Games (Timeless Series)

by Loyd, Sandy

  “You’ve got me, so why not hang on to me? You don’t have to throw me back.”

  “Yes, I do. You told me you did not want marriage and a family. I would slowly die inside to see you unhappy doing something I wanted, solely for honor’s sake.”

  “Is this the action of a man doing something purely for honor’s sake?” His lips were gentle and coaxing as they found hers. Giselle lost herself in the kiss until he broke contact. His mouth moved up the sides of her face, tenderly tasting her tears, until he rested his forehead on hers. “Honor be damned, Giselle. Honor has nothing to do with this. I could drink from your lips forever, and still not get enough.”

  “But I don’t understand.”

  “Neither do I. All I know is the thought of not having you by my side is unbearable.”

  Pulling back from his arms enough to look into his eyes, there was no mistaking what she saw in their emerald depths.

  Elation surged through her. “What are you saying?”

  He smiled. “You know what I’m saying. I’m telling you I love you. You had to have felt it in the cabin. Our night was born of love, Giselle—pure and simple love. Did you think I could take everything from you without leaving part of myself in your hands? That part was my heart. It will always be yours, my love, just as I know I will always have your heart.”

  “Oh, Simon, I do love you.”

  His smile turned into a satisfied grin and he rose from the seat, pulling her with him.

  He turned to go, after kissing the top of her head, and said in a smug voice, “Now that we’ve established what’s what, you will be on that train with me.”

  A bubble of laughter burst from within. “Non, I will not.”

  His startled gaze flew to hers and his eyebrows rose in question. “And why not?”

  “Because you cannot cheat me or my parents out of a wedding, and you cannot have your way all the time.”

  “You think not?”

  “If you think so, you can just go home alone,” she stated determinedly, crossing her arms.

  He grunted. “I’m not leaving here without you.”

  “Then you will be staying awhile.”

  Crossing his legs and arms, still holding on to her gaze, he leaned back against the wall and said nonchalantly, “Oh, really?”

  “Yes, really! It takes time to plan a wedding.”

  “You have one week.”

  Giselle laughed. “I think not!”

  “Fine, you can leave on the next train with me then. If I have to, I’ll carry you over my shoulder, kicking and screaming.”

  “Simon, be reasonable,” she said in exasperation. “Marguerite’s wedding took six months to plan.”

  “No way in hell I’m waiting six months,” he roared.

  The appalled look he sent her as well as his tone of abject horror had her giggling. “Well, six months is extreme. I mean, we are talking about Shelbyville, not Paris. I think I can plan a decent affair in a month.”

  He started for the door. “No! Two weeks, which should give my family and friends plenty of time to make the trip.”

  She started to object, but stopped herself. Her objections were only halfhearted. With a joyful smile on her face, she watched him leave, knowing full well that she would have gone with him on the next train. Her smile increased at his small concession because she also knew he was well aware of her feelings.

  Once Simon left, Giselle’s disposition improved markedly. She hurriedly went to find her parents to share her good news.

  She found Sophie and Marcus sitting in the library.

  They watched expectantly as she floated into the room, working to keep the Mona Lisa smile off her face. When her father flashed a knowing grin, she gave up all pretense of hiding her excitement.

  “So, I take it you and Simon made peace?” Marcus asked.

  “Yes.” She bounded toward them, twirling and hugging herself with a full smile taking over her face. “He has given me two weeks to plan a wedding.”

  “Oh, my baby!” Sophie was off the sofa and enfolding Giselle in her warm arms.

  The two walked arm in arm back to the sofa while Marcus’s grin stretched.

  “The boy surpassed my expectations. I thought it would take him at least a day or two to change your mind, and here it hasn’t even been an hour.”

  “Oui, Papa! He is a bold man. He reminds me a lot of you. I do not know why I bothered arguing with him.”

  He chuckled. “Yes, you do. You needed to hear what he had to say. I’m only glad you took the time to listen.”

