“Oh, I want you. In every way. Let me show you how much.”
***
Sarah stood on the piano bench while Pearl made last minute adjustments to a new dress. She twisted to look down at Pearl. “Isn’t it exciting about Mama and Cal getting married?” Without waiting for an answer, she continued, “They love St. Louis, and their place, The Lucky Times Palace, is already showing a profit.”
Pearl tugged on Sarah’s skirt to make certain the fabric was straight. “I know you’re happy for them, but please quit wiggling.”
“Founder’s Day will be so much fun. Carlotta and I plan to put our boxes in the box lunch auction. I hope Jimmy Simms buys mine.”
Around a mouthful of pins, Pearl said, “If you want this hem finished in time for Grandpa’s birthday celebration tomorrow, you’d better stand still.”
“Imagine us being related to someone famous enough to have founded a town and have a day named after him. Well... I’m almost related to him.” Sarah ran her hands along the skirt pleats of her dark green dress.
“You are related to him. You call him Grandpa, don’t you? And he calls you part of his family.” Pearl pulled the remaining pins from her mouth and stuck them into the pin cushion on her wrist, then offered her hand to help Sarah down from the bench.
“Yes, and I think of him as my grandpa. I wish he really was my grandpa.” Sarah clapped her hands in excitement. “I can hardly wait until tomorrow’s Founder’s Day celebration. Carlotta and I are staying for the dance tomorrow night... that is, if you let me and her parents let her.”
“We’ll all stay, so maybe Carlotta can come home with us if her parents plan to leave early.” Pearl walked to the window and peered out. “I hope the weather clears up before then. It looks as if there’s a bad storm brewing in the Southwest.”
“Oh, no, I’ll bet it’ll make Grandpa’s joints act up.”
Trust Sarah to think of that. She doted on Grandpa and he apparently returned the feeling. Pearl had so much to do before the celebration honoring Grandpa tomorrow that she’d almost forgotten about the new batch of tonic she’d poured up last night. Grandpa would be needing it. Weather changes always worsened his joints stiffness and soreness.
Voicing her thoughts to no one in particular, Pearl said, “I need to get his tonic to him. It’d be a shame if he was all stove up on his birthday and couldn’t enjoy his big day.”
Sarah stepped forward. “I’ll take it to him. I want to get green ribbon for my hair to match the new dress and enough to tie on my box lunch so Jimmy will know it’s mine.”
Storm came through the door in time to hear the last of their conversation. “I promised to hang more banners in town. I could take Sarah with me.”
Wind picked up and they heard the gust whistle down the chimney and push at the windows.
“You’d better take your slickers. Sounds like you’ll get caught in the rain. Would you like to take the buggy?”
“Yes,” Sarah said. “You could drive me, Storm.”
Pearl caught the twinkle in Storm’s stormcloud blue eyes. He bowed to their sister. “I am but your slave, Princess Sarah.”
Sarah gave his shoulder a playful shove. “That’s just as it should be.”
Pearl readied a basket of bottled tonic while Storm harnessed the team to the buggy and Sarah changed out of her new dress. When she and Sarah went outside, the wind molded their dresses to their bodies. Bits of sand and dust stung Pearl’s face. She handed the basket to Storm, who set it in the floor behind the buggy seat.
“Mind you don’t stay late. Stop at the restaurant and have an early lunch if you wish, then come home. You can let me know how Rhoda’s doing with my replacement.”
“No one could ever replace you, sister,” Sarah called as they drove away.
Jeff rode in front of them and Beau trailed behind. Pearl was eager for a time when guards were no longer necessary for a simple drive to town. With a resigned sigh, she returned to the house and her preparations for tomorrow.
***
Quin watched from behind a massive live oak. Waiting here had paid off, boring as it had been. He loaded an arrow into his bow and waited until the buggy was at the turn in the road. He let the arrow fly and it hit the man in buckskin. Without a sound, the man slid from his horse. The horse must have been well trained, because it stopped behind its fallen rider.
