"And Travis?"
"I don't know."
"Would she go to him?" Marc's voice was thick with pain.
China wanted to know his true feelings. She had hoped for this too long not to see it be true.
"What does it really matter, Marc? You have put her where you always wanted her to be. Now she will pay. Let her go. You know Travis is what she deserves. He probably won't marry her and she will drop to the bottom as you planned."
He turned to her, his eyes filled with pain and anger. "I can't, China." He groaned. "I can't let her go."
"Why?" she prodded. "You're finished with her, aren't you? You've used her ... now throw her away."
"Throw her away." He half laughed, half groaned. "I think," he added quietly, "I could throw away my life more easily." He went to China who stood without speaking. "I love her. I'm caught in my own trap, and there's no way out. I love her and I can't let her go."
China's eyes filled with tears as she reached out to place both her hands on his arm. "I'm glad, Marc. I've wanted so long for you to see how futile and destructive this terrible vendetta has been. I watched, and I hoped you were falling in love with her."
"And so I did," he said bitterly, "only to have her turn the tables on me and walk out of my life as if I meant nothing."
"What are you going to do?"
"Find her," he declared firmly.
"You know in Natchez-under-the-hill that is well near impossible."
"This time, China, it's important that we do the impossible. You see I can't let her be lost in that quagmire out there. I brought her here to hurt her, but I couldn't have lived with myself if I'd condemned her to that. I love her... and I have to find her. I may have to tear this town apart, but I'll damned well accomplish two things. I'll find Cat... and I'll kill Travis Sherman."
Chapter 31
Catalina was grateful when the carriage came to a halt. The three men that held them prisoner and Shawna's shivering terror were stretching her nerves to the breaking point. Her fear that Marc had, indeed, deserted her and so would not even look for her began to stir in her the same terror she saw in Shawna.
When the carriage halted, one man stayed behind to guard her and Shawna while the other two carried Jacob into a dark building that looked, from what Catalina could see, like a warehouse. She had no idea where she might be, only that she was somewhere in Natchez-under-the-hill.
Stories Marc had told her sent shivers of anxiety through her. There was only one reason why anyone would want to kidnap her, but why had they taken Jacob? Wouldn't they have left him behind, unless they felt Marc might follow and a living Jacob would join forces with him?
Another thought filled her with hope. If Marc would not search for her surely he would look for Shawna and Jacob. No matter what she might mean to him, Shawna and Jacob meant a great deal. He would search ... but her heart darkened at the thought that he might not have done so had she been the only one taken.
When the two men returned, Shawna and Catalina were pulled roughly from the carriage and half dragged within the confines of the nearly dark warehouse. Thrust into a small room, they were left together. Jacob lay on the floor, his hands bound behind him and his ankles bound together. He was still unconscious.
Catalina ran to him at once and knelt beside him, her cold trembling fingers working at his bonds, but Shawna cowered silently in a corner. Catalina was afraid she had lost all contact with the world about her.
The three men returned before Jacob had been freed.
"Get up from there, girl, and let him be. We ain't goin' to untie him."
Reluctantly Catalina complied. Only then did she see the ropes the men carried in their hands.
The men dragged her to Shawna and tied them both securely. Then they left and the silence magnified the dark emptiness about them. Catalina closed her eyes, telling herself that Marc would be searching, if not for her, at least for the wide-eyed Shawna who sat beside her against the clammy wall.
To Catalina it seemed hours had passed before Jacob stirred and began to regain his consciousness. Shawna had remained totally silent and Catalina feared that she was escaping into a void from which she might never return.
Jacob groaned, tried to lift his hands to his aching head, and found them securely bound. At first he was disoriented; then the memory of what had happened rushed back to him and with a mumbled curse he pulled himself to a sitting position. He looked about him wildly, finally saw Catalina and Shawna tied and sitting against the wall across the room from him.
He groaned. Then, with a gathering of strength, and despite the pounding in his head, he worked his way across the floor until he sat, panting from the effort, near Catalina and Shawna.
