She stared at him, the gag too tight around her mouth to say anything.
“Yes, sirree...” He pulled a knife out of his boot and began playing with it. “Polly overheard me talking with the boys about our plans, and I had to do some fast thinking.”
Tom leaned in close, his foul breath stinging her nose. He flicked the knife along her cheek. “You’re scared, ain’t ya? I loves me some scared girls. Something I have in common with the boss man.”
She struggled and tried using her body to strike at him, but he moved away, laughing.
Pokey and Bart entered the cave.
“Anyone follow you?”
“Nope.” Bart grinned. “They haven’t sent out a search party yet. No one realizes they’re missing.”
“Good.” A familiar voice sounded in the background. “All the more time to find out where the silver is before I have to get back.”
She looked up to see Slade standing before her.
“Surprised?” His eyes gleamed in the firelight. “You were right about that night Peter died. I had to see a man about some silver. Only there was no wife I sent it to.”
Slade stared at her with more hatred than she’d ever felt in her own heart. “You have no idea what that night cost me. I’d worked so hard to gain Frank’s trust, to be able to hear about all the claims and mines. Playing his errand boy so that I could get the inside track. And you know what?”
He stepped in closer, shoving Tom aside. “You had to go ruin it all with your silly tantrum about how it was all my fault your stupid brother died. Your pa asked me to stay away until you cooled down, making it harder for me to find the big one. I knew then, I’d make you pay.”
His laugh shook her insides. “But look how convenient. Not only are you going to pay, but you’re going to get me my silver.”
Pure evil. That’s what Slade’s face looked like. Being right was no consolation for what stood before her. He pulled the gag down off her mouth.
“What do you want from me?”
“The kid knows where the silver is. One of the girls at Miss Betty’s said she overheard the kid talking about seeing her daddy’s silver.”
He gave her another cold stare. “The kid trusts you. Make it tell us where to find the silver.”
Nugget stirred beside her, but didn’t wake.
“She’s just a child. She doesn’t know where the silver is. She couldn’t even get us to her father’s cabin. When we got to the clearing, she led us in the wrong direction.”
Madness. That’s what this all was. Nugget could no sooner help them than she could. And the crazy look in Slade’s eyes told her that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“Besides, you know how children are. They have wonderful imaginations. They—”
Slade’s hand came across her cheek in a stinging blow. “I’ve wanted to do that to your smart mouth for a long time. You never did know your place. Get the kid to talk.”
“There is no silver.” Annabelle stared at him. Or at least in his direction. She could still see spots.
“Don’t lie.” He struck her again, on the other side, and as his hand made contact, she tasted blood.
“I’ve seen the silver. Billy used it to pay Slim for his worthless claim. Was spitting mad when he found out that Slim seeded it. Now get the kid to tell me where the real mine is.”
Tears prickled her eyes. How could he endanger a child like this? “You’ll need to free my hands so I can wake her up.”
Slade’s head jerked up and down. “Fine.” He gestured to Tom.
“Cut her loose.” Then he looked over at his other men. “If she tries to escape, shoot her. We don’t need her. Just the kid.”
If Slade had no problem with hitting her and kidnapping a child, he could do much worse to Nugget. Annabelle took a deep breath as Tom cut the ropes at her wrists.
“Nugget,” she whispered when she was free. Annabelle shook the little girl softly. “Wake up, sweet pea.”
“My head hurts,” Nugget said as she struggled awake. “I had a bad dream.”
The little girl blinked, then looked around, her eyes widening as she realized it hadn’t been a dream.
“Annabelle,” she cried, burrowing into Annabelle’s arms.
Annabelle stroked Nugget’s hair. “They want your father’s silver.”
Nugget whimpered and looked up at her. “I thought he was our friend.”
She had, too. He’d fooled them all. The worst part was how her father was going to feel when he realized that he’d been betrayed by someone he’d loved like a son.
“I’m sorry, Nugget.”
“Enough.” Slade held up a hand like he was going to hit her again. “Get her to tell me where the silver is.”
Annabelle squeezed her precious charge. “It’s going to be all right. But you have to help us get out of here by telling Slade what he wants to know.”
Nugget’s eyes darted over to Slade, then she looked around at all the other men, her gaze resting on Tom.
“Papa always said you were a snake.”
“Shh.” Annabelle pulled Nugget closer to her. “We can talk about this later. But right now, we’ve got to do the right thing.”
Nugget pulled away. “Papa said it was a secret.”
Slade’s chuckle made Annabelle’s heart sink. The problem with the child’s reasoning of keeping her father’s secret was that she didn’t understand that men like Slade didn’t care about promises or secrets. He’d do whatever it took to get what he wanted.
“Please,” Annabelle said, looking at the little girl. “Tell him what he needs so we can get safely back to Joseph.”
Another laugh from Slade. How had she missed the pure evil in this man? How had her father?
“Joseph won’t be joining us this afternoon. Or ever.” His features twisted into a sneer that skittered down Annabelle’s back into the darkest pit of her stomach.
“What’d you do to him?”
“Joseph?” Nugget’s whimper as she slid back into the protection of Annabelle’s arms made her heart hurt.
