Once she forced herself to calm down, she didn’t sink as fast. There was no need to waste energy screaming; she doubted she could be heard. She was too far from camp and the music was probably still playing. How could she have made such an error? Where was the fork? She scolded herself for not realizing how far she had walked, as the pool couldn’t be this distant from camp, and she hadn’t noticed a rag marker in quite a while. It had been rash not to bring a rifle or a guard. Jace had warned them about such precautions, and about quicksand being nearby. He had told them to never leave camp alone, and her Sir Lancelot was off in the jungle somewhere.
Hindsight was too late. Leigh saw a vine dangling in the hungry mud. She stretched her hand and tried to reach it. She prayed. She willed it to move closer. Her fingertips touched bark. The vine moved, the other way. Tears rolled down Leigh’s cheeks. She was going to die, she feared, and Jace would blame himself for her carelessness.
She struggled again for the live rope, quicksand to her shoulders by now. Miraculously her fingers captured it. With all her strength, she pulled and worked until she was on the bank. Leigh rolled to her back, exhausted, still holding the vine in a tight grasp. Her breathing was labored. Her heart pounded. She was covered in clingy muck, but alive. She cried in relief, and from tension.
Jace appeared and snatched her into his arms. He didn’t have to asked what happened. “That was stupid, Leigh!” he scolded, his temper getting the best of him from anxious relief. “I told you not to leave camp alone. What are you doing way out here?”
Leigh’s frightened gaze locked with Jace’s panicked one. She explained what had taken place, and noticed Jace’s odd stare. Giddy from her shock and his soothing presence, she quipped, “How did you find me? Sir Lancelot to the timely rescue again.”
“This isn’t amusing, woman. When Johi and I returned to camp, Reid and Cynthia told me you were at the spring alone. I followed your tracks. You didn’t even bring a rifle with you. How many tim—”
“I thought I had my derringer,” she interrupted. “I told them I would fire a shot if trouble struck.”
“Why didn’t you?”
“It’s gone.”
“No, it isn’t. I found your bag spilled back there. It’s right here,” he said, pulling out and holding up the little weapon.
“I didn’t see it. I suppose I was too scared. I got lost.”
“On a marked trail?” Jace scoffed. “You’re more skilled than that.”
Leigh had calmed enough to be miffed. “There was no fork.”
Jace lifted her and the bag and headed down the trail. He stopped at one point and said, “This fork, Leigh.”
The wide-eyed blonde gaped at the other trail to the right, several rags tied on both sides of the path. Jace carried her down it to a beautiful spot where an underground stream bubbled up into a deep crevice to form a pool. He lowered her legs to the ground.
“I didn’t see the fork. I guess I was looking up at the monkeys playing in the trees, then the bushes moved.” Faintly she heard music coming from the camp, and realized it wasn’t far away.
“That’s when you should have screamed for help. Why did you keep going without a weapon and getting farther from camp?”
“I had a limb, and I didn’t think,” she admitted. “I’ll bathe and change, then we’ll talk. All right?”
“Fine,” he concurred, knowing what he wanted to discuss.
“Want to join me?” she enticed, smiling to soothe him.
“The others could come looking for us. I’m sure Chad won’t like the idea of us being alone in such circumstances. Get cleaned up. I have something to discuss with you,” he remarked, sounding mysterious.
“Were Chad and Louisa in camp?” she inquired.
“Yes. In his tent having fun,” he added. “Cynthia and Reid were quarreling and drinking. Why did you ask about Chad and Louisa?”
She was aware of his odd gaze and tone. “You didn’t mention them earlier. I just wanted to make certain we’re alone.”
“We are. Johi is up ahead, guarding our privacy.”
Despite that remark, Leigh didn’t ask why it wasn’t safe to make love. After her near-death experience and days of denial, she yearned to be with Jace again. But clearly he did not feel the same, and she wondered why. She stripped and bathed, then dried and dressed. Jace kept his back to her, an action she found curious. She was also surprised that the keen-witted man hadn’t teased that she owed him an extra wager day for getting into danger, giving him five points. He was angry with her, she reasoned, but over an accident. There was no one to blame but herself. The gun was where it should be, and so was the marked trail. Jace had told her the others were in camp, so it must have been an animal in the bush. Everyone was accounted for, except Jace, who had been off in the jungle with Johi.
