"That is absurd, and besides, her trip out west was nothing but a farce, anyway. She knows now she never should have gone. And the very idea of that stupid Indian squaw claiming to be her mother is absurd."
Verena had finally come out of her faint and managed to get to her feet. Realizing what was going on, she cried, “Stop your lying, Michael. We know the whole story. You can't hide the truth any longer. We know all about Violet Calhoun's deathbed confession, and how Jacie took off to try and find her real mother, and from what this Indian is saying, she found her, only you went and got her and made her come back, and that's why she's been acting so strangely since you did. Now for the love of God, tell him the truth, before he goes crazy and scalps all of us."
Luke decided it was best to let her keep thinking that was a possibility. "Listen to her, Blake. Don't cause me to do something you will later regret. Go get Jacie. If after she finds out I'm still alive she tells me it's you she wants, I will go in peace. But not before," he warned.
Luke's fingers inched toward his knife to show them that he meant what he said, and when Verena saw the movement she yelled, "No! Wait. He doesn't know where she is. She's gone. Nobody knows. We think she ran away with another man, like she did before. You'd best go on and do like he says and get out of here."
Luke regarded her coldly. "I think you are lying now. And you are also making me lose my patience. Now, where is she?"
"It's true, it's true!" Verena insisted. "She went away. She'll never be back, ever. Now you just go on and get out of here before anybody gets hurt. I swear it's the truth. She's not here."
Suddenly Luke reached out and caught her neck in the crook of his arm as he pulled her against him. Whipping out his knife, he held it against her cheek and told Michael, "I am going to search this house until I find Jacie. I will kill this woman if anyone tries to stop me."
"She isn't here. I swear," Michael said in panic. "My cousin is telling the truth. There's a search going on for Jacie right this minute. She has disappeared."
Luke stared at him uncertainly. Something told him he might be telling the truth. But if Jacie were not in the house, where was she?
Elyse had been watching in stricken silence as her mother's words sank in. Michael wasn't really listening, thinking her mother was too distraught to actually know what she was saying. But Elyse knew, all right, and her blood ran cold.
The Indian had his arm so tightly around her mother's throat she could not speak. Only faint whimpers of terror escaped her trembling lips. "Let her go," Elyse said, surprised to hear the firmness in her voice. "Let me talk to her. I think she knows where Jacie is."
"Elyse, stay out of this." Michael reached to pull her behind him, lest the Indian slash out at her with the knife.
She shook her head solemnly. "No. He has to let me talk to my mother, Michael. She knows where Jacie is—don't you, Mother?" she asked sharply, going to stand before her.
Luke loosened his hold enough to allow the woman to speak, but her words were not what he wanted to hear.
"No, I don't. I just think she went away, that's all."
Neither was it what Elyse wanted to hear. "You're lying Mother. You wrote that letter after I refused, didn't you? That's why you're so sure Jacie is gone—Zach Newton has her this very minute, doesn't he?"
"I—I don't know what you're talking about." Verena's denial was barely audible. She could see the glint of the knife's blade, mere inches from her face.
"What letter?" Michael demanded. "And what does Newton have to do with any of this? He's been gone for months. I know he's not working anywhere around here, because I've made inquiries, and nobody has seen him. And I know he didn't have anything to do with Jacie leaving before, despite the servants' gossiping."
Luke listened intently. He had no idea what they were talking about, nor who Zach Newton was, but evidently it had something to do with Jacie's whereabouts, and he was convinced now she was not in the house.
Misery and humiliation washing over her, Elyse attempted to explain. "It's my fault you ever thought she ran off with him in the first place, not the servants'. Forgive me, Michael, but I made it all up. I had no idea where she went. I just wanted to make sure that if she came back, you wouldn't want her." She turned away, unable to face him.
He yanked her back around, forgetting for the moment there was a Comanche standing in the middle of the parlor with a knife at the throat of his cousin. "Damn it, Elyse. You aren't making sense. What did you do?"
