A Lethal Lady
Chapter 22

Tom returned to the hotel when it was very late, and went straight up to his room where he looked at the bed in which he slept. There were nights when he missed home, it was not so far from town, but there was no point in staying there, for if anything happened For the time being, he would have to continue staying at the hotel. At least until he could work out what he could do to be closer. He was very tired, and the only thing he wanted at the moment was to get some sleep.

there was the possibility of arriving too late to avoid misfortune.

When he arrived, he wanted to see Miss Rouse, but preferred to leave it until the next day. For it was not very convenient to see her at night. His own instincts betrayed him, and he was sure that, if he went on that way, he would end by doing something he might regret later.

Before Tom could close the door, a woman's voice made him turn around. The sheriff notices Hilary standing in the doorway of her room with a very red and swollen nose.

-What happened to her? -She approaches him with tears in her eyes, the woman rushes into his arms and begins to cry for comfort.

-That woman, she's horrible. She hit me." Tom tries to calm Hilary down, but she doesn't understand what's going on.

-What woman?

-Rouse LeRoy, she hit me. And I looked at how she left me.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, and I didn't doubt Hilary's word, as Rouse was a very strong woman and quite aggressive. Hilary's nose was shattered.

-What happened?

Listening carefully to the woman's charade, Rouse was aware that Hilary was not a woman of good intentions, let alone a good mother. And when he watched her throw herself into the sheriff's arms, he knew he had the upper hand.

He'd buy her fault with s****l favours alone, he couldn't believe Tom was that kind of man. He was a fair guy to run the town, but when it came to a woman, it seemed he was a sellout.

Rouse leaned her back against the wall as she listened to them talk. He tilted his head, remembering when she threw herself into his arms and he received her seemingly gladly. There was no doubt in his mind, they were lovers. But then, why had he kissed her? It didn't make sense that he would always try to be so close to her?

He frowned, and she who had come upstairs to tell him her side of the story. She didn't want any trouble, but apparently that woman beat her to the punch on that one. He was playing his best cards, something she had no intention of competing with. She had only wasted her time; she had wasted energy and caused a lot of pain in her feet, just to make herself look good.

The blonde turns her steps and decides to go downstairs to go back to her room, before that sheriff found her in the middle of the corridor spying on him; and ended up winning another fight.

At the top of the wooden steps, Rouse looks down and notices that someone is about to go upstairs. She widens her eyes, and just behind her she hears that Hilary, in the company of the sheriff, is planning to leave the room.

At the top of the wooden steps, Rouse looks down and notices that someone is about to climb up. She widens her eyes, and just behind her she hears that Hilary, in the company of the sheriff, is planning to leave the room. Rouse had no choice but to back away and get into the first room that was nearest... she stood with both hands on it, as if she were holding it. Her breathing was very rapid, and somewhat agitated, she was really short of breath. -Miss LeRoy," Rouse gasps as she turns around, blinking repeatedly as she sees Harry behind her. She shouldn't be out of bed.

She sees him and is surprised at the patience and calmness with which the man speaks to her, and amazed, for the reason that Harry was naked from the waist up.

-Mr. Harry, excuse me, I didn't know that....

-You didn't know? Or you didn't remember? -He interrupts her, drying his face with a towel.

-I'm sorry for barging into your room like this.

Harry furrows his eyebrows, for a room alone with a man she didn't look embarrassed. Rather, he found her expression quite normal.

-May I ask what you're doing here? The sheriff informed me you'd be in bed, not working. Besides, Lauren's already here to set things up.

-I was looking for Lauren. But I'm leaving now.

-Ah, yeah? -He questions her words, then slips on a white shirt, but doesn't button it.

Rouse turns around and tries to open the door, when he hears Tom's voice and that guy. The idiots had started talking in the corridor, how the hell was he going to get out of that room? He purses his lips and thinks...

-I see he can't get out of the room, I wonder what the reason is?

-It's not what he thinks.

-And what do I think?

-He thinks the same as the sheriff," he answers without turning round.

-You don't know what I think, Miss Rouse.

-In that case, I don't care to know what you believe, think, or imagine about me.

-For a lady, you are very haughty. I wonder what she's hiding.

She closed her eyes, she had had enough of everyone telling her the same thing. Then she realised that she didn't hear any more voices outside, it was time to get the hell out of there. -Think what you want, goodbye, Mr. Harry.

And with the same, he opened the door and left Harry's room. Carefully she went down the stairs and left the hotel unnoticed. But instead of leading her steps to her room, she takes another course.

[...]

Enraged with Rouse, Tom opts to go down to the blonde's room to confront her. He needed her to explain what the hell had happened between Hilary and her. First he runs into Wyatt in the corridor, only to hear bullshit, wanting to impose his laws on his people. As if that's possible, and then Rouse's problem.

By the time she got to the woman's room, she opened the door a crack... And it turned out, it was completely empty.

Where the hell was she? He wonders at the sight of the desolate bed.

Tom frowned as he retraced his steps and looked outside, she was nowhere to be seen. Then he remembered that the bathroom was outside, and immediately headed for it.

Without stopping to consider the consequences, he pulled back the curtain, but the bathroom was lonely as well. -Where the hell is he?

More furious than ever he walks back to the hotel to look for Lauren... all the while thinking of a thousand reasons why Rouse wasn't in his room.

[...]

He sped up his walk, not caring about the excruciating pain he felt in his side and feet, he preferred that pain to having to stay in that hotel for another minute. As she stepped outside the hotel, in the pitch darkness, the blonde noticed two horses tied to a wooden post. One was brown and the other black, they had to be the officers' horses.

She couldn't remember which was Tom's and Harry's, but that was beside the point. He would take whichever one it was and get the hell out of there.

She approached the animals and one of them became restless... she spoke slowly, almost in a hiss, and tried to calm it down, it was not easy to tame such an animal, but you could tell she was doing well with the task.

By the time she thought it convenient to mount him, she untied the horse's rope and made an attempt to get on him. Fortunately the saddle was still on, which made her escape easier. That town was no longer safe, and the best thing to do was to get out. -But what a surprise!

That voice made Rouse stop her movements in her tracks, the blonde standing with one foot on the horse's metal saddle and the other foot on the ground. She clenched her jaw as she tightened her leather reins, realising that she hadn't been quick enough to run away without being caught.

She hated being badly hurt, it would have been a different story if only she wasn't so badly beaten. She swallows as she thinks to herself, pulling her other leg up and whipping the horse to escape.

-I'm surprised to see you here, you look refreshed, and quite determined to get on that horse. I wonder, are you fit to do it with those bandaged feet?

She purses her lips, but without turning away, let alone letting go of her means of escape.

-Answer me something, can you ride that fast with that wound in your side? Can you do it, Rouse?

She listened attentively, while thinking that if she didn't, it was going to go very badly for her in that town. If the situation wasn't good, now with that, things had gotten much worse.

-What will you do! What... what will you do! -Rouse hears footsteps approaching her, which made her even more alert than before.