by Nancy Bush
“Shut up, Jace. Just shut up.”
“She may be your mistress, Danner, but she’s half-Indian, and that makes her barely half-human.”
That did it. Harrison shifted violently in his seat, glaring at Jace with a cold fury that would have made a far bolder man shake in his boots. “Say another word and I’ll shoot you, Jace. I swear I will.”
Fear crawled along Jace’s nerves, but as soon as Harrison turned away, he couldn’t resist adding, “I always thought you were the only Danner worth his salt, but you’re as hot-headed as Tremaine, and apparently as lust driven as Jesse.”
“Well, you’d know all about lust, wouldn’t you, Jace? You’ve got more mistresses than one man should be able to service,” Harrison growled as the stallion, seeking to throw Harrison from the saddle, shimmied sideways and tore violently to the open ridge ahead.
Jace was rather surprised by Harrison’s assessment. And he’d been so careful, too. “Well, I draw the line at breeds,” he muttered under his breath, although if they started looking as delectable as Miracle Jones, he might just have to change his mind.
¤ ¤ ¤
Brody swallowed, but there was no spit left inside his mouth. The chief didn’t look happy at all. In fact, he looked damn near furious. Inhaling a shallow breath, he felt shooting pains around his ribs. Hell, he was lucky the vicious bastard hadn’t pierced a lung.
“What did you bring her here for?”
Brody looked at the woman, her eyes wide with fear. She was bound and gagged and ready, but for some reason the chief wasn’t interested. “I thought you wanted her.”
“Fool!” He spat. “You were seen!”
“Don’t nobody knows who I is, ‘cep’n mebbe Garrett, but he ain’t shown no interest in –”
“What about Miracle Jones?” he snapped harshly. “She knows about you. She remembers. And she heard you tonight and was heading straight for the sheriff!”
“I don’t know no Miracle,” Brody answered, sweating.
It was the wrong answer. Through horror-filled eyes Brody watched as the gun was pulled from a holster. He looked down the hollow barrel. “You lied to me,” was the last thing he heard.
He was dead before the report stopped echoing through the hills.
¤ ¤ ¤
“Did you hear that?” Jace asked, reining in his mount next to Harrison’s lathered stallion. The beast shied sideways and rolled his eyes, his sides heaving. Jace wisely moved his gelding a few steps away.
Harrison didn’t answer. It wasn’t necessary. A man would have to be stone deaf not to hear the blasts of gunfire in these quiet fog-shrouded woods.
They stood at the edge of a crossroads, where a narrow flattened track veered off from the main road to Malone. “They didn’t go that way,” Jace said, jerking his head in the direction of the side road. “They have to be further ahead.”
“That gunshot was from the hills.”
“Well, there’s nothing out there but rocks and a few scraggly firs. No cover of any kind. They’da been spotted by now if they were hiding out there.”
“There’re enough maple trees still with leaves to hide them,” Harrison argued. “And this fog’s certainly helpful.”
“But there’s no way out. The river’ll stop them to the east.”
Harrison sighed. “They haven’t been found along this stretch to Malone for months. There’s got to be a reason. I say this is it.”
“And you Danners know everything, don’t you?”
Harrison’s thin patience snapped. “Shut up and help, or go back to Rock Springs.”
“I want to know why you think Miracle had Kelsey’s tin box first, since you obviously don’t think she stole it,” Jace demanded.
“God, I don’t have time for this.” Harrison wheeled his horse onto the narrow track, running him lightly now, saving the reserves of the stallion’s strength as best he could.
Jace followed behind, grumbling. “You think she just found it?”
“Keep your mind on what we’re doing, Garrett, and maybe you’ll stay alive!”
“Why don’t you want to answer my questions, goddammit?”
Harrison swore a string of epithets. “All right, I’ll tell you what I think. I think your father took the box from Kelsey. God knows why. I think it was because he was too stingy with his money to buy Miracle’s mother a real gift. Or maybe the box was just handy. Maybe he was using it to carry something. It doesn’t matter now, but he damned well gave that box to Miracle’s mother so that she would give it to Miracle.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Jace bellowed.
