Chapter 9

Cade sat in his room later that night, mulling over a glass of whiskey as a saloon girl lay sprawled out across the bed, sleeping off her nights work. His evening in the saloon down below had been profitable to say the least, the pretty girl he'd had the pleasure of spending time with had just sweetened the evening. She hadn't come cheap but everything could be brought, at a price. With his other needs taken care of he could return his attention to the real reason why he had come to Stockton.

From what he had been able to learn from folks at the poker tables, the Barkleys were one of the largest and most influential families in San Joaquin county. Most people spoke highly of them though he had been able to find one ranch hand who was more than happy to talk smack about them after being laid off from their ranch. It didn't matter that the reason why he was laid off had been because he was drinking on the job which was his own fault; he'd been more than happy to spill the beans on his old employer and his family.

As he had suspected, the man he had seen Missie with earlier was Jarrod Barkley. He was the eldest son of the late Tom Barkley and a lawyer. The most fascinating piece of information he had been able to glean though was that dear Jarrod Barkley had obtained custody of one Missie Williams, under the persona of Millie Anders. His niece was smart, he'd give her that. She'd been able to find herself under the protection of quite a formidable opponent and if there was an ounce of truth in what the old washed up cowboy had told him, it was that the family had taken her in and treated her like one of their own.

Thinking about that, Cade squeezed the shot glass in his hand so tightly the glass began to crack.

Getting her back was going to take a little more planning and time then he had thought.

He'd learnt all he needed to know about the Barkleys that evening. Victoria Barkley was a widow, her husband having been killed seven years prior in a shootout with the railroad when they were trying to take land off neighboring ranchers. There was Jarrod and then there was Nick. Good ol Nick Barkley who would have what he deserved coming for him in time. The third son, Heath, was the family's bastard; the result of Tom Barkley fooling around with a woman in a mining camp called Strawberry, the now ghost town fifteen miles from his home town of Alder. That blonde haired beauty he had been eyeing off all day was named Audra, and a stunning specimen of a woman was she. If there was one consultation about this whole goose chase that Missie had led him on, it was in the form of Audra Barkley. After spending most of the day stalking her and Missie, he'd promised himself he'd be sure to get to know her better before he left Stockton.

There was one more member of the Barkley family, a younger boy named Eugene. He wouldn't be a problem though, away at college studying to become a doctor. It was fascinating what little details a body could learn when a tongue had been loosened by a little whiskey.

Now, as the shot glass fractured in his hand and he dropped the remnants of it onto the floor, his expression hardened.

It was time to begin planning what his next move would be.

For the entirety of his life, Cade had been different from the rest. There had always been a mean streak that ran through him, something that should have been curbed as a child by his parents but hadn't. He was the eldest of eight children, three of which had died before they were a year old. Being the only surviving male born, he had been the pride and joy of his father; in his eyes, he could do nothing wrong. Even when he had begun to beat his mother as a twelve year old, his father had made excuses for him and brushed it off as normal boyish behavior.

In his entire life, he'd never known discipline.

When he had killed three chickens by strangling them as a seven year old, he'd never been punished. When he'd beaten up a boy so badly he'd almost died at eleven, he'd never been punished. By the time he had turned thirteen, he'd made five teachers resign but yet, his father never took him over his knee to tan his hide. His father always protected him, made excuses for him to be able to keep him in school. With enough money, silence could be brought.

Just like at school, those at home were terrified of him. Women to him were a joke, he watched how his father treated his mother and he played out what he saw with his sisters. His father was where he got his mean streak from though his was considerably way worse. His sisters were terrified of him and to know they were scared of him gave him a sense of power he craved. He loved nothing more then to subject them to cruel and unusual torture his twisted mind created for them.

When he was nine, he'd almost drowned one of his younger sisters in a barrel, having held her head under water until she was almost unconscious. His sisters were too scared of him to speak up and even if they tried, their father would never have believed them. His son couldn't be capable of the unspeakable things they accused him of, could he?

His father didn't even know an eighth of the things that he got up to, either at home or at school.

