Molly reached the Gleason cabin and congratulated herself for finding it so easily. She had no inkling that Matt was close behind.
She slid off her horse and walked up to the cabin. Kitty had told her the place had gone to seed after old man Gleason died, and it looked it.
Sure that Daniel would be in a bad mood after spending the night in a rotting cabin, she wanted to inject some cheer. Her voice was light, "Daniel - Danny boy, as your daddy called you." She carefully pushed the door open. The smell of mold and mud hit her, and she held her breath as she walked in. The place was empty except for a rotting mattress, two wooden chairs and a rusty shovel. There was no sign of Daniel.
She stood in the middle of the room puzzling over his whereabouts.
"Hold it right there." Molly turned and saw Matt Dillon's large figure filling the doorway. His pistol pointed at her.
"Marshal Dillon, what are you doing here and why are you pointing that gun at me? I'm – I'm – I'm – so shocked that I'm at a loss for words. Marshal I was so shaken after your intensive questioning this morning, I decided to go for a ride. I came upon this cabin and decided to take a look out of simple curiosity. Now you appear out of nowhere and point a gun at me. Why?" Tears welled up in her eyes.
"You're shocked because you expected me to spend the day looking into a certain James McLaughlin who supposedly died in Denver 5 years ago."
Molly dropped all pretenses and shrugged. "I figured there were discrepancies between what I said this morning and things I'd told Kitty. I wasn't sure how quickly you'd find out." Molly sighed. "Kitty and I had a lot of good talks."
Matt didn't move, "Now it's time for you to talk to me. This time with the truth. Where is Daniel?"
"Right here Dillon, and you're the one who'll be talking." Matt's eyes darted behind him. Daniel had a rifle pointed at Kitty's head."
Daniel smiled, "Marshal, throw your gun down, or the lady gets her head blown off."
Matt tossed the gun in the dirt, furious with himself for letting Kitty come with him. Once again she was in danger because of him.
"Smart move, Dillon." Daniel picked up Matt's pistol. "Molly, go get handcuffs and a rope from Dillon's saddle."
Startled by the sudden turn of events, and shaken by seeing Kitty with a gun at her head, Molly didn't move.
"Do like I said Molly. That is if you're still with me. If you're not I…"
"Of course I'm with you. I got you out of jail didn't I? We'll get Dillon to talk in no time and that money will be ours."
She felt bad for Kitty, but it was really Dillon's doing. If he'd said where the money was, Kitty wouldn't be in this mess. Dillon wanted the money for himself, and Kitty was suffering because of it. She hurried out the door and quickly returned with the handcuffs and ropes.
Daniel snapped the cuffs on Dillon's wrists, shoved him into a chair and tied his ankles together. He wrapped a rope around Kitty's waist, to secure her to a chair, then tied her ankles together and her wrists behind her.
The questioning began.
"Dillon, where is my father's money buried."
"I don't know. He didn't tell me."
SMACK – Daniel's palm crossed Kitty's face. She cried out in pain, but swallowed it quickly. She knew Matt carried a huge burden of guilt because of things that had happened to her, and she didn't want to make it worse.
"Marshal, I'll ask again. Where is the money buried?"
"I don't know." Matt couldn't stop himself from tugging at his handcuffs.
Daniel shrugged. He formed a fist and waved it about before plowing it into the side of Kitty's face. It hit with such force she and the chair she was tied to fell over.
She hit the ground hard, fearing for her unborn child.
"Bastard," Matt jumped to his feet straining against his handcuffs. Daniel pointed his rifle at Kitty. "Settle down Dillon, or she gets a bullet in her pretty little leg."
Gritting his teeth Matt sat. Handcuffed and ankles tied, there was nothing he could do anyway.
Daniel sneered down at Kitty. "Molly grab hold of the other side of the chair and help me get this woman right side up. The marshal still needs convincing to tell us where the money is.."
Molly did as she was told but avoided Kitty's eyes.
"Now Marshal, you know that a good deal of money is buried in several places in the great state of Kansas. I'm a reasonable man; let's start with just one location.
Matt struggled against the handcuffs and ropes. It was useless and he knew Kitty's suffering would get worse. He had to try something.