After waiting a few second to make certain the others did not come back around the bend to see what happened to this man, Quin rushed into the road and checked his victim. Dead as a rock. The arrow had pierced his heart. Grabbing the man under the shoulders, he pulled him to the side of the road. Quin retrieved his arrow and hoped whoever eventually found the body would think a bullet had gone through the body. He went back and led the dead man’s horse into the trees.
As a man who raised prime horseflesh, he valued horses far more than humans. Quin didn’t want to endanger the horse by tying him to a tree in case their were predators about. He laughed. ‘Course he meant predators other than himself.
He dropped the reins over the dead man’s chest. Left loose,the horse would eventually be spooked by something and return home. It would be too late to save that bitch Pearl and her bastard brother and sister.
Quin mounted his own horse and rode across the fields to get ahead of the buggy. The time schedule he’d worked out required precision. As usual, he had proven his mind’s superiority to that of this rough bunch of Texans.
They hadn’t even realized he was a white man while he laid stone on the building not fifty feet from where Pearl’s smart ass husband directed the rebuilding of her restaurant. No one noticed one of the Mexican stone masons had blonde hair and light skin. Of course, he’d kept his hat pulled low and hadn’t washed the dirt from his face.
He got mad all over again when he thought of those two bungling Ainsworths. He’d laid it out for them, step by step. After all the instructions he gave them on getting into the restaurant, they’d still fouled up. This time there would be no mistakes because he was taking care of it himself.
When he reached the group of trees he sought, he dismounted and hid behind a large outcropping of rocks. Even though it was morning, heavy clouds darkened the sky as if it were dusk. In the distance, he saw the buggy headed his way. He waited until it was almost even with him before he stepped out.
“You two in the buggy, raise your hands. You there in front, get off your horse and throw down your guns.”
The man they called Jeff looked around. “Where’s Beau?” he asked as he dismounted.
“If you mean the guy who was riding behind you, he’s dead. I shot an arrow into the air, it came to rest... right in his heart.”
Sarah cried, “You killed Beau?”
She looked ready to bawl. Good. He wanted her plenty miserable before she died.
“Why?” the bastard injun asked. “He never did anything to you.”
“Shut up. When I want you to know something, I’ll tell you.” He waved his gun at the guard. “Stand over there by the rocks.”
When the guard complied, Quin pulled the trigger. The man dropped as Sarah screamed and started to leave the buggy.
The injun pulled her back. “Stay here or he’ll shoot you, too.”
“That’s right. You’re pretty smart for an injun. Course your mama was smart, too. My daddy would have married her if I hadn’t put a stop to it.”
That sure got the injun’s attention. He leaned forward, his face filled with wonder. It was worth letting him know that secret to see a reaction on the bastard’s face.
“He would have married my mother?” the bastard asked. “He wanted to do this?”
“Yeah, had to threaten to kill you and her father if she went through with it. Daddy wouldn’t leave her alone, though. Kept pesterin’ her ‘til she left you with Pearl and took off. Daddy would have taken you then but I had me a major fit. Told him I’d kill anyone he brought into the house ‘cept quality folks, so he figured he’d leave you w
here you were.”
Sarah put a hand on the injun’s arm. “Oh, Storm, that’s wonderful. He wanted you—and your mother.”
“Cut the conversation and get down out of that buggy. Get out on this side and don’t try any tricks.”
He liked the way Sarah’s face was pale and her purple eyes wide with terror. She looked at the guard on the ground and tears streamed down her face. The injun helped her out of the buggy, but now his face might as well been a mask. Quin tossed Sarah a length of rope. The wind caught it and she had to pick it up from the ground.
“Tie up the injun, hands behind his back. Do a good job or you’ll be mighty sorry.”
When Sarah had bound the injun’s hands, Quin did the same for her. From his pocket he whipped out bandanas and gagged each of the two.
“Now, climb back in the buggy.”
Quin helped them up into the buggy but took the reins for their team of horses and tied them to the fallen man’s saddle. Being careful not to get any blood on himself, he eased the vest off the fallen man and picked up the man’s hat from the ground. He dragged him behind the rocks. Quin took his own horse into the trees.
