Things just went from bad to worse.
Jake stayed undercover and moved along Creede Avenue, scanning between buildings for signs of Miss Simms. He paused at a livery and waited, his back braced against the building. She moved right past him, and Jake held his breath. If she turned her head just a bit more, she would see him, but the bonnet she wore shielded him from view. She crossed the street and took the hotel steps quickly, then entered the building.
Jake remained in his hiding place, waiting for the man who stalked her. A light came on in an upstairs room facing the street—Miss Simms’ room, no doubt. After a fair amount of time had passed, Jake circled the livery back the way he’d come, in search of Westfield. Jake pulled his Colt from his hip holster and continued to move between the buildings by circling around the front first.
In the end, he found nothing.
The man had disappeared.
Jake’s gut clenched like a skittish horse. He holstered his gun, entered Miss Simms’ hotel and crept upstairs. By now, the light had been extinguished. When he listened at the threshold of the room he thought was hers, he heard loud snoring.
He sincerely hoped that wasn’t Miss Simms.
He moved to the next room and tapped lightly on the door.
After a long pause, a slight crack appeared.
“What do you want?” she whispered.
“Someone’s following you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I believe you’re right, and I’m guessing it’s not the first time you’ve done it.”
“Not me. Well, not exactly.” Jake glanced side to side and checked the hallway. “Can I come in?”
“How will my reputation survive it?” she groused, but she stood back and let him enter, shutting the door behind him. “Do you have news about Robert?”
She’d changed from her dark sneaking-around attire and now wore a wrap over what he presumed was her sleeping gown.
“No,” he replied. “But I’m guessing you do.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Look, I know you don’t entirely trust me, but I know you went to Robert’s room tonight.” He held up his hand when anger flashed in her eyes and she opened her mouth to speak. “Yes, I was watching you, but I’m the least of your worries right now. Someone else was following you.”
“Who?”
“A man who works for Shep Lannigan, and Robert’s mixed up with the lot of ’em.”
“Then maybe I should speak with them.”
Jake shook his head. “No, you shouldn’t. At least not until we can find your brother and learn what he’s gotten himself into.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Listen, we should get out of town.”
Incredulous, she laughed. “Now?”
“Yes, now. I have a place we can go.”
“You’re deranged. We’ve only just met. For all I know, you could be the one against Robert, if that’s what’s truly going on.”
Jake paused, watching the tigress before him. Why hadn’t Robert ever told him his beautiful sister was full of spit and vinegar? “I can assure you, I won’t hurt you. Robert is like a brother to me, and while we’ve had our ups and downs, I consider it my duty to look out for his sister. And right now, if you stay in town, I’ve a feeling you’ll—at the very least—be harassed, but more likely, you’ll get roughed up.”
“By who? This Shep person?”
“He might think you know where your brother is.” Jake lifted his hat and ran a hand through his hair. “Let’s change your location and throw them off your scent.”
He didn’t really expect her to agree wholeheartedly with him, so he was taken aback when she nodded her compliance.
“Be ready in one hour and meet me behind the hotel,” he said. “Pack light.”
He left before she could change her mind.
Chapter Three
In the hours before dawn, Molly rode an even-tempered bay named Cinnamon out of Creede and into the surrounding mountains, following Mister McKenna, who guided a feisty black gelding he called Fernando.
She debated whether trusting him was the best course of action. Regardless, she and Mister McKenna were business partners. She wasn’t sure whether to mention this to him; perhaps he already knew, but the fact that Robert had hidden the claim document inside the metal box in the floor indicated that McKenna probably didn’t know. For now, she’d keep that little tidbit to herself.
It unsettled her that she was being watched. She worried that Robert was involved in something way over his head, and now, by the simple association of being his sister, she was in the muck of it, too.
To add to it, she was going into the mountains with a man she hardly knew. She resolved to have faith that it would all work out, and if not, she had the compact Colt Derringer Robert had given her two years ago tucked into the pocket of her split skirt. It only allowed one shot, but she convinced herself that one would be enough.
She praised her foresight in secreting it away in her luggage on her first adventure alone. Traveling by stage and train from the Arizona Territory to Creede to visit her brother was the most exciting enterprise she’d done in her short life. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be the last.
The rain came first as a light sprinkle. McKenna guided Fernando back to her and offered her a slicker, which she gratefully took although she was bundled in a wool coat and scarf to ward off the early morning chill. Within minutes, the sky released a deluge, and they were both drenched.
They continued trekking into the wilderness, the horses stepping gingerly as the downpour turned the trail into mud. At last, as a gray haze began to lighten the sky, a cabin came into view, buttressed by a stand of pine trees and surrounded by high rocky slopes.
McKenna halted before the structure and dismounted, gesturing for her to do the same. Her boots landed in a thick puddle of mud.
“I’ll take care of the horses,” McKenna said, raising his voice above the din as the heavens released heavy sheets of water. “You go inside.”
Molly nodded and bundled the gear he handed her into her arms and carried it to the cabin’s entrance.
