Читать книгу Cooper's Woman - Carol Finch - Страница 12

Later that evening Miguel Santos stared accusingly at Alexa. “You poisoned me!”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she replied as she tucked the quilt under his quivering chin while he lay sprawled on the bed. “Why would I do such a thing?”

“So you can tramp about without me there to tell you that it’s too risky. I—” He moaned miserably and battled to prevent himself from losing his supper.

Alexa patted her friend’s shoulder consolingly, then surveyed the hotel room she had rented when he became ill a half hour earlier. Hurriedly she walked over to fetch a washcloth then dipped it in water so she could wipe Miguel’s clammy face. He looked as peaked as a dark-skinned man could get. Furthermore, his expression was as sour as his upset stomach.

“I did not poison you, Miggy,” she insisted, using the nickname he had acquired as a child.

While she blotted his face, someone tapped lightly on the door. “Who is it?” Alexa called out.

“Kate.” She swept into the room without waiting permission and hovered over Miguel. Her thick-lashed brown eyes were filled with concern. “You poor man. Is there anything I can get for you to make you more comfortable?”

“No, señorita, but thank you for your kind offer. I will live…I hope.”

Kate glanced at the gold-plated watch pinned to her belt. “We need to ride to the ranch before dark, Lexi. There is always the risk of bandits and rustlers in the area. Papa lost five head of cattle last week.”

“Go with her, Lexi,” Miguel beseeched. “I’ll be fine.”

“I’m staying with Miguel,” Alexa told her friend. “You have your chaperone for your protection. Miguel and I will ride out to the ranch tomorrow when he’s back on his feet.”

“Are you sure about this?” Kate questioned hesitantly as she backed toward the door.

“Absolutely. I want to be close by so I can check on Miguel.”

“I’m concerned about you,” Kate said. “First you strike up a conversation on the street with that hired gun that everybody is whispering about and now you plan to stay in town when Miguel can’t defend you.”

“I believe those types prefer to be called detectives or investigators.” Alexa tossed Miguel a silencing glance so he wouldn’t chime in and tell Kate that he was worried about her reckless encounter with Coop. “Furthermore, I spoke to the town marshal on the street at the same time and it would have been rude not to speak to Mr. Cooper when he was standing right there.”

“There are certain rules we’re supposed to observe when it comes to our social class,” Kate reminded her dourly. “Never mind that I dislike that one person can’t be kind to another without inviting rumor and gossip. My father harps on the subject constantly and I heard Elliot Webster muttering when you paused to greet the marshal and the gunslinger.”

Alexa gnashed her teeth. Elliot’s snobbery was another of his annoying flaws. The man was lousy with them. Too bad that Kate’s father was also prejudiced.

Kate checked her timepiece again then glanced back at Miguel. “Well, I should be going. Papa is so overprotective that if I’m not home before dark he’ll send out a search party.”

“As well he should,” Miguel murmured weakly. “If I could, I would see you home safely.”

“You are so sweet, Miguel.” Kate surged forward to brush her hand over his forehead. “You have always been wonderful to me. Alexa is so lucky to have you.”

“Which is why I intend to stay at the hotel until he’s feeling better,” Alexa remarked.

She glanced speculatively at Kate then down at Miguel.

“I don’t trust you here,” Miguel said after Kate left.

Alexa tried to look properly affronted. “That doesn’t speak highly of your abilities as a tutor. You taught me to take care of myself. Are you saying that you failed and I’m helpless?”

“I’m saying that you’re too daring for your own good….” His voice trailed off momentarily and he grabbed his belly when another cramp clenched his abdomen. “Go to your own room and stay in it,” he wheezed. “I don’t want you to see me so miserable.”

Alexa pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I’ll be back to check on you.”

“Don’t do anything stupid in the meantime,” he demanded sickly.

Deciding that she would have the local physician check on Miguel, she hurried off. Although she wasn’t responsible for what was ailing Miguel—as he accused—she did intend to take advantage of the situation. She wanted to know what Elliot did after he closed up shop for the evening. Did he frequent saloons? Hurry back to his ranch? Alexa intended to observe his after-hours routine.

