Train From Marietta by Dorothy Garlock

dry!
    “My father will pay, Eddy. Never doubt that. But remember this, Eddy: My father was brought up in the steel mills. He can be as tough as the steel he helped make. He worked hard to buy that plant. Anyone would be a fool to harm something that is his. He’ll find you and make you pay, if it takes the rest of his life.”
    “Get a move on, Jacobs. Hayden’s waitin’.” Squirrelly leaned against the door frame, a loose-lipped smile on his face.
    Eddy turned back to Kate. “I’ll hurry back. Keep the pole lodged against the door.” Then turning, he spoke sternly to Squirrelly. “I’m warning you. If you bother her, I’ll blow your head off.”
    Squirrelly giggled. “You ain’t got the guts!”
    “You’ll find out. You mess up this deal, and if I don’t kill you, I know someone who will.”
    Squirrelly’s giggle turned into a hearty laugh. “Old William Jacobs has the guts. He’s got the guts of a government mule.”
    Eddy pointed his finger in Squirrelly’s face. “Shut up, goddamn it.”
    “Are you talking about Uncle William?” Kate demanded.
    “Who else would we be talking about?” Squirrelly said, and then to Eddy, “I’m getting kind of tired of you pointing your finger in my face and giving me orders. You’re not the head dog of this.”
Is Squirrelly saying that William Jacobs is the head dog?
Kate thought.
Eddy didn’t deny it.
    The two men stood staring at each other after Eddy had closed the door and waited to hear the pole wedged against it. He then turned and walked out the cabin door. From the window, Kate saw him follow Hayden to the car and then watched them drive away.
    She was frightened, really frightened. She looked around for something to use to defend herself. There was no doubt in her mind that Squirrelly would try to molest her. She had seen evidence of his lust when he jerked his hips toward her in an obscene gesture. If he tried anything, she would fight him until her last breath.
    Kate looked out the window, for a long while, at the desolate landscape, listening for movement in the other room. She thought of the torment that her father must be feeling. Then she thought of Susie. What would her sister think when she learned Eddy’s true nature? Would she still be so madly in love with him? Susie saw only Eddy’s handsome face and glib tongue. Who could blame her? Kate had always thought of him as a nice young man, if a little full of himself. Never in her wildest dreams would she have thought he or William Jacobs would be involved in something like this.
    After nearly an hour with no sound coming from the other room, Kate began to wonder if Squirrelly had left the cabin. Then, without a warning,
bang
. The door shook from the force of the blow against it, startling her. Kate ran to the door to make sure the pole was lodged tightly against it. She jumped back when another force hit the door. The third blow splintered it, and the pole fell away. Squirrelly stood in the doorway, a bottle in one hand, grinning like the idiot he was.
    “Get out of here,” she shouted.
    “Make me.” He continued to grin and walked into the room. He took a big swig from the bottle. Some of the dark liquid ran down his chin, staining his shirt.
    “Get away.” She grabbed up the pole that had been against the door. “Get away.”
    Squirrelly jerked the pole from her hand. “Ah, come on, sweetie pie. You’ve been giving me the eye ever since we got on the train in New Orleans. Admit it … you like me.”
    “I don’t. I don’t like you at all. I don’t want anything to do with you. Get out of this room!”
    “And if I don’t?” Squirrelly took another step toward her.
    “Eddy will kill you when he comes back.”
    Squirrelly threw his head back and laughed hysterically.
    Fear made Kate’s knees weak. Out here in this wilderness, she was alone with this treacherous man. She stiffened her knees and held up her head. Damned if she would let him know she was afraid of