Indigo Blue (25 page)

She tried to think of something she might say to sway him over to her side, but there was nothing. A wife’s wants didn’t carry a great deal of weight with most white husbands, a squaw’s even less. Her only hope lay in prayer and his benevolence.

AFTER THE NOON BREAK, JAKE RETURNED to his job of hauling gravel. By making repeated trips from the arrastra to the sluice, he had opportunity to observe the other miners. What he watched for, he wasn’t certain. Anything that looked peculiar, he supposed. Someone had weakened those timbers in the mine, and, as far as he was concerned, no one was above suspicion.

He couldn’t help but hope his father had nothing to do with it. The possibility had been bad enough before, but now? Indigo already resented their marriage. She would detest him if she learned his father had nearly killed hers. Jeremy had promised to continue searching Ore-Cal’s files while Jake investigated at Wolf’s Landing. Jake hoped that instead of finding evidence against their father, Jeremy would find he wasn’t guilty.

Each time Jake pushed a load of gravel to the sluice, he cast about for Indigo. Trust him to marry a slip of a girl who tackled everything. It took all his control not to interfere when he saw her helping Topper reseat a loaded skip onto the rails. To his surprise, she managed to lift her side. The weight was enough to break the backs of two men and a small boy.

Jake cringed and looked away. Then, though he knew he shouldn’t, he slid his gaze back to her. As he watched, Denver sauntered down to the unseated skip. Indigo turned at something the blond said. Jake couldn’t read her expression. He curled his fists around the handles of the wheelbarrow.

 

A cool breeze wafted against Indigo’s hot cheeks. She gazed up at Denver, aware of the steel gray rain clouds gathering in the sky behind him. Tall pines whipped in the rising wind, heralding a storm. Denver’s blue eyes glinted with cruel amusement, heralding unpleasantness of a different type.

“So you’re married?” he asked. Tipping his head to one side, he flashed a smile. “How does it feel?”

Indigo glanced at Topper, who waited for her to resume their chore. She turned back to get handholds on the skip. “That’s a strange question, Denver. It’s like asking someone how it feels to have a birthday. One day is much the same as another.”

“Really? I’m surprised you aren’t wearing a leash.”

Indigo’s hands cramped on the side of the skip. She stared across the pile of ore at Topper’s stony expression.

Denver chuckled. “You know, it’s funny. Your father really had me fooled. He acted so indignant that time I tried to buy you. Remember that? I was convinced he’d never do such a thing. And all the while, he was just holding out for a better offer.”

Indigo slowly straightened. As she turned around, her pulse quickened. “What are you saying? I haven’t all day for games.”

“I’ll admit it made me angry at first. But now that I’ve talked to Rand about it, I don’t feel so bad. In fact, now that I’ve thought it over, I’m kind of glad it happened this way. I’m not the marrying kind. I’d rather spend a few dollars to be with you and go home fancy free.”

“Shut your mouth, Tompkins!” Topper interrupted.

Indigo held up a hand. “No, let him say what he came to say.” She riveted her gaze to Denver’s. “Finish. I’m waiting.”

“What more is there to say? If I’m willing to pay the price, I’ll get to spend time with you.” He ran a knuckle along her cheek. “Not right at first. He said he wants to keep you for himself for a spell. But, hell, how long can it take for him to get bored? Besides, he’ll be anxious to earn his money back. He paid a mighty steep price for you, the way he tells it. You’ll have to do a lot of entertaining to earn his money back for him and start turning a profit.”

Indigo jerked her head back. Denver caught her chin.

“Don’t act too high and mighty, Indigo. When he starts renting you out, I’m going to be first in line. I’ll take you down a notch or two the minute we’re alone.”

“That’s enough, Tompkins.” Topper stepped around the skip. “One more word, and I’m going to lay you out.”

With a sarcastic laugh, Denver released Indigo and stepped back. “I’ve said all I had to say.” He slid his gaze to Indigo. “You can bet I won’t be playing cards and losing my paychecks from here on. Now I’ve got better things to spend my money on.”

