Tarnished Angel (50 page)

    Harvey Dale's tall, well-proportioned body twitched almost convulsively. He shook his head. "George, do you realize what you're saying?"

    "Yes, Harvey, I'm saying that I don't intend to pay the ransom."

    "You bastard!"

    Harvey's angry advance was halted by the expression in his partner's eyes and his sharp admonition.

    "Stop where you are, Harvey. Don't do something you'll regret."

    Harvey was twitching with the suppressed desire to close the remaining distance between himself and George
Tillson
and to snap his hands around the man's skinny neck. With a profound effort, he held himself in check. "All right. I'll buy you out, here and now."

    "Don't be a damned fool, Harvey. I know your financial position. You can't afford to buy me out."

    "Then what are you suggesting, damn you? That I calmly refuse to meet Morrison's demands, that I let him do what he wants with my daughter? You know the man hates me! God knows what Devina's already suffered. I"

    His throat filling with emotion, Harvey fell into a choking silence, bringing the first sign of compassion to George
Tillson's
thin face.

    "Harvey, you got yourself into this spot all by yourself, and you're going to have to get yourself out the same way. Don't ask me to sacrifice my own future and my family's future for your mistakes."

    Harvey shook his head. "He'll kill her, George. If I don't submit to his demands, he'll kill Devina."

    George remained unshaken. "Then let him think you're doing exactly as he instructed. I have no objection to that."

    Harvey was confused. "What good will that do? When he finds out"

    "You're going to have to outsmart him! Use that conniving brain of yours, Harvey. Stall for time. Call Charles Carter in, as the ransom note demands, give him the files on the Morrison claim, let him make an accounting of the profits of the claim in the past three years. Put an ad in the
Epitaph
, as Morrison instructed and post a full confession, as the note demands. Just don't involve me in any way. You can pay the miners a month's salary at your own expense. I'll even consent to suspending operations at the mines for a short time to give the impression of compliance, but I will not allow the pumping to stop. You can follow through on any other details that will make Morrison think he's getting exactly what he wants. But that's as far as I'll go, Harvey. Do not expect me to sign any papers for the transfer of moneys or title to any part of what's legally mine, or to get involved personally in this fiasco in any way."

    "George"

    "That's
all
, Harvey."

    "All right!" Shaking with fury, Harvey waved the ransom note in his partner's face. "But you'll pay for this, George!"

    Unflinching under Harvey's rage, George smiled. "Harvey, if the situation had been reversed, you wouldn't have given me even as much leeway as I'm giving you."

    His breathing so ragged that it was almost painful, Harvey stared into his partner's face in venomous silence for a few moments longer before turning on his heel, striding out of the office, and slamming the door behind him.

    As he marched down the street, George's words echoed in his ears despite his fervent attempt to drive them from his mind, despite his desire to deny all George had said, despite his unwillingness to face the realization that every word George had uttered was true.

    Jake took a swallow of the steaming coffee and gasped, choking and sputtering as the boiling liquid burned all the way down to his protesting stomach. He gave a low, defeated groan. Hell, this morning there didn't seem to be a part of his body that wasn't aching.

    He ignored the curious glances his gasps and groans had elicited from the other patrons of the restaurant as he set his cup down in disgust and stared out the window at the street.

    It was not by chance that he had chosen this particular table in the
Maison
Doree
this morning. It was not by chance that his view of the street included the offices of Till-Dale Enterprises.

    As he watched the street and awaited his breakfast, Jake attempted to pretend the unrelenting pounding at the top of his head was not echoing all the way to his toes, that the taste in his mouth was not more revolting than poison, that his eyes had not shrunk into permanent burning slits. He was grateful that he could move at all. For the first few minutes after he had awakened this morning, he had doubted he would be able to sit up in bed.

    Movement inside the Till-Dale offices interrupted Jake's thought processes, causing him to squint a little harder. Damn, why did there have to be all that sun out there, shining on the glass, blurring his vision?

    There it was again. There was no mistaking it this time. Those clerks were taking turns listening at Dale's office door. A smile curved Jake's lips for the first time that morning. He had known there would be hell to pay when Harvey Dale read that note.

    Jake raised his head as a steaming plate of steak and eggs was placed in front of him. He nodded, regretting the action a moment later when the pounding in the top of his skull began with a new fervor. He turned back toward the window.

    This morning he had dragged his aching body out of bed first thing and sat down on the sidewalk until his stomach had quieted down enough for him to think about breakfast. All the while, he hadn't taken his eyes off Till-Dale's office doors. He had seen one clerk open the door, pick up the note, and then go inside Dale's office.

    It was then that Jake had gone into the
Maison
Doree
. A few minutes later, Harvey Dale and George
Tillson
had met on the street, exchanged a few words, entered the building, and gone into their respective offices. A few minutes later, he had seen the clerks react to what must have been a bellow from Dale, and had seen George
Tillson
go into Dale's office and close the door behind him.

    Jake had been so intent on watching the window that he had burned his mouth on the damned coffee. So far, it had been a hell of a morning, but it looked like it was soon going to pay off.

    But something was up. The clerk who'd been listening at the door was running back to his desk. The office door opened, and Harvey Dale stomped out. He marched out to the sidewalk and headed toward Fourth Street.

    Jake could not suppress a grin as he watched Dale stride along Fourth and turn down Allen Street. Jake knew where Dale was headed: Charles Carter was about to receive a visitor. It was all going just as Ross had planned.

    Jake looked down at his plate. His stomach did a quick flip-flop as the two sunshiny egg yolks looked back at him. He picked up his fork and knife. He'd get himself back in shape, and he wouldn't repeat the mistake he had made last night. The numbness hadn't lasted long, and his heart still jumped every time an Oriental woman walked into view.