His victims were scared to silence and his reign of terror continued unchecked.

After graduating school, his father had paid for him to attend college. Obtaining a degree in accounting had never been a goal in his life but attending college at Boston had opened a new world to him. It was there he was introduced to three of what he considered as life's greatest pleasures; gambling, drink and women. He'd fallen into the wrong crowd, boys with fathers as rich as his that never cared for the trouble their sons caused. Like in school, any trouble he caused at college was quietly done away with provided enough money was slipped beneath the table.

College years had been the starting point for the man he was now.

After graduation, he'd returned home where his father had given him a job in the shipping and freighting company he owned, a job that he never wanted or asked for but he begrudgingly did it anyway. After all, he couldn't afford to get on his father's wrong side. He needed his father's money. Besides, his father never bothered looking at the accounts, that was his job now being the company accountant and that meant that he could dip his hand into his father's money at will without him noticing.

Years slipped by, his sisters growing up and moving out as soon as they could leave home. He was glad to see them go, being most glad to see Ruth married and out of his life. Two years his younger sister, that girl had been the only one who ever dared to stand up against him. More than once she had hit or kicked back and he had gradually learnt to give her a wide berth if he wanted to keep his family jewels safe. With her gone however, there was nothing left stopping him from tormenting his remaining sisters as he saw fit and he had relished in it.

The war came and while men all around him were going into service, his father pulled the strings in the right places to keep him safely at home. While others of his age fought and died for the cause they believed in, he sat drinking champagne surrounded by women he brought with fancy words and expensive jewelry. Yes, some of his peers thought he was a lily-livered coward for not wanting to go to war and fight for what was right and he happily agreed with them that he was. The enemies he made along the way, he never dealt with them in broad daylight. His revenge was always done under the darkness of night and in San Francisco alone there was more than one murder that would forever go unsolved.

Just after the war, his mother died while he had been away conducting business for company expansion. His father never spoke of the reason for her death but Cade didn't care in the least for the details. When he'd received the telegram from his father to tell him about her passing, he'd gone to the nearest saloon for a drink and a girl to celebrate with. He never shed a tear. He'd taken his time getting home, arriving just in time for her funeral. It was then that he had seen his sister last, Ruth being the only one who still lived in the state; the rest of them had moved away from home as far as they could get and never returned.

His life of luxury wasn't to continue forever though.

Due to his poor management and his dipping into the company funds, his father's company had been declared bankrupt only a few years ago. It had been then that his father had realized that perhaps he should have done something with him sooner but by then it had been too late. However, his father had been smart enough to have money hidden away and the two of them had moved to Alder and built the house he now lived in when they lost everything in San Francisco.

It was the beginning of the little empire he had created.

They had lived there for a couple years when Ruth came to live with them. Her husband had been killed in a ranching accident and she had lost everything. With her, she brought an eleven year old daughter. He had hated the way that their father welcomed her back into his home, his father mellowing in his old age. He watched, seething, as Ruth had taken care of the old man and had vowed that one way or the other, she had to go.

First though, he needed money after losing heavily on a bet he'd made.

There was only one place left he had to withdraw that kind of cash from and making that withdrawal would take care of two problems.

A little dose of a potion here and there that he'd brought from an old Chinese man in one of the mining camps took care of him being able to make that withdrawal; his father passed within two months of his sister arriving.

After he died and he and Ruth had gone to their father's lawyer to have the will read, to his surprise, he had been completely written out of the estate and everything their father had left in the world had been given to Ruth and her daughter Missie. It enraged him that she was the one who was left their fathers money and ranch while he had been given nothing. That money was untouchable by him, he couldn't get his hands on it and his father had been careful to ensure that he couldn't.

Knowing that she now had ownership of the house had given Ruth a backbone he'd never expected her to have. It had made it all the more entertaining for him. Once she'd tried to run and take her daughter with her but he'd chased down the stagecoach and after killing the driver, had forced them to come along home with him at gunpoint. He'd threatened that if she ever pulled a stunt like that again, he'd kill her daughter.

