brow furrowed. “Apparently not maximum enough. Two guards are dead, and they aren’t sure the third will last the night. When they catch him, he’ll hang for sure.”
“When did this happen?”
“A few hours ago. The prison sent a telegram right away. They think he’s headed to Leadville.”
Owen’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach. This wasn’t supposed to happen. He’d promised Laura Booth, James’s ex-wife, that this wouldn’t happen. Every day, when he’d escorted her to the courthouse for James’s trial, Owen promised her that James would go to prison for the rest of his life and never bother Laura again. One more promise Owen had broken as a lawman.
“Does she know?”
Will nodded. “Laura’s scared, but she thinks he’ll head to Mexico, where he has connections, something he’s always talked about doing. Laura believes that James will value his freedom more than anything else. She doesn’t think he’ll risk getting caught again.”
Unfortunately, Owen knew better. The man thought he was invincible, which meant he wouldn’t consider it a risk to come after Laura.
“Has she forgotten how many times he’s threatened her? At the trial, at his sentencing and even when I went with her to give him divorce papers. The last time she saw him, he was like a madman, giving in graphic detail a list of all the horrible things he would do to her before he killed her in revenge for testifying against him.”
When Owen had met Laura, she was terrified of her husband. James Booth was a womanizing charlatan, hurting everyone in his path who did not give him his way. He’d beaten Laura into submission, making her one more of his victims. But Owen, along with Will and several of their friends in Leadville, had convinced Laura to testify against James in a case where he had been accused of murdering his mistress. At the time, Laura had been hesitant to speak out against him. He had many friends and associates, and she feared that they would help him avoid the consequences of his actions.
Owen had been the one to convince her otherwise.
And now James had done the very thing Laura was afraid of. He’d gotten out of jail, and he was coming after her.
Will had been right to ask Owen to come out of retirement for this. He’d made a woman a promise—that he would keep her safe.
Hopefully, Owen would be able to keep that promise.
* * *
Laura Booth smoothed out the sheets on a recently vacated bed in the boardinghouse she owned, trying to eliminate every last wrinkle despite her shaking hands. A menial task, and folks often chastised her for taking on those jobs when someone else could easily do it for her. However, in the past year and a half since her husband—no, ex-husband—had gone to jail, Laura had found a new strength in life. Before James’s downfall, she’d been helpless. A spoiled heiress who had servants for everything. And now she could do it all herself.
She ordinarily wasn’t so jittery, but the sheriff had stopped by to let her know that James had escaped from prison this morning. The news wasn’t entirely a surprise—she’d known that James had many associates, and though Laura’s purse was now completely off-limits to James, they probably still felt a certain loyalty to him. Plus, who knows how much of her money he’d taken and stashed away before he’d gotten caught. Getting out of jail would be no problem for a man like James.
None of that mattered. She was fine. Everything would be fine. She had a new routine, a new life, and it would be fine. She just had to stop thinking about James and the potential threat he posed. And get her hands to stop shaking.
Though the sheriff had told Laura to be prepared because they thought James would be coming after her, she was trying not to worry. Many of his associates had gone to Mexico, and James would be safe from the law there. He wouldn’t risk getting caught with freedom so close at hand. Surely he wasn’t that stupid.
Yes. She was safe. Of course, she would be safe. She had no reason to worry, no matter what the sheriff said. He didn’t know James the way she did. James was a coward, who would run rather than risk getting caught. Hopefully soon she would get her nerves to calm down. She wasn’t the woman who jumped at her own shadow anymore.
Gathering the dirty sheets to take downstairs, Laura couldn’t help but smile at how different her life was now. While everyone in Denver had thought Laura had the perfect life back then, it had been the most miserable existence she’d ever known. She’d had money and servants, yes, but she’d also been married to a man who’d only wanted her for access to the wealth and power of her family’s fortune. When James didn’t get his way, he abused her in so many ways that Laura had quickly learned that it was easiest just to give him whatever he wanted.
However during James’s trial, when Laura was sequestered in a hotel where only the law could reach her, she’d been forced to do most things for herself. The more she did for herself, the more she found strength in knowing that she wasn’t as helpless as James had always told her. She wasn’t stupid, incompetent, worthless or any of the other horrible names James had called her.
One lawman in particular, Owen Hamilton, had given her the courage to do a lot of things for herself that she would have never imagined doing. Including divorcing James. Owen had even gone with her to present James with the divorce papers. A formality—however, it made Laura feel good to know that she could stand up to James once and for all.
Laura stood tall as she stepped back and examined her handiwork. The room was crisp, clean and beautiful.
After James’s trial, Laura had moved from Denver to Leadville, where she had opened her own boardinghouse. It wasn’t your usual sort of boardinghouse. Rather, it was meant for women like herself, women who were out of options and had no place to stay. It was so easy for men like James to catch up with their supposedly errant wives. The law was always on the husband’s side. A fact Laura knew only too well, considering all the times she’d tried to escape James’s clutches. Well, it hadn’t been all that many times. She’d learned rather quickly that running did her no good. And so she’d lived her life in meek acceptance because anything else seemed far too frightening.
Laura moved to the next room to pick up the rumpled sheets from the bed she’d already changed. Fortunately the last two boarders had left under good circumstances. They’d gone to stay with relatives who could support and protect them.
For once, Laura’s boardinghouse was empty. On one hand, she’d miss the company, but on the other hand, it was nice to have a break.
As Laura went down the steps, carrying the bundle of laundry, she saw someone on her front porch.
Owen Hamilton.
Funny that Laura had just been thinking about him, and here he was, standing on her doorstep. With sandy blond hair that hung in shaggy waves around his face and blue eyes that probably pierced even the most hardened criminal’s heart, Owen was still as devastatingly handsome as ever. True, his hair was longer and more unkempt, and he’d grown an equally unkempt beard, with rugged clothes to match, but there was no mistaking those warm eyes. Most people wouldn’t recognize him. Except for someone who’d grown to trust those eyes.
Even when Laura had been under his protection all those months ago, she’d felt a strange pull to him. There was something about Owen that drew her in a way she couldn’t explain. However, Owen had always been extremely professional. And so Laura kept Owen in that special place in her heart where all those schoolgirl crushes resided. Something to
