Indiana Wild (Spirit Pass Book 1) (17 page)

“
Why should you care if she is in danger or not?” Allie asked, ignoring Jacob’s narrowed eyes as she pushed him so she could walk by him. “What is she to you?”

“
She’s my wife,” Jonathan replied calmly.

Jonathan ignored the dark looks Allie was throwing at him in the mirror. After he dropped his little ‘bombshell’ as Billy called it, both women had erupted into a flood of furious questions. It was only after Billy suggested that they could talk and drive at the same time that the women reluctantly walked back to the front of the metal wagon. Jonathan had taken the same side as Aleaha while Jacob had followed closely behind Allie. Billy had grunted in resignation when Allie snapped at him to get in the back of the silver wagon. He had grumbled as he climbed over the back of it and settled on a stack of horse feed with Chester and Tweed.

“
Why should we believe that you are Indy’s husband?” Allie asked glancing in the mirror again.

Jonathan would have loved to tell her he was not going anywhere and to please keep her eyes on the black road in front of her. He had a death grip on the ‘armrest’. He didn’t know why it was called that. At the speed they were traveling he would have called it a ‘lifegrip’ or something else. He swallowed when the vehicle
crossed over the center of the line and another metal wagon coming toward them honked. Allie stuck her hand out the window and raised her middle finger as they passed in response to the other person’s gesture. He wondered if that was the way people waved to each other in this time.

“
I don’t care if you believe me or not,” he forced out over the lump in his throat as she swerved back onto her side of the road. “Indy and I are legally married. She is my wife and I mean to get her back from the men who took her or from her brother. I don’t care how I do it. If I have to kill them, all the better.”

Allie turned her head and suddenly grinned at him.
“You might be likable yet,” she said.

“
Will you please look at where you are going before you kill us!” Jacob suddenly snapped out as the truck weaved across the line again.

Allie turned to face forward again but she was glaring at Jacob in the mirror this time. She opened her mouth to say something but Aleaha put her hand on her sister’s arm to quiet her. Allie glanced at her older twin and rolled her eyes before she reached over and picked up a pair of sunglasses on the dashboard and slipped them on.

“Great!” Jacob muttered darkly. “Now she covers her eyes so she can’t see at all! We’ll all be dead before we get to this Sam for help.”

Allie snorted and
sped up a little in retaliation to Jacob’s comment. Billy’s loud curses and the thump of his fist on the back window caused her to ease her foot off the gas a bit as she remembered she had a full trailer instead of an empty one behind her now. She stuck her hand back out the window to let him know she heard him.

“
Why didn’t Indy ever mention you?” Aleaha asked turning in her seat. “She tells us everything.”

Jonathan looked deeply into Aleaha’s soft concerned eyes considering how much he should tell her.
“Our marriage was a little unexpected but I promise you it was every bit legal. The preacher and his wife both signed as witnesses,” he assured her. “My biggest concern is finding her and taking her back home where she belongs.”

Aleaha studied him carefully before she nodded her head.
“Papa will know where she is,” she murmured and turned back around as Allie slowed down as they came into the city limits.

None of them talked as Allie pulled into a dirt parking lot filled with metal wagons of all different shapes, colors, and sizes. Jonathan and Jacob looked on in amazement at everything around them. Allie stopped the truck and Billy climbed out of the back with a mumbled thanks.

“Billy, you get home and take care of Rosalie,” Aleaha admonished as he came up to her side of the truck. “I saw her today. She is doing better but she still has some swelling. You need to help her with the little ones for a while.”

“
I will, Aleaha,” Billy said with a grin before he turned to look at Jonathan.

He waited until Allie pressed the button for the window to slide down. Jonathan jerked back in surprise as the clear glass disappeared into the door. Billy leaned in and nodded to Jacob who was staring stonily at the back of Allie’s head.

“Good luck,” Billy said quietly. “I’m sorry for what happened. I want you to know I really like Indy. She is a good woman.”

