by Taylor Lee
He turned to Emil and Davy and motioned them to follow him.
At a distance from her door, he stopped and confronted his men.
“Look, fellows, several of us need to leave. Not sure when we’ll be back. Probably late.” Nodding to Ana’s door, he said, “She’s angry but also scared and upset. We need to give her a little room. But keep a close eye on her. She can go to her father’s room, but that’s it. I will arrange to have her dinner brought to her room. I don’t want her leaving this floor. Understand?”
The men nodded in agreement.
Gabe handed Emil a note. An ironic grin stole across his face. “I had a feeling she might not wish to speak to me. When she deigns to reenter her realm, give her this. And be careful, she may look delicate, but she has claws a grizzly would be proud of.”
The three men shared a rueful chuckle, then Gabe left to join the others.
~~~
Ana pressed her hands against her ears to block out the sound of his voice. She threw herself down on her bed. After a few moments she fell into an exhausted sleep, blocking out the mix of anger and fear crowding her.
When she woke, it was dark. She was surprised to see that several hours had passed. She jumped up and went to her bathroom. Shuddering at her puffy eyes, she washed her face and did the best she could to wipe away any signs of tears.
Seeing the two large men by her door, she tossed her head and walked by them without speaking. Damn, why didn’t he just put her in prison? Two other men she remembered as Pete and Carter were standing outside her father’s room. She nodded, and swept past them into her father’s room, closing the door behind her. A single lamp lit the chambers. Through the dim light she saw Quitin standing at a distance from her father’s bed. She motioned to him.
In the solarium, she turned to the diminutive Chinese man and spoke softly.
“Where is everyone?”
Quitin kept his eyes on the floor.
“The big men left several hours ago. They had a message. I am watching your father until Madam Ling returns.”
“Where is Kai?”
“Your brother went with Mr. Gabe and the others.”
In some perverse way, the fact that Kai went with Gabe and the others reignited her anger. Of course, she thought with a sneer. Kai was a man, not a disobedient emotional female.
Turning back to Quitin, she said, “You may leave now. I will stay with my father until Madam Ling arrives.”
When he hesitated, Ana knew Gabe had likely given him orders as well.
Her voice was curt.
“Please do as I say, Quitin. Go. Now.”
Quitin started, then bowed low and shuffled out of the room.
Ana stood by her father’s bed, relieved to see that he was sleeping soundly. The healers must have given him more medicine. He was breathing softly. The lines on his face carved by the pain, were less pronounced. She gave him a gentle kiss then sunk down in the big chair beside the bed. She forced herself to clear her mind, rid herself of the anger that was crushing her, making it hard to breathe. Instead she focused on her father’s face, thanking every god she’d ever prayed to that he had not died.
She didn’t know how long she’d sat in the chair, a thousand thoughts swirling through her brain, when she remembered it was Monday night. With a satisfied grunt, she thought about her secret, the one she’d kept even from Kai. When she first learned that Gabe was the Ace Angel, and before she remembered the womanizing part of his legend, she’d been awed. Since she was sixteen years old she’d been infatuated with poker. She loved the challenge of it. She was certain that she had a gift. A way of seeing the cards as mathematical formulae. And that fascinated her. When Gabe had laughed at her assertion, she’d been tempted to tell him about her Monday night secret soirées. But given his arrogance she’d refused to embarrass herself further. Let him think she was a sheltered know-nothing. Some day she would play him and show him he wasn’t the only ace.
Somehow she had kept her secret. For two years now, every first Monday of the month she’d snuck out and joined a private game at Shorty’s. The first several times she disguised herself in her stable boy’s garb, but after several months she revealed herself to the shocked table. Seeing the heiress to the largest fortune in the valley at their table, the veteran poker players saw the advantage of keeping her secret. They knew that any bet she made could be backed up in gold if necessary. But they never had to press the point; eighty percent of the time, Ana was the night’s big winner. For two years the players had been the same, guarding her privacy, charmed by the lovely young woman who regularly stripped them of their dignity and their money. They were truly gentlemen gamblers, so they loved her in spite of it.