"Miz Cat, yo all right?"
"I'm not hurt, Jacob, but I'm scared." She tried to laugh and failed.
"Miz Shawna," Jacob whispered, somewhat awed by Shawna's condition, "she gwan ta be all right?"
"I don't know," Catalina replied honestly.
"Wha' fo' dez men do such a thing? Mistah Marc, he gwan be fightin' mad. He sho' sets store in you and Miz Shawna. He gonna cum and gib dez gentlemens some trouble."
"I hope you're right, Jacob, but I've no idea how he'll ever find us ... or how he'll get us out."
"Iffen I could get dez darn ropes off I'd beat their heads in fo' cauzin' Miz Shawna so much hurtin'. De po' girl done hab enough to handle already."
Their hands were bound behind them and Catalina wasn't sure she could do much to help, but she knew if Jacob were released, they might all have a better chance.
Before she could make any suggestions, however, the door opened and the three men returned. This time a shocked gasp escaped Cat as she looked up into the face of Travis Sherman.
Her fear fled in the face of the blazing rage that inflamed her.
"You!" she spat out. "I should have known. What is it you want, Travis?"
"You, my dear Cat" Travis laughed softly. "You and the very large fortune you have."
"You don't stand a chance. I would die before I would surrender myself or anything I have to you. When Marc finds you he's going to kill you."
"Over you?" Travis laughed aloud. "My dear Cat, Marc has no care for what happens to you. I've found out a lot about him since we came here. Do you have the remotest idea that this is what he planned for you right from the beginning?"
"I don't believe you! You're lying!"
"Am I? Well, let me tell you a little story about your beloved Marc. It seems Copeland isn't even his name, and he has a deep hatred for the Carringtons. All of this was just a little part of his vengeance. He planned to leave you here to warm a bed for the scum of Natchez-under-the-hill, in the vilest brothel he could find."
Cat wanted to lash out at him, to scream, to cry; but some inner sense told her he was only telling the truth. She did not know he would embroider it to suit his purposes.
"Let me explain something so you will have no doubts, my love," Travis said quietly. He knelt beside her and their eyes held. "He took your brother's boat on purpose. He enticed you on purpose... and he intends to destroy every Carrington. It seems, from what my friend Stanton told me, that your father and his had business dealings, and because your father forced him into bankruptcy, Marc's father committed suicide. So my dear, if you expect help from him, be assured that it will never come. In fact, he would take great pleasure in knowing you are suffering. It will be due to me that you don't, and one day we can repay his treachery."
Tears burned Catalina's cheeks as something within her crumbled. Could Marc have hated her and made love to her as he did... just to see her destroyed? Her mind was torn between disbelief of Marc's monumental treachery and vibrant distrust of Travis and all he said.
She clenched her jaw firmly. She would cry no more, nor would she beg Travis.
"Whatever it is you want from me, Travis, you will never get it."
"Will I not?" He smiled. "My dear sweet Cat, you are soon to be my very happy bride and I shall
see that we spend a long and happy life together."
"You are insane! I would never agree to marry you!"
"No? I'm going to leave you alone to reconsider while I go to upper Natchez and arrange for the wedding to be held at the plantation of some friends. I want all of society to see that wedding so you cannot deny it. After that, I shall keep a very close watch on you."
"Never. I'll die first!"
"Maybe you would." He grasped Shawna's hair and shook her so violently she cried out, as did Catalina. "But would you let her and your very large friend suffer? I won't have them killed. But for every moment you resist Shawna will pay with her body in the worst way you can imagine."
"You are a foul beast!"
"Now, Cat my love, is that any way to talk to the man who will soon be your warm and loving husband?" He lowered his voice suggestively, and his words were heavy with barely controlled passion. "I have waited a long time to possess you, sweet Cat, and make sure of one thing: I will consummate the marriage soon and very often. Decide. I'll be back soon."