In fear and to keep her daughter safe, Ruth had stayed.

Only a short time passed before Ruth had also been taken care of too in a permanent like way. It hadn't been intentional at the time but he was glad to be rid of her afterwards. With Ruth gone, that left Missie in his custody. He loathed the girl, envious of the fact that she now had all the wealth from his father that should have been his. Though she didn't know it, just over a million dollars had been left to her in trust. Where his father had gotten that money from after his company went bankrupt, he'd never know. His father had secrets of his own and they had been taken to the grave with him.

It was that money that meant everything to him. Getting his hands on that money meant that he could return to San Francisco and claim to his rightful place in high society once more rather than brushing heels with the peasants of the mining camps. The little empire he had built was only a stepping stone in his greater plan. From San Francisco, the world was his oyster.

He just had to get that money.

That, and the fact that he didn't take kindly to being taken for a fool was the reason why he had become so obsessed with finding her.

If he wanted that money, he needed her.

Missie would be sixteen in a few months and when that happened, she'd be old enough to start accessing her trust fund. Until then, he'd keep her on ice and once she turned sixteen, he'd ensure that she'd name him to receive the trust fund in the event that something should happen to her.

Then, Missie would meet with an unfortunate accident and his father's money would finally be his.

In the meantime though, he could enjoy playing this game of cat and mouse.

And just like a cat tormenting a mouse before they finally ate it, he'd play and toy with her also until he too finally went in for the kill.

As the day of the Spring Dance neared, Millie's apprehension of attending the social event grew. Not only did she hate being amongst a crowd of strangers like the Christmas party a few months back but there was also one other major problem; she couldn't dance. Dancing had never been something she'd cared to learn but given the social status of the family she found herself associated with, it seemed expected of her to know how. The closer it got to the dance, the more she didn't want to go but there seemed no other alternative for her. Every time she tried to get out of it, Jarrod would tell her what a great time she was going to have and he flatly refused to let her stay home.

And unfortunately for her, Millie still hadn't found her voice to be able to speak up about what she was feeling.

Not only was she worried because she couldn't dance, she had other reasons that made her want to stay at home. Ever since her trip into town she'd been feeling that someone was watching her but try as she might, she never saw anything. She couldn't step foot out of the house without feeling that eyes were upon her and it had been unnerving to say the least. It had made her begin to wonder if perhaps, she was starting to go crazy. Her mind was playing tricks on her and there was nothing she could do about it.

Slowly, it was beginning to really take its toll on her.

The family began to notice the change in her behavior too, Victoria and Jarrod conferring between themselves about what they were going to do with Millie. It was just little things at first at first that they noticed, she'd started becoming quite jumpy, startling easily but as the days slipped by, it became evident that there was a real problem brewing with her. She wasn't sleeping, she was withdrawn from them and hidden back inside her shell, the walls they had tried so hard to break down being erected again by her. She'd thrown herself into working on the ranch, from sunup till sundown she was doing something, she just didn't stop and they were beginning to become quite concerned for her.

It wasn't healthy they knew, but what could they do?

Neither of them were sure exactly how to handle the situation. Jarrod tried to get her to open up to him but every time, Millie shut down and withdrew a little further inside herself. The conversation he'd had with Doctor Merar played on his mind, as well as the one he'd had with Millie when she'd found out that her picture had been published in the Stockton Eagle. He didn't know how to help her.

Unbeknownst to any of them, Millie's past was about to collide with her present.

Late Thursday evening, Millie wearily led the last horse she'd been working with back into the barn to bed down for the night. She was beyond exhausted, every muscle in her body ached yet she knew when she laid down in bed later that night, sleep would nonetheless still evade her. She hadn't slept for weeks at this point, ever since she found her photo in the newspaper. If it wasn't the memories keeping her awake, when she was finally able to get a wink of sleep, the nightmares came. Nick had been woken a couple times by her because of them and he'd come check on her and while she appreciated it, she couldn't help but feel bad for interrupting his sleep. Since then, so Nick could sleep, she'd started going out to the barn to bunk down when everyone else in the house had gone to bed for the night. That way, if she did happen to have a nightmare, she'd only wake the horses and no one else.

