He approached cautiously. “Let me try,” he said, careful to keep his voice calm though he felt anything but calm. He crouched down in front of Valentine but never had the chance to say a word.
“Why are you asking her all these questions? Can’t you see she can’t answer them.” Lily didn’t yell, but her voice was strident.
He couldn’t say he blamed her. Someone taking advantage of soiled doves wasn’t out of the ordinary. It happened though it shouldn’t.
“You’re not going to do anything, anyway. You don’t care if one of us gets hurt.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, Lily.” He rose up and looked her straight in the eye. “I’m not like other lawmen. Neither are my deputies. We’ll take care of it.”
She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “I don’t believe you.”
“Doesn’t matter if you believe me or not.” He turned his attention to Valentine. “Will you come down to the Marshal’s Office with me? I want you to look at some Wanted posters we have. If you don’t see the man who did this in one of them, we can talk to Merrill. He’s pretty good with a pencil and paper. If you can describe the man to him, he can draw him.” He raised her chin with his thumb and forefinger. “Can you do that for me?”
Valentine shook her head but didn’t speak and he knew she wouldn’t be able to do as he asked. She was too distressed, too distraught, to remember things clearly. He turned his attention to Lily. “You saw him.”
Lily nodded as her lips tightened and redness crept into her cheeks. She didn’t look like she’d shed any tears. In fact, her eyes were sparked with fury. It was then he saw the wound. She was holding a square of medical cotton, which he assumed Doctor Ben had given her, against her skin between her shoulder and her neck. The square was bloody. She didn’t seem as concerned for herself as she was for Valentine.
“Maybe you should sit down, Lily.”
“That’s what I told her,” Nate said from across the room as he spoke to another one of the girls.
Devlin led her and Valentine to a sofa. “Sit.” He waited until they did, then said, “Talk to me.”
Lily took a breath and told him what happened, the terror and chaos as the man attacked them and how Josie tried to stophim. When she was done she looked up at him and he saw her anger deflate, as if she were too exhausted to feel anything.
Sympathy for her, for them all, rose in him. “Can you describe him?”
“Yes. His face is burned into my memory. I’ll never forget it. Dark hair, long, almost to his shoulders, and his eye were almost black…as if the Devil himself had come to life. He was tall. Taller than you. But slim. I think his nose had been broken a time or two. It was a little crooked. And he was angry, so angry, that Valentine didn’t want to go upstairs with him. None of the girls did. Josie tried…” She looked up at him. “You gonna go after him?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“When?”
“As soon as we know who we’re looking for.”
“Well then, take me down to the Marshal’s Office,” she demanded, “and let me look at your Wanted posters.”
Devlin nodded. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
“Nothing like this has ever happened here before,” she said, her voice hoarse. “Josie runs a respectable house, the best one I’ve known.” Her gaze swept the room, stopping on the other girls then came back to him. “She was good to us. Took care of us. Protected us.”
He didn’t quite know what to say. Any expression of sympathy would be inadequate.
“We always felt safe here.”
Doctor Ben came down the stairs, carrying his medical bag and asked, “Where’s Lily?”
“Over here, Doc.” Devlin waved him over.
Lily watched Doc Ben approach them, her eyes wide and filled with both anger and pain. “Josie?”
“I’m sorry, Lily.” He shook his head sadly and set his medical bag down beside her.
Lily’s bravado seemed to crumble and tears, the first Devlin had seen from her, filled her eyes.
“Take care of that wound, Doc,” Devlin said and looked down at Lily. “We’ll need you to come down to the office as soon as you can. I’ll send one of my men to escort you,” he paused. “I’m sorry. I know Josie was your friend.”
She nodded and swallowed hard, as if willing herself not to cry.
