Turner's Vision Page 7

  She removed the cape and skirt Micah had given her to wear, along with the smelly sweater he’d thrust on her. Throwing them into the corner, she followed them with the green silky dress and lace corset. Her eyes rested on the corset for a moment, remembering the kiss it had evoked from Micah the night before. A smile crossed her face when she remembered his promise.

  When I make love to you.

  She climbed into the tub. A heartfelt sigh escaped her as she sank into the warm water. She lathered soap on her face, to clean away the doxy makeup.

  First, she’d prove to Micah he couldn’t force her out of the investigation. Then she was going to find some way to make him keep that promise. Every woman should be made love to once in her life, no matter how unattractive she was. And Micah was going to fulfill that need for her.

  When all the grime, sweat and odor were washed from her tired body, Claudia climbed out and toweled dry. Donning a cotton gown, she crawled between the sheets of her bed. Rest would give her an added advantage when the time came to get even with Micah.

  She smiled wickedly at the thought. As a child she was never allowed to act in any sort of childish behavior. Now at the age of thirty-two, she was gloriously playing dress up, following criminals in a game of intrigue, and planning revenge on two traitorous men. It might be childish, but at long last she was doing what she wanted. Her father would roll over in his grave.

  Liking that idea, she snuggled down in the covers and fell asleep, smiling.

  * * * * *

  The key turning in the lock woke her. Lifting a hand to shield her eyes from the late-afternoon sun as it poured into her window, Claudia turned onto her back, stretching at her leisure. The gown had crept up around her hips and thighs revealing her long toned calves.

  Micah cleared his throat, causing her to pull the covers over her body.

  What a shame, but he had things to discuss with her. Ogling all her creamy flesh would have to wait.

  “What do you want?” She tossed her hair, then flounced out of bed to stand with her hands on her hips.

  “I’ve come to talk with you about this situation we find ourselves in.” He liked the way the white gown flowed off of her shoulders, making her look like an angel standing in a cloud.

  “The only situation we have to discuss is the one in which you lock me in my room then enter it at your will, sir.” Claudia marched over to the door. Looking up at him with daggers in her eyes, she waited for him to move. He hesitated for a single moment, then moved aside.

  She turned the knob to find it was once again locked. It wasn’t the opening of her lock she’d heard, but Micah locking himself in with her.

  “Ooh…you… Give me the key back.” Claudia turned accusing eyes up at him. He had the greatest desire to kiss the look off her face. But that would have to wait until later, too.

  “I told you we need to discuss a few things, first.” He took her arm, guiding her over to her dressing room chair.

  Suddenly, she dropped down into a crouch, cowering and covering her head with her arm.

  Her reaction stunned him.

  “Claudia.” He knelt down beside her, saying her name as gently as he could.

  He touched her shoulder, and she cringed away from him.

  “Claudia, I’m not going to hurt you.” He moved her arm from her face, turning her chin up so he could see her eyes. They were vacant, unseeing orbs. He’d seen that same look in the faces of young men in the aftermath of battle. Then Micah remembered what Henderson had said to him the other night.

  Her father beat the hell out of her for years.

  As gently as he could, Micah took her into his arms, carrying her back to the bed. Sitting with her on his lap, he rocked her back and forth, rubbing his hands up and down her arms.

  “What the hell did that monster do to you?” He continued rubbing her arms and then her back. After a few minutes she relaxed against him. He began talking to her in quiet, gentle tones. “No one is ever going to hurt you like that again, I promise you that. In fact that’s what I came in here to talk to you about.”

  After a few moments, Claudia slowly lifted her face away from his shoulder, this time seeing him through focused eyes. “What are you talking about?”

  The spark was back in her voice. Whatever ghosts were in her past, she apparently learned to conquer them quickly.

  “You want to stay right in the middle of this investigation, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  The spark was growing, threatening to become a fire of indignation.

  Micah loosened his hold on her, giving her room enough to build a good head of steam. He very much preferred a spitfire to the cowering animal she’d been minutes before. “I will allow you to remain on this case on one condition.”

  “You will allow me?” Claudia pushed herself off of his lap to stand once again with her hands on her hips.

  If he had described her as an angel before, she was a wild woman now, with her coppery hair flowing about her, her stance one of defiance.

  “You have no say in what I do. I will stay on this case as long as I wish.”

  “No, you will not.” Micah answered her heated words with great calm. “I have the authority to have you placed in jail, if I so wish. For the past sixteen years, I’ve been a special agent for the army out west. If you don’t agree to my condition for your continued presence in this investigation, I can have you placed under armed guard until I have this mess cleared up. Now, would you like to hear my condition?”

  Claudia retained her rebellious stance for a minute or two more. Then she relaxed, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. “It seems I have no choice. What is your condition? That I remain at home, not using my useless female brains, while the big, bad special agent saves the nation all by himself?”

  “So you’ve figured that out?” His admiration of her cognitive abilities took a little of the fight out of her.

