Chapter Fifteen
"I hate trains. I'd rather ride two weeks straight on a horse's back than for three hours in a damn train," Brody grumbled as he, Jacob and Ellie stepped off the train and onto the crowded platform in San Antonio.
"That's all you've done is complain. And here you've always said I was the complainer in the family," Jacob said with a grin.
Brody glared at him and then rested his hand on the handle of his revolver, "I still say we should have left your woman at home."
Jacob glanced at Ellie standing beside him. She looked so small in this crowd. He feared her petite body would get swallowed up by the huge mass of bodies, so he wrapped his arm around her shoulders to keep her close to him as they made their way out of the train station.
"It's my sister that he has, Brody. I have a right to be here," Ellie replied as she laid her hand over the derringer pistol tucked in the waistband of her skirt. "I can handle myself. I promise."
"A woman's place is not in the middle of danger," Brody argued. Jacob snorted, "Don't let your wife hear you say that."
Brody shrugged, "Her ass is at home, isn't it? There's no way I was letting her ass come along. She knows her damned place," he said gruffly. Jacob saw through Brody's tough façade. Liz had told him once that Brody still woke up most nights, crying out and reaching for her as he dreamed about the day she had died and the horrible months that had followed.
"You love her and you know it," Jacob countered with a smile.
Brody shrugged, "Never said I didn't." He looked around them, "So Ellie, where do we go?"
"The house is probably the best bet at this time of day. He won't go to the saloon until later tonight," she replied.
Brody nodded and motioned ahead of them, "Lead the way."
Ellie walked in front of the two brothers and led them down the cobblestone streets lined with shops, stores and homes on either side. After a long walk they finally came to a home on an abandoned side street. It was a dull blue with a dirty white door and dying flowers filled the window boxes.
"Charming place," Brody muttered.
"Let's just get this over with," Jacob urged with his hand on his gun. His stomach was churning. He hated conflict. He normally avoided it at all costs and to now be running headfirst into it had him nervous and uneasy. He looked at Ellie and saw her own fear and it gave him the strength to stand up straighter and shake off some of his nervousness.
Ellie stepped up to the door and knocked several times. They stood there a while in the Texas heat, listening to all the sounds of the crowded city before the door was finally opened. The person that answered it was a boy caught in the middle the transition from boyhood to manhood. He was probably seventeen and when he saw Ellie a huge smile came to his smooth, thin face.
"You're back!" he exclaimed as he threw his arms around her in a tight hug. Then he noticed Jacob and Brody standing behind her and he stepped back, "Who are they?"
"Jacob and Brody Atkinson," Ellie replied.
The boy's eyes fell on their badges and he sent an accusing glare at Ellie, "You brought the law here! What are you trying to do? Get us all locked up? Otis will kill you!"
'Not if I kill him first," Brody said calmly causing the boy to swallow hard.
Ellie snapped her fingers to bring his attention back to her, "Nick, I need to come in and get my things. I'm done working for Otis. I also need to know where he is keeping my sister."
Nick shook his head and shot a fearful glance over his shoulder, "Otis ain't here and I can't let you in without his permission."
"Nick, please. I really need to find Liza. Where is she?" Ellie pleaded.
"I ain't telling you nothing. Otis'll kill me, Ellie. He don't like me like he does you. I can't get away with the kind of shit that you pull."
"Nick..."
"No," he repeated.
Brody blew out an impatient breath, pulled his revolver, cocked it and pressed it against the boy's forehead, all within the blink of an eye, "Let us in and tell us where the girl is," he ordered calmly.
Ellie couldn't believe her eyes or her ears. Brody's gun was pressed against Nick's now sweaty forehead. Nick was quite literally shaking in his shoes but Brody looked as calm as if he was ordering lunch in a fancy café.
"Okay! Okay!" Nick held his hands up, "You can come in. But I don't know where Otis is. He left out this morning. And I don't know where Liza is neither." Nick's voice shook, "Now can you get the gun out of my face?" Brody shrugged and holstered his revolver.
"Jesus, Brody! Don't you think that was a bit of an overreaction?" Jacob demanded.
Brody shook his head, "Nope, an overreaction would have been pulling the trigger."
Nick ran back into the house, probably to get away from the crazy man with a gun and Ellie led Jacob and Brody inside. It was dark and it was dirty. Voices filled the air. Most of them sounded young.
"It's like his own personal army of thieves," Jacob muttered, glancing all around and catching the occasional glimpse of children and young adults watching them from the shadows.
"Yes. He finds orphans or abandoned children and he teaches them how to steal. Some aren't any good at stealing and out of those the girls are sent to the saloon and the boys are taught to kill. You never know when someone will need a hired killer and Otis wants to make sure he always has some on his payroll."
"Better be watching our backs then," Jacob urged. Brody moved to the back of the line so that any bullets fired from behind would hit him instead of his brother or Ellie.
Ellie walked down a long hall and then into a small room. Jacob frowned. Was this her room? The bed was dirty, lumpy and barely big enough for a grown person. The walls were covered in faded and peeling paint and floral wall paper. The floors were hardwood and covered in deep scars. There were three wardrobes that seemed to be on their last leg and a stack of books covered the end table.
