Page 42 of The Bastard Heir
Caroline couldn’t deny that she’d acted without thought, but only in reference to defending Castillo so publicly. She wouldn’t do anything to change what had happened between them last night or the night before. It shouldn’t have any bearing on her future, but she couldn’t deny that it would. “I know that he’s good and honorable, unlike Grant Miller.”
Her mother scoffed at this. “Has he offered you marriage?”
He hadn’t. They’d talked to some length about why they were wrong for each other. “No.”
Her mother tossed her head and looked away.
“Prudence?” Her father’s voice held the authoritarian ring it sometimes carried during surgeries.
“Yes, Samuel?”
“Would you go and ask Mr. Jameson and his son to join us, please?”
Aunt Prudie nodded and left the room. Caroline’s stomach turned at the thought of the horrible confrontation she knew was coming.
Chapter Seventeen
Castillo couldn’t get over how alone and scared Carolina had looked, standing on that porch defending him to Miller. He was almost certain she’d never considered the ramifications when she’d done it. And while she had asked him to compromise her on his first night here at Jameson Ranch, he’d been certain she wouldn’t see it through. She cared too much for the people around her to hurt them so badly. It was one reason he admired her so much. There was a vein of strength in this woman that he respected, but she was soft when it came to her heart. When it counted.
As he walked toward the barn to confront Miller, he admitted that he could love her so damn easily. He closed his eyes for only a second and opened them to the sound of gunfire. His entire body tensed, but then Tanner stuck his head out of the barn and yelled, “We’re all fine. Coward had a gun, but he doesn’t anymore.” He laughed and walked back inside, closing the door behind him.
“Maybe we should’ve told him about the gang,” Hunter teased. “He seems to be enjoying himself.”
Castillo let out a breath and hurried his steps. He kept a small frame gun strapped above his ankle at all times. He’d use it if he had to. Opening the door, he saw that Miller sat on a crate with his arms tied to a beam behind him. Aside from the blows Castillo had delivered earlier, he didn’t look any worse. He glared at them when they came in and frowned, but kept his mouth shut. Tanner sat on another crate a few feet away, and the rest of the gang stood across the room, keeping watch.
“What’s he told you?” Castillo asked.
“Go ahead. Tell him what you told us,” Tanner prompted.
Miller gave them all a sullen glance, but must’ve figured the odds were against him. “I saw you at Victoria House and heard someone call you Jameson. I asked around. One of the whores said she had some information about you if I was willing to pay for it. I was.”
Castillo didn’t doubt that there were rumors, but Glory was the only one who knew his identity as leader of the Reyes Brothers. She wouldn’t betray him to a no one like Miller. “What information did she have?”
Miller rolled his eyes. “Nothing. Gossip that you might be tied to a criminal, and there was a shootout outside of town, and some people had seen you riding in that direction before it happened. But I didn’t really need evidence to make the Hartfords see that I’d be a better choice for their daughter. It’s pretty obvious who the better man is.” He grinned a toothy smile. “Honestly, I never expected you to be connected to that shootout. How fortuitous that bit of information turned out to be true.”
“No one ever said it was true,” Hunter said, walking around Castillo to stare down at Miller. “We just don’t like jackasses from back East coming out here starting trouble.”
Miller laughed. “Ah, so then I guess you’re really not looking for Derringer, are you?”
“What do you know about Derringer?” Hunter asked.
Miller laughed again, throwing his head back as he seemed to relish being the center of attention. “I know plenty about Derringer. More than you, I’d wager. Now there’s an idea. I tell you who Derringer is, you let me go.”
Castillo didn’t want to believe that Miller had any information. It seemed too good to be true. “What makes you think I’m looking for Derringer?”
“The whore overheard you questioning a man in the cellar of the brothel. I almost couldn’t believe we’d have the same acquaintance. You see, I knew Derringer back in Boston a few years ago. He owned a gaming house and I’m sad to admit that I lost quite a bit of money to him, primarily because he’s a known cheat and thief. He’s been blackmailing me ever since. Said he’d tell my father if I didn’t keep paying him, knowing I’d be disinherited if he did.” He paused and looked from Castillo to Hunter and back again. “Let me go and I’ll give you the names of his contacts in Boston. You may be able to find him.”
Hunter laughed. “We have the upper hand here, don’t get cocky.”
“I’m afraid you don’t. I won’t tell you until you let me go.”
The echoes of the ugly words Miller had said to Carolina earlier still lingering in his mind, Castillo stepped forward and backhanded the man. Miller spat blood onto the straw covered floor. “Tell us what you know or you won’t be walking out of here.”
For the first time, a look resembling genuine fear crossed Miller’s face. He looked around the barn, first to Castillo, then Hunter, then Tanner and the few ranch hands who’d gathered across the room. Perhaps all this time he’d thought he was dealing with gentlemen like the ones he knew from Boston. Heprobably had no idea who they really were and the things they had done. They’d questioned men before, tougher men than Miller.
Cursing under his breath, Miller sighed and told him the names of the men Derringer had done business with back in Boston. “Best I can tell he faked his death a few years ago to get out of some gambling debts. He disappeared from Boston, but he didn’t stop siphoning money from me. A couple of times a year he’d demand a bank transfer or he claimed he’d contact my father. It wasn’t much, at first. But then he demanded more and more. He agreed to one final payoff. I couldn’t track him down to demand he stop his foolishness, so I had no choice but to find a wealthy bride.” Miller sniffed, a look of downright hate crossing his features. “After that night in the whorehouse—the night I saw you—his son, Bennett, came to my hotel to meet with me. He told me he’s been looking for you and asked me to help him lure you out.”
Castillo steeled himself against the disappointment roiling within him. Though this was as close as they’d come to Derringer, the story felt just like all the other stories they’d heard over the years. Someone knew Derringer, but had no real way to find him. Now the hunt could take him back to Boston to find some men who possibly knew him, just to come back out West again. It was a never-ending journey, and he was tired. So damned tired. “Do you have any idea where Derringer is hiding?”