With a jaunty bounce to his step, Denver walked away. Indigo stood there and stared after him, unable to move, unable to think. As if from a great distance, she heard Topper’s voice, but she couldn’t grasp the words. She lifted her gaze to the hillside where Jake had stopped with a loaded wheelbarrow. When he realized she was looking at him, he raised his hand and waved.

“Denver’s lying through his teeth, Miss Indigo,” Topper said from behind her. “He’s been building up to it all morning. Mr. Rand didn’t tell him none of those things.”

A horrible chill washed over Indigo’s skin. How could Denver possibly know Jake had paid a bride price, let alone how much he paid, unless Jake had told him? The cold knot of fear that had rested deep within her since her wedding turned icy, and her insides clenched spasmodically around it. She knew many a white man had made extra coin by renting out their squaws. The practice was so common, in fact, that people joked about it. If Jake chose to do it, he wouldn’t be the first, or the last.

 

Jake watched Denver Tompkins walk away. Relief filled him when Indigo turned back to the skip. With a little luck, maybe Denver hadn’t said anything. Jake had no doubt that if and when Denver did, he’d make it sound as bad as he could. The only consolation Jake had was Shorty. The instant Tompkins said anything, Jake would take Indigo to her old friend and ask him to give her an accurate account of his conversation with Tompkins.

Heaving up on the wheelbarrow handles, Jake started to take a step. As he did, he thought he glimpsed movement on the rocky slope at the top of the cliff. He turned to look, and what he saw turned his blood to ice. A rock slide. The main entrance to the tunnel lay directly in its path. For an instant, Jake stared, scarcely able to believe his eyes. Then he dropped the wheelbarrow and broke into a run.

“Indigo!”

She couldn’t hear him. The cacophony of sound in and around the mine drowned out his voice and the rumble of the rock slide.

“Indigo, run! Run!”

Jake felt as if he was having one of those horrible dreams where the danger advanced with lightning speed and he reacted with agonizing slowness. He could hear his blood pounding in his ears, his lungs whining. The impact of his boots on the slope jarred clear through his body.

“Indigo!”

At last, she and Topper heard him. Shading her eyes with her forearm, she turned to look. Jake made a wild gesture with his arm, never breaking stride.

“Run! A rock slide! Get out of there! Run!”

She cast a glance around and, seeing nothing, lifted her hands in bewilderment. “What?” she called.

Jake could see the rocks gaining momentum, dislodging others in their path. He imagined Indigo crushed beneath them. Fright lent him speed he didn’t know he possessed. “Run, dammit! Run!”

She and Topper backed away from the skip, but, not knowing where the danger came from, they didn’t move far enough.

“A rock slide! Above you! Get out of there!”

She looked up. When she saw what Jake was screaming about, she grabbed Topper’s arm and whirled to run. The first of the rocks reached the edge of the cliff and peppered the ground around the skip. One hit Topper on the shoulder and dropped him to his knees. Indigo stopped to help him. Jake’s heart froze. She was going to get herself killed.

With Indigo’s help, Topper staggered to his feet. She draped his arm over her shoulder and half carried him along with her. A split second after they cleared the area, the bulk of the rock slide hit the edge of the cliff and spilled over like a giant and deadly waterfall. The skip and the surrounding ground for twenty feet in all directions were showered with stones.

Jake’s legs went wobbly with relief, and he reeled to a stop about ten feet from Indigo and Topper. Dust billowed around them, searing their throats and lungs. The three of them retreated a few more feet, coughing and struggling to breathe.

Jake knew he never would have reached Indigo in time to get her out of there. One more second, just one, and she’d be dead right now. The realization made him start to shake. He wanted to grab her into his arms, but fear had jellied his muscles.

When the air began to clear a little, Topper exclaimed, “That’s what I call too close for comfort.”

“Are you all right?” Indigo tried to check the toplander’s shoulder. “Is anything broken, Topper?”

Several other men gathered around.

“I’m fine,” Topper assured everyone. “Thanks to you,” he told Indigo. “Most people would have said every man for himself. You saved my life, missy.”

“Nonsense. We have Jake to thank for that.” Indigo glanced around at Jake. “Praise God that you saw it coming!”

Jake tried to reply but couldn’t.

