LOST AND FOUND - PART IV
THE BEST LAID PLANS
Chapter 34
The four men had broken into an empty building across the street from the bank while it was still dark Monday morning. They had been taking turns watching out a second floor window all day, and now five o'clock was fast approaching.
A short, stout man with brown eyes and hair was taking his turn when he suddenly stiffened and turned his head toward the other three. "Hey Jake! It looks like that Federal Marshall, some woman, and one of his deputies are going in."
"Damn it!" the largest and tallest of the four men said and came to look. His already dark skin darkened further and his black eyes narrowed. "Yep, that's them," he said as Adam, Thea, and Nate went through the door. He ran a hand through his black hair and turned to the other two, "Now what do we do?"
"Yeah, now what do we do," the short, stout man echoed.
"Well, don't you think you should keep watching to see if they come out again, Les?" the man they called Sean answered the short man in a reasonable tone.
"Oh yeah," Les answered and turned back to the window.
The fourth member of their group, Jed, was an older man with white hair and eyes the color of a clear spring sky that would have been beautiful if not for their coldness. His face was etched with lines of bitterness and he unfolded his tall, raw-boned body to stand and go look out the other window.
Jed sighed with relief when he eventually saw two tall men, one with dark hair the other blonde, come out the door with the small black-haired woman. They paused and the dark-haired man turned back to open the door as two old, bent-over women approached. They both wore old-fashioned bonnets that shaded their faces, and their figures were rendered shapeless by their well- worn, full-skirted dresses.
The man tipped his hat and closed the door after the two went in, then the trio continued down the street, arm in arm with the woman in the middle.
Sean laughed, his dark-blue eyes dancing, understanding their now relaxed postures. "You three better get a grip on your nerves, we only have about twenty minutes now to wait," he said as he pushed his dark-red hair back off his forehead with a steady hand. He yawned then and leaned back in his chair, but his olive complexion paled a little as he began to think about what was coming.
Jake, Les, and Jed turned to look at him. "Why don't you keep watching while the rest of us go downstairs and get into position?" Jed said, as his eyes looked the other man over, his disapproval of the young man's fancy clothes written on his face.
"Sure," Sean laughed and gave them what might have been a smile, but looked more like he was baring his teeth. "But don't you three start without me!" he said and stood to move over to the window.
The other three men moved toward the door, but looked back when the red- haired man said in a hard voice, "I mean it. Don't start without me."
The three men glanced at each other then left without saying another word.
"Fools," Sean said under his breath and kept watching out the window. He waited for ten minutes, then left the room and headed downstairs. He cautiously and quietly went out the back door and when he appeared at the mouth of the alley next to the empty building he saw the other three men start to move toward the bank. Walking slowly, he timed his approach so he was the last through the bank door. He glanced around the room quickly and only saw two clerks behind the counter. No one else was in the bank except for the other three members of the gang. He reached back and turned the lock on the door as Jed and Les went to the two front windows and pulled the shades down.
The two men behind the counter looked up with surprised looks on their faces then all four men pulled their guns. "Put your hands up," Jed said and motioned to the teller with blonde hair. "Get out here and open the vault."
The clerks blue eyes were veiled as he sidled sideways behind the counter and came around the end. Jed shoved him toward the vault door. Sean looked at the dark-haired clerk.
"You get out here too," he said, his eyes stared intently and his normally full lips tightened into a grim line. The clerk's dark eyes narrowed, but he moved out from behind the counter as the blonde clerk swung the vault door open. Sean grabbed the other clerk's arm and shoved him toward the men in front of them as Jake and Les stepped into the vault.
All hell broke loose.
Inside the vault, Mike and John had been hiding up against the front wall on either side of the door. Jake and Les didn't notice them until too late. They jumped the two men from behind, knocking them to the floor. Nate, the blonde clerk, grabbed Jed by scruff of his neck and rammed his head into the vault door. The man fell to the floor unconscious. Adam, the other clerk, elbowed Sean in the face then drove him back into the wall as he kneed him and took his gun away.
Mike and John had disarmed the two men in the vault and already had them cuffed as Adam pinned the red-haired man to the wall with his forearm across his neck. Nate was crouched down and cuffing the unconscious man who had started to groan.
Adam had just glanced back at his deputies and saw the two conscious robbers watching, when Sean reached behind him and pulled a gun from the small of his back, forcing Adam to drop the gun he had already taken away. The two men struggled with the second gun in between them briefly then it went off.
Sean looked at Adam with surprise and disbelief in his dark-blue eyes. The gun they had been fighting over clattered to the floor as Adam took a step back and the red-haired man slid down him and landed face first.
Kicking both guns out of the way, Adam knelt next to him and felt for a pulse. He turned to his three deputies and shook his head. Nate went to raise the shades on the front windows as Adam stood and moved with a slight limp to the front door. He unlocked and opened it.
Ben, Hoss, and Joe came in quickly and stopped to look at the four men on the floor.
