“Jade?” He did not see her anywhere.
“Jason! Open this door immediately!”
He heard her muffled cry, walked to the back door, and yanked it open. There was no one outside. Frantic pounding came from below the center of the room. J.T. set the picnic bundle on the scarred wooden table and hunkered down. He could just make out the outline of a trap door fitted into the planked floor when he heard her cry out again.
“Jason! Please!”
“Hold on, Jade.” He felt around the floor until he located the nearly undetectable finger holds and the latch. He yanked the door up and stepped back.
Jade was on the ladder just beneath the opening, shielding her eyes from the light. Within seconds, she squinted up at him, her face mottled red, her green eyes blinking furiously.
He reached down to pull her out, but she pushed his hand aside. She climbed out on her own and angrily brushed off the front of her cloak, then at the dust clinging to her hair.
“How in the hell did you get stuck down there? And how did the door get locked?” he demanded.
She slapped him as hard as she could. “Damn you, Jason Harrington! How could you do that to me?”
“Me?” He shouted back. “What do you mean me? I was out in the garden waiting for you to come out.”
“I don’t believe you. Nor do I think this is very funny!” She turned away and headed toward the front door.
“Jade!”
His voice was so demanding she immediately halted. She paused in the doorway, her back to him, then turned around and glared. “What?”
He crossed the room quickly and grabbed her shoulders. Slowly and distinctly he said, “I did not lock you in that cellar.”
She searched his face for the truth and found it. Her eyes widened in panic. She licked her lips. “Then who did?” she whispered.
He released her and both of them looked around the empty room. Their minds working together, they glanced at the upper story and Jason put his finger to his lips warning her to be silent. Jade nodded and followed him on tiptoe as they crept across the room.
J.T. grabbed her hand, anxious to find the culprit who trapped her, unwilling to let her out of his sight. He pulled her out the back door. They ran to the front of the house, but no one was in sight.
She stood patiently beside him while he flipped open his saddlebag and pulled out a gun and holster. Deft fingers strapped on the gunbelt and whipped the rawhide tie around his thigh.
“What are you doing?” she demanded.
“What does it look like I’m doing?”
“I thought you were against bloodshed.”
“I’m against war, Jade. I’m not stupid.” He shook his head, then looked left and right. “I’m not going to look for whoever trapped you in the cellar without a gun.”
“Trapped me?” Myriad thoughts flew through her mind. She was unwilling to believe anyone would want to hurt her intentionally. “Maybe the door just slammed shut.”
“Then how did the latch turn?”
She wondered why anyone would want to frighten her. And if it were true, where had they gone?
“Come on. Let’s have a look around.”
Jade fought the urge to cling to his hand. Instead, she lifted her skirt and tried to keep up with his long-legged stride.
Quickly they surveyed the downstairs and then exited to the veranda. Outside, they each looked toward a different staircase.
“I’ll go left,” Jade whispered and pointed to the left staircase.
Jason shook his head. “You’re staying with me.”
“But with the double staircases, whoever is here can go down one while we go up the other.”
He pondered a moment, trying to come up with a safe plan and failing. “I don’t want you left alone. Whoever did this must have had a reason. There’s no sense in putting you in their path. We go up together or not at all.”
She was about to argue until she remembered the cellar. She wasn’t about to be caught unaware again. “All right,” she agreed, “but I have a feeling we won’t find anything.”
Just as she predicted, the rooms upstairs were empty. After a thorough inspection they went back downstairs, where Jason collected the picnic bundle after he unhitched the horses and had Jade wait with them outside the back door.
“We’ll ride over and look inside the barn and the shed before we go, but I’m as sure as you are we won’t find anyone,” he admitted. “Would you still like to picnic in the garden? I found a nice spot under the oak tree.”
She shook her head. “No. I want to leave.”
Jade’s preoccupation with what had happened overrode her fear of the horses. She mounted up with Jason’s help and took the reins like an accomplished horsewoman. Jason smiled, proud of the mettle she had shown.
One thing was certain. The girl needed a keeper. Again, he thought about the predicaments she had been in during the short time he had known her and added this latest escapade to the list. Coupled with the falling urn of the night before, he almost convinced himself that someone was out to kill her. He glanced across at Jade, who was riding along in silent preoccupation, and wondered what she was thinking. Her golden-red brows knit in concentration as she rode along, totally unaware of the attractive picture she presented against the open blue sky. Her long hair had seductively slipped out of the ribbon to curl in a wild tangle about her face. Her cheeks had turned a delightful shade of pink and a dusting of freckles bridged her nose. The touch of California’s autumn sun had been good for her.
They rode to the top of the hill where they had stopped to overlook the adobe earlier. Jason reined in his horse and dismounted.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m starving. Let’s have this picnic.” With a level stare he added, “And while we’re eating, you can tell me who might have locked you in the cellar. And why.”
JASON LEANED BACK on his elbows, his long legs stretched out before him and crossed at the ankles. He lay on the ground across the cloth they had spread between them and ate the bread and cheese while Jade sat on his coat and told him what she had learned of her father’s death since she had returned.
