“Good afternoon, ladies,” he said, tipping his hat at each one before searching Jess’s eyes with his. “Is everything all right?”
“Za only thing wrong with this day is running into you.”
“I must admit,” Val said easily as he tugged on his vest and rocked back on his heels. “I didn’t expect to find you here either, but it’s nice to see Juliet is so open-minded about her clientele.”
Jess narrowed her eyes and balled her fists as she sucked in a deep breath. Her left eyebrow crawled up into her forehead. “Valentine Kelly...”
“Yes?” he said with a smile.
“Go piss up a rope.” She stomped her foot into the ground and turned on her heel to travel back the way she came. Once inside the shop, she went to the closed door separating the shop from the living quarters and tapped her knuckles on it lightly.
“Marlena?” she called, but there came no answer. “Marlena, please open the door. I don’t want to leave things like this. You’re my sister, the only family I have and I never want you to feel like a burden to me. Please, open the door.”
The ache in her belly deepened at Marlena’s rejection. She turned from the portal and took a deep breath. Juliet’s words echoed in her mind. She was the parent, and not about to be shut out. Her mind resolute, she went to the door and opened it. The sitting room was empty, so she went to the bedroom door and marched through. The wardrobe door hung open a few inches. She went to the closet and pulled it open, and for a moment couldn’t take a breath.
Marlena’s clothes were gone.
Her skin prickled all over as fear raced through her blood. She stumbled twice as she ran through every room in the store, screaming her sister’s name.
Chapter 15
Long after Jess disappeared up the road, Juliet still chuckled beside him. Her first few attempts to confine her amusement failed, and then she gave in and guffawed with Caroline joining unabashedly. Val pinched his lips together and shook his head. Women. They were the plague of the earth.
“Go ahead and laugh it up,” he said.
“I’m sorry, Val,” Juliet said through fits. “I can’t help it. I like that one. I’ll miss her when she’s gone.” When she finally wiped the tears from her eyes, she gained control of her voice. “What are you doing here anyway? We don’t usually see you until the evening.”
“I needed to speak with Dalton about something.”
“Oh?” Her curiosity was piqued. “You’re not dragging my boy into any sort o’ trouble, are you?”
Val smiled down at her. “Not like the kind you would.”
She waggled her eyebrows. “Good. Will you stick around for some…pleasant diversions?”
“Not today, gorgeous,” he said. “I’ve got to get back to work.” He had been taking three breaks a day to check in with Dalton and make sure everything was all right at the dressmaker’s shop. It distressed him to learn Jess and Marlena were still being watched, but as long as Stacy’s men did that and nothing more, he was content to spend his days in the mines.
“I’ll see you tonight,” he told Juliet, swatting her behind as he went past. She yelped before flashing him a warm smile. His horse was tethered to the post in front of the brothel. He untied it and swung up into the saddle, tipping his hat to Juliet and Caroline as he trotted past and up the road.
He stopped at the corner and looked into the windows of Jess’s shop, waging a war with his thoughts. Should he go back to Gold Hill and help Sandy in the mine? Or should he turn his horse south and clop down the road? He decided to go inside and talk to her, to apologize for scaring her those many nights ago. Before he dismounted, he saw her running frantically within, and his gut screamed something was wrong.
Jumping from his horse, he ran to the door. It swung open and she plowed right into him. He nearly stumbled back from the force. He gripped her arms until she looked up at him. Her face was streaked with tears, her eyes filled with panic. He brought them back inside and shut the door so they would not be seen or heard.
“What happened?”
“Val!” she clawed at his arms. “Val, she’s gone! You have to help me. Please help me find her.”
“Who’s gone? Marlena?”
“Yes! We had a fight and she said she didn’t need me anymore. I went for a walk and when I came back she was gone along with her clothes.” The story struggled out of her as her voice was wracked with sobs. Her hands flew to her cheeks. “Oh my God, Val! What if Stacy’s men followed her? What if they do something to her? Oh, I’ll never forgive myself. I have to find her. Please help me. I promise I’ll never say an unkind word to you again.”
