The Raging Hearts: The Coltrane Saga, Book 2

by Patricia Hagan

  “Lawdy, Miss Kitty, I might give him too much and kill him,” she said fearfully. Kitty motioned her to calm down, and Addie whispered, “I don’t know nothing about putting stuff in folks’ drinks. I might put in too much or too little. He might wake up before you wants him to.”

  “I know quite a bit about drugs, remember? I will tell you exactly how much to put in the bottle, and when he’s passed out, you’ll pour out what’s left and replace ordinary brandy so he won’t find out later what happened. Just go and tell Will everything I have told you. Leave everything else up to me and don’t worry. I won’t let you get in trouble, I promise. The risk will be mine.”

  They went back inside. Addie’s worried look did not leave her eyes. Kitty finally admonished her by saying, “Quit looking that way. You’ll make someone suspicious. Now, you’ve been in here long enough that Rance will think you were doing something, so go do what I told you to do, then bring me my breakfast tray at the usual time. Tell Will to be extremely careful, but I want him to get the message to Luther as soon as possible.”

  Kitty tapped on the door, lightly this time. Rance turned the key, and then Addie was stepping outside, moving by him and down the hall quickly. But he did not close the door and relock it immediately, as he usually did. Instead, he leaned against the side and looked at her with half-closed eyes, smiling.

  “You know, the boss did himself proud when he got a pretty little filly like you. I envy him. Me and all the boys. We talk about you a lot, ’bout how you look, how lucky the boss is to have something like you to crawl into bed with at night.”

  Kitty bristled angrily. “How dare you speak to me this way? I’ll tell my husband.”

  “Aw, he won’t believe nothing you say.” He grinned. “I’ll just tell him you tried to proposition me so you could escape. He’ll believe me, and then he’ll beat that pretty bee-hind of yours again, so you just keep your mouth shut, if you’re smart. He don’t trust you. So how’s about you and me being friends? I might could make things easier for you.”

  “How?”

  “Oh, I’ll tell him you were real good while he was gone, didn’t give none of the boys any trouble.”

  “I hadn’t planned to give anyone any trouble.”

  “Well, if I tell him you did, he’ll believe me, now won’t he?” He sucked a tooth loudly, stuck his finger in his mouth and dug something out of a cavity, then wiped it on the leg of his pants. “You don’t want me telling him nothing bad, do you? So why don’t you just loosen up that robe and let me have a peek at those teats of yours. Me and the boys, we’ve talked about those teats, how big they are. I want to see how pretty they really are.”

  He took a step closer, as she moved back inside the room clutching her robe even tighter about her throat.

  “Aw, come on, Kitty, let me have a peek. I ain’t gonna make you give me nothing you don’t want me to have. All I want to do is look. Who knows? You and me might get to be real good friends.” He licked his lips hungrily, and she saw the trickle of saliva drooling from the corner of his mouth. “See, I know a secret about the boss, something he don’t know I know about. I’ve bedded up with some of the gals in town that he’s bedded with, and they’ve told me about this little problem he has. You know what I’m talking about, how he can’t last so long, you know? And they told me how it just wasn’t good for them, that he always got his before they got theirs. That’s a bad feeling, being left empty like that.

  “Now, the ladies like me. I can go for hours. I can make them get theirs over and over. I always leave ’em worn out, and they love me. I’ll fill you up, honey, all you want.”

  He kept walking into the room, and she continued to retreat until her back was against the door to the veranda. “If you don’t get out of here, I’ll scream. Servants will come. They’ll tell my husband you were trying to force yourself on me. He’ll kill you.”

  He held up his hands. “All right, all right. Let’s don’t make trouble for each other, okay? I won’t fill your glass till you ask me to, but for now, you’re gonna open that robe and show me those teats or I’m gonna tell the boss something you ain’t gonna want him to hear when he gets back.”