“Why didn’t you tell me before that your father had been murdered?”
Jade looked away and brushed the hair back from her face. “It’s not something I go around announcing. My father double-dealt people all his life. I should have expected something like this.”
He could not imagine anyone as sweet and open as Jade having the type of father she had described to him. “Why would his killers want to murder you?”
“If the tong killed him to avenge the alchemist, I would have thought it ended there. I can’t imagine why they would want to harm me. I don’t know anything about any of this.”
“Perhaps they think you could lead them to the missing alchemist?”
“But I just returned to town. I didn’t know anything about it. And how would killing me help them find anything?”
“Maybe they think your father sent the information to you?”
“He never wrote to me.” Her tone was matter-of-fact, not wistful, for she had no love for her father. She had hated having to tell Jason about her father’s treacherous scheme, and his morbid death. She would not drag in her childhood, nor would she have him feeling sorry for her.
“I can’t help but think that whoever locked you in the cellar today probably tried to kill you last night.”
Her eyes widened and she shuddered visibly. “The urn . . . ” Startled by his revelation, she thought of last night and how close she had come to harm. If Jason had not been there, she would have been seriously hurt, if not killed. Until today she had never given a thought to her own safety. What had her father gotten her involved in? It was as if he were reaching out from his grave to harm
her.
“Someone may be watching you,” he added. “How else would anyone know you would be here today?”
“We weren’t followed, were we?”
“Not that I know of.” He had not meant to frighten her so severely, but as he saw her pale, J.T. wished he had ahold of the man responsible.
Jade Douglas’s life was far more complicated than he ever could have guessed. And he definitely needed no such complications in his own life. Still, she tugged at his heartstrings. He watched the sunlight shimmer in her hair. Her prim white blouse and skirt were a far cry from the finery her friend had loaned her. It was nice to see her own choice was more to his liking. She was a simple girl at heart, one who had led a sheltered life of learning and spent most of her time with an old man. Like himself, she had grown up without a father’s love.
He let his imagination wander. What would she think of the ranch? He would love to show it to her, to teach her to ride with him. Cash and Lupita would welcome her with open arms. They had wanted him to settle down for years.
“Jason?”
“What?” Startled out of his reverie, he realized she was perched on her knees, shaking out the dishtowel and recorking the bottle of wine.
“I found this in the cellar.” She pulled the length of satin out of her waistband. Jade’s mysterious shining object turned out to be a length of red silk shot through with golden threads.
“What’s that?” he reached out and rubbed the material between his fingers.
“It’s silk. I found it on the floor. It looks like the belt from a Chinese robe.”
“Your grandfather’s?”
She shook her head. “Not that I know of.” Jade quietly tucked the piece away in her pocket. She did not recall seeing a robe or Mandarin coat of red and gold among her grandfather’s things, but that did not mean he could not have acquired one after she left home.
He reached into his duster pocket. “I found this for you.” He handed her a giant oak leaf, bent, but not broken. It was as soft as leather—some of the water that had kept it alive was still trapped inside. The leaf had turned the color of burgundy. It was flecked with gold and orange.
“It’s beautiful, Jason. Thank you.”
He was pleased that she seemed genuinely delighted with his simple gift. He shrugged. “Thank you for riding out with me.”
It was early afternoon when their picnic ended. Relieved that he had not tried to kiss her again, willing to admit that she would have given in again if he had, Jade asked him to take her back to the city. They rode back in silence. She was lost in thought worrying about how to convince the bank that she would soon have the money to claim her collection, while J.T. worried about her safety,
She insisted on riding straight to the bank, and he insisted upon accompanying her. He tied the horses’ reins to the hitching rail while she tried to tame her hair into place.
“How do I look?” she asked, trying to see herself in the wide glass window that fronted the Hibernia Bank.
“Like an upstanding citizen. Go give ’em hell. I’ll wait for you in the lobby.”
“Really, Jason, you don’t have to wait. I can get back to Babs’s on my own. You must have things to do.”
“Not really,” he lied. He had intended to use the afternoon to contact horse breeders he had written before he arrived, but there was no way he would leave Jade unaccompanied after what had happened earlier.
She promised to be as quick as possible, half-certain the loan officials would not be very encouraging, given her circumstances. Jason was already occupied studying the well-appointed interior of Richard Tobin’s bank.
Jade was pleasantly surprised when she was immediately ushered into the office of Arvin Arnold, vice president of Hibernia Bank, and given a seat across from him at his scrupulously neat desk. Every paper was stacked neatly in one even-edged pile. Pen and inkwell were lined up diagonally off the corner of the stack. The Chronicle was precisely folded and lying off to the side. The trim young man in his severe black wool suit and crisp linen shirt leaned forward, elbows on the desk, and steepled his fingertips. He smiled.
