon, I’m sure. Meantime, I think I’ll go see if I can’t find our fugitive woman. Wish me luck.”

“I do.”

“Take care of yourself, Mr. Gunnison.”

“You do the same, Mr. Best.”