The words poured out of her without stopping to take a breath. He shook her gently and shushed her. When she pinched her lips and peered at with him wide, glossy eyes filled with worry and a plea, he made his decision on the spot. His palms moved up to cup her cheeks and he used his thumbs to clear her tears.
“We’ll find her,” he said resolutely. “I promise we’ll find her. How long has she been gone?”
She sniffled. “It can’t be more than twenty or thirty minutes.”
“That’s not very long. She must be in the area. Do you think she’s on foot?”
“I don’t know.” Her voice cracked. “My horse is in the stables on B Street.”
“Then, we’ll go there first. Come on.”
He grabbed her hand to lead her out of the store, but she pulled back. “Wait!”
“What?”
She ran into the back room, and grabbed her pistol from a drawer. He watched her spin the barrels and snap them back into place before tucking the piece into her pocket. Next, she reached for the coiled bull whip tied to the wall. She came running out and nodded to Val. He grabbed her hand again.
“My horse is just outside. Ride with me to the stables.”
They mounted and cantered through traffic to the stables. Jess lunged from the horse’s back before Val had reined him in completely, and she hit the ground running. He was right on her heels and they slid to a stop in front of an empty stall. She slapped the side of the wood with her coiled whip and sent a curse into the air before calling for the caretaker.
“Mr. Murdoch!” The aged man limped down the aisle flanked with stalls and smiled at Jessie. “Mr. Murdoch where is Achilles?”
“You just missed your sister,” he answered. “She took him out…about…fifteen minutes ago.”
Jess sighed and shut her eyes, so Val stepped in to speak with the man. “Did she say where she was going?”
He smacked his gums and shook his head. “No, and I didn’t ask neither. Figured it was none o’ my affair. I’m sorry if I did somethin’ wrong.”
“You didn’t. I did,” Jess said, comforting the man with a hand to his arm. “Did you happen to see which way she went?”
“She ran off yonder,” he motioned north with his hand.
Val went into Achilles’ stall and studied the ground. He shifted bits of straw around to uncover the soft brown dirt beneath it. Squatting down, he traced several shapes with his fingers and studied the impressions. Jess knelt beside him.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m learning his tracks. He’s without a shoe on his right foreleg?”
“That’s right.” She nodded. “He threw it on my last ride and I haven’t seen to it yet.”
“There’s a chip in the hoof. See here?” He circled the spot in the dirt. “This ought to make it easier to follow.”
She nodded. “Let’s go before we lose daylight. We’ve got to find her before it gets dark. The temperatures are still too cold at night.” They stood and turned to the caretaker. “Thank you so much, Mr. Murdoch.”
Val jumped into the saddle and held his arm out for her. She grabbed it and flung herself onto the horse’s back behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He kicked the animal’s flanks in the direction indicated until they rode out of town. Once they cleared the clutter of tracks from the city, he dismounted and studied
the ground for any sign of Achilles, deciding not to point out the ominous-looking bank of clouds heading their way. For the first hour, he was rewarded with solid tracks, but Jess was getting restless at his back.
“Shouldn’t we have caught her by now?” she asked, a hint of desperation in her tone.
“We’re getting closer, but she’s traveling lighter. My horse carries us both, and that slows us down.”
She huffed. “I should have rented one from Mr. Murdoch if I had been thinking clearly.”
“Worry distorts the senses,” he said. He climbed back into the saddle and carried on, studying the ground all the while, but when the gentle rumble of the thunder fell upon their ears he cursed under his breath.
“That rain better hold,” she said behind him. “They’ll wipe out her tracks for sure.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
She slid from the back of his horse and he wheeled around, his brow creased and his arms out wide. “What are you doing?”
“You can move much faster without my weight. When you find her you can come back for me.”
“Are you crazy?” He shook his head. “I’m not leaving you out here on your own.”