  “Well, he can be a little overbearing at times. I had to let him know early on that I do not like it and will not put up with it.”

  Marcus stood and hugged her. “I’m just glad you’re his problem now, not mine.”

  “Oh, Papa, quit teasing.” All of a sudden, tears filled her eyes. “I am going to miss you.” She stopped talking and her gaze went to her mother. “And you too, Mama! I did not realize until now what this means.”

  Sophie’s arms went back around her daughter and her words were a little choked. “Shush. That is the way it should be. You have your entire life ahead of you. It will not be long before you will be so busy being a wife and mother, you will have no time to think of us.

  “And when the grandchildren come, we can visit. What I like best is when they get too much to handle as I am sure they will at some point, having you two for parents, we can just hand them back and leave.”

  A knock on the library door interrupted Giselle’s retort.

  A servant entered the room and said, “A missive for Miss Giselle.”

  “Thank you, Miles.” Giselle went over to him. He bowed and left the room after handing her a sealed note. She tore open the seal and scanned the note. Looking at her parents, she sighed. “It is from Bradford. He is reminding me of our visit this afternoon. In all the excitement, I completely forgot about him.”

  Marcus exchanged glances with Sophie. “Now would be a good time to let him down easy, my dear.”

  “I know. But I hate the idea of hurting him.” With a conspiratorial smile, she said, “I am sure he will be prompt. Usually you can set your clock by him on Saturday.”

  Sophie chuckled. “You have to face him sooner or later. It might as well be while Simon is out.”

  “Yes, you are both right. I guess I was hoping to avoid seeing him altogether.”

  “That would be cruel, especially if he brought up marriage on your last visit. You need to end things properly.”

  “I know, Mama. But I have to be honest and tell you I am not looking forward to it.”

  ~~

  After leaving Giselle, Simon mounted a stallion and rode toward Hillier Meadows. Along the way, his thoughts remained on the woman he’d just left. It seemed his priorities had changed. At one time, the thought would have bothered him, but now he felt he was the luckiest man in the world.

  The ice on the road melted the day before, and the wet ground refroze overnight. The frozen dirt made the ride easier, allowing him to reach his destination with time to spare. Rather than wait for Davis, Simon was in a hurry to take care of business quickly, to get back to Twin Oaks and Giselle. As soon as he reached Caroline’s house, he dismounted and moved swiftly up the porch stairs to the front door.

  He rang the bell. While waiting, he checked his Remington six-shooter to make sure it was loaded and ready, replacing it in its holster inside his jacket, underneath his heavy winter coat.

  The door opened and Caroline’s amused laughter pealed through the air. “Simon, I must say this is a surprise.”

  “Hello, Caroline. May I come in?”

  “Of course. You know you’re welcome anytime.”

  Once inside, Simon took off his gloves and placed them in his pockets. He then handed her his heavy coat and hat. “I’m afraid this isn’t a social call.”

  She took the items, saying, “Then I must be doing something wrong.”

  She placed both on a coat rack and head
ed toward the double doors.

  “I’m sorry to disappoint you, but I’m here on business.” Simon followed her into the room they’d been in the other day.

  “Oh, come now.” She walked to the bar and took out a decanter of liquor along with two glasses. “You can’t mean to tell me you didn’t ride all this way to play. The idea is simply too droll.”

  Simon halted a few feet away and shrugged, keeping his attention on her. “What can I say? I guess that makes me droll.”

  “Now, why don’t I believe that?” Her shrill voice rang out. “I think it has more to do with a certain young woman. Really, Simon! What are you doing, toying with someone who’s obviously an innocent? She’s hardly more than a girl…can’t interest you for long. But I do forgive you. And I do understand the attraction; she is stunning.”

  “You should have left her out of this.” Simon’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

  “Oh? After the touching little scene I saw in the stables? I don’t think so. It made me wonder. Just who is toying with whom?” She held up the decanter with brows lifted. “Would you care for a drink before we get down to the reason you’re here?”

