by Cathy Peper
“Lucas almost killed Hannah and if you had died your child would have grown up without a father. We don’t owe him any mercy.”
“I get it, Bryce, but think of Ari. I know I wouldn’t be able to face Victoria if I left a man to die slowly from starvation.”
“What makes you think Ari would disagree?” Bryce asked, but without heat. “Fine. Can you take us to him?” he asked Taekwonda. I want to get Hannah back to the boat.”
“Follow me.” Taekwonda led them into the cave. She ducked her head and entered a different passage, low and to the left. Bryce had to stoop to follow her. Hannah held tight to his hand and Sebastien guarded their rear. As Bryce squeezed through a particularly tight spot, he wondered if Sebastien’s broader shoulders would even fit.
He lost ground to Taekwonda since she was more nimble and he had to match his pace to Hannah’s. It appeared she had lit a candle, however, for a faint light showed him the way. The rocky floor sloped down and as they descended, he tried not to think about the weight of the earth overhead.
After a few minutes, his back began to hurt from walking bent over and he could tell from Hannah’s hitched breathing that she was afraid. He was almost ready to abandon the search when the tunnel opened up into a large cavern. He straightened and stretched his aching muscles, surprised at the room’s size. The ceiling stretched several feet overhead, and here and there stalactites hung from its heights, tapering pillows of stone. Hannah clutched his leg.
Taekwonda had lit a lantern and the space seemed welcoming after the confined passageway in spite of the hint of damp. “Lucas came this way.”
Bryce frowned.
Taekwonda pointed to a coil of rope. “Dalton’s gone. Lucas must have untied his feet and taken him.”
“Is there another exit?” Sebastien asked.
“I don’t know. In addition to the way we came, there are two other passages branching off this room. I haven’t explored either of them. We kept the girl and the man here.”
“Well, if we’re not going after them, we should return to the Fury.”
Bryce nodded. It was just as well that Dalton was gone. Though Sebastien had convinced him not to let the man starve, he didn’t think he would have allowed him to live. “We should hurry. Ari must be frantic.”
* * *
Emory Frost slipped quietly through the trees. The man he was following never noticed him. He watched as Bryce hid something in the hollow of a tree. He waited until he could no longer hear Bryce’s footsteps before stepping from the shelter of a large oak. He loped across the trail, stuck his hand in the hollow and pulled out an object wrapped in cloth. He melted back into the woods before removing the cloth. Like a cat, he possessed good night vision and the light from the moon and stars was sufficient for him to see a gemstone necklace. Unless Bryce had planted a fake, this was the object he’d been sent to retrieve.
Frost studied it a moment. Even in the dark, the jewel’s facets held depth and he imagined the stone was stunning in the light of day. It must be worth a great deal for so many people to want it so badly. It would be easy enough to slip it into his pocket and disappear. Just as he knew how to find people, he knew how to avoid being found.
But he would have to find a buyer for the stone. And his employer had deep pockets and a very long reach. If he took the jewel he would be forever on the run, never able to let down his guard and possibly never able to profit from the theft. Better to take the sure payout.
He slipped the necklace over his head and tucked it under his shirt. He made his way back to the boat, still taking care to avoid noise, but sacrificing a degree of stealth for increased speed. The necklace hung like an anchor around his neck, weighing him down. Having decided to resist its allure, he now only wanted to be rid of the thing and safe in a tavern, drinking a small portion of his reward.
He had covered perhaps half the distance to the boat when an owl screeched overhead. The hair rose on the back of his neck and he paused, slowing his breathing. It was quiet. Too quiet. He could no longer hear the rustle of small animals in the brush. But he heard something else. A larger animal, coming after him. A bear? Frost didn’t think so.
He bolted from his position, no longer trying to conceal his presence. The crashing followed him, seeming to come closer with every second. Who was after him? Bryce? The kidnapper? And how had they found him so quickly?
