RattlingtheCage by Ann Cory Read Free Book Online Page B

romance in your
blood.”
    “Nope. Skipped a generation or two.”
    Her shoulders sagged.
    “JR had it fixed in his mind to do whatever it took to bring
down my grandpa and soil his reputation. Hoped it would make my grandma leave
him. Only, it brought them closer.”
    He paused and then smiled, and she imagined a woman every
bit as stubborn as Lawson.
    “Course that pissed JR off even more,” he continued, “so he
made it his mission to turn the town against gramps. The sheriff at the time
went missing, and the judge appointed JR to take his place. No doubt from some
coaxing with cash. Pretty soon Mitchum started pocketing the townspeople’s
money, raising their property taxes and increasing prices on goods. He became
your all-around bully who happened to have the law on his side.”
    Feeling the wind knocked out of her, Montana sat back on the
bed. “So people put their money in the bank and then Mitchum stole from the
bank?”
    “Yep. But he did far worse things. He regulated how many
children a family could have. Young girls were sent away to orphanages, older
ones were sent to whore houses. I heard he made a percentage off each one.”
    Her stomach soured. “How did he get away with all of it?”
    “With the law holding everyone’s lives for ransom, they
easily swept everything under the dirt. The Mitchums bought off the law in the
surrounding towns so that no one had anyone to turn to.”
    “My god.” Montana shook her head. She’d always considered
Mitchum a bogeyman, but now she realized he was worse than any nightmare.
    “Wasn’t long before JR put his son, Clint, to work at the
bank. A week later he claimed that gramps stole wads of cash.”
    She searched his eyes. “Did people believe him?”
    “Grandma said they didn’t, but who knows. The Cage name got
hammered into the ground along with my grandpa’s reputation.”
    “Did he fight the accusations?”
    His expression softened. “With words, yes, but he was a
peaceful man. Didn’t have the heart for violence.”
    Something in his voice made her think he wished that hadn’t
been the case. “Does that upset you?”
    His eyes downturned. “I don’t begrudge him for not taking a
stand. I’d have done different, but he handled it the way he wanted.”
    “So he went to jail?”
    “Nope.” He paused and paced along the room. Quick strides
that turned him into a blur. “They shot him and burned his house to the ground.
My mom tried to stop them, and she got shot, along with my week-old baby
sister. They all burned.”
    Her hands covered her mouth. “Oh, Lawson.” She wanted to run
to him and hold him, but the tension he wore on his face deterred her.
    “My grandma and I were on our way back from the mercantile
when we saw smoke billowing in the distance. By sunset, Cage Crossing had
become a hole in the ground.”
    Montana winced. “I’m so sorry. What did you do? Where did
you go?”
    He paused, his jaw clenched. “We moved to Arizona. Grandma
had a friend who lived there. I don’t know how she convinced JR to let her go,
but I guess since gramps no longer had her, it didn’t matter as much. She never
loved another man.”
    “Where was your father through all of this?”
    Montana caught a glimpse of pain in his eyes before he went
back to pacing. “About a month before the fire, he was shipped off on some
train with a handful of men to do business for Mitchum. None of them returned.”
    “You think it was on purpose?”
    He faced her. “Had to be. I’ve been all over the area
throughout the years looking for clues, but they covered it up so well that
there’s no trace. Somewhere they disappeared.”
    “Jesus. So the Mitchums erased everything good that your
family did for the town.”
    “Yep.”
    “And then erased them.”
    “Uh huh.”
    “And you’re here to make Mitchum pay.”
    He nodded.
    “But JR set the fire,” she reasoned. “How does Clint figure
into this other than accusing your grandpa and being born into a