Beverly Jenkins (37 page)

Only the thought of Chase finding her as Miles had described got Cara moving.

She walked down the front steps and outside. She didn’t have to turn around to know he held the gun on her back the whole time. Out by the porch was a small carriage. Laura Pope was at the reins, and when she saw Cara being escorted at gunpoint, she exploded. “Miles, have you lost your mind? You said this was the house of someone who could help us!”

“She can, Laura.”

“Miles, I refuse to let you bring her along!”

“Get in, Cara.”

Laura stood in the carriage and appeared intent on keeping Cara out. Then she went still as she looked at something on the horizon. “Well, Miles, Chase is riding back fast.”

Cara smiled hearing the news. She looked at Miles and said, “He let you live before. You’re not going to be so lucky this time.”

He snatched her by the arm and gripped it painfully. “Shut up. We’ll see who lives and dies.”

“Miles!” Laura snapped. “What are we going to do?”

“Just watch.”

T
he letter! Chase suddenly remembered he’d forgotten Cara’s letter to William that he’d promised to take into town for the post. Corresponding with her old friend was so important to his schoolmarm that he didn’t give a thought to his convenience, even though he must be at least three full miles from the house. He turned Carolina and headed back to get the letter.

What he saw as he rode up to the house turned his blood to ice. Miles Sutton was standing on the front porch. His left arm snaked around Cara’s waist and held her hard against his body; his right hand held a gun to her neck. He yanked on the reins and drew Carolina to a halt.

“Morning, soldier boy. Toss your firearms on the ground. Now! Laura, you go pick up those guns.”

An obviously angry Laura Pope stalked across the yard and picked up the Winchester and the long-nosed Colt.

“Dismount, Jefferson, slowly.”

Chase did as he was told, then stepped away from Carolina. He gave Laura an angry glance, then looked at the even angrier face of his wife. “Has he hurt you, darlin’?”

“No.”

“And she won’t be hurt, Jefferson, if you do as you’re told,” Miles offered easily.

“Let her go.”

“Nope. She’s going to come with me.”

“Leave her here, for heaven’s sake,” Laura screamed at him. “We don’t need her.”

“But I do!” he snapped back. He looked down at Cara and asked in a guttural tone, “Don’t I, love?”

Cara shivered at what she saw in his cold gray eyes. She looked hastily at her grim-faced husband.

“So she comes,” Miles stated. “Goodbye, Sergeant.” He forced Cara over to the carriage.

“You’re not taking her with you, Sutton. You’ll have to kill me first.”

Miles didn’t hesitate. Cara’s scream was lost in the roar of the two shots that exploded at her ear. She craned and saw Chase lying in the dust. She struggled against Miles’s hold, desperate to get to Chase. Miles snatched her back, viciously jabbing the gun into her ribs. He forced her inside the carriage. She fought, squirming violently in his hurtful grasp.

“Let me go to him!” she screamed.

She couldn’t tell whether Chase was dead or alive. As if in answer to her prayers, she heard him moan, then watched him struggle to turn his torn body over. Blood soaked the upper right side of his shirt. Cara bit her lip to keep herself from wailing. Chase was wounded in the right leg as well as in the chest, and she involuntarily cried out as he lost a battle to drag himself to a sitting position. Thanking God that he was still alive, she renewed her struggle with Miles.

Miles released the hold on her waist, grabbing her arm for better purchase. “Now, unless you
agree to come with me willingly, I’ll finish him off right here. Your call, Cara.”

Cara turned to Miles and pleaded, “He’ll bleed to death if we leave him like that. Let me get a doctor, then I’ll go wherever you want.”

Miles looked over at Chase, still attempting to rise despite his injuries, and said through a cold smile, “Yes, he probably will bleed to death. Your decision?”

Chase tried to voice his protest, but the searing, ever-advancing pain had him hovering on the brink of passing out. All he could do was issue garbled, delirious sounds.

Chase’s helplessness tore at Cara’s heart. She didn’t want to leave him, but if there was any chance of his surviving, she’d gladly follow Miles into hell. Steeling herself, she said, “I’ll go.”