"I tore up the note she left you the night she went away. She didn't say where she was going, only that she would be back in the spring."
Verena yelped, "You'd better shut up, Elyse. You'd better shut up right now. You're going to ruin everything."
Michael shot her a glare of menace, then turned back to Elyse. "So Jacie left me a note, and you tore it up, then schemed to make me believe she ran away with Newton? How could you do such a thing, Elyse? How could you?"
"Because I love you. Can't you see that? I think I've loved you all my life, but you never looked at me, because you were mesmerized by Jacie. When she ran away, I didn't know she'd gone west to look for her mother. I didn't know any of that until a short while ago. All I knew or cared about was that I finally saw a chance to turn you against her by making you think she was involved with another man. But I forgot the necklace. I forgot you would be so mad over her taking it that you'd go after her."
Luke had been trying to keep up with the conversation and figure out where the hell it was all leading. "She didn't intentionally take the necklace," he said then. "She told me a child sneaked it into her satchel, and she didn't find it till later."
Michael paid him no mind, instead giving Elyse a shake, sensing she was on the verge of hysteria and knowing that if she lost control he wouldn't find out what the hell was going on till it was too late. "None of that matters now. Where is she, Elyse? Why did you say Newton has her?"
"Because he must have received Mother's letter and come for her," she whispered raggedly.
Verena twisted in Luke's grasp. "I told you to keep quiet. It doesn't matter about Jacie. She's gone. Now get this Indian out of here before he cuts my throat."
"What letter? You aren't making sense. Please. We're wasting time." Michael felt like screaming.
"When you came back with Jacie, I just gave up," Elyse continued. "But Mother was desperate. We're out of money, you see. We've nowhere to go. My marrying you meant she would be taken care of the rest of her life—but I swear to you money was never my motive... only my love.
"Then Mother came up with the idea of my writing to Mr, Newton and telling him he could get revenge on you for firing him by coming to take Jacie away. But I refused. Now it looks as though she went ahead and did it."
"And how would she know where to find him?" he asked incredulously, dread creeping through him as all the pieces began to come together.
"I sent him to Beaufort, South Carolina, to work for a family friend." She looked at her mother again. "Did you also pay him the thousand dollars you were going to borrow from Cousin Olivia to entice him even more?"
"Oh my god!" Michael slammed his palm against his forehead. "I gave Mother a thousand dollars out of the safe that night I returned with Jacie. I had too much on my mind then to wonder why she wanted it, and I had forgotten about it since.
"Damn you to hell!" He whirled on Verena, fists clenched as he fought to keep from yanking her from the Indian's grasp and killing her himself. "You did it, didn't you? He's got her, and it's your fault. Now where is he? Where did he take her?"
Luke released Verena and stepped away. Let the two fight it out between them, he decided, and he would listen to every word, and as soon as he got some idea of where the man called Newton had taken Jacie, he'd be on his way.
But just then the door to the parlor burst open and Michael's overseers rushed in. There were four of them, all carrying guns leveled at Luke.
"It's about time," Michael roared, motioning to them t
o take Luke. "If he won't drop the knife, gun him down."
Luke knew he didn't stand a chance. He was also afraid that if there was a fight, the women would be hurt, and he didn't want that. He had never intended to kill the fat noisy one he'd been holding, had only wanted everyone to fear that he would. He had meant what he said—he only wanted Jacie, but now it appeared she was lost to both of them, unless...
"Hear me, Blake," Luke said as his arms were yanked behind him, his wrists quickly bound. "I'll help you. They can't have been gone very long. I can track them. I know how. You don't. We'll slip up on them, take him by surprise. If you go after him, he'll hear you and hide, and then you'll never find him. You've got to let me help." He knew he was taking a risk. They could use him and gun him down later, but he had to save Jacie—even if it cost him his life.
"What do you want us to do with him?" Bart Ballough, the head overseer, asked Michael.
Michael sneered. "Hang him."
