Only in My Arms (56 page)

Ryder didn't answer immediately. He felt Mary lean her head against his thigh. He stroked her hair lightly. She had trusted him so completely, had been so certain of his ability to protect her that she had been fearless in facing the senator's gun. If she weren't so curious for the truth about Colter Canyon, Ryder believed she was nearly comfortable enough to fall asleep against his leg.

It was different with Anna Leigh. Even in the darkness, Ryder could sense her agitation. "Waiting is not always a means to an end," he said quietly. "It has its own rewards."

Anna Leigh snorted. "What does that mean?" she asked sharply. "Some Apache nonsense, no doubt."

Mary felt Ryder's shrug and smiled to herself. Anna Leigh would never understand about the waiting. "You'd do well to answer him, Miss Hamilton," she said. "Ryder's rarely in a hurry. We'll grow very old here. Just as Senator Stillwell intends."

Ryder doubted that was all his uncle intended, but he didn't point it out. "Colter Canyon," he said. "In exchange for your freedom."

Anna Leigh carefully stretched her right leg. She could just touch Davis Rivers's body with her toe. She nudged him several times but got no response. There would be no help from that quarter. He hadn't even armed himself, so there was no weapon she could steal. More disgusted than distressed, Anna Leigh drew back her leg. Her skirt rustled softly. "What is it you want to know?"

"How my uncle planned it," said Ryder.

Anna Leigh's short laughter was without humor. "Wilson said you suspected it was my father's scheme. What changed your mind?"

"My uncle did."

"Wilson? How?"

"When he said he could arrange for you and the lieutenant to come here. He could offer no explanation. Only the certainty that it could be done. Mary said from the beginning that it didn't make sense. She was right... and wrong. Mary's only mistake was her refusal to change her premises. It didn't make sense if my uncle was innocent, but if he was involved..." His voice trailed off and he let Anna Leigh and Mary draw their own conclusions.

Mary raised her head, disappointed that she hadn't guessed it for herself. "Then it was Senator Stillwell who arranged for your assignment—on his own, not with Warren Hamilton's encouragement."

"That's right," Ryder said. "He lied about that and a few other things."

"Your uncle's very good at lying," Anna Leigh interjected bitterly. "I'm not so easily fooled as your dear Mary." The last three words were iced heavily with scorn. "You were right. He deceived Davis and me this evening. We did expect to be part of your capture, not our own." She leaned back against the step behind her. "Your uncle and I were lovers for almost a year before Colter Canyon was ever mentioned. I knew Wilson had power and influence in Western policies and the Indian campaigns, but I had no idea he could implement something as stunning as the Colter Canyon raid." There was the subtle rise of excitement in her voice as she went on. "Watching him maneuver people like pawns... he was brilliant. I've never seen anything like it." She suddenly seemed to recognize that enthusiasm and admiration were not called for. Now she spoke with more deliberation, carefully modulating her voice. "He didn't confide his plans right away. He wasn't so certain of me in the beginning of our relationship. That took some time on my part... a bit of maneuvering equal to his. I never knew the full scope of what he intended. Never guessed that he meant for so many soldiers to die."

Mary felt Ryder's hand on her shoulder, cautioning her against interrupting. She doubted Ryder believed Anna Leigh was so innocent. She certainly didn't. But he wanted to hear all from her.

"My father could never have engineered such a plan," she said. "I don't think it would have been a completely moral judgment on his part. He just wouldn't have had the stomach for it." She paused. "Or the brains, for that matter."

Mary's own stomach became a trifle queasy as she listened to Anna Leigh speak with such disrespect and disregard.

"Wilson Stillwell called in all debts to put his plan together. Most of the men he had assigned to Fort Union felt they owed him some favor. Of course that was only a small reason they joined him. There
was
the gold, after all." She drew her legs up, hugging them as the cool dampness of the cellar sent a shiver through her. "My father and I were there as part of Wilson's plan," she said. "Not that Papa was aware. As far as he knew his reasons for being there were perfectly legitimate. I understood that Wilson was setting up another scapegoat in the event that you did not take to the role so obligingly."

