Jacko’s anger flared full force. He grabbed hold of Raul’s shirt and pulled him close. “I am not a liar, and you will do well to cease these false accusations or you shall have more than the loss of employment to worry about.”
Raul sneered. “Threaten me all you wish. Kill me if you must, but it will not change the facts.”
Jacko released him and stepped away before he did just that. “If you possess facts, I would dearly love to hear them. Who am I supposed to have defiled and tossed aside?”
Raul shook his head in disgust. “You know very well, as does everyone at Tierra Rico and in San Fernando. Before you returned, Maria, the jewel of our town, was set to marry Señor Delgado ‒ a very fine marriage, by any standards. Then you arrived, seduced her, and promised to marry her. She foolishly cut it off with Señor Delgado and went to your bed. Once you took her virtue, you discarded her for a new conquest.”
Jacko stared up at the sun setting on the horizon. Dear God, how he wished he’d never spoken to the damn maid at all! “What you believe is so far from the truth, I have no idea where to begin. First, I never intentionally did anything to lead Maria on.”
Raul scoffed.
“I realize now she misunderstood my interest in her life for more than I intended.” Jacko seethed at Raul’s scowl. “If you will recall, I asked you about your life, as well. And the housekeeper, and the stable boys. I happened to think a good landowner should know about the people who work for him. And while you told me almost nothing about yourself, Maria was amazingly open. I did not realize she misunderstood my interest until she offered to come to my bed.”
Raul glared at him. “So you take no responsibility? This is all a young girl’s fault?”
“I turned her down! I told her she deserved better. And after that, I avoided her like the plague, wishing to prevent any further misunderstandings.”
Raul frowned. “You are saying you never lay with her?”
“I have never kissed her, never touched her intimately, nor lay with her. And I would like to know why you believed I have.”
Raul’s brow furrowed. “When she broke her engagement with Delgado, she told him she had given her heart and body to you.”
Jacko sighed. “Well, she may have given it, but I did not receive it. How old is this Delgado anyway?”
“He’s fifty-six.”
“Perhaps she was simply looking for an excuse to get out of the marriage.”
Raul shook his head. “But it makes no sense. Everyone believes her ruined now. No man will want her. Delgado might not be a girl’s first choice, but he is well off. He is certainly better than nothing.”
Jacko shrugged. “I have no idea why the chit acted as she did. Perhaps you should ask her before you send her packing.”
“So as my last duty as farm manager, I am to fire Maria?”
Jacko sighed. “I am not going to fire you, Raul. Not based on your past actions done for honorable, albeit false reasons. Had I treated Maria so poorly, then I would understand your concern for Alice and your proposal.”
Raul’s eyes darkened. “What proposal?”
Jack snorted in contempt. The man had no problem dodging the truth when it suited him. “Alice told me of your offer to marry her if I tossed her aside.”
His eyes rounded. “Why would she tell you such a thing?”
“Because she loves me, and we do not keep secrets from one another. I told her about Maria’s latest attempt to seduce me and she told me of your proposal.”
Raul’s eyes narrowed. “But if you believed her, why did you not fire me?”
“The same reason I am not firing you now. You were trying to do the right thing. However, I cannot attribute such virtuous motivations to Maria, so I want her gone by tomorrow noon.”
“You will lose the housekeeper, as well.”
Recalling Mr. Hathoway’s advice not to get rid of the person in charge of the house until a new one had been found, Jacko reconsidered his order. “Then find a new housekeeper so you can fire them both.”
“And how soon am I to do this?”
Jacko glared at him. “As soon as possible! The girl has slandered my character and I want her gone. You have a week. No more.” He stormed to his horse.
***
Upon returning home, Mrs. Hathoway met Jacko at the door of the hacienda. “Señor Bienora. You and Alice cannot travel to England without a chaperone. Mr. H and I will accompany you.”
Jacko nodded. “If you wish.”