“This will be my little disguise,” he said as he donned the vest and clamped the hat onto his head. “With me wearing these and riding his horse, folks will think it’s business as usual when they see us ride up to the Kincaid mansion.
***
Pearl checked the clock on the mantle. Three o’clock. Where on earth were Sarah and Storm? They were supposed to return as soon as they ate lunch. She looked out the window again, but they weren’t visible on the road. Clouds boiled across the horizon. Lightning split the sky, but too far away for thunder to be heard. Foreboding sent a shiver down her spine.
Drake and the hands were out rounding up the horses to bring them in closer to the barns. Abe sat in the rocker on the front porch, watching as sentinel. She couldn’t see Zed. When she stepped onto the front porch, Abe stood respectfully.
“I have to go into town to see what’s keeping my brother and sister. Could you ask Miguel to saddle a horse for me?”
She pulled off her apron and scribbled a note for Drake explaining her concerns for her brother and sister. She left the note with Maria and got her reticule, one of Storm’s hats, and a slicker. She’d quit wearing her thigh holster now that she wasn’t going to town every day. As an afterthought, she strapped on the little derringer. By the time she went outside, Abe waited beside his horse with her mare by his.
“Can’t find Miguel and Zed. Guess they’re off looking at plants or something. I’d better get Javier to go with us.”
Pearl shook her head. “No, I’ve heard you tell about bringing in three bank robbers single-handed. If you can’t protect me by yourself, no one can.”
They rode at a fast pace, eager to stay out of the approaching rain and to find Sarah and Storm. When they reached Grandpa’s, Pearl sighed with relief. The buggy was parked at the side entrance which opened near Grandpa’s study. Jeff’s horse was tied near the team. Beau must be around back.
Abe and Pearl dismounted and hurried into the house. Pearl crossed the hall and knocked at Grandpa’s study door.
There was a long pause, then Grandpa said, “Come in, missy.”
Pearl and Abe exchanged worried glances. Grandpa never called anyone “missy.” Abe motioned her aside and opened the door. As he stepped into the room with gun drawn, a gun’s blast rent the air. Abe dropped to the floor and his gun slipped from his hand. Pearl stopped in her tracks.
Quin called, “Come on in, Pearl, if you want to keep this old man alive.”
She slipped into the room and stared in horror. She hardly recognized the Quin who pointed his gun at Grandpa. The Judge was tied to his desk chair. Storm and Sarah sat on the floor nearby, bound and gagged.
“I’m sorry, girl,” Grandpa said. “I tried to think of a way to warn you.”
“That’s enough out of you, old man.” Quin brought the gun down on Grandpa’s head. Grandpa sagged from the blow and appeared unconscious. Pearl bent to see about Abe. As she knelt beside him, his fingers clutched at her knee. Quin couldn’t have seen the subtle movement, so she must keep Abe from further harm.
She cried, “You’ve killed him.”
“Leave him alone and get over here. Kick his gun this way.”
Pearl rose and gave the gun a shove with her foot before she went to Grandpa. His breathing was all right, but he was out cold. Thank goodness. Maybe Quin would leave Grandpa and Abe alone.
Quin slapped her hard. “I said get over here, not check the old man. Turn around.”
She refused to let him know how much the slap hurt. Glaring at Quin first, she turned her back to him. Roughly, he bound her hands.
“What are you going to do with us?” she asked before he gagged her.
“I’m taking you back to the ranch.” His shrill laugh sent chills down her spine. “There’s a line shack where we’ll wait for that husband of yours to find us.”
She whirled. This time she couldn’t hide her fear.
He laughed again. Clearly he had slipped out of the bounds of reality.
“That’s right. I aim to let him see what happens to you before I kill all of you. The three of you get moving to the buggy. It’s time we left town.”
Chapter Nineteen
Drake came in for supper with an appetite big enough for ten men. He was bone tired from a day in the saddle after a night of lovemaking. He smiled, happy to have things back to normal with Pearl. And she loved him. Truly loved him, not the idea of being a Kincaid. The woman had loved him all along.