“
Thank you,” Jonathan replied just before Allie pressed the button on the window again and impatiently pulled away.

He watched as Billy ran over to a large black truck and climbed in. He glanced back as they pulled away. It was starting to get dark out and bright colors of light were beginning to light the buildings as if by magic. He shivered as the world around him changed again.

“This isn’t right,” he heard Jacob muttering.

“
We’ll be home before you know it, Jacob,” Jonathan murmured. “We just need to find Indy first.” Jacob didn’t say anything. He just continued to stare at the bizarre world they had found themselves in.

*.*.*

Almost an hour later, Sam and Claire Whitewater sat at the table in their dining room looking at the two men sitting across from them. They had never told their children the full story of how they met. William, Claire’s younger brother, was the only one that knew and he had remained quiet after Sam had brought them to live on his ranch. William had told Sam when he was fifteen that it was as if his life before he came had been a dream. He was happy that he and Claire were safe and that was all he really cared about. William was now an engineer working over in Germany. It looked like now their two daughters were about to discover their secret.

“
Can you help me?” Jonathan asked as he sat on the edge of the chair and rested his forearms on the table. “Indy was terrified of her brother. I need to find her before he hurts her.”

Sam squeezed Claire’s hand in comfort when she made a distressed sound.
“Yes, I can help you. Hayden lives in Los Angeles. He is a powerful and ambitious man. I have always worried that he had plans to use Indiana. Hugh was concerned with Hayden’s sudden interest in Indiana as she got older. It was at Hayden’s insistence that she completed her degree in nursing, telling her it would help their grandfather as he got older. She didn’t want to go into it but she would do whatever she could to care for her grandfather. Hugh showed me some of the letters Hayden sent as her graduation came closer. He wanted Hugh to send her to him to live with him as soon as possible. Hugh knew it would kill Indiana to leave the ranch.”

Claire smiled at Jonathan and Jacob.
“She came home at every opportunity. She hated being away. She was born to ranch-life unlike her brothers who couldn’t wait to leave. Much like our Allie,” she said softly.

“
Ah mom, they don’t care if I prefer horses and cows to living the high life in some concrete jungle,” Allie snorted out throwing a seething look at Jacob that dared him to say something negative. “Does anyone want something to drink?” She asked getting up from the table.

“
Would you mind making a pot of coffee, Allie?” Sam asked.

“
Sure, Papa,” Allie said giving her dad an affectionate grin as she turned toward the kitchen area.

“
I’ll help you,” Aleaha said getting up to follow her sister.

Sam waited until both of his daughters had gone into the kitchen before he continued.
“Neither one knows about Spirit Pass. I never took them or our boys up there. I knew what could happen and how dangerous your world is, especially for a half-breed.”

“
Sam,” Claire admonished gently before she explained in more detail. “We both decided our children did not need to experience the trial of going through the Pass to prove their worth. Many have agreed that it may be too dangerous and the elders have decided to no longer allow it after the last ceremony this past spring.”

Both Jonathan and Jacob nodded
in understanding, there was a huge difference between the past and the present worlds. “You were telling us about Hayden and his plans for Indy,” Jonathan reminded them. “How can I find him?”

“
Hugh believed Hayden had promised Indiana as a prize for support in his upcoming race for the Senate. He told me a few days before he had his stroke that he wanted to keep Indiana as far away from her brothers as possible and was worried about what would happen to her if something should happen to him. He had an appointment to change his will, giving her the ranch. I’m not sure if he was able to finalize it before his stroke,” Sam said with a heavy sigh.

Jonathan sat back, his jaw tightening in anger.
“What do you mean as a prize?” He bit out.

Sam looked at him sadly.
“Some powerful men like to have a sweet, young beauty on their arm. The men Hayden is dealing with play what is known as ‘hardball’. Indiana has everything they want, beauty, money, and connections.”

