Once Upon a Mail Order Bride - Linda Broday Page 0,96
else, determine a new outcome of a life. He’d dreamed of being out from under the stain of his past, and maybe now he had a real shot.
He reached for Addie’s hand where it rested on the table, and her smile blinded him. Years ago, his world had descended into hell. Now he had riches beyond compare.
* * *
Ridge pulled up to the hotel, set the brake of the wagon, and helped Addie and Shiloh down. They went inside to the sheriff’s office. Jack glanced up from his desk and stood, the bandage stark white around his tanned throat. His voice still carried that raspy sound it had picked up when he’d been stabbed. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“How’s your wound?” Ridge asked.
“Doing better. I know you didn’t come to talk about that, or you wouldn’t have brought these lovely ladies.”
Ridge introduced Shiloh and explained why they’d come. “Is it possible that you could use a sworn statement from Miss Duke to get my charges dropped?”
“Have a seat.” Jack dusted off the chairs for the ladies. “It’s really fortunate for you that she came, Ridge. This could go a long way to clearing your name.” He riffled around in a drawer and pulled out a tablet of paper, handing it and a pencil to Shiloh. “Write down everything that you can remember about that night. Don’t leave out a single detail, even if it seems too small to be important, and be sure to include the names of everyone there and what they said.”
“Yes, sir.” Shiloh took the pencil and tablet and began.
While she wrote, Jack, Ridge, and Addie talked about the dinner party and Charlotte Wintersby.
“I did some checking, and you won’t believe what I found in the San Francisco Chronicle.” Grinning, Jack leaned back and propped his feet on his cluttered desk.
Ridge ignored Addie’s frown. “From the look on your face, it’s a doozy.”
Addie glared. “I swear, you two are worse than a couple of widow women. Leave Charlotte alone. I like her, and so what if her past isn’t perfect? Whose is? That’s why it’s called a past. It’s meant to be left behind—if certain people will let you.”
Thoroughly chastised, Ridge turned the conversation to the prisoners’ escape. “Have you had any useful information back from those telegraphs you sent out?”
“Not one word. They seem to have disappeared.”
Addie reached for Ridge’s hand. They couldn’t go to Zelda Law yet. “I have no doubt they ran straight to my father. By now, he knows exactly where I am, and he’ll be on his way.”
“He’ll find no welcome here.” Jack’s eyes hardened. “His kind can keep on riding.”
“That’s what I keep telling her.” Ridge had made a promise and he meant to keep it. Ezekiel would never get his hands on her again. The biggest fear, one that often woke Ridge in a cold sweat, was that Jancy could snatch Addie when she was alone.
He’d just have to stay vigilant and trust that he’d be around to stop Jancy once he showed his face.
A short time later, Shiloh Duke finished writing her affidavit and signed the bottom. “What happens now?” Ridge combed his fingers through his hair as he stood.
“I’ll attach this to the application to have the charges dropped, and file it at the courthouse in Mobeetie. The judge will review it and give his decision.” Jack put the affidavit in a large envelope and stuck it in his desk drawer.
“By filing, do you mean to hand-carry it?” Addie put an arm around Shiloh’s thin waist. Ridge had harbored hate for that woman for so long, but now that hate had faded. She’d begun to let hope in as well, and he saw it in her eyes.
“Yes, I’ll leave tomorrow unless something comes up,” Jack replied.
Ridge blew out a long, worried breath. “How long will this process take?”
Jack rested a hand on his shoulder. “Hard telling. It depends on how soon the documents land on the judge’s desk, and there’s no way to predict that. My best advice is put it out of your mind and go about your business. You have to be patient and let me do the fretting now.”
Ridge didn’t tell Jack that the matter of his pardon had never been far from his thoughts for the last five years and sure wouldn’t be going away now. “Another thing. I’ve had blood on my hands since. Will I have to mention those other deaths?”
“Only what you’re charged with. Besides, those others were done