“But they do,” she said quietly, emotions choking in her throat. She pulled her reins away from him and nudged her horse on.
Leo drew alongside her. He didn’t speak again, merely rode in silence by her side, lending her his presence and strength. She was grateful he was there. More than he’d ever realize. More than she could ever tell him. At that moment, she didn’t think she could have gone on if he hadn’t been with her.
No matter what he said, she knew it was her fault that family had been killed. Frank wanted Blood Blade. And he was apparently ready to do anything to get to him…and to them.
Who would be next?
Frank had to be stopped.
Chapter Fourteen
Most of the debris from the damaged part of the house had been cleared and they were ready to rebuild. Leo had suggested expanding the house since they were rebuilding anyway, and with the baby on the way, it seemed like a good idea. But it would require more clearing. The original house had been built with its back facing a small grove of trees, and several of the trees would need to be removed before they could expand the foundation.
Leo enlisted the help of several of the townsmen, taking care to include those that Blood Blade had helped the most. He didn’t think it would hurt to remind them where their aid had originated. The sisters had risked their lives in order to help these people, and Leo would be damned if he’d let Frank turn their neighbors against them.
It seemed to be working. The occasion had turned almost festive, with the women whipping up enormous amounts of food for the men who were hauling the trees. Leo, Cilla, and Miguel had spent the previous week cutting down the trees they needed to be moved, and now the townsmen were forming around the trunks. They’d already pulled four from the ground. One more and they’d be done.
The women cheered as the men wrapped the tree trunks with rope, attaching them to the horses’ harnesses.
“One! Two!”
Leo got ready to spur the horse forward.
“Three!”
He slapped the horse’s rump and it jumped forward, pulling against the trunk buried in the ground.
“Come on, boy!” he shouted, encouraging the straining animal. It lurched forward again and again, each time budging the trunk a little more.
“One more!” Cilla called out, a smile stretching from ear to ear.
Leo nearly forgot what he was supposed to be doing. He’d never seen her smile so happily, her eyes dancing with merriment. She’d never looked so…carefree. A thread of sorrow tangled with the happiness flowing through him and he renewed his determination to find Jake and get Frank out of their lives for good, so he could spend the rest of his life making sure that happy, carefree expression never left Cilla’s face again.
He’d barely admitted to himself how he felt about her. But seeing her laughing with her sisters…Leo couldn’t deny it anymore. He was head over heels in love with the crazy girl.
She looked right at him, pinning him with that dazzling smile. His lips sprang into an answering grin.
“Yah!” he encouraged the horse who gave one, last heroic pull. The trunk’s roots peeled from the ground and the horse gained some footing. The roots popped out, showering dirt everywhere, until it was completely free.
Leo tugged on the horse’s harness to stop him and hurried around to admire their handiwork. A nice gaping hole was all that was left where the tree had been. Creepy-crawlers and assorted critters scurried for shelter amid the smaller roots that stuck out from the ground like a macabre assortment of finger-thin bones.
Leo’s eyes focused on one section of ground, his eyes refusing to make sense of what he saw. He came to the realization of what he was looking at about the same time as the rest of the onlookers. Before he could say a word, a scream rose from someone in the gathering crowd.
The men rushed forward, gathered in a circle around the body that had been unearthed when the stump had been pulled free.
Murmurs filtered through the group. Someone yelled for the sheriff and several people peeled off from the others, racing for their horses. Leo doubted they’d have to wait long for Frank to show up. Knowing Frank, he was already on his way to the ranch. The bastard had to have something to do with this. And this time, Leo wasn’t so sure the sisters would emerge unscathed.
The townsfolk might have overlooked Bobby being found on their property. They might not have gone for their pitchforks and lynch rope when the Hudner family was found. But a third body, and the second to actually be found on the sisters’ property? A twinge of anxiety shot through Leo.
