by Bobbi Smith
"What about money? Have you got enough?" Maria asked.
"Yes, I've got plenty. In fact, here..." Reina searched through the small reticule she'd brought with her and then handed Maria a substantial amount.
"What's this for? You're going to need all the money you've got."
"That's for the two habits," she told her, smiling a bit guiltily. "I don't want to go through life with the sin of stealing from a nun on my soul. Leave it where Sister will find it."
Maria grinned back at her. "I will."
"Is there anything else I need to know?" Reina had made it a point never to pay too much attention to religious matters. It troubled her now that she knew so little about being a nun.
"Do you think you can keep from flirting?" she asked in good humor, knowing how much her friend enjoyed the attentions of all the handsome young men who were always vying for her favors.
"You needn't worry about that. Right now, men are the last thing on my mind," she answered seriously. "All I want to do is to get to New Orleans."
"Then you'll be fine. Just don't forget who you're supposed to be while you're traveling. You're no longer Reina Alvarez. You're Sister Mary Regina now. Remember that."
"I will."
"Here." Maria moved to her small chest of drawers to get the final accessory she would need to make the habit complete, a fifteen decade rosary. "Attach this rosary to the belt at your side."
Reina stood up and did as she was told with great care, then cast one last glance in the mirror. The transformation was complete. The real Reina Alvarez had all but disappeared, and in her place stood Sister Mary Regina, a woman of patience and love, a woman of kindness and humility, a woman who was devoting her life to service for others.
"Now, you're perfect," Maria encouraged.
"Maria, thank you. You don't know how much your help has meant to me," she told her with heartfelt emotion.
"You're my friend, Reina. I just hope everything turns out the way you want it to"
"It will," she answered and then added under her breath, "it has to."
A short time later, Maria watched from the window of her room until Reina had disappeared from sight on her way into town. She said a quick prayer, asking God to help Reina and to protect her on her trip back East.
"We've found no trace of your daughter, Senor Alvarez," Juan Sanchez admitted cautiously as he stood, sombrero in hand, before his fearsome boss. He knew of Luis Alvarez's volatile temper, and he had been dreading informing him of their lack of progress.
A tall, distinguished-looking man of some fifty years, Luis stood rigidly behind his desk as he faced his hired man. His accusing, black-eyed gaze was fixed unwaveringly upon Sanchez as he repeated in a slightly threatening tone, "Nothing?"
"Nothing, Senor Alvarez. We have looked everywhere that you told us to and have found no trace of her."
A violent rage threatened to consume him, but Luis fought to control it. Fury vibrated through his whipcord-lean body as he bit out savagely, "That's not good enough, Sanchez! Go back and check again! Reina couldn't have just disappeared off the face of the earth!"
"Yes, sir," Juan replied quickly, fearful of his boss's angry mood. "We'll head out again right away" He backed from the room, anxious to escape his displeasure.
"Sanchez!" Luis called out sharply just as the other man was about to flee from the.study.
"Yes, Senor Alvarez?"
Luis's tone was only slightly less vicious as he commanded, "Make sure that you remain discreet in your inquiries. I want her found, but I do not want it to be commonly known that she is gone."
"Yes, Senor," he answered respectfully. He hurried from the room, feeling sorry for the girl who would, no doubt, face the full force of her father's considerable wrath when they finally did bring her back.
As soon as Sanchez had closed the door behind him, Luis slammed his fist down on his desktop and muttered a vile curse. Reina's defiance had taken him by surprise. Love her though he did, and he did adore her, he could not allow her to get away with this unscathed. She had left him looking weak and spineless. What man couldn't control his own daughter? He was a proud man and not used to being made the fool.
Besides that very personal humiliation, Luis also had to worry about Nathan Marlow. He had not told the rich Yankee of Reina's disappearance, and he had no intention of doing so. Too much depended on the marriage taking place as had been announced. He couldn't risk angering Marlow and having him back out on the deal they had made-the deal that would save his deed to Rancho Alvarez from being contested in the American courts and possibly, ultimately, stripped from his ownership. He had seen it happen to several of his friends, and he would not let that happen to him. He loved his daughter, but the rancho was his whole life.