He tore through the woods. He was close enough now that he could smell the river, but his pursuer gained on him. Something struck him in the back and a fiery pain engulfed the left side of his body. Turning, he saw a knife protruding from his shoulder. Gritting his teeth, he plowed forward, but the vines springing from the forest floor seemed to twine around his ankles and he stumbled, falling to his knees. His left arm hung useless at his side, his fingers tingling. He tried to push himself to his feet with his good arm, but it too, was clumsy and his feet felt as though they were stuck in mud rather than soft loam. His fingers dug into the decaying vegetation as he crawled across the ground. The pendant slipped from beneath his shirt and swung in an arc, just above the forest floor. The blue stone glowed faintly beneath the stars. As he stared at it, mesmerized, a drop of blood rolled over his shoulder and splashed upon the gleaming facet.
“That’s it! The bastard’s got it. Now let me go.”
The words seemed to come from a long distance away.
“Your presence is still required,” an accented, silky voice replied.
“The hell it is. That blasted stone’s been nothing but trouble. You’re welcome to it and I won’t even demand payment.”
The laugh that followed sent a chill down Frost’s spine.
“I think you’ll find yourself aptly rewarded for your treachery.”
Move! But his limbs would not obey his commands. Frost slumped fully to the ground, his vision blurring and his attention focusing on the pulsing stone lying mere inches from his face. So much beauty, but was it worth so much death?
“Bring me the stone.”
“Get it yourself,” Dalton whined.
Frost heard a yelp of pain and then the brush of leaves. Dalton’s scuffed boots appeared in his line of vision. The man reached down, grabbed the stone and yanked hard enough to break the cord, but Frost barely noticed the force against his neck.
“Hey, this thing is warm. Wasn’t warm the last time I stole it.”
“Warm?” The other man’s voice sounded clipped. “It’s been against his skin and he was running for his life. It’s nothing more than body heat.”
“If you say so.”
“Give it to me.”
“I’ve had enough of your orders. You want it, go get it.”
Frost craned his neck as far as he could, catching a flash of blue as the necklace spun into the woods.
“Fool,” the man with the accent said, but any further words were cut off as flesh struck flesh. The men fell to the ground within Frost’s field of vision, Dalton flinging punches which the smaller man blocked seemingly without effort.
He should have run. I’d run if I could. Even his eyelids felt weighted now and the fight seemed merely an act upon the stage. He just needed to sleep, to rest a little bit. He would close his eyes, just for a moment.
A sickening crunch forced his reluctant eyes open once more. The man with the accent threw Dalton’s body aside and he landed a few feet from Frost, his neck at an unnatural angle. The man apparently lit a candle or lantern and Frost blinked at the sudden upsurge of light. He wondered why, since he could still see a faint blue tinge where the necklace had landed in the brush. A candle would make it more difficult to find, not easier.
The man flung the light in the direction of the necklace.
Frost winced, hoping the debris was too wet and cold to catch fire. He was going to burn down the forest. The stone pulsed, brighter now, as if it too resented flying balls of fire. Frost would have shaken his head if he could. Flying balls of fire? Where had that thought come from? But it did look more like a glowi
ng orb had been flung into the woods than a candle or even a lantern.
He watched the man’s feet as he headed towards the stone. What would he do once he gained his prize? Would he kill Frost or let him be? Did it matter? The knife must have carried some kind of poison.
The light from the fireball had faded, but the stone cast a circle of blue light. The hair on the back of Frost’s neck rose and a faint noise, almost a hum, filled the air. The other man began to speak in a language he didn’t understand, the words tumbling quickly, the volume rising.
A soft whoosh came from the area where the stone lay and a force hit Frost as if he had been caught in a blast. The last thing he heard before unconsciousness dragged him down was the other man’s piercing scream.
Chapter 27
Ari sat atop the cabins, wrapped in a thick fur blanket, waiting for Bryce to return. Tori had sat with her for an hour or so, but then Ari persuaded her to go below and get some rest.
“There’s nothing you can do to help and I don’t want to put your child at risk as well and my own.”