He rose and walked away, and again they were left in the semidarkness. Cat was aware only of Shawna's muffled tears and uncontrolled shaking. With a sinking heart she realized she could not make Shawna suffer the unspeakable things Travis had threatened. If it was true that Marc had wanted this vengeance, then he would not help them.
She was suddenly aware that Jacob had been silent for a long time.
"Jacob?" she questioned.
"Ah's all right. Now I 'members whar I saw dat man befo'. He been cumin' ta Natchez a long time. He be good friends wif de Gere's. Dat man and Simon Gere, dey sho be sumpthin' bad. Yassah, Mistah Marc he sure gwan to kill that man one day... he sho is."
"I'm not so sure, Jacob," Catalina said bitterly.
Jacob turned to look closely at her. "Don' yo start believin' dat scum,? he said. "Mistah Marc, he ain't like dat man say. He be comin' fo' yo and Miz Shawna. Dat man, he loves ya Miz Cat and doan yo go believin' nothin' else lessen ya asks Mistah Marc fo' de truth. Yo see, pretty quick he cum lookin'. He be gonna kill dat man. Lessen," Jacob added softly, "ah gets free. Iffen I does dat man sho bettah say his prayers to de lawd fo' ah'm shore gonna rip off his head fo' scarin' Miz Shawna like dat. Po' chile," he looked at Shawna who, tear stained and disheveled, was shaking like a leaf in a storm. Both Jacob and Catalina knew she was on the brink of insanity.
If Marc did come for them it would have to be soon, for Shawna could not suffer much longer. Catalina knew if she submitted to Travis, she could never again reach out to Marc. Yet, in the back of her mind, she feared Travis's words had been true.
❧
When Travis left Catalina he took a carriage to upper Natchez and stopped it in front of one of the most luxurious mansions there—the home of Simon Gere and of his sons: Stanton, James, and Holland.
He rapped on the door and was admitted by a butler who took his hat and gloves. There was no need for the man to guide Travis to the library; he had been a guest here often.
When Stanton Gere and his father Simon rose to greet Travis, his satisfied smile told them of the success of the plan they had laid together so many years before.
"So I take it you have the girl safely tucked away?" Stanton sneered.
"I do, in a place Marc Garrison will never find, at least until it's time to bring her here. By then it won't really matter what Garrison finds out. It will be too late."
"Well''—Simon chuckled evilly—"I think we must prepare for a wedding."
"Yes, and make sure only the right witnesses are invited. I don't want word to get to the Garrisons until it's over. I'll have a boat ready, and by the time Marc learns of this, Cat and I will be gone."
"Where do you intend to take her?"
"To Europe, of course. I have friends there who will keep her under control until I milk her family dry."
"Friends?" Simon leered. "Friends who might want a taste or two of your bride."
"They can have her. By then I'll be tired of her anyway. It's her wealth that's important to me. Her family will pay for a very long time."
"Marc Garrison is still not aware of how he's been duped into believing the Carringtons are responsible for his father's demise? I cannot believe he got back on his feet as he did, but there are still ways to destroy him and the rest of that family," Simon grated out, his voice thickened by his abiding hatred.
Travis knew Simon had hated Marc's father. That hatred had fit into his plans so he had nurtured it until it could be used.
"Marc knows nothing except that Cat chose to leave him here in Natchez. He will, of course, hate the Carringtons even more now. Who knows?" Travis laughed. "I may send her back to him one day—when I've finished with her."
"That should prove interesting," Stanton observed.
"Marc has walked to our music all this time. I expect at the final blow, when she is discarded a few years from now, he will see the truth."
"Oh, he may blame Catalina for what will ultimately happen to his friends."
"You plan to get rid of them?" Simon questioned.
"I don't see what other choice I have. They're a nuisance, and I only need them until Catalina is safely married and we're on our way."
"Marc Garrison," Simon said softly, his gaze introverted, as if he were seeing beyond that time and place to another. "I have finally evened the debt, finally seen them fall as I swore I would. Once we have finished him"—his voice became a malevolent whisper—"I will have his sister at my mercy. The Garrisons will be no more—no more."