Ryder's deep chuckle was mirthless. "I was everything you could have hoped for."

Protected by the unrelieved blackness, Anna Leigh smiled, remembering. "Yes," she said. "Yes, you were. I really was intrigued by you, you know. I'd heard so much about you. Some from the women at the fort, much more from your uncle. He thinks of you as a half-breed. He really does. All those years among the Apache. It's as if you're one of them in his mind." Anna Leigh's head tilted to one side. She brushed away the tangled hair that clung to her neck. "It's hard to say how different things might have been if you hadn't pushed aside my attentions. You might have been killed during the raid. Who knows, I could have saved your life."

"But then, if my uncle's plan had unraveled, if it had been discovered the Chiricahua were not behind the raid, your father stood to take the blame. I think you saw a way to make certain I stayed alive and was fingered with the responsibility."

Anna Leigh was silent for a moment. "My father had been critical of Washington's policies on the Indians of late. He was recognized among his peers to be more sympathetic. Wilson and my father... they were known to argue publicly—and privately. I think Wilson saw Papa as a patsy for his scheme long before he recognized you were a better choice." She tossed her disheveled hair defiantly. "And what if I did help Wilson to see it? Better you than my father."

"You could have turned everyone in," Ryder said with quiet conviction. "But then, there
was
the gold."

Anna Leigh sighed. "I suspect you know me too well," she said. "Betraying your uncle wasn't something I could do."

Mary couldn't help herself. "You seemed to have changed your mind."

Anna Leigh's voice was sharp. "He's the one who deceived me," she snapped.

"I was referring to your affair with Lieutenant Rivers," Mary said. "That's the betrayal that made him push you down these stairs. Senator Stillwell wasn't very interested in what we had uncovered about Colter Canyon until we mentioned your tryst with the lieutenant. That engaged his attention. He saw us as a way to get back at you."

Anna Leigh shrugged. "If he thinks about it he'll know it didn't mean anything. Why would I care for Davis when Wilson can give me so much more? I have no intention of being a lieutenant's wife."

"Even with all the gold you have?" asked Ryder. "That certainly would smooth out life's little bumps."

"All the gold?" Anna Leigh said scornfully. "What do you suppose was my portion when it was all said and done? Not much, I can tell you. Wilson had the ore shipped and processed into bullion. That's not something that can be readily used as legal tender. It will be a while before anyone can spend it."

"But in the meantime you can dream about what it will buy."

"Your uncle took the lion's share, and the rest was split between all the men."

"That's only fair," Ryder said, his voice suddenly taut. "They had to kill their
brothers
for it."

Anna felt the vibration of Ryder's tightly strung anger as if it were a wave in the cool, moist air. She found herself recoiling to avoid a slap that never came. "They knew what they had to do for it," she rejoined. "They accepted the assignment. Most of them welcomed it. You know for yourself that none of them flinched when the time came. No one was left alive who could say what had happened in Colter Canyon except for the men who had done the deed." She raised her chin. The brilliant sparkle of her blue eyes was lost in the darkness. "And none of them are talking."

"You certainly are," Mary said. She rested her head against the wooden wine rack and closed her eyes. So it was true, she thought. Anna Leigh had confirmed the horrible truth of Colter Canyon. One bluecoat against another. Not for flag or freedom, but for gold. Her nails continued to trace the mortar maze between the bricks in the cellar floor. Struggling for control she opened her eyes again. "But then I suppose you still believe the senator will come to his senses and take your side." Anna Leigh didn't have to respond. Mary knew it was the truth. She touched Ryder's thigh. "We have all the answers," she said. "What do we do now?"

His response was long in coming, as if he were shaking off the sadness. Mary swore she could see Ryder's slowly emerging smile when he finally said, "Celebrate, of course, and wait for the enemy to charge."

Bemused, Mary let herself be drawn to her feet and led between the tall racks of wine.