  “I recognized Walter Appleton last night, just as you did.” Claudia tried to hold on to her anger. “It doesn’t take a genius to figure out if the assistant head of a national bank is involved, along with a previous meeting involving Congressman Bennet, senior advisor to the president, that these men are attempting to seize as much power as possible. Now, are you going to give me your condition, or just throw me in jail for thinking for myself?”

  “First, let me make something clear to you.” Her sarcasm made him angrier than her heated words ever could. “I wouldn’t throw you in jail for thinking for yourself, any more than I’d ever physically attack you. Jail is one solution to the problem of protecting you from getting yourself killed while sneaking out by yourself. Since I can’t trust you to use some sense in your escapades, I need to keep an eye on you at all times.”

  “I told you I can take care of myself.”

  “And I told you, if I hadn’t come along last night, you would’ve certainly lost your virtue at the hands of a drunken fool and quite possibly your life.” Micah took a ragged breath to calm his pulse and temper. He needed her cooperation. “So here’s your choice. Either go to jail under protective custody, or you marry me.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Pardon me?” Shock registered on Claudia’s face.

  “You heard me. You can spend at least the next three months in a cold jail cell, or you can marry me.” Micah explained.

  “You can’t be serious!”

  “I’m very serious, my dear. I need to keep you protected any way that I can.”

  “How in the world do you think marrying you will keep me protected?”

  “Since, as my wife, you will have to spend day and night with me, any schemes you cook up will be judged on their safety before you have a chance to carry them through. This way, if you want to do something dangerous to yourself or the others, I can stop you before it happens.” Micah sat back to watch the fireworks.

  “No! You are not going to control me like that, Micah Turner. I spent years under the thumb of my father, and I d
on’t care to place myself in that position again.” Claudia paced the room, her anger a palpable thing. “I was never allowed to think for myself, take any risks or go against his wishes. If I even made a noise he didn’t care for, he beat me.” She turned to look at Micah with the anger of years of frustration in her eyes.

  “He didn’t just hit me once or twice. No, Jacob took a walking stick and beat me to within an inch of my life. Henderson and Laura had to nurse me on more than one occasion. I won’t be controlled like that again.” Claudia swiped at the tears that were threatening to spill over with the back of her hand. “Jail would be preferable to that.”

  The fighter was back, and Micah almost smiled at her. “Claudia, I didn’t say you wouldn’t be allowed to think for yourself. In fact, you have done a remarkable job getting to the center of this murder on your own. But now that we’re getting closer to this group of key players, I just want to be sure you take the necessary precautions. If you’re with me all the time, you’ll come to trust me, and we’ll be able to make plans easier. Coordinate them, so to say.”

  “We don’t have to get married to do that.” Claudia stopped her pacing, the challenge clear in her voice.

  “With any other group of helpers, I would agree. Henderson and the boys are loyal to you to a fault,” Micah explained as calmly as possible. “Anything you suggest, they do. They’re just as reckless as you. It’s not just you I wish to protect, but them as well. To control them, I have to have the authority to control you and thereby give them the freedom to transfer their loyalty to me without betraying you.”

  “That doesn’t make sense.” Claudia crossed her arms just under her breasts, taking on a belligerent stance. “Why would they transfer their loyalty to you just because you’re my husband? And besides, you said you didn’t want to control me.”

  “I didn’t say I wouldn’t control you, Claudia,” Micah continued in a calm, patient voice. “I said I’d let you think for yourself. I will ask your opinion on clues and possible ways to approach any problems we may come across. But I will try to control the situations in which you get yourself and the boys involved. As for their loyalty, they love you very much. It is evident in the way they do whatever you ask. However, as much as you may dislike it, this is still a man’s world. Once you have a husband, if his character is the least bit stronger than yours, all three will listen to his advice.”

  Micah folded his arms across his chest, mimicking her. “Now, do you still think being isolated in a jail, away from your makeshift family and your investigation would be preferable to marrying me?”

  Claudia threw her arms up in exasperation and stomped over to the chair at her dressing table.

  “I guess I really don’t have a choice. When do you want to get married?”

  “Tonight, in about one hour. Will that be long enough for you to get ready?”

  “What? I can’t possibly make the arrangements that fast.” Claudia tried to stem the surprise and fear that suddenly filled her heart.

  “They’ve already been made.”

  Claudia clamped her lips tight and began brushing her hair. After a few moments, she paused to look at him in the mirror.

  “You promise I’ll have a say on how things go? You won’t ever hit me? And this will be a marriage in name only? I mean, when this is all over, you’ll want to be free to marry whomever you wish, won’t you?”

  “Yes.” Micah answered the first question as he stood. “Yes.” The answer to the second came at the door. “No and no,” he answered, closing the door on the answers to the final questions.

  Micah chuckled to himself as he walked back down the hall to the stairs. He had her, and for better or worse, he would soon have her forever.

  At the foot of the stairs he spotted Adam and Joey sitting, staring up at him. Micah signaled them to go on up to see Claudia.

  A knock sounded on her door.

  “Come in,” she said, wondering if Micah had come back to change his condition.

  Instead, the boys entered cautiously at her summons. Each carried a small box wrapped in white paper with silver ribbons attached. They were wearing matching black linen suits with white, pressed shirts, black ties and polished shoes.

