She set the glass down untasted, leaning back against him. “Do you have reason to believe I ever would, Lucio?”
“I must never,” he answered, lifting her into his arms. “It is much too late for you to warn him, so I will tell you what I planned.”
Eden didn’t waste time wondering who had started the fire and said as much to Matt. “Just get the men organized to keep the fire away from the dredging machine. I don’t care how it got started, just be thankful whoever it was was careless and used the new fence for kindling.” Time and again as he worked furiously alongside his men, Eden glanced at the dredging machine that had just arrived from England and wasn’t paid for. He had counted on the increased productivity the machine would supply to meet his contract demands, since it was warranted to take a ton of phosphate at a time and swing it directly into cars. Water from the nearby river was plentiful, but it was long after midnight, and the men were exhausted from their day’s labor. He ordered several men to wet down the wood racked up for firing the steam engines which furnished power to operate his machinery. Eden cursed long and hard at the hour’s loss to rouse the men and get them working as a single unit, passing filled water buckets down one line and sending back the empty ones down another. He had known that Lucio would find some way to retaliate after what he had done, and it was thanks to the vigilance of his guard that the fire had barely spread before the man sounded his alarm.
Eden destroyed his new fencing, toiling long into the night to help dig a shallow trench to ensure that no ember of fire could spread to the pits themselves. Phosphate dust exploded into brilliant white flames as it was ignited, but they died out quickly. Exhaustion threatened to overtake Eden and his men, but he drove himself, and them, to make the area safe. The wooden walkways would bum up like so much kindling, dried as they were from the sun. It was dawn before men found places to sit at the edge of the forest. Eden joined Matt.
“I swear to you I don’t know how it got started, Eden.”
“I know.”
Matt wiped the soot from his face, already sweating. “What’re you gonna do?”
“I’m heading into town. You stay here and let these men rest today. I’ll round up as many of the second crew as I can find and send them out to you.”
“It’s Suarez, ain’t it? He’s the one behind all these accidents we’re having. Come to think of it, the first one happened right after you went to Ocala last month. This have something to do with the chemist Soams?”
Eden grinned. “What do you think?”
Matt gripped his arm as Eden started to rise. “Was he behind Jake’s being shot, or was it Clay?”
“I believe it was Lucio.”
“And that’s why you want to get even with him? For shooting Jake?”
“No, that’s not all. We go back a ways, the three of us, Matt. Someone was killed and Lucio controlled the town. Jake was forced to run or they would have hanged him, and I had to cut my losses and move on.”
Matt released his arm and stared up at him. “Are you gonna kill him?”
Eden looked away to where the sun rose in a splendor of gold and rose streaks across the sky.
“Eden?”
“If I have to.”
But Lucio wasn’t at the Gilded Lily as Eden expected. Or so Satin claimed, refusing to open the door to him. His continued search of the town came up empty. Eden’s rage was controlled, for the fire was only the last in the mishaps that had plagued him these last weeks. Dynamite was discovered before they began working on a newly opened pit. Two weeks later a second charge had been set in his own sleeping quarters. The third attempt was sabotage, not the planned murder, only because he had called a halt to work due to the extreme heat of the day. His men were far from the empty barge anchored and waiting to be filled when it blew up. He had been pushing himself to the limits to be alert, and it had been four weeks since he had seen Dara. Catching sight of himself in a storefront window, Eden was convinced he had better clean up before he did see her. Lucio would surface. He always did.
Eden never glanced down by the river as he entered Miss Loretta’s boardinghouse. If he had, he would have noticed Lucio walking with a satisfied smile toward the Owenses’ store.
Dara was thankful that Mondays were usually slow in the store. She sat perched on her stool behind the counter, engrossed in her accounts, and didn’t hear Lucio enter until he spoke.
“Senorita, a pleasant day to you.”
Startled, Dara sat up, pushing her glasses back in place. “Señor Suarez.”
“Your papa, he is well?”
