by Alice Sharpe
“Did Jamie get the bad guys?” the child asked.
“Yes, he did. Those bad guys will never bother you again.”
“I’m sorry I knocked on your door.”
“That’s okay,” she assured him. “Everything turned out fine except for poor Mr. Harley.”
“I think his head exploded,” Toby said with a small sob. Analise heard his grandmother soothing him, but Toby was determined to finish. “Mr. Harley was trying to grab you away from the mean one.”
“We thought maybe he was,” Analise said. “He was very brave. And so were you.”
As she replaced the receiver, she noticed the painting behind the desk. It was of the house where she’d been taken, she was sure of it. The painting depicted the building as it would appear in the summer with the aspen trees leafed out and the grass tall with wildflowers, but it was the same place.
She felt no revulsion looking at it. The frightening time she’d spent there with the Garvey brothers had been mitigated by the subsequent time she’d spent there with Pierce. She stood up and touched the canvas, the dried oils ridged beneath her fingertips. She studied it hard, memorizing the details.
“Recognize the old lodge?” Pierce said from the doorway.
She dropped her hand and turned. “Yes.”
He moved toward her slowly. She loved the way he walked, halfway between a cowboy and a city boy. Even running on half empty as she knew he must be, an aura of male energy propelled him.
For the life of her, she could not remember ever noticing how Ricard walked.
“It looks different somehow,” he said, coming to a halt beside her. “I suppose that’s because of what we shared there.”
“I agree. Who painted this? It’s lovely.”
“My brother Adam. He inherited all the creative genes from our mother though he doesn’t remember a thing about her. In fact, of the three of us, he’s the one most determined to pretend she never existed.”
They were silent for a second although Analise was willing to wager Pierce was as aware of her as she was of him. At last he sighed. “I hope I never I have to go inside that place again. It just wouldn’t be the same.”
As he said this, he moved away toward the gun case in the corner. He ran his thumb over the brass combination lock.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, joining him.
“I thought a rifle was missing, but it’s right there.” He rubbed his neck and looked as fatigued as she felt. They hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep. It had been way too intoxicating to spend a night naked in each other’s arms…?.
“The police are finally gone but they’ll be back tomorrow and this time they want to talk to you and your maid. It’s no secret that a man connected to you was killed in Seattle. This thing stinks of a conspiracy. One of your people is in deep, Analise.”
“I know,” she said. “I wish I knew which one. What about Darrell?”
“They’re checking his cell-phone records and talking to Miley Lindquist. They didn’t say much, but I got the feeling they’re thinking along the same lines we are, that Lucas Garvey lured Darrell into that shed to kill him, hoping Miley would turn to him for comfort.” He rubbed his forehead with his fingers. “Did you call your family?”
“Yes. They’re all relieved, of course. And I spoke with Toby in hospital. He misses Jamie.” Pierce smiled.
She put a hand up to touch his face and he grasped it. He kissed her fingers and whispered, “I need you, Analise.”
She nodded but looked down at her feet. Clearing her throat, she decided not to respond in kind. If she was back to being a king’s daughter, than she’d better start acting like one and that meant acting like a queen’s daughter, as well. “Pierce, please, I know you’ve been a little busy, but I got the feeling the other day that you might have an idea about the possible location of my mother’s lost possession.”
He released her hand. “The mysterious something that you have to destroy.”
“Yes. It’s terribly important and after tomorrow there may never be another chance.”
“Listen,” he told her, leaning in close. She touched her stomach as his warmth seeped inside her, desire for him flaring. “The place I was thinking of is an old Indian site. There’s a cave there. It’s on family land and we caretake it, have for many, many years because the tribe is extinct.
“The cave is obviously a possibility. We were taught not to mess with anything having to do with the native Americans, but it’s a big cave and I know there are burials there as well as artifacts. My mother’s clue for your mother was something about sleeping with the dead, right?”
“‘Resting souls, high in the summer sky,’” she recited, a flicker of excitement getting past the sensory overload of his proximity. “Yes.”
“I don’t get the ‘summer sky’ part, that doesn’t make sense, but the ‘resting souls’ fits.”
“Where is this place?”
“Beyond the lodge where we spent last night.”
“Is it hard to find?”
“Not if you know where to look.”
“Will you take me?”
He studied her face for a second. “My father is already coming unglued at the way things have gone since I allowed ‘you people’ access.”
“Well, you can’t blame him for that,” she admitted. “But I only have tomorrow—”
“The police are coming, remember? They gave you today but by tomorrow they’ll be all over you, the ranch, the ice shanty, the lodge—they’ll have talked to the Seattle police…”
“Then we have to go now.”
“Now? We haven’t slept in two days!”
“If we go to bed very early and get up at midnight, we could do it. Please, Pierce. This is so terribly important.”
He studied her face for a moment, then pulled her against his chest.
She knew she shouldn’t go to him. What they’d shared was over; it was back to business. But her protests died in her throat as she saw the longing in his eyes and knew it was in hers, as well.
His lips found hers.