As Ana rested in her chair, reveling as she always did in this other outrageous side of her, the side that even her father and brother didn’t know, she wished that she dared slip away tonight. Scoffing at how unlikely that was, given that she was guarded like a princess in a medieval tower, she had to be content with the memory of the illicit pleasure she felt every time she snuck away. And that was when it hit her. The elusive thought that she had been chasing all day long. The memory that could be important to finding her father’s attacker.
Ana leapt out of the chair, her heart pounding with excitement. She remembered now. It was a passing reference, lost in the horror of what followed. At the waterfall, Marty had referred to the poker game. That he’d heard Eli and Slade say she was quite the little poker player. Why hadn’t she thought about that before? Eli and Slade, two of the regulars in the game, had left her father’s and went to work for Peter Harcourt. And been replaced at their ranch with Marty and Jake? Remembering Peter’s fury on the balcony, her head buzzed. God, was there a connection? What did it mean? Anything? And if it didn’t, why had the hidden memory been haunting her all day? She stopped, rooted to the spot as the realization flooded her. The only people who could tell her the truth were Eli and Slade themselves. And she knew exactly where they were tonight. At the poker game.
Chapter 26
She struggled with the implausible idea. Did she dare? In a split second her excitement crashed. How could she? There had to be twenty guards surrounding the villa. There was no way she could sneak out. Could she convince one of them to let her go? Go with her? Maybe. She had to think. There must be a way.
“Miss Ana? Are you all right?”
Ana whirled to see Madam Ling standing in the doorway, frowning at her. Oh God, was she talking out loud again? Had she said something? She was rattled, shaken. Taking a deep breath, she calmed herself.
“No, I am fine, Madam Ling. I’m glad you are here. My father seems to be resting comfortably.”
“Yes, Miss Ana. I expect him to sleep through the night. Mr. Gabe arranged for his men to take shifts watching him. He wanted you to be able to sleep in your own bed tonight.”
Ana couldn’t quash her irritation. Dammit, did he have to run everything, including where she slept?
“He did, did he?”
She saw that Madam Ling misunderstood her irritated response when the serious Chinese woman quickly added, “One of the healers will be in the room at all times. You don’t have to worry, Miss Ana. If we need you, we will come and get you immediately.”
Even as she spoke, Ana recognized the arrangement could give her cover. She nodded as if in agreement.
“Thank you, Madam. I appreciate everything you are doing. Please come and get me if he wakes. No matter what time it is.”
“I will, dear. But we gave Master Chao medication that will help him sleep until morning. That is what he needs now.”
Assuming composure she didn’t actually feel, Ana went to her father’s bedside and kissed his cheek. She whispered to him that she loved him and then squeezed his hand, asking his forgiveness in advance for what she planned to do.
“Good night, Madam Ling.”
They exchanged formal bows and Ana hurried from the room. She needed to get to her chambers. She needed to
be alone. She had to think. Turning the corner she almost ran into her aunt. Penelope jumped back with a shrill cry as if she had seen a ghost. Ana frowned. “I’m… I apologize, Aunty. I didn’t see you coming.”
To Ana’s surprise, Penelope grasped her arm and gasped, “Is he all right?”
Ana was startled by her aunt’s appearance. She looked disheveled, unkempt. Without her rouges and lip paints and fancy clothes, she looked like the old woman she would soon become. Wisps of grey hair stuck out from all sides of her usually tightly contained chignon. Her eyes were wide, glassy. She seemed shaky. If Ana didn’t know better, she would think that her aunt had been drinking.
Ana tried to release her arm.
“My father is sleeping, Auntie. I expect that he will sleep through the night.”
Her aunt visibly trembled. “But… but is he all right?”
“Do you mean, will he live?”
The frazzled woman snapped, “Yes, you foolish girl. Of course that is what I mean!”
Ana was startled, frankly puzzled by her aunt’s response. Penelope made no secret of her disdain for Chao. Her concern was unexpected.