Slade smiled. “I didn’t do anything to him. Wasn’t my fault he couldn’t keep up in the storm. Just too bad about all the lightning.”
His yellow teeth stuck out from his tobacco-stained lips. “There might have been some dynamite involved. But in a storm like that, you never can tell. It’ll be weeks, maybe even months before they find the body. With all the rocks on top of him, and then the flash flood washing everything away, who knows where his body ended up.”
Familiar grief welled in Annabelle’s heart. Why, God? Why, when she’d finally agreed to opening up her heart, did He have to take away Joseph, too?
Sure, he was going to leave anyway, but it was so much easier to think of him as being away, where she could write him and stay in touch, than it was to think of yet one more loved one gone forever.
Nugget hadn’t spoken, but the wetness against Annabelle’s bodice said all that needed to be said. The little girl had lost both mother and father, and now a beloved brother had been taken, as well.
So unfair.
“Now...” Slade leaned in, so foul that she had no idea why she never saw how completely indecent he was. “Since we have that cleared up, why don’t you tell me what I need to know.”
He reached for one of the tendrils by Annabelle’s face, winding his finger in it. “It would be a shame for you and the kid to come to the same end.”
The sinking feeling in Annabelle’s gut told her they probably would anyway. If Slade was going to kill them no matter what, why convince Nugget to tell them what he wanted? It didn’t seem right for so much to be lost for Slade to win.
Annabelle pulled Nugget tighter to her chest. “She just found out her brother is dead. So back off for a minute or else we’ll both gladly take a bullet just to spit
e you out of getting the silver.”
“Don’t toy with me, you witch.” Slade used his grip on her hair to pull her head in toward his, their faces barely an inch from touching. “I will get my silver, with or without your help. I’m sure your father will do just about anything to get his precious daughter back.”
So much for her grand plan. Because he was right about her father. He loved her far too much to let her go easily. Tears filled her eyes as she realized how selfish she’d been in wanting to leave. She couldn’t let her father be hurt by all of this.
“All right,” Annabelle said softly. “I’ll do what I can to get Nugget to cooperate, but you’ve got to give us room. You’ve waited this long for the silver, surely a few more hours won’t make that much of a difference.”
If there was ever anything to convince Annabelle of the sheer evil in Slade, it was the way the light shone in his eyes at her offer. He’d thought he’d won. And if there was anything that ever prodded Annabelle into action, it was this.
She was sick and tired of everything evil and rotten in this world winning. This time, if it cost her everything, including her life, Slade would not win. She just had to figure out how to make that happen.
* * *
Despite the rain not letting up, Joseph returned to the stable and began saddling one of Frank’s other horses.
“You’re crazy to go out back out there,” Wes told him, handing him a bridle.
“What else am I supposed to do? Based on what you just told me, there’s no way that avalanche was an accident.”
He bent to check the cinch on the saddle. Wes grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at him. “Why do you think I’m asking you to wait?”
Joseph straightened and looked at the other man. “Someone tried to kidnap Nugget. Annabelle was accosted in the camp. And the man that her pa is trusting to keep us all safe just tried to kill me. You’ll forgive me if I’m not going to hesitate in making sure they’re out of harm’s way.”
Lord, I don’t even know how I’m going to do that.
“There’s no way you’ll beat him to the camp.”
Hopefully, Slade would be counting on the fact that Joseph was dead, and was waiting in camp for the storm to let up before doing anything. But why would he act now? They’d come no closer to finding the silver than they were when he first started looking.
Except...
The Bible.
Joseph shook his head. He hadn’t told anyone what he’d found in the Bible. Hadn’t had a chance. He’d have liked to have shown it to Frank or Annabelle, but for whatever reason, he hadn’t felt comfortable trusting Slade.
Maybe God had been protecting him more than he knew.
Joseph looked around for the saddlebag he’d had on the other horse. He hadn’t even thought about whether or not the contents had remained dry.
“Where’s my saddlebag?”
Wes pointed to a rack. “I hung it to dry. But what do you need with some old clothes and a couple of rocks?”
Rocks? “What about the Bible that was in there?”
“You really are a praying man,” Wes said with a grin. “Well, rest your mind about that. It wasn’t in there, so you must’ve left it at the camp.”
Joseph’s stomach turned. He’d put it in the saddlebag. Hadn’t wanted to trust leaving it in camp. Slade must’ve switched it out on the mountain. Joseph had his back turned, looking at his pa’s land. Plenty of time for him to have made a switch.
He should have been more careful. And he shouldn’t have assumed that Slade wasn’t paying attention to his Bible reading last night. Slade obviously knew what Joseph was looking at.
“No, that means Slade took it. Last night, I figured out that my pa had used it as a key for the location of his silver. I had it in my saddlebag until I could talk to Frank and see what he thought of the code my pa left. I couldn’t figure out what all the references to the places meant.”
The loss of color on Wes’s face was all Joseph needed to know. He turned and grabbed another saddle. “Then I’d best come with you. If Slade thinks he has the key to where the silver is, then there’s no telling what he’ll do to finally get it.”