  “No, I think we should get right down to business.”

  She shrugged. “Suit yourself, darling. Come on out, Isaac.”

  Black came out of a closet with a gun trained on Simon. Simon’s gaze went to Caroline. His eyebrows shot up in surprise.

  “I told you not to wait too long, darling,” Caroline said with a throaty laugh. “My attention does tend to wander. But this time I couldn’t help it, especially when I found that yours had wandered much sooner than mine, now could I?”

  “I guess not. But since you’re making my business a little more difficult, I think I will take that drink now.

  She turned to pour him a drink, and Simon continued speaking, his body deceptively posed in a nonchalant fashion.

  “So tell me, why?” he asked, watching her intently. “I’ve figured everything out but the why.”

  “I really wish I could tell you, but I don’t know why,” Caroline said, shrugging. “It’s not my plan. I haven’t a clue why or what his motives are. My motives included you. Since I wanted you here, my only concern was how to accomplish the feat and he provided the means. And it worked because here you are. But you’ve disappointed me, so the game has changed.”

  She turned to hand him the drink. When her fingers touched his, Simon knocked the drink out of her hand. In the confusion, he had his gun out of his holster and her body up against his chest, shielding him from Black’s aim.

  “Tell him to drop it or you’re dead.” Simon’s gun was pointed at her head and his whispered words cut through the air like shards of glass. “And if you doubt my willingness to pull this trigger, let me assure you, that stunt you pulled at Twin Oaks makes it hard to hold the impulse at bay. I’m just looking for a reason.”

  “Do as he says.” When he didn’t readily comply, she shrieked, “Drop your gun, stupid. I’m not dying over this.”

  Simon nodded to Black and said, “I’d do as she says. See, this here’s a six-shooter. The beauty of that is I can drop her in one bullet and still have five left for you.”

  Indecision moved over Black’s face before he dropped the gun. Simon pushed Caroline in front of him, holding one of her hands behind her back. “Now, get your hands up and move toward the door. We’re going outside to get some rope to tie your hands. Then we’ll come back in and wait.”

  Black obeyed and the three walked single file out of the room. Just as they were heading out the front door, Simon felt someone behind him. Too late, he turned to shoot. Darkness swept over him as a crashing blow to the head took him by surprise and his lifeless body fell to the floor.

  ~~

  “It’s about time,” Caroline said derisively. “What took you so long?”

  “It’s all in the timing, my dear. The game’s played so much better when the timing’s right.” He reached down and plucked Simon’s gun out of his hand. Turning to Black, he said, “Bring him in here.”

  Black did as he was told and followed them into the room, dragging Simon’s inert form, saying, “This is it for me. I want my money and I’m out of here. Killing a US marshal isn’t something we agreed to when I took this job.”

  His answer was a laugh, followed by, “Don’t worry. We’re playing a different game now, just as Caroline said.” Then he shot Black at point-blank range with Simon’s gun.

  “Why’d you do that?” Caroline’s stunned expression accompanied her yell.

  “As I said, my dear, our game has changed. You really are a stupid bitch. You couldn’t keep your mouth shut, could you? He had no clue someone else was behind this, and you had to let him in on it, sealing his fate. For that, you’re expendable. I must admit, this actually works better for me. Remember what I said about timing?” He gave a menacing chuckle and ran the tip of the gun the length of her face. “It’s time for you to die.”

  “But what about us?” she begged.

  “There is no us,” he sneered. “While it was pleasant while it lasted, how could you honestly believe your appeal would interest me longer than a few brief encounters? You truly overrate yourself. Good-bye, Caroline,” he said, just before firing.

  He bent over her prone form, pushing so she faced forward, and shot her again.

  While placing the gun in Simon’s limp hands, he said, “Like I said, the timing is perfect and this ending to the game works so much better for me.”

