Death Train - Flame Series #8
Chapter 2
I Did See It
Kitty was coming out of the bathroom when she heard mumblings coming from the adjoining room. A smile tugged at her lips, as she wondered what kind of sounds had come from this room over the last twenty-four hours. The reflection in the mirror clearly displayed a hint of embarrassment, despite her years of marriage to this man. Matt was, without a doubt, the most passionate of lovers, bringing out the same passion in his partner.
A violent change in the mumblings next door caused Kitty's eyes to focus suddenly on her reflection in the mirror. There was a male voice cursing and a woman…crying? Certain words surfaced, but not enough to form an entire sentence. Words like, divorce...money...tramp. Kitty ran to the connecting door. She fumbled with the key in the lock, pulling it open only to be confronted with the matching door available only to the other room. At least she could hear the words now.
"You'll never see a dime of my money! I'll have that little tramp thrown in jail." The unseen woman screamed words at the man between tears of rage. "My daddy-"
Kitty heard the sound of a slap and knew that it had been used to stop the woman's threat.
"He's not a problem anymore, is he!" The male voice was deep, not like Matt, but still a deeply masculine tone. Oddly enough, Kitty heard more confidence in the man's words than anger, as though the woman's trump card had been played once too often.
The ingenious red head looked around for something to knock the key out of the opposing door. She grabbed one of the hangers from the tiny clothes rack and dropped to her knees. After bending the curve of the hanger, Kitty poked the wire into the lock, forcing the key to fall to the floor.
The tiny misshapen hole didn't allow much of a view, but the marshal's wife was able to see parts of the couple. The yelling on both sides had stopped. In its place was just a heavy gasping, mingled with a male's grunting noise. In the space of a moment, the sounds and sights in the room became all too clear in Kitty's mind: The man was choking the woman! He was killing her!
"STOP!" At almost the same instant, Kitty's hand flew to her mouth, but the word was gone. She saw the blonde woman go limp in the man's arms. She saw the shock, mixed with anger in the man's eyes, that were now directed toward her hiding place. Instantly, Kitty rose from the secret spot and slammed the door. Cold, numb fingers fumbled with the key, struggling to turn the tumblers into a locked position. Finally, Kitty stared at the locked door, blue eyes wide as she backed away from the wooden barrier.
Matt…This word did not escape her lips, but was the first thought in her head. Kitty forced herself to calm down, to do what needed to be done. Looking down, she realized that clothing would be first on her agenda. Matt's robe was still laying on top the luggage rack. It only took a quick glance—between her frilly chiffon gown, to his thick heavy cotton robe—to decide which was the better choice.
Quickly pulling the oversized garment around her, Kitty bundled up the extra material and held it to her chest. Shoes. Damn, where were her shoes?
One was laying in plain sight by the bed, but where had the other gotten off to? Kitty knelt down by the bed and fished around underneath until she found the hiding mate. Slipping into them, she tightened her hold on the excess robe and ran for the door.
The frightened woman's eyes scanned the hall from one end to the other, finding no one. Thinking that she couldn't let this killer get away, the only thing Kitty could think to do was to beat on his door. Pounding her small fists on the heavy wooden barrier didn't create much of a disturbance, but the shouting that accompanied it did.
"Open the door! I saw what you did – open this door!" Both her tone and words carried more courage than her shaking knees could back up.
Although the door she stood in front of remained shut, other doors began to open. Eventually, the door she had pounded on opened and Kitty found herself face-to-face with the man she'd watched choke the blonde woman to death
"Madam, what in the world are you doing?" The man's tone was gentle yet curious, as though he were just as confused as the crowd beginning to gather. Twice he swiped at his handlebar mustache, the only clue to his nervousness. Unfortunately, no one in the gathering crowd was familiar enough with him to recognize that.
"I saw you choke her!" Despite her rather bizarre appearance, Kitty straightened her slender body into a more rigid stance. "Where is she!?"
The accused stepped closer to the redhead. He brushed a hand through his salt and pepper hair. Probably another sign of his unease, as it already lay in perfect waves. Crisp, hazel eyes, with tiny flecks of gold, seemed to challenge her. "Where is whom?"
Kitty refused to back down from his attempt to intimidate. She knew what she had seen. "Your wife. I saw you kill her!"
The man looked as if he were about to reply, but then just as suddenly, his attention was drawn elsewhere. "I'm glad you're here. We seem to have a problem."
These words were obviously not meant for Kitty. She clutched the robe tighter and turned to see who was behind her. The fiery redhead's courage dipped a bit when she came face to face with the hotel detective. Although, he had not seen her face at their earlier encounter, Pringle did recognize the voice. He acknowledged her with a tip of his Stetson and a nod, "Mrs. Dillon."
Pringle's arrival threw her off kilter for only a moment. When Kitty turned, once again confronting the killer, all of her conviction returned. Locking her eyes with the killer before her, she spoke to the man behind her. "Mr. Pringle, I saw this man kill his wife. Right here, in this room."
Pringle stepped forward, placing himself between the accused and accuser. "Mr. Helton, is what this lady said true?"
Arthur Helton released an annoyed if not irritated laugh. "Mr. Pringle, I assure you, I did not kill my wife or any other woman…here, or anywhere else."
"Just look around. Her body has to be in there somewhere." Kitty peered around the detective.
Pringle glanced around the room before bringing his focus back to the opposing pair. "Maybe I should look around just to be-"
"Arthur?' The attractive blonde squeezed through the gathering of people outside the Helton room. "Sweetheart, are you all right?" She walked past Kitty, then Pringle and into the arms of her husband.
