Dan tensed in worry. “But what if you’re right?”
“If I am, we’ll see if that changes our feelings and relationship. Better to test them before we commit than afterward. Right?”
“I don’t like making bargains with my future, with my love.”
“Think of how much fun you’ll have trying to win me,” she murmured as she nibbled at his lips and stroked his reviving manhood. “There’s only one way to get me pregnant, remember?”
Dan spread kisses over her face and vowed, “If that’s the only way to win you, woman, I’ll work day and night on my task.”
“I’ll do all I can to help you succeed,” she said, grinning.
Friday afternoon, Rachel stood on the forecastle deck of the clipper and chatted with the handsome cubano. She had told Dan of her assumption it was better to make a friend and ally of Carlos Torres than to treat him as an enemy. With reluctance, her lover had agreed. She knew Dan was observing them from the stern near the steering wheel. She tried to act poised and friendly, but she was apprehensive. “Tell me about your country and rebellion,” she coaxed with a smile.
Carlos gazed across the ocean. He was unusually amiable as he explained. “She lives in glorious splendor, as you do, Raquel. Part of her is mountainous, but most of her is… plains and basins. She is one big island with muchos niños, babies. She provides a third of the world’s sugar; but also fruit, café, and timber. The Central Valley where I am from is important; it is where much of our sugarcane, café, cattle, and timber is raised. When we anchor in Bahía de Nipe and go ashore, you will see for yourself how lovely she is.”
Rachel leaned forward and propped her forearms on the railing to steady her balance. Although the brilliant sun was at their backs, she squinted from the glare off the water as the Merry Wind knifed through the windswept sea. “What about your people? What are they like?”
“Our people are farmers and fishermen, peasants and landowners. Most are Criollos whites born there. The rest are Mestizos, of Indian and Spanish mix, Mulatos—of Negro and Spanish mix, and Amarillos—Chinese. Slavery has not been abolished, but trade in flesh was terminated many years ago. Mejicano Indians and Chinos were… indentured to fill that loss. Most are Catόlicos; others—Africanos— are Santeria. We arrive before huracån season next month, but you get wet muchos times; it is our rainy season.”
Rachel realized the closer they came to Cuba, the more Carlos Torres drifted toward his native language; yet, she grasped the gist of it.
“You will meet our leader and band of rebeldes, rebels. Our war cry is ‘No hay nada más importante que la libertad,’ which means, ‘Nothing is more important than freedom.’ Pronto, you will see why we would kill for guns to free our land and people.”
“Tell me now so I’ll understand when we get there,” she urged.
“You thirst to know muchos things, Raquel.”
“If you were heading to a country where you didn’t know the people, language, and customs, wouldn’t you be the same way?”
“Sí. Ricardo was mi maestro, my teacher.”
“If he knows so much about us, why wasn’t he sent on this mission?”
“El es la mano derecha de Ramón,” he said, shaking his right hand to make his point.
Right-hand man, she mentally translated. “Ramón is your leader?”
Carlos did not answer that question. “Your country is our biggest trade partner. She is our ally, but she fears to challenge the Madre Tierra and its ruler, King Alfonso XII; he is the son of Isabella and has ruled for ten years. The war began long before he came to power; we have battled for independence for eight years. We will continue to fight until we are free hombres. They tax us and control us as dogs or burros on ropes. They are corruptores and they let us say nothing in the cortes and audiencias.”
When he paused, she asked, “What do those words mean?”
“Parliament and High Courts. They order their soldados to be brutal to control and cower us. We asked for americana help, but it has not come. El Presidente Grant and war leader Señor Belknap resist our pleas for help. Your government does not stop us from getting arms and supplies, but it has not offered or provided them. Uno día she will,” he said with confidence.
Rachel straightened and faced him. “How did this rebellion start?”