“Ahem—”
They tore apart like a bomb had exploded between them. General Kaare and Mr. Vaughn stood at the doorway. While Vaughn’s thin face registered little more than curiosity, the General’s disgust was evident in the twist of his lips. “Princess Analise, I insist you come with us.”
“She’s not going anywhere without me tagging along,” Pierce said, stepping in front of her.
The general’s lips curled in a sneer. “Is that so? You’re taking many liberties, Mr. Westin. Although we are grateful you rescued our princess, you should remember your place.”
“My place is beside her as long as she is on this ranch,” Pierce said calmly. “And you damn well know why.”
“Are you insinuating you don’t trust me?” Vaughn said, his hand flying to his chest.
Pierce nodded.
“Listen here,” General Kaare said, his eyes burning. “I have known King Thomas for decades. We fought together as young men. I am his closest advisor and confidant which means he listens to me when I speak. Princess, we need to discuss arrangements for departing this hell hole as soon as is humanly possible.”
Analise leveled a steady gaze at both men. While she wasn’t worried about Vaughn, the general’s words left her stomach in a knot. His threat was indirect but she understood it for what it was and yet for the life of her, she would not allow this man to manipulate her. “I think,” she said, striving to keep her voice even, “that once again you are forgetting it is we who have brought mayhem to the Westin ranch, not the other way around.”
Vaughn apparently felt the tension, as well. “The housekeeper has made soup,” he announced. “We’re all tired and grumpy. Maybe something hot—”
“I am not interested in soup,” General Kaare growled, dismissing Vaughn. “If you will not listen to reason, Princess, than I shall spend what is left of this miserable day on my own.” And with that he turned around and d
eparted. They heard the front door slam a moment later.
Mr. Vaughn spread his hands in a vague gesture of embarrassment. “Perhaps I will ask the housekeeper to deliver my meal upstairs,” he said, and nodding his head stiffly at Analise, left.
“I thought they’d never go,” Pierce said, reaching for her.
“You don’t understand,” she muttered, sidestepping his grasp. “They saw us kissing. So all that talk about being my father’s confidant was General Kaare’s way of telling me that if I don’t shape up he’ll tattle on me.”
“And then what will happen?”
She flicked her hair away from her forehead. “Oh, I don’t know. Questions, I guess. In the middle of the rest of this mess, it’s just a complication I don’t need to take back to Chatioux. The paparazzi will have enough to write about as it is. I’ve been careless.”
A flicker of annoyance crossed his features as he stared down at her. “Okay, we’ll do it your way. No more hands-on.”
“That would be best,” she said as a chunk of her heart fell into oblivion.
“But you will think about taking me to the cave, won’t you? The pipeline isn’t the only thing that could kill my country.”
“Sure,” he said. “I’ll think about it.”
Chapter Eighteen
Pauline joined them for an early dinner, the Lab curled up by her feet, but she was the only one. Bierta was still down with migraines, Vaughn had taken his supper in his room and General Kaare had not resurfaced after the incident in the den.
“Excuse me for saying this, Princess, but your traveling companions are some pieces of work. Oh, not the little maid, she’s been quiet as a mouse, though I checked on her over and over again yesterday afraid she might be worse off than she let on, but those two men. They wouldn’t stay upstairs, I didn’t even know where they were half the time and the ranch was a disaster yesterday with everyone trying to get feed to the cows and fix the machines…?.
“Well, I guess what I’m getting at is I really think you should be more careful who you travel with in the future.”
“I agree,” Analise said, sparing Pierce a quick glance. He agreed, too.
The soup was fragrant and warm, filled with chicken and small tender dumplings. It had been one of Pierce’s favorite meals when he was a kid and it touched him that Pauline remembered.
“I wish Pierce’s father could have joined us,” Analise said to Pauline as she spooned broth. “I feel terrible our coming here has been such a disaster for all of you on the ranch.”
“Oh, honey, it’s not your fault. It’s a shame about your bodyguard, but if Lucas killed Darrell over Miley, then only the Garvey brothers were hurt and they did it to themselves if you follow my drift. Those Garvey boys. And to think, there’s three more of them at home and their father who’s the biggest crook of them all.”
“They’re going to be pretty upset that two of them died yesterday,” Pierce said. “It won’t occur to them that it was their own damn fault.”
“That’s true,” Pauline said.
“I still feel responsible,” the princess said quietly, “and I will make it a point to speak with Birch before we leave the Open Sky.”
“You’ll have to go to him, then,” Pauline said. “His knee can’t handle the icy conditions outside yet but he is making progress. I’ve been helping him walk around inside the cabin the last few days and he’s making noise about coming outside as soon as the snow melts some.”
“That’ll be good for him,” Pierce said. “It’s weird having him so absent.”
“It’s been a really long winter,” Pauline added. “And he’s been lonely.”
“He has you,” Pierce commented.
She didn’t respond directly. “Adam set him up on a laptop a while back. He enjoys getting emails. He got one yesterday from—”
“Tell me it was from Cody. Did he say when he’s coming back?”
Shaking her head, Pauline slathered butter on a slice of bread, making little tsking sounds in her throat. “I swear, Pierce, it’s like you don’t want to be here. No, the email wasn’t from Cody, it was from your uncle.”
