Love in Disguise (26 page)

Ellie’s mouth went dry. Maybe the gang was planning another raid against the miners. If so, she would be in an ideal position to overhear all the details. She willed her heart to slow its pace. She needed to be able to concentrate on catching every word.

A second set of footsteps approached from the direction of Charles Street, hesitantly at first, then pattering quickly across the hard-packed ground. Ellie held her breath and watched in disbelief as a young woman came into view and ran across the lot to throw her arms around the man’s neck.

“I’m sorry I’m late.” Her breathy apology floated to Ellie’s ears. “Daddy kept us at the dinner table until I thought I’d scream.”

Her companion made no reply but lowered his head and planted a long, hard kiss on her lips.

Ellie gasped, and the couple sprang apart.

The man peered into the shadows, quickly locating the staircase as the only place of concealment. He crossed the distance in a few quick strides. Reaching out, he grasped Ellie’s arm and dragged her out into the moonlight.

“You!” His hard expression spoke volumes more than the single word he uttered.

Unable to find her voice, Ellie stared openmouthed, flicking her gaze between him and his companion, who she now recognized as the buxom brunette she’d seen flirting on the street with Marshal Bascomb not long after her arrival.

He tightened his grip. “What are you doing here?”

Ellie scrambled for something, anything, to explain her presence. “I was out for an evening stroll,” she faltered. “I heard someone coming but couldn’t tell who it was, so I ducked out of the way, thinking you’d pass on by. I never intended to intrude on your . . . um . . .”

She tried to withdraw her arm, but his hold remained firm.

The girl walked over to them. “Let her go. She looks scared.” She turned to Ellie. “You won’t tell anyone, will you? We’re not really doing anything wrong. It’s just that my father doesn’t approve. He thinks there’s too much difference in our ages.” She looked up at the man with an adoring smile. “But Daddy’s wrong. We’ll make him see it one of these days, won’t we?”

The man’s angry scowl melted into a somewhat softer expression. He released Ellie with a show of reluctance, managing to give her a tiny shove as he did so. “You’ve seen all you need to tonight. It’s time you got back home—where you’ll be safe.”

Ellie didn’t need further urging to convince her to comply. Spinning on her heel, she made her way home at as fast a clip as Lavinia could manage, berating herself with every step. Her big break in solving the mystery had turned out to be a huge mistake, and an embarrassing one at that.

The only consolation she could find in the whole humiliating mess was that she hadn’t told Ted about her plans.

20

A
soft tap sounded on the back window. Setting aside the assay reports he’d been studying, the man walked swiftly to the rear door and opened it long enough to admit his henchman before closing it softly against the evening gloom.

The new arrival pushed his hat farther back on his head. “I got your message. You wanted to see me?”

A quick nod. “We need to talk.”

The other man’s eyes sparked with an eager light. “You got into the house?”

A grimace tugged at his lips and forehead, but he stiffened his features before his discomfort could show. This wasn’t the way he’d planned to start the conversation. “I got in,” he said in a flat voice. He glanced down at his hands, then back up in time to see a slow smirk spread across his visitor’s face.

“Don’t tell me you got caught?”

Rage boiled up inside. How dare a subordinate take on such an arrogant tone? The man was an underling, a tool, nothing more. He’d never been one to put up with a superior attitude from any employee. He clenched his hands, then forced them to relax, telling himself their association would soon be at an end.

He took a moment longer to tamp down his irritation before going on in his usual confident manner. “I watched her leave the house. She spends hours wandering around town, so I naturally assumed I’d have plenty of time.”

The smirk widened. “So what happened? Did the niece catch you?”

He narrowed his eyes and sent a venomous look at his minion. “I’m not a fool. I went up the front steps and knocked on the door to make sure no one was home. There was no answer, so I slipped around to the back and used my key to get inside.”

The other man hooked his thumbs in his waistband. “And?”

He held back the urge to use his fist to wipe the sneer off his visitor’s face and raked one hand through his hair instead. “I planned to go through the desk first. I’d just opened the first drawer when I heard her coming back up the front steps. I barely had time to shut the drawer and get out the back way without being seen. I didn’t even have a chance to lock the door behind me.”

A slow hiss of air escaped through his visitor’s teeth. “Nobody saw you?”

“No. There was no one out and about on that side of the house. I came home through the alleys.”

“When are you going to try again?”

“I’m not. That was too close for comfort. Now some cousin is visiting them, and no telling how long he’s going to stay. At this point, I’m willing to put your plan into operation, with some modifications.”

The tall man raised his eyebrows. “With the cousin here in town? I thought the idea was to keep her family from getting involved.”

“You aren’t going to make her disappear, just put her out of commission. Make it look like an accident.” He clipped the words out and eyed the other steadily. “Her family will be too distraught to think about looking into her business dealings. And . . . poof!” He waved his hands like a stage magician. “All those pesky questions will go away.”

The second man nodded slowly, then with increasing assurance. “All right, I’ll handle it. When and how?”

He arched one eyebrow. “I’ll leave the ‘how’ up to you. Take care of it the first chance you get.”

After another round of asking questions everywhere he could think of, Steven was ready to concede that the art of detection was best left to experts. Not only had his probing borne no fruit other than curious looks and raised eyebrows, but he wondered if the criminals were laughing at his amateurish efforts.

Pondering his lack of progress, he left the business district behind and walked out past the west end of town, where buildings gave way to the desert. He’d been looking for someone with a sudden flush of money, but perhaps these robbers were shrewder than run-of-the-mill thugs. What if they were hoarding the silver before making their next move, whatever that might be?