“The eastern provinces banded together under Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, a wealthy planter. When the Orient Province declared independence in October of 1868, the battles began. El Grito de Yara was heard across the land: ‘The cry of Yara.’ Landowners want … economic and political freedoms; the farmers and workers want slavery abolished and political freedom for todo el mundo. De Céspedes freed every slave who would join the fighting. The Nationalist lider is a Black commander named Antonio Maceo. Our band follows his instruction. The soldiers of the government we battle are savage, but you will be safe in our campo.”
“I hope so, Carlos, and I hope you win your independence.”
“You are kind, Raquel, una mujer valiente y lista.”
At the man’s adoring expression, she did not ask him to translate his last few words. He had used the Spanish form of her name many times with a husky tone that worried her. She hoped he didn’t think she was flirting with him. Surely Carlos knew she was the captain’s woman. As she thought of herself surrounded soon by rugged and earthy rebels in a sultry jungle, she had to struggle not to panic or shudder in dread.
“You worry about something, Raquel.”
“It’s just the heat. I’ve been under the hot sun too long. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go to my cabin and rest. It’s been nice talking with you like this. We’ll do it again before we reach your island.”
“Con mucho gusto,” he responded, grinning at the flush on her cheeks that he did not believe was the result of the tropical sun.
“Good-bye,” she said, and left the appealing cubano staring after her.
“Hasta luego, Ilama de mi corazón,” he murmured to himself, as the enchanting female truly did ignite a flame in his heart that called for her possession.
A little over three hours after setting sail Saturday morning, Luke Conner came to Dan’s cabin. “The Grand Bahama Island is off the port side. It’s miles away, but you can see it on the horizon. Care to take a peek?”
“Are those Cubans on deck?”
“Yes. Why? Are you having problems with them?”
Rachel frowned and sighed heavily. “Not exactly, but I think Torres is enamored of me. It might be best to avoid him today. You don’t think there’ll be trouble in their camp, do you?”
“Yes, but I’m hoping it can be settled quickly with their leader.”
“Why don’t we just drop the crates and those two and leave?”
“As soon as they opened them and discovered the shortage, with no explanation from us, they’d be after us before sunset. Other lives are at stake.”
Rachel recalled the Cuban’s threat toward her family and friends, and those toward her partners; so more than her own life was in jeopardy. If she didn’t believe that, she wouldn’t take this risk. “You’re right, Luke. I just don’t want Dan, the crew, and this ship endangered because of me.”
“You love him deeply, don’t you?” he asked in a serious tone.
She noticed that for once he didn’t have his perpetual grin teasing across his handsome face. “Yes.”
“So why are you afraid to marry him?”
She and Luke had become close friends during the days he had guarded her at Moss Haven and during the last week together. She liked and trusted Dan’s first mate. Luke had a sincere air about him. She desperately needed to talk to someone who could understand her predicament and give good advice.
“Why don’t we sit down and chat?” he encouraged. “I’m off duty.”
Rachel’s weary soul and restless heart responded to his kindness and warmth. She took a chair, and Luke pulled the other one around to sit near her. “It’s all so confusing and frightening. I’m scared, L
uke, scared of something happening to Dan if I marry him. I’m scared I can’t have children, and he wants them. He’s endangered himself so many times to help and protect me. I could get him killed here or back home. I would die if that happened. I love him and need him so much it panics me.”
“Why, Rachel? Don’t you realize love is a precious and rare gift?”
“I don’t know how much Dan’s told you about me or how much you learned while investigating me …” she began, giving him a wry smile. “But there’s much more involved. I don’t know where to begin.”
“Tell me the whole story; we have plenty of time. Maybe I can help. Maybe you and Dan are too close to the situation to be objective.”
“I don’t think anyone can help.” Slowly and with anguish, she related her history to him. She paused only a moment before she revealed her deepest fears and Earl Starger’s last visit at the hotel. “What if he wasn’t lying, Luke? What if I am guilty of all those horrible deeds? What if I…”
The brown-haired man grasped her hands in his. With confidence in his azure gaze, he said, “You aren’t crazy or guilty, Rachel.”
