by J. R. Ward
She let out a gasp. “How can you be so cruel?”
“Candace, you knew from the start where things stood between us. I’ve always been upfront with you.”
“But I love you. I thought we were going to get married. I thought that’s why you wanted me to come here. To ask me to marry you.”
“I never gave you that impression.” Nick’s head was moving back and forth grimly.
“You are breaking my heart.” This was followed by a sad, choked sob that chilled Carter. “I knew I should have listened to my father, my friends. They warned me about you, about how you always do this. Whenever someone gets close, you pull away. I just never thought it would happen to me.”
Carter wrapped her arms around herself. She had to wonder whether she was volunteering for the same fate if she went sailing with him. He was obviously pursuing her, but then, he must have done the same thing to Candace. If she gave in to him, she’d likely end up getting a similar brush-off, eventually.
“How could you?” the woman murmured and then let out a sniffle. When Nick made no move to comfort her, she grew angry and went back to glaring at him. “So how long is this new one going to last? Are you going to play her along like you did me?”
“You jumped to your own conclusions. I was very clear about what I wanted. Besides, I have every confidence you will rebound.”
“I’m not one of your stocks!”
Nick’s tone was close to bored. “Candace, I know you’re seeing someone else in the city. You have been for almost two months now. I’m not holding the infidelity against you but don’t try and play the ruined innocent, okay?”
There was a sharp intake of breath.
With that, Nick turned to go, only to halt when he saw Carter crouched for flight. As their eyes met, hers widened in embarrassment. He showed no reaction.
Candace seemed to take the hesitation as an encouraging sign.
“Darling, let’s not fight.” She reached out and touched his arm.
The sight of the woman’s red nails on his shirt was the last thing Carter saw as she fled.
“There was no bear,” Ivan told Nick the next day. The two men were in the garage, leaning against the tractor.
“I don’t get it. She said she saw one.”
“Don’t know of no bear that wears sneakers and walks upright. Do you?”
Nick frowned in confusion. Are you sure there wasn’t one?”
Ivan shot him a dry look.
“Of course, you are,” Nick muttered. “Could the prints have been from one of the Swifts?”
“The new ones were man-sized and that Buddy, he wears hiking boots. Also, they came up from the back. Whoever it was used the rear trail that hooks down onto the road.”
“Why the hell would she lie?”
With a sharp noise, the front door to the mansion slammed shut as Candace appeared. She was dressed in a dark blue linen suit, high heels, and plenty of gold jewelry. Her face was drawn in rigid lines.
“So she’s going back to the city,” Ivan commented.
“She is.”
Nick wasn’t looking forward to the trip to the train station. It would take less than an hour but he had a feeling it was going to be an interminable drive.
“Is she coming back?”
“No.”
Ivan nodded.
Nick glanced at the older man. “You never liked her, did you?”
“Doesn’t matter now, does it?”
Nick shrugged and then got into the Porsche.
The excursion to town was every bit as awkward as he’d imagined but, when he deposited Candace at the terminal with her luggage, he wished her well. She didn’t reply, just stared off in the direction the train would be coming from. Standing next to her monogrammed bags, she appeared to be a perfect lady, but he had a feeling she’d have tucked a live grenade into his shorts if she’d had the chance.
On the way back home, he thought of how Carter had looked when he’d caught her listening in on the breakup. Her face had been bright red as she’d wheeled around and hightailed it down the hall. He laughed softly at the memory.
He couldn’t wait to be with her. An enthralling picture of the two of them naked in the river came to mind. He saw himself running water over her skin with his hands, kissing her neck and her shoulders…
Abruptly, Buddy Swift’s face intruded on the fantasy, ruining it.
Cursing out loud, Nick stomped his foot on the accelerator and rocketed into a straightaway.
Fair was fair, he thought darkly. He’d gotten rid of his designer baggage, so Carter could get rid of her extra backpack.