Her eyes were fierce. “Like you said, I’m on my own. There’s not another soul out here to harm me. The priority is finding Marlena, and from the looks of the sky we haven’t much time. Now, go.”
“No…”
Before he could stop her, she slapped the horse’s rear end. He jumped and tried to run, but Val held him back by the reins. “Get on here, Jessie. I’m not messing around. Come on!”
“Go, Val!”
“I’m not leaving without you. Now, get back on the horse, dammit. I don’t want to have to end up looking for two lost girls.”
“I’ll stay on the road and keep heading north. Now, go after Marlena. You said you were close. Every minute you stay here arguing with me is another minute she gets ahead.”
“Exactly, so get your ass on the horse!”
She huffed and took a few steps back as she uncoiled her bull whip. His eyes went wide as he watched her swirl the lengths of it in the air above her head.
“Don’t you dare…” he choked before she whipped her hand back, splitting the air with a crack that echoed around them like a gunshot as the tail end smacked across his horse’s rear end. His legs barely had time to squeeze around the horse’s belly as the gelding took off in a sprint. Not even all of his strength could pull the reins hard enough to slow him down. So, he tucked his head near the horse’s neck and let him run, hoping they came upon Marlena soon. He didn’t like the two females being out in the desert alone with a storm approaching.
Chapter 16
She didn’t know how long she’d been walking before the first raindrops fell. The temperatures dropped severely once the clouds covered the setting sun. She hung the coiled whip around her neck like a piece of jewelry and hugged her upper body, rubbing her hands over her biceps to keep them warm. The cold wind was fierce and blew south, leaving her to walk straight into the pelting rain. Her only thoughts were of Marlena, and she prayed to God Val found her and sheltered her from the storm.
Her teeth began to clatter and her lips trembled. Finally, she looked around the area for some sort of natural housing in which to hide. There was just enough remaining daylight to make out potential rock bunkers, but she wasn’t ready to quit yet. Her hopes were that the storm would pass quickly, but she knew it was a whimsical idea. Lightning flashed all around as far as the eye could see. She steeled her resolve. As long as Marlena was out in the elements, she would be, too.
Soon, her feet began to drag, her boots slogging through the mud like it was clay. The muscles of her legs clenched and ached from the effort, but her skin burned with cold, a fiery itch she wanted to scrape her fingernails over. She turned around and walked backwards to give her front a break from the storm’s assault.
When night fell, she could no longer feel her legs. By then, she knew she had no choice but to keep walking. In frigid cold, movement meant survival. She tucked her icy fingers under her armpits and urged herself to keep moving. The sky bellowed with thunder as lightning streaked through the darkness. She turned again and faced the storm head on.
The next time the sky alit, she saw a black rider racing toward her. She squinted as he came into view. His wide black hat lent his face a dark shadow, and it was only when lightning burst that she saw who he was and felt the breath hitch in her throat. Grant! He slid to a stop in front of her and she turned away, pumping her numb legs at a run, but she was too cold to outpace him and his hands soon grasped her waist.
“No! You’re dead!” she screamed, lashing out at him with a frozen fist. Her knuckles exploded into fire when they connected with his jaw.
“Jessie, it’s me, Val!”
She felt the firm curl of his fingers over her wrists as he held her swinging fists from his face. When his features came into view through the rain, she relaxed and fell to the ground. He went with her and gathered her in his arms.
“Jesus Christ, you’re freezing,” he said as he removed his leather duster and put it around her. She felt the warmth from his body heat envelope her with the long jacket and her body set to shivering even more. He pulled her to her feet and walked them toward the horse, and for the first time, she noticed it was Achilles. She grabbed Val’s shirt, which was being soaked through.
“Marlena?” she shouted against the wind and water.
“She’s safe. Come on. You sit up front. I don’t trust your strength to hold on.”