Alexa paid a visit to the doctor then tramped off to position herself in the alley beside Webster’s mercantile shop. She only had to wait a quarter of an hour before Elliot locked the door and strode down the street. Enjoying her new career as a detective, Alexa darted down the alley, following at an inconspicuous distance.

Coop had been off duty at the saloon for over an hour and had dined with Gil at one of the restaurants. He was on his way to the livery stable to fetch Bandit when he spotted Webster—and the fancy-dressed female lurking in the alley. Coop was both surprised and amused at Alexa Quinn’s daring. She was amazingly swift of foot and effective at lurking in the shadows so Webster wouldn’t realize he was being followed.

Although Coop hadn’t given the socialite credit for processing much thought in that pretty blond head of hers, she wasn’t as naive as she let on. Coop veered into the alley to follow the woman who was trailing her soon-to-be-fiancé—or so Webster claimed. When Webster scurried across the street toward the dimly lit brothel on the edge of town, Alexa hiked up her cumbersome skirts and darted toward the side window of the brick building that housed Lily’s Pleasure Resort.

“See anything interesting?” Coop whispered as he stepped up beside Alexa.

She yelped in surprise and clutched her chest. “You scared ten years off my life. What the blazes are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same question,” he pointed out.

He grinned at the pinched expression on her shadowed face. Her clipped tone of voice and her unconventional antics offered him insight into this woman’s complex personality. She didn’t seem to fit the expected mold. Which was too bad because he really didn’t want to like this wealthy heiress.

“Sorry, Mr. Cooper. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“No problem. But I’m dying to know why a proper lady is playing Peeping Tom at a bordello window. You might get far more of an education than you bargained for…unless you like to watch.”

“You are an ass,” she sputtered as she brushed past him.

He wasn’t sure if her elbow accidentally jabbed him in the belly or if she had done it on purpose. He suspected the latter.

“I only followed Elliot to confirm what I expected to be true,” she said as he fell into a limping stride behind her. “Like all of my other suitors, who were supposedly smitten with me, Elliot is undoubtedly after my social connections and my money. He will never be faithful. But whether he likes me at all has nothing to do with anything. I only wanted to be sure we were both playing by the same rules.”

Coop clucked his tongue. “So cynical for one so young. I didn’t expect that.”

When Alexa stopped short Coop did, too. The light from the street lamp illuminated her enchanting face and highlighted her soft, kissable mouth. Lust sucker-punched him so hard that he staggered back a step.

Damn! Coop didn’t recall other women making such a fierce and immediate impact on him. And hell, he could list a score of reasons why he should keep his distance from Alexa. Yet, he couldn’t stop himself from gazing down into those incredible blue eyes and craving a taste of those honeyed lips.

“And what of you, sir? What do you see when you look at me? Dollar signs? Invitations to high society’s soirees?”

A slow smile worked its way across his mouth. “All I want is to see you naked with me,” he told her frankly.

That should scare the dickens out of her and send her scuttling off, frightened and embarrassed, he predicted. Which would guarantee that she would never allow herself to be alone in the dark with him again. Then he wouldn’t be tempted and tormented with the want of this forbidden female.

To his stunned amazement, she met his rakish grin and didn’t recoil in shock and indignation. “You would hang the money and the prestige?”

“From the tallest tree in the territory,” he assured her. “No reason you shouldn’t give good ole Webster the same lack of fidelity he’s practicing right now.”

She chuckled when he waggled his eyebrows suggestively. “You are an unabashed scoundrel, Mr. Cooper.”

“Coop,” he corrected. “An honest scoundrel.”

She studied him pensively. “You consider appeasing your lust more important than wealth and status?”

“Tonight I do,” he teased playfully.

Then the most astonishing thing happened. Alexa Quinn, who was rather tall for a woman—perhaps five feet eight inches, give or take—pushed up on tiptoe and pressed those dewy, heart-shaped lips against his. Coop stood frozen to the spot. His eyes flew wide-open and he stared incredulously at her while he accepted the quick taste of her kiss. Her shapely body brushed against his masculine contours and white-hot sensations bombarded him from every direction at once. He’d never been lightning struck but he was pretty sure this was what it felt like.

