Yellowstone Romance Series - Bundle (# 2-5) (85 page)

Danica’s eyes lifted from her work to glance at the other cabin, some twenty yards away. When would Kyle and Kate return? It would be nice to have another woman for company, and she’d gotten along well with Kate five years ago when they first met. A slow smile spread across her face. It was the same day she’d run into Josh, and her heart had been hopelessly lost.

Danica hummed a merry tune as she hung the laundry on the rope Josh had strung for her several weeks ago behind the cabin. The morning had passed quickly. After Dawn’s mid-morning feeding, she’d been able to finish the wash, and was nearly done hanging the clothes on the line. She contemplated what to cook for supper tonight. She should do something extra special for Josh.

Dawn’s faint cries from inside the cabin pulled her from her thoughts. “Oh, couldn’t you have waited five more minutes,” Danica said out loud. She eyed the basket at her feet. Just a few more articles of clothes, and she would be done. Quickly, she pinned one of her petticoats to the line. Dawn’s cries grew more insistent. The laundry would have to wait. She wiped her hands on her skirt, and hurried to the cabin.

“Coming, my precious,” she called, and opened the cabin door.

A loud gasp escaped her lips, and her hand flew to her chest. Her heart had surely stopped beating for a few seconds from shock. Standing in the middle of the room, with her baby in his arms, stood Jonathan Douglas, a wide sneer on his face.

Chapter 21

“Hello, Danica,” Jonathan said loudly over the noise of the wriggling infant in his arms.  He held the baby stiffly, gripping her much too tight around the middle.

Danica rushed up to him, the panic in her replaced by a fierce protectiveness for her child. He took a step back when she reached for the baby.

“Hand me my daughter,” she said forcefully, staring at Jonathan with unflinching eyes.

“Don’t you mean my daughter?” His smirk intensified.

Danica’s heart raced wildly. He had clearly done the math and realized that the baby couldn’t possibly be Josh’s. Now that he’d seen her, it would be even more obvious. She had to get Dawn away from this evil man’s clutches. She laughed coldly.

 ”Josh Osborne is my baby’s father. Now hand her over before I finish what I obviously failed to do last summer.”

Jonathan snorted. Dawn’s cries shot straight to Danica’s soul. Why, oh why, did she not carry a knife strapped around her leg like she did while with the Shoshone? His hand moved from under the baby’s back, and to her horror she saw the shiny end of a pistol pointing at the infant. Carelessly, he rested it on her torso.

“What do you want?” she asked, stifling a gasp. The blood rushed from her head straight to the soles of her feet, leaving her weak and shaking.

“Why, I want my darling baby girl and her sweet mama, of course,” he said, his voice dripping with honey. His cold smile showed off his gleaming white teeth.

“Give me the baby, Lieutenant Douglas, and then we can talk,” Danica pleaded. Right at this moment, she didn’t care what he did to her, as long as she could get Dawn away from this deranged man. She swallowed nervously, the bile rising in her throat.

“I’ll hand her to you, Danica, but believe me, my gun is aimed right at her, and I’m a much better shot than you are. So don’t do anything you might regret.” His cold eyes bore into her.

Danica nodded helplessly. There was no doubt in her mind that he would do exactly as he threatened. She reached her arms out, afraid she might be too weak from shock to even hold her baby. Lieutenant Douglas handed her the squirming infant.

“Shhh, shhhh, it’s all right. Mama’s here,” she cooed to her baby, hugging her close to her chest. Dawn settled at Danica’s voice, and began rooting for her breast.

Danica turned away from Douglas. The thought occurred to her to dash out the door, but she wouldn’t put it past him to put a bullet right into her back. Her baby’s life was at stake here. She couldn’t risk it.

“I need to feed her,” she said evenly.

“Don’t mind me,” he drawled, much too close behind her. Danica’s back stiffened. She inhaled deeply, gritting her teeth, and headed for the rocking chair in the far corner of the room. Maybe while Dawn nursed, it would buy her some time to figure out what to do. She grabbed for the blanket lying on the rocker, and draped it over her shoulder to cover herself.