Elyse screamed, "You can't do that! Listen to him, Michael. What he says makes sense. Jacie can't have been gone over a couple of hours at the most. But Zach won't take the main road. He probably knows the countryside better than you, and he'll know how to keep to the woods and streams so you can't follow him. And he won't take her back to Beaufort, anyway, because he can't be sure Mother wouldn't eventually admit what she'd done, and then you would go there looking for him. So there's, no telling which direction he'll head."
Bart drew Michael away from the others. "Look, boss," he said quickly, "I don't know what's goin' on here, but it sounds to me like you've got a mess on your hands. If what your cousin says is true and Newton does have Miss Jacie, you got a problem, because the lady's right, he knows the back trails better than any of us. But the Indian could track him. They got noses like bloodhounds, I hear."
"I don't trust him."
"What can he do with guns on him? Give him a chance. Hell, we can kill him after he finds her. It's worth a try. And we're wastin' time," he reminded Michael. "This place is goin' to be fillin' up with folks within the hour."
"All I want is to find Jacie."
"Then let's go," Bart urged. "Give the Indian a chance."
Michael studied Luke, bound and helpless. He knew now that his suspicions were correct. For him to have come so far, to have been so all-fired hell-bent to let Jacie know he was still alive, it could only mean the two had been lovers.
Michael felt like he'd been kicked by a horse.
His mind was spinning furiously as he tried to figure out what he should do.
Jacie believed Luke was dead, and Michael would prefer she continue to do so. He did not want her to be tempted to return west, fancying herself in love with the Comanche and remembering how the mother she had just found out she had was also there, Still, all things considered, what Bart had dourly said was true. They stood only a slim chance of locating Zach without Luke's tracking ability.
"What's it goin' to be, boss?" Bart prodded.
Elyse sobbed, not caring who was listening, for she was beyond shame now. "Please, Michael. Go after her. If I can't have your love, at least don't give me your hate. You will never forgive me if you lose her. Let the Indian help you, please."
Verena, who had retreated to a far corner, suddenly wailed, "You little fool. We could have had it all. Zach would have taken her where nobody would ever have seen either of them again." She glowered at Luke. "What the hell did you have to show up for? None of this would've happened if not for you."
"Oh, yes, it would," Elyse said with fervor. "I had my suspicions, and as soon as I made up my mind you were responsible, that you had sent that letter to Zach and that he really had come and gotten her, believe me, I would have told Michael everything.
"I watched his face while you were talking tonight," she rushed on. "I could see his misery growing with every word you spoke, how he was thinking to himself maybe she really had run off with a man, and it was killing him, and it was killing me to see him suffer. God knows, Mother, when you love someone, you don't want to cut his heart out. I couldn't have lived with myself knowing what I'd done to him."
"Fool," Verena repeated with a sneer. "Think about that when you're a spinster in the poorhouse."
Despite the turmoil going on all around them, Michael could not help feeling compassion for Elyse. Even though he could have wrung her neck for what she had already done, he would never have learned the truth if she hadn't confessed. And how could he condemn and despise her when she loved him so much? "I don't think Elyse has to worry about being a spinster," he said quietly. "A man will come along one day who sees her for the gem she is. As for you, dear cousin, I think it's time you took up residency at the poorhouse." He motioned to one of the servants. "See that she's packed and out of the house within the hour. Have a carriage take her to Atlanta tonight and leave her at a hotel. I never want to see her again."
Hearing her sentence, Verena screamed and ran from the room, but Elyse stayed where she was to plead with Michael, "Let her stay till morning, please. I'll have to go with her, and I don't want to leave till after you've found Jacie. I want to know she's all right, and I want to try to apologize to her for all the grief I've caused."
"Very well," Michael dismissed her, despite feeling so sorry for her. It was time to go. He went to where Luke was being held and said tersely, "You're going to lead us. We'll follow your orders, but I promise, if you try anything, you'll be dead before you hit the ground."
"I didn't come here to kill anybody, Blake. I told you, I only want Jacie to know I'm alive."
"You aren't going to try and take her back?"
"Only if she wants to go. Will you agree to let her make up her own mind?"