He rushed over and looked down into the shallow grave. Miguel and a couple of the other men had stooped to unearth what was left of the man. At least Leo was relatively sure it had been a man, going by what was left of his clothes. Heavy wool trousers, what was left of a red work shirt. And a pair of suspenders just like those his father had worn. Right down to the engraved monogram “F” etched in the gold of the clasp. Suspenders that Jake had been wearing the last time Leo had seen him. Just before he’d gone off to hunt for Blood Blade.
Leo stared, horrified, at the remains of his brother. Brynne fell to her knees, covering her eyes with her hands to block out the sight of the horror they’d unearthed in its shallow grave. Leo knew the sound of her pitiful keening would haunt him until the end of his days. Cilla and Lucy knelt beside her, Lucy’s face streaked with tears. Cilla just stared at the body before her, her face pale, devoid of expression.
That look hit Leo like a punch to the gut. Despair, denial, and pure rage churned inside him, the rush of emotions making it impossible to single out any specific reaction. He walked toward the sisters slowly, not wanting to confirm what he already knew.
The townspeople withdrew, some whispering, some staring at the sisters with pity, some with condemnation. Not one offered to stay, to help, to comfort. It was the last straw. First Bobby, then the Hudner family, and now…Jake.
Even if the sisters weren’t responsible, it was growing more and more obvious that they were somehow connected to the deaths. Whether it was Blood Blade or Frank, it didn’t matter. Either way, the people associated with the sisters seemed to be dropping like flies. And no one wanted to be next.
Leo stopped beside Cilla. There was no noise except for the sound of Lucy and Brynne crying. He wasn’t sure if they were alone, if all the townspeople had left. He didn’t care. He cared only that his brother lay dead in the ground at his feet and the woman he thought he loved stared at him without one ounce of emotion in her face.
He shied away from what that might mean. If it meant anything at all. Her sisters were obviously devastated. But Cilla wasn’t one to show much emotion. It didn’t mean she had anything to do with putting his brother in the ground.
His brother…
Leo tore his gaze away from Cilla’s face. He forced himself to look at his brother’s remains.
Jake’s body was almost entirely decomposed. There was the possibility it wasn’t him. Even though he was wearing what looked like Jake’s clothes. Jake’s suspenders. And had obviously been in the ground for several months.
“Maybe it’s not him,” Lucy said, though there was no real hope in her voice.
But Brynne latched onto the suggestion. “Where is his wedding ring? He was wearing it when he disappeared. Grandpa’s claddagh ring. He never took it off.”
Miguel immediately began searching the burial site, but it became quickly obvious that there wasn’t anything to find in the dark earth.
“Brynne,” Leo said, kneeling beside her, “is there anything else he might have had on him or with him that might help us?”
She shook her head. “It looks like the clothes he was wearing the last time I saw him. But without the ring…maybe…?”
She looked into his eyes with such despair-tinged hope that Leo’s heart felt like a bear trap had snapped around it.
“I found something.” Miguel held up what looked like a small gold heart dangling from a thin, golden chain
.
He handed it to Brynne, who hunched over, such a piteous moan of grief erupting from her lips that Leo’s heart broke in two. Whatever it was that Miguel had handed her, it removed all doubt that the man they had found was her missing husband.
“What is it?” Leo asked her, speaking to her as he would to a wounded animal.
He wrapped his arm about her and she collapsed against him, her sobs wracking her body. Leo murmured nonsense to her, smoothed her hair back from her face, and finally, pulled her onto his lap and rocked her. He looked up to find Cilla watching him, her dry eyes haunted as she tried to comfort Lucy.
He turned his attention back to Brynne. “What is it? What did Miguel find?”
She didn’t answer, but after a bit more coaxing from him, she opened her fist and showed him the small locket. He took it from her and opened it to reveal a miniature portrait of a toddler.
“It’s me, when I was a baby,” Brynne said, her voice thick with grief. “Jake saw it one day, said he wanted our little girl to look just like me. He must have kept the necklace with him.” She broke down again before the last word had left her lips.
“We should get her inside,” Cilla said, her arms still firmly around Lucy.
