by Tracey Lyons
But she didn’t do or say any of those things. Hannah swallowed hard and fought to regain control of her emotions. “Where are you going?”
She was growing weary of their battle—the battle that had suddenly taken a turn. She’d felt the tension running through him, and it had nothing to do with Amos Smithson being on her land.
“I have to go to work.” Chase swung himself up into the saddle and rode off toward town.
He’d never known such frustration. He had come so close to telling Hannah the truth. He’d seen the dawning in her eyes as she realized he was hiding something, keeping secrets. When had she begun to know him so well? For the first time in his career Chase was tired of the game. He was tired of keeping up the charade, of pretending to be someone he was not. And he was beginning to wonder if maybe his loyalty was misplaced. The only thing he was certain of were his feelings for Hannah. Even if nothing else in his life were real or true, his growing affection and the raw desire that raged through him every time she was near were very real to him. The truth was he couldn’t deny his feelings for the one woman he should stay away from.
He forced their confrontation out of his mind. It was imperative he speak to Sheriff Curtis. The simple fact that Smitty had had the audacity to trespass on the Jackson land worried Chase. They had to find a way to bring Tyler to justice before any harm came to Hannah.
He nudged the horse with his knee and headed into North Creek.
Stopping in front of the livery, he handed the horse over to the stable boy and crossed the roadway to the sheriff’s office.
He found Sheriff Curtis sitting behind his desk, looking at the latest wanted posters.
“Mornin’, Malone.” Curtis continued to study the papers as Chase crossed the threshold, leaving the door to rattle on its hinges as he closed it behind him.
Chase didn’t wait for an invitation to sit he just eased his body into the old, cracked leather chair opposite the oak desk. Resting the boot of his foot on one knee, he took his hat off, laid it on the desk top and settled in for a nice chat.
“Didn’t see anyone who resembles you in these pictures, so I guess you can stay in town a while longer.” The lawman squinted across the desk at Chase.
“What’s the latest from Radley?”
“Boy, you sure don’t like to mince words, do you?”
“It’s been a long day,” Chase mumbled under his breath.
He thought of Hannah and her growing suspicions. This situation was going to have to be resolved, the sooner the better.
Curtis leaned back in his chair and propped his feet on the desk. “Hell, Malone, it ain’t even noon yet and already you’re complaining.” He drawled on, “Well, what I have to tell you isn’t going to make your day any better.”
Chase forced himself to stay calm. “What did Radley tell you?”
“Seems your garnets have been showing up in some fancy New York City jewelry stores, and guess what?” He waited as if expecting an answer from Chase. “They’re being passed off as rubies! Now, don’t that beat all. What’s more, I guess Amos and his boys slipped them right on by us, just like we’d planned all along.”
The news didn’t surprise him. He knew that Smitty was hoarding the best gemstones. It was only a matter of time before they reached the marketplace.
“Radley thinks he’s going to try and move his merchandise across the border soon. Now I’m not trying to tell you how to run this operation, but I think it’s time we made a move on the man, don’t you, Malone?”
Chase was silent for several minutes as he pondered the situation. “Hannah had a run-in with Amos this morning up on that hill of hers.”
Curtis’s feet hit the floor with a thud. “Is she all right?”
“Yeah, she’s fine. But I think her threatening the man with a shotgun did little to endear her to him, if you get my drift.”
“This could make thinks a little sticky. I’ll have to keep an eye on her.”
Knowing the sheriff would do all he could to protect Hannah did little to assuage the feeling of unease the rested on Chase’s shoulders. It was Chase’s fault that she was in danger. He retrieved his hat from the desk. “I’m going out to the McCleary mine. I’ll handle Smitty.”
The sheriff walked him to the door. “Take it easy, Malone.”
“I’ll check in with you soon.”
Both men looked up at the sky as distant thunder rumbled overhead, warning of trouble to come.