"Where are you going?" Anna Leigh called a little uncertainly. She squinted, trying to see. "Are you leaving me?"

Ryder ignored her. Running his free hand along the wall of bottles, he asked Mary, "Is there something in particular you'd like to try?"

Mary frowned. "Ryder, you know I don't drink much."

"I wasn't thinking that we'd drink it."

"Well then, what are we—"

"Break them," he said. "Break them all."

"And wait for the enemy," she whispered slowly, understanding. "Ryder McKay, I like the way you think." She took a bottle by the neck and removed it from the rack. "I'll start with this."

Ryder found her face, cupped it, and kissed her swiftly and sweetly on the mouth. "Be careful," he said. "I'll be at the top of the stairs."

She nodded. "I thought you would." She heard him tell Anna Leigh to get out of the way before he climbed the steps.

Mary had to knock the first bottle of wine against the floor a few times before it broke. The sound was not as satisfying as she'd hoped it would be. The thud was too dull and the bottle didn't shatter easily. "I don't think he'll hear that," she said.

Anna Leigh groped around in the darkness until she came upon Mary. "Here, let me try." She gripped one bottleneck and pitched it hard in the direction of where she knew a wall would be. It shattered nicely. "You have to know where to throw it. I've seen Wilson's cellar before."

"How nice for you," Mary said dryly. Anna Leigh's assistance now wasn't going to make her a fast friend. Mary hefted a bottle and tossed it. It broke easily. She tossed another, then another. Anna Leigh joined her and they pitched the bottles in unison. Overhead they could hear the heavy thud of running feet. Senator Stillwell was pounding down the hallway to save his beloved collection of vintage wines. "He's coming!" Mary whispered.

"Yes," Anna Leigh said. "He is."

The last thing Mary saw was the sliver of light at the top of the stairs as Senator Stillwell threw open the door. She remembered thinking it was a good thing the bottle Anna Leigh brought down squarely on her head didn't shatter.

"Look out, Wilson!" Anna Leigh cried. "It's a trap!"

Her warning came too late. The senator had already launched himself headlong onto the stairway, his revolver drawn. Ryder rose from his crouched position and drove a fist hard into his uncle's midsection. Wilson Stillwell groaned and lost his balance. The force of his headlong plunge knocked Ryder off his feet and for the second time in the space of an hour, Ryder twisted and dove down the length of the stairs.

Stillwell's gun discharged as it thudded against a step, its bullet exploding a magnum of Moet et Chandon. Anna Leigh screamed as she was struck in the face by champagne and shards of flying glass, and she screamed even louder when she tasted blood mixed with the bubbly.

Ryder wrestled the senator to the floor, taking a surprisingly stiff blow on his chin as they both grappled for the gun. Stillwell caught it once with his fingertips, but sent it skittering along the bricks when Ryder reached for it, too. The door at the top of the stairs began to swing shut slowly, cutting off the hallway's gaslight.

With the return of complete darkness Wilson Stillwell got lucky. His roundhouse punch connected with Ryder's temple, knocking Ryder sideways and further wrenching his knee. The senator threw himself in the direction where he'd last spied the gun and began flailing around for it. Ryder caught him by the legs and pulled him back. Stillwell's aggressive chin got a solid thudding as he was dragged belly first across the brick floor. He groaned as Ryder straddled him and yanked his arms behind his back.

"Now what?" Stillwell said tersely, one side of his face pressed uncomfortably against the floor. "You don't have anything for tying my hands."

Ryder had realized that as well. "I'm prepared to improvise," he said.

Without any more warning than that, he raised himself high enough to turn his uncle over, then he knocked him out with a hard right hook.

Suddenly there was light at the top of the stairs as the door was opened again. Not certain what he could expect, Ryder rolled off Stillwell and sprang to his feet. Anna Leigh's screams had subsided into hoarse sobs. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mary lift her head weakly and search out the lump on her scalp. Nearby Lieutenant Rivers was finally stirring. Only his uncle was singularly still.