There were no personal touches except for a small framed picture on the washstand. He walked over and picked it up. There was a man in the picture who looked like Ellie. He had pale skin, black hair with the same softness to his cheeks that Ellie had. The woman was darker skinned and lighter haired and she had features that seemed almost exotic. The girl standing between them could only be a younger Ellie. She hadn't changed much since this picture was taken, and it didn't appear that she'd grown an inch. There was a young child sitting on the mothers knee. She had the lighter hair like her mother and the same looks as her mother had.
"That's my family," Ellie whispered from beside him. "It's the only picture I have. Otis got it for me."
"We'll take it with us then," he replied.
Ellie smiled and laid her hand on his arm before turning back to look around the room, "I don't know what I thought I would find in here. I should have known he wouldn't keep Liza in my room."
"We'll find her Ellie," Jacob promised.
"As much as I hate to say this, since this house is so damned big, I think we're going to have to do a room by room search," Brody sighed.
Ellie nodded slowly, "I think you're right."
"Here's hoping we don't get shot," Jacob mumbled.
It took nearly two hours but the search yielded them with nothing. No one knew where Otis had gone that morning and no one knew where Liza was, though a few had admitted, (with a little persuasion from Brody's gun), that they had seen Liza a couple of times in the last few days.
Ellie cried out with frustration and clenched her fists, "I don't know where else he would keep her. He has the saloon but he's not there all the time. Surely he wouldn't keep her there."
"He might," Brody shrugged, "I guess that's our next stop. Lead the way, Miss Thompson."
This time as they walked Brody stayed in the back while Jacob remained at Ellie's side, "Even if we find her I don't know what I'm going to do," Ellie stared down at her boots, "I don't have anywhere to live and I have no way to pay for her to go back to school."
Jacob frowned, "You have a job at the ranch. That job includes room and board. As far as the schooling goes, I'll pay for it. Of course it would probably be smarter to move her to that school in Austin. That way you could see her more often."
"I couldn't ask you to do that," Ellie countered, shaking her head. "Especially not after what I did to you."
"Technically you didn't do anything. I've already forgiven you for the lies. You were doing what you thought you had to."
"Do you really forgive me?" she asked with disbelief as she tucked her hair behind her ear.
Jacob nodded, "Yes."
"Does that mean....." she stopped and bit her lip as she stared straight ahead.
Jacob raised a brow and looked down at her, "Does that mean what?"
"Nothing," she replied quickly. She wanted to know if he still wanted to marry her but why would he?
"You might as well tell me. I can tell you're lying. You know really, for someone who built their life around doing it, you're not that good at lying. I'm starting to see that you blush, stutter and answer questions too quickly when you're saying something that isn't the truth."
"I'm a great liar!" Ellie declared in defense of herself. "I just can't seem to lie to you without messing it all up. I guess I loved you too much.. Even from the beginning."
"Are you going to answer my question?"
"I was going to ask you if that meant we were still engaged but of course we aren't. Why would a man like you want to marry a woman like me?"
"Ellie I..."
Before Jacob could finish a commotion broke out on the streets as two wagon passed too close together and the horses became spooked and tangled. People began yelling and shouting and Jacob and Brody each instantly ran toward the chaos to help calm the horses and settle things down.
Ellie was standing on the sidewalk watching them when suddenly a dirty hand clasped over her mouth and the point of a knife pressed into her back, "Hello Ellie. Did you really think you could bring some lawmen here and take me down?" Otis whispered in her ear.
Ellie tried to struggle out of his grasp but he pressed the knife harder against her skin, pricking her and causing blood to drip down her back. She mentally willed Jacob or Brody to look her way but they were too busy with the mess on the street. The mess that no doubt Otis had had planned and orchestrated. That was his favorite thing to do. Create chaos and then reap the benefits of the distraction.
"Now come along with me or I'll send this knife even deeper in that pretty little back of yours. Don't even think about pulling that gut buster in your skirt or I'll kill you where you stand," Otis warned, his hot breath washing over her ear, "You should have known better than to turn your back on me, Ellie. If not for me, you and that brat sister of yours would have died years ago."
Ellie was helpless and had no way to get away from him. Every struggle she tried to make ended with the knife pricking deeper into her back. Ellie felt pure terror as Otis chuckled and led her down the road.
***
"That was crazy!" Jacob exclaimed, "I've never seen that happen before,"
Brody nodded thoughtfully as the brothers stepped back onto the sidewalk, "It was almost like they did it on purpose." Brody's eyes narrowed, "Where's Ellie?"
Jacob let his eyes travel up and down the sidewalk and over the crowded street but he didn't see any sign of her shining black hair, "Ellie!" he shouted. "Ellie, where are you?"
"Son of a bitch," Brody growled, kicking at the bricks beneath their feet. "That whole thing was a set up. Otis planned it. He has her."
"We have to find her, Brody," dread and fear settled into Jacob's heart, "I can't lose her."
Brody nodded, understanding completely the fear his brother was feeling, "We'll find her, Jacob. I promise. We just need to find that saloon. I would bet my life that that's where he'll take her."
"There are close to fifty saloons in San Antonio! How will we find out which one is his?" Jacob demanded. He couldn't lose Ellie. He just couldn't. It wasn't an option.
"I told you that Police Chief Buckner owes me a favor. I reckon it's about time I call it in."