“Keep your voice down or I’ll choke you to silence. I swear I will. I’m telling you: Miracle Jones is your half-sister.”
Jace gasped, blinked several times, then laughed. “Is that the tale she’s spinning you? A woman lifts her skirts for you and you’ll believe anything!”
Harrison had never fully understood Tremaine’s total aversion to Jace until this very moment. Sure, Jace was a snake, but he had one or two decent qualities, too. At least, that was what Harrison had always thought. But he suffered a quick change of heart. Right now, with Brody somewhere ahead of them, attempting to do God knew what to the woman he’d kidnapped, Jace’s pettiness made him want to break his neck.
“Shut up,” Harrison commanded tightly.
“After we catch up to this miserable cur, I’m going to demand some answers from your half-breed mistress,” Jace vowed.
“If you don’t get your head blown off first,” Harrison snapped.
Slapping the reins against the stallion’s side, Harrison released a little tension on the lines and the animal surged forward with breathtaking, reckless speed. He also moved sideways and half reared, but Harrison held onto him with steel control.
The track of road turned into a leaf-scattered tunnel between scrubby trees. Had it been light, Jace would have been right; no one could hide out here. But in the darkness and with the fog lying over the underbrush like a soft, gray blanket, there could be any number of Brody’s henchmen lying in wait.
Jace drew up to Harrison’s flank, mercifully silent for once. He pulled his rifle from his scabbard. Harrison placed his hand on the barrel, pushing it down. Jace glared at him.
“I’m afraid you might hit me,” Harrison told him dryly.
“You know I’m a good shot.”
“I know Kelsey is.”
Jace opened his mouth to argue when an explosion of gunfire sounded behind them. Hot pain seared through Harrison’s upper arm, and he rolled instinctively from his horse. The animal screamed and bolted straight for the hills, stirrups thumping wildly.
“What the –!” Jace cried in fright, jumping from his own mount. The gelding, loose and trembling with fear, turned in a tight circle, heading back the way they’d come.
“Get down!” Harrison hissed through his teeth.
Jace hit the dirt a second before a second rifle shot blasted through the hills.
“He shot me!” Jace screamed in surprise. “He shot me!”
“Jace…? Jace!”
Harrison’s only answer was deathly silence.
¤ ¤ ¤
Harrison counted his heart beats as he lay on his stomach, his nose pressed to the ground, the scent of rotting leaves filling his senses. His ears strained. They were wild shots, he guessed. No one could see in this fog.
But they’d been damn lucky shots, too.
Harrison grimaced, revising his opinion. Their quarry had found them. Jace, damn him, had drawn Harrison into conversation and had given their enemy the advantage. Was Brody still out there? Waiting for a sign of life?
And was Jace even alive…?
Minutes stretched. Harrison tensed at the sound of soft footsteps creeping through the underbrush. The fog was thick enough now for someone to walk within a foot of where they lay and not find them.
The Colt was digging into his hip. Silently, Harrison moved his hand down to where he’d stuffed the
gun in his pocket, his fingers sliding around the butt. If those footsteps came nearer, he’d shoot first and ask questions later.
The tattoo of dozens of hoofbeats sounded to the southwest. Raynor, Harrison realized. Brody heard, too. The footsteps crept stealthily away.
Lifting the Colt, Harrison aimed in the direction of the footsteps. The blast made his ears ring. Loud, excited voices sounded behind him. If he hadn’t hit Brody, at least he’d summoned help.
¤ ¤ ¤
Miracle sat in the darkness of the shop, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders, her gaze fixed out the window at the unearthly fog that made the building next to hers a ghostly outline. But she could see the faint light from the jail. If Raynor returned, she would know it. And every time she heard the rattle and squeak of wagon wheels, she jumped up and cracked open the door, hoping it was the sheriff.
And Harrison.
She was sick with worry. Blue had threatened to kill Harrison, and she believed he would. She hadn’t trusted Gil from the moment he appeared in her shop. Knowing he was Blue made her trust him even less.
