Chapter Eighteen
Lisette and Jarrod checked into the Modesto hotel and casino under assumed names. They took adjoining rooms and the bellhop took their bags upstairs.
"We will find out more if they don't know who you are, Lisette."
Jarrod rapped on the interconnecting door between them at 7 sharp. She unlocked it.
"You look very beautiful, my wife." appraising the purple silk dress she wore with tall white gloves.
"Thank you, husband. I have never worn this dress before. Seemed to be a bit wanton for my tastes but I figured I might need it, friends in New York encouraged me and I bought it on impulse for a charity event. I changed my mind at the last minute." She laughed back.
"It suits you perfectly and wanton is not why—-" as he slipped her black velvet manteau over her shoulders.
"I already have one piece of information as I walked around downstairs under the guise of finding a cigar."
"Do tell."
"The humidors in the smoking parlor were half full of cheap cigars. I asked about the better ones. The clerk said they were sold out and the manager was out of money for luxuries like those. I bought him a drink and found out he was two weeks without pay. The manager keeps saying, '"The money is coming from Denver."
"And Denver said, "the money is coming from Modesto." she added.
He nodded as she finished out his story, "It is what I heard at the Denver casino."
"Let's go eat in the dining room before we take our turn at the tables."
They were seated in the fine dining room with chandeliers and candelabras.
Jarrod ordered a bottle of wine, "What vintage do you have?"
The waiter shrugged his shoulders, "I will have to see. Shipment is late. Plenty of hard alcohol if you like—-for the casino."
"Wine," Jarrod said with authority.
"My father would never let the cellars get low. He believed that discerning clients would become regulars." she whispered to Jarrod.
The waiter came back with three possibilities and Jarrod ordered one.
He whispered to Lisette, "Least of the poor choices."
They ordered their meals and all of the choices they inquired about were "out". They settled for chicken and potatoes.
"Henry would approve."
The plates were served and they carried on small talk as a couple for anyone listening. The restaurant was only half-full on Saturday night which they believed to be unusual for Modesto's finest hotel and restaurant. But the sounds of the lively casino wafted in occasionally.
"Dessert?"
"I believe you are known for bread pudding?"
"No ma'am. The cook who knew how to make it left it last week."
Lisette looked at the waiter innocently, "Your establishment has had a string of bad luck it seems. I will make sure your tip compensates for your time."
"Thank you ma'am. I have a wife and two children at home."
"What has happened? The Taylors were very reliable owners," she whispered.
"It's not the old man. Some disreputable and his son, Franklin has been running things near six months, Mr. Taylor hasn't been here once. Ma'am I have probably said too much."
She slid a twenty dollar gold piece across the table, "For your family."
"Thank you ma'am."
"And sir, I only inquired about the bread pudding."
He smiled widely at her, "Yes ma'am."
"Take care of your family. They are all that matters."
"I will."
Jarrod watched the interaction with great appreciation.
"My dear, that was masterful."
"My Taylor blood is rife with manipulation," she said with disgust, "It comes easily." She straightened her napkin in her lap.
Jarrod frowned and sipped again on his wine.
"Lisette, I have sensed no guile in you."
She relaxed, "Jarrod, that would be from my Mother, Sissi. She would have not tolerated such. Margot Elisabeth Fourneaux Taylor. She was the sixth granddaughter of Jacques Fourneaux, the champagne house. She fell in love with a suave, debonair American on holiday; her inheritance funded my father's hotel businesses. I am named for her."
"Very fine champagne." Jarrod said respectfully. This was a new piece of information she shared.
"I was young and thought I knew so much of the world. I graduated from Vassar and thought myself wise. Paul Franklin swept me off my feet and married me. I was his ticket to Taylor Hotels. My father always wanted a son and he took Paul under his wing. Our marriage disintegrated when Henri was born. Maybe, it was rotten on the vine. He was sickly and took much of my time. Paul did not forebear any attention away from him. Mother encouraged me to put my husband first—-for the first and only time, I disobeyed her. She soon came to my side in the matter. I do not regret my choice. He wanted me to leave my son with a nurse and go to Europe for the season. I refused. He soon found women who gave him the attention he needed. And we have lived apart since."
"Lisette, you made the right choice."
She was startled by the compassion in his deep voice and in his sapphire eyes.
She could barely whisper, "Thank you, counselor."
—-&—-
Jarrod paid for the meal and they entered the casino. It was loud and raucous with none of the amenities that Taylor establishments had strived for.
They sat down at a faro table and placed some nominal bets. Jarrod won two hands as Lisette observed the room.
"Husband, let's go to the roulette wheel."
"Of course, my dear."
She placed her mark and immediately won. She giggled and Jarrod appreciated her excitement as such a simple gamble. She was not a woman comfortable with taking chances.