He felt the need to talk it over with someone, but Tom was unavailable that afternoon, and after the older man’s cautions about Alfred and Gilbert, Steven no longer felt comfortable confiding in the other mine owners.

But there was someone always available to help bear his burdens. Somewhat sheepishly, Steven turned his steps toward the San Pedro, ready to lay his cares at the feet of the one he should have turned to in the first place.

The riverbank had often provided a quiet spot when he needed to think . . . or pray. He followed the familiar path through the thicket of mesquite and cottonwoods, and the words started pouring forth even before the river came in sight. “Lord, you know my father expects me to fail, and it looks like that’s exactly what’s going to happen unless you intervene and show me how to—”

A sharp sound split the air.
Was that a gunshot?
Standing motionless, he stood listening, but the only sound he heard was the steady thump of the stamp mill in the distance.

His eye caught movement up ahead. Stealthily, he stepped behind the trunk of a mesquite tree. Footsteps rustled the leaves along the pathway, and Steven drew farther back into the shadows, watching as a figure dressed in sapphire blue came into view—Jessie. He stepped forward and called a greeting.

She let out a squeak and clutched her reticule against herself.

In spite of the strain of their last meeting, Steven couldn’t hold back the smile that spread across his face. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

She offered a hesitant smile, as if the picture of him marching her out of the Palace was fresh in her mind, as well. “I could say the same thing. But it’s a pleasant surprise.”

Afternoon sunlight filtered through the bare branches, dappling her copper curls. Steven’s breath caught in his throat at the sight. “I was heading for one of my favorite spots, out there where the river curves. It’s a good place to sit and sort things out.” Acting on impulse, he added, “Would you like to join me?” To his delight, she nodded and turned to walk with him.

Moments later, he cut off the path and led the way over to a fallen cottonwood log on the bank. “This makes a nice bench to sit on and watch the river go by.” He pulled his handkerchief from his pocket and spread it on the log, giving Jessie a place to sit. He held her elbow as she settled into place, then sat beside her.

When she looked at him, her gaze held none of the brash expression he’d come to expect. “You said you wanted to come here to think. You have a lot on your mind?”

He looked deep into those aquamarine eyes. “Everything’s falling apart, and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do about it. The silver is in the mine, ready for the taking, but we can’t ship it for fear of having more stolen. I came out west planning to show my family I could do something that mattered and make a place for myself in the world. But now . . .” Feeling his throat tighten, he bowed his head and looked down at his boots.

Without speaking, she reached over and placed her slim fingers on his hand. The light touch sent a flush of warmth throughout his entire body.

“I can’t imagine why anyone would think you don’t matter.”

He gave a bitter laugh. “You don’t know my father.”

Jessie arched her delicate eyebrows and gave him a questioning look.

What was it about this woman? Only a few days before, he’d been admonishing her about her behavior, and today he was ready to open his heart to her.

“Several years ago, a college friend asked me to take the blame for something he’d done. It seemed a trivial thing at the time, but he stood to lose a great deal if the truth came out. Wanting to help my friend, I agreed to do as he asked.”

A tiny pucker appeared between her brows. “That seems a terribly small thing to create a rift between you and your father. We all make mistakes, and you were very young.”

“Young and foolish.” Digging his heel into the soft earth at their feet, he felt the pain of the past wash over him afresh. “We don’t always realize what impact our actions will have. I never dreamed at the time that this would become a defining moment in my friend’s life. Getting away with this misdeed seemed to give him the idea he could always find a way of escaping consequences, that he could do whatever he wanted and never be called to account.”

The soft gurgle of water flowing over rocks filled the silence before he went on. “That attitude carried over into every part of his life—his friendships, his business practices, his marriage—until it wound up ruining them all.”

Jessie increased the pressure of her fingers on the back of his hand. “But those choices were his, not yours.”

“His father didn’t see it that way. When my friend’s business crumbled and his marriage failed, the whole story finally came out. His father was devastated. Instead of blaming his son, he held me responsible, said what I had done all those years before showed a lack of moral strength that brought about the downfall of his son. And he may have been right. If I had just stood up to my friend, insisted he take responsibility for his own actions, it might have turned out quite differently.”

“You don’t know that,” Jessie said. “I think you’re being far too hard on yourself.”

“My father wouldn’t agree with you. When he learned what I had done, he berated me for my lack of integrity. He called me every kind of irresponsible fool and said I would never amount to anything.”

“What happened then?” she asked quietly.

“I took the inheritance my grandmother left me and came out west determined to do two things. One was to make my mark in the world. The other was that I would never intentionally tell a falsehood again, no matter how inconsequential it might seem.”

He looked at Jessie, hoping to see approbation in her eyes. Instead, she stared into the distance with a troubled expression.

To cover the awkward silence, he said, “I’m sorry. Here I’ve been rattling on about myself. I’ve enjoyed getting acquainted with your aunt, but I’d like to know more about you.” He smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “For one thing, I hope your relationship with your parents is better than mine.”

To his dismay, Jessie’s face crumpled. The bleakness in her eyes tore at his heart.

“I don’t have parents—not anymore. They died in an accident when I was young.”

Steven turned his hand and wrapped his fingers around hers. “I’m sorry. Did you have to go live with relatives?”

The quick shake of her head was almost indiscernible. “No, there wasn’t anyone. Friends of my parents took me in—people they’d worked with.”