CHAPTER20
Rage filled Lee as he rushed to Beth, knowing she was in trouble. Her eyes grew wide when she saw him coming and she shook her head, her mouth saying no.
“What the hell is going on here?” Lee said when he reached her side. “Who the hell are you?”
The man gave him a look that warned of retribution.
“George Richards. And you are?”
“I’m Beth’s brother,” he said. “What are you doing?”
Standing, the man was tall and broad and wore expensive clothing. “Your sister is my fiancé.”
No, this couldn’t be true. Beth would have written him and told him she was getting married.
“Is this true?” he asked, turning to look at Beth.
She licked her lips and he watched the man pull her tightly against him.
“Yes,” she said, trembling.
“Do you love him?” Lee asked.
Tears welled in her eyes. “No, he’s mean. He hurts me and now he’s threatening to sell me to the madam. I hate him.”
The man backhanded her and that was all it took. Lee jumped on him and started to pummel the man’s face. He heard a whistle blowing in the background, but he didn’t care. He had to save Beth. She was the last living member of his family and he couldn’t let this man hurt her.
Ellis was next to him and he took his knife out and cut the ribbon between Beth and George while Lee punched him repeatedly in the face. Until suddenly he was being pulled off the man.
“What’s going on here?” the sheriff asked.
“Arrest this man,” George said, holding his bloodied nose. “He started a fight. All I was doing was entertaining this whore.”
Beth gasped. “No, Sheriff, that’s not what happened. He tied me up and dragged me in here. Told me that he was tired of me and he and the madam had a deal. When he got tired of a woman, he brought her here. He planned on selling me to the madam.”
The sheriff’s eyes narrowed and he shook his head. “You know, George, for a long time, I’ve turned my back on your nefarious ways because I didn’t have any proof. But now I do.”
The deputies surrounded George and they hauled him away. “You’re going to regret this. I promise to run you out of town.”
The lawman looked at Lee. “Why did you attack him?”
“Beth is my sister. I’ve been searching for her,” he said.
Gazing at Lee, he looked between the two of them. “There is a family similarity. Take Beth and get out of town, now. Don’t wait until the morning because George will be out and he’ll gather his goons and they’ll come after you. You’ve got maybe an hour. Already someone is going to be waking his lawyer to get him out of jail.”
“What about the madam?” Beth said. “Is she going to get away with this?”
The sheriff smiled. “No, because she’s getting shut down tonight. Now get out of here before all hell breaks loose.”
Lee took Beth by the arm and Ellis grabbed Daisy.
“Thanks, Sheriff,” Lee said and the four of them hurried out of the whorehouse.
Just as they were walking out the door, Lee heard the music stop and the sheriff raise his voice. “This here establishment is closed. Everyone, go home.”
There was a loud rising of male voices.
“Hurry,” Ellis said. “We need to get back to the hotel and get out of town.”
The four of them hurried down the streets of Helena to their hotel.
An hour later, they were in the wagon with Lee riding shotgun beside Ellis, a rifle in his hand.
“How did you get involved with this man?” Lee asked in the darkness.
“He was nice to me. He took me out to dinner and made me feel special. Sure I’d heard rumors but didn’t believe any of them were true. Now, I can tell you everything I heard about him was true, but the worst was the way he would sell you to the madam. Thank you for coming to find me.”
They rode along the trail in the darkness. Lee wasn’t certain if the horses knew the way, but so far, the full moon was lighting their path and he wasn’t about to stop.
“You’ll stay with us in Treasure Falls.”
“No, I can’t,” Beth said. “I’m getting on the next stage to a place called Blessing, Texas. I need to leave Montana and get away or George will try to find me. And if he does, he’ll make me suffer.”
As much as Lee didn’t want to believe her, he feared what she said was true. She had to go away for a while. His heart seemed to shatter inside his chest. Why did it seem like all of his family had left him? First his father, then his mother, and now even Beth was leaving.
Once again, Lee was alone. Except for Ellis and Daisy. They were his family, and with them, he would create an even bigger family.
And if they had a daughter, he would kill the first man who tried to take advantage of her or who even looked at her wrong.
A coyote howled in the distance.
“Lee, I hate going off and leaving you, but it’s for the best. In Texas, I’ll be safe.”
He sighed in the darkness. “I know. But that doesn’t make it any easier.”
Daisy reached back and laid her hand on the top of his that was gripping the side of the wagon. His chest jolted and he felt the connection with her all the way to his heart.
This woman was his destiny, his family. And together they would create their family.