Jonathan pulled a chair from the table and sat facing her, his legs out in front of him, crossed casually at the ankles. His pistol sat in his lap. Danica refused to let this man see the fear in her. She met his lewd stare with hard eyes. Something was different about him. With a jolt, it suddenly occurred to her that he wasn’t wearing his cavalry uniform, but was dressed in civilian clothes. His hand swiped at the long oilskin duster he wore. Danica watched the end of the coat drop down away from his leg.

A fleeting memory of riders charging down a windswept hill at full gallop, shouting and shooting at a group of defenseless Shoshone blurred her mind. She’d only seen horses’ hooves, and the legs of some of the riders that day when the old woman shoved her to the ground. One of the attackers wore a long oilskin duster. Her eyes widened, and her heart pounded fiercely in her chest.  She distinctly remembered seeing a cavalry brand on one of the horse’s shoulders.

Could it be possible? Jonathan Douglas and his small regiment of soldiers were the same men Josh had been trying to track down for poaching. The same men who shot him. Was it coincidence that Jonathan had shown up now, the day Josh left to investigate more bison killings? Danica’s mouth went dry. She tried to keep her breathing even. Discreetly, making sure the blanket covered her, she moved Dawn to her other breast.  With a sinking heart, she realized that Josh may have walked straight into a trap.

She had to engage Jonathan in conversation, find out what exactly he wanted. Clearly, it was not to claim Dawn as his daughter. He certainly didn’t act like a loving father.

“Why are you here, Lieutenant Douglas?”  she asked again, keeping an eye on his hand caressing the butt of his pistol.  She hoped her voice didn’t betray the anguish she felt inside.  His triumphant smile made her want to throw up.

“I told you already,” he drawled. “I did some thinking on this after we left here a few weeks ago, and came to realize that your baby couldn’t be the spawn of that filthy half-breed. You were as pure as a newborn foal when I took you, so you couldn’t have been in the family way already.” His eyes narrowed, and he stroked his chin with his fingers.  “So, unless you spread your legs for him the moment you left me lying on that cabin floor for dead - and I highly doubt that, considering how very uncooperative you were with me - that baby had to be mine. Now that I’ve gotten a good look at it, there’s no doubt in my mind.”

Danica laughed bitterly. “You have no interest in this baby. You just threatened to kill her.”

Jonathan drew his legs back and sat up in his chair, then leaned forward. “My regiment and I had some business in Virginia City after leaving this godforsaken place.” He waved his pistol through the air, disdain in his voice as his eyes traveled across the room. “I learned something very interesting while me and the boys had us a drink at the saloon.” He directed his stare at her again.

“Yeah, and what would that be?” Danica challenged, raising her chin.

“You’re a rich woman, Danica.” His smile didn’t reach his cold eyes. “Your daddy may have acted no better than the town drunk, but he owns the bank in Virginia City. He told me he was getting ready to pull up stakes and move west. Seems that when the liquor flows, so does your old man’s mouth.”

Danica smiled slowly. Her eyes didn’t waver. “My father pretty much disowned me, Lieutenant. He wants nothing to do with me. You’ll not get any money out of him because of me.”

“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong, my dear.” He stood, and casually walked over to her. He towered over her. Placing his hands on the armrests on either side of her chair, he pinned her to the rocker. His perfect white teeth gleamed as he smiled down at her.

“He went on and on about how much he hated Indians, how his son was killed by them, and how his daughter had betrayed him by carrying an Indian’s child. He told an interesting story of how he punished his daughter by marrying her off to a half-breed, so she would live with her sins for the rest of her life.” Jonathan stepped back, and studied her face. “It occurred to me then that you were his daughter. Of course, I had to put his mind at ease that you were pure and good, and couldn’t possibly have done what he accused you of. After he sobered up the next day, he and I had a long chat. I told him how my regiment and I had rescued you from those vile Indians, and that you and I fell in love, and planned to marry. I had gotten shot by that half-breed Josh Osborne, and he left me for dead. When I came to, you were gone. I told him how I searched for you, that I didn’t even know you lived in Virginia City. When he mentioned your advanced pregnancy, I told him the child could be no one else’s but mine. Of course, I was contrite and apologetic that you and I had consummated our love out of wedlock, but marriage was always my intention, and I wanted you back, especially since you had my child. I was heartbroken.” He clutched his hand to his chest in a dramatic gesture.