“Yes. He’s gone for a walk over to the train station. Dr. Vance suggested that he try and get about to strengthen his leg. But you didn’t come in to ask about my father, did you? Was there something you wanted?”
“A few minutes of your time, that is all.”
Dara slid off her stool, closing her book. “I can’t imagine what we could have to talk about. Your man of business was in to pick up your account’s standing on Saturday.”
“The matter I wish to discuss is not of a business nature. It is personal.”
“Gracious, whatever can you be talking about?” But when she tried to smile, she couldn’t. The way the man glanced up and down the aisle before he leaned against the counter and removed his hat frightened her. “If there is some personal problem, I think you should see my father.”
“It most directly concerns you. My varied business interests keep me from displaying as much interest as I wish in what happens in town. It is the high esteem which I hold for you and your father, señorita, that forces me to come to you.”
“Forces you? Why?”
“You are fond of Senor McQuade, are you not?” he asked, his black eyes intent upon her face.
Dara merely nodded, wary of what he was leading up to. Without conscious thought she raised her hand to feel beneath her pleated shirtwaist for the outline of the golden heart she had been wearing this past month.
“And what do you know of the man, señorita? Has he told you of his past?”
“I don’t believe it is any business of yours if he did. Now, excuse me. I must finish my work.”
“Please, I do not come to upset you. I am here as a friend. Your father, he is most kind. I would not wish to see you hurt unnecessarily, that is all.”
His smile did anything but reassure Dara. She knew she should discourage him, but a tiny voice nagged her to stay and listen. “Tell me.”
“He is not an honorable man. There is the death of a woman between him and Jake Vario. I know the truth of this. I was there. Your Señor McQuade was a man to make others fear; he took what he wanted like an uncaring animal. Many times I talked, trying to stop him, but he would not listen. And the woman, she was lonely. There were many wrongs he was involved in, and I had gathered evidence to stop him. The woman, her name was Linda, she knew of this and followed him one night when she saw he would steal from me. She was foolish in her belief that he might care for her and confronted her. They struggled and your Senor McQuade killed her. He ran and never has he been brought to justice.”
Dara was furious. She recalled the day Anne tried to tell her the same story. She refused to believe Anne, just as she refused to give credence to this man’s outrageous lie.
“I’m afraid you have wasted your time, Señor. I don’t believe you. Eden could never kill a woman. No matter what the provocation. Now, if you will—”
“A moment, por favor. Do not be so quick to dismiss what I tell you. I swear by all my ancestors that it is the truth.”
It wasn’t his words that stopped Dara from turning her back on him, it was the watch chain he lifted from his vest pocket, dangling it until the three silver nuggets spinning around caught her attention.
“You have seen one such as these on the belt he wears, have you not? The woman, she gave these to me before she died in my arms. They were in the safe when he stole money and papers belonging to me that I
had painstakingly gathered for the judge when he would come. Linda grabbed the four nuggets, but he took one. To me, they hold a great deal of value, not for their being silver, but for their being the first nuggets we took from our mine. I, fool that I was, joined Señor McQuade and Jake Vario as a partner in their silver mine. I gave them mucho dinero. Do you still doubt me, señorita?”
His gloating tone was not asking her to answer, but it grated on Dara’s nerves. She crushed the material over her heart pendant, feeling strength flow from the depth of the love she had for Eden.
“I wouldn’t go about repeating this tale to anyone, Señor Suarez. Eden McQuade isn’t likely to sit back and allow you to besmirch his reputation with a vile story.”
Lucio always knew when to cut his losses. He replaced his hat and slipped the watch chain into his pocket, but added, “I believe you will be sorry that you did not heed my timely warning. Good day, señorita.”
“Good riddance,” she muttered under her breath, glad to see the last of him. “If he had any sense, he wouldn’t dare to repeat that story to anyone.”
Yet ten minutes later that is exactly what Lucio was doing, repeating his story with a slight variation for Anne. And he smiled many times in the retelling, for the pale features were lit with the flush of fury, and the blue eyes, so lifeless when he first called, reflected the bitterness of her loss and the glitter of hate.
