Free His Remarkable Bride by Merry Farmer Page A

Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Children claimed that they were being mistreated. She had four men with her. They snatched up the children and took them away to the hotel.”
    “No!” Panic washed through Athos in a nauseating wave. His hands shook as he stared at the parchment, trying to make sense of what was printed on it. He’d seen his fair share of legal documents as stationmaster, but this was outrageous.
    At least, it was outrageous until he noticed a key piece of information near the bottom: by the order of Rex Bonneville.
    “Bonneville,” he growled, fury taking over from fear.
    “Who?”
    “Rex Bonneville.” He balled his hand into a fist around the parchment. “There was an incident a few weeks ago, before you came,” he explained quickly, pivoting and marching up onto the platform, Elspeth by his side. “Lael, Neva, Millie, and Thomas bumped into Bonneville’s daughters after church, causing a spill and knocking a table of food onto them. There have been other instances where the kids have upset the Bonneville sisters as well, but that one…” He sighed, some of his energy leaving him as the reality of the situation grabbed hold of him. “Rex said I would regret this.”
    “That’s awful,” Elspeth exclaimed. “What kind of man would order children taken from their father as an act of revenge?”
    “Rex Bonneville,” Athos answered.
    They crossed into the station office, where Athos grabbed his uniform jacket. He shrugged into it as they headed out again. No one took his children and got away with it.
    “What’s this I hear about Bonneville causing trouble with the children?” Gideon—who was still looking for his shipment in the warehouse room—asked as they marched past.
    Athos was too outraged to answer the question. “Gideon, would you be able to mind the station while I deal with this?”
    “Absolutely,” Gideon answered without hesitation. “I’ll help in any way I can.”
    “Thanks.”
    Athos continued around the edge of the platform and out into the street. He grabbed Elspeth’s hand when they started up Main Street, fearing that he would need her courage—and possibly her restraint—to deal with this.
    “That woman took the children to the hotel,” Elspeth told him as they half walked, half ran.
    “The hotel?” Athos skipped a step, then doubled his speed.
    “She said she rented a suite there.”
    His panic eased by a hair. Everyone knew The Cattleman Hotel was neutral territory in Haskell. More than that, it was overseen by Theophilus Gunn, one of the few people Athos could trust in a situation like this.
    Indeed, as Athos and Elspeth rushed up the steps of the hotel’s porch and barged through the front door into the lobby, Gunn was standing near the front desk, as though he was expecting them.
    But Gunn wasn’t the only one. Rex Bonneville and all four of his daughters loitered suspiciously in the lobby as well, as if waiting for a baseball game to begin. Athos didn’t know which direction to run in or which demands to make first.
    A sharp cry of “Papa!” from the hallway to the right of the front desk decided him.
    “Millie!” He dropped Elspeth’s hand and darted for the side hall just as someone grabbed Millie and yanked her away.
    Millie’s sharp scream was followed by excited and frightened shouts from all of his children. Athos made it around the corner and into the hall just as a door slammed shut at the far end. The shouts and pleas of his children continued on the other side as two muscular men—two of the ones he had seen getting off the train—stood guard in front of it. The woman in the grey suit that he had seen earlier was just straightening from the door, a hotel key in her hand. She turned to Athos with a frigid smile.
    “What is the meaning of this?” Athos demanded, charging down the hall. “By whose authority have you kidnapped my children?”
    The cries of “Papa, Papa!” on the other side of the door abruptly stopped,