Carmen nodded in agreement. “You go, take care of them,” she said to Leo. “We’ll take care of things here.”
Leo nodded and scooped Brynne up in his arms. She curled in on herself, turning into Leo’s chest and sobbing with renewed strength. Leo brought her back to the bunkhouse and tucked her into bed, removing her shoes and making her as comfortable as he could. She didn’t acknowledge his presence. She didn’t acknowledge anyone.
She just cried. Huge, wracking sobs wrenched her body so much that she vomited, heaving until there was nothing left in her to purge. And still she cried.
Leo cleaned up the mess while Lucy stewed some tea, curling up next to her sister as she tried to get her to drink. Brynne refused all their overtures. She wouldn’t eat or drink. Every few minutes, she’d hunch over, her body fighting to expel the grief in any way that it could. Even when there was nothing left, she still heaved, the force of her despair so great that blood vessels in her face broke, leaving behind angry, red splotches. Through it all, her tears never stopped flowing.
After a particularly fierce episode, Cilla tucked a fresh blanket around Brynne and reached over to take her sister’s face in her hands.
“Brynne,” she said, smoothing her sister’s hair out of eyes that were nearly swollen shut. “Brynne, you have to stop. Think of your baby. Please, try to stop.”
But Brynne just pulled out of Cilla’s hands and curled up on Lucy’s lap. After a few moments, Brynne’s sobs did seem to lose some of their terrifying strength. Lucy stroked her hair while Cilla rubbed her back. After a time, Brynne quieted as she drifted off. But even in sleep, her grief invaded, small whimpers and the occasional shuddering sob breaking through her slumber. Lucy held her tight, not letting her go even when she fell asleep as well.
Cilla’s eyes met Leo’s, but the sound of hooves clattering into the yard interrupted them. Her horrified gaze burned into his. Both of them knew who it was. Leo fingered the gun at his waist. He wouldn’t let Frank take any of the sisters. Not even Cilla, even if he wasn’t sure what, if anything, she had had to do with the whole situation. He didn’t know what had happened, but he knew that Cilla in Frank’s hands would be a bad thing.
Leo was surprised to realize that his uncertainty about Cilla hadn’t diminished his feelings for her. The thought of what Frank might to do her filled him with rage. He’d find out what had happened to Jake. And if it turned out that Cilla had had a hand in it, well…he would just deal with that situation. Until then, no one was going to touch her.
The horses clattered to a stop outside the door and Cilla climbed off the bed and stumbled outside, Leo close on her heels.
Frank and three of his deputies dismounted, the others hanging back as Frank strode to the porch and stopped in front of Cilla.
“There’s no hiding now, little sister. Awfully careless of you to bury the body on your own property. What’d you do? Forget which tree you buried him under? Then again, I suppose since you got away with it once with that sniveling little grocer boy, you thought no one would notice an extra grave or two, eh?”
Frank laughed and before Leo realized what she meant to do, Cilla hauled her arm back and slapped Frank hard enough to split his lip. Frank didn’t hesitate to strike back, backhanding her with enough force it knocked her to the ground.
Leo shouted and pulled his gun, jumping in front of Cilla as she got to her feet. A thin stream of blood rolled down her cheek and Leo’s vision went as red as the droplets on her skin. He squeezed the handle of his gun, his finger itching to pull the trigger. But even in his rage, he kept his sense about him. As much as he’d like to see Frank six feet under, he knew he’d have to go about it some other way. Not shooting him point blank with a yard full of witnesses.
“Go ahead,” Frank taunted, reaching up to wipe at his lip with the back of his hand.
The fading sunlight caught on the gold ring on his hand. A claddagh ring. A fresh wave of fury flooded Leo’s system and if it hadn’t been for Cilla reaching out to grasp his arm, he wasn’t sure what he would have done.
“You’ve got no business here, Frank. Leave. Now,” Leo said, not even recognizing his own voice through the fury and grief that laced every word.
“No business here? A body was just found on this property. The second body to be found in as many months. I’ve got a helluva lot of business here.”