Chapter Ten
Hannah heard the thunder. Pulling Bonnie to a halt on the edge of town, she searched the sky, trying to gauge the distance from the storm. The breeze had turned to warm gusts, filling the air with humidity. The sun still shone hot in the sky. She guessed there would be a few more hours before the storm hit, leaving her plenty of time to get back home. She pushed limp strands of hair off her brow and continued into town.
She’d decided soon after Chase left to see Julia’s father about Amos. After their argument this afternoon she wasn’t certain what was going through Chase’s head. She’d feel better knowing the sheriff would keep an eye on things.
Hannah’s boots thudded against the wooden porch steps as she made her way to the office. “Hello, Sheriff Curtis.” The man sat behind his desk, sipping from a white coffee-stained cup.
He put the cup down and stood. “Hannah, what brings you into town?”
“I needed to speak with you about an important matter.” She suddenly felt foolish for worrying about Amos Smithson. If Chase said he’d take care of the man then his assurances should have been enough for her. Somehow they weren’t.
“Come, sit.” Julia’s father walked around from behind his desk and offered Hannah the leather chair. Leaning against the desktop, he waited for her to speak.
She took off her hat and toyed with the brim while she thought about what she wanted to say. “I was up on the hill today and I came across Amos Smithson. You know the foreman at the McCleary mine?”
The sheriff nodded.
“He was trespassing and I told him in no uncertain terms to get off my property.”
The sheriff’s bushy gray eyebrows knit together. “Do you want me to arrest him for trespassing?”
“Well…no. I just wanted you to speak to him and tell him to stay off Jackson land.” Hannah watched as he smiled down at her, a warm fatherly smile, one that she’d seen him give Julia a thousand times when he was appeasing her demands for new clothes or a trip to New York City.
The sheriff shifted his weight. “I’ll speak to Mr. Smithson in the next day or two. I have to make rounds at the mine anyway. In the meantime, you take my advice and stay clear of the man and the mine.”
The sheriff rose and ambled over to stand before the open door. A hot, sticky breeze blew into the room. “Julia tells me you had a fine time on your trip up to Crane Pond.”
“Yes, it was fun,” Hannah replied absently, thinking once again about Chase and his sudden mood change. That man was getting harder and harder to figure out.
She rose and went to the doorway to stand next to Julia’s father. She felt the sudden need to clear the air between her and Chase. She scanned the horizon. It looked as if the storm would still hold off for a while yet, she’d have plenty of time to catch up to him. She knew that he’d gone to McCleary’s mine. It didn’t matter if the sheriff had just warned her to stay away from Amos Smithson and the mine she needed to know what was eating away at Chase’s insides. If she left town now she could beat the storm.
“I won’t be taking up any more of your time, Sheriff.” She rushed by him, out the door.
“Hannah, where are you off to?”
She didn’t answer him as she hurried to mount Bonnie.
“Mind the weather, there’s a storm brewin’!”
Heedless of his warning, Hannah tore out of town.
Thunder rumbled at her back as she entered to roadway to the quarry.
Her mouth hung open in shock when the mine came into sight. “Oh, Bonnie, look w
hat they’ve done to the land.” She couldn’t believe the destruction that lay before her. It was Maple Gorge all over again. How could Chase be a party to this? Where once stood a sloping, rocky mountainside, now there was only a large gaping cavern. The fading sunlight caught at a piece of the exposed pink rock, the unharvested garnets sparkled like jewels.
But that wasn’t all that caught Hannah’s attention and held it fast. Where once there were no buildings to be found, now there were many. It was as if overnight a small town had sprung up. Slowly she made her way through the camp, Bonnie plodding along past a double row of tents. Two small buildings stood across from a long white clapboard one. By the time she’d ridden the full length of the camp, she’d counted ten buildings in all. How could she have been so foolish to think that Tyler Mining could be driven out of North Creek when it looked as if they were here to stay? The camp even boasted a company store.
