Chapter 12

A big yawn escaped Waite's mouth as he stretched his thoroughly used body in the gray dawn light. Two soft bodies lay up against his. He looked at the sleeping face of Peggy Sue as she slept with her body pressed against his. Her generous chest crushed against his side. He kissed her lightly on her forehead. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Good morning, husband," whispering as she smiled up at him.

"Morning, wife" he whispered back.

He turned his head to the other wife vying for his attention. Her strawberry blonde hair shimmered in the light of the rising sun as it crested over the ridges to the east. She smelled delightful, a mixture of flowers and pussy. He pushed the hair out of her face and gazed at the angelic little girl face of Darlene.

He did a double take and sat upright. The sudden movement woke the young lass and she looked up at him in fear. He saw her look and quickly changed his countenance. Looking down at her with loving eyes, he lowered his body to be in contact with hers. He held his weight on his hands as he smothered her with kisses.

Her ruby lips were receptive to his advances and her hands sought to touch every part of his body. He responded in kind. It didn't take much to convince him to mount her. He now knew the source of the unusual experience last night.

He had been deceived, probably at the instigation of Peggy Sue. Now that she was a ruined woman Waite would have to marry her. He felt like taking Peggy Sue over his knee and paddling her ass until it was beet red. But first he was going to celebrate Darlene's deflowering by giving her a little hair of the dog that bit her.

He lined up and started pushing his stiff rod into her. She split her legs wide to receive him. She was extremely limber and she could cross her ankles while her legs were bent above and behind her head. That in itself, was a turn on. It affected Waite and the other ladies.

As he started pounding Darlene's pussy, Peggy Sue and Lisa Marie, who were also awake, started kissing and licking Darlene. The multi-sensory stimulation caused an overload in Darlene's circuits and she came. Waite continued to stroke through it and she tapered off a little and then built to a second orgasm. His arousal level was extremely high and on her second orgasm he joined her spurting his fluids deep inside her. As he subsided he slid out and laid beside her, holding on to her as she gasped for breath.

"I guess Peggy Sue decided you were to be my wife to, so will you marry me, Darlene," Waite pleaded.

"Silly man, we're already married as far as I'm concerned. But iff'n you mean with a preacher and such, the answer is: Yes!" she whispered back, putting an emphasis on the yes.

Waite looked back over at Peggy Sue. She cuddled close and put her arm over both of them. She stretched across Waite to give a full mouth kiss to Darlene. It took a couple minutes to complete and when it finished she whispered

"Welcome to the family, lover."

Waite dozed a short while and then decided he had to relieve himself. Once the bodily functions were over, he dressed and headed downstairs. He stopped at Tommy's station and asked if breakfast for ten could be delivered to his suite. Tommy grinned and said he'd take care of it. With that assurance, Waite headed out.

For the next four hours Waite searched through the town. He talked to businessmen and plain folk alike. He went to the capitol building and asked around.

Finally, just before he was about to quit, he ran into a man in the basement of the State Supreme Court building. He had been a clerk there for thirty-five years. He was in charge of professional licenses. He knew by name every medical practitioner in Tennessee, many from Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri.

He gave Waite a list of seven men that might be of assistance. There were five from Tennessee, one from Kentucky and one from Missouri.

Waite made his way to the Western Union. His purpose was now two fold. First he wanted to check on the conversion of his stock certificates. He had employed a barrister new in town, just out of Harvard Law School. Steven Cook was honest as the day is long. Waite had hired him to handle the exchange. The telegrapher told Waite the conversion was complete, and that the payment had been delivered to his attorney. Waite thanked him for the news, and gave the man the message he wanted sent. It was identical for each of the seven doctors:

Need progressive physician to treat patient with incurable disease stop Patient is terminal stop Will need constant compassionate care stop Able to pay for service as needed stop

Reply soonest Waite Phillips Majestic Hotel Nashville stop

Waite paid the telegrapher for the messages and headed to his attorney's office. Steven did not have an assistant so he greeted Waite when he entered the office. He gave Waite the same message about the stock. He handed Waite the certified check for the purchase. Waite was well pleased. He thanked Mr. Cook and headed for the Bank. The Wells Fargo bank was the largest in Nashville.

