Jane Bonander (26 page)

“What’s wrong, Burl?”

“I just seen the little gal.”

Libby’s stomach fluttered with excitement. “She’s coming? Oh, Corey, get those letters up. Quickly.”

Burl coughed and cleared his throat. “She ain’t comin’ to the house, Miz Liberty.”

Libby stopped. “What do you mean?”

Burl scratched his shiny bald head. “Strangest thing. I was takin’ a walk to the road, and I saw her bein’ helped into a buggy.”

“A buggy?” Libby’s insides froze with fear. Why had Dawn not been dropped off in front of the house? “Who was driving it, Burl?”

“Well, now, I cain’t be certain, Miz Liberty. My eyesight ain’t what it used to be.” He fumbled in his pocket. “Shortly after they rode away
,
some kid gave me this note. Said it was fer you.”

With shaky fingers, Libby took the note, but her eyes were blurred with unshed tears of fear and although she tried, she couldn’t read it.

“Corey?” She handed him the piece of paper, her stomach threatening nausea. “What does it say?”

He skimmed the note and met her fearful gaze. “Ethan has taken Dawn.”

Libby’s hand flew to her mouth. She swallowed convulsively. “T-taken Dawn? Taken her where?”

“He doesn’t say. He wants Jackson to meet him at a place called Pinkers Bluff.”

Libby pressed her forearms against her unsettled stomach and glanced at Corey. The fear in his eyes was mirrored in her own. “We’ve got to tell Jackson.”

“Where was he going after he left the cemetery?” Corey’s voice was strained.

“He—he was coming home. He’s as eager to see Dawn as I am.”

“I’ll see if I can find him.” Corey ran toward the front door.

“I’m coming with you,” Libby said, hurrying behind.

Corey was on the porch “Libby, you have to stay here.”

She stood in the doorway as he raced down the steps to his mount. “No! I can’t. I’m coming with you—”

“Libby, please stay here. If I miss him, you’ll have to tell him what’s happened.” He swung into the saddle and raced away, leaving Libby on the porch, staring after him. Stay here? How was she supposed to simply stay behind when Dawn had been kidnapped?

Chloe Ann stepped beside her, put her arm around Libby’s waist and gave her a loving squeeze. “Let the men take care of it, Libby.”

Libby turned and stared at her, her heart thudding wildly.

“Let the—” She shook her head, unwilling to explain. Chloe Ann wouldn’t understand. Not until she had a child of her own.

Pulling away from Chloe Ann’s gentle embrace, Libby said, “I’m going upstairs to lie down.”

“Yes, you do that,” Chloe Ann answered. “I’ll bring you a nice cup of tea.”

Libby raced up the stairs to her room. A cup of tea. She almost snorted, but she knew Chloe Ann was doing what she thought was best.

Libby threw open her wardrobe and rummaged through Sean’s old clothes, things she hadn’t given away. Finding his leather breeches, she tossed them on her bed, then hunted for a shirt. She undressed, donned the clothes and crept downstairs, grabbing an old hat and a jacket off the coatrack on her way out.

Refusing to follow Corey’s orders, she set out to find her daughter. The place to start was Pinkers Bluff, but how would she get there if she didn’t ride?

For a brief, agonizing moment, she stood motionless, examining her plight. She hadn’t ridden a horse in almost twenty years; she’d managed somehow always to travel by buggy or wagon. Again, the image of Sean’s broken body rose before her eyes, and she clamped her lips together, trying to stay strong.

The swirling in the pit of her stomach reminded her of her fears, but she could do this. She’d always felt that she could ride a damned horse if she had to, and now
she had to.

“I need a horse.” Lord in heaven, she never thought she’d say those words out loud. With quick steps she hurried to the livery. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Her arms and legs tied, the breed sniffled quietly beside him. “Wh-where are you taking me?” Her voice was a mere whimper.

“Someplace where your papa won’t find you unless he does what I ask.” It had been amazingly easy to take her. As she walked down the road toward the boardinghouse, she’d been alone. No one else had been around.