He set her in the saddle, climbed up behind her and she leaned against his solid frame. Before he turned them back into the storm, he untied the sopping lace from her chin and threw her hat to the ground. Her coif fell with it and layers of thick blond hair matted to her cheeks. A mild panic awoke in her before he set his hat atop her head.
“Tilt your head down and you’ll avoid the rain in your face,” he called.
She obeyed and rested in the warmth and protection of his garments while he ran them down the road. Her body swayed and sleep tugged at her eyes, but she willed herself to remain alert until she saw Marlena with her own eyes. Just as the storm seemed to reach its peak, Val led them out of the elements and into a cave. Jess nearly collapsed with relief when she saw her sister huddled near a fire with a saddle blanket wrapped around her shoulders, her long blond hair cascading over her body. She looked like a five-year-old again.
Marlena’s eyes gleamed with tears when their eyes met, and Jess wasted no time jumping from Achilles and gathering the girl into her arms. She had no more tears to cry, having spent all of hers in the shop and then on the road as she walked and worried alone, but Marlena sobbed quietly into Jess’s shoulder while she ran a hand over her hair.
“Shhh,” Jess soothed. “It’s all right.”
“I’m so sorry, Jess.”
“Me, too, sweetie. Me, too.” She rested her chin on Marlena’s head and closed her eyes to say a prayer. She didn’t know what she would have done without her. “I know you don’t need me, Marlena, but…” her palms cupped the girl’s cheeks so they could look at one another. “I need you. So, don’t ever run off like that, all right? I couldn’t bear it if something happened to you.”
Marlena’s lips trembled as she nodded in response. She sniffled and swallowed. “I’m tired of running away, Jess. I want to belong somewhere. I want a home and friends and a life out of the shadows.” She reached up to grasp Jess’s hands. “It’s been three years. When will we stop?”
Jess searched her younger sister’s eyes. She was still young, but had been through so much. It was normal for her to crave such things, and perhaps she did have a point about Jess’s behavior. Maybe she had become paranoid. They’d escaped their past for three years without any threat of discovery. Did she really need to leave at the first sign of any kind of trouble? If that was the case, they were sure to be running for the rest of her life.
She hugged Marlena aga
in and rocked back and forth while she thought. The danger from New Mexico may be far behind them, but the danger from Leonard Stacy was very present and very real. Her shop was being watched and the threat had been issued. If they stayed, that had to be dealt with.
Her eyes closed and she sucked a deep breath through her nostrils before turning her face to Val, who was sitting quietly on the other side of the fire. Water dripped from his elbows as his forearms rested on his knees. His hair was wet, and he shook some it off before meeting her gaze.
“Well,” she said. “What are we going to do about this problem with Leonard Stacy?”
He frowned and tilted his head to study her. “What do you mean?”
Marlena gasped and pulled back to study Jess’s face. “What are you saying?”
Jess’s eyes moved from Val to Marlena, then back to Val again. “I’m saying we’re staying.” She caught Val’s slow smile before she felt her body tumble backward onto the stone as Marlena pounced, her excited laughter echoing off the stone walls. Jess smiled at her sister’s enthusiasm but couldn’t bring herself to laugh. There was a feeling deep in her gut, a warning she tried to ignore. She couldn’t help feeling she had just made a horrible decision.
“So, does that mean the end of Collette and Helene?” Marlena said as she propped herself up on her elbows above Jess.
“Yes, for the love of God, please drop the French bit,” Val chimed from across the fire and Jess scowled at him as she sat up.
“We’ll have to think about that. I don’t know if I’m ready to let our guard down completely. Give me some time, Marlena. It’s not easy for me to agree to stay. It’ll take some time for me to come around on all things. For now, let’s keep up the ruse, all right?”
“Can I at least start talking to people? Can’t I just tell them I don’t speak French or have an accent because we came over here when I was a baby?”
“I’ll agree to that as long as you agree to never go anywhere without asking me first.”
Desert Sunrise (Love in the Sierras Book 2) Page 11