Standing at the threshold, she paused to let the water drip from her so that only one spot of the dwelling would need to be cleaned. The simple, one-room accommodation was furnished with two single cots, a potbelly stove, a table with two chairs, and a kitchen workspace with a shelf above a window holding cookware and cups.
Molly deposited the gear on the floor, removed the slicker and hung it on a hook near the door, then leaned down to unlace her boots, pulling them from her feet.
Only wearing stockings, she shuffled forward and located a stack of wood beneath the kitchen countertop. She retrieved several small pieces and a large one, then set to work starting a fire in the stove. When Jake returned, she had a good flame ignited.
His large frame filled the cabin, and she squared her shoulders, suddenly aware of his presence and the tight quarters they now found themselves in.
“You started a fire.” Jake grinned, removed his hat and placed it on the corner of one of the chairs, then removed his slicker and long coat and hung those as well.
“Is there some reason I shouldn’t have?” Perhaps he didn’t want to give away their presence.
“No, that’s fine. We’ll need the heat.”
For some reason, the comment struck her as odd and her pulse quickened.
Did she actually like Mister McKenna?
To hide her reaction, she sat on the edge of the nearest cot and held her hands toward the stove in attempt to gain a bit of warmth. “Who’s cabin is this? It’s very well-kept.”
McKenna grabbed a chair and positioned it close to the stove then sat, elbows resting on knees. “It’s mine. I stay out here when I’m prospecting. That way I don’t have to go to town so often.”
“You have two beds. Does Robert stay here too?”
McKenna nodded. “He has.”
“Do you think he would try to return?”
McKenna’s jet-black hair curled along the collar of his shirt, and a coal-colored stubble had sprouted on his strong jawline. When he shifted his gaze to her, his eyes put her in mind of molasses. Molly chewed on her lower lip and glanced away, lest McKenna catch her staring.
Shaking off her fascination, she asked, “How did you meet Robert?”
“In a poker game.”
Molly gasped. “Robert gambles?”
McKenna chuckled. “You’ve already been to a whorehouse. If you wanted to remain innocent, you shouldn’t have come to Creede.”
Her backside stiffened. “I’m not naïve to the ways of the world.”
Another grin lit his face. Her breath caught and her heart pounded more intensely. She honestly couldn’t look away. She’d read about people who possessed a charm that swayed the masses and opened doors with merely a glance, but she’d never met such a person.
What was the word she’d come across? Charisma, that was it. In this moment, the meaning became crystal clear.
“Whatever you say, Miss Simms. Why did you come to Creede?”
“To visit my brother, of course.”
“You came by yourself all the way from Tucson?”
“My folks believed that Robert would be here to meet me.”
He nodded, his amiable demeanor slipping a bit. She took a steadying breath to quiet the knot in her stomach that never quite receded. Please be all right, Robert.
“My folks thought that Robert would look after me,” she added, her voice muffled as rain continued to pound on the roof of the cabin. “But I assure you that I can look after myself.”
“I don’t doubt that. I’m at your service, nevertheless.”
“For what?”
“Protection.”
He held her gaze, and a frisson of awareness shot through her. She shifted her eyes to the stove. She hadn’t traveled all this way to fall for the first rugged buckaroo who crossed her path, charisma or not. She had more important things to do with her life first.
“Where are you from, Mister McKenna?”
“You can call me Jake. I was born in San Francisco.”
“So was I.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Maybe we passed one another on the street.”
“Probably not. My folks were only there to visit my Aunt Emma. After I was born, they returned to the Arizona Territory.”
“So you and Robert grew up in Tucson, the land of the Apache.”
“And my younger sister, Evie.”
As the flames in the stove grew, Jake closed the cast-iron door and latched it. “How did Robert ever survive two younger sisters?” he teased.
“How many siblings do you have?”
“None.” He scrubbed a hand over his cheek. “My folks died when I was very young. I grew up in an orphanage.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“About what? Life is what it is.”
“So you never had a home or a family?”
He shook his head. “When I was fifteen, I sneaked onto a steamer headed for Asia and I never looked back.”
“You did?” Fascinated, she stared at him.
“I grew up fast.”
“So you’ve seen the world?”
He leaned back in the chair and stretched his legs out, crossing his arms over his chest. “I guess you could say that.”
“I’ve been studying French, and I hope one day to see Paris.”
He gave her a crooked smile. “You’ve a bit of the wandering spirit as well?”
“Something like that. I’d like to travel and write about it. I was hoping I could convince Robert to take me to San Francisco or even New York City.” Her tone was bright, but her shoulders sagged over the possible reality of the situation.
“We’ll find him, Molly Rose.”
Her eyes flicked to his, the use of her given name still hanging in the air. Her throat tightened, so she simply nodded.
McKenna stood. “I can make a pot of coffee, and I’ve got a can of peaches here somewhere for breakfast.”
Molly hadn’t considered food. “I’m afraid I don’t have any staples with me. How long do you think we’ll be here?”