“I feel fine,” Tori protested, but when the night grew colder, she brought Ari a cup of tea and went to lie down in her cabin. Ari doubted that she slept. Both of their men were out there. But at least they were adults, not a young child. She should never have brought her daughter back to this dangerous era, but she had needed to try and save her brother. And she would never have returned to the nineteenth century without Hannah. Come what may, she refused to be separated from her daughter by the gulf of time.
The tea was long finished and the cold settled deep in her bones before three figures walked out of the forest. She gave a cry of joy as she saw Bryce carrying Hannah in his arms. She scurried down to the deck and met them as they climbed the gangplank.
“Hannah!” She drew the little girl into her arms, checking for signs of injury. A smear of blood stained her neck, but she appeared unharmed. Bryce swayed with exhaustion and Sebastien’s hair was crusted with blood, but no one, not even the third adult, appeared seriously wounded.
“Is this the woman who kidnapped her?” Ari clenched her jaw as she stared at the black woman with the colorful scarf wrapped around her head. The woman who owned a voodoo shop in New Orleans?
“It’s not that simple,” Bryce replied.
“I don’t see why. Either she did or she didn’t.”
“She was with the man who took Hannah, but she helped us. If not for Taekwonda, Lucas might have killed Hannah.”
“And they had every opportunity to kill me, but refrained,” Sebastien added.
Ari looked into her daughter’s eyes. “Hannah, did this woman hurt you?”
Hannah shook her head. “She’s nice, but the man was mean and scary.”
“What happened to the scary man?”
“He got away,” Sebastien said.
“With my necklace?”
“Not exactly,” Bryce said.
Ari pressed her lips together. “Explain while I get Hannah something to eat.” She led the way to the makeshift kitchen in the last compartment. She poured Hannah some juice and handed her a packet of goldfish crackers. They were nearly out of the twenty-first century childhood staple. And if the necklace was gone, there would be no more. Hannah would fuss, but Ari had never really approved of processed foods, although she couldn’t fault their convenience.
“Someone else stole the necklace. Probably my father.”
“We should never have involved him.”
“It was my mistake. With Hannah being his granddaughter, I thought…well it doesn’t matter now. What’s done is done.”
Before Ari could respond, the door opened and Tori stepped inside. The hem of her nightdress peeked out beneath the blanket she had wrapped around her. “Sebastien! You’re all right. And you got Hannah.” She threw herself into his arms. “I was so worried.”
Ari’s heart contracted. She, too, had hated putting their men at risk, but she’d do it again to protect Hannah. Tori would understand once her own child was born.
“Things didn’t go as planned, but no one got hurt. The necklace is out there somewhere. We think Gordon has it.” Sebastien drew Victoria in close and slid his fingers through her blond hair.
Tori pulled back in surprise. “Really?” She looked over at Bryce, her eyes going wide as she spotted Taekwonda. “What are you doing here?”
The men explained once more how the voodoo woman had helped them.
“I should go,” she said. “If you could spare some food—”
“We’re not casting you out in the middle of the night,” Tori said. “Morning will be soon enough.”
“I appreciate all she’s done for Hannah, but I don’t think we can just let her go. She and her partner kidnapped our daughter.”
“I will return to New Orleans,” Taekwonda said. “Lucas has gone after the necklace. I should never have allowed him to force me into this, but he promised the child would not be hurt.”
“Why don’t we discuss this in the morning,” Sebastien suggested.
“She might kill us while we sleep.”
“One of my men will watch her.”
“But—”
Bryce put a hand on her arm. “Come, Ari. We’re all tired. Let’s get Hannah to bed.”
“And what about the necklace? You’re just going to let it go?”
“I chose Hannah over the stone and I stand by that decision. Let Lucas and Gordon fight over it.”
Ari allowed herself to be led away. She was exhausted, and if she didn’t believe for a minute that Bryce would abandon his dream of returning to the future, well, it was something they could tackle another day.
* * *
Although they placed her under guard, the next morning when they awoke, Taekwonda was gone, the man set to watch her fast asleep. Robbed of her primary target, Ari wanted Sebastien to punish the sleeping guard, but her brother refused.