Nervously, Luis stalked to his liquor cabinet and splashed a healthy dose of whiskey in a tumbler. He took a deep drink as he began to pace the room. He was not used to being out of control, but until Reina was found and brought back, that's exactly what he was.
At the thought of his offspring's defiance, he swore out loud again. How dare she defy him over the one thing he'd ever demanded she do? Hadn't he given her everything she'd ever wanted? Hadn't he always tried to please her in every way? Luis realized now that he'd made a big mistake in spoiling her so, but it was a mistake that he would take great pains to rectify once she returned. He was going to teach her that no one defied him and got away with it. No one!
Draining the last dregs of whiskey from his glass, Luis strode from the room intending to go to work on the ranch. He hoped that the distraction of a hard day's labor would keep his thoughts from straying to Reina and his desperate fear that Marlow would find out about her disappearance before he had time to find her and bring her back.
A wide, satisfied smile curved the hard line of Nathan Marlow's thin lips, and his cold blue eyes flashed with triumph as he saluted his companion with a glass of champagne. "Everything is going exactly according to plan. In just six short months the Rancho Alvarez will be as good as mine." He made the announcement with supreme, almost arrogant, confidence.
Lilly Bascomb, a tall, voluptuous redhead, was sitting on the loveseat in the parlor of her splendid home on the outskirts of Monterey listening avidly to his every word. She gave a throaty chuckle as she returned his salute with her own glass. "You're a genius, Nathan. Although, I have to admit that I did have my doubts in the beginning," she continued. "Luis Alvarez has always been rather hostile to Americans, and I feared you might not be able to convince him to change his way of thinking. But, as usual, you've succeeded brilliantly. How do you do it, darling?"
"It's a simple matter, really," he said expansively. "You just find out what a man values most and threaten to take it away from him. Negotiations begin from there." Nathan's expression turned cunning and his smile, sharkish.
"Ali," Lilly murmured in understanding, "that just shows you how differently men and women think"
"Oh?" he asked, intrigued, as he took a drink of the fine bubbling wine.
"Yes, darling. When I make plans such as yours, I find out what the man wanted above all else, and I give it to him," she explained in a husky tone.
"Is that how you caught me in your web?" Nathan asked, his gaze darkening with the heat of remembered passion.
A small, self-satisfied smile curved Lilly's perfect lips as she stated coolly, "I have no web, Nathan. You know you're free to come or go whenever you choose." She was well aware that Nathan was the type of man who wanted no ties upon him, so she made no demands of their relationship. She enjoyed what they shared with no thought to the future. Rich widow that she was, she had no desire or need for another husband.
"So well I know" Nathan answered, moving to take her glass from her and set it aside with his own. "I intend to become the richest man in California, Lilly, and I want you by my side all the way. Obtaining Rancho Alvarez is just another step on my ladder to the top."
"And the Alvarez girl.. .your soon-to-be-bride?" His
plot to marry the Alvarez girl amused Lilly, and she wondered how the proud, young woman was going to react when she found out that her husband had a mistress.
"She's merely an inconvenience in my overall scheme of things, Lilly" Even as he spoke the words, Nathan knew that he was lying. Reina had stirred his passion by refusing his affections the night of the party. He was not used to being denied, and her indifference to him had whetted his appetite for more. He enjoyed a challenge, and he would take great pleasure in showing his wife the power he had over her, body and soul. Theirs would definitely not be a marriage in name only, but Lilly didn't need to know that. They were both beautiful, desirable women, and he was sure he could keep them both completely satisfied. "You know how good we are together. Reina's not going to affect what we share in any way. Surely you're not jealous?"
"Hardly," she scoffed, "you know how I abhor the thought of marriage. The few years I spent tied to Bascomb were torment enough." She stood up and linked her arms around his neck. "Pretty though she is, it would take more than that little chit to worry me, Nathan. She's too young and innocent to know how to please a man like you. What we have is quite special."