When she joined him, Jace asked, “Who is Tyler Clark?”
Leigh looked stunned. “Who told you about him?”
As she wrapped a drying cloth around her head turban style, he replied, “Louisa.”
“I might have known,” Leigh remarked with annoyance.
“Are you engaged to him?”
Her shock increased. “Heavens, no! Is that what she told you?”
“Yes. Why?” he probed, not taking his green eyes from her.
“I led her to believe we were sweethearts to stop her from worrying about me and Chad,” Leigh answered. “I detest Tyler.”
“Does she have reason to worry?”
Leigh didn’t know if he was serious or not, but he certainly appeared to be. Vexed by his attitude, she scoffed, “Don’t be ridiculous! How could I want Chadwick Hamilton when I have Jace Elliott?”
“You two have been very cozy lately,” he accused.
“Jealous?” she teased, unaware of his real turmoil.
“Should I be?” he questioned, his tone demanding and cool.
To settle him down, she explained, “He’s my guardian, stepuncle, business associate, and friend.”
“I don’t like him being any of those things to you.”
“None of them can be changed, Jace.”
“Why did you fake those spells on the trail?”
Leigh squinted her eyes and gaped at him. “What?”
“I found that tainted water in your canteen and that drugging powder in your tent,” Jace divulged. “What happened to it?”
Leigh came to full alert. Something was afoot. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Are we back to riddles, Sir Lancelot?”
Jace explained, and Leigh’s eyes grew wide and large. “You’ve been searching my tent? Spying on me?”
“If you didn’t pull those acts to help me win our wager, then who did? You do seem to be having a mighty lot of ‘accidents.’”
“Where is this notorious powder?”
“As I said, it’s gone. It was in your spare boots.”
“I see, the evidence is now missing?”
“You have my word it was there,” Jace vowed, “and your canteen was tampered with three times. Your gun, too, on the rhino hunt. Johi told me it wasn’t loaded when he checked all the guns that night. Did you forget to reload after practice or did you remove the cartridges?”
Leigh didn’t like this conversation. “Certainly not. That would be stupid and dangerous. Why didn’t you tell me about it?”
“I didn’t want to scold you, in case it was a one-time oversight. When you were having those curious spells, I didn’t want to scare you until I had proof. I should have kept that bottle when I found it, but I thought it might be medicine, until Johi checked it out by drugging an animal that last day in camp. I ordered him to check your gun and canteen every morning. Nothing’s happened to them since that last day you were ill. What did you and Chad discuss that night on your walk? Either it scared him, pleased him, or warned him to watch out.”
She caught his meaning. “Are you implying he’s a threat to me, and I said something clever to halt his plan?”
“I
think somebody on this safari is after you, besides me.”
“I see,” she murmured again. “I suppose you think this incident today was another false accident. I assure you it wasn’t.” She pointed out the facts to him. “So, you see, it was my fault. As for the powder and spells, that could be Louisa’s mischief. She is jealous.”
Jace was aware that she didn’t mention the other episodes. “If Louisa was to blame, she got rid of the evidence to avoid being caught.”
Leigh deliberated his words. Her father had taught her to use logic on problems, which she did now. It was illogical for Chad to harm her. It was illogical for a villainess to conceal her bane—her weapon and means to her downfall—where the victim could find it. By the same token, why would Jace lie? It had to be a mistake. It must have to do with him being suspicious of an old enemy, and perhaps wary of her and their wager. “Don’t you think this alleged plot is a little melodramatic, Jace? Chad would kill Louisa if she harmed me.”
“You’re Webster’s heir. What about Chad harming you?”
“I’m more than positive he wouldn’t,” she stated.
Her confidence riled Jace. He could not stop himself from taunting, “Because he loves you and wants to marry you.”