"Please go help Nate, Mike, and John get those three on their feet." He looked down at the red-haired man. "Don't bother with this one."
They nodded, helped pull the three gang members to their feet and dragged them out the door. Thea came in then with the two bank clerks Adam and Nate had switched some of their clothes with. She looked down at the man on the floor then turned to Adam with a questioning look. Her husband just nodded.
The clerk with the blonde hair moved toward the vault to lock the door, but Thea asked him to wait. "I have to get the costumes out of there first. Barbara will be expecting them back," she explained to the clerk as she quickly went in and just as quickly came back out with the dresses and bonnets draped across her arm.
Thea came to slip her other arm around Adam's waist and he put an arm around her shoulders. The two stood there looking down at the man on the floor while the two clerks locked the vault and pulled down the shades. When they left she looked up at her husband saying, "Everyone is still coming to dinner, right?"
He nodded and she gave his waist a quick squeeze as he walked her to the door. He put a hand under her chin and tipped her face up for a kiss then he opened the door for her.
"I'll stop on the way home and send Matt over with a stretcher," she said and was gone.
Adam closed the door, locked it, and went back to the man on the floor.
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The table in the kitchen was completely full for dinner that night and Thea looked around at the faces of the people dear to her and sighed with contentment. The children had been fed earlier and put to bed and the adults were having dessert while several conversations were going on at once.
Joe was listening to the three deputies recounting assignments from the past when they had worked for Pinkerton. Adam was discussing the coming land auction with his father, Barbara, Hoss, and Dora. Cassandra and Matt were discussing their wedding plans with Marie. Thea was just sitting back and only vaguely hearing the light-hearted chatter when Adam startled her by sighing with exasperation and standing.
"Excuse me," he said and went to the back door. He opened it and leaned out, "You have been skulking around my backyard for at least a half hour now. What the hell are you looking for?"
A man's voice tinged with laughter answered him, "I'm just being cautious."
"Bull, you're just being nosey, now get in here Dylan," Adam said and started laughing.
Almost everyone seated who had been involved with the robbery was startled when the man with the dark-red hair came through the door, took off his hat, and looked around shyly.
"Don't worry folks," Adam chuckled, "he's one of us."
"Dylan!" Thea said as she stood and came over to hug him. "I wasn't sure you were ever going to show up," she said as he gently hugged her back and smiled down into her animated face.
"Are you hungry?"
"No ma'am, but I sure would appreciate some of that coffee," he said as she led him to the table and pushed him down into her chair.
She went to get his coffee while Adam came to stand behind his young friend and put his hands on the seated man's shoulders. He cleared his throat and seemed about to say something, but started chuckling.
Dylan turned his head to look at the older man with an annoyed expression. "Are you going to start doing that again?"
Adam patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, I just can't help it," he said and tried to get himself under control as the other man sighed in resignation.
"Alright," Adam said. "I would like you all to meet a very good friend of mine, Deputy Marshal Dylan Marshall," he said quickly then laughed.
It took a few moments for the other people to understand what Adam was laughing about and Joe was the first to get it.
"You mean you're Marshal Marshall?" he said, honestly trying to hold back his amusement.
Dylan raised his dark-blue eyes and sighed. "Yes," he answered Joe's question as Thea placed a cup of coffee in front of him with a slice of cake on a plate, a fork, and a spoon. Then she moved the sugar bowl and cream pitcher closer so he could reach them.
Just about everyone at the table was fighting a losing battle with laughter and they all gave up and gave in to it when Dylan shook his head and said, "You better let it out or your heads will explode."
Thea, who had gone to get a chair, was the only one not laughing. Placing the chair at the corner of the table next to Dylan, she sat down, looked at the young man and shrugged. Then she smiled when she glanced at Adam and saw he was laughing so hard tears had formed in the corners of his eyes.
He finally got himself under control and waited for the rest of them to do the same before he introduced everyone.
No sooner had he finished than the clock struck nine and everyone was surprised by the lateness of the hour.
Adam looked at his father and brothers, "You don't have to take that long ride back home if you don't want to. We have plenty of room if you want to stay."
Ben looked at his other two sons who nodded. "Alright, I don't see why not," he said and Thea stood.
"I'll go get your rooms ready," she said then looked at Dylan. "You'll be staying tonight, too, won't you?"
The young man smiled a charming dimpled smile as he said, "Whatever you say, ma'am."
She laughed. "What am I going to do with you? My name is Thea, not 'ma'am'" she said and left the room to head upstairs. Cassandra, Marie, and Dora quickly stood and followed her to offer their help.
Nate, Mike, John, and Barbara decided they should be leaving, so the three deputies offered to walk her home. The tall woman graciously accepted and grinned at Joe as he also stood, so he could see them to the front door. She paused on her way out to kiss Adam on the cheek and he thanked her for her help, then she joined the four men who were waiting for her in the hall.
Adam turned to his father and Hoss. "If you two want to sneak a peek at the babies you better do it now while Thea is busy and probably won't catch you." They grinned and stood. "But take the backstairs, that's closer to the nursery," he said and the two men hurried off.