There was anguish in her tone and expression as she refuted, “But—”
“No buts,” he gently interrupted, tapping her lips with a forefinger. He wiped away a tear that had escaped her luminous eyes. “No madness and no guilt, woman. Trust me; I know you by now. He was wrong or lying.”
“If he wasn’t, Dan’s life will be in danger.”
“You could never harm Dan, just as he could never harm you. Love him and marry him, Rachel; you won’t be sorry.”
“Are you going to tell him about this talk? He’ll wonder what’s been keeping you down here so long.”
“It isn’t my place. You will, when the time is right.”
They both stood and Rachel hugged him. “Thank you, Luke. You’re a good friend to both of us.”
“Any time you need a shoulder to lean on, mine’s available.”
Hours later, as the sun was setting in glorious splendor, they anchored near Andros Island—the largest of the Bahama chain—to take on fresh water. They would remain there until the morning tide. As Dan had promised, he took her ashore to the concealed pool for a quick bath and stroll.
The island was forested with Caribbean pine and hardwoods called “coppices,” and woody vegetation of shrubs and vines. Earlier they had sighted a few fishing and farming villages a few miles upshore, but this area was unpopulated. The climate was perfect.
Rachel and Dan walked across a sandy beach holding hands. He led her into cool greenness that quickly encompassed them. She smelled heady fragrances. The only life they saw was frogs, lizards, birds, and small rodents.
When they reached the sunken pool, Rachel smiled. The turquoise water was shallow; it came from somewhere in the impenetrable forest.
“There’s another one not far away; that’s where the men will go to get fresh water for the remainder of our voyage and catch a fast cleaning.”
“It’s lovely, Dan, so romántico.” She glanced at him suggestively.
He caught her sensual hint, shook his head with a grin, and said, “We best hurry; it’ll be very dark in here soon. We can’t linger.”
As evening shadows closed in, they hurriedly bathed and left the cozy location. In his cabin, Rachel revealed her talk with Luke Connor this morning. Dan understood her fears, and told her the same thing Luke had. As if to prove how much he trusted her, he made passionate love to her.
Sunday, Rachel had another talk with Torres. She hoped and prayed it would help save their lives. “There’s something I should tell you, Carlos. I don’t have the entire order with me.”
His dark eyes looked quizzical. “You have tricked me?”
“Not exactly, and please don’t be angry. Let me explain. Your payment hasn’t been found yet, so I had to come up with the cash to buy these arms and ammunition. Harrison Clements wouldn’t let me have any without payment first, but the others are ready. George trusted me to pay him later for the ammunition, and he sent the entire order; it’s aboard.”
“What good are bullets without rifles, Señora Rachel?”
“I have six thousand. That’s all the money I could come up with; I swear it, Carlos.” Rachel explained in detail the financial misfortune that had befallen her. “Dan’s helped all he could,” she finished, “he’s shipping the order free, and he paid for most of the arms. I thought this much of the order was better than nothing. The only things that saved me were Dan’s generosity and not having to pay George for the ammunition. The company books were destroyed, so there’s no record of my debt. I promise to keep searching for your payment. I swear, if I find it, I’ll send the rest of your order. More than you ordered, to help your cause and to repay your kindness and patience. That’s all I can do.”
“It will not please el lider. He will not believe you.”
“It’s the truth. If you weren’t threatening my family and friends, I would throw the crates ashore and disappear. No, I would have dumped this problem in yours and Harry’s laps. I only came here to reason with your leader. I realized you didn’t have the power to change the deal.”
“El lider will not change it. We need those arms, Señora Rachel.”
“We’re no longer amigos? It’s back to ‘Señora Rachel.’ If this will get you into trouble, Carlos, I’m sorry. You did your duty and trusted me.”
“You must do your duty, or others will suffer. I will not be the one sent to… persuade you and your partner to give us what we bought.”
“Please help me explain to your leader,” she beseeched. “I’ve done all I can. Doesn’t that count for anything?”
