There's No Place Like Rhodes (Book 2)

A Futile Endeavor

How had everything turned on its head so quickly?

Charlotte had seen most of what happened, but she didn't quite understand it. One minute she was asking about the room availability, providing Mrs. Bloom's name while mentally distracted, anticipating the continuation of what her and Arthur had started in the coach. The next minute, she'd been startled to find Arthur storming across the room and knocking a man out.

There was a woman involved somehow. Arthur had been defending her, but it wasn't only that. The blonde woman had recognized him. Charlotte had heard her say his name before she disappeared, a hand cupping her slapped cheek.

Her first instinct had been to intervene the moment the officer clamped his hand on Arthur, who at that point looked ready to shoot his way out of here. But when Arthur had met her eyes, all his resistance seemed to slip away, settling into resignation. He shook his head ever so slightly, clearly not wanting her to become involved.

But she couldn't help it. Arthur hadn't done anything wrong. He'd been in the right to defend that woman. Before she could step in and vouch for him, he was leering at her with an odd grin and claiming he didn't know her.

Then the officer had pushed him out the door and she couldn't move from the shock of it for several moments. How had everything turned on its head so quickly?

What she became aware of first was Arthur's hat on the ground. She snatched it up before it was stepped on by the men returning to their card game. It hadn't bothered her when Arthur had been holding her hand, but now the packed saloon was making her dizzy.

The entrance was blocked by the police officer who'd ordered Arthur arrested and men removing the fellow he'd knocked out. Charlotte turned and made for the back of the building.

She fumbled her way between the patrons and past the bar. As she went by, the bartender called, "Ma'am, about that room—"

"I'm sorry. I'll have to get back to you. I-I need a moment."

Charlotte strode through a set of swinging doors and into a short hallway. She swept past an open door, where women were changing and powdering their noses. One called out to her, but she didn't stop.

At last, she pushed out the back door, flitted down three steps and rested against a column. She gulped in a few breaths of the crisp winter air, her hands tightening on Arthur's hat.

The chill startled her enough to finally recover her bearings. Night had fallen fully in Rhodes and Arthur's warning of the unfriendly nature of its residents materialized inconveniently into her mind. Fear clutched her heart in a tight grip. She had no allies here, Arthur was arrested and she was in a town none to familiar to her.

Get it together, Charlotte, she tried to calm herself. What could she do? Because standing outside of a saloon and panicking was not helping Arthur.

At that moment, she heard voices. She leaned to peer around the corner of the building and spotted Arthur being pushed down the road by an officer.

The officer warned, "Don't you try nothing, partner."

"Okay, take it easy," Arthur said without resistance. "I ain't fightin' you."

"Hold on." The officer slipped his gun into his belt and dug out his handcuffs. "Put your hands behind your back."

Arthur shook his head. "This your first time takin' someone in, kid?"

"You don't need to talk." When the officer had Arthur's wrists cuffed together, he prodded him with his gun to move. "And it's Officer Pitts, not 'kid'."