"Babies?" Dylan asked.
"Triplets," Adam said and laughed at Dylan's expression. "Yes, that means we have five now."
"What are they?"
"All boys."
"Good God, and you're still reasonably coherent?"
"Just barely," Adam said and grinned as he stood and started to clear the dessert dishes off the table.
The younger man started to get up to help, but Adam waved him back to his chair.
"I'll get this done faster by myself, you don't know where anything goes," he said with a smile. "But don't stop talking, I can do two things at once."
So the red-haired man sat down again, but on the other side of the table so he wouldn't have his back to his host.
"I thought Jerry was working with you?" he said and Adam paused in mid- stride then continued carrying dishes to the sink. He still had his back to Dylan when he said, "Jerry's dead."
Dylan gasped in shock. "Oh no," he said softly. "What happened?"
"Well, someone was determined to kill me so they blew up the temporary office we were using." He came back to the table to lean on it as he said, "Jerry knocked me down and threw himself on top of me. He saved my life."
The younger man smiled a wan smile, "That sounds like something he would do. He was one of the best men I've ever known."
Adam nodded, as he continued with his task. "How long were you two partners when you worked for Pinkerton?"
"About three years - God it's so hard to believe he's gone. I've never known anyone before who could make me laugh the way he did. And just about everything I know about explosives and flammables I learned from him."
"I know," Adam said and came back to finish clearing the table. "So what are your plans now? Are you happy doing this clandestine work?" he said as he started scooping hot water from the tank on the side of the stove, filled the two dishpans, and added some powdered soap to one of them.
Dylan stood and came over. "You wash, I'll dry," he said and Adam reached into a drawer and tossed him a dishtowel.
"Just stack them to your left," he said and began to wash the dishes as he waited for the other man to answer his question.
"It's funny you should ask me that. I was seriously considering asking for a different assignment next time, anything that wouldn't force me to live with the dregs of society for a change," he said looking out the window at the darkness.
Adam cleared his throat to pull the other man's attention back to the job at hand. "What do you think you would be interested in doing?"
The younger man looked down and smiled to see that Adam washed dishes with his usual brisk efficiency and hurried to try and catch up. "I was thinking about doing something where the skills Jerry taught me could be used."
The other man smiled as he finished washing the last dish. "Good, I was hoping you might say that."
"Why?"
"Because now that Jerry is gone I need another explosives man," he said as he started on the flatware.
Dylan was surprised for a moment then thought about it as he dried the utensils. "Are you serious?" he asked.
"Very serious, but I want you to be sure and take some time to think it over thoroughly. I also want to warn you about a few things," he said as he motioned for Dylan to be seated at the table again.
Adam put everything away quickly before coming back. He sat down directly across from the red-haired man and looked him in the eye.
"First, anyone joining my office will be facing some resistance from the rest. Jerry was not only respected, he was loved and became a member of this family. That's the way it is with my people. No one has ever been able to resist Thea pulling them in and Jerry was a prime example, she never gave up on him."
Dylan nodded and smiled at the image of big, rough and tough Jerry trying to fend off Thea and failing.
"Second," Adam continued, "I will be very hard on you - I expect the best from my people and won't accept anything less. That might be hard for you to handle after being on your own for so long."
The other man nodded again.
"And third, everyone pitches in. Whether it's around here, at the office, or on assignment when a job needs to be done. Work is work no matter what kind and I would not want any man on my team who would think a job is beneath him. Doing the dishes is a good example of a job many men wouldn't be caught dead doing. I have no problem with it." Adam leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
"Take some time to think about it," he continued, "then let me know what your decision is."
Dylan started to answer him, but Thea came in then.
She quickly took in the state the kitchen was in and smiled gratefully at her husband before rushing up to him and raining kisses all over his face.
"Stop that," he said laughing, then winked at Dylan. "The woman just can't seem to control herself."
Thea grinned, hopped into his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Well, you can't blame a girl for trying," she said tragically and laid her head on his shoulder.
The two men laughed at her theatrics and a moment later she slipped out of her husband's lap and motioned for Dylan to follow her upstairs so she could show him to his room. But as she left she said, "Don't be too long Adam," and batted her lashes at him.
"Sassy," he called her and she just giggled and hurried out as Adam went to empty the dishpans.
Thea led him down the hall and up the stairs slowly, giving him plenty of time to look around. Then they moved down the second floor hallway and she stopped to put her hand on a doorknob, but snatched it back quickly.
"I almost forgot, I switched Hoss to this room because the bed is bigger," she said then moved four doors down. When she opened the door he could see a pleasant room done in shades of blue with a large, comfortable looking bed. A blue glass lamp on the dresser had already been lit and she waved him in saying, "Good night, we'll see you in the morning." Then she stepped out and closed the door.
Moving quietly down the hall, she opened the door to the room she and Adam shared, went in, and then closed it behind her. She gasped in surprise when she felt strong arms slip around her waist and she was pulled back against a hard body. She shook with quiet laughter when Adam leaned down to whisper in her ear, "What took you so long?"
