Trip to Murder 17
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Matt sat in the morose quiet of Herman's spare room, cradling Kitty tightly in his arms. She had lain for a long time, in stunned silence before finally succumbing to the tears she'd valiantly tried to hold back. When her tears finally subsided, she fell into a troubled sleep, made only marginally restful by the man who held her, whispering constant reassurances.
Herman had left to open up his restaurant for the day and Sean had gone to his job, promising to check in with them later and let them know if he heard anything else. But Matt wasn't sure he wanted to know anything else. What they already knew was bad enough. The possibility of their coming through this unscathed seemed remote.
They had decided that Herman would once again make a late evening visit to Dr. Sheridan's house with the files and ask for his help in getting them to someone outside of St. Louis. Though risky, the plan was the only feasible thing they could do at the moment.
Of course there was always a chance that Sheridan would refuse to help them, or that he might be caught trying to help them and tell Owens everything in order to save himself. There was also a chance that if he did help and got the files to Matt's contact, that nothing more would be done after that.
After all, St. Louis was hardly in Matt's jurisdiction. And Owens, according to Sean, was making Kitty look pretty darned guilty as a murderer and thief and Matt guilty as her accomplice. He didn't like the idea of not being able to do anything about this, especially where Kitty was concerned. But he wasn't sure what else to do.
Matt would never say as much to Kitty, but this had him worried and even a little afraid. Gunmen and gamblers and drunken cowboys were a walk in the park, compared to a crooked lawman with a whole city backing him up. Matt had faced some tough odds, but he had to admit, to himself at least, these were some of the toughest.
"I've decided, I'm not gonna just sit and wait for them to find me." Kitty spoke as she pulled away from Matt and sat up. "I can't do it."
"How long you been awake?" a startled Matt asked her.
"I'm not sure I ever really slept." She answered. "I… I just can't stop thinking about this, Matt. And I can't sit idly by and do nothing. I feel so helpless doing nothing. Your plan for getting those files to your superior is a good one, but there's too much chance of that failing."
"I know what you mean, Kitty." Matt sighed. "I've been sitting here thinking the same thing. But I'm not sure what else I can do. We so much as step foot outside of this house and Owens'll have us. I might risk it, but I'm not about to let you do it."
"You couldn't stop me." She said with a raised brow. "Besides, I'm not proposing we just take off without any sort of idea where we're going or why. And we sure can't do anything during the day. But there's got to be something more we can do. I mean, if we were back in Dodge, what would you do there?"
Matt sat back against the headboard and pulled Kitty back to him, wrapping his arms once again around her. "There's a lot of things I could do there, Kitty." Matt told her. "But I'm the law there. I'm not here. And here the law is against me."
"Against us." Kitty firmly corrected him.
"Against me." Matt said again. "Somehow, I'm gonna figure out how to get you out of here and back home to Dodge. You've got no business being mixed up in this."
Once again, Kitty pulled away from him. This time in irritation. "I've got no…? I'm the one that saw the murder, Matt. I'm the one being accused of that murder. I'm the one every lawman in St. Louis has been ordered to shoot if they see me. I think that's pretty doggoned 'mixed up in it'."
"That's not what I meant, Kitty." Matt got up from the bed and paced around the room a little. "Look, Owens wants you dead and he'll do whatever it takes to accomplish that. You've already been hurt. I'm just trying to keep you from being killed. I… I couldn't handle that, Kitty. I just couldn't."
Kitty's irritation disappeared in a deep breath as she also rose from the bed and stepped over to him. Pushing into his embrace, she hugged him tightly. "I love you too." She acknowledged his unspoken admission. "And I know you're worried. But have you considered the fact that, even in Dodge, I'd still be wanted for murder? That nice man, which took over for you there, would have to arrest me and ship me right back. I wouldn't be any safer in Dodge than I am right here in your arms. As a matter of fact, I think I'm a lot safer here in your arms."
Matt sighed, holding her close and resting his chin on the crown of her head for a second. "Guess you're right. I just wish there was something I could do to get you out of this. If I could just…" He paused as a thought came to him. "You know, I think there's… well, maybe something…"
Kitty drew back and studied him with a hopeful curiosity. "What?"
Matt pursed his lips for a moment before replying, trying to formulate the plan completely in his own mind before telling her. He didn't want to get her hopes up if it didn't work. But running through his head again, he thought it just might. "We know Owens and Peat are in this thing together, right?"
Kitty nodded. "Yeah."
"And we know there are probably more as well. Those files, you found, bear that out. But those files, damning though they may be, wouldn't be enough to get that murder warrant against you dropped."
Kitty dropped her head. "No, I guess not. They don't prove my innocence in any way."
"Nope." Matt agreed, getting a little excited, in spite of himself, at this idea. "But a confession would."
Kitty's forehead wrinkled in confusion as she looked at him. "Confession? Who's confession?"
Matt opened his mouth to answer when the door to the room burst open and Herman stumbled in. "You had better go." He gasped, obviously out of breath from running. "Zey know you are here. Zey are coming."
TBC