“That’s true if you’re showing special interest in Molly or spending time with her. To catch him, you’ll have to stay away. And if you do that, I doubt he can stop himself from . . . bothering her. I doubt he can stop himself from bothering any woman in his household. If he did it to me and Amelia, and if Win is right about her mother, then it’s his way. His habit. And the other two women who went missing—two I’ve found out about, there could be more—add to my suspicions. I’ve spent a lot of time on this case with Senator Bishop’s full support. He’s contacted men he knows in Wyoming, including the territorial governor in Omaha, that’s how I got hold of those floor plans and purchase orders. And his associates in Chicago helped me dig into Hawkins’s background and found nothing. Nothing is almost as bad as finding something sordid, because I should have been able to trace him right back to infancy. Senator Bishop opened doors I’d have never gotten through so I could look into this. If I’m right, then Oliver Hawkins is a man who badly needs to be stopped.”

Molly nodded, looking straight at Hobart as if the woman were writing law right before Molly’s eyes. “I’m going to be the one to stop him.”

Her voice rang with zeal. As sick with fear as this made Wyatt, he admired her courage. He also knew there was something else going on here. The depth of her fervor, the gleam in her eyes, told him she wasn’t doing it for justice. To fight for right and wrong. Nor because Hobart had inspired her. Those things were part of it, but Molly had personal reasons, and they had to be rooted in her past.

Molly had said loud and clear she never intended to marry. She’d said her pa was no great pillar of decency. Molly had been hurt. She was grabbing her chance to fight back.

Wyatt intended to find out who’d hurt her. And while he was learning, he’d be close by to protect her.

Twelve

Are you out of your mind?”

Molly’s hair nearly blew back in the face of Kevin’s outrage.

“No, Molly.” Win leapt from the table. “You can’t. This isn’t right. You could be harmed.” She came around the table and threw her arms around Molly.

Win and Kevin, Wyatt, Rachel Hobart, and Molly were the only ones at the table. Falcon and Cheyenne hadn’t come back last night.