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Hours later they had just fallen asleep when the sound of a woman's scream jolted them awake. They both grabbed robes and shrugged into them before running out into the hall.
The door to Dylan's room was open and they could see a small light flicker then grow bright as someone lit the lamp.
They rushed to look in the doorway and saw Dylan standing in the corner by the dresser trying to wrap a blanket around himself. Dora was standing up against the wall next to the door with her hands over her face. She peeked at Adam and Thea through her fingers and groaned, "Oh my God, I am so embarrassed!" as everyone else, except Joe, dressed in nightclothes and robes crowded around behind Adam and Thea.
Then they heard Hoss coming so Adam stepped into the room to stand in front of Dylan while Thea went to put an arm around Dora. Then the people still in the doorway stepped back to let Hoss, who was still fully dressed, into the room.
He took two steps in and stopped dead. His bright blue eyes looked at Dylan cowering in the corner, then shifted to Dora who was now in Thea's arms with her face buried in the shorter woman's shoulder.
He looked down at the floor for a moment and cleared his throat as his lips twitched. Then he looked up and met Thea's gaze. He took in her over bright eyes and the way she had her lips folded in as she fought against hysterical laughter. Without saying a word he turned his head to look at Dylan again. The young man was trying to press himself further into the corner.
Then he looked at Adam who raised his hands in an "I have no idea what happened" gesture while shaking his head. He looked down at the floor again and bit his lip as he almost had himself under control. But Thea couldn't stop a small snort of laughter from escaping and that set him off. He put his hands over his face and his shoulders shook as he started laughing and couldn't seem to stop. Thea was the first to join him and she laughed so hard tears were streaming down her face even as she still tried to comfort Dora by patting her on the back.
Everyone else but Dylan and Adam joined in and by the time they all stopped Hoss was gasping for breath. He turned and looked at the people in the hall and jerked his head to the side, telling them to go back to bed. When he turned back to Thea he saw Dora turn her head slightly to the side and look at him over her shoulder.
When he shook his head at her she turned and blurted out, "I thought this was your room!"
"I know," Hoss said quietly, still shaking his head at her. "I can't believe you did this." His lips started to twitch again but he managed to get a hold of himself as he said, "What were you thinkin' woman?"
"I don't know!" Dora wailed as she turned away to drop her forehead onto Thea's shoulder and started crying.
Thea looked at Hoss and waved him over to collect his fiancé. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. She threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest as she continued to cry in embarrassment.
Hoss and Thea looked at Adam when he spoke, "What do you say we get out of here and let Dylan get back to bed?"
Thea nodded and moved toward the door still biting her lip, afraid that the hysterical laughter would come welling up again.
Adam stayed where he was while Hoss put an arm around Dora's shoulders and led her out into the hall. Then he turned to the stunned man in the corner saying, "I am so sorry, but for some reason my house has been in a state of barely controlled insanity ever since we moved here. " He shook his head and was glad to see that Dylan no longer looked terrified as he turned and left, closing the door firmly behind him.
Dora was no longer crying, but she still had her face pressed into Hoss's chest as she sniffled a bit. Thea looked at her husband with raised eyebrows as he walked up to the three of them.
"I wonder why it seems there's always some sort of show going on around here," he said when he reached them. "Unfortunately they always seem to be in the form of a ridiculous farce."
Hoss and Thea looked at him, surprised that he wasn't angry, then they turned their eyes to Dora when they heard her giggle.
"I'm so sorry, Adam," she said as she turned her head to look at him. "What kind of a sister-in-law you must think I'll be?"
"Oh, I think tonight just proves that you'll fit right in," Adam grinned at her and she giggled again.
"Alright, I think we've had enough high drama for tonight," Thea said smiling as she came and pulled Dora away from Hoss by the arm and started to lead her back to her room.
Adam waited until the two women went through the door before turning back to Hoss. "I can't believe she did this either," he said and grinned at his younger brother as Hoss stood there shaking his head.
"You're going to have to watch that one Hoss, she's more like Thea than I thought," he said then chuckled at his brother's horrified expression.
"Lordy, you really think so?"
His older brother nodded and clapped him on the back. "Don't worry though. I can tell you in all honesty it'll be worth it."
They walked down the hallway in companionable silence and when they reached Hoss's room he opened the door and started to go in, but turned back to Adam once more. "I still can't believe she did that!" he said then went in and shut the door.
Adam just stood there shaking his head when he heard a door open and saw Thea come out of Dora's room. He waited for her and when she reached him, he took her hand and the two slowly walked back to their room. He opened the door and paused to look down at her.
"Are you as wide-awake as I am?"
She looked up at him and nodded, then laughed at the wicked look he gave her as he swept her up into his arms, went in, then pushed the door shut with his foot.
A little while later Adam laughed his deep laugh and said, "Mrs. Cartwright, I can't believe you did that!"