She stopped and looked up at the long wooden chute that carried the mined garnets down to a level landing. Here two horses hitched to a long flat buckboard were backed up to the chute waiting to carry the large rocks away. From the condition of the lathered beasts, it looked as if it had been a busy morning at the McCleary mine. Here and there men milled about. Dressed in loose-fitting pants, long-sleeved shirts and brimmed felt hats, they carried the tools of their trade—pickaxes and chisels.
To her right, about one hundred yards from the mine, was the dynamite shack. Hannah watched as a young red-haired lad came out of the small building carrying two sticks of dynamite in his hands.
“Bring them over here, Red.”
She followed the sound of the voice. About halfway up the pit stood a tall, skinny man. He was wearing the same attire she’d seen on the others. Even from this distance she could see his long mane of scraggly brown hair hanging limply down to his shoulders. She felt his gaze touch her and shuddered in revulsion. Perhaps coming out here unescorted wasn’t a wise choice. She turned her attention away from the miners, anxiously searching for any sign of Chase.
The sound of his voice came from behind her. The saddle creaked as she twisted around to get a better look at him.
“I told you under no circumstances were you to be seen on the Jackson property!” Chase’s face was flushed. Beads of sweat clung to his brow. He lifted his arm and in a jerking motion wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
Amos Smithson used his height to his full advantage and towered over Chase. “I was just taking a ride and lost my way.” The words came out through tobacco-stained, clenched teeth.
Chase didn’t appear to take kindly to Smithson’s intimidation tactics, for he stood toe-to-toe with the huge man. She held her breath as Chase poked his finger at the man’s massive chest.
“You see that it doesn’t happen again. Leave the Jackson property to me!”
Her gasp startled them; in the next second she found herself staring down at the two men, who quickly fixed their anger on her.
“What are you doing here?” Chase ground out the words as he stalked toward her, reached up and roughly yanked her from the saddle.
She stood with her back against Bonnie and Chase’s heaving chest in front of her. He was angrier than she’d ever seen him. His blue-gray eyes narrowed into slits as he gripped her shoulders with his gloved hands.
“I asked you a question.”
Confused by his anger, she debated as to whether or not she was going to answer him. Should she tell him the only reason she came out here was to see him? She wanted to make things right between them. Before she could speak, he pulled her roughly off to the side of the hill, just out of Amos’s sight.
“You’d better do some fast talking, lady.”
“The same could be said for you, Mr. Malone!” she spat back at him. “How dare you come up here on the ruse of defending me to that deplorable excuse of a foreman. You came here to devise a plan to get my land.”
“Hannah, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I told Smitty to keep away from you and your damned land, plain and simple.” Chase held tight to her shoulders.
She flinched under his grip, he loosened his hold, although he didn’t let her go. “That’s not what I heard you say. You said, leave the Jackson property to me. Those were the words you spoke, Mr. Malone. I heard you plain and simple.”
Chase raked his hand through his dark hair. The unruly curls were even more pronounced thanks to the sudden rise in humidity. She searched his face looking for something, anything that would tell her she was once again mistaken about him—that he cared for her. All she saw was the same turmoil that she’d seen in him earlier, written all over his face and reflected in his beautiful eyes.
“Oh, Hannah, I wish you hadn’t come here.” Those simple words seemed to be all he could offer her—all he was willing to offer.
She reached out a hand, unable to still the trembling she felt growing inside. “I came to see you. I thought you were keeping something from me.” She balled her hand into a fist at her side. Taking a deep breath, she continued, “Now I can see it was your scheme to take my land from me! How could you betray me this way? I thought you were beginning to care for the land, to care for me. I wanted to give you a chance to explain to me.”
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.” His eyes had turned hard again and his gaze bored a hole clear through her to her heart.
She felt raindrops on her face. The air had grown still. “I can see you don’t care about anything except these damned garnets. Well, I curse them and you to hell, Chase Malone! Do you hear me?” she shouted.