  He moved quickly back to the door, stepped out into the hall. She stared at him incredulously as he hissed, “Now you get that goddamned robe open and show me what you got, and don’t start screaming, ’cause I’ll start yelling for the guard downstairs the minute you do, saying you tricked me in your room to try and escape. Now do it, damn it. I’m tired of begging.”

  Kitty knew she had no choice. But it came to her that this might work to her advantage when the time came for her to make her move. There was a guard directly below her veranda. He could easily be taken care of in the dark, as could the others stationed about the mansion—all by Luther and his men. But Rance, positioned outside her door, could be a problem. Unless she seduced him, gave him a drink and drugged him.

  Slowly Kitty’s hands moved from their clutching grip at her throat, allowing the robe to fall open.

  “Shit, pull it open,” he whispered hoarsely, eyes bulging. “I can’t see nothing.”

  She pulled open the robe and stood there in her long, flowing gown. It gathered just below her bosom, exposing much cleavage, her body clearly visible beneath the thin fabric.

  “Scoop ’em out.” Rance’s nostrils flared excitedly. “I want a good look, damn it.”

  She riveted her eyes on his face, hating him. She reached to yank down the bodice abruptly, allowing her large breasts to tumble forth.

  “Ohhh, just look at that.” Rance was all but dancing. “My Lord, I ain’t never seen nothing so danged pretty.”

  His tongue flicking out like a snake, he began to stagger forward, arms outstretched, hands opening and closing. “Got to kiss ’em and touch ’em one time, Kitty,” he mumbled.

  The sudden sound of footsteps made him stiffen, then whisper, “Somebody’s coming. Fix yourself.”

  Yanking up her gown, closing her robe, Kitty turned away just before Rance stepped back into the hall.

  “It’s about time you got here,” she heard him say in a jovial voice. “It’s all I can do to stay awake.”

  “What’s the door doin’ open?” she heard another guard grumble. “You know the boss said it’s supposed to stay locked all the time.”

  “Oh, we was talking. She’s complaining about not getting to go for a walk, what with the weather so nice and all.” He closed the door, turned the key abruptly.

  Kitty did not realize she had been holding her breath until she let it out. She had been spared. Another few moments and he would have grabbed her. A shudder moved over her body.

  Soon. It would have to happen soon. And now she felt sure she could handle Rance.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “You sure this ain’t gonna kill ’em?” Addie asked nervously as Kitty measured the opium into two bottles. One contained Corey’s favorite brandy. The other, the wine Dulcie said Hugo favored.

  “I know what I’m doing,” Kitty told her.

  Dulcie hovered nearby, looking as anxious as Addie did. “She knows, all right. Don’t you fret. She knows ’zactly what she doing. She gonna give ’em just enough to put ’em to sleep till morning, and they won’t know what happened. They might figure they was drugged when they find out Miss Kitty done run away, but we’ll swear we didn’t know nothing about it. They know we ain’t got no opium.”

  “That’s right,” Kitty said. “I told Dr. Sims I was having cramps and headaches and couldn’t sleep at night, so he gave me a bottle.”

  “Humph,” Addie snorted. “I been knowing how to make that stuff from poppy flowers all my life. Used to give it to my chillun, I did. Mistah McRae gonna think we did it, me and you, Dulcie, and we gonna get our hides tore plumb off by that strap of his. You just wait and see.”

  Kitty shot her a quieting glance. “I told the two of you to put the blame entirely on me. If anyone asks you any questions, tell them you saw me meddling about t
he liquor cabinet. I’ve been allowed to move about inside the house this afternoon for the first time. Corey thinks now that he’s back and has brought my baby to me that I am wrapped up in him completely, with no other thoughts on my mind. Tell them you thought I was just taking something to drink to my room. The two of you have helped me so much already that I don’t want you to be beaten on my account. If my escape isn’t successful, I will swear no one was involved in this except me.

  “Addie, you are sure that Luther will be here tonight?”