When he finally took his leave, Anne was almost sorry to see him go. She felt alive for the first time since the night she had lost her child. There was a smug smile on her lips as she thought of how to get even with Eden. He had become the focus she pinned her fury on, for turning her husband against her brother, for costing Clay the woman he loved. Once and for all she wanted an end to Jake’s dependency on him. Clay would have to be told. He would know what to do.
She paced, growing frantic at the thought of how she could escape. Early wouldn’t let her have a carriage, and there was the risk of Jake trying to stop her. He had taken to leaving her alone so much, just when she needed him the most, but that, too, was Eden McQuade’s fault. He had hired Jesse’s boy to take Jake’s job, and she knew her husband was afraid that the town would want to make the change a permanent one. Jake had nightmares about the hangings he couldn’t prevent, but he was wrong to blame her brother. Clay simply did what Jake didn’t have the courage to do.
Gazing out the front windows, eyes fevered with the need to get away, Anne focused on the two men across the street. They were struggling to mount a wooden sign, but all she saw was one word: livery. She studied the men, did not know either of them, and knew there was a chance they might not know her or of Jake’s forbidding her to leave the house.
To the litany of hurry, she dressed, then slipped across the street to rent a horse and carriage. Soon she was whipping the spirited mare over back lanes that circled the town. She had to get to Clay. He would know how to talk to Eden. He could make that man leave town.
Eden’s thoughts were of a similar nature concerning Lucio. There had to be a way to make him leave town short of killing him. He was lying back in a tub of hot water, soaking away the fatigue of the last few days, leisurely enjoying his cigar and a large glass of bourbon. He was tired of contemplating Lucio’s next move once he had heard that his latest attempt to halt production had failed.
With an abrupt turn to his thoughts, Eden smiled. He would rather think about the challenge a number of varied receptions from Dara would present him. And he knew he would have to make a decision about her soon.
His eyes closed and his thoughts drifted. He would love to show Dara New York, for Dice would open the doors of the city’s elite for them. His brother would find her charming, and for himself he could spoil Dara, dressing her in silks, laces, and satin that would set off her dark beauty. After installing her in a suite at the Waldorf-Astoria, there would be dinners at Delmonico’s and Sherry’s with their sumptuous menus, a stop at Rector’s, Dice’s favorite, and then the theater. He wondered what Dara would think of the likes of Diamond Jim Brady and Bet-A-Million-Bates. They were rough and brash and rich, given to excesses that shocked even New York’s sophisticated crowd. In his mind Eden relished Dara’s wide-eyed gaze on the new mansions springing up on Fifth Avenue. He would impose on his old friend, Ward McAllister, to invite them to one of the Astors’ balls. And his sweet little saint would utter her outrage at the vulgar display of the new millionaires, never counting him among them. But he could indulge her every wish and more than a few of his own. Time was all he needed.
The water cooled and he brought an end to his fanciful thoughts rising to wrap a towel around his hips just as the door burst open. Eden had his gun in hand before Jake stepped over the doorsill. With a muffled curse, he set it down, noting Jake’s frantic look.
“What’s wrong,” he asked, stepping out of the tub.
“I can’t find Anne,” Jake answered, running his large hand through his hair.
“Let me dress,” was all Eden replied, struck by two thoughts. Jake didn’t panic without reason, and Lucio wasn’t in town. He didn’t voice his thoughts to Jake, but dressed in haste, asking Jake where he had looked and whom he had spoken to. Eden merely nodded when it appeared that Jake had covered all the logical places Anne would have gone. Strapping on his gunbelt, Eden then grabbed his hat. “Do you think it possible that Clay came into town and took her out to the farm?”