And Pearl was some woman. Best of all, she was his woman, soon to be the mother of his son or daughter. Damned if he wasn’t going to be a father after all. All day he’d thought about Pearl and their baby. They’d be a real family, he and Pearl would be good parents. Not like his. For sure not like hers.
That reminded him he’d meant to ask Pearl about adopting Sarah and Storm. Probably ought to ask the kids how they felt about it, especially since they were near grown. He already found himself calling Storm “son.” And that Sarah was sweet as she could be. He thought of them as his family. Why not make it official? He’d talk to Pearl tonight after supper. If she agreed, they’d talk to the kids together.
Maria met him with a worried frown. “Señor, perhaps it is only the worries of an old woman, but I feel something is very wrong.” She handed hima note. “Señora Pearl left this for you.”
He read the note. “When did the kids go to town?”
“Early this morning. Señora Pearl, she left three hours ago.”
“Three hours? Did she have Abe and Zed with her?”
“Only Señor Abe. Señor Zed was with my Miguel in the back and they did not tell him they were leaving.”
“Something must be wrong. Maria, I’m going to look for Pearl and the kids. If I’m not back in two hours, send Zed to get the sheriff and send the hands to look for us.”
***
Midnight had ridden hard all day, but the horse had the best tracking instincts of any mount Drake had ever owned or seen. He resaddled the horse and gave his neck a pat. “Sorry, old boy. You deserve a night off, but we have to find Pearl.”
He spotted Beau’s riderless horse trotting down the road about five minutes later. He caught it and tied the reins to the back of his saddle. Slowing to watch the tracks of Beau’s horse, he scanned the ground. Soon, he found the slain guard.
Drake dismounted and checked Beau’s body. The man was dead, so he lifted Beau’s body across the man’s horse. He’d take him to town while he looked for any signs of Pearl or the kids. Drake found footprints where someone had waited in hiding, but no signs of other activity and no marks to help him locate his family.
Damn, damn, damn. He’d thought this would soon be over. Quin was playing out his hand or he wouldn’t have attacked Beau. Drake wondered why there were no signs of a struggle, no other signs on the ground. How was Beau killed without s
ome reaction from the others? Maybe they simply took off as fast as they could, heading for town and safety.
The danger for Pearl, Storm, and Sarah had intensified. Now his baby was in danger also. He had to reach them before Quin could carry out his plans. Wondering where they were now, he pushed Midnight forward.
Minutes later he spotted a log in the road ahead. He drew his gun in readiness for an ambush. As he rode closer, he saw it was not a log, but a man. Jeff Granger lay on his belly in the dirt.
Drake found a trail where Jeff had crawled from behind the rocks.
He hurried to the guard. “Where are you hurt?”
“Same damn place as before. Leave me and go after them. He’s got Sarah and Storm, and he killed Beau.”
“I’ve got Beau with me, and he’s dead sure enough. I was taking his body to town. Think you could ride his horse?”
“That murderin’ bastard took a horse back behind the rocks a ways. Couldn’t have made it that far. Thought someone would come along the road and see me.”
Drake retrieved the horse. Quin must have brought it from Tennessee. It was a fine animal, too good for a ruthless killer like Quin.
“Someone came along before I could make it out here. Figured it was your wife. Ridin’ hell-bent for leather.”
When he’d helped Jeff mount, the man paled but at least he didn’t pass out. “You gonna be able to sit all the way to town?”
Jeff made an attempt to sit straighter. “Yeah, I can make it. You get after those kids. Check the Judge’s place first.”
“Thanks, Jeff. You sure you can make it?”
“Drake, watch out. That bastard’s crazy mean. Shot me after he made me drop my gun, just like that. No telling what he’ll do.”
***
Drake saw Jeff’s horse tied near the side entrance, but no sign of the buggy. He threw Midnight’s reins at the hitching rail. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed across the sky. This storm was going to be a frog strangler. Worse, rain would wipe out Pearl’s trail if he didn’t find her inside. He rushed into the house with his gun drawn.
“Help! In here,” Grandpa called.
The Most Unsuitable Wife Page 29