  Addie nodded. “Will said he got the signal to him soon as he could after he saw Mistah McRae’s carriage coming down the drive. Soon as I sits a lantern on the kitchen steps, Luther will know that Mistah McRae done passed out from his brandy, and Hugo passed out from his wine, and all that’s left for him to do is have his men move in and take care of the guards.”

  “And what about the other servants? Do any of them suspect? The fewer who know, the safer we are.”

  “Me and Dulcie and Will have been real quiet. I don’t think they suspect nothing. They’ll be in their cabins by then anyway. And soon’s I’m done, I’m leavin’ here too,” Addie finished.

  “I’m going to pretend I passed out with Hugo,” Dulcie spoke up quickly. “When he wakes up, I’m going to be laying there right beside him, playing like I’m just as groggy as he is. I’ll undress him if he ain’t already, and I’ll be naked myself, and I’ll giggle and tease him ’bout how good it was, and he won’t know no different. I just hope he passes out before he…you know…” Her voice trailed off, misery mirrored in her eyes.

  “Don’t you worry.” Kitty patted her shoulder. “Get him to drink one glass of wine and he won’t be awake long enough to undress. You’ll have to get his clothes off. Now, be sure you have John’s things packed in a bag and hidden behind the drapes. I want to be able to walk across the hall and pick him up and leave at once. Oh, I hope he doesn’t wake up and start crying.”

  Dulcie told her he had been sleeping pretty soundly after being fed his supper.

  “All right. Now all we do is wait. Put the bottles back where they belong. Somehow, I’ll get through dinner. Honestly, I feel as though bumblebees are flying around in here.” She patted her tummy, and the two women laughed stiffly.

  Kitty wore one of her simpler dresses that night, a pale pink muslin with a scooped neck, long sleeves and a flowing skirt without ruffles or hoops. Luther would undoubtedly have a horse for her, and she did not want to be hindered by clothing. She brushed her hair down about her face. Tonight she would see Travis, show him their son. Beyond that, she didn’t know.

  Tapping on the door, she informed the guard she was ready to go downstairs for dinner. He turned the key, opened the door, and she brushed by him, moving swiftly down the long hallway toward the stairs.

  Corey met her in the entrance foyer with glittering eyes that told her he was anxious to bed her. The thought went stabbing through her. What if he passed up his cigars and brandy? What if he wanted to take her straight up to bed? Luther might be so disgusted that he would not try another night. No, she couldn’t let it happen.

  Stepping forward, she obediently accepted his kiss. “Are you happy to have your son back, darling?” he murmured as he led her into the dining room. “Are you as grateful as I thought you would be?”

  “Oh, yes, Corey.” She made her eyes meet his and flashed him a fawning smile. “You’ve been very kind to me, and I’ve had much time to think of the problems I have caused you. Perhaps things can be different.”

  He frowned and she panicked. Had she gone too far in appearing so eager? He touched the tip of his moustache, eyes squinting as he pondered this change in her. He held out her chair, and she sat down primly. Moving to seat himself at the other end of the long, polished table, he gazed at her studiously in the glow of the flickering tapers. “I think I know what you are up to,” he said without emotion.

  Her heart leaped. She had been about to lift the goblet of water to her lips but instead moved her hands to her lap, for they were trembling. “Whatever do you mean?” She made her voice steady.

  He snorted. “You have your baby back. Now you are ready to play the role of dutiful, obedient wife. Then, when you think you have me under your spell, you will plead for the life of your lover. You waste your breath, my darling. I cannot risk having him around. He will have to be disposed of.”

  Hugo appeared with a tray of roast chicken. Addie followed with a bowl of yams, then returned with another filled with collard greens and fatback. With the servants’ departure, Corey snapped, “Well, am I right? You do plan to plead for Coltrane’s life, don’t you?”