“Hopefully not more than a day or two. I’ve got supplies in my gear. We’ll be fine, but it won’t be gourmet cooking.”
Molly came to her feet as well. “It would help to have something to do. Show me what you have.”
* * *
Jake checked on the horses, mostly to give Molly a break from the cramped quarters forcing them in such close proximity to one another. Or maybe he needed a breather. He’d never brought a woman here before. There was no reason. And if he was looking to romance one, this wasn’t the way to do it.
Not that he planned to romance Miss Simms.
He shook his head. His thoughts were wandering a lot today.
The warm smell of baking bread greeted him when he walked back into the cabin. “Did you make something?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “I managed to make a batch of very thin biscuits by covering a pan and setting it on the stove.” She shrugged a shoulder toward the table. “So it’ll be biscuits, peaches and boiled coffee for breakfast.”
“I’m not complaining.” He removed his hat and the slicker, then took a seat. His boots still dripped with rain and mud, but he left them on. He’d just be heading back out again, and it was too much effort to remove his footwear every time he entered the cabin. On the other hand, he didn’t usually have a woman preparing a meal for him.
He hoped she wouldn’t take offense over his manners.
Molly set the coffeepot on the table using a rag. She’d already opened the peaches and placed two cups filled with coffee beside it. She sat across from him.
“I think I can make a stew later with the potatoes and dried meat you brought.”
“I guess I should’ve brought a woman here sooner. You’ve brightened up the place.”
“Glad I could help.” She slurped a peach off her spoon.
“Very ladylike,” he remarked.
She threw him an annoyed look but continued to eat, which he was glad to see.
“Why did you follow me into Bertha’s yesterday?” she asked. “Or were you there looking for company like that other man?”
It surprised him that he felt like a boy who’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “I wasn’t there as a customer,” he defended. “I was just keeping an eye on you.”
“Why didn’t you just come forward and introduce yourself?”
Jake hesitated, but decided to tell the truth. “I wasn’t certain if you could be trusted.”
She broke off a piece of biscuit and stuffed it into her mouth. “But you do now?” she asked around the food.
“You shouldn’t talk with your mouth full.”
She shot him an irritated look.
“And trust has to be earned,” he answered truthfully.
She swallowed. “I agree. So you won’t hold it against me if I don’t entirely trust you.”
Bemused, he finished off his peaches. “At least we understand one another.”
Having consumed two biscuits, a bowl of peaches and a full cup of coffee, Molly leaned against the chair and crossed her arms beneath her bosom. “What kind of trouble is Robert in?”
His eyes traveled to the ivory blouse now pulled taut across her breasts, and, for a moment, he forgot the question. A heavy wave of rain startled him, hitting the tin roof as if school kids had released a bucket of marbles.
“I already told you about Shep Lannigan. Suffice it to say, he’s rather disreputable. Shep has a daughter named Bridget, and Robert has taken quite a shine to her.” He didn’t mention Bridget’s attempts to snag Jake’s attention first, moving along to Robert only after she’d failed. “Robert and I had a bit of a falling out after that.”
“Why?”
�
��Because he started spending more and more time in the Lannigan camp, and I didn’t like it. Robert wouldn’t listen to reason, so for the past few months, I’ve been on my own, prospecting.”
A clap of thunder startled Molly, but she quickly regained her composure. “And Robert prospects on his own now?”
“No, I think he scouts claims for Lannigan now.”
“Robert never mentioned any of this in his letters home.”
Jake drank the last of his coffee. “Which makes me wonder how far in over his head he might actually be. I find it curious that one of Lannigan’s men was watching you. All I can think is that they thought you’d lead them to Robert.”
“If this Shep person had just asked, I could’ve told him I don’t know where Robert is.”
“Maybe he doesn’t know where Robert is either, and he thought you might lead him there.” He settled his gaze on the attractive Miss Simms. He had to be sure. “Do you know where your brother is?”
She leveled a cool gaze on him. “No.” Her response held a hint of annoyance.
“You searched Robert’s room last night. Did you find anything?” He watched her closely for a reaction, a flinch that might indicate she was lying.
With a look of disgust on her face, she said, “So much for your high and mighty attitude of Lannigan having me followed, when you clearly have done the same.” She stood and crouched near her travel satchel, rifling inside until she found a piece of paper. Returning to the table, she unfolded it and tossed it before him.
Jake read the mining claim document—similar to the dozens of others he’d filed both alone and with Robert—but this one made no sense.
The Chigger Lode. Owners: Jake McKenna and Molly Rose Simms. Filed: April 15, 1892.
What the hell?
The location was an area that he and Robert had never scouted.
“Why would Robert do this?” he asked aloud.
“I guess he thought you and I would make perfect partners.”
But the real reason set off alarm bells in Jake’s head. Robert was in trouble, and he sought to hide a claim that was likely very valuable by putting it in someone else’s name. But why involve Molly? He could’ve just put the document into Jake’s name.
The Bluebird Page 3