“
Yeah, but she’ll eat them up and spit them out like yesterday’s chewing tobacco,” Allie said carrying a tray loaded with cups and a huge pot. Aleaha followed with another tray containing milk, cream, and sugar. “She won’t let Hayden use her.”

“
I worry she won’t be given a choice,” Sam responded to his daughter’s statement.

Allie set the tray down and put her hands on her hips.
“And, why do you think that?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.

“
Hayden is a desperate, hungry man. He wants the Senate seat and he has made a lot of promises he has to fulfill if he gets it,” Sam explained patiently. “The men he owes are no different. If they want Indiana, they will use whatever means they have to in order to control her, including drugging her or using physical violence.”

Allie sank down in the chair next to Jacob, unaware that he slid his arm around her when she turned pale. She raised a shaking hand to push the short, dark silky strands of her hair behind her ear. Jacob reached under the table when
her hand fell back into her lap and cupped her slender palm with his own.

“
How could he do that to her? He’s never had a thing to do with her when she was growing up,” Allie said hotly. “You have to help her, Papa!”

“
I will, Allie. Or should I say, you will,” Sam promised her before turning his attention back to Jonathan. “Allie will fly you to Los Angeles. I will have someone I know meet you at the airport. You can trust him. Hayden is not the only one who has powerful friends,” he added with a smile.

Jonathan leaned forward again and nodded.
“When do we leave?”

“
First thing in the morning,” Sam said rising. “I have some phone calls to make. Allie and Aleaha will show you where you can get cleaned up and rest.”

Claire rose to follow her husband. She paused for a moment before turning back. Smiling, her gaze softened when she saw Jacob’s arm draped behind her youngest daughter’s chair. It was obvious Allie wasn’t thinking straight or she would have realized it and
lit into him.

“
This world is very different from ours but in many ways things have not changed,” she said quietly. “Men are still greedy and the world is still a dangerous place. If….,” she paused and drew in a tearful breath, shaking her head. “No, when you find Indy just love her with all your heart. I know she would be happier in your world than here,” she added quietly before turning and hurrying out of the room.

Aleaha frowned as she followed her mother with worried eyes.
“What did she mean by ‘your’ world?” She asked puzzled.

Jonathan stood up and glanced at his brother with a light shake of his head. He snapped his fingers for Chester and Tweed who were lying on the rug in the living room. Both dogs scrambled to his side. He touched his fingers to their heads. There was something about them that helped remind him that Indy was real.

“You must have misunderstood her,” Jacob responded standing up next to Allie’s chair.

He ignored the way she rubbed the hand he had been holding on her pant leg and how she moved to get up on the opposite side of the chair from him. She could resist all she wanted. He already knew when he, Jonathan and Indy returned through the Pass they would not be alone. Allie Whitewater was his and he was going to make sure she knew it!

*.*.*

An hour later, Jonathan walked out of the bathroom that separated the bedrooms they had been given. Aleaha had given them both a brief tour of the rooms and the bathroom. Each bedroom was done in a different color. His was done in bold burgundy, copper, and beige while Jacob’s room was done in softer whites, yellows, and blues. They had remained silent until after the women left before bolting to the bathroom again to explore it. It had taken them a good ten minutes to figure out what everything was. They just shook their heads as they flipped the switch for the lights on and off in amazement before discovering how the sink, toilet and shower worked.

Jonathan threw the soft, plush towel he had been using to dry his hair on the end of Jacob’s bed. His brother was leaning against the headboard of the bed looking at a flat box mounted to the wall. Images flashed across it as he pushed on the small black box Allie had handed him before walking out the door.

“
This world is too strange,” Jacob commented as he watched the images. “People on the wall, lights without fire, water out of the walls. Why would Indy or anyone else for that matter want to give it up to live back in the past?” He asked glumly pausing to stare at a group of beautiful young women wearing, or he should say not wearing, much clothing.