Oddly, the lady did not seem satisfied with his answer.
“I do wish! As I wish to speak to Alice this instant.”
Jacko frowned as he realized what the woman’s words meant. She did not know where Alice was. “I assumed you had her secured in your room. Have you checked the other rooms and the garden?”
Angry fists settled on her hips, as she glared at him. “Do not play with me, sir! She is not in the gardens or the house and her luggage is missing. Now you will return Alice this instant and we will see matters done properly from here out. Do you understand?”
“I understand something is wrong.” He yelled for the housekeeper. After a long wait, Señora Marconi arrived.
“Where is Miss Collins?”
Señora Marconi shook her head and spoke in Spanish. “Why ask me? I am not responsible for the debauched women you bring home. I suppose she left when she exposed herself as a whore.”
Jacko had to bite his tongue not to fire the damn woman on the spot. “I want every room checked.”
“For what purpose? She is not here?”
“We don’t know that until we check.” He realized by the stubborn and angry glare in the woman’s eyes, that she wouldn’t help in this matter. Jacko turned to Mrs. Hathoway.
“What did she say?” Worry etched the lady’s face.
Jacko didn’t wish to talk before the housekeeper. “Where is your husband?”
“In our room.”
Jacko grabbed her arm. “He must hear this, as well.”
When they entered the Hathoway’s bedroom, Maria was packing the Hathoway’s trunks with great speed.
“Thank you, Maria, you may leave,” Jacko said.
“But I am not done. They wish to leave at once.”
“Get out!” Jacko snapped. When the girl held her ground, he gripped her by the arm and tossed her from the room.
Slamming the door, he turned and faced the Hathoways. The terror in their eyes made him regret his loss of temper. He needed their help.
Jacko took a deep breath to calm himself, but it didn’t work, so he simply began, “According to the housekeeper, Alice has left in shame.”
Mrs. Hathoway gasped at his words.
Jacko stepped forward. “Alice knows I plan to marry her. While you may doubt me, she does not. Alice has no reason to feel shame and would never pack her luggage and run off. I fear someone in this household has abducted her.” The only reason he did not fear worse is because he was certain if she were dead, his heart would develop a black hole, which would consume him with misery.
Mr. H. frowned. “We do not have her.”
“I am going to question the stable boys. Perhaps you can search the other bedrooms. If any are locked, insist the housekeeper open the doors.”
Mrs. Hathoway pushed her husband forward. “Mr. H will go with you. I will search the rooms.”
Jacko knew the assistance came from a lack of trust, but they had too much to do to argue. His gut told him Alice was in danger.
Jacko and Mr. H hurried to the barn, where no stable boys could be found anywhere.
“Damn these people!” Jacko yelled as he checked each stall for hiding employees. During his search, he noticed Alice’s horse was missing. He followed the tracks to a small bridge, but at that point they mingled with too many others to pick up the proper tracks on the other side.
He stared out across the fields of farmland, tall and lush. He wished the plants would shrivel away so he could see if Alice lay hidden in a
field.
Mr. H lost patience. “What are we looking for?”
“Her horse…or better yet, her. They have taken her somewhere.”
“Who?”
“I cannot say for certain, but my money is on the housekeeper and her damnable daughter.”
“Good heavens, why?”
“Because I love Alice, and that evidently does not suit them.”
“Well, given you ruined poor Maria…”
Jacko glared at him, his fist clenched as he fought the rage boiling within him. “I’ve never touched the girl. Raul has his facts wrong.” Jacko stopped his protests. He was wasting his breath. Maria had everyone in the whole town convinced he was a debaucher of women, why not the Hathoways, as well.
He stared at the road cutting through his farmland. Five miles up this road was San Fernando. Whoever abducted Alice might have taken her there, knowing he would tear apart his farm looking for her. “Given the situation, I think you and Mrs. Hathoway should move to San Fernando and remain there until Alice is found.”