A quick walk upriver brought no surprises. Gordon had fled—with or without the necklace.
“I guess this proves you were right. Your father must have taken the necklace,” Ari said.
“But will he be able to keep it? I wouldn’t fancy having Lucas after me. Of course, my father makes a formidable foe.”
Later that afternoon, Roger returned with a handful of men he’d hired to help repair the Fury. Ari, Bryce, and Hannah left Tori and Sebastien to the din of hammers and proceeded south to where Bryce had left the Revenge. They would reunite in Ste. Genevieve where Sebastien and Tori planned to take their vows.
“Guess I will never have that framed marriage certificate now,” Ari said.
“You will be there in person to celebrate with them and Hannah will play with their children,” Bryce said.
“You’re taking this rather well. I know how much you wanted to go back to the twenty-first century.” They kept a leisurely pace now that they were not under time pressure. Hannah had not yet complained, either because of her recent scare or the less demanding speed.
“We’ve lost enough of our time together. I intend to make the best of what we have.”
Ari slanted a glance at her companion. “You haven’t given up the stone.”
He smiled. “You know me well. It may fall into our hands again one day, but I’m not counting on it. I refuse to give in once more to obsession.”
“Are you going to sell the Revenge?” He had told her he’d taken up the keelboat business to prove he could be more successful than her brother, whom he blamed for Ari’s death.
“Probably, either to invest in steamboats or to start another business. I might take my father up on his offer to open a store in St. Louis.”
“After what he did? You and Hannah could both have been killed!”
“But we weren’t and he did what he thought was best.”
“Best for him.”
Bryce did not correct her, but he didn’t retract his statement either. “We would have little contact with him and I could give you the lifestyle you dese
rve.”
“I was happy when you met me and I was happy in Ste. Gen. I don’t need an elaborate lifestyle,” Ari said, but wondered if she spoke the truth. She’d been restless as a young woman in St. Louis, resentful at having to live with her stepmother and envious of her wealthy relatives. Part of Bryce’s appeal had been his air of privilege.
Thinking herself abandoned by her lover, nearly dying in childbirth and traveling to the future had changed her perspective and her expectations. She’d been content in Ste. Genevieve, with a daughter she loved and a job she enjoyed, but something had been missing. Something more than money, nice as it was not to have to worry about paying bills. She no longer aspired to be rich, but she didn’t want to live on a keelboat. Perhaps she could learn to live with Bryce working for his father.
“We should make it a double wedding now that we don’t have to worry about any stupid paperwork.”
Ari’s breath caught. “That would be awesome.”
“You are going to have to relearn how to speak proper English.”
“Not with Tori.”
“I suppose we could also move back East. There are more opportunities there.”
“No. The best part of staying in this time is being with my family again. No offense, but I don’t want to be anywhere near yours.”
“None taken.” Bryce stepped over a log and then helped his ladies over.
“I guess Olivia proved to be all right,” Ari said. “Maybe she would let Danny come visit sometime.”
“I would like to meet my brother, odd as it feels to have a sibling after so many years as an only child.”
Ari glanced back at Hannah. Hopefully, they would provide her with siblings and be the family they were always meant to be. The stone had saved her life, brought Bryce back to her and righted the wrong that had been created by Bryce’s disappearance. She wished she could pass it on to Hannah as her mother had given it to her, but maybe it was needed elsewhere.
* * *
Two weeks later
Ari surveyed the straggling buildings, the small harbor, and the dirt roads of the town as they pulled into Ste. Genevieve. Having lived the last four years in twenty-first century Ste. Gen and having only visited the old town once, when she was pregnant, its current appearance was something of a shock. They disembarked to find lodging, and as she walked by the house where she had given so many tours and saw the bright stone and dark wood without a hint of weathering, she battled a sense of loss. Her own home had not yet been built, even though when she and Hannah had lived there it had sagged on its foundation and the cellar had smelled of age.