“Uncle Pete? I didn’t think he kept in touch.”
“Of course he keeps in touch. You’d know that if you lived here.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t. What did Uncle Pete have to say? I was just thinking about him and his stepdaughter—what’s her name?—Echo. Bratty little kid.”
“She was a handful,” Pauline agreed, “but not as bad as you were. She’s a designer or something now. They moved to California a few years ago. Pete’s wife died and now Pete is talking about coming back to Wyoming. I wouldn’t be half surprised if he wound up here. ’Course, you’ll be gone, so it won’t matter to you.”
What was with her tonight? Why was she picking on him? He slid Analise a look and found her eyes half-closed.
Pauline’s hand grazed his in a conciliatory gesture. “Don’t pay attention to me,” she said with a tight smile. “It’s been a trying couple of days and your father is just a bear. He hates being sidelined by that knee, and now Cody is off somewhere and you’re chomping at the bit to leave and calving season is only a few weeks away—it’s just too much for him. Thank heavens Adam gets home next week. Then you can leave and put the ranch behind you.”
He patted her hand. “Pauline, when you’re born and raised on a ranch, you never really leave it. It’s inside of you.”
“Then why did you go?” she asked.
He shook his head. “Lots of reasons. But not because of you or my brothers. Life just called me away, that’s all.”
“We need you here, Pierce. Your father says no one can rope a cow like you can and no one was as good with the calves—”
“My father said those things about me?”
“Yes.”
He shook his head again. “I don’t believe it.”
“He’s not a man given to handing out compliments, you know that,” she said.
“Yeah I know that.” He finished his soup and pushed the bowl away. His insides were all jittery like a hive of bees were stinging him in a dozen little hidden places.
“I feel like leaving here sometimes, too,” Pauline said softly. “Maybe I’m just jealous because you get to go off and do exciting things.”
Again Pierce looked toward Analise to see how she was taking this conversation, but she was out of it, her head to the side now, her shoulders jerking occasionally as her eyes fluttered open and closed again.
“They’ll be gone soon,” Pierce muttered. “Back to Chatioux, back where they belong.”
Pauline nodded toward Analise. “You better help the princess upstairs before she lands facedown in her soup.”
ANALISE WOKE UP at midnight on the dot. Bierta had already been asleep when Analise drug herself into the room after dinner, a bottle of aspirin next to her bed. Later, when this all quieted down and they were safely on their way home, Analise vowed she’d find a way to make it up to Bierta.
Meanwhile, gentle snores were the only sounds coming from the maid.
Still half asleep, Analise untangled herself from the blankets and dressed quickly, then made her way carefully toward the door, snagging her boots on the way. She slipped into the hall without arousing Bierta and closed the door quietly behind her.
“You’re prompt, I’ll say that,” Pierce whispered from the shadows.
She almost leaped out of her skin. Clutching the general area over her heart, she shook her head at him as she leaned against the wall and pulled on her boots. Then she walked toward his tall, dark shape.
“What would you have done if I hadn’t been out in the hall waiting for you?” he asked her as they tiptoed down the stairs.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, fully awake now. “I don’t even know which room is yours.”
Downstairs, he wrote out a note. When Analise questioned why he mentioned their destination by name, he looked straight into her eyes. “I’m putting this in one of the re
d cups. Only Pauline will notice it when she makes coffee, but we have to cover our tracks. We have to let someone know where we’re going.” He patted the left side of his chest. “It’s the same reason I’m carrying the Smith & Wesson. There’s still a murderer loose or are you forgetting Lucas Garvey?”
“I’m not forgetting,” she said softly.
Grabbing hats, gloves and coats from the mudroom, they escaped outside, staying clear of the overhead yard lights.
It was the first time since Analise had landed in Wyoming that the night skies were clear. Walking under a million stars, their feet crunching the icy snow, it finally felt as big and beautiful here as she’d pictured it before coming. So free. Surely this was paradise in its way, or would be if things were different.
She glanced up at Pierce and wondered if he felt the tension as acutely as she did. Well, how could he? It wasn’t his world they were trying to save…?.
For days now, her mission had taken a backseat to the more immediate crisis of kidnap and murder, but now it loomed in her mind as the ticking time bomb it really was. What if this was a wild goose chase and they didn’t find her mother’s things? What then?
Well, she’d be forced to leave empty-handed, hoping it had been destroyed years before or that Melissa Browning Westin had taken it with her when she left the ranch. However, the threat that it would all come out would remain, a continuing plague on her mother’s peace of mind and a possible arrow in the heart of Chatioux.
“Where are we going?” she asked as they bypassed the building where they’d returned the snowmobiles after returning to the ranch.
“While you were snoozing, I called Italy and brought out my partner, then I loaded a snowmobile and moved it a half a mile or so away so we wouldn’t alert anyone when we started the engine.”
“You didn’t get any sleep?”
“I caught a few hours. I’m fine. I’m accustomed to time changes and short nights. Don’t worry about it.”
“Why did you buy your partner out?” she asked as he held a gate open for her.