Mr. H frowned. “I would rather stay here and help you find her. I no longer believe you are involved with her disappearance. However, I do believe you are our best chance of getting her back so I wish to help you.”
“The best help you can offer is to go to San Fernando and search quietly for her there. Let it be known you are against me and only wish to take your friend back to England. It is possible the person who holds her might release her to you.”
“Then this abduction is not for a ransom?”
“I do not believe it to be. I think this was done to separate Alice and me. If it is the housekeeper and Maria behind this, then your search could prove fruitful. If it is Raul, then you won’t find her, unless he is convinced you would assist his pursuit of Alice.”
“Dear God, these are your servants!”
Jacko shook his head. “I imagine this makes your old butler with the gun amusing in comparison.”
“So how do we proceed?” Mr. H asked as he pulled fretfully on his necktie.
“When we return to the house, you will accuse me of hiding her on my land. Slander me as much as you can. Then warn me you won’t leave San Fernando until you find her.” Jacko sighed. “And if you see Raul, be nice to him. Ask him to give you updates.”
Mr. H nodded. “I hope I am up to the task.”
“Of slandering me or being nice to Raul?”
The man coughed. “The latter.”
Figures. Jacko kicked a stone from the bridge path. “Well, if it helps, I think Raul genuinely cares for Alice. He would never do her harm. He hoped to marry her.”
“Exactly my point. How could the man even conceive such an idea? Alice may have her flaws, but that is no reason to marry beneath herself.”
Jacko was glad he hadn’t confessed his own humble beginnings. If Mr. H objected to a well-educated farm manager accustomed to a life of luxury, he would be dead set against a gypsy turned pirate, murderer and thief.
“Perhaps you should storm off now and finish packing.”
Mr. H nodded and did an admirable job of looking agitated and angered as he strutted to the house.
***
Jacko had intended to follow but he noticed a horseman on the horizon, coming from San Fernando. He waited, and as the speck turned into Raul, his suspicion shifted to his manager. The good news was Alice would be well fed and cared for if the man had her. The bad news was that the Hathoways had little chance of getting her back until after Raul had forced her into marriage.
Jacko’s eyes narrowed in fury. “Do that and you will join your first wife. Alice is mine, and nothing will stop our marriage.”
Chapter 26
Alice woke to the smell of mildew and stale air. She pushed herself up from the wet, chilled floor. Water leaked through the slate walls and seeped into the limestone surface. Rough-cut wood beams stretched across the small room. Over the beams laid wide stretches of floorboard. A heavy thumping, like footsteps, thundered overhead. She suspected she was in the cellar of someone’s home, but how did she get here?
The painful memory of someone striking the back of her head returned, and fear rose in her throat. Whoever had struck her so violently could have killed her and they still might intend to.
Seeing slivers of light between some of the boards, she rose to investigate. Even before she discovered the ceiling lower than her height, she regretted standing. Her stomach heaved from her effort to push herself up. When her head hit the ceiling, an excruciating pain exploded inside. Then her vision turned black and the purged contents of her stomach flowed onto the floor. A moment later, she tumbled into the vile mess she had just created.
***
Pain was Alice’s first recognition of consciousness. The back of her head ached as if a giant was having it for lunch. By the fresh clean air she breathed, and the softness of her bed, she concluded someone had moved her from the cellar to a bedroom.
Hope sprouted. Jacko had rescued her. Yet before that thought could grow, angry voices nearby caught her attention.
The man’s voice was full of outrage and tinged with fear. He spoke Spanish, so she could not understand him or the woman who replied. She sensed the woman meant her harm, and the man wished to keep her safe. But why? Why would she trust a man over a woman? Except for Jacko, she had always found women far superior to men. Except for Maria and her mother…
Maria.
The female sounded like Maria.