THE BEST LAID PLANS
Chapter 34
The four men had broken into an empty building across the street from the bank while it was still dark Monday morning. They had been taking turns watching out a second floor window all day, and now five o'clock was fast approaching.
A short, stout man with brown eyes and hair was taking his turn when he suddenly stiffened and turned his head toward the other three. "Hey Jake! It looks like that Federal Marshall, some woman, and one of his deputies are going in."
"Damn it!" the largest and tallest of the four men said and came to look. His already dark skin darkened further and his black eyes narrowed. "Yep, that's them," he said as Adam, Thea, and Nate went through the door. He ran a hand through his black hair and turned to the other two, "Now what do we do?"
"Yeah, now what do we do," the short, stout man echoed.
"Well, don't you think you should keep watching to see if they come out again, Les?" the man they called Sean answered the short man in a reasonable tone.
"Oh yeah," Les answered and turned back to the window.
The fourth member of their group, Jed, was an older man with white hair and eyes the color of a clear spring sky that would have been beautiful if not for their coldness. His face was etched with lines of bitterness and he unfolded his tall, raw-boned body to stand and go look out the other window.
Jed sighed with relief when he eventually saw two tall men, one with dark hair the other blonde, come out the door with the small black-haired woman. They paused and the dark-haired man turned back to open the door as two old, bent-over women approached. They both wore old-fashioned bonnets that shaded their faces, and their figures were rendered shapeless by their well- worn, full-skirted dresses.
The man tipped his hat and closed the door after the two went in, then the trio continued down the street, arm in arm with the woman in the middle.
Sean laughed, his dark-blue eyes dancing, understanding their now relaxed postures. "You three better get a grip on your nerves, we only have about twenty minutes now to wait," he said as he pushed his dark-red hair back off his forehead with a steady hand. He yawned then and leaned back in his chair, but his olive complexion paled a little as he began to think about what was coming.
Jake, Les, and Jed turned to look at him. "Why don't you keep watching while the rest of us go downstairs and get into position?" Jed said, as his eyes looked the other man over, his disapproval of the young man's fancy clothes written on his face.
"Sure," Sean laughed and gave them what might have been a smile, but looked more like he was baring his teeth. "But don't you three start without me!" he said and stood to move over to the window.
The other three men moved toward the door, but looked back when the red- haired man said in a hard voice, "I mean it. Don't start without me."
The three men glanced at each other then left without saying another word.
"Fools," Sean said under his breath and kept watching out the window. He waited for ten minutes, then left the room and headed downstairs. He cautiously and quietly went out the back door and when he appeared at the mouth of the alley next to the empty building he saw the other three men start to move toward the bank. Walking slowly, he timed his approach so he was the last through the bank door. He glanced around the room quickly and only saw two clerks behind the counter. No one else was in the bank except for the other three members of the gang. He reached back and turned the lock on the door as Jed and Les went to the two front windows and pulled the shades down.
The two men behind the counter looked up with surprised looks on their faces then all four men pulled their guns. "Put your hands up," Jed said and motioned to the teller with blonde hair. "Get out here and open the vault."
The clerks blue eyes were veiled as he sidled sideways behind the counter and came around the end. Jed shoved him toward the vault door. Sean looked at the dark-haired clerk.
"You get out here too," he said, his eyes stared intently and his normally full lips tightened into a grim line. The clerk's dark eyes narrowed, but he moved out from behind the counter as the blonde clerk swung the vault door open. Sean grabbed the other clerk's arm and shoved him toward the men in front of them as Jake and Les stepped into the vault.
All hell broke loose.
Inside the vault, Mike and John had been hiding up against the front wall on either side of the door. Jake and Les didn't notice them until too late. They jumped the two men from behind, knocking them to the floor. Nate, the blonde clerk, grabbed Jed by scruff of his neck and rammed his head into the vault door. The man fell to the floor unconscious. Adam, the other clerk, elbowed Sean in the face then drove him back into the wall as he kneed him and took his gun away.
Mike and John had disarmed the two men in the vault and already had them cuffed as Adam pinned the red-haired man to the wall with his forearm across his neck. Nate was crouched down and cuffing the unconscious man who had started to groan.
Adam had just glanced back at his deputies and saw the two conscious robbers watching, when Sean reached behind him and pulled a gun from the small of his back, forcing Adam to drop the gun he had already taken away. The two men struggled with the second gun in between them briefly then it went off.
Sean looked at Adam with surprise and disbelief in his dark-blue eyes. The gun they had been fighting over clattered to the floor as Adam took a step back and the red-haired man slid down him and landed face first.
Kicking both guns out of the way, Adam knelt next to him and felt for a pulse. He turned to his three deputies and shook his head. Nate went to raise the shades on the front windows as Adam stood and moved with a slight limp to the front door. He unlocked and opened it.
Ben, Hoss, and Joe came in quickly and stopped to look at the four men on the floor.
"Please go help Nate, Mike, and John get those three on their feet." He looked down at the red-haired man. "Don't bother with this one."