They rode for about an hour before Miles pulled off onto a rut that ran through a forest of sunflowers along the road. As the carriage bumped its way along they were enclosed on all sides by sunflowers that grew well above their heads. The leaves slashed at their faces and the horses had to go very slowly. Cara looked over at Laura Pope. She hadn’t spoken a word since leaving the house. What did the girl feel? Did she care at all about Chase’s plight? Cara doubted that Laura was concerned about anything except herself . . . and Miles.

The steady pace of the horses drew Cara’s attention away from Laura. They were entering a small clearing. A worn-out soddy sat in the center. She heard Laura sigh. “Finally.” Cara supposed this was home for the two fugitives. Cara had never seen this place before and wondered if it was on the sheriff’s map.

Miles and Laura climbed down and made Cara do the same.

“Tie her up out here,” Laura snapped. “You and I have to talk.” She strode into the doorless soddy.

Miles turned to Cara and said, “I don’t think Laura’s going to be staying with us much longer. Do come inside, love.”

It was dark in the soddy, and Cara’s eyes took a moment to adjust. It looked as if they’d been living here for some time. Clothes were draped over trunks. There were dirty plates atop the lifeless black potbellied stove. Pallets, raised off the earth by stacks of lumber, were covered with frayed blankets.

Laura bristled. “I thought I told you to tie her up outside.”

“Laura, when did you start running things?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it.

“You’ve been screaming at me like a fishwife for days. If you don’t want to continue on this adventure, there’s the door.”

Cara watched the angry young woman back down. “I’m sorry, Miles, it’s just that we have enough problems as it is. Why add to it by bringing her along? I thought we’d already decided I would pose as her in St. Louis.”

Miles chuckled. “Poor, naive Laura. Do you honestly believe that now that I’ve got Cara, I would want you?”

Laura’s eyes widened.

“Laura, darling, you were just a means to an end. Cara and I are fated.”

Laura looked at Miles in disbelief. “Miles Sutton, I stole those route schedules for you!”

“Yes, you did, and I greatly appreciate the risks you took, my dear. When we met back at Howard, I knew your daddy being a banker would be of
immense help one day. And it was. Now I’m going to leave you two ladies together while I go and hide the horses and the buggy.”

And he walked back outside.

There was silence after his departure. Cara thought Laura looked devastated. Cara almost felt sorry for her—almost. She went to the doorway and looked out. How far had Miles gone?

Laura said from behind her, “If you’re thinking about running, I wouldn’t advise it. Those sunflowers go on for acres all around. You’ll be lost for days.”

Cara knew she was probably right, but wanted to escape. The memory of Chase lying injured on the ground burned vividly in her mind’s eye. She felt the desperate need to get help for him and be at his side. But that would never come to pass unless she could get free. Her eyes narrowed as she began to formulate a plan.

“So, Laura,” Cara said, turning back to face the dark room, “you were the one who stole the schedules of the gold coaches.”

Laura didn’t say anything.

“Why, Laura?”

“Why should I tell you anything?”

“Yes,” Miles said, walking in out of the sunshine. “Why should she tell you anything? Laura, you just keep your pretty little mouth closed about that gold.”

“Does she know how many people died on those gold coaches?”

“We knew there would be risks,” Miles said.

“Those were real people, not risks.”

“I didn’t care anything about those real people. I cared about those gamblers. You were there the night they came waltzing into the church.”

“So you and your bandits killed all those people
just because you couldn’t pay your gambling debts? What happened to all the money you swindled from the people back East?”

“I spent that establishing the Liberian Lady. I had suits to purchase, houses to buy for some lady friends, my quarters to furnish above the saloon.”

“So you spent it
all?”

“It went like corn through a mill, but now with your help, my dear Cara, I won’t have to worry about money ever again.” He stared at her for a moment, then ordered Laura to give him two of her scarves.

“You’re asking too many questions, love, and jabbering far too much,” Miles explained as he gagged Cara with a silk scarf he took from Laura. With the other scarf he tightly tied her wrists behind her. He forced her to sit on the dirt floor in the far corner of the room.

Laura and Miles went outside to talk. At first they were conversing too softly for Cara to hear. Soon, however, they were arguing loudly. Cara heard nothing for a moment, then Laura was yelling at Miles to come back. Laura called again, louder this time. Her voice became fainter as she evidently ran after him.

