Mail Order Brides: A Bride for the Banker (Bozeman Brides Book 1) by Emily Woods Read Free Book Online Page B

where he heard Theo exchange a few words with the hotel clerk. The employee nodded at Theo who then made his way up the stairs, pulling himself up every step. Then the clerk swung his gaze over to where Jackson was standing.
    “You’d better get up there,” the skinny man hissed. “You and your sister are in trouble!”
    Startled, Jackson did as the man commanded. He raced up the stairs and collided with Theo at the top. When he got there, he noticed the older man was bleeding profusely from the back of the head, something he hadn’t seen in the dark street.
    “Theo! What happened?”
    “Jackson,” he returned with a dazed look. “Get inside. I need to talk to both of you.”
    After he opened the door, Jackson called out to his sister. “Margie, are you decent? Come out here.”
    Margie appeared quickly. She hadn’t yet began to change, but rushed to Theo’s side when she saw the gash in the back of his head. “Jackson, grab a towel,” she instructed calmly. “Theo, sit here and don’t move.”
    “Margie,” Theo began urgently. “You and Jackson need to get out of here. You’re in danger.”
    “What? What are you talking about?” she asked distractedly as she tried to stop the flow of blood with the towel. “I think this might need a few stitches. Is there a doctor nearby? Never mind, I can do it. Jackson, fetch my sewing kit.”
    “What’s going on?” Jackson asked in bewilderment. Clearly, Theo hadn’t come to seduce his sister and neither was he drunk. The only thing he knew for sure, was that he was in trouble. Maybe they all were.
     
    ***
     
    Theo winced in pain as Margie worked on the back of his head. He kept trying to put her off so that he could explain, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Instead, she interrogated him relentlessly.
    “What have you done to get yourself in this position? I hope you aren’t some hot-headed man who’ll get into fights every time we have a disagreement.”
    He looked at her uncomprehendingly. What was she talking about? Then he remembered how she’d stalked out of the house earlier after he’d suggested Jackson join the Texas Rangers.
    “No, that’s…that’s not important now. Margie, remember how I said there were things in my past that I didn’t want to talk about? Well, one of those was my brother. He’s the leader of a gang of men, a very small gang now, but he’s planning to rob the bank and he wants to use me to do it. He’s threatening to hurt you, Ruth and Robert if I don’t.” His words didn’t sound right. They sounded as though they were coming out of someone else’s mouth. Theo touched the back of his head gingerly and then grimaced in pain. Dizziness threatened to overwhelm him.
    “Is that the man we saw this morning?” Margie asked, her face a mask of worry.
    “His name is Austin and he has two sidekicks. They’re getting old, but they’re still strong. I think it was Shorty who did this to me,” he muttered, not noticing that Jackson hadn’t said a word and that his face had gone deathly pale.
    “I need to get Ruth and Robert to safety,” Theo muttered. He was starting to lose consciousness and struggled to speak. “They’re in danger.” That was the last thing he said before he passed out into oblivion.

Chapter 7
     
    “Should we try to get help?” Margie asked Jackson anxiously. “We don’t even know where those men are now. I met the sheriff this morning at the service, but I don’t even know where his office is. We also need a doctor to look at Theo. He might have lost too much blood…”
    “I know where they are,” Jackson said with a grim look on his face.
    “Who? The doctor? The sheriff?”
    “The gang members. I saw them go into the…uh, building down the street.”
    “But that won’t help us if we can’t find the sheriff,” she replied frantically.
    “I know where he is too. You stay with Theo and I’ll be right back.”
    She watched him leave with fear in her heart. What would happen if Theo