“Your sisters had nothing to do with this and you know it,” Leo said, looking at Frank’s hand.
“I know nothing of the sort.” But his smile was all the proof Leo needed. “And I’ve got more than enough reason to take all of you into custody.”
Leo tried to move in front of Cilla, but she was having none of that. “You know damned well we had nothing to do with this, Frank. We’d have never hurt Jake. You are the only one who would have wanted him gone,” Cilla said. “And we aren’t going anywhere. Brynne is in no shape to be traveling anywhere. She’s taking this very hard. She’s not well.”
Frank shrugged. “Since when do suspected murderers get special treatment?”
Leo stepped forward. “You take her now, Frank, and anything happens to her, you’ll have her life and the life of her child on your hands. You haven’t turned everyone against us yet. How will it look for you to haul your own sister to jail in her condition? Harassing a pregnant woman is pretty low, Frank, even for you.”
“I doubt many would feel sorry for a murderous whore who’s been sleeping her way through your family. Hell, who even knows who fathered the get she’s carrying. For all you know, it’s your brother’s bastard in her belly.”
“That’s enough, Frank!” Leo’s anger boiled over until he couldn’t contain it anymore. “Unless you plan on fighting through me to get to them, you aren’t taking anyone tonight.”
“You’ll have to fight through me too,” Miguel said, materializing from the far side of the bunkhouse, a shotgun in his hands. He wasn’t pointing the muzzle at Frank, but near enough. Carmen came to stand on the porch. She’d obviously been listening to the entire exchange from inside the house. Her hand dangled by her side, a pistol held tight in its grip. Cilla fingered the gun at her own waist.
Frank’s eyes darted around, taking everyone, and their weapons, in. He took a step back. “I’ll be back for you,” he said to Cilla.
“I’ll be waiting,” she said. The resigned but determined tone of her voice pierced through Leo’s anger, and a brief glimpse of what life might be like without her wormed its way into his head and sent a spear of pain to his heart.
Once Frank and his men had left, Miguel nodded at Leo and went back to the barn where he had been building a hasty coffin for Jake’s remains. Carmen went back inside, leaving Leo alone on the porch with Cilla.
He pulled his handkerchief from
his pocket and reached out to wipe the blood from her face. She stopped him, taking the cloth from him and mopping at her face herself.
“You saw the ring,” she said.
Leo nodded.
“Now do you finally believe I had nothing to do with Jake’s disappearance?”
Leo flinched at the accusation in her voice. “I never believed—”
“Yes, you did,” Cilla said, throwing his handkerchief back at him. “I saw your face when we found his body. I saw what you were thinking.”
“Cilla, even if I did, it was only for a second.”
“That’s long enough,” she said, and for the first time he saw a crack in her carefully crafted demeanor.
“Cilla,” he said, grabbing her arm to keep her from leaving.
“No,” she said, wrenching out of his grasp. “This isn’t some misunderstanding. How could you still think, after all this time, after that night…after everything… It was still the first thought that crossed your mind.”
“It wasn’t…”
“Don’t lie to me! I was looking right into your eyes. I could see what you were thinking!”
He tried to reach for her again, but before either of them could say anything else, Lucy’s panicked voice called to them.
They ran inside, only to stop in horror.
Brynne lay on the bed in a pool of blood, her hands grasping at her belly as she writhed in pain.
“Get the midwife,” Cilla said to Leo.
He turned and ran, the terror in Cilla’s eyes spurring him into action and erasing everything else from his mind.
Dear God, he prayed. Don’t take them too.
Chapter Fifteen
Cilla propped another pillow behind Brynne’s head, murmuring soothing words to her sister while inwardly she screamed in panic. The baby was several weeks too early, and Brynne was physically and mentally drained.
“Where is Leo?” she whispered, sending Lucy back into the kitchen to heat more water. If he didn’t hurry, they were going to have to deliver the baby themselves. The thought filled Cilla with a near-paralyzing dread.
Blood Blade Sisters Series (Entangled Scandalous) Page 14