“Only victory matters, and lives in my country and in yours.”
Tears welled in her honey-colored eyes and she struggled hard not to cry. She chewed on her upper lip to make the pain distract her from that “feminine weakness.” She searched her brain for an escape route. In an emotion-constricted voice, she asked, “Will your leader give me time to sell my home to raise the rest of the money for your arms? That’s the only thing I have left worth anything. It’ll take time to find a buyer. If I rush a sale, the buyer will know I’m desperate and will offer little. I need a hundred twenty thousand dollars to get the other four thousand rifles and dynamite.”
“Why does Señor Clements not help you?”
“Because he thinks I have the money and thinks that when I’m terrified enough, I’ll turn it over to him. He says he didn’t have anything to do with Phillip’s deal, so he isn’t using his money to pay for it. He’s also furious about the company being set afire and a worker killed. He hired guards for the company and his home to protect them against another attack from you and Joaquin. He claims he isn’t afraid of your threats.”
“Aja! We did not do those things, Raquel. Señor Leathers could not; he was dead. If you did not, he has lied to you. He must honor the deal; he said this in the documento I took to mi lider, as did Señor Leathers. All three gave their word; they agreed to let Señor McCandless take the dollars and deliver the order. If you have paid for all we carry, Señor Clements is the only hombre to make dinero on this.”
Rachel was vexed. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I did not know you did not know. Señor Clements met with Ricardo on the isle of Bimini the week before your esposo died.”
So that was why Harry had such a golden tan so early in the year! “I thought Phillip was the only one who knew about the deal.”
Carlos shook his dark head. “He said he wished to increase the order and would sell us the next one at a … cheaper price. Ramón said we would do so when we get more dinero americano.”
“Has Harry been to Cuba? Has he met your leader?”
“No. He contacted Ricardo through de Céspedes. Ramón sent him to the meeting; Joaquin and I were in your country with your esposo.”
“So,” she reasoned aloud, “Harry learned from Ricardo that Phillip had the entire mill
ion dollars. He came to force it out of Phillip, but Phillip must have been angry with him for going to Ramón behind his back. Phillip was already suspicious of Harry cheating him on other orders.” To sway him in her favor, she quickly used the ruse she had fabricated at the beginning of this mystery to solve it. “That’s why Phillip hid the money and wouldn’t give it to Harry and George. He was holding on to it to make certain nothing happened to it. But where did he hide it? I’ve searched everywhere. My heavens! What if Harry saw where Phillip concealed it when he came to visit the day before Phillip died? What if Harry’s had it all along? What if he murdered Phillip? How deeply was George Leathers involved?”
Carlos paid close attention. “He agreed to make and sell us the bullets. He signed the documento, but it had no names. If your esposo did not tell him about us, he did not know who we are or where the order is going.”
“That’s good, because I liked and trusted him. I’ll bet Harry killed George to keep him silent and to keep from having to pay him. All this time Harry’s been behind the threats and attacks to scare me into paying for this order. He’s probably planning to kill me when I return so there’ll be no witnesses to his involvement.” She told Carlos about the notes she’d received in her handwriting. “He’s hired someone to forge my script; he’ll probably use it to write a suicide note so everyone will think I killed Phillip, took the money, was behind all those other crimes, and then killed myself out of madness and guilt. If his evil plot worked, he would be rich and safe from the law and from your people. But he won’t succeed!”
When Carlos remained silent and watchful, Rachel ventured, “If his name is on the contract, he’s responsible for supplying arms, too. Force him to give you the rest of them. I’ve done my part. Besides, you told me there wasn’t a written contract. If I had known all of this earlier, I could have solved this perilous mystery sooner. Why did you lie to me, Carlos?”
“There is a paper, but it says nada you can use. Ramón buried it to keep it secret. It tells that our order was placed and for how much dinero. All tres hombres signed it. Your esposo signed again when he was given the dinero.”
Promise Me Forever Page 46