Chase owed his life to Sheriff Wayman Polk. When he hadn’t shown up at the appointed time, the sheriff had ridden out to find him. He managed to get Chase into the house and rode back to town for help. Now, a few hours later, Chase was determined, if hardly ready, to ride.

“Goddammit! You’ve patched me up, Doc, now get the hell out of my way.”

Delbert looked up at the snarling Chase and said, “You’ve been patched up, Sergeant, but you’re in no condition to ride.”

“The hell I’m not. That bastard has my wife.”

According to the doctor, had the bullet in Chase’s chest been any lower, he would be dead; the splintered bone in his leg would take weeks to heal, but Chase was still struggling to get dressed and go.

“Dammit, Sophie, help me get this shirt on.”

She didn’t argue. She gave him the help he needed.

As Chase lifted his heavily bandaged shoulder and arm into the shirt, he ignored the pain and the sweat beading on his forehead. “Now the buttons,” he ordered crisply.

While she complied, he looked over her head at the sheriff and Asa. “Asa, when you and Sophie get back to town, have Miss Rachel wire the marshal in Wichita and Colonel Grierson at Fort Davis. Tell them what’s happened and that the sheriff and I are going after Miles and Laura.”

Delbert spoke up. “Sergeant, you really have to wait until—”

“I’ve ridden with worse injuries. I can sit Carolina long enough to catch the man who stole my wife.”

He stood on his splintered leg with the aid of a cane Sophie had provided. Asa came over and offered a shoulder for support. “Thanks,” Chase said, hobbling out to the porch. He whistled for the stallion. Carolina came running and stopped at the base of the steps. Asa and the sheriff helped Chase negotiate the steps and get over to the waiting horse. Chase gave a command in the Sioux language, and, to the amazement of those watching, the big animal went down on his front knees, which made it easier for Chase to mount.

“Now that’s something,” Asa muttered.

Chase patted the horse’s neck in approval. “I’ve
had him since he was a colt. He’d ride me into the devil’s own kitchen if I asked, wouldn’t you, old boy?”

Chase looked at Sophie’s concerned face. “If I’m not back in five days, have Miss Rachel wire Dreamer of Eagles at Pine Ridge Reservation in the Dakotas. Let him know the full details of what happened. He’ll take it from there.”

Sophie nodded.

“Stop worrying, Soph. I’ll bring her back.”

If Chase was dead, surely she would know, wouldn’t she? Because of the untimely deaths of loved ones in the past, Cara had spent most of her life alone. Would fate be so cruel again?

“Thinking about soldier boy?”

Cara didn’t reply. She and Miles had left the soddy on horseback at first light. They’d been riding for so long she’d lost track of time and direction. She’d even stopped speculating on the absence of Laura Pope.

“Well, stop thinking about him. You’re never going to see him again.”

They rode on.

Chase and the sheriff rode west. They were able to track Miles’s vehicle fairly easily through the still-soft earth because one of the carriage wheels had a crack on the edge of its rim. It left a very distinctive mark when it rolled. Chase hadn’t wanted to wait for the sheriff to round up his makeshift posse because of how long it might have taken. Every moment he’d have spent waiting let Sutton put more distance between them. However, Chase felt good about having Sheriff Polk riding hard at his side, because he knew the lawman could be counted on in a tight situation.

Chase and the sheriff followed the tracks until they led off the road and into a field of giant sunflowers. Chase guided Carolina on the rutted track, pushing aside as best he could the large petals and faces of the flowers. He kept his senses alert for anything that could indicate danger as he and the lawman made their way through. They found the small soddy in the clearing, but no one was inside. “Is this place on our map, Sheriff?”

“I doubt it. This area is way beyond the boundaries of the original settlement.”

“Well, let’s take a look around.”

Walking was extremely painful for Chase, but with the help of the cane, he was able to move, albeit slowly. Inside they found evidence that someone had been residing there recently, but nothing to verify that it had indeed been Sutton. While Chase continued to survey the interior, Polk went outside to look around. When the lawman called, Chase hobbled out as quickly as possible.

Polk was making his way back to the soddy. “I found a woman’s body about a hundred yards back up in the sunflowers. Looks like Laura Pope. She was strangled. The buggy’s back there, and the tracks of two horses.”