Jarrod watched her with a smile and the lovely dress was wearing did not escape the notice of his body or his eye. She was very lovely and if not for the commitment he was pursuing with Davina—he quickly schooled his thoughts and began to search the crowded room with his eyes. Men around the room eyed her lavisciously.
There was a table with four men staring intently at them. He made eye contact with them and they averted their eyes pretending to play poker. He looked back and their eyes were on the roulette table and him.
"Lisette? Don't look now but do you recognize the men at the poker table, four of them?"
She placed another small bet and lost. She dropped her handkerchief and bent down to retrieve it. The four men were definitely staring at Jarrod with menace and discussing him
"They seem to know you, husband."
"I fear it may be the four men wanted in Stockton—-Widow Jones. They are the right height and stature. Hair color too. But no one really got a better look at them."
Jarrod and Lisette stayed a few more hours in the casino and the men eventually left.
They walked carefully upstairs and Jarrod unlocked the door with the skeleton key. He walked in first to check the room but the four men were waiting for him. He was overpowered, hit with the butt of a gun and they pulled the screaming Lisette into the room.
"It's Paul's wife. The one that left him. She's a number. Let's sample some of what the boss can't." and they began to rip her dress off her. They held her down by the neck and pulled her legs apart. One man opened his trousers as they brutalized her.
She kicked and screamed. Jarrod lost consciousness for a while and began stirring on the floor in the pool of blood. He pulled the ankle of the man next to him and knocked him down. His powerful fist met him in the mouth.
The waiter from downstairs and several young men from the kitchen burst in—-the men scattered after a few punches and took off down the corridor.
The waiter tossed the blanket over the trembling Lisette. Jarrod stood up and thanked the men for their help.
"The sheriff knows them. Been causing trouble and live here at the hotel."
Lisette curled up in a ball wrapped in the blanket. The purple dress was in tatters on the floor. Jarrod gave her his jacket too and the men turned their back as she slipped it on and got back under the blanket. Her lip was bloodied and large purple bruises were appearing on her arms and neck.
The sheriff got there a few minutes later and Jarrod gave them his suspicions.
"They have come and gone for the past six months. A saloon girl refused to testify against them for looks like the same thing—-Torture and made some permanent marks on her."
Jarrod talked privately to the sheriff, "This is Lisette Taylor. She has inherited this hotel and I am her lawyer."
"Then she is as poor as a church mouse. This place will be insolvent soon. Check with the bank. Been getting complaints for days. No payroll, food stuffs, taxes due."
Jarrod shook his head, "I will go to the bank and courthouse, Monday."
"Take care of the lady. I don't think they will be back since they showed their hand but I can't guarantee it."
"I will. Thank you, sheriff."
Jarrod went out to the young waiter and the houseboys who saved their lives. He tipped them all well.
"Thank you again. You saved our lives."
Jarrod walked back in and picked up her dress and the broken chair. He heaped it in the corner. Lisette was trembling and crying in the bed under the blanket.
"Can I get you a drink?"
She shook her head yes.
He held the glass as she sipped his scotch.
"Oh Jarrod—they—tried—-"
"Just sip some more. Would it help if I drew a bath?"
"Yes. I can still smell them on me."
Jarrod finished the scotch with her and went into the water closet. He grabbed two towels from the warmer and poured scented salts in the tub. The hot water steamed up the mirror quickly as he stared at his reflection. He wanted to go after the men but staying with Lisette was his first priority. He wasn't sure if they completed the vile deed or not—he would get a doctor here in the morning.
"To think how close Henry came to losing his mother" he spat, "There is no way they would have left us alive. And if not for Lisette's kindness to the young waiter, " he shuddered at the thought.
He turned off the water and helped Lisette up. He gently took his jacket from her shoulders and helped her remove her torn undergarments down to her corset and torn pantaloons. He turned his head not to see her exposed body.
He untied the corset gently from behind and wrapped her back in the blanket.
"Thank you, Jarrod."
She got into the tub and took down the rest of hair. She submerged her whole body under the water and sobbed.
Jarrod stood at the door—averting his eyes from the tub, tamping down his own emotion. Her muffled cries from beneath the water echoed in his blood and fists. He rolled up his sleeves, undid his tie and lit his cigar.
He checked the locks and windows again. Nothing seemed to be touched in their possession and he surmised the men had had a master hotel key. He forced a chair under the two doors as a precaution. He broke a vase and sprinkled chards of glass on the window sills of their second floor rooms.
She finally came out in her nightdress. He averted his eyes from her bruises and the sheer fabric.
He pulled down the coverlet and fluffed the pillow. She gingerly got into the bed and thanked him again. He kissed her on the forehead.
"Leave the light on."
"I am not leaving you, Lisette." and he lay down beside her on the large bed. His loaded gun on the nightstand beside him.
"Thank you."