Returning the filly to her stall, Millie tied her up and gave the brown quarter horse a pat on the neck. As the filly nuzzled her in return, she chuckled a little. Horses were the only thing that brought her joy these days and this filly in particular she'd taken a real shine to. "You did good today, Lil Bit." She told her softly, having christened the three year old with the name herself. "Pretty soon we'll have you out with the cattle, won't we?"

Thinking of that, that her work with this filly would be finished soon, she sobered. This filly had been one of her favorites to work with. She was smart and a quick learner. She was going to miss her when she had to hand her over to the ranch hands to finish her off. Lil Bit was a ripper of a horse though in her eyes, no horse could ever come close to her own stallion.

Giving her one last pat she left to undertake her chores. The two fillies and three colts needed feeding and watering and once she'd finished seeing to the horses in her care, she still had Tomahawk left to go up in the house barn. She was tired, bone weary, but she had one last job to get done before she could think about rest.

For the past two weeks after going to town with Audra, she'd thrown herself back into her work in an effort to escape her own mind. Behind every tree, every bush now, it felt like Cade was there, watching her. She was becoming paranoid. He was out there, somewhere, watching her. Waiting.

Even as she left the long barn and headed up the short walk to the barn closest to the house where the Barkleys stabled their personal horses, she couldn't shake the feeling someone was watching her. She could feel eyes on her and though she wanted to run to the safety of the barn, she forced herself to walk there calmly. After all, she couldn't have the Barkleys thinking she was going crazy.

Tomahawk greeted her with a whinny as she came in, the young woman noticing that Coco was still missing as she went to take care of him. Nick wasn't back yet from town, having gone in to finalize a contract with the army for some horses. Seeing Jingo in his stall she knew Jarrod had arrived home early for a change and she wondered if he would be up for a game or two of checkers after supper.

The sound of hoof-beats approaching outside heralded the news that Nick had arrived home. A moment later the rancher was leading his gelding in, passing her on his way to Coco's stall. "Evenin' Millie girl." He remarked as he went by.

Millie looked up, smiling a little as she continued to brush Tomahawk. "Evening Nick. How'd it go in town?"

"Good. We got the contract."

"Oh that's great!"

"How'd the youngsters do today?" He questioned, tying his gelding up before he went to unsaddle him. "Made any progress with that bay colt?"

Millie nodded. "He'll take a bridle now, I'll try saddling him in a few days. He's sensitive Nick, he's going to take a little more time then the others. I hope that's alright. I don't want to rush him."

"You take all the time you need, Luke Wilson is payin' good money for that cow pony, I want him given the best."

"The best is what he'll get." She assured him as Nick tossed his saddle over the stall wall.

"So…." He started after silence had fallen for a time, glancing over at her as he brushed Coco down. "You lookin' forward to the dance tomorrow night?"

Millie shook her head as she left Tomahawk's stall to bring him down hay from the loft. "No."

"Why not?" He questioned while Millie climbed up the ladder to the loft. "The dance is all Audra's been talkin' about for weeks." He continued as she returned, a bundle of hay tucked beneath her arm.

"I can't dance."

"You can't dance?" He repeated, a little louder than he intended. "Millie, that's nothin' to be worried about. I can teach you."

"Really?" She questioned hesitantly as she stopped outside her stallions stall and turned to him, still holding onto the hay. "You'd do that for me?"

"Sure." Nick replied as he finished brushing his gelding. "Go give that mustang of yours his tucker and we'll give it a try now."

"But don't we need music to be able to dance?"

"Nope. Go on. It'll be fun. Promise."

She continued to Tomahawk's stall, dropping her armful of hay into his manger. Giving him a pat, she lingered with him for a moment then left. "So…" She started hesitantly as she returned to him, Nick leaving Coco's stall to join her in the aisle. "I'm all yours. What do I do?"