Chapter Twenty
The men were poring over a Bible. How could a gang of kidnapping thieves get any more ridiculous?
Nugget had ceased crying, but she remained listless in Annabelle’s arms. Her brother’s murder must have sucked the last bit of life out of her.
Annabelle looked around for something to use as a weapon. If she got out of this alive, she would absolutely insist on having one of those tiny pistols to hide under her skirts. Fortunately, the men seemed to be focused more on the Bible than on them. Fine time for a Bible study. She supposed she should find comfort that something her father had taught Slade had sunk in.
If only she knew which cave they were in. The landscape would give them a clue, if she could convince them to let her outside for a moment.
“Slade,” she called, trying not to disturb Nugget. “I have to use the necessary.”
“So?” He slammed the book shut, and the men scattered.
“Could you please escort me out so I can take care of my needs?”
Her face was warm at the thought of discussing such a personal though fabricated matter with him.
“Nope.” His grin taunted her.
“Boss,” Tom whispered, “maybe you could get her to...”
She didn’t catch the rest of it as the two men put their heads together and began whispering furiously back and forth.
Nugget stirred. “Don’t leave me alone with them. They’re bad men.”
Annabelle shifted the little girl so she could whisper in her ear unobserved. “I want to look around outside so I can see if there’s a way to escape.”
“Don’t leave me.” Nugget’s wail nearly pierced her eardrum.
Slade looked in their direction. “Don’t worry, she’s not going anywhere.”
He sauntered over to them, Bible in hand. “But we might let her stop and do her business on our way to the silver.”
Or maybe they could find a way to escape at that time. “If Nugget tells you where it is.”
“Don’t need the brat.” He sneered in Nugget’s direction. “There’s enough clues here that we’ll find the silver.”
He held up the Bible, and at closer look, she realized that it was the one Joseph had taken from his father’s cabin. Slade had probably killed Joseph to get it.
“Then let us go.” She said the words with as much bravado as she could muster, but in reality, she knew that Slade no longer had any reason to keep either of them alive. Especially since he had to know that she’d turn him in to her father and the sheriff when they got free.
“There’s a few pieces we don’t understand. But between you and the little one, we’ll get it faster. And I owe a guy, so I’d rather get the money quick-like, if you know what I mean.”
She looked down at Nugget, whose eyes had widened. Slade, too, drew his attention to the little girl.
“Where’s Nugget’s secret house?”
At Nugget’s indrawn breath, Annabelle knew once that location was revealed, Slade would have the silver.
So close. But she wasn’t going to give up. Not until the last breath had been ripped from her. She was done with letting evil take everything from her. Done.
“By the monkey rock,” Nugget said in a quiet, shaky voice.
The monkey rock. Completely not helpful in the description, since many of the rocks looked like shapes of other things. They were like clouds. People saw different shapes in all of them.
“Which is where?” He pulled Nugget out of her arms and shook her.
“Leave her alone!” Annabelle jumped up and reached for Nugget, but Slade was just as quick to keep her away.
He looked at the other men. “Get t
hem ready to travel.”
Slade kept hold of Nugget, tying her to his saddle. Tom grabbed Annabelle.
“Be a good girl and don’t fight.”
Not likely, considering Slade was ready to leave with Nugget. She couldn’t let him take her. Hopefully on the way, she’d figure out how to get them both free. Right now, though, it wasn’t worth fighting, or even wasting her breath on screams no one would hear. Best to save her energy for when she could get Nugget.
As Tom dragged her outside, he whispered, “You even think about trying to escape, and we’ll kill the brat.”
The rain had stopped, leaving puddles everywhere, and the kind of mud a person could sink in. Maybe she could use it to her advantage.
Annabelle pulled a pin out of her hair and let it drop to the ground. Though tiny, the small rhinestone on the end would hopefully be a clue to anyone looking for them.
Once Tom had hoisted her onto his saddle, she managed to get another pin loose and dropped it into the grass nearby. Maddie had called those pins an unnecessary vanity, but at least they were distinctive to anyone who knew her. Slade hadn’t been around enough lately to know they were hers.
They headed east, and Annabelle memorized every bit of terrain. When she got out of this, she would be sure that the sheriff searched every inch for anyone else linked to Slade’s gang.
If someone spotted one of her hairpins.
As they turned out of the canyon, Annabelle recognized the landscape. Not too far from the cabin, and an easy journey to the camp.
“Can we stop for a moment?” She looked over her shoulder at Tom and gave him her most pleasant smile. “You never did let me use the necessary.”
Her skin crawled as she batted her eyelashes at him, trying to appeal to him in a feminine way. If Polly was mad at her because she thought he’d been flirting, then maybe she could use it to her advantage.
Tom gave a half smile back. Shy, like her being nice to him was an unexpected treat. Annabelle tried not to gag.
“Boss!” he yelled. “We need to stop.”
Gloating would only ruin her chances at this point. Though it would be easy for her to get away here, it still left the problem of getting Nugget free. She had no doubt that Slade would harm her in retaliation. Even in the fun games her family had played together, Slade was known to be a ruthless competitor.
Rocky Mountain Dreams & Family on the Range Page 19