She wanted to open her eyes and see if her ears had correctly identified the woman, but she didn’t think it wise. Her abductors would feel safer if they thought her helpless and unconscious. If they knew she had awakened, they might just dump her back into the cellar. She much preferred the bed.
Even the effort to decide to do nothing wore her out and she lost consciousness as they continued arguing.
***
Fear consumed Alice as she woke and recalled her current nightmare. She knew she was in no condition to escape. It was all she could do to remain conscious. Forcing herself to calm, she listened to her surroundings, wanting to ensure the room was empty before she opened her eyes.
Long soft breaths came from her left. The steady intake and release made her suspect the person might be asleep, so she peeked beneath her lashes.
All she saw was darkness, not one of minimal light, but of pure blackness.
Was it nighttime? Is that why the person guarding her was asleep?
She opened her eyes fully and tried to make out anything in the room. Surely, there should be some hint of light. Panic filled her as her hand touched her face for the possibility she wore a hood of some sort. Nothing.
A sickening thought settled in her mind. Had the strike on her head blinded her? No, it was not possible!
She opened her eyes wide and blinked, trying to make the darkness go away, trying to catch sight of something…anything.
A large calloused hand touched her forehead. The man spoke in Spanish. His voice sounded concerned and kind.
She didn’t know what to do.
Should she admit she was blind or try to pretend she was not? Seeing no benefit in lies, she hoped for a sympathetic ear. “Unless this room is exceptionally dark, I fear I cannot see.”
The hand pulled away from her forehead. In halting English the voice spoke again. “What say you?”
“I cannot see. All is black.”
She heard the chair scrape on the wood floor and then the door opened and closed. She hoped she hadn’t made an error that would get her killed.
***
Jacko could no longer contain his growing frustration. He picked up a beautiful vase with naked ladies as handles and smashed it against the wall. The housekeeper hurried into the room and stared in shock at the broken shards. After a long moment, she backed out of the room as if fearing Jacko would throw something at her.
He would if he thought it would do any good. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to go his way. A full day had passed and he st
ill had no clue where to find Alice. He and Raul had searched every building, cave, and place imaginable for his beloved.
By the shock on Raul’s face when Jacko told him Alice was missing, he no longer believed the man had her. His suspicions had returned to the housekeeper. She would no longer meet his eyes and avoided him as much as possible. Yet her daughter whom he was certain had helped in the abduction showed no signs of guilt at all. Maria wished to spend her every waking hour with Jacko.
The girl arrived and bent over to sweep up the broken vase. The neckline of her blouse was so loose he could see her firm breasts and rose-colored nipples. He turned away. Hopefully, the Hathoways were having better luck in town.
Raul entered and stared at the broken pieces Maria carried out. “That vase was from the Roman Empire. What good did its destruction bring you?”
Jacko sighed. While the vase meant nothing to him, he knew it meant a great deal to Raul, since the man saw all this property as his. “None. But if I do not find Alice soon, I will burn this entire house down.”
Raul paled at his words.
Good. Why should I be the only one having my world torn apart?
“I want her back, Raul.”
“I do not have her!” the man hissed.
Jacko glared at him. “Perhaps not, but I think you know who does. So if I must lose the love of my life, you will lose your home and livelihood.”
Raul’s eyes narrowed in hate before he hurried off. His direction of departure interested Jacko. He did not exit through the front door, but to the kitchen where Maria and her mother were.
Just to drive his point, Jacko picked up another vase and smashed it to the floor before retiring to his room.
He locked the doors, in case Raul decided to save his possessions by getting rid of its current landowner. Recalling their earlier invasion despite his having secured the door, he realized his safety was presently an illusion.
It was time to change that. As he stormed to the kitchen in search of the housekeeper, he could hear Raul threatening the woman’s life if….
Raul stopped mid-sentence and stared at him.
“I wish to see your keys, Señora Macroni.
A Right to Love: Romantic Spinoff From The Adventures of Xavier & Vic Book 2.5 Page 24
