Louis’s head jerked up at the words from the latest in a string of detectives he’d hired to find his wife. His heart thumped, knowing soon she would be back under his control. She had a lot to make up for. Images of her—naked—on her knees begging for her life gave rise to the part of his anatomy that never seemed to rest.
He leaned back in his chair and smiled. “So where is the bitch?”
The man drew out a small pad from his inner pocket. “She’s working at a Harvey House in Guthrie, up in Oklahoma Territory.”
So the little rabbit hadn’t gone very far. He should have known she’d be too timid to make a decent run. With her being so damn close, it irritated to no end that it had taken almost five months to find her. She would receive a suitable punishment for each month she had eluded him.
“What the hell is a Harvey House?”
Since Louis had not invited the man to sit, he continued to stand as he read from his notes. “It’s a restaurant chain. They have eateries all along the Santa Fe line. From what I’ve discovered, they only employ young women to work as waitresses.”
Louis gripped the edge of his desk as anger swirled through him. “Only young women? Do they do anything besides wait on customers?” If Emily was out there selling her body he would have to do a lot more damage to her than he’d planned. No one—absolutely no one—touched his woman. If the slut had been spreading her legs to keep food in her pathetic body he might just have to kill her. After he punished her.
The man shook his head. “No. All these girls are kept in a boardinghouse where they have a strict curfew. They sign contracts for anywhere from three months to a year. The Harvey people only hire girls from good homes who are smart, educated, and well-mannered. Apparently, it’s not too easy to get a job with these folks.”
Louis tapped the end of his pencil on his desk. How he would love to show up at this Harvey House and watch Emily’s face blanch white when she spotted him sitting right there waiting for her to bring him his dinner. At the thought of her fear, a thrill of excitement shot through him, going right to his groin. Yes, that was exactly what he would do. Then he would drag her by her hair to his automobile and hustle her home.
“How long of a drive is it to this Guthrie?”
“From Galveston to Guthrie, it’s a little more than five hundred miles.”
Five hundred miles would give him a lot of time to impress upon his wife what a very bad girl she’d been. His stomach muscles tightened at the thought of how he would punish her night after night on their return trip. He didn’t trust his automobile for such a long journey since gasoline was not easy to come by everywhere, so they would need train tickets for a sleeper car.
“Mr. Smith. Did you want me to go after her, sir?”
/> Louis stretched to relieve the tension in his muscles that this news had brought him. “No. I will take care of it from here. Thank you for your services, and see my secretary on the way out for payment.” He nodded at the man’s pad. “Leave that.”
He spun around in his chair and gazed out the window. Sanders would have to take care of business while he fetched his recalcitrant wife home. Thinking of business, he was forced to admit things were getting disturbing. This house of cards they’d built was about to collapse if he didn’t get fresh money into the scheme—and soon.
But right now he had another problem to deal with.
Emily, sweetheart, have no fear. Your loving husband is coming for you.
Chapter 5
Guthrie, Oklahoma Territory
“This is such a wonderful idea. I haven’t been on a picnic in years.” Emily quickly tied her bonnet ribbons and grinned, feeling like a small child.
“That makes two of us. I can’t remember my last picnic. I thought this was the best way to spend your one day a week off.” Hunter shifted the picnic basket—full of delicious treats from the Café—from one arm to the other so he could take Emily’s hand.
She’d been unable to sleep since the first rays of sun had peeked over her windowsill. When he’d walked her home the night before, Hunter had told her that he would pick her up around ten o’clock in the morning for a day of fun. He wouldn’t tell her anything else and she’d been as excited as a young child for hours.
They made their way to a lovely automobile parked in front of her boardinghouse. After helping her into the vehicle, he dropped the basket on the back seat and slid behind the driving wheel. “Are you ready?”
“Yes, I am.” It took all of her control to keep from bouncing up and down on the seat. Instead, she smoothed out her skirt, crossed her hands demurely on her lap, and looked around at the scenery they passed by. The dark green leaves on the trees indicating the end of summer, provided them with shade, and when mixed with the breeze from their movement, made for a pleasant ride.
“Where are we going?”
Hunter slowed down for a horse and carriage in front of them before turning to her. “There is a place outside of town that my sister, Ellie, told me about. It’s not exactly a park, but it’s unclaimed land with trees and a small lake. She and her husband, Max, have been there for picnics several times.”
“Tell me about Ellie. And Max.”
He returned his attention to the road. “They have quite a story, although I wasn’t around when this all happened. It was near Christmas last year. Ellie is a high school teacher and Max was the new principal. From what I understand,” he stopped to chuckle, “Max was introducing Ellie to several men in the hopes she would marry one of them and leave her teaching position.”
“I guess they didn’t get along?”
“From what I’ve been told, sparks would fly every day at the high school.”