“I want you to go on back home, now,” he commanded in a low voice. “This mine is no place for a lady. Get on your horse and go back home,” he repeated.
“No.” Hannah knew she was pushing him, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.
His hands gripped her once more and she was truly frightened by the raw anger she felt surging through him. He sucked in his breath and stared at her again, hard. She didn’t know what he was going to do, but she was beginning to have second thoughts about having provoked him in this manner.
They both paused as thunder rolled over the sky above them. She was surprised at how fast the storm had moved into the area, and knew it would be near impossible to reach the homestead before the heavier rain set in.
Neither Chase nor Hannah noticed that the pit was emptying out. A gust of wind hit the side of the hill, carrying Hannah’s hat with it. Seconds later the thunder from the breaking storm and an explosion rocked the earth beneath their feet. She didn’t have time to see the rocks as they spewed down the mountainside. She saw Chase’s terror-stricken face as he lunged toward her.
She felt his hand brush against her arm as he reached for her. She saw his mouth open as he called out to her, and looked up in time to see the pink and gray rocks tumbling, bouncing off each other, throwing tiny shards of rock and dust into the air. A sudden sharp pain burst on her temple. In the next instant her world spun out of control, plunging her into darkness.
Chase watched in horror as the rock struck the earth and then struck Hannah, hitting her square in the temple. Her blood splattered on the rocks, coating the garnets, before her body fell limply, landing on the rubble. Stones and dirt continued to fall as he reached for her. He’d almost had her in his grasp before she fell to the ground.
He knelt at her side as the pink dust settled around them. Gently he touched her face, pushing back her black hair. “Hannah.” Her name tore from his mouth in a low moan. “My God, Hannah. Please, be all right.”
The blood was already matting her hair to her forehead. Chase pulled the black strands away from her skin so he could examine the wound. The blood that had moments before spurted out of her flesh was now slowly oozing down the side of her pale face. Reaching into his pocket, he took out a handkerchief and pressed it against the laceration.
He could hardly control the trembling that shook his body. “Hannah,” he whispered into her ear. “Hannah, darling, wak
e up. Please, honey, open those beautiful blue eyes.”
He felt alongside her neck, relieved when he found her pulse throbbing sure and steady beneath his trembling fingers.
“Toby! Bring me my horse!” He had to get her home. He felt the big, round raindrops, cooling his anger and soaking his shirt. The drops splashed onto the rocks, mixing with Hannah’s blood, the water ran pink as it trailed down the rocks.
“Hurry, damn it!” He carried Hannah’s limp form over to meet Toby.
“Malone, don’t be foolish. Take her to one of the miner’s tents!” Amos grabbed at his sleeve as he stumbled blindly to the horse’s side.
“I don’t want her here a minute longer. Get the hell away from us, Smitty!”
Hannah moaned and squirmed in his arms.
“Hannah?”
Her eyelids fluttered open and closed. “I’m taking you home, darling. Home where it’s warm and safe.” Toby helped him as, gingerly, Chase mounted the horse. With Hannah’s body resting in the safety of his arms, her back leaning against his chest, he urged his mount down the road.
Chapter Eleven
Chase poured himself another cup of the thick, black coffee. Setting the pot back on the stove, he took his cup and walked over to the window. The storm had hit an hour ago, carrying with it more fury than he’d ever seen in his lifetime. Every few minutes lightning streaked across the black sky with the thunder scant seconds behind it. The wind carried such a force that the trees bent halfway over every time a gust hit them. Even though it was just dinnertime, it was dark enough outside for it to have been midnight.
The storm’s fury matched Hannah’s temperament. He knew she was a fighter, a woman determined to go after what she wanted—a woman who wasn’t afraid to stand by her convictions. Though he knew these things about her, nothing had surprised him more than Hannah’s appearance at the mine. When she’d accused him of sending Amos to her land, he’d been angry, angry because she didn’t trust him and angrier still at the position he’d been placed in by Radley.