They nodded, helped pull the three gang members to their feet and dragged them out the door. Thea came in then with the two bank clerks Adam and Nate had switched some of their clothes with. She looked down at the man on the floor then turned to Adam with a questioning look. Her husband just nodded.
The clerk with the blonde hair moved toward the vault to lock the door, but Thea asked him to wait. "I have to get the costumes out of there first. Barbara will be expecting them back," she explained to the clerk as she quickly went in and just as quickly came back out with the dresses and bonnets draped across her arm.
Thea came to slip her other arm around Adam's waist and he put an arm around her shoulders. The two stood there looking down at the man on the floor while the two clerks locked the vault and pulled down the shades. When they left she looked up at her husband saying, "Everyone is still coming to dinner, right?"
He nodded and she gave his waist a quick squeeze as he walked her to the door. He put a hand under her chin and tipped her face up for a kiss then he opened the door for her.
"I'll stop on the way home and send Matt over with a stretcher," she said and was gone.
Adam closed the door, locked it, and went back to the man on the floor.
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The table in the kitchen was completely full for dinner that night and Thea looked around at the faces of the people dear to her and sighed with contentment. The children had been fed earlier and put to bed and the adults were having dessert while several conversations were going on at once.
Joe was listening to the three deputies recounting assignments from the past when they had worked for Pinkerton. Adam was discussing the coming land auction with his father, Barbara, Hoss, and Dora. Cassandra and Matt were discussing their wedding plans with Marie. Thea was just sitting back and only vaguely hearing the light-hearted chatter when Adam startled her by sighing with exasperation and standing.
"Excuse me," he said and went to the back door. He opened it and leaned out, "You have been skulking around my backyard for at least a half hour now. What the hell are you looking for?"
A man's voice tinged with laughter answered him, "I'm just being cautious."
"Bull, you're just being nosey, now get in here Dylan," Adam said and started laughing.
Almost everyone seated who had been involved with the robbery was startled when the man with the dark-red hair came through the door, took off his hat, and looked around shyly.
"Don't worry folks," Adam chuckled, "he's one of us."
"Dylan!" Thea said as she stood and came over to hug him. "I wasn't sure you were ever going to show up," she said as he gently hugged her back and smiled down into her animated face.
"Are you hungry?"
"No ma'am, but I sure would appreciate some of that coffee," he said as she led him to the table and pushed him down into her chair.
She went to get his coffee while Adam came to stand behind his young friend and put his hands on the seated man's shoulders. He cleared his throat and seemed about to say something, but started chuckling.
Dylan turned his head to look at the older man with an annoyed expression. "Are you going to start doing that again?"
Adam patted him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry, I just can't help it," he said and tried to get himself under control as the other man sighed in resignation.
"Alright," Adam said. "I would like you all to meet a very good friend of mine, Deputy Marshal Dylan Marshall," he said quickly then laughed.
It took a few moments for the other people to understand what Adam was laughing about and Joe was the first to get it.
"You mean you're Marshal Marshall?" he said, honestly trying to hold back his amusement.
Dylan raised his dark-blue eyes and sighed. "Yes," he answered Joe's question as Thea placed a cup of coffee in front of him with a slice of cake on a plate, a fork, and a spoon. Then she moved the sugar bowl and cream pitcher closer so he could reach them.
Just about everyone at the table was fighting a losing battle with laughter and they all gave up and gave in to it when Dylan shook his head and said, "You better let it out or your heads will explode."
Thea, who had gone to get a chair, was the only one not laughing. Placing the chair at the corner of the table next to Dylan, she sat down, looked at the young man and shrugged. Then she smiled when she glanced at Adam and saw he was laughing so hard tears had formed in the corners of his eyes.
He finally got himself under control and waited for the rest of them to do the same before he introduced everyone.
No sooner had he finished than the clock struck nine and everyone was surprised by the lateness of the hour.
Adam looked at his father and brothers, "You don't have to take that long ride back home if you don't want to. We have plenty of room if you want to stay."
Ben looked at his other two sons who nodded. "Alright, I don't see why not," he said and Thea stood.
"I'll go get your rooms ready," she said then looked at Dylan. "You'll be staying tonight, too, won't you?"
The young man smiled a charming dimpled smile as he said, "Whatever you say, ma'am."
She laughed. "What am I going to do with you? My name is Thea, not 'ma'am'" she said and left the room to head upstairs. Cassandra, Marie, and Dora quickly stood and followed her to offer their help.
Nate, Mike, John, and Barbara decided they should be leaving, so the three deputies offered to walk her home. The tall woman graciously accepted and grinned at Joe as he also stood, so he could see them to the front door. She paused on her way out to kiss Adam on the cheek and he thanked her for her help, then she joined the four men who were waiting for her in the hall.
Adam turned to his father and Hoss. "If you two want to sneak a peek at the babies you better do it now while Thea is busy and probably won't catch you." They grinned and stood. "But take the backstairs, that's closer to the nursery," he said and the two men hurried off.