She turned to look at the buried skip and went a little pale. “If we hadn’t moved when we did—”

Shorty came limping over. “I been workin’ this here mountain for fifteen year, and I ain’t never seen a pebble so much as move on that slope.”

Miners came crawling from the tunnel, coughing and waving away dust. Indigo cupped her hands around her mouth. “Are you all okay down there?”

One of the emerging men gave her a thumbs-up.

With a grimy finger, Shorty scooped a wad of chew from inside his lip and spat. He shot Jake a meaningful glance. “I say them rocks had a little help movin’. You wanna go with me and take a look-see?”

Jake, still not completely recovered from his fright, grasped Indigo’s arm with a shaky hand and drew her into a walk. After such a close call, he was reluctant to leave her alone. “Yes, let’s go check.”

 

Thirty minutes later, Jake had seen all he needed to see. The slide had been caused by the displacement of a gigantic boulder. From all indications, it had been firmly seated, and it seemed unlikely to Jake that it had suddenly moved on its own.

“This was no accident.” Rage made him clip the words.

Shorty scratched his head. “Don’t appear like it. Could’ve been, though. We had a long spell of heavy rain a few days back. The dirt might’ve softened up around it.”

Jake shot him a glare. “Do you really believe that?”

Shorty drew his bushy eyebrows together. “Nope, I reckon I don’t. I jist hate to think somebody did it deliberate.”

Indigo sank onto a nearby rock and gazed at the path of the rock slide. “You think someone did it on purpose?”

“Maybe so. Tryin’ to block off the mine entrance would be my guess,” Shorty ventured.

Jake didn’t want to put his fear into words, but he had to. “Or to kill someone.” He looked at Indigo. He’d never forget seeing that slope of rock rolling toward her like a giant wave. “Namely you.”

Her eyes widened. “Me?” She threw a glance down the hill. “You can’t even see the mine entrance or who’s down there from here. It couldn’t have been meant for me.”

Jake gestured toward a group of trees to their left. “Someone could have been watching from over there.”

She regarded him with ill-concealed exasperation. “I could have left, just that quick. Isn’t that supposing a bit much? Topper was down there, too. Other people were coming and going. A rock slide can’t be aimed at one person.”

“Do you think a murderer would care who else he hurt, as long as he got the person he wanted?”

“Surely, you’re not serious.”

“I’m very serious.”

Agitated, Jake swiped at his mouth. He didn’t want to overreact, and her arguments made sense. But, dammit, how could he take that chance? At the best of times, working in or around a mine was dangerous. It was a perfect place to commit murder and make it look like an accident.

Jake recalled two other incidents that had nearly killed Indigo, the cave-in that had injured Hunter and the rifle shot that had taken Lobo’s life. And now a rock slide. He kept imagining her, crushed under hundreds of pounds of stone.

With a feeling of unreality, he said, “You were reseating a skip, Indigo. If someone was over there in the trees, watching and waiting for the right moment, he would have known you’d be there for a while.” He kicked a rock and watched it bounce and go airborne. “He would have had plenty of time to come over here and dislodge the boulder. It’s only a few seconds’ walk.”

She braced her hands on her knees and pushed to her feet. “The rock could have come loose on its own.”

Jake clenched his teeth. After a long moment, he said, “Maybe. But then again, maybe not. I’m not a gambling man.”

“What do you mean?”

Jake didn’t want to answer. He knew damned well how it was going to look, and that she was going to detest him for it. “I think you’d better go home.”

She hugged her waist.

“You know it makes good sense. You can’t watch your back here, and I can’t watch it for you. There are too many people coming and going, too much noise, and too many dangerous situations. Until we get to the bottom of all this, I think you should stick close to the house.”

“If someone wants to kill me, he can do it there.”

“Not as easily. You’d have a better chance to see trouble coming, for one. With so many people within yelling distance of the house, only a fool’d try something in broad daylight.”

Her voice rose to a shrill pitch, and she gestured toward the disturbed ground where the boulder had sat. “This is a steep slope. Boulders
do
come loose on their own, you know. You can’t be certain the slide was started by someone.”

“No. But my gut feeling—”

“You’re just using this as an excuse!” she cried.

Shorty coughed. “I think this is where I say it’s time for me to go back to work.”