This kind of stipulation was a new development for him. He wasn’t typically one to demand monogamy in affairs. It hardly seemed fair since he was so uninterested in permanent ties. Besides, the women he’d been with tended to give him their fidelity with eagerness, figuring it was their best shot at the golden ring. If they did see other people, he didn’t ask and they didn’t tell.
But Carter was different. He wasn’t going to share her with anyone.
“So, how’d you like sleeping in a real bed last night?” Buddy asked while shoving his trowel into the dirt. “That mattress feel good?”
Carter looked up from her work. With Ellie still asleep in her tent, they were digging at the site alone. “It was nice. The shower was the high point.”
“I was surprised you didn’t spend the whole night. Did Farrell turn into a bad host? Not that I can’t imagine him being anything other than perfectly accommodating,” he said sarcastically.
She wiped her brow with the back of her hand. “You don’t like him, do you?”
“More to the point, he doesn’t like me.”
“Oh, come on. He’s a little brusque to everyone.”
“Brusque? I feel like the man’s ordering my tombstone every time I see him.”
“You don’t get to the top of the heap on Wall Street by being a nice guy.”
Buddy looked up with an incredulous eye. “Don’t tell me you think this is just about his personality.”
“I’m sure that’s what it is,” she said firmly, hoping he would take the hint and let the subject drop.
“Listen to me.” Her friend’s voice was serious as he wagged his trowel at her. “That man wants you, Carter. And he’s not going to let anything or anyone stand in his way.”
Rolling her eyes, while swallowing a secret thrill, she thrust her hand shovel into the ground. With a sharp sound, she hit something solid.
“What was that?” Buddy asked.
“I don’t know.”
She reached over for a more delicate tool. Moving more slowly, she brushed away the earth until a stretch of bone was exposed to the air. Digging around it, she found herself looking at a thighbone and hip socket.
“This looks human,” she announced. Buddy immediately came over just as Ellie and Cort appeared at the site.
“What’d you find?” Cort asked excitedly.
“Someone’s leg, I think.”
The group clustered around Carter.
“How do you know it’s a someone instead of something?” Ellie asked as she peered over for a look.
“Based on its shape and size.” Carter highlighted the distinguishing features with the tip of her brush. “Considering the length of the bone and its angle into the joint here, I’d say this was probably a male, about eighteen years of age. I’ll need to see the full pelvic area to be sure.”
“Do you have to call the cops?” Cort asked.
Buddy nodded. “Even though these look like old bones and we have a permit to dig on this site, we’ll need to have the state police come and confirm this isn’t a crime scene. If this proves to be a Native American burial ground, which is unlikely given the lack of ceremonial artifacts so far, we’d also tell the appropriate tribal authorities. I’ll go get on the horn right now.”
As Buddy left for camp, Cort came in for a closer look. “How long ago did he die?”
Carter
cocked her head as she considered the bones. “Going by the look of the bone and the composition of the soil, which was deep and seemed undisturbed, I’d say it was a long time ago. I’d also guess he’d been buried.”
“Buried?”
“I suspect further excavation will show this to be a shallow grave. Someone either killed him or found him dead and rolled the body into a hole.”
“Creepy,” Ellie murmured. “What are you going to do now?”
“Nothing until the state police get here. It’s tough not to keep digging, though. I’m really curious to learn more about this man. Hopefully, we’ll be able to find some clues to his identity.”
“Don’t hold your breath for a driver’s license,” Cort said wryly.
Carter smiled. “Buttons, buckles, bullets, and coins will tell us a lot if we find them. If he’s as old as I think he is, anything cloth or leather would have mostly rotted away, but the metal hangs around. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find something personal.”
She thought of Winship’s cross.
To Carter’s surprise and delight, it wasn’t long until Ivan showed up at the site with two state policemen. They were strapping young men, dressed in gray uniforms, and they seemed to know Ivan really well. The staties made a thorough but expedient review of the find and declared that the dig could proceed.