  She lifted a slice of chicken onto her plate, praying silently that she could carry on this conversation without giving her true feelings away. “Corey, you are not being fair with me. I agree to be the wife you want me to be. I admit I have rebelled and shown you great disrespect. You made me see that my most important concern right now is the welfare of my son. True, I thought I loved Travis, but he humiliated me. I threw myself at his feet. He rejected me. Perhaps he would have done so even if Nancy had not gone to him with her lies. You see, Corey, I have no way of knowing.”

  She continued to put food on her plate, stomach lurching in rebellion. “Perhaps Travis came here merely out of duty. He always was one to obey orders. If he mustered out of the army and became a federal marshal, he would go wherever they sent him.”

  “Let me tell you something,” Corey said eagerly, shaking his ornate silver fork at her. “You are absolutely correct, my dear. I know why he was sent here. The government is concerned about the activities of that Klan, and they are also concerned about what they consider a land war between Jerome Danton and myself. I found all this out when I went to Raleigh. I talked to one of the Governor’s aides, and I went to see a federal army officer, and both told me what I have just told you. But I imagine Coltrane was only too glad to be sent here, if only out of curiosity to see what became of his wartime mistress. You are ravishing, Kitty, and any man who did not desire you would be insane. The man probably thought he would come back and find you working as a saloon girl. You would make a pleasant diversion for him when he was not working on his assignment. He was probably furious to learn that you were married to one of the men he is here to investigate, and also frustrated to find that he won’t have the pleasure of knowing that glorious body of yours again.”

  She bowed her head, concentrating on cutting the slice of meat she did not want. “I suppose everything you say makes sense,” she murmured. “I know you don’t believe me, but more and more I come to be grateful for what you have given me, Corey. You saved my life twice. I suppose I’ve deserved your mistreatment of me. I will make up for it, and whatever you do with Travis Coltrane is your affair. I do not intend to meddle in my husband’s business.”

  A wide grin split his face. For a moment she thought he was going to leap from his chair and run to her. “My darling,” he whispered. “I’ve longed to hear you say these words. And tonight, after I finish some business, you and I will go to my special room on the third floor where no one will hear us. All night, all day tomorrow, we’ll make passionate love.”

  He glanced about the large, empty room. Then, with a conspiring gleam in his eyes, he whispered, “If I didn’t have to see some people after dinner, we would go to bed as soon as we finish eating.” He gave an exaggerated moan. “Oh, let’s talk of something else, darling. I won’t be able to stand it.”

  Change the subject, she thought quickly. “Perhaps we can have another ball later, one that will be successful. I’ll be stronger. There will be no interruptions.”

  “Of course we will. This time we won’t invite so many people.” His appetite had suddenly become huge. He chewed and swallowed with gusto, enjoying himself.

  “By the way”—he paused to sip his wine, dabbed at his lips with a linen napkin—“we have been invited to a ball at the Governor’s mansion in Raleigh next month. You will have a new d
ress, new jewels, diamonds this time. You will look even more beautiful than you did the other night. We’ll have Mrs. Rivenbark come out next week to begin the fittings.”

  He frowned. “The bruises, my darling. Have they disappeared?”

  “No.” It was hard to keep the coldness, the hatred from her voice as she remembered the pain and humiliation of that night. “It will be a while yet, I’m afraid.”

  “Well, when we do get her started, she will just have to work quickly. Let me know when you think you are ready.” Cocking his head to one side, he looked at her thoughtfully and murmured, “I regret having to beat you, Kitty, but the time had come.”

  “Can’t we try and forget all that?” Again she reached for her wineglass, her voice shrill. She wondered how long she could continue this charade. Every nerve in her body screamed with anticipation of what was about to happen. And here they sat, eating and drinking and chatting as though there had been a reconciliation.

  He nodded. He continued making small talk, asking how she had found little John. Was he delighted to see her? She nodded, said the appropriate things.

  She held back a sigh of relief when the meal finally ended. Corey escorted her to the bottom of the stairway. She could hear two men conversing behind the closed doors to the library that served as his private office.