Had Ethan not been out of town, Axel would have found him sooner, and Ethan could have taken the little breed before she was nearly at her doorstep. Poor Axel, he mused. Sweating like a mule because he’d secretly slipped Hartman a gun, then had been sent from the jail like a child. The plan had been for Cleb to pretend to overpower Axel and make his escape before Sheriff Roberts returned from lunch.

It wasn’t clear what exactly had happened. Wolfe apparently had said nothing to Sheriff Roberts about the gun, but Axel had been hiding out ever since he learned that Wolfe had wrestled the weapon from Cleb. Wolfe was no fool. He probably suspected Axel of giving it to the prisoner in the first place. Ethan didn’t dare go to the jail to confront Hartman. They weren’t even supposed to know each other. Unlike Axel, who would undoubtedly spill his guts if confronted, Cleb was a tough bastard. Maybe he wouldn’t keep his mouth shut forever, but he was stubborn enough to stay quiet long enough for Ethan to get away. After that, who cared? They were on their own.

Now Ethan needed a few hours to close the biggest deal of his life, then he’d be gone. Jackson Wolfe was no fool.

Ethan would send for the boys later. Willie was fifteen, almost a man. He’d been a father to the younger ones for years. They could survive a few weeks without him.

What rankled was that Libby had been turned against him by that brute of a husband of hers. God’ but he’d hated to see that look of fear in her eyes….

The little breed hiccupped. “Papa will do anything you ask, Mr. Frost. I know he will.”

“You just keep thinking good thoughts, little girl.” She wasn’t nearly so sassy now, was she?

She went quiet beside him, then murmured, “Willie’s gonna be just like you when he grows up.”

He laughed quietly. “Is that a threat or a promise?”

“Willie’s a bully.”

“You’re a mouthy one, aren’t you?”

She stared at her hands. “Willie’s a bully, just like you.”

“Watch your mouth, little breed. Willie’s strong. If he comes across as a bully, it isn’t his fault; it’s yours for being a weakling.”

“I’m not weak,” she argued. “And my mama says that we’re all what our parents make us.”

“Wise woman, your mama. Always thought she’d make a fine mother to my sons.”

The little breed slanted him a hard look. “She’d never have married you.”

He reached out to touch her chin, but she yanked herself away, trembling beside him.

He pulled a quilt over her lap. “Here. I don’t want you catching cold on me.” He smiled to himself. Not before he got her to the cave, anyway.

Then the tide would give her a chill she’d never forget.

Seething, Jackson read the note: “Wolfe. I have your half-breed. Meet me at Pinkers Bluff and we’ll talk. Frost.”

Jackson crumpled the paper, his stomach churning wildly. “Corey, get back to the rooming house and make sure Libby’s all right. She’s liable to do something crazy.”

“I thought I’d stay with you,” Corey suggested.

“Go home and stay with the women, Corey. That’s an order.”

Corey sighed heavily, but obeyed. Before he left, he said, “Take care of yourself.”

With a nod, Jackson kicked his mount into a gallop and dashed toward Pinkers Bluff, berating himself as the wind whistled around him. He’d waited too long. He should have moved on Frost immediately. This was his fault, and his fault alone. Even though he had no concrete proof, he should have done something to prevent the disastrous chain of events.

Now the bastard had his daughter. Icy fingers squeezed his heart. God, if anything happened to her…

He drove his mount harder, burning up the ground beneath them, unable to get to the bluff fast enough.

It loomed in the distance. The remains of Flicker Feather’s village were below the bluff. To the west were numerous caverns and caves, all the way to the coast. The air was damp, and there was a hint of the ocean in it.

He saw Frost waiting for him at the top of the bluff. His gut tightened, twisting the nerves, forcing a red haze of fury before his eyes.

Calm. He had to stay calm. A foolish move could cost him his daughter’s life.

W
here’s my daughter, you son of a bitch!” Jackson shouted the words as he closed the distance between them.

Frost was calm astride his mount. “She’s safe. At least for now,” he added cryptically.

“What do you want from me?” Jackson scanned the landscape in search of Dawn Twilight.

Frost laughed. “She’s not here, Wolfe. I need time to get away. You’re an honorable man. If you promise to let me escape, I know you won’t go back on your word.” He continued to snicker. “That’s what makes men like you so transparent and easy to use.”