Penelope’s face flushed, and a closer breath confirmed that her unsteadiness was likely caused by too much port.
She clutched Ana’s arm and peered into her face as if she were looking for an answer Ana was hiding. “It’s his fault. You know that don’t you? You can’t deny it. He caused this.”
Ana forcibly removed her aunt’s hand from her arm.
“I don’t understand what you are saying, Auntie. Are you blaming my father because someone tried to kill him?”
Penelope shrieked. “No, no. Not Chao. That dreadful McKenna man! It is his fault! It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Look at everything that has happened since he came here. He is to blame.”
Ana forced herself to be calm, not react to her aunt’s outrageous suggestions. She was troubled by the fear she saw in Penelope’s eyes. She looked as though she were bordering on hysteria. Blessedly she heard Penelope’s personal maid call out.
Brigit was a large buxom Irish woman. She was the only maid who had lasted more than a month serving Penelope personally.
“Ah there you are, dearie. I was wonderin’ where you be getting off to. Come along now.” The red-haired freckled woman wrapped a strong arm around the frail woman and led her down the hall. She gave Ana a knowing wink over her aunt’s shoulder. “I be thinkin’ our nice little lady here has had too much excitement these last few days.”
Shaken by her aunt’s appearance and her own need to be alone, Ana scurried away. Turning the corner she almost ran into the big pink-cheeked man they called Davy. Behind her, another large man appeared. They effectively pinned her between themselves.
“Excuse me, Miss Ana,” Davy said. “May I ask where you are going?”
Ana raised her chin and glared at him. “You may ask me anything you wish. It is unlikely I will answer.”
Davy smiled a sweet smile but his eyes were hard. “You need to go to your chambers.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Um, yes, Ma’am. Gabe was concerned.” Davy’s face pinked even more but his voice was firm. “We have fewer men here tonight. Gabe wants you to stay in your room.”
Ana couldn’t believe what she heard. This truly was the final straw.
“He told you that I am to stay in my room? He said that?” Her voice was shaking. Ana was so angry she could barely speak. She drew herself up and although she only came to his armpit, he stepped back.
“Excuse me! Do you know who I am?”
Davy flushed but took a step closer and spoke politely. “Yes, Ma’am, I do. You are the woman Gabe wants in her room tonight.”
Ana moved toward the door, refusing to show him her rage.
Striking a conciliatory note, the young man pasted a pained smile on his face. “Ma’am, I will arrange to have your dinner brought to your room. Gabe said he wants you to eat—”
“Don’t bother.” Ana’s voice was tight, barely controlled. She moved through the doorway and wound up to close the door in his face. Davy put his foot in the doorway, stopping her. He handed her a note.
“Gabe also asked me to give you this.”
Ana snatched it from his hand and kicked his foot out of the way. With her head held high, she marched into her chambers locking the door behind her.
She opened the note and stared at all three lines of it.
Sorry you are upset, Ana. These last two days have been a trial for you.
Get some rest. We will talk in the morning.
Ana was enraged. Davy was correct. Gabe really did intend to send her to her room. While he and the men were out looking for the scum who attacked her father, even taking her brother with them, she was supposed to go to bed like a good little girl.
She made her decision. The hallways were filled with his men. Even though Gabe had taken many of them with him, the courtyard was sprinkled with dark dangerous men. Ana consoled herself. It wasn’t as though she had never snuck out of the house. She did it at least one a month. She tossed her dress and fancy shoes into a heap. Crawling naked into her closet she found her stable boy’s clothes. Pulling them on she twisted her hair into a tight braid and tucked it under her cowboy hat, and yanked on her worn boots. A quick glance in the mirror confirmed that she looked like a fifteen-year-old boy, not a young woman set on solving the crime that had torn her family apart and caused irreparable havoc in her life, and in her heart.