"I'm fine dear." He wrapped his arm lovingly around the slender woman. "I'm afraid this lady…she seems to think I killed you."
Now it was Kitty's turn to stare, open-mouthed and wide-eyed. This was the same woman she saw. At least the bits she could identify were the same. But…
"Kitty?" That was a voice she recognized. It was less than a second before his hand was slipping around her waist. "What's going on here?"
Pringle stepped into the hall and began to disperse the curious onlookers. He returned to the room confronting four very confused faces. "Marshal, your wife…she thought she saw something and…well, I think it was just a mistake."
Kitty was struggling with her memory trying to make sense of what she had seen earlier compared to what was in front of her at this moment. Despite the confusion, she refused to let go of Helton's gaze. He was lying. That much she knew to be real. Kitty didn't put up any objection when she felt Matt's hand gently pulling her back in an attempt to ease her from the room.
When they stepped into the hall, they heard Pringle apologize to the Helton's before he closed the door. "You can take her back to your room, Marshal."
Matt nodded and guided his wife back to their suite. All of her confidence and conviction seemed to abandon her as she settled on the side of the bed. "Matt, I know what I saw."
He knelt down in front of her, lifting her head to face him and tucked the hair behind her ear. "Sweetheart, what exactly did you see?"
"I was getting ready and I heard sounds—mumbling at first and then it got louder. I could tell they were fighting. I opened that door…" Kitty pointed to the connecting doors "I couldn't get the other one open, but by then I could hear them better. They were fighting …um...over money...I heard divorce...I think he has another woman."
She stopped for a moment as if to retrace her steps. "Oh! That's when I knocked the key out of the other door and peeked through the keyhole. I saw that… man choke…that woman." Kitty stopped, tiny wrinkles attaching themselves to her forehead along with an ambivalent frown. "But it can't be that woman."
Kitty looked into Matt's eyes, soaking up the love and support he always held for her. "Do you believe me?"
Matt could see the self-doubt that was consuming her; he reached out, pulling her into his arms."Honey if you say you saw a murder then I believe you. Obviously, it wasn't his wife's murder."
Kitty sniffled as she wiped her eyes with the soft, fluffy sleeve of his robe. "I guess that fight, I mean those words, could have been said to a mistress." She produced a scowl as she contemplated that theory "Having your mistress in your hotel room with your wife downstairs – I don't know Matt. That's pretty risky and I've seen a lot of cheating husbands."
"True." He too seemed to be caught up in theorizing daydreams. "A man would get a separate room for his mistress; he wouldn't have her in the suite he was sharing with his wife." That thought slipped out a little too casually causing him to glance quickly at his wife. Sure enough the spark had returned to those sapphire eyes. "I meant-"
Kitty leaned forward, kissing him into silence. "I know what you meant. I also know you're not that kind of husband. She gathered up the robe, trying to pull it closer around her. "That would mean two women who look alike and a plot to substitute one woman…" She let it rest with a sigh. "Now, it's starting to sound far-fetched. Maybe I did imagine it. It just seemed so real."
Matt pulled himself up from his kneeling position and took a seat beside her. With his thumb and forefinger, he tugged lightly on the robe. "Nice outfit." He was prepared for the sideways glance thrown at him. "Maybe, you were so hungry you were delirious."
"That could be, I think you're trying to starve me to death."
"Still hungry?"
"Yeah, but now I don't feel like going out."
Matt stood up and pulled her to her feet. "Yes you do. You go in there and put on one of those fancy dresses and comb your hair. I'm taking the prettiest girl in Kansas to dinner." He called after her just before she disappeared into the bathroom. "Hey, could you leave your hair-"
"Down" She finished for him as she shut the door. "I know."
Kitty smiled as she leaned against the door. Once the latch softly clicked into place she stepped forward to survey her reflection in the mirror. During her reign as owner of the Long Branch, a finely coiffed hair-do was an integral part of the image. Matt was very complimentary and appreciated the time it took to style and maintain it. Still, he had mentioned that he preferred those loose curls that tumbled down her back. Each time, the beautiful proprietor would explain to him that it simply looked more professional to wear it up.
Once Cooper was born and she gave up all but 25% of the bar, Matt's requests became more frequent attached to a lot more grumbling. Kitty decided, as a husband he really didn't ask for much and to be honest, she was flattered that after more than ten years together this man still noticed how she wore her hair. Most of the woman she knew complained their husbands wouldn't notice if they were suddenly bald. "Down it is." Kitty muttered as she pulled the brush through the coppery red tresses.
Matt wandered over to the window which looked out over the courtyard. He knew Kitty too well. She wasn't the type of woman that frightened easily or jumped to conclusions. If she saw that man kill a woman than that's what happened. Of course, this wasn't Dodge City and Kansas City had a sheriff. It was that man's job to solve murders here, which meant it wasn't the marshal's responsibility. However, the only witness to this particular crime was Kitty Dillon and that made it Matt's concern.
The marshal knew his wife was exhausted, but there had been a pipe burst in the hotel kitchen and room service was temporarily suspended. Normally, Matt would have gone out to get something for her, but not tonight. There was no way he was going to leave Kitty alone with that killer right next door.
He was too preoccupied to hear her exit the bathroom, or even call his name. It wasn't until she slipped her hand over his that Matt returned to the present. "You look beautiful, as usual." With a charming smile, he offered Kitty his arm and escorted her out of the room.
TBC