Jackson wanted to rearrange his face. Focusing internally, he calmed himself. Although it grated at his sense of justice, and after all, he’d taken an oath to uphold the law, he would agree to anything to keep his daughter safe. Besides, he’d do Dawn Twilight no good if he lost his temper. “I promise. Now tell me where she is.”

Frost wagged a finger at him. “Tut, tut. Not so fast. Aren’t you the least bit curious to know why I asked you to meet me here?”

Flicker Feather’s burned village was just over the bluff. Jackson’s gaze swung to the banker. “I think I know.”

Frost crossed his forearms over the pummel on his saddle, affecting a nonchalant pose. “So. You have everything figured out, have you?”

Jackson refused to let his gaze waver. “Pretty much.”

“Well, as long as you promise to let me go, I guess I can tell you everything.”

“Don’t bother,” Jackson answered. “I don’t have time to listen to your rot.”

A smirk. “Oh, but I insist.” A malicious grin. “Don’t worry. Your little breed will be fine. For a while, anyway.”

Jackson had all he could do to stay on his mount and not go for Frost’s throat. “Get on with it.”

Ethan flicked his reins casually against the saddle. “I’ve been here before, as you can imagine.”

Jackson waited, impatiently clenching his teeth.

“It was nothing personal, Wolfe.” A chuckle. “None of the destruction was personal. I was a young man with high standards. Those damned diggers were such an eyesore,” he said with feeling. He raised his index finger in Jackson’s direction. “I never harmed a child. I never did. You’ve got to believe me.”

Jackson huffed a dry laugh. “Is that supposed to make it all right?”

Ethan sighed. “I don’t suppose someone like you would understand. After all, you actually slept with one of them, didn’t you?”

“She was my wife.” God, how he wanted to smash Frost’s nose in!

Ethan made a face. “You know? I don’t understand that.” He shivered. “Sleeping with one of them seems so … dirty.” He wrinkled his nose.

Jackson held his rage, sensing he was being baited. “Any other of your fine, upstanding, bigoted vigilantes alive?”

Ethan chuckled. “Nope. All dead, I’m afraid. Except me, of course.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Now, Sheriff. You don’t expect me to rat on my friends, do you?”

“How big are your gambling debts, Frost?”

Ethan nodded expansively. “So you found out about those. Well, I’ll be a rich man once I sell Mateo’s and Bilboa’s land to the government.”

“For the railroad,”

“You’ve done your homework, haven’t you?”

Jackson suddenly laughed. “Do you expect to get away with this?”

“You’ve promised not to stop me, Sheriff. You have to keep your promise. You’re an honorable man.”

“Hell,” Jackson murmured. “I’d keep my eyes open if I were you. Dominic Mateo is out for your blood.”

Ethan suddenly exploded. “I didn’t kill his father. I didn’t! It was an accident—” He stopped, settling into his saddle, and smiling an evil smile. “Very good, Sheriff. Very good.”

“You’re an asshole, Frost.”

“And you’re a fool.”

“Maybe, but in the end, I’m going to win.”

“No, I don’t think so. I’m smarter than anyone you’ve ever met, Wolfe. You know how I found your little trust fund?”

“I imagine you’re going to tell me.”

Ethan shook his head and laughed. “It was purely by accident, I assure you. After my father died, I found all this money simply sitting there, collecting interest and dust. I couldn’t let that happen. I was already in debt; gambling has always been my downfall.” He stared into the distance. “Yours wasn’t the only money I embezzled.”

Jackson had heard enough. “I don’t need to hear any more. Where’s my daughter?”

Frost raised his hand. “Not quite yet. Let me see,” he mused, appearing to concentrate.

“Did you kill my wife?”

“You mean your squaw?” He grimaced. “Probably. But like I said, it was nothing personal. It was such a long time ago, and there were so many of them.”

It was all in the past. Jackson didn’t want to dwell on it anymore. The only thing that rankled like hell was letting Frost go. “Where’s my daughter?”

“I expected to see a stronger response from you considering I’ve admitted killing your squaw. Knowing your kind, it’s probably all bottled up inside. Well,” he said, moving away, “if you’ll promise not to follow me, I’ll—”

“Where is she?” Having to let him go left a sour taste in his mouth, but his daughter was more important at this moment than the law. Ethan Frost would get what was due him. Eventually. That was all Jackson could hope for.