She dropped back on her heels and gave him that killer smile that cut dimples in her cheeks. “Good thing my chaperone is under the weather this evening,” she murmured. “I would have missed out on this grand adventure.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Coop questioned, his voice wobbly, despite his attempt to appear unaffected.

“He claims I poisoned him.”

She pivoted to amble down the street.

“Did you?” he called after her.

She glanced over her shoulder. There was a flicker of mischief in her gaze. “Poison Miguel? My childhood friend and companion? Really, Mr. Cooper—”

“Just Coop,” he reminded her. He studied her thoughtfully, fascinated by the contradictions that he saw in this breathtakingly beautiful woman.

“Well then, good night, Coop.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” he reminded her.

She tossed him another impish smile as she passed beneath the second street lamp. Then she was gone and he was left to wonder if Alexa had doctored her bodyguard’s food or drink so she could dart off in the night to do as she pleased.

Right there and then, Coop made a mental note not to eat or drink anything that passed this siren’s hands…just in case.

Two hours after Alexa’s encounter with Coop she checked on Miguel and was relieved to find him sleeping comfortably. The bottle sitting on the nightstand indicated the physician had paid a visit and prescribed medication to soothe Miguel’s stomach.

When Alexa returned to her own room, she doffed her gown. She smiled impishly, remembering her conversation with the ruggedly attractive detective. Matching wits with Coop had been more fun than she’d had with a man in years. Her longtime friendship with Miguel being the exception. He was like the brother she never had.

Coop had teased her and tried to shock her rather than bowing and scraping, attempting to win her favor. She had teased him right back, especially when he quizzed her about poisoning Miguel. Which of course she hadn’t. Miguel was sensitive to certain foods but he refused to consider the possibility because the reactions weren’t long-lived or serious. She’d known when he’d ordered the main dish smothered with a sauce containing pecans and almonds at dinner that he’d be down for the count.

She’d never been able to convince him that something as simple as eating walnuts caused his stomach ailments. Therefore, his temporary illness was self-inflicted. He couldn’t exactly call that her fault, now could he? She had mentioned the possibility years ago, but he refused to believe it and she had stopped bringing it to his attention.

Her smile faded as she brushed her fingertips over her lips, remembering the impulsive kiss she had bestowed on Coop. She knew she had no business making the slightest contact with Coop, for fear of complicating this case. Not only had she struck up a conversation with him on the street that morning, but she had also kissed him that night. Perhaps she’d been caught up in the exciting intrigue of following Elliot and talking her way out of the situation with Coop. Maybe that had led to her impulsive embrace.

Although her father forbade her from taking an active role in the investigation, she had discovered that she thrived on the challenge and adventure. She had also experienced the most delicious tingles of desire when she brushed against Coop’s masculine body and tasted his sensuous lips. That kiss in the dark was guaranteed to incite erotic dreams tonight—

“Stop that,” she ordered herself sensibly.

Her startling reaction to Coop was one-sided, she knew. No doubt, he’d been with his share of women. One brief kiss wouldn’t turn his world upside down and she was determined not to let it upend hers, either.

“You have another objective to accomplish while Miggy is out of commission tonight,” she reminded herself.

She was on a crusade to help her father and to prove to him that she was worthy of his respect and his pride.

Alexa dug into her carpetbag to retrieve the second disguise she carried with her. Not Mr. Chester, but rather the elusive cloaked rider who blended with the darkness. She fastened herself into the trim black breeches, black shirt, boots and cap. Then she donned the cape that concealed her size and shape and gender. She had rented a mount from the livery on her way back to the hotel and tethered the steed in the alley. It was ready and waiting for the midnight jaunt.

She planned to be at the brothel when Elliot exited so she could follow him to his ranch, which was located two miles northeast of town. She was curious about other activities on his agenda before he bedded down for the night.

Five minutes later Alexa crept down the back steps of the hotel to retrieve her waiting horse. She followed the alley to avoid notice. When she reached the four brothels in the red light district, she veered toward a nearby grove of bushes to hide. Elliot had entered the most respectable-looking brothel of the four. If you could call any house of ill repute respectable. The other three were hastily constructed clapboard buildings into which dusty cowboys, miners and railroad workers came and went.