There was a loud grunt from upstairs. Glancing behind her, Miracle frowned. She was so furious with Uncle Horace she could scarcely see straight! He was the reason she’d been forced to wait here. She’d taken care of his cut and burn, and now he was sleeping off the damage he’d wrought at the Half Moon.
Cracking open the shop’s front door, she heard nothing but the incredible deadened silence created by the fog. There was no sound or sign of Harrison, Jace Garrett, or Sheriff Raynor. Tamping down her anxiety, she dashed upstairs to check on Uncle Horace. He was lying on his back in his bed, stripped to his long red underwear, snoring blissfully away, oblivious to the bandage Miracle had strapped around his chin or the salve she’d slathered on his face.
“You miserable old goat,” Miracle snorted. Most often his little lapses with the bottle didn’t bother her, but tonight she was really upset. He could have seriously injured himself. He’d kept her from going after Harrison. He’d forced her to pace the floor and worry herself sick over Harrison, Brody, and Blue.
Her hair was still wet from when she scrubbed herself down to get rid of the mud. Miracle pulled it off her neck impatiently. She’d tossed on her muslin nightgown and thrown her cloak over it for warmth, intending to dress again should it be necessary. Now she wrapped her hair in a towel and scrubbed her scalp. God knew what would happen when Harrison returned. If he returned.
Uncle Horace kept on snoring, and Miracle gathered up a wool skirt, a cotton blouse, a pair of drawers, and dry boots. And she headed back downstairs. She was at the sharp curve of the stairway when she sensed she wasn’t alone. Dropping her clothes, she reached automatically for her knife. It wasn’t there! She’d forgotten to strap it onto her leg after the bath.
Hard arms then grabbed her, and a man’s heavy hands slapped over her face. “Don’t fight me, Miracle. I don’t have a lot of patience,” Blue said angrily.
She kicked and writhed anyway. He grabbed her pounding fist, wrenching her arm behind her back until it was numb. She was sure he would break it off.
“That’s better,” he said when she stopped struggling.
Miracle was silent, her mind turning feverishly, more determined than afraid. “What do you want?” she demanded in a surprisingly normal voice when he removed his fingers from her lips to allow her to speak.
“We’ve got to make a deal, little sister.” The way he said that made her skin crawl. “I’ve got to have your silence. Leastwise for a few more days.”
“Why? What do you intend to do?”
“Get far away from Rock Springs. But if you tell on me, I’ll make sure that boyfriend of yours dies a very painful death.”
Miracle’s heart leaped. Blue clearly hadn’t caught up with Harrison yet. “So Harrison’s still alive. I suppose I should be grateful.”
He laughed at her sarcastic tone, then dragged her back up the stairs. Miracle could feel cold evening air swirling up behind them. Blue had obviously broken his way into the shop and hadn’t latched the door.
Miracle began struggling again. She didn’t know what he had in mind, but she certainly didn’t want to be trapped upstairs with him.
“I asked you politely not to fight me,” he reminded her, his tone low and fierce in her ear. “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk.”
Miracle ceased fighting. Maybe she could stall him, Harrison and Sheriff Raynor would return.
“I don’t believe you’re really Blue,” she told him coldly, more to get a reaction then because it was anywhere near the truth.
He yanked her hair back, hurting her, staring down into her face with black eyes. “Didn’t your precious Aunt Emily write and tell you I’ve been looking for you?”
“Yes, but how do I know you’re Blue?”
With one swift movement he ripped the front of her muslin nightgown, exposing the upper swells of her breasts and the tiny crescent-moon-shaped scar. “I did this to you,” he said softly. “I actually had a few regrets about it, but it’s come in handy as a means of identification, don’t you think?”
Miracle tried to hide the shudder that swept over her. They were at the top step, and she was going no farther. Oh, God, please let him be telling the truth in saying Harrison is alive and well. Her heart nearly stopped. At least she’d assumed that’s what he’d said, she realized helplessly. He hadn’t really said anything at all!
“You work with Brody, don’t you?”
“We’re acquainted.”
“Why did you – tell me about him that day you came in the shop?” Miracle asked. “I’d think you’d want to protect him.”