He had the key the woman gave him, so he first asked for the safety deposit box. He had to go through the process banks have for safety deposit boxes. When everyone was satisfied they proceeded to the cage where the box was retrieved. Waite moved the box to the private cubical and opened it. True to her word, the box was filled with cash. He removed it from the box and counted exactly five hundred thousand dollars. He placed the cash in a bag supplied by the bank. He left the box and exited the cubical.

Waite stopped at the tellers' cages. He asked for the head cashier. He was told to wait in another part of the bank, off the main lobby. Soon a young man dressed in a suit entered the room. Waite estimated his age to be twenty-two. He must be a very junior bank officer. This didn't bother Waite though. Even JP Morgan had to start someplace.

He told the banker what he needed. He showed the certified check to the man. His eyes bugged out and he took the check to the head cashier. The head cashier took it to the VP and the VP took it to the President of the bank. He came down from his office on the mezzanine. He shook hands with Waite and asked his intentions. He said he wanted to cash the check. The banker shook his head. He said he didn't have enough cash in the bank to cover it. Waite insisted on gold. The man was doubly doubtful about getting that much gold. He told Waite that the only place with that much gold would be the regional headquarters in St. Louis.

Waite was annoyed. He asked if they had enough to cash in the 500,000 he had in paper. He was assured they had that amount. Waite retrieved the check and put it away in his inside vest pocket. He then handed the bag of cash to the president and requested it be converted to gold coin. The president was agreeable to that and willingly gave Waite a receipt for the cash.

The gold would be counted out and ready for Waite to pick up by three o'clock that afternoon. Waite said he'd return then to pick it up. After Waite got assurances from the bank president that the regional office would be notified of his intent and his approximate arrival date he shook hands with the man and left the bank for the hotel.

He stopped by the front desk and Tommy handed him some messages that had come in while he was out. Two were wires from doctors in Knoxville and Chattanooga. They were sorry but they could not help him. Two down and five left. Waite checked to see if his party was still there and Tommy said Jesse and his two women left about half an hour ago. Waite thanked him and flipped him a silver dollar.

Waite took the stairs two at a time with his long legs and was entering his room when he heard a scream. It hadn't come from his rooms, but from down the hallway. The girls heard it too as they rushed to the door to see what was going on. Another scream and Patty pushed him towards the sound. Waite drew as he hurried down the hallway. He got to the door at the end of the hall and heard scuffling sounds inside. He stood to the side of the door and pounded on it.

"What's going on in there? Open the door!" He shouted in the most officious voice he could muster. He was hoping to bluff whoever was inside.

Just then a shot rang out and a hole appeared in the door where someone normally would be standing. Waite knew it was trouble. He backed up against the far wall for a running start and ran at the door shoulder forward. He crashed into the door and the lock gave way. He hit the floor rolling as he went and came to a crouched position.

There was a scruffy looking fellow by the window, and he had the maid on the floor. Her dress was torn and her face looked like it had taken some abuse. Waite was angry, very angry. His adrenalin was pumping though his body as he leveled the big Colt and fired. In this firefight there was no time to think, no time to aim. He shot five bullets at the man as he fanned the hammer on the .45. Two bullets pierced the man's heart, one went into his gut, one into a lung, and one missed completely. He was blown backwards by the impact of the bullets. His gun went flying. Fortunately it landed on the butt and didn't discharge.

Waite's ears were ringing because of the firing in the small room, but other than that he came out unscathed. The woman on the floor was trembling with fear and Peggy Sue and Patty were holding her and petting on her. The other three women were at the doorway. He waved them back in time to see Tommy sprinting down the hall towards them. There were people in the hallway heading towards the room.

Waite hollered for Tommy to fetch the marshal and he spun around and sprinted off. He held up his hands with arms spread out and told the people there was nothing to see here and advised them to go back to their rooms. Having the Colt in his hands may have helped them decide to follow directions.