  Next, he grabbed the kerosene lamps from the table, spilling the liquid around the room. Once done, he lit a matchstick. He walked to the door and threw it down, watching the room burst into flames. Finally he turned and let himself out the back door.

  Minutes later he was on a horse, galloping for the cover of the dense woods.

  Chapter 25

  Frank Miller was going over his books in his office when he heard the first shot. The second shot had him racing out of the stable and toward the house. Spying the lone rider heading toward the woods, he ran as fast as he could up the steps and inside the open front door. Flames shot through the double doors. When he neared them, he saw the bodies lying on the floor.

  Simon Harrington was closest to the opening. He pushed into the now blazing inferno, grabbed his boots, and dragged him out of the burning room. After moving Simon safely out into the foyer, he turned back to try to pull the others out, but the room was too engulfed in flames. Realizing the futility of his task, he closed the double doors to keep the billowing smoke out of the foyer, and went back to Simon. Grabbing him under his shoulders, he got him up and carried him outside the house.

  Miller then went back into the house. “Fire,” he yelled as loud as he could, knowing there were several servants throughout the house. The butler came running from the back of the house. When Miller saw him, he yelled again. “Get everyone out. It’s out of control.” He spied Simon’s heavy coat and pulled it off the rack. Racing back outside with the coat, he ran over to Simon to try to revive him.

  ~~

  Simon came to, coughing and sputtering. His head hurt like the dickens. Frank Miller and Caroline’s butler stood over him. Looking down, he noticed he had his revolver in his hand.

  “What happened?” he asked, glancing up at Miller.

  “Someone obviously wanted you dead. Whoever it was killed Caroline and Black. When I got there, you were out cold. He must have started a fire to cover it up and send you to a fiery grave. I pulled you out in the nick of time.”

  “The water’s too frozen to fight the blaze,” the butler interjected. “Looks like the house will be a total loss. The servants are getting as much stuff out the back as they can before the rest catches and burns. I’m going to help them, if you don’t need me anymore.”

  Miller waved him off, and he turned to go.

  “We should go and help,” Simon said, trying to rise.

  “I’ll go and see what I can do. You’re not in any shape to fight the bla
ze. Besides, there’s not much we can do other than saving stuff from the house. Why don’t you go in the stables where it’s warmer?”

  “But what about the fire?”

  “There’s no wind, so fire’s not likely to spread. All the servants are out of the house. Seems to me they can keep what they save. Who’s gonna care? They’re all safe and can sleep in the bunkhouse, seeing as how it’s not full.”

  Simon stood and was holstering his gun when Davis rode up.

  “Here, I think this is yours,” Miller said, handing him his coat before he turned and ran toward the house.

  “Thanks.” Simon took it and put it on. “And thanks for pulling me out. I owe you,” he yelled to Miller’s departing back.

  Davis dismounted and looked around. “What’s going on here?”

  “What does it look like? The Hillier house is burning.”

  “Shouldn’t we be trying to put it out?”

  “Water’s frozen, so it’s useless. The servants are saving what they can, but it looks as if they won’t be doing it for too much longer.”

  “Where’s Hillier?”

  Simon nodded toward the burning house. “Dead. Along with Black. Someone tried to include me in that scenario. You’re late.”

  “No, I’m not. I’m early. You went ahead without me again, didn’t you?” Shaking his head, he said, “I made sure I was early this time, knowing your penchant for heroics. You know we’re a team. That means backup and having the patience to wait.”

  “Yeah, well, I was in a hurry and thought this was all sewn up. Turns out there was a little snag.”

  “There’s always a snag, Harrington. When are you going to realize that? Are you all right?”

  Simon rubbed the back of his head and grunted. “Just a little bump on the head. I’ll be fine.”

  “That’s because you have a hard head, which is good. This wouldn’t have happened if you’d have listened to your gut,” Parker chided.

  He nodded. “My gut did tell me there was more.”

  “I’d just be happy if you’d use more sense. Isn’t that what you’re always telling me?”