"Just follow my lead." He replied as he took her left hand in his right and placed his left arm around her waist. He felt her flinch but she didn't pull back and she hesitantly placed her arm around his waist in return. "Now we move to the music we can pretend there is."

Biting her lip, Millie nodded and began to follow his lead.

Their dance was awkward at first as she tried to figure it out, her body having tensed up at having Nick's arm around her. "Just relax Millie." Nick prompted kindly. "It's alright."

She nodded, taking a deep breath to try and calm herself then she shook her head and pulled away from him. "No. No, I don't think I can do this. I'm sorry." She said as she fled.

"Millie, wait." He called after her and she stopped at the door, turning back to him. Sitting down on a nearby straw bale, he patted the spot beside him ."Come here, lil one."

After a moment, she came back over and sat down beside him, trying to control her emotions as she looked down at her hands.

"You're still havin' a hard time trustin' me, aren't you lil one?" Nick questioned softly.

"I-it's not… It's not you Nick." She said with a quiver in her voice as she looked up at him. "I know you would never hurt me, it's just…"

"I know. You aren't good with bein' touched."

Millie nodded again. "It… It brings back memories."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." She breathed in deeply as she held eye contact with him. "I appreciate you trying to help me learn about dancing but I think it's best if I just don't go." She looked back down at her hands. "I-I'll pretend I'm sick or something. Jarrod won't take no for an answer. Maybe I can fake falling off Tomahawk or something-"

"Millie." Nick interrupted with a chuckle. "Take a breath."

With a sigh, she did as he instructed.

"Do you want to try again?" He asked softly after a moment. "I won't hurt you sweetheart, you can trust me. If you want to stop, you just give the word. Just give it another try. For me."

Millie took another deep breath. "Alright. I-I guess I can give it another go."

Offering her his hand, he stood and after she took it, he led her back to the middle of the aisle. Though she flinched again when he placed his arm around her she wasn't as tense as she had been before and he was able to start showing her how to dance. "There, that's it lil one." Nick encouraged her with a wide grin as she began to figure it out, moving with him in the aisle. "You're gettin' the hang of it."

She smiled a little as she followed his lead. "I… I guess it is kinda fun."

He chuckled. "See? I told ya you'd like dancin'."

Millie giggled, smiling up at him as she allowed her guard to drop a little and just enjoy the moment. "It's not so bad…" A mischievous twinkle appeared in her eyes and as she stepped with Nick, she deliberately trod on his toes just a little.

"Ouch! Millie!" He grouched good naturedly.

She laughed with glee seeing the expression on Nick's face. "Gotta keep you on your toes you know."

Nick just shook his head. "You lil rascal."

Millie grinned up at him and the two of them continued dancing, oblivious to the figure who was watching them through the open door from the shadows.

As the figure watched the two of them dance, his fists clenched as he heard Missie's girlish laughter. It was taking all his restraint to not run in there and give Nick Barkley a serving of what he had coming right then and there for daring to lay his hands on his property. Missie belonged to him and no one else. It was the knowledge he needed to play his hand carefully that kept him in his hiding place however. This wasn't the time or the place. He just needed to be patient a little while longer.

He'd been watching Missie these past two weeks, he had learnt her schedule inside and out and while he'd been stalking his prey, he'd been carefully staking out the ranch while he was at it. He knew every good vantage point for surveillance and the movements of the ranch hands. With what he had learnt about the Barkleys around the Saloons, they weren't people to back down from a fight and at heart, he was nothing more than a coward. He couldn't take them all on he knew. He needed a more covert approach.

The past few days, he'd been carefully creating and refining a plan to take back what was rightfully his. He'd smoothed out all the details until he was certain that he hadn't left anything to chance. It was only a matter of putting that plan into motion once he'd brought together the final elements he needed to have in place and then Missie would be his again.

All his.

And the money that came with her.

He'd seen enough for one night, Missie's laughter following him as he quietly slipped away unnoticed back to where he'd hidden his horse.

He'd see them at the dance tomorrow night.

And perhaps sample a little of Audra Barkley's wares while he was at it.