“Thanks for coming so quickly,” Carter said as they were about to leave. “I was thrilled you got here so soon.”
The taller of the two smiled at her. “We’d do anything for Mr. Farrell. We take care of our own.”
Her curiosity must have shown on her face because he explained, “I’m Gertie McNutt’s nephew’s kid and my partner’s Ivan’s second cousin once removed.”
“We’re just one big family up in these parts,” the other officer said. “Say, you think you’re going to find any other skeletons?”
She shrugged. “Maybe. I hope so.”
“And what about the gold?” The guy’s eyes lit up. “We’ve been hearing about that fortune all our lives. How it’s up here somewhere.”
Carter smiled. “Who knows? I’m really more interested in the people.”
“Have you seen Red Hawk?”
The man’s partner rolled his eyes. “Come on, McNutt. Of course there’s hawks up here.”
“I mean the Indian. My grandmother always said that Red Hawk haunts the Farrell peaks. During the day he flies in the form of a bird, but at night he comes as a ghost. I remember hearing stories about people coming up to this site and getting scared away by him. He doesn’t like visitors, apparently.”
“Aw, leave it, will you?” The taller one offered Carter a wink. “You just call if you find anyone else. We’ll come running.”
Carter thanked them again and waved as they left.
“They were nice,” she said to Buddy. When she looked over at him, she was surprised at the frown on his face. “What’s the matter with you?”
“No one told me about a ghost.”
“Aw, come on. You don’t believe in that kind of stuff, do you?”
“Maybe I do.”
Ellie laughed. “C.C., don’t get him started. He’ll have nightmares.”
Buddy shot his daughter a mock glare. After Ellie and Cort ambled over to where Carter had been digging before, he dropped his voice.
“Seriously, I’ve noticed that someone’s been walking around camp at night. There are fresh tracks in the mornings.”
Carter frowned while a stab of fear went through her. “Are you sure you know what to look for?”
Her friend shrugged. “Just keep on your toes. No telling who’s roaming this mountain.”
Carter was feeling disturbed as they all settled down with their shovels and their buckets. Soon, however, the find captured her full attention. Working steadily until the light dimmed, and pausing only to photograph her progress, she peeled away the skeleton’s blanket of sweet-smelling earth. When she’d exposed the area from his feet all the way up to his sternum, she stopped. It was getting difficult to see and she was cramping up from her efforts. Besides, she didn’t want to reveal the man’s skull to the night. It just didn’t seem right. He’d had enough darkness and deserved to be welcomed out of his rest by daylight.
Carter put her shovel and her brushes aside and surveyed her work with satisfaction. There were indications that the skeleton was from the Revolutionary period. She’d found brass buttons interspersed among the ribs and vertebra, which indicated the man had been a British soldier. They were lucky he’d been buried in his uniform.
“Bones are in good shape, aren’t they?” Buddy commented.
“He is a fine one,” she agreed, getting to her feet.
“So, what do you know?”
“The pelvic bone confirms it was a male and the metallurgic finds suggest he was a Brit. There’s evidence here”—she leaned in and pointed to a part of the rib cage—“that he may have died of a stabbing. Either knife or bayonet. The rib pattern is disrupted and you can see several bones broken in a manner consistent with that kind of trauma.”
Ellie and Cort wandered over.
“Did I hear something about a stabbing?” the girl asked.
Carter nodded. “It appears as if he might have—”
“Been murdered?” Cort interjected.
“Died by knife wound.”
“Then he could have been murdered. By the Indian,” he prompted urgently.
“You need a heck of a leap to get to that conclusion.”
“But he was a British soldier—you said so. And from the Revolutionary period. So he could have been one of General Farnsworth’s men.” The kid was growing more excited with every word. “Maybe the gold’s around here, too.”
“Perhaps. But right now, we need to focus on what we’ve found. Will you grab that tarp? We better get him covered up.”
Cort brought over a stretch of blue plastic, and they covered the exposed skeleton, nailing the corners into the ground with stakes.