"Babies?" Dylan asked.
"Triplets," Adam said and laughed at Dylan's expression. "Yes, that means we have five now."
"What are they?"
"All boys."
"Good God, and you're still reasonably coherent?"
"Just barely," Adam said and grinned as he stood and started to clear the dessert dishes off the table.
The younger man started to get up to help, but Adam waved him back to his chair.
"I'll get this done faster by myself, you don't know where anything goes," he said with a smile. "But don't stop talking, I can do two things at once."
So the red-haired man sat down again, but on the other side of the table so he wouldn't have his back to his host.
"I thought Jerry was working with you?" he said and Adam paused in mid- stride then continued carrying dishes to the sink. He still had his back to Dylan when he said, "Jerry's dead."
Dylan gasped in shock. "Oh no," he said softly. "What happened?"
"Well, someone was determined to kill me so they blew up the temporary office we were using." He came back to the table to lean on it as he said, "Jerry knocked me down and threw himself on top of me. He saved my life."
The younger man smiled a wan smile, "That sounds like something he would do. He was one of the best men I've ever known."
Adam nodded, as he continued with his task. "How long were you two partners when you worked for Pinkerton?"
"About three years - God it's so hard to believe he's gone. I've never known anyone before who could make me laugh the way he did. And just about everything I know about explosives and flammables I learned from him."
"I know," Adam said and came back to finish clearing the table. "So what are your plans now? Are you happy doing this clandestine work?" he said as he started scooping hot water from the tank on the side of the stove, filled the two dishpans, and added some powdered soap to one of them.
Dylan stood and came over. "You wash, I'll dry," he said and Adam reached into a drawer and tossed him a dishtowel.
"Just stack them to your left," he said and began to wash the dishes as he waited for the other man to answer his question.
"It's funny you should ask me that. I was seriously considering asking for a different assignment next time, anything that wouldn't force me to live with the dregs of society for a change," he said looking out the window at the darkness.
Adam cleared his throat to pull the other man's attention back to the job at hand. "What do you think you would be interested in doing?"
The younger man looked down and smiled to see that Adam washed dishes with his usual brisk efficiency and hurried to try and catch up. "I was thinking about doing something where the skills Jerry taught me could be used."
The other man smiled as he finished washing the last dish. "Good, I was hoping you might say that."
"Why?"
"Because now that Jerry is gone I need another explosives man," he said as he started on the flatware.
Dylan was surprised for a moment then thought about it as he dried the utensils. "Are you serious?" he asked.
"Very serious, but I want you to be sure and take some time to think it over thoroughly. I also want to warn you about a few things," he said as he motioned for Dylan to be seated at the table again.
Adam put everything away quickly before coming back. He sat down directly across from the red-haired man and looked him in the eye.
"First, anyone joining my office will be facing some resistance from the rest. Jerry was not only respected, he was loved and became a member of this family. That's the way it is with my people. No one has ever been able to resist Thea pulling them in and Jerry was a prime example, she never gave up on him."
Dylan nodded and smiled at the image of big, rough and tough Jerry trying to fend off Thea and failing.
"Second," Adam continued, "I will be very hard on you - I expect the best from my people and won't accept anything less. That might be hard for you to handle after being on your own for so long."
The other man nodded again.
"And third, everyone pitches in. Whether it's around here, at the office, or on assignment when a job needs to be done. Work is work no matter what kind and I would not want any man on my team who would think a job is beneath him. Doing the dishes is a good example of a job many men wouldn't be caught dead doing. I have no problem with it." Adam leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.
"Take some time to think about it," he continued, "then let me know what your decision is."
Dylan started to answer him, but Thea came in then.
She quickly took in the state the kitchen was in and smiled gratefully at her husband before rushing up to him and raining kisses all over his face.
"Stop that," he said laughing, then winked at Dylan. "The woman just can't seem to control herself."
Thea grinned, hopped into his lap, and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Well, you can't blame a girl for trying," she said tragically and laid her head on his shoulder.
The two men laughed at her theatrics and a moment later she slipped out of her husband's lap and motioned for Dylan to follow her upstairs so she could show him to his room. But as she left she said, "Don't be too long Adam," and batted her lashes at him.
"Sassy," he called her and she just giggled and hurried out as Adam went to empty the dishpans.
Thea led him down the hall and up the stairs slowly, giving him plenty of time to look around. Then they moved down the second floor hallway and she stopped to put her hand on a doorknob, but snatched it back quickly.
"I almost forgot, I switched Hoss to this room because the bed is bigger," she said then moved four doors down. When she opened the door he could see a pleasant room done in shades of blue with a large, comfortable looking bed. A blue glass lamp on the dresser had already been lit and she waved him in saying, "Good night, we'll see you in the morning." Then she stepped out and closed the door.
Moving quietly down the hall, she opened the door to the room she and Adam shared, went in, and then closed it behind her. She gasped in surprise when she felt strong arms slip around her waist and she was pulled back against a hard body. She shook with quiet laughter when Adam leaned down to whisper in her ear, "What took you so long?"
