One Wore Blue by Heather Graham Page B

against their masters and slaying them in the streets. He really believes that only a bloodbath can cleanse the land.”
    “My God!” Lacey gasped.
    Kiernan watched Jesse, shaking, imagining the scene that Jesse had so bluntly painted. “Are you sure it won’t come to that?” she demanded.
    “No,” he said flatly, “it’s not going to come to that. John Brown is already holed up.”
    “There’s been bloodshed,” Kiernan whispered.
    He arched a brow. “You heard?”
    “A neighbor came by. Loading up his shotgun with nails,” Kiernan said. “Oh!” she exclaimed passionately. “What right has this man to come to Virginia? How dare he think to command our lives!”
    “He dares,” Jesse murmured. He quit looking at her for a moment. He seemed to look beyond her, to the future that stretched before them all.
    He seemed worried by what he saw there.
    “It seems that the townfolk had their own way of dealingwith the events that happened,” he said. “A man was killed right away.”
    “Hayward Shepherd, at the station,” Lacey said, her eyes round. “He was a good soul, a gentle man.”
    “Gentle men get caught up in the deeds of others,” Jesse mused.
    “There’s more?” Kiernan asked.
    He returned her gaze steadily. “Yes. One of the hostages has been shot.”
    “No!” Lacey murmured.
    “I’m afraid so. A local farmer named Turner has been killed.”
    They were all still for a moment. Then Lacey burst out, “Oh, my dear God, Kiernan! What if—”
    “Lacey, I’m fine,” Kiernan reminded her gently. She stared steadily at Jesse. “They—er, they don’t usually shoot women anyway, do they?”
    “Of course not,” Jesse told her. But watching him, Kiernan shivered inside. She might have been one of the hostages.
    “They still have—people?”
    “Yes. Mayor Beckham, among them. Colonel Lewis. Mr. Allstadt, the armorer.”
    “What will happen now?” Lacey asked worriedly.
    Jesse smiled. “The cavalry will ride in, Mrs. Donahue,” he said, rising. “Actually, Jefferson Davis, the secretary of war, has ordered Lieutenant Colonel Robert E. Lee to bring in troops. They’ll handle things, ma’am. I’ve got to go now. There are some people I have to see, and things I hav
before I meet up with those troops.”
    “Wait, don’t go yet, Captain Cameron!” Lacey in
jumping to her feet. Kiernan cast her a quick glar
could have sworn that Jesse had very much unsettle
Then Lacey smiled, looking down at her hands. Lace
be unsettled, but she was also charmed.
    And she didn’t want to be left alone in the mi
that was happening.
    “Mrs. Donahue, honestly, you’re going to be all
told her. “John Brown and his men are holed
firehouse down by the armory. You’ll be safe from him. I’m not sure about some of your gun-toting neighbors. Just stay off the streets.”
    “But what if those people come back for Kiernan?”
    “They’ve tangled with Kiernan once. I don’t think they’ll be willing to do so again.” He winked at Kiernan over Lacey’s head, and she had to smile again.
    “Coffee!” Lacey said. “Just stay for a cup of coffee. Breakfast. I make a very good plate of ham and eggs and sausage. And very good corn muffins. You must have a little time,” Lacey argued.
    To Kiernan’s surprise, Jesse agreed, pulling out his pocket watch. “All right. I’ve got an hour, Mrs. Donahue. No more.”
    Kiernan stood to join Lacey in the kitchen. “I’ll help you,” she said.
    “No!” Lacey gasped. She had been worried about Jesse’s sense of propriety upstairs, but now she was determined to keep him just as long as she could—even if that meant leaving Kiernan to flirt with him.
    But he was no longer in his taunting mood, Kiernan realized as Lacey left. He wandered to one of the front-facing windows, pulled back the drape, and stared out broodingly.
    Kiernan felt a quickening in her heart. “Jesse, what’s wrong? Are you lying to make Lacey feel better? Are we in serious trouble