"Indeed," Nathan agreed as he bent to kiss her pouting lips.
As his mouth moved hungrily over hers, a wild animal passion exploded within Lilly. They had been apart for several days while he'd been out at the Alvarez ranch, and she'd missed him tremendously. She was a very sensual woman, and she always eagerly anticipated the time they had together. Nathan was, without a doubt, the most ardent lover she'd ever taken to her bed, and she could hardly wait to be with him again. Moving sinuously, erotically against him, Lilly enticed him to forget everything but the lusty pleasure she could give him. When Nathan groaned at her brazenness, she drew away.
I've had enough talking for the night..." she told him in a sultry voice, leading the way to the privacy of her bedroom.
"So have I," he agreed, following Lilly from the room. Having never been a man to stay with one woman for long, he supposed the reason he'd never tired of her during their year together was because they were so much alike. She was a woman who knew what she wanted in life and took it. Her boldness pleased him and he wanted her, yet as he closed the bedroom door behind them, he could not put thoughts of Reina from his mind.
Rafael Casita's expression was shocked when Luis finished explaining his situation. "I don't believe it! Reina has run away rather than marry the American?"
"Yes, but once I find her and bring her back, shell change her mind. Reina will marry Marlow, mark my words," Luis snarled in angry frustration as he faced Rafael across the desk in his law office. The silverhaired, heavy-set attorney had been his friend for many years, and it was to him. that Luis now turned for counsel.
Rafael gave a slow, disbelieving shake of his head as he studied his old friend. New, deep lines of worry were etched into his dark, handsome face, and there was exhaustion and a touch of fear haunting his eyes. "This doesn't sound like Reina at all."
"I know," Luis said bitterly. "She has never defied me in her life. Why should she choose to do so now, when what I've asked of her is so vitally important?"
"You say your men have searched everywhere?" he digressed.
"Everywhere," Luis confirmed. "That's why I'm here. I came to double check myself. But they were right. There's no trace of Reina to be found"
"What are you going to do next?"
"I don't know," he responded tightly. "You know my problem. I must make this alliance with Marlow if I am to have any hope of keeping the rancho intact."
"We could always fight the challenge to your ownership of Rancho Alvarez in court," Rafael suggested, hating to see his friend backed into a corner this way.
"There's no point to it," Luis despaired. "I've seen my friends mortgage everything they own to prove the validity of their land grants and deeds in the American courts, only to lose anyway and end up in poverty."
"I see your point." The attorney agreed reluctantly. He knew well the unfair workings of the new American judicial system. The general feeling among the gringos ever since they had started trying to take over the state was that it was unfair for so much land to be owned by only a few dirty Mexicans. The newcomers had begun challenging the ownership of many of the various ranches, forcing the Californios to prove their claims, even though the land may have been in their families for many generations. Very few had been able to win their cases. Many had lost just about everything.
"There's no use in beggaring myself to fight a losing battle. That's why I've worked out this arrangement with Marlow. With a rich, powerful Yankee for a sonin-law, my holdings will be safe." Luis's expression grew thunderous as he turned his thoughts once again to his daughter. "If I can just find Reina, everything will be all right."
They were both lost in thought for a moment, Luis imagining himself locating Reina and dragging her home and Rafael wondering how he could help him in his search. Silence stretched heavily between them until the lawyer remembered the man he'd encountered at the jail earlier that afternoon.
"I have an idea..." Rafael offered tentatively, not sure how his friend would react to what he was about to suggest.
"What?"
"I'm not sure you'll like it..."
"Rafael, I'm desperate. I'll listen to anything that might help."
"Clay Cordell's in town. I saw him at the jail today while I was there meeting with the sheriff."
"Clay Cordell? Who is he? I've never heard of him."
"He's one of the best bounty hunters in the state. He and his partner, a big Irishman named O'Keefe, brought in Ace Denton today," Rafael supplied.