“Well, y’see, Brody’s been lying to me. He said no one could recognize him. That he was safe coming to Rock Springs. But you got a good look at him that night he dragged you out of the wagon, didn’t you?”
Miracle just stared at him. That day…when he’d walked in the shop…it had been a test. And she’d failed. As soon as Blue had realized she could finger Brody, her fate, and possibly his, was sealed.
“Garrett knew Brody, too,” Blue went on, oblivious to Miracle’s belated realization, “but Garrett’s smart enough to keep his mouth shut, given the proper encouragement. You, little sister, are a wild card.” He ran his fingers down the curve of her cheek. “And the noteworthy Dr. Danner has been as unshakable as a tracking wolf.”
Miracle’s mouth was dry. She felt nothing but revulsion for this man who was supposed to be her brother. “Harrison doesn’t know anything.”
He laughed. “Oh, yes, he does. And you sent him after Brody tonight, so don’t get me sore by lying again.”
Throat dry, Miracle said, “I swear, Harrison doesn’t know anything about you. He only knows about Brody.”
“You’re going to make sure of that, aren’t you?”
Miracle nodded vigorously. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but she would have said anything to reassure him.
She remembered, then, that Jeb and Bushy Eyebrows and Brody had talked about the chief the night they’d kidnapped her. She’d assumed the chief was merely the ringleader. But now she realized Chief was Blue’s name because he was half-Indian, like herself. Lord, but at this moment he looked full-blooded . His features were mean and sharp, not like the more rounded Chinooks. Aunt Emily had said he was a proper little hellion. Well, the little hellion had grown into a wicked, evil, conscienceless man.
“You killed those women, didn’t you?” she said quietly. “You used them and killed them.”
“Ah, Miracle. That was Brody. I’ve just been involved in a little thieving, that’s all.”
“You’re part of the gang of highwaymen,” she realized.
“I linked up with them by mistake, while I was looking for you. But they’re all dead now anyway. Except Brody,” he added quickly.
He was lying. She could almost smell it. He was shifting the blame to Brody. It was a coward’s way out, and only a
coward would abuse and murder women the way Blue and Brody had.
What prevented him from killing her? she wondered. Blood ties would mean precious little to a man like Blue. But her fear was for Harrison. Because of Harrison’s luckless association with her, he’d become an obstacle in Blue’s path. His very life could depend on how Miracle handled Blue.
“What you want me to do?” she asked calmly.
Blue grinned. He was handsome, she realized, her chest tightening. His face lacked character, however. As if the lines of strain and conscience couldn’t etch into such a cold, cruel visage.
“Keep Harrison Danner away from me.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“Why, I’m going to help you, Miracle. You’ve been looking for your father, and I think it’s time you had some help from your brother. By the way, is Jace Garrett’s father really your father, too?”
Miracle couldn’t hold back her gasp. The only way he could know that is if he’d seen Harrison! “You lied to me! You’ve hurt Harrison! So help me, I’ll kill you if you –”
His grip tightened so hard around her that tears sprang to the corner of her eyes. “Now, hold on. I just overheard your boyfriend and Garrett discussing it.”
“Harrison… and Jace?”
“Seems Garrett wasn’t too powerful interested in believing his daddy was yours, too.”
“Let me go, Blue!” she spat. Damn and hellfire! Why didn’t Uncle Horace wake up and help her?
For a moment Blue’s cruel hands tightened and Miracle fought back a groan of agony. She’d lost all feeling in her arm. “I’ve been waiting a helluva long time for you. I’m not letting you go now. You and your drunken uncle took your own blasted time getting here. I’ve been waiting too long!”
Through a haze of pain Miracle realized Blue had given himself away. He was the man who’d murdered those women on the road between Rock Springs and Malone. The first girl had been found in the Clackamas River in early summer, the second in late July. Blue had met with Aunt Emily in the spring; Aunt Emily’s first letter had been postmarked sometime in June. He could have gotten to Rock Springs way ahead of Miracle and Uncle Horace, who’d dallied in several other towns on their way. Blue had found a terrible way to pass the time, she realized sickly.