“I wonder if he’ll start haunting us because we disturbed him,” Ellie said softly.
“You don’t have to be afraid,” Cort reassured her. “From all the stories I’ve heard, the dead don’t hurt anyone. They just kind of float around.”
“Actually, I was kind of looking forward to it. I may not like looking at the bones, but ghosts are cool.”
Cort cocked his head, giving the girl serious consideration. Abruptly, the kid grinned, as if struck by a thought that pleased him.
“Well, if you do get scared, you can come down and stay at my house.” He glanced awkwardly at Buddy. “All of you. I mean, now that Candace is gone, it’s just me and him.”
Carter, who had begun to pick up her trowels and other tools, struggled to keep moving naturally.
“Since when?” Buddy asked.
“Today. Uncle Nick put her on the train this morning. It was really sudden and she didn’t look happy about it. I don’t think she’s coming back. Ever.”
“What gave you that impression?”
“Uncle Nick came back whistling. He always does that, whenever he gets rid of them.”
Carter forced her hands to continue their work, while wondering what in the hell she was getting herself into.
Nick was in the kitchen, eating with Gertie and Ivan, when Cort came through the back door.
“The skeleton’s cool,” the kid announced as he retrieved a glucose monitor from a special cupboard. Inside were syringes, test strips, and medicines. “And he may have been murdered.”
“Good Lord,” Gertie said, pausing with her fork in the air. “Who told you that?”
“Carter.” He waited for the machine to calculate his blood sugar level and then injected himself with insulin. When he was finished, he took a seat in front of an empty plate. As Gertie passed a serving dish of lamb toward him, he shook his head. “No, thanks. I already ate. You know, Carter’s totally cool. She knows everything. She’s really smart. And you should see what the bones look like. Th
ey’re really amazing.”
Nick kept his voice noncommittal. “Maybe I’ll go up and take a look.”
Maybe? Hell, he’d been ready to head up the mountain as soon as he’d returned from the train station, but he’d forced himself to wait. He wanted to give her a day to set that Buddy guy straight.
Which meant at the crack of dawn tomorrow, he was putting on his hiking boots.
When Gertie got up to bring over an apple pie for dessert, Ivan and Nick helped clear their plates.
“That Ellie girl is very nice,” she said while sitting back down. “She’s your age, isn’t she?”
“Yeah.” Cort turned the color of cherries.
“Do you like her?”
“Gertie!” Ivan hissed, as he picked up the coffeepot and a few mugs. “You don’t go intruding on a man’s private thoughts like that.”
His wife shrugged and put a slice of pie in front of her husband’s seat. “If I hadn’t cornered you in that diner, we never would have gotten married. You’d have pined after me for years, stuck in your seat at that counter like your pants were nailed down.”
Now it was Ivan’s turn to get red in the face.
“I would have said something eventually,” he mumbled while filling his wife’s mug.
“Deathbed confessions don’t count.”
“I don’t know about that,” Nick said, accepting his slice. “They’re likely to be honest.”
“Only way too late,” Gertie argued.
Cort looked up at his uncle. “It matters more if you hear it sooner. My mom always told me she loved me. Except for that last time she left. She meant to, I think. But they were late and…” Everyone froze around the table. Cort glanced around, embarrassed. “Anyway, I’m glad she’d told me a ton before she didn’t come back.”
The kid looked down and played with the fork and knife in front of him.
Ivan reached over and gave Cort’s shoulder a squeeze. If anyone else had reached out to him, he would have bolted from the table. They all knew it. The kid was strung like a wire but, after Ivan touched him, he seemed to settle a little.
Nick watched, envious. It was hell, being so far away from his nephew, not being the one to comfort him.
Sifting through the years, reaching back into the nether regions of his mind, Nick remembered when he’d been upset as a boy. Like Cort, Ivan’s silent, powerful love had been the only thing he’d let touch him.