The pall of oppressive hatred was so thick in the air that for a moment everyone was silent.
The entire plot that had enmeshed Catalina and Marc had been the product of the mental deterioration of Simon Gere. Because of old hatreds he was purposely destroying the lives of many.
Even Travis, degenerate that he had become, was speechless before the black power of Simon. For one heartbeat, one fragile moment, even he felt the touch of fear. This man had a blacker soul than any other he had known.
Travis had done many things in his life that needed to be hidden, like arranging for the murder of Seth Carrington, but he himself did not have the stomach or the courage to do them. Simon Gere did, and there was no limit to his evil. Travis suddenly was glad that he was going to take Catalina and be gone. He shuddered to think of what would happen to Marc and his friends.
❧
Marc was frantic. As the night slowly eased into pale gray dawn, he returned to China's cabin only to find her in very nearly the same state. China, always his calming conscience, was in tears. That startled Marc out of his own hell for a minute.
He had spent the night turning Natchez-under-the-hill upside down, but at dawn there was no sign of Catalina. So he had returned, weary and spent, and for the first time in his life afraid.
Fear pierced him now as he looked into China's tear-stained face.
"Someone's found her," he said in an expressionless voice. "She's dead." He felt life draining from him like sand from an hourglass.
"No, Marc. I've heard nothing of Catalina. But after you rushed out I remembered something."
"What?"
"I thought she was supposed to be with Shawna. When I remembered ... well I became frightened. I looked for Shawna. I've searched the boat from top to bottom—Shawna is gone and so is Jacob."
"Shawna would never leave the boat of her own free will!"
"I know," China said softly.
"And Jacob would not abandon his duties without telling me."
"I know that, too."
They looked at each other, horror dawning in them.
"They might have left here together, but only for one reason," he whispered raggedly.
"Catalina." China answered his fears. "They would both go to help her. If she was taken by someone instead of leaving on her own—"
"My God, it will kill Shawna."
"But she would have gone if she thought she had to."
"Yes, she would."
"And so would Jacob."
"I've got to find them," he said desperately, "but... I don't know where else to look. In Natchez-under-the-hill I get blank stares and negative answers."
Marc started toward the door.
"Where are you going?"
He turned, his face revealing both doubt and grim determination.
"If I have to rip this town to shreds, if I have to pound a few heads and pay a fortune in bribes—no matter what it takes—I'll find them. And whoever's got them had better move fast, because if one of them is hurt there won't be a place far enough from me."
"Marc."
He had turned away from her, but she could see the knuckles of his hands grow white as he clenched his hands in an attempt to regain control of himself.
"I've got to find her, China." His voice was soft "I never told her. . ." He stopped and sucked in his breath. "I have to find her."
"I know, Marc, I know."
He turned to face her, his obvious grief making her shiver.
"Do you know, China," he said quietly, "if it hadn't been for me and my need for revenge, she wouldn't be where she is. She'd be safe in her own home. If something happens to her it might just as well happen to me. I think I can stand a whole lot of things ... but not losing her, not losing her while she still doesn't know that I loved her—that what we shared was more important than anything else."
"But you've got help—me and your friends. You can't do it alone."
"There's so much I don't understand. Why would Shawna and Jacob go with her if she was running from me? She's never been in Natchez before, she told me so herself. Where would she expect to run to? There's just too much that doesn't make sense. And I found no sign of Travis either. Just what kind of a hole did that snake find to crawl in? It's damn well hidden, and it's in Natchez-under-the-hill."
"Let us take a moment to think. We must plan what we will do, think of those who will help. You and I both know some well-placed money might just bring us some answers. Someone might have seen them." She went to him. "Marc, if it turns out that no one has seen any of them in Natchez-under-the-hill, then maybe you're looking in the wrong place. Maybe she's somewhere else."
Catalina's Caress Page 33