She waited ten minutes before Elliot appeared. He weaved a bit unsteadily as he hiked off to the mercantile shop to fetch his horse. Impatiently she waited for Elliot to mount up, light his cigar then trot away from town. She perked up immediately when he veered off the path leading to his ranch house and headed due east. Five minutes later, he dismounted to relieve himself then entered a shack nestled against the hillside.

She assumed it was on his land. Perhaps a line shack or abandoned bunkhouse, she speculated.

Another horse was tied to a scrub bush near the shack. Alexa was anxious to know who was waiting for Elliot. This could be the mysterious informant or his agent. If she could crack this case wide-open in less than a week all by herself, her father would be impressed and she would be assured that she was capable of handling an investigation alone. Nothing would please her more.

Her thoughts skittered off when her horse whinnied at the two mounts near the shack. She cursed her horse silently then hurried to take cover in a nearby stand of cottonwood trees. If she wanted conclusive evidence then she had to slither on her belly to eavesdrop at the window.

Securing her horse, Alexa dropped onto hands and knees and moved forward until she ran out of the cover of bushes. Then she sprawled in the grass to slither toward the window.

Coop scowled as he stared at the unidentified rider who dismounted in the trees. He appeared to be keeping surveillance, same as Coop was, on the shack that Webster had entered a moment earlier.

“Damn that Mr. Chester,” he muttered under his breath.

Coop stationed himself at a point near a cedar tree so he’d have a clear view of the door of the shack and the caped crusader who slithered on his belly like a snake. It was glaringly apparent that the Yank, Mr. Chester, didn’t trust Coop to do the job he’d been paid to do. Chester had obviously hired a second detective to tail Webster. Either that or someone else had hired an investigator to monitor Webster’s activities for other reasons.

Earlier, he had seen Webster leave Lily’s Pleasure Resort and he had decided this would be the perfect time to hammer out the details of his employment and insist on advance payment. That was when he first spotted the unidentified rider, who dressed in black and wore a cape that flapped in the breeze like bat wings.

It was turning out to be an interesting evening, thought Coop. First he had watched Alexa spy on her wanna-be fiancé. Now someone else was hot on Webster’s heels. Hell, there might be so many people trailing Webster that it caused a traffic jam.

Coop jerked to attention when the door creaked on its rusty hinges and two shadowed silhouettes appeared on the rickety stoop.

“I’ll be in touch in a few days,” came a quiet voice Coop didn’t recognize.

He watched Webster fish into his pocket then place what Coop presumed to be several coins in the man’s hand. “You tell our mutual friend that the last tidbits of information aren’t enough to satisfy me. I’m paying for better tips than this.”

“I’ll relay the message,” the other man murmured so quietly that Coop barely made out his comment.

Webster lurched around and staggered clumsily toward his horse. He belched loudly then scooped up the reins. Coop smirked, wishing Alexa were here to see this jackass at another of his defining moments. She might as well know what she was getting if she decided to marry Webster.

When Webster clomped off on his horse, his associate closed the door to the shack then strode hurriedly toward his mount. Coop couldn’t trail the short, lean figure of a man who galloped north because Webster had halted near Coop’s hiding place to take a swig of whiskey from the bottle in his pocket. When Webster was finally out of earshot the cohort was long gone.

Coop turned his attention back to the caped rider. “Well, I’ll be damned.” Coop looked every which way but he saw no sign of the man in black. “Where’d he go?”

Exasperated, Coop reined back to town. Contacting the drunken Webster could wait until the following evening, he decided. Besides, he was anxious to return to his hotel room, remove the cumbersome splints and enjoy a warm, relaxing bath. Plus, he wanted to wash away the alluring scent of Alexa that clung to him and to his shirt after she had kissed him. He needed no reminders of that intriguing female if he hoped to put aside all thoughts of her and get a good night’s rest.

Alexa eased open the door to check on Miguel one last time before bedding down for the night. Obviously he was feeling better for he propped himself up on an elbow and glared at her.

“Come in and close the door,” he demanded sharply. “Where have you been? I dragged myself from my deathbed an hour ago to check your room.”