Leigh was worried about this change in the man she loved. She did not like him keeping secrets and acting sneaky. “You could be right, but that doesn’t matter to me. I’ll tell you something private that might put your mind at rest. Lord Chadwick Hamilton doesn’t inherit if I die. If death befalls me before I marry and produce an heir, William Webster’s estate is divided between two of his best friends.” Leigh wanted to stop this nonsense, so she didn’t mention Fiona as an heir. “For Chad to get his hands on any Webster money and property, he has to marry me. I ask you, would a man burn the only bridge across an impassable canyon to hid dreamland? That is, if I am the object of his greatest desire, as you believe and claim,” she hinted. She observed the effect of her disclosure, and noted disbelief.
Leigh continued. “I’ve read Grandfather’s will many times, and discussed it with a London lawyer. So has Chad and his mother. There are no loopholes. None, Jace. By the same token, why would Chad’s lover, who knows all his secrets, harm me and cause Chad to lose everything? He would hate her and discard her, and she’s smart enough to know that. So, that leaves me to suspect any deception. I ask you, why would Laura Leigh Webster beguile Jace Elliott?”
The instant those words left Leigh’s mouth, she knew she could not now tell Jace he was one of those two heirs. That would supply the motive her love was seeking! She berated herself for not telling him the truth sooner. She must hold silent with him staring at her with a mistrustful gleam in those narrowed green eyes. As much as she hated thinking it, Jace was the only one unaccounted for earlier, and he had so much to gain by her death. He was always around when she had accidents. No, she argued with herself, he could never harm her. It was distress playing tricks on her dazed mind and battle-weary body.
Jace turned and took a few steps from the distracting beauty. This news was most unexpected and befuddling. It explained why Leigh didn’t fear a threat from Chad. And it revealed why Chad was desperate to win William’s heir. Chad couldn’t be trying to harm her. Jace finally turned and asked, “Do you think Louisa is capable of plotting to kill you?”
Leigh pondered his serious question. Louisa Jennings was a spoiled, vain, spiteful, and impulsive—yes, she admitted—bitch. But committing cold-blooded murder to chance getting Chad … The redhead knew of Chad’s womanizing, knew she might never capture the handsome earl, knew another woman—besides Leigh—could steal him. Louisa could not go around murdering every female who caught Chad’s roving eye. She disliked and distrusted Louisa, but thinking the woman able to kill seemed unconscionable. “No. Louisa is capable of pulling mischievous tricks to scare me off or to prove she’s superior; but murder me, I think not. We both know ruses can get out of hand, as ours did in Mombasa. If she was responsible for any of those stunts, or all of them, obviously she’s been frightened into stopping.”
Jace was alarmed to discover that Leigh felt she was in no danger when his deepest instinct told him she was. “Will you at least keep your eyes and ears open, and be extra careful?” he entreated. He walked to her and gazed into her troubled eyes.
When Jace’s hand lifted to caress her cheek, Leigh pushed it aside. “Strange things have happened to me since I left America, Jace. I find it odd that you’re always around when they do. You were the only one not in camp today. You marked the trail I missed. You found my missing gun. Your friend prepares my canteen and weapon. We have a bet you want to win. The fort is in your territory. You were in London when I was attacked. You constantly accuse a man who can’t possibly want to harm me. You try to create doubts and fears in me so I’ll trust only you, yet you have no evidence. If we didn’t pull those tricks, there’s nobody left but you.”
Astonished, Jace stared at her. “You doubt me?”
Leigh needed to clear the wits of her confused lover. “No more than you doubted me when you searched my tent and asked me about those incidents. I’m hurt and disappointed. Why don’t we keep a little distance between us for a while? You’re already five points ahead. If I’m not careful, you’ll win our wager. I plan to do everything I can to make certain you don’t. Besides, you’ve already received the prize I wagered, and I’ve covered any extra nights you’ve won. You’re five points ahead, Jace, so your plantation isn’t in jeopardy. We both know rule three is a joke, so if you believed for one minute that I took staying with you for a year seriously and that I would fake an illness to entrap or elude you, you don’t know me at all.”