  How had he found them clothes so quickly?

  Micah had also had their hair cut and their bodies scrubbed shiny pink. Claudia smiled when she saw them, trying hard to blink back the tears that filled her eyes.

  This was even a bigger miracle than the formal clothing.

  “My, don’t you two look handsome.” Claudia held out her arms to them both. When neither child made an attempt to claim her hugs, she closed them again.

  “Aww, Micah said we had to take a bath for the wedding.” Joey scuffed his feet back and forth.

  “He said we wouldn’t want to embarrass you in front of all the people.” Adam stood looking at the box in his hands.

  “Oh. Are there lots of people here?” Claudia tried to act calm, despite the flush brought on by the knowledge that Micah had invited guests to a wedding she only just found out about. She turned to the table and brushed her hair, waiting for the boys to tell her who was here.

  “Yeah. They’ve been comin’ since Micah came up to talk to you. They’s all dressed up like chicken on Sunday.” Adam moved over to watch Claudia.

  “And you should see all the food Micah and Henderson had delivered. Made my gut growl, it did.” Joey joined them at the mirror.

  “Sounds like Mr. Turner was pretty sure I’d marry him, doesn’t it?” With deft fingers, Claudia separated the thick hair into three plaits and braided them into a coil, then, wrapping them around her head and holding it in place with one hand, she searched the table for combs to secure it.

  “Oh, here.” Adam thrust his package out at her.

  “What’s this?” Claudia dropped her hair to take the package from him.

  “Micah says a lady should have lots of gifts for her wedding.”

  “So me and Adam got you these.” Joey handed her his box too, finishing his friend’s explanation.

  Claudia opened them each before marveling at the matched set of silver combs set with emeralds in each box. “Oh boys, they’re beautiful. But you can’t afford something like this.”

  “Micah says we’re all going to be family, and families help each other out.” Adam smiled at his friend.

  “Yeah, he says if we need anything at all we just have to ask him. Then if he thinks it’s…it’s…”

  “Worthy,” Adam supplied.

  “Yeah, worthy, then he’ll help us get it.”

  “And he must have thought this was worthy.” Claudia hid a smile at the boys’ explanation.

  “’Course he did, Miss Claudia. It’s your wedding day.”

  The boys exchanged looks as if to say, women are so dumb.

  She hid her smile.

  “Since we have a house full of company, and food waiting for us, then I guess I’ll just have to get ready for this worthy cause, won’t I? Boys, before you go,” Claudia stopped their retreat, “I know it’s not a manly thing to be seen getting hugs from a woman, but do you think that on this worthy day, maybe you’d let me hug you each once?”

  The boys exchanged another look, explaining how women were so silly, and resigned themselves to one hug each.

  “Now scoot.” She dismissed them both, watching them nearly bolt out the door and down the hall with a smile on her face.

  When Adam and Joey first moved in a year ago, she’d tried to impose unwanted signs of affection on them, only to be rebuffed at every turn. But today they’d been so proud of their new clothes and gifts, they were more willing to accept her affection because of it. Male pride started early, it seemed. And even though they’d pretended sufferance at her forced hugs, they had each secretly hugged her back, a little.

  Bringing herself back to the task at hand, she brushed her hair again, this time rolling the edges up and securing each side with a comb.

  Even though everyone said bangs wer
e out of style, she’d always worn thin bangs, which she brushed out tonight to frame her eyebrows.

  She wanted to look especially good for the men waiting downstairs.

  Micah had helped the boys learn a lesson she would’ve been hard-pressed to do. Today, he impressed upon them the importance of a wedding to a woman and how respect for her could be shown with gifts, friends and cleanliness.

  Fingering the combs, she remembered how Adam said Micah had called them family. Did he mean all of them? And what of his answers to her question about the marriage being a real one? Did he mean he wanted to stay married even after they solved their mystery?

  The more she thought about things, the more confused she became.

  She walked over to the armoire and took out a deep-green shirtwaist and skirt she’d had made right after Laura left town. At the time, she’d hoped it would cheer her out of her melancholy. Taking out two green petticoats and a white corset, she smiled to herself. She placed the corset back in the cupboard.

  “If there was one woman who doesn’t need a corset, it’s me. I doubt Micah knows what he’s bargained for in a wife. I barely have breasts, and what hips I do have are hidden by layers of cloth. If this marriage is not in name only, he’ll be in for a big surprise. Or should I say, a little surprise.”

  Finished buttoning the skirt around the shirtwaist, she smoothed out any loose wrinkles, patted her hair and looked in the mirror. Her face was pale today. She pinched her cheeks to add more color to them and pressed her lips firmly together to redden them. Whether she liked it or not, she was ready for her wedding.

  A knock summoned her to the door.

  Henderson waited in black coat and tie. “It’s time, Miss Claudia, if you’re ready.” He smiled at her as a father would a daughter. It struck her that he was as close as she had ever come to having a real, loving father.

  “Henderson?”

  “Yes, miss?”

  “What is your first name?”

  “Why, Robert, miss.”