“She’s still in pain. Anne wouldn’t have been able to withstand the ride out there. She’s been withdrawn and bitter these last few weeks. Hell, you know that. But this time, Eden, I’m afraid.” Jake couldn’t meet his gaze, and the admission wasn’t an easy one for him to make. “She doesn’t want to try to forget. Anne blames me for losing the baby. Clay planted that thought in her head. I should have killed him,” he stated with a gleam of hate in his eyes.
“Stop it! You wouldn’t have killed him even if you knew what was going to happen. Anne is too important to you to risk losing her. And you would have if you’d hurt Clay in any way. We’ll find her, Jake. And this will pass. It was the shock of all that’s happened. But,” he added, coming to stand beside him, “you would make things easier if you could try and remember who called your name last night.”
“You think I’m lying?”
Eden studied his friend’s ravaged features. “I don’t know, Jake. Are you?”
“No.”
“Then let’s go find your wife.”
Chapter Eighteen
“What the hell do you mean that you won’t help me!” Incensed, Clay faced Pierce.
“What you’re planning to do is wrong, Clay. I can’t destroy his mine to help you in this sick revenge. And it is sick. So much that it’s eating you alive. Hasn’t there been enough killing? Why go after Eden? My sister had a right to make a choice between you two. Anne was wrong to come out here and—”
“Are you saying that my sister lied to me? You know Jake’s past. You know that he’s friends with that scum, and you can stand there, telling me that you’ll let a filthy murderer live. Or have you got a yellow streak, boy?”
With a flinty-hard look Pierce faced Clay. “I haven’t been a boy for a long time. I went along with everything you planned, kept quiet when I wanted to speak up, and I wake, sickened every night, over hanging those three men. If that makes me a coward, Clay, then yes, I am one. I don’t want a part in any more killing. Fight it out man to man with McQuade if you’re determined to. But leave me out of plans that would kill other men—innocent men—who labor for him. Think about what you’re planning.”
“You’re a fool if you can’t see that my way will rid us of both McQuade and Suarez. Everyone knows they’re out to destroy each other. If anything more happens at McQuade’s mine, that bastard will be blamed. If McQuade gets killed, all the better. He helped ruin this town. He stole Dara from me with all his smooth city ways. If you won’t help me, I’ll find someone who w ill.”
Pierce gritted his teeth
. “You can’t. Most of the men feel the way I do. We were wrong to hang those men. Even Hank admitted that this vigilance committee isn’t right the way you want to run it.”
“Then you’re all yellow. I’ll do it myself. And then we’ll see who’s right.”
“Clay, they like Eden McQuade. He’s been fair with—”
“I don’t want to hear another damn word about that bastard!”
Pierce made his decision just as Clay turned from him. He grabbed his arm, but Clay was ready and stunned Pierce with the force of his blow. A second punch knocked him to the ground, where Pierce, dazed, looked up to see fury tinged with madness in Clay’s eyes.
“I’ll kill any man that tries to stop me,” Clay grated from between clenched teeth, his fists curled tight at his sides.
Pierce had the sense to realize that he was no match for Clay. He sat on the ground, rubbing his jaw, watching Clay walk away.
He knew what he had to do, but it left a bitter taste in his mouth. The admission that he had placed his faith and loyalty in the wrong man hurt him. He had turned on his sister, alienated his brother, and for nothing. With the same dogged stubbornness that made him follow Clay so blindly, he got up, intent on stopping Clay. He rode out minutes later for Eden’s mining site, hoping his brother would be there.
Matt, soot-grimed and exhausted, faced his brother with a cynical look. “You expect me to believe you give a damn about what happens to Eden?”
“I told you the truth, Matt. Clay intends to stop him any way he can. He’s sick. It’s almost like he’s obsessed with a hate that’s eating inside him. I came to warn you. What you do from here is up to you.”
They had never been close, but Matt, with his own maturity, saw his brother in a new light. “Why did you go along with them, Pierce? You’ve always been a gentle man. I remember how you hated to go hunting with me and Jesse’s boys. I saw you once when you lowered your site to miss a clean shot. Just couldn’t understand it.”
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