"Ace Denton, the gunfighter?"
"Yes. They tracked him down and brought him back alive to stand trial."
"You think I should hire this bounty hunter to find Reina?" Luis was doubtful. He knew what kind of men bounty hunters were.
"You need help, Luis. Reina's very clever, but Cordell could find her. I'm familiar with his reputation. He's good at what he does."
"But I must keep this quiet!"
"The man makes his living tracking people down. I'm sure for a price you could hire him to find Reina and keep his mouth shut while he's doing it." When Luis still looked unconvinced, he went on. "What have you got to lose? You won't be able to keep her disappearance a secret forever. What will happen if Marlow finds out that she's gone?"
"I know, I know," he agonized. "All right. I'll do it. Where can I find this gringo?"
"He and O'Keefe are probably in one of the saloons celebrating their good fortune. Cordell's a tall man with dark brown hair and a beard. He was wearing all black when I saw him earlier. O'Keefe's almost as tall as Cordell, but he's brawnier. He's clean-shaven and black-haired."
Luis got slowly to his feet, his reluctance obvious. He knew he had to do it, for Reina had left him no other choice. If hiring this stranger to find her was the only way he could get her back in time to avoid a scandal, he would do it.
"I'll be waiting to hear from you," Rafael said as he walked him to the door.
"I'll come back after I speak with him."
"Good, by the way..." He put a hand on his arm to stop him from leaving. "I almost forgot to tell you. While I was speaking with the sheriff, someone came in with the news that Pedro Santana is dead."
"Pedro?" Luis was startled by the news. Santana had not been a close friend, but they were acquaintances.
Rafael nodded. "He was found out at his ranch north of town. He'd been shot in the back."
"Pedro was a good man, well liked and respected in the community," Luis mourned. "Why would anyone want to kill him?"
"Robbery, I guess. No one knows for sure. No witnesses have come forward yet. I'll let you know if anything develops."
"Please do. I liked Santana, and I want to see his murderer brought to justice."
With that, the two men said good-bye, and Luis headed off to find the man he hoped would be able to track down his. wayward daughter.
"You boys ready for anything else?" Josie, the blonde, buxom saloon girl, asked as she sidled up to the table where the two strangers sat in the crowded, noisy bar. Though both men were covered with trail dust, they were the handsomest things to grace the Perdition Saloon in a long time. She knew from experience that men who'd been on the trail as long as they obviously had were ready for a little feminine company, and she was more than ready to supply what they needed.
"What have you got to offer, sweetheart?" Devlin O'Keefe asked in his deep, booming voice, his blueeyed gaze hot upon the lowcut bodice of her scarlet silk and black lace dress.
"What d'ya want?" she returned archly, leaning toward him a bit to give him a better view of her barely restrained breasts. "More whiskey?" She had served them a full bottle a short time before, and it was already better than half-empty.
"The whiskey will do for starters, then come back and join us, and bring a friend," Devlin instructed expansively, glancing back to the bar where another girl stood.
Josie's eyes lit up at the prospect. "I'll be right back." She sashayed back to the bar to place her order and to speak to Frenchie, the other barmaid.
"What do you think, Clay?" Devlin teased. "Are you in the mood for a blonde or a brunette?"
Clay shrugged. "One woman's the same as any other, Devlin. Seems the blonde's caught your eye, so I'll settle for the brunette."
Devlin grinned wickedly at his friend as he finished off his glass of whiskey and poured another. "Your generosity knows no bounds."
Clay returned his smile as he, too, refilled his glass. "Anything for a friend."
The girls approached the table then, carrying another bottle and the extra glasses, and Clay reached out to snare the dark-haired saloon girl around the waist. She gave a squeal of delight as he hauled her down onto his lap, then quickly threw her arms around him and planted a hot, wet kiss on his mouth. She'd been watching this one since he'd come in a short time before and definitely thought him the handsomest of the two, with his broad-shouldered, narrow-hipped physique. She even found his beard intriguing, although she imagined he'd look even better without it.