She stuffed pillows and a quilt under the coverlet, creating a passable form of a sleeping body. Squaring her shoulders, she moved quickly shoving aside any second thoughts and opened the door to her balcony. The moon, a mere sliver of light in the dark cloudy sky, was her helpmate. Taking a deep breath, she hooked her leg over the railing and found the chink in the brick that had been her toehold for years. Within seconds she’d slithered to the ground, a small dark figure hugging the wall. The most dangerous stretch was the distance between the house and the barn. The fifty-yard expanse called for stealth and the brazen knowledge that no one could stop her. Ana had both.
Chapter 27
Gabe stood outside Chao’s door relieved and frustrated. He was relieved to see his friend sleeping peacefully, an alert Chinese healer sitting in the chair beside his bed. But he desperately needed to talk with Chao. Chao was the only one who could fill in the blanks of a picture that was becoming clearer. He and his men had questioned no fewer than fifty potential witnesses today. They included everyone from the local sheriff to the feed store owner to the brothel madams in every hangout between here and San Francisco. Anyone who had even a passing familiarity with the six men they were targeting had been questioned. Three men popped to the top of the list. Sadly all six suspects were open in their hatred of Chinese and of Chao Li in particular. The three suspects topping the list were frequent visitors at Dominic’s Lucky Lady. The bankers they consulted confirmed the amount of money the three lost to Chao Li in the last year alone was staggering. While Gabe had always known that Chao was a shrewd businessman, the depth of his cunning and insights surprised even Gabe.
Gunnar and Eagle humored him and kept Peter Harcourt on the short list. But even Gabe had to agree that Peter didn’t exhibit the incriminating behavior that the others did. No one remembered him speaking ill of the Chinese. Most telling, there was no evidence of financial loss to Chao. Peter wasn’t on Chao’s list. All Gabe had was his anger at Peter’s smarmy attentions to Ana and his own itchy neck.
Accepting the fact that he wasn’t going to speak with Chao tonight, Gabe headed down the quiet hallway to Ana’s room. Though it was after midnight and he was sure she was sleeping, Gabe hoped that she might be awake. He wanted to talk to her. Hell, he thought with a groan what he really wanted was to crawl in bed beside her and hold her, feel that luscious body hard up against his. His arousal flared at the image and he shook his head in disgust at his errant prick. Remembering her fury at what he had to admit wa
s his high-handed behavior, he knew it was unlikely Ana would open her door to him, much less her arms.
Davy and Emil jumped to their feet, greeting him in low tones.
“She’s sleeping?” Gabe asked, nodding to the closed door, and motioning them away from the doorway.
Davy shrugged. “I expect so. We haven’t heard anything in at least four or five hours, have we, Emil?”
Emil nodded in agreement. A sneaky smile crept over his usually stern face. “Given how angry she was, I gotta tell you, Gabe, I expected to hear the sound of breaking glass or splintering wood. Wouldn’t have been surprised to see some broken furniture and a smashed lamp or two.” He grinned appreciatively. “That is one spitfire of a woman, Gabe.”
Davy chortled in agreement. “Yeah, you may have bit off more than you can chew with that one, Gabe. That little girl was madder than a wet hen. I never seen a woman that small puff up like an adder. Phew, I wasn’t sure Emil and I was going to make it out alive when I told her you wanted her to stay in her room. I’m glad she didn’t have a lethal weapon on her although the daggers she was throwing could’ve taken us down if we wasn’t expecting them.”
Gabe smiled at their apt descriptions, knowing only too well the temperamental behavior they described. Hell, he’d barely known her for two weeks, but had been astonished at the range of emotions that spewed forth from one imposing young woman who at first glance was a sheltered, shy recluse.
“I’m glad the two of you were able to contain a woman half your size, fellows,” Gabe said with an ironic grin. He added, not suppressing a worried frown: “She ate, right?”
“Hell, no,” Davy exclaimed with a barely contained laugh. “I think that was the final straw, Gabe. After I told her you wanted her in her room and that you wanted her to eat her dinner, she woulda slammed the door in my face if I hadn’t wedged my foot in it.”