Danica could only stare. “There’s only one problem, Jonathan,” she sneered, emphasizing his first name. “I’m already married.”

He waved her off. “That’s easy to remedy. Josh Osborne won’t be around much longer. He’s been a thorn in my side for a long time. If he’s lucky, I’ll have him shipped off to the Wind River Indian Reservation for his crimes as a poacher, where he can rot with the rest of his kind. Of course, many Indians prove to be difficult, so I’ll have no choice but to kill him. And you and I can live happily ever after.”

“You’re a sick bastard,” she spat. “I’ll never marry you.”

“Oh yes you will, Danica. Once your daddy is gone, you’re going to inherit a lot of money. Lucky for me, as your husband, it’ll all be mine.”

“You tried to kill Josh once before, and you were unsuccessful,” she ventured to say. She watched his jaw clench, and his eyes narrowed menacingly. “The same day you and your men shot that innocent family of Shoshone.”

“How do you know about that?” he demanded, and lunged at her. He stopped short just in front of the chair she sat in. Danica didn’t flinch, but put a protective hand on her daughter’s head under the blanket.

“I was there, Lieutenant Douglas.” She laughed. “You have no idea how close you were to finding me. Those Indians took me in when I wandered the wilderness, after I got away from you. They saved my life again when you and your cutthroats attacked them for no reason. I didn’t put two and two together, but I know now. You and your so-called regiment are the poachers Josh has been trying to find, aren’t you? What will your commanding officer say when I tell him this tale?”

“He’ll never believe you,” he hissed, and wheeled around, only to turn in her direction again. Danica warily eyed the gun he clutched in his hand. He raised it, waving it at her. “You’ve been out in the wilds, living with Indians too long, Danica. Your mind is addled. Everyone will see it. They’ll sympathize with me if you make a spectacle of yourself. And I’ll be the kind-hearted Lieutenant Douglas, who lovingly tends to his wife who isn’t right in the mind.”

“You’re the one who isn’t right in the mind. Again I say, hell will freeze over before I marry you.”

“Well then hell’s frozen, sweetheart, because you’re going to do exactly as I say if you value the life of this precious brat in your arms, or that filthy half-breed. Both their lives will be in your hands, Danica. When Osborne gets back from his little scouting expedition today, you will tell him you are leaving, that I’ve come to claim my family.”

“Never,” Danica said heatedly.

“Then I will kill this baby, and you can watch my men string up your Indian lover. They’re waiting just beyond the hills. I’ll expose Josh Osborne for being a poacher, and he gave us no recourse but to take him into custody. If he puts up a fight,” he shrugged his shoulders, “well, then we’ll just have to kill him.”

Danica’s mind swirled out of control. How could this be happening? She had no doubt the crazy man in front of her would do exactly as he threatened. What choice did she have but go along with his demands? Her baby’s life was at stake. So was Josh’s. Somehow, she’d figure out a way out of this predicament.

 ”You are a deranged, disgusting, sorry excuse for a human being,” Danica spat.

“I consider myself rather ingenious, actually. Who knew that you had more to offer than that delectable body of yours?” he smiled. “I’m frankly getting tired of chasing savages through the wilderness. I thought killing some bison would bring me some profit, but I found a gold mine in you. And that was hardly work.” He leered at her. “So, darling Danica, you will do exactly what I’m about to tell you to do, if you want the people you care so much about to live.”

*****

Josh uncorked his water bag, and held the opening to his lips. Draining the bag, he swiped his hand across his mouth, and replaced the stopper. An owl screeched in the trees above him. Another hour at most, and he’d be home. He smiled. He’d be back before dark. Never before had he been so eager to reach his cabin, or so reluctant to leave it in the first place. He hadn’t been able to fully concentrate on his task all day.  The memory of Dani, eager in his arms, had consumed his every thought.

The two Shoshone boys had led him to the spot where a dozen bison lay slaughtered in the mud. Josh had met with the boys’ families, and the adults had confirmed that three white men had been here the day before, senselessly shooting the poor beasts. They had taken the hides and tongues, and left everything else to rot. The Shoshone had helped themselves to the meat once the poachers had left the area. Josh couldn’t fault them for that. And he was glad the bison hadn’t died needlessly.  At least this poor family would have meat to sustain them for several weeks.