"All right, I'll tell you a place to find money if you let Kitty go."
"Now that is a fine first step Dillon, a very fine first step. But you know as well as I do that it would not be wise of me to release Miss Russell before I have the information I need." He formed a fist and held it near Kitty's face.
Matt was desperate to buy time. "All right, there's money buried at Chestnut Pond under a big oak tree. It's the only big tree near that pond."
Daniel smirked, "Hmm, Chestnut pond, that's about 5 miles from here, right?"
"That's right." Matt was relieved he'd stopped Kitty's suffering for the moment. It was a first step.
"Good, we'll get going. Isn't it convenient that there's a shovel over there in the corner? It's rusty, but it will do. Like I always say, luck o' the Irish. Dillon, when we get to Chestnut Pond you'll start digging under that tree. If you dig down a foot and there is no money, Miss Russell gets a smack. If you go down 2 feet and there's still no money, she gets a punch, 3 feet something worse. You see Marshal, Molly and I have to be sure that this is not a wild goose chase."
Molly watched Matt's face as Daniel spoke. The marshal didn't move but she saw the unspeakable terror in his eyes. She saw him glance at Kitty, and realized he wasn't afraid for himself.
At the same time, she saw Kitty's eyes shooting messages of trust and love to the marshal.
Looking back and forth between the two, Molly had an epiphany. Dillon didn't know where the money was. All along she and Daniel assumed that Liam had told Dillon everything. They were wrong, dead wrong.
Daniel grinned. "To Chestnut Pond we go. Marshal, you'll ride handcuffed. If you hold tight to the saddle horn you'll be fine. Miss Russell I'll figure out how to keep you tied to the horse so you can ride. I don't want you slowing us down."
Molly's heart was pounding. She had to do something. If she didn't, the only person on earth who had ever shown her real friendship was going to die a terrible death, and the man she loved would be forced to watch before he died.
She stared out the window feeling hopeless, and noticed it was dusk. Day was gone, but night hadn't settled in. It had been her favorite time of day when she was a kid. Her stern and angry mother lost some of her hardness during dusk, believing it was an in between time; a time that left room for hope and possibilities.
A possibility suddenly became obvious to Molly. She lifted chin with a sultry smile, and walked towards Daniel swaying her hips ever so slightly. "Daniel, you are so handling this situation so perfectly that I hesitate to make a suggestion, but I have one tiny idea. Maybe we should wait until morning before going to Chestnut Pond. It's getting dark, and we don't want to risk getting lost." She gently set a hand on his arm.
"That pond isn't hard to find, Molly."
She softly kneaded his shoulder, "I know but there's no big hurry, is there? It's going to be a beautiful night." She lowered her voice. "A night under the stars hmm."
Focusing every ounce of charm within her, she leaned towards him, "Daniel, I never told you how I suffered when you visited me and your dad. There you were, a handsomer, smarter, younger version of the man I married – closer to my age and with, what should I say, a greater level of energy."
"I-I-I didn't know that." He couldn't tear his eyes away from her. His pulse was racing.
"Oh Daniel, it's horrible to say, but I am sorry I didn't meet you first." She moved even closer, her voice soft yet husky. "Your father was a great man, but it wasn't until I met you that I realized what a man could be." She put her hand on his chest. "So much a man."
Desire surged in Daniel. She noticed, "A night under the stars, just the two of us."
She took his hand and let him out of the cabin. He didn't resist.
When they were gone Matt looked over at Kitty. His jaw clenched at the bruises on her face.
"Matt, I'm all right, and we seem to have a reprieve."
Matt nodded, "The reprieve part is true. I don't understand what she's thinking."
"I don't either, but I know for sure she doesn't want to sleep with that man. She seduced him for a reason. I'm not exactly sure what the reason is."
Matt had to be closer to Kitty. His ankles were tied but he pressed he feet against the floor, and inched his chair next to her.
Kitty felt Matt's shoulder touch hers and despite the circumstances, was flooded with comfort. She thought about the baby she was carrying, Matt's baby. They had to survive, they had to. She rested her head on Matt's shoulder and drifted off to sleep.
TBC