“She’s in one of the caverns along here.” Ethan pointed toward the west.

“Which one?”

“Oh, come now, Sheriff. That would make your task incredibly easy, wouldn’t it? I’ll give you a hint. She won’t last long once the tide comes in, and—” He pulled out his pocket watch. “Oh, dear. It’s coming in now.”

Hearing the sound of approaching hoofbeats, both men looked up. The horseman was riding fast and hard, directly toward them.

With one hand clutching the reins and the other the saddle horn, Libby clung to the rented horse, her heart thudding with fear. This was insane. Insane! Her teeth jarred each time her rump hit the saddle, and she’d lost her hat before she reached the outskirts of town. Now her hair had come loose, and the wind was whipping the long, wild strands around her face. She didn’t care. Her fingers were frozen; she couldn’t have relaxed them if she’d wanted to.

Pinkers Bluff came into view, and she felt a combination of fear and relief. She only hoped she wasn’t too late. In the distance she saw two men on horseback. Hanging on tight, she guided the horse in that direction.

Her brain told her one of the two men was Ethan; her heart and soul told her the other was her husband. She directed the mount toward Ethan, wanting to run him over. At the last minute she tugged on the reins and pulled the horse to an awkward halt.

Everything shook—her hands, her knees, her chest, even her teeth. Gasping for breath, she slid gracelessly from the mount and flew at Ethan. Catching him off guard, she grabbed him and hauled him off his mount.

“You bastard! Where’s my daughter? Where is she?” She threw herself on top of him, scratching and punching, out of control. She pulled his hair, kicked him, and rammed her knee into his groin. In a remote corner of her mind, she heard him gasp for air.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you, you slimy pile of hog slop!”

She felt herself being lifted away from him, but she continued to kick at the air.

“Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!”

“Come on, Libby. Settle down, honey.”

Up through her anger, she recognized Jackson’s voice. She fought him, kicked at him, screamed. “He’s got her! He’s got my daughter, dammit! I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him!”

“Libby, we have to let him go.”

The words sifted through her frenzy. She swung around and stared at her husband as though he were an escaped madman. “Let him go? Jackson, we can’t let him go! He’s got Dawn. He’s got—”

“I know where she is, honey.” He attempted to soothe her’ but her agitation was too strong. “We can’t waste time with him. We have to get to Dawn or she’ll drown.”

Suddenly exhausted, she slumped against Jackson, trying to hold back her fearful sobs. “Dawn, my poor, poor baby…”

“We’ll find her, sweetheart.”

Ethan coughed, spitting out blood-tinged saliva. He swore and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. It was smeared with blood. “She’s insane, Wolfe. Keep her the hell away from me.”

Libby’s chest heaved. “You…you piece of skunk vomit,” she hissed, her teeth clenched in fury.

Ethan attempted to smooth his rumpled hair. “Yes, well, we all do what we have to do, Libby.” He straightened his coat, mounted his horse, and rode away.

Anguish suffocated her. “We’re just going to let him go? After all he’s done?”

“It’s the price I had to pay for Dawn’s life, sweetheart.” Jackson stood by his mount, his arm around Libby. “I hate like hell to let him go, honey, but I promised.” He waited a beat, then said, “He’s responsible for Flicker Feather’s murder and the burning of their village. I suspect everyone in the village died in the fire.”

Libby closed her eyes. “Then how did Dawn survive?”

“That’s one thing we may never know.”

She brushed tears from her cheeks. “But to let him go after all he’s done…”

“I had no choice. I have a feeling he’ll get what he deserves if Dom Mateo ever catches up with him. Now come, love, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”

He helped her into his saddle, swinging up behind her. “We’ll come back and pick up your mount after we’ve found Dawn Twilight.”

They tore over the earth, slowing at the mouth of each cave where the high tidewater spilled in, calling out Dawn’s name.

“Oh, God, what if we’re too late?” Libby had been thinking it so hard she hadn’t been able to stifle the words.

