"Listened. Assessed the situation."

"Would you have protected her?"

"I can't say. I don't know the circumstances."

"I wasn't willing to risk that you wouldn't have," she replied.

The doctor stood. "She should have some ice on her head and get some rest."

At that moment the door opened and Big Saul entered the office. "I did like you said and got his horse put up."

"Thanks." Nate gestured for him to come closer.

Saul lumbered toward the cell and spotted Lily awake. "Miss Lily. You're okay!"

"You said you saw what happened in the street tonight," Nate interrupted. "Is that right?"

"Yes, sir."

"What happened between Mr. Brand and Miss Lily?"

"Mr. Brand was real mad and yellin', and Old Jess sent me to make sure nothin' happened." He lowered his head and then looked up at Lily sheepishly. "I'm sorry, Miss Lily. I wasn't fast enough."

"It's not your fault," she assured him.

"What weren't you fast enough to stop?" Nate asked.

"That man, he threw his whiskey bottle at Miss Lily. It happened real fast, after Miss Lily asked him to move along. I grabbed him and sat on him soon as I could. But it was too late, 'cause Miss Lily got hurt."

The enormous man looked like he was going to cry.

"It's okay, Saul," Lily repeated gently. "I'm fine, really."

"Who're you gonna listen to?" Brand called. "Some big idiot?"

Saul looked at the toes of his shoes.

Lily shot daggers at Nate. Even the doctor and the two women looked at him as though he was the one who'd spoken those cruel words.

"I'll see you back to your place," Nate said at last.

Brand howled in outrage from his cell. "You cain't let her go and leave me in here! I got rights!"

Mollie helped Lily to her feet and walked behind her out of the cell. The doctor and Helena followed, Brand cursing at their backs.

"I was wondering when we'd meet." A note of sarcasm laced Lily's tone.

"I've come by the Shady Lady, but haven't seen you."

"I've been busy."

"Apparently. I heard about you from the mayor and Sheriff Parson. You have a lot of friends in this town."

"Enemies, as well," she replied. "Talk had it you had a beard."

"I got a shave the first day in town."

The group exited the jail house and walked along the dark street toward the dance hall.

"I'll leave the women to look after you now," Doc Umber said. "Come by my office tomorrow, Lily. I'll have another look at your head."

"Thanks, Doc. Helena will get you a drink before you head home."

Helena scowled at Nate and led the doctor toward the saloon.

Lily fumbled in her pocket, discovering her keys were missing.

Nate dangled the brass ring in front of her.

She took them from him and opened the front door of the house next to the dance hall. They entered a large foyer with striped wallpaper, a gold-framed mirror and a chandelier.

Nate glanced around. He'd been expecting red velvet and gaudy furnishings.

"I want to see the girl."

Lily Divine met his gaze with a straightforward stare. "You can't take her out of here."

"I won't. We'll wait for the governor's reply."

"Why do you want to see her?"

"It's my job to know what's happenin' in Thunder Canyon."

Lily glanced at Mollie. "You go on back to work. You can come up and check on me later."

Mollie gave Nate a sideways glare and left them alone. If looks could kill, he'd have been dead that night.

Lily led him up the front stairs. The steps were carpeted, the runners held in place with brass rods, and the stained oak banisters had been polished to a sheen. She led him along a hall with muted floral wallpaper and glowing gas lamps to eventually stop before a room. She knocked.

"Come in."

Lily opened the door. "Violet, I've brought someone to see you."

"Who is it?"

Nate couldn't see around Lily, but the voice of the girl sounded uncertain.

"It's the sheriff, but he's not here to take you."

"What's he doin' here? How did he find me?"

Nate pushed open the door. A girl, older than he'd anticipated, backed away. She wore a pretty blue dress, and her hair was clean and neatly braided. But her face.

His gut clenched at the sight of her face.

She was probably quite pretty, but one entire cheek was black and blue, and her eye was swollen.

"Yesterday that eye was puffed almost shut," Lily told him.

Nate controlled his reaction for the girl's benefit. The closer he stepped, the more marks he saw. A row of fingertip-size marks on her neck indicated someone had had his hands on her throat. The sight and the thought sickened and angered him. She bore a scrape on her chin and her lip was scabbed. Now he understood Lily's indignation.

"Did my father come?" she asked, her voice thin with terror.

"Yes," Lily replied.

Violet's face crumpled in despair, and she slumped to the edge of the bed. Sobs racked her slender frame.

"He's in jail." Lily moved to her side and comforted her with an arm around her shoulders. "He's locked up for the night."

Violet peered up through tears and beseeched Nate for confirmation. He nodded.

"What about tomorrow?" she asked. "He'll come for me then."

Nate had seen men beaten, and unfortunately he'd seen his share of women with scars of abuse, but this was the first time in his experience he'd seen them on a girl so young, and with the signs of abuse so recent.

"He did this to you?" he asked.

She nodded.

"It wasn't an accident?"

"Weren't no accident that he grabbed my neck and punched me. Wasn't the first time, neither."

A knot formed in his gut, but he wasn't a judge or a jury. "Where's your ma?"

"She died. Three years ago."

"Brothers? Sisters?"

She shook her head. "I had one sister. She was tiny and cried a lot. My ma sent her away and told Pa she died. She said it was for the best."

Nate looked at Lily and found her expression a combination of compassion and outrage. He steeled himself to do only his job.

"I can't go back," Violet told him. "He'll beat me for runnin' away, and it'll be worse than this."

Nate found himself wanting to make promises, wanting to reassure her. "We'll wait and see what the governor says. Until then you stay right here with Miss Divine."

Violet nodded, relief obvious on her battered face.

Outside in the hallway, Nate faced the dance hall owner squarely. "Let's set something straight."

"Let's do."

"She's here for protection."

"Yes, thank you."

"She's not material for your stable."

"Pardon me?"

"Don't put her to work."

Lily Divine's eyes blazed with a fire plainly visible in the light of the hissing gas lamp on the wall. "I run a clean establishment, Sheriff. This is a home." She gestured with one hand toward the hallway. "Look for yourself. Right now. Leave no doubt in your corrupt mind. My girls dance and serve drinks. We don't pleasure men."

"Don't waste your speech on me."

"I would never, never impose that life on a young woman, and you don't have to believe me or approve of me. The Shady Lady stands for freedom from the tyranny of small-minded men. I can compete with the other dance halls and I don't have to sell women to do it. The other owners don't much like me, either, matter of fact, but that hasn't stopped me yet."

He turned and headed for the stairs.

"How typical for you to see what a man has done to her, and then warn me against harming her," she called after him.

He stopped on the top step and turned to face her. "We're not on opposite sides regardin' Violet," he told her. "You're just gonna to have to trust me."

She laughed, but there wasn't any humor in the sound. "Let me know when hell freezes over."

Nate continued down the stairs.

She was incredibly convincing, but he hadn't been born yesterday. He had a feeling his dealings with Lily Divine would only get rockier. He wasn't here to make friends, after all.

God help him.

CHAPTER THREE.

"WE HAVE A SHIPMENT at the freight station," Lily said to Old Jess and Saul the following afternoon.

"I'll get a wagon from the livery," Jess offered. "Me'n Saul kin handle it."

"I'm perfectly capable of helping," she told him.

Jess squinted at her. "You got a pretty good knot on your noggin there."