    Jake forced his train of thought to a halt. He stabbed his steak with his fork and made a savage cut with his knife. He hoped Ross was doing all right with the wildcat he had on his hands. Jake had a feeling both he and Ross were going to be mighty glad to shake the dust of this territory off their boots.

    Charles read the note for the third time, his incredulity unabated. He looked up as Harvey Dale's caustic laugh broke the silence of his office.

    "You really missed your calling, Carter. You should've gone on the stage. You're a much better actor than any I've seen at Schieffelin Hall. It's no wonder you managed to pull the wool over our eyes. If I didn't know better, I'd be convinced you didn't know anything about that note."

    "I didn't, Harvey."

    Harvey's expression tightened. "You still deny that you had anything to do with my daughter's disappearance, and you still insist that your brother took your place at my party without your consent. "

    Charles had no intention of continually denying his guilt. Dale would believe what he wanted to believe. But this note made no sense at all. Ross was trusting him to carry out a very important part in this elaborate scheme.

    Charles glanced at Harvey Dale's mottled face. "How do you know this note is authentic, Harvey? Anybody could have sent it. You aren't the most popular man in town right now. Maybe someone's playing a cruel joke."

    Dale withdrew a lock of pale hair from his pocket. There could be no mistaking that particular shade.

    "That's right, Carter, it's Devina's." Dale's voice choked, and Charles's frown darkened. The man was working himself up to a dangerous point. It didn't take a doctor's eye to see that.

    "Harvey, sit down, and let's discuss this whole matter like rational people. Everything's gotten out of hand."

    "It's easy for you, isn't it, Carter? You're just as calm as can be, knowing you've got the upper hand. You're a good actor, all right. I could've sworn you had feelings for Devina. And all the while you were using her to get back at me."

    "Harvey, sit down, will you?" Taking a step forward, Charles placed a hand on Harvey's shoulder. The fellow was shuddering. His color was heightening, and his lips were tinged with blue. Damn, he had spent the last week thoroughly despising this man for all he had done to his natural father and to Ross, and for trying to get him run out of Tombstone, but the man was obviously beside himself with worry over his daughter.

    "Take your hand off me." Harvey shook off his hand. "And don't pretend concern. I know there's nothing you'd like better than to see me dead."

    Charles shook his head. "I want no such thing, Harvey."

    "Oh, no? Maybe you'll be content to see me ruined financially. That's the idea of these demands, isn't it? You know damned well I'll be ruined once all these stipulations are met."

    "The accusations are all true, aren't they, Harvey?" Charles focused intently on Harvey Dale's stiff face, wanting to hear confirmation once and for all, needing it for his peace of mind. "Everything my brother says about you is true. You cheated my father, you had my brother convicted of a crime he didn't commit, you blackened the Morrison name, and you turned the town against Ross by blaming him for that accident at your mine."

    "Your father was a fool, and your brother is no better. Neither of them had the sense to see that they were beaten."

    Silence.

    Charles was assailed by regret, anger, and despair at all that had passed which could never be changed or forgotten. And this man, who had caused his father and brother so much pain, expected Charles to feel guilty.

    "I'm not here to talk about the past, Carter." Harvey Dale's rasping voice snapped Charles back to the present as he continued with no lessening of venom. "I'm here to tell you that you can pass the word to your brother that I'll meet his
demandsbut
it will take time. I'll turn over the files to you as soon as I can get all the papers together. I'll stop work in the mines. I'll write up the confession he asked for, damn him. But the legal work will take time. I want you to make sure that he doesn't take out his impatience on Devina."

    "Harvey, I've had no contact with my brother; I didn't know anything about this ransom note. I'll follow the instructions, but I don't know any more about them than you do."

    "Carter, tell your brother I want some proof that my daughter is safe."

    "
Dammit
, listen to me, will you?" Frustrated, impatient, and angry, Charles heard himself defending his brother. "Ross would never deliberately hurt Devina, and the demands… well, they're nothing more than a request for simple justice that has been a long time coming."

    "Justice?" Harvey Dale's face twitched alarmingly. "I'll tell you about some justice that's going to prevail in Tombstone within the next few days. There's a whore who works in Blond Marie's establishment who's been getting a little out of hand.

    Her clientele includes some of the wealthier married men in town. It appears that someone has done Tombstone the favor of anonymously informing the wives of these men by letter where their husbands have been spending their free hours. Those letters have revealed the exact number of times the husbands have visited this whore, the fees she charged, and the favors the persuasive bitch has asked of these men… expensive favors."

    Rage assailed Charles with a sudden, blinding heat. He lunged forward and seized Harvey Dale's lapels.

    "You're talking about Camille, aren't you, you bastard? You're going after her to get back at me."

    Harvey Dale laughed. "Camille… yes, I believe that's the woman's name."

    Charles shook Dale roughly, unmindful of the man's unhealthy color, unmindful of all else but Camille and the position she had been forced into by her association with him. He would not see another innocent party suffer because of Harvey Dale… especially not Camille.

    "Leave Camille alone, Dale, I'm warning you. If you harm her in any way"

    "Carter, I had nothing to do with the whole affair. I'm innocent, just like you." Harvey Dale's expression was suddenly one of mock innocence, his pale eyes wide.

    Fury, hot and deep, surged through Charles. In defense against its rampant advance, he released Harvey Dale with a sudden thrust that sent the older man staggering back a few steps. When he spoke, his voice was unrecognizable in its grating vehemence. "Send those files to me so I can follow my brother's instructions. You're getting what you deserve. It's Devina who's the true victim here, and I'll do anything I can to get her returned safely, both for her sake and for Ross's. But I'll tell you one thing: If Camille suffers in any way because of your attempts to get revenge on me, I will personally see to it that you pay."