"Yes," Michael lied, feeling no guilt to make a promise he had no intention of keeping. Jacie was his. It was the way it had always been, the way it would always be.
He told Bart to take Luke to wherever he'd left his horse, and he would meet them at the stables. Then, when he and Elyse were alone, Michael began, "Look, I have no right to ask you to do this..."
"Anything," she was quick to assure him. "I'm willing to do anything to try and make up for what I've done."
"Despite what's happened tonight, my guests are going to be arriving, and they can't know about any of this. I want you to be hostess for me. Explain that my mother has fallen ill, and Jacie and I are sitting with her. I'll try to get back as quickly as I can and put in an appearance. If I don't, you will have to make my apologies, and everyone can think Mother took a turn for the worse. You will have to confide in Dr. Foley, however, because he'll insist on looking in on her, but he won't tell anyone else."
"I will take care of everything. Don't worry."
"I'll have the servants carry Mother upstairs and have someone stay with her. As for your mother, I'm leaving orders she's to be locked in her quarters."
"And I don't blame you. Now hurry," she urged.
He started out of the room but turned at the door to tell her, "I appreciate your owning up to what you did. If you hadn't, there wouldn't be any chance at all of my finding Jacie. I will always be grateful."
And I will always love you, she vowed silently, watching him hurry on his way.
Chapter 30
Zach was tired. He had ridden like the devil from Beaufort, with hardly any sleep. Now it was starting to rain, the wind blowing like crazy, and Jacie was making choking sounds as he held her in front of him on the horse like she was having trouble breathing. He decided it was time to stop for the night. It had to be after midnight, anyway, and he was so damn deep in the woods, Blake would never be able to find him.
He yanked the gag from her mouth, and she began to cough and gasp. He could have removed it hours ago but didn't want to listen to her screaming and was not about to now. "I'll leave it out as long as you keep your mouth shut," he warned. "I don't want to hear your bitchin', understand?" Her chest was heaving, and Zach liked the feel of the rise and fall of her breasts against his arms as he held the reins
.
"Why are you doing this?" Her throat was sore and raw from trying to shriek against the gag. "We used to be friends—"
"Friends!" He guffawed. "You can't fool me, Jacie, girl. You wanted more than that, and you know it. And now you don't have to pretend no more, because you aren't ever goin' to see that wet-behind-the-ears ninny Blake again. You're goin' to be my woman."
"You're crazy," she hissed through clenched teeth.
"I think maybe we'll settle in Savannah," he mused. "I can always find work at the docks there. We can get us a little house in the country, and you can grow a garden. We'll have us a good life, you'll see. And we'll have lots and lots of young'uns."
She squirmed against him, wishing she could loosen her wrists and get her hands on a knife. "I'd rather die than have you touch me," she swore.
"Well, touch you I will," he cackled, squeezing her breasts. "And if you don't shut up, I'll gag you again. I've got to find us a place to hole up for the night, and then I'll make you feel so good you'll beg me to take you over and over. You'll see."
Lightening split the sky, and he cried, "We're in luck. I see something over there. Looks like an old shack."
He rode the horse right through the door of the dilapidated structure. Water was pouring through holes in the roof, but one corner of the room was dry. He lowered Jacie to the dirt floor and dismounted. "I got a blanket in a canvas bag that shouldn't even be damp. We'll bed down here. Now get your clothes off. That fancy gown you got on is soakin' wet. I got some trousers and a shirt in my saddlebag you can put on later. Right now..." and he drank in the sight of her as the storm once more lit up the night, "you don't need no clothes."
* * *
Luke had also seen the deserted shack in the flash of light, for he had been leading Michael and his men for some time without them knowing how close they actually were to Zach Newton. He had used all his Comanche cunning to feel for broken branches along the way, feeling for raw edges that let him know they had been recently torn by a horse passing by. He had also dismounted to get down on his hands and knees to check the depth of tracks in the mud to determine there was not one rider on the horse but two.
Say You Love Me Page 28