Alexa pursed her lips as she stared at her friend whose black hair was sticking out in all directions. “I thought you learned long ago that I don’t always do as you order.”

“Don’t remind me,” he grumbled. “I’ve spent half my life fretting over you and your daredevil streak.” His gaze narrowed. “Now where were you?”

She sank down beside him. “I had investigative work to do.”

Miguel sighed audibly. “Your father will have my head for this.”

“Not to worry. I’ll give him mine instead,” she volunteered.

“Not funny, querida. You keep up these death-defying stunts and you won’t be alive to give anybody anything. Now tell me specifically what you were up to.”

“I followed Elliot to a brothel where he drank heavily, etcetera, etcetera.” Although Miguel sputtered in annoyance, she hurried on. “Unfortunately Coop was also tailing Elliot at the time and I ran into him.”

She had to pause momentarily because Miguel spewed Spanish curses. Not that it mattered because Alexa spoke fluent Spanish.

“How did you explain spying on Elliot to Coop?” Miguel finally got around to asking after he depleted his supply of succinct oaths.

She shrugged nonchalantly. “I told him that I wanted to know the real Elliot Webster…in case I decided to marry him.”

Alexa didn’t confide Coop’s intimate remark about getting naked together or the kiss she initiated during a momentary lapse of sanity. Miguel would pitch a fit and she figured he’d had a rough night already. No sense aggravating his condition.

Furthermore, the encounter with Coop was much too private and personal. She wasn’t prepared to share it with anyone.

“What time did all this take place?” Miguel interrogated. “It was eleven o’clock when I visited your room.” He gestured toward the bottle on the nightstand. “I took my second dose as the doctor ordered and then I went to look for you.”

Alexa fidgeted uneasily. “Um…it was earlier this evening. I returned to my room to don a disguise about ten o’clock.”

Miguel erupted in another stream of Spanish curses. “And you did what?” he said through clenched teeth.

When he reared up in bed, Alexa pressed the heel of her hand to his rigid shoulder and pushed him down. She smiled reassuringly, but her friend continued to glare stonily at her. “Calm down, Miggy. Your sour expression will sour your stomach all over again.”

“Too late,” he growled.

“I wanted to know where Elliot went after he left the brothel. My persistence paid off. I followed him to a shack that sits on the edge of his property…I think. He met a man but I couldn’t get a clear look at him in the dark.”

Alexa was annoyed that she had slithered all the way to the window, only to have the men step outside before she could spy on them. She had been in the wrong place to get a description of Elliot’s associate or to identify his voice. At least she knew Elliot was conducting secret meetings. She didn’t know if the encounter provided him with information from the territorial capital or if it involved some of Elliot’s other shady dealings.

“I don’t like any of this,” Miguel complained before he gulped down another dose of the pasty liquid medicine. “I especially don’t like you spiriting off in the night. I wish you could have come up with a safer scheme to gain Harold’s notice and impress him with your skills and intelligence.”

Alexa withdrew slightly, causing Miguel to snicker.

“Don’t you think I know what motivates you to stick your neck out so far with this case? Not that I mind accompanying you to Questa Springs. I’ve always liked your friend Kate.”

“More than I suspected…until today,” Alexa remarked.

It was Miguel’s turn to squirm self-consciously. “Yes, well, I am a realist at least. In her parents’ eyes, I am the hired help. Your chaperone and bodyguard. I’m certainly not considered marriage material for Kate.”

“She would be lucky to have you,” Alexa insisted loyally. “Plus, she seems genuinely fond of you. Had I realized this earlier I would have arranged to get you two together more often.”

“Which would have made admiring her from afar all the worse,” said Miguel. He waved his hand dismissively. “That is beside the point. You need your rest and so do I. Please go to your room…and stay there.”

She offered him a playful salute. “Yes, sir.”

“Promise me, no more midnight rides alone,” he demanded. “If you are compelled to snoop around, at least let me go with you next time.”

She arched an amused brow as she rose to her feet. “Without complaints or lectures?”

“No. You’ll have to endure those, but at least you won’t be alone and I can offer protection.”

“I love you, Miggy,” she murmured on her way out the door.

“Me, too…But you drive me crazy.”

“I heard that,” she said from the other side of the door.