Jace halted Leigh’s departure. He had to explain, make her believe the truth. “Listen to me, woman. I guess I handled this talk all wrong. I’m too upset to think straight. I could have lost you to that quicksand. That could have been poison instead of a dazing drug in your canteen. That rhino could have charged you when your gun was empty. Those Arabs in Mombasa could have you far away in a harem by now. Those false sailors could have raped you and killed you in London. I didn’t do any of those things, Leigh. You must believe me. I’m sorry if I made it sound like I doubted you. We still have a lot to learn about each other. Everyone does impulsive things once in a while. I had to make certain you didn’t want me to win badly enough to take chances and be sneaky.”
“That’s fair enough, Jace, as long as I can also make certain you won’t be sneaky and desperate. I don’t believe you want to harm me or trick me. I only wanted to point out facts you missed. As you see, we both have valid reasons to doubt each other and to be cautious in our relationship. I do think you’re right about one important thing: we don’t know each other very well. I think it’s best if we get better acquainted before anything happens between us again.”
Jace was vexed with himself. He knew Leigh was honest, fair, and innocent. He had let his fears and worries cloud his thinking. Without panicking her, he had to discover the truth and protect her. He knew what must be done soon. “I’ve messed up things between us, haven’t I?” he asked.
She couldn’t lie. “No, but it does make us stop and think. This has taught us a lesson, Jace—not to judge too quickly and rashly. If you make real peace with Chad, it might help you get over this bitterness and mistrust of everyone. As long as you cling to the past, you’ll never be free of its demands. Let’s get back to camp before the others start thinking wild thoughts,” she hinted.
In camp, Jace revealed Leigh’s “accident” with the quicksand and watched the others for clues. “From now on, nobody leaves camp without a guard and a weapon. Tomorrow, we’re going after buffalo, so I suggest you all get a good night’s sleep after we eat.”
Chad grasped Leigh’s hand and asked, “Are you hurt?”
“Just my pride. It won’t happen again. I’m being too careless and having too many accidents lately. I’ll be extra alert in the future,” she remarked, knowing that would please Jace.
>
“It wasn’t my fault, Chad,” Louisa said. “I told her to take the path to the right. Didn’t I, Cynthia, Reid?”
The sullen couple who had not enjoyed their afternoon did not get a chance to back Louisa’s claims.
Leigh smiled at the almost frantic redhead and told her, “It was my fault, Louisa. I was looking the other way and missed the fork. Then I couldn’t locate my gun to fire a signal.”
Louisa eyed Jace’s quicksand-soiled clothes and Leigh’s freshly scrubbed look. She wondered if Chad noticed the implication in their appearances and realized how long they had been together in the steamy jungle. “Thank goodness Jace returned and rescued you.”
“I didn’t,” Jace reminded the woman. “Leigh pulled herself out.”
“You could have been killed,” Louisa wailed in guile. She wondered where Chad had been while she was getting ready to make love. Her lover had excused himself first and hadn’t joined her in their tent until sometime later, and in a strange mood. Was it possible …
“I’m fine.” Leigh wondered why the woman was so concerned about the accident. Was Louisa afraid Chad would blame her as he had done with the attack in London? Had the handsome earl discovered his lover guilty of drugging his ward, as Jace believed, and threatened her again? Perhaps, Leigh mused, she had dismissed Jace’s warnings too quickly or too lightly…
It was extremely hot and stuffy that night, so everyone slept with their tent flaps tossed aside and only mosquito netting covering the entrances. A large fire blazed in the clearing to discourage predators from strolling into camp. Nocturnal insects and birds were on the move during darkness. Floral odors clung to the heavy air, as did smoke from the flames where brush crackled as it was consumed.
Leigh tossed and turned for hours, plagued by this unexpected breach between her and Jace. Perhaps he did have valid reasons to think and say what he had, but it distressed her. Not only his behavior, but the fact he truly believed someone was a threat to her. It was possible, and that reality alarmed her. She hadn’t told him about Fiona being in line for the inheritance to halt his suspicions about Chad. She had gone over and over the matter, but still felt that Chad wouldn’t try to harm her to get half of an estate that would be years in coming. Nor would Chad want it split with anyone, especially with Jace Elliott. Perhaps, Leigh reasoned, she should tell Jace about her grandfather’s strange codicil. Maybe he could understand the inducement behind it.
Whispered Kisses Page 29