Give My All to Jessie (Third in Outlaw Series)

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Langley was sick to his stomach but knew that the plan he'd come with was his only option. He had to do everything within his power to keep Jessie safe even if she would be madder than a hippo with a toothache come morning.

Langley knew he should tell her what he'd heard but then the woman would go gunning after Billy herself, possibly even the mustached man, and Langley didn't want her to be hurt.

Jessie was busy at the dress shop and so Langley took advantage of that time and headed over to the apothecary's. It took his eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness when he stepped inside. Once he could see, he nearly cried out when he saw the man standing behind the counter. He was tall, pale and thin with white hair, gaunt cheeks and a hooked nose.

"Can I help you, sir?" the clerk asked, sounding quite bored with life.

"I need some laudanum, sir. I've been getting headaches...." Before Langley could finish a bottle of medicine was placed on the countertop.

"That'll be seventy-five cents."

Langley tossed his change down, snatched up the bottle and slid it into his pocket as he walked out the door. He met Jessie coming out of the dressmakers shop. "Did you get what you wanted?" he asked.

"I sure did," she replied with a nod. "Tonight, dear husband, we are the Winterbournes. Your beloved father recently passed away and we found ourselves suddenly overwhelmed with more money than we know what to do with. We are in search of your uncle Benjamin Gray because part of your father's inheritance fell to him."

Langley swallowed as guilt plucked at his stomach. "You really enjoy all this don't you?"

"Yes I do.' Jessie smiled. "My pa always said I had an overactive imagination and I helped come up with all our ideas."

Langley hated this. He hated what he was going to do. But it had to be done. He didn't want to risk Jessie's safety and if she stepped into that Greenhorn saloon tonight, there was a good chance she wouldn't be stepping out of it—at least not under her own free will. And there was always no way the woman would listen to reason and stay behind to let Langley get the answers they needed. He knew her well enough to know that would never happen.

"Are you okay?" Jessie asked as they walked along the boardwalk to their hotel. "You've been very quiet today and that's highly unusual for the likes of you."

Langley attempted what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "I'm fine. I didn't get to check my eyelids for clues today like you did. I'm tired."

"Go to your room and get some rest then, Mr. Winterbourne. You'll need to be well rested for tonight."

Langley didn't speak. He was sure he'd end up sounding guilty if he did. Instead he kissed he brow gently and bounded up the stairs to his room. Rest was the last thing on his mind, however, as he paced back and forth.

He should do what he was going to do but he had to. He'd been raised to never put those he loved in harm's way. There was no way that his pa would let his mama put herself in danger. As a matter of fact, Marston had threatened on more than one occasion to tie his mama up to keep her out of danger. Langley was smart enough to know that Jessie would be able to kick his ass real good and proper if he tried something like that. Which meant his only option was to drug her.

He could imagine his mama slapping him silly for doing such a thing but his pa would probably be proud.

Several hours later, Langley knew it was time to get down to business. He went to the diner and ordered supper before bringing the tray back to his room. There he took out the bottle of laudanum and poured some into Jessie's lemonade before swirling it around.