He returned to the room and found the other three wives had joined Peggy Sue and Patty. They had moved the woman over to the bed and Patty was washing her face gently with a wet washcloth. In the entire ruckus, the washbasin and pitcher of water had remained intact.

You couldn't say the same for a small table and the mirror on the wall. They both lay in ruins on the floor. Towels and linens were scattered on the floor around the room. Waite figured she'd come in the room to make it up and the man attacked her, but he'd wait for the official version when the marshal came. He would not speculate on something he knew nothing about.

It turns out the marshal was only a couple blocks away and had heard the gunplay. He was running towards the hotel door just as Tommy burst out into the street. Together they hustled into the hotel and up the stairs. They stopped long enough to knock on the door and announce who they were. Annabel Lee opened the door for the two men and they stepped in.

The marshal took control of the room and the proceedings in a professional manner, which Waite appreciated. First he interviewed Waite when he noticed the woman was still too upset to talk. Phillips told him how he'd heard a scream then another. He'd knocked on the door and was shot at. He related how he'd busted open the door and what he'd seen. He explained why he'd fired and pointed out the man's gun on the floor.

The marshal bent over to pick up the weapon. He broke it open. It was a Schofield. One of the shells had been fired. His examination showed it was recent. By that time, Waite's women had the maid calmed down. The marshal put on his most fatherly demeanor as he sat down on the chair Peggy Sue vacated for him. He told her to take her time and tell him what happened. Fifteen minutes later he had all the information he needed to make his report.

"This looks like a combination of a good Samaritan act and self defense. I don't think there will be anything further Mr. Phillips. You acted in good faith and were shot at. Around here, we don't cotton to wife beating. If it hadn't been you, someone else would have taken care of him, sooner or later."

The Marshal excused himself and returned to his office to write up his report. The Phillips' women took the scared young lady down to their suite. Waite followed after closing the door. He caught Tommy before he went downstairs and handed him a half-eagle. He suggested that Tommy get the undertaker to come get the body and that the gold was for that purpose. Tommy nodded and was off.

Waite went back to the suite. He found the woman lying on the divan and Patty was just placing a damp cloth across her forehead. Her face was puffy on the left side and starting to discolor. The bruise would be large and visible. There wasn't much that could be done about that. Waite was glad he had been able to help.

Peggy Sue took him aside. She spoke in low tones and they agreed to help her financially. She had a good job with the hotel and was able to stand on her own two feet. The 'Husband' was a no account worthless bum, anyway. She worked hard and was able to support her three children, but it was a struggle. Peggy Sue asked Waite to figure out a way to help her before they left town. He promised he'd think about it. He already had an idea and would just need a couple hours to run it down.

He told Patty to order in food and that he'd return before dinner. He left the woman in the good care of his wives and went to ask Tommy something. He talked with Tommy for a little, and got the information he needed. He left the hotel and headed down the street.

Following the directions Tommy had given him, he soon was in a quaint neighborhood in a quiet part of town. He strolled around until he found that to which Tommy had referred him. It was a pretty little cottage just off the street. Waite went up to the door, and knocked. An elderly man answered.

Waite was escorting the man into the Wells Fargo bank an hour later. Thirty minutes after that Waite held the deed to the property. The old man, Mr. Zacharias Flagstone, was moving east to live with his daughter and son-in-law. The price for the three-bedroom house was a steal, but now the man could afford to move east. He was happy, and Waite was happy. Waite took the deed and went to the county clerk's office, and recorded the deed in the woman's name. The clerk wasn't happy about doing it, but a couple gold coins changed his mind. When Waite returned to his hotel room the woman was still there. She was sitting up now. She would have one heck of a shiner, but she was rid of the cause of her troubles. Waite called Peggy Sue aside and gave the deed to the property to her. Peggy Sue smiled broadly when she saw what the paper was. She took it over to the woman and handed it to her. She looked at the paper and then at Peggy Sue. A questioning look was on her face.