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Hours later they had just fallen asleep when the sound of a woman's scream jolted them awake. They both grabbed robes and shrugged into them before running out into the hall.
The door to Dylan's room was open and they could see a small light flicker then grow bright as someone lit the lamp.
They rushed to look in the doorway and saw Dylan standing in the corner by the dresser trying to wrap a blanket around himself. Dora was standing up against the wall next to the door with her hands over her face. She peeked at Adam and Thea through her fingers and groaned, "Oh my God, I am so embarrassed!" as everyone else, except Joe, dressed in nightclothes and robes crowded around behind Adam and Thea.
Then they heard Hoss coming so Adam stepped into the room to stand in front of Dylan while Thea went to put an arm around Dora. Then the people still in the doorway stepped back to let Hoss, who was still fully dressed, into the room.
He took two steps in and stopped dead. His bright blue eyes looked at Dylan cowering in the corner, then shifted to Dora who was now in Thea's arms with her face buried in the shorter woman's shoulder.
He looked down at the floor for a moment and cleared his throat as his lips twitched. Then he looked up and met Thea's gaze. He took in her over bright eyes and the way she had her lips folded in as she fought against hysterical laughter. Without saying a word he turned his head to look at Dylan again. The young man was trying to press himself further into the corner.
Then he looked at Adam who raised his hands in an "I have no idea what happened" gesture while shaking his head. He looked down at the floor again and bit his lip as he almost had himself under control. But Thea couldn't stop a small snort of laughter from escaping and that set him off. He put his hands over his face and his shoulders shook as he started laughing and couldn't seem to stop. Thea was the first to join him and she laughed so hard tears were streaming down her face even as she still tried to comfort Dora by patting her on the back.
Everyone else but Dylan and Adam joined in and by the time they all stopped Hoss was gasping for breath. He turned and looked at the people in the hall and jerked his head to the side, telling them to go back to bed. When he turned back to Thea he saw Dora turn her head slightly to the side and look at him over her shoulder.
When he shook his head at her she turned and blurted out, "I thought this was your room!"
"I know," Hoss said quietly, still shaking his head at her. "I can't believe you did this." His lips started to twitch again but he managed to get a hold of himself as he said, "What were you thinkin' woman?"
"I don't know!" Dora wailed as she turned away to drop her forehead onto Thea's shoulder and started crying.
Thea looked at Hoss and waved him over to collect his fiancé. He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her around. She threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest as she continued to cry in embarrassment.
Hoss and Thea looked at Adam when he spoke, "What do you say we get out of here and let Dylan get back to bed?"
Thea nodded and moved toward the door still biting her lip, afraid that the hysterical laughter would come welling up again.
Adam stayed where he was while Hoss put an arm around Dora's shoulders and led her out into the hall. Then he turned to the stunned man in the corner saying, "I am so sorry, but for some reason my house has been in a state of barely controlled insanity ever since we moved here. " He shook his head and was glad to see that Dylan no longer looked terrified as he turned and left, closing the door firmly behind him.
Dora was no longer crying, but she still had her face pressed into Hoss's chest as she sniffled a bit. Thea looked at her husband with raised eyebrows as he walked up to the three of them.
"I wonder why it seems there's always some sort of show going on around here," he said when he reached them. "Unfortunately they always seem to be in the form of a ridiculous farce."
Hoss and Thea looked at him, surprised that he wasn't angry, then they turned their eyes to Dora when they heard her giggle.
"I'm so sorry, Adam," she said as she turned her head to look at him. "What kind of a sister-in-law you must think I'll be?"
"Oh, I think tonight just proves that you'll fit right in," Adam grinned at her and she giggled again.
"Alright, I think we've had enough high drama for tonight," Thea said smiling as she came and pulled Dora away from Hoss by the arm and started to lead her back to her room.
Adam waited until the two women went through the door before turning back to Hoss. "I can't believe she did this either," he said and grinned at his younger brother as Hoss stood there shaking his head.
"You're going to have to watch that one Hoss, she's more like Thea than I thought," he said then chuckled at his brother's horrified expression.
"Lordy, you really think so?"
His older brother nodded and clapped him on the back. "Don't worry though. I can tell you in all honesty it'll be worth it."
They walked down the hallway in companionable silence and when they reached Hoss's room he opened the door and started to go in, but turned back to Adam once more. "I still can't believe she did that!" he said then went in and shut the door.
Adam just stood there shaking his head when he heard a door open and saw Thea come out of Dora's room. He waited for her and when she reached him, he took her hand and the two slowly walked back to their room. He opened the door and paused to look down at her.
"Are you as wide-awake as I am?"
She looked up at him and nodded, then laughed at the wicked look he gave her as he swept her up into his arms, went in, then pushed the door shut with his foot.
A little while later Adam laughed his deep laugh and said, "Mrs. Cartwright, I can't believe you did that!"