Jade took a deep breath and explained her dilemma. “I’m sure you are aware that some of my grandfather’s collection of Chinese art pieces was delivered to you as collateral against my father’s debts. I was told I still have thirty days left to settle the debt or lose the collateral.” Her stomach churned as she waited for him to reply.
“As I understand it, that was the agreement.”
“You do realize those items were not my father’s to use?”
“I’m sorry, Miss Douglas, but our lawyers went over your grandfather’s will. He left his house and the land around it to you. Nothing else.”
“But it was always understood those things were to have been mine.”
“I understand your position, but your grandfather failed to name them as yours in his will. Actually, the will itself was so old it was signed even before your mother died. Everything but the adobe went to her, and since she was no longer living, to your father.”
“But it was all a mistake.”
“That may be, but legally, your father was in his rights to give us the collection as collateral.” He arched a brow and added, “For what it’s worth.”
Just as Jade had hoped, the bank was not interested in the Chinese pieces. Not as much as she was. “Then I would like to trade the house and the land around it for the collection.” He stared at her in puzzlement. “Why would you want to do that? It has to be worth far more.”
Mr. Arvin, it seemed, was unaware of the antiquity of any of the pieces. Nor would he or the other bank officials have cared even if they had known. To most San Franciscans, the collection was mere Chinese junk—castoffs of the past that meant nothing to them. To the average man, the items looked exactly like others readily available in Little China.
Her grandfather had always told her that no one knew the true value of his collection, and that it might be years before anyone in California learned to treasure Chinese art.
“If that’s the case, I’ll sign it over to you now,” she said. The adobe had been part of her life for as long as she could remember, but she would willingly sacrifice it to save the bronzes and paintings, the pottery, lacquerware, and silks her grandfather had amassed.
He stood, glanced out the glass window on his door, then leaned against the desk with his fingers splayed. “Miss Douglas, why be hasty? Why not stop and think about what you can do with the land? Get some advice from a third party.”
All she could think of was Babs and her ridiculous scheme. When she started to protest, he cut her off.
“You’ve just returned to town and I’d hate to see you rush into anything. Take your time. You have nearly a month to retrieve the Chinese goods. As a matter of fact, we value your standing and your grandfather’s past business with us so much that I know the board would agree to let you take possession of the pieces as soon as you find a permanent residence. We’ll look upon you as a caretaker of sorts—until you can work something out, that is.”
She wanted to jump up and grab the man and hug him for sheer joy. A valued customer? She hadn’t a penny to her name, but it was true, her grandfather had done all his business through the bank. Still, she could hardly believe her good fortune. “There must be some mistake.”
He smiled again. “None whatsoever.” Arvin Arnold crossed the room and took her hand. He began to pat it consolingly. “Just let us know when you’re finally settled and we’ll have the crates delivered.”
“Where are they?”
“In our warehouse, safe and sound. Now just remember, we are more than willing to deal fairly with you, Miss Douglas. Hibernia Bank means to please.”
Stunned, she got to her feet and thanked him as he walked her to the office door. “It was nice to see you, Miss
Douglas. Please feel free to come to me whenever you need to.” Arvin glanced out at Jason, who was still waiting with hat in hand, casually leaning against the ledge beneath the teller window as he spoke to the man behind the bars. “And please, give my regards to Mr. Harrington.”
J.T. could not help but smile when Jade raced up to him, aglow with jubilation. She looked like a little girl with gumdrop money.
“I can’t believe it!” she cried, her face wreathed in smiles. “They said I could have the collection back as soon as I have a place to live and that my standing was good with them and that I shouldn’t sign over the adobe until I was absolutely certain what I wanted to do!”
“Whoa! Slow down!” Carried away on her cloud of enthusiasm, he put his hands on her waist and swung her around full circle before he set her down. “Well, little lady, it looks like you struck gold today.”
She sobered and shook her head in disbelief. “It’s a miracle all right. Mr. Arnold couldn’t have been any nicer. I still can’t believe it.”
For a moment Jason had seen a completely different side to her and was intrigued. She had never been as carefree. Jade smiled up at him so trustingly that she made him wish he could see that she was always this happy, made him want to be responsible for her happiness. He was amazed at himself when he realized he wanted to spend the rest of his life making her smile.
He glanced around the lobby of the bank and lowered his voice before he said, “You have a beautiful smile.”
Suddenly embarrassed, she held her hands to her sunburned cheeks and her radiant smile dimmed. It had been all too easy to share her joy with him. It was time to tell Jason she could not see him again. The longer she was with him, the more she wanted to do exactly the opposite, but now that she would recover the collection, she had to see to the means to keep it.
And besides, any day now Jason’s own business would be settled and he would be leaving for New Mexico. She could not let her dependence on him go any further. “I think I had better get home now.”
Jade was silent on the way home, the realization that the time had come to say goodbye to Jason forever weighing heavy on her mind. As they rode along together, she studied him. This is what love would have been like if her life had not become so very complicated. He was gentle and understanding, a truly kind and compassionate man—nothing at all like her father. Here was a man she could live with, but their paths were far too different.
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