All of a sudden they heard a sound. Jackson drew his mount to a halt, and they listened.

Libby gasped, relief making her weak. “It sounds like Dawn,” she whispered, straining to hear.

“It’s coming from over there,” Jackson stated, urging the horse toward the cave.

“Dawn? Darling?”

“In here, Mama! I’m in here!” Her voice echoed from inside.

They raced to the mouth of the cave, taking note of the swelling waters that sped through it. They waded in, squinting into the darkness.

“Dawn Twilight?”

“Papa? Oh, Papa! I’m here!”

Libby swallowed her alarm when she saw how far the tide had risen on Dawn’s body.

Jackson sloshed through the waist-deep water and sliced the ropes that held his daughter. She tumbled eagerly and gratefully into his arms. He carried her outside but wouldn’t put her down.

Libby hugged them both. “Oh, darling, I’m so glad you’re all right.” She stepped away, her heart thumping anxiously. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

Dawn stroked her mother’s hair. “I’m fine, Mama, but what happened to you?”

Jackson gave Libby a proud smile. “You’d have been proud of her, Dawn Twilight. She came to find you on horseback.”

Dawn’s eyes grew big. “You rode a horse, Mama?”

Libby felt the threat of tears. “I’d have ridden the devil’s mount to find you, darling. Why weren’t you dropped off at home?”

Dawn glanced away. “I’m sorry, Mama. That was my fault. Grandpapa’s friend, Mr. Kito, wanted to drop me off at home, but I begged him to let me walk from the jail.”

She looked at her mother and grinned. “Did you really ride a horse?”

Jackson’s grin was broad. “She did. And she flew at Ethan Frost and yanked him off his horse, then proceeded to beat him up.”

“I hope I broke his nose,” Libby mumbled, barely remembering her actions.

With Dawn on one arm, he wrapped the other around her. “I think you deserve to be called Warrior Heart, my love. I didn’t like being on the receiving end of your temper, but I’ve never seen anything like what you did to Frost.”

“He deserves to die a long, lingering death.” She attempted to fix her hair, but the effort was useless. “I lost my hat.”

He drew her close and looked deep into her eyes. “And I’ve lost my heart.”

Libby blinked, surprised. “You…you have?”

He gave her a lopsided grin. “Have I ever. I love you, Liberty Wolfe, more than I can ever tell you.”

Feeling a happiness that threatened to consume her’ she breathed in the rich, salt-tinged air, careless of the tears that blurred her vision. “And I love you.”

Dawn hugged them both. “And I’m going to write a story about this.”

A week later Jackson brought a mysterious package home from the jail. “Come see this,” he instructed Libby.

She wiped her hands on her apron and eased herself into a chair across from him, still suffering muscle aches from her fateful ride. She tried not to wince. “What is it?”

Jackson tipped the package over and out tumbled several important-looking documents.

Libby picked one up and opened it, then shot Jackson a look of surprise. “Why, it’s the deed to the Bilboa place.”

Jackson nodded. “Mateo’s is in there, too. And there are others, of ranchers I’ve never heard of, who have apparently moved on. Frost was a busy crook long before the government decided to build a railroad through the sheepherders’ land.”

Libby looked through them, recognizing the names of many ranchers she’d thought had simply moved on of their own free will. “Where did you get them?”

Jackson shrugged. “The package was on my desk when I got to work this morning.”

Libby sucked in a breath. “This is wonderful, but…who put them there, and what does it mean?”

“I don’t know. I wish I did. I have no doubt Ethan Frost had these documents at one point. How he lost them is anybody’s guess.”

Libby rose, went around the table, and settled herself on her husband’s lap. It certainly wasn’t soft, but it felt better than the chair. “I wonder who got them away from him.”

“It doesn’t matter, but I could take a guess,” Jackson murmured against her hair. “Axel was on the jail floor this morning, trussed up like a turkey, babbling about Dominic Mateo and promising to tell me everything if I’d protect him from the Basque. Cleb Hartman was straining at the cell bars, hollering at Axel to keep his mouth shut.”

“You think they were all in this together?”

“That would be my guess.”

Libby worried her bottom lip with her teeth. “So you think Dominic somehow got the deeds away from Ethan?”