Love and Dreams: The Coltrane Saga, Book 6

by Patricia Hagan

  “Yes…” came a snarl from the shadowy doorway that brought both of them leaping to their feet. “Like other men’s wives!”

  Bryan emerged from the darkness into the light, and he was pointing a gun.

  “Coltrane,” he said raggedly, menacingly. “Didn’t anybody ever tell you that fooling with another man’s wife can get you killed?”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Colt quickly stepped in front of Jade, shielding her as best as he could. “Who the hell are you?”

  Bryan laughed, a maniacal sound, as Jade told Colt who he was. She struggled to move from behind him, but he wrestled her back as she shouted, “Put that gun down! Have you gone crazy?”

  In a quiet, dread tone, more ominous and frightening than if he’d screamed, Bryan said, “You knew I was crazy a long time ago, Jade…crazy in love with you…and I swore I’d kill anyone who tried to take you away from me.”

  Colt, unnerved but trying not to show it, held out his hand in pleading. “Listen, Stevens, put down the gun and let’s talk. Peacefully.”

  Bryan raised an eyebrow. “Talk? What’ve we got to talk about, you cocky bastard! I find you here, with my wife, and it’s quite obvious from the looks of both of you what you’ve been doing. I’d say all we have to talk about is which one of you I should kill first.” He spoke through gritted teeth.

  With her face pressed against Colt’s back, Jade whispered as loudly as she dared, “Please. Let me handle this. Please.”

  Colt shrugged away her request. “Let her get out of here, and you and I’ll settle this.”

  At that, Bryan threw back his head and laughed long and loud, but he held the gun unwaveringly, not giving Colt the chance he was looking for to jump him and wrestle it away.

  “Colt, please,” Jade begged once more. “Let me try before someone gets hurt. Please…” Her nails dug into his back in desperation.

  “All right,” he growled over his shoulder, “but stay behind me.”

  “Bryan, listen,” she began, “don’t do anything foolish. We can talk about it, and—”

  “Oh, Jade, shut up,” he ordered. “Get over here by me, or I swear I’ll kill him.”

  Colt snapped. “Don’t move.”

  “Don’t try to be a hero,” Bryan sneered. “If you don’t let her go, I’ll put a bullet where it’ll do the most good—to keep you from chasing other men’s wives.” He pointed the gun at Colt’s crotch and snickered.

  Suddenly Jade made her move, leaping to one side. Colt tried to stop her, but Bryan fired, the shot zinging between the two of them. Jade screamed, stumbled forward, and Bryan grabbed her and slung her roughly behind him, where she went sprawling to the floor.

  Colt froze where he stood—helpless for the moment.

  Bryan pointed the gun at his head. “I’m going to tell you once, and once only.” His lips were curled back over his teeth in an ominous snarl. “Get the hell out of here. Now! Don’t ever try to see my wife again or I’ll kill you. And I’ll be within my rights to do so.”

  Colt looked at Jade, and she waved him toward the door. “Go, please. He’s insane. He’ll kill us both if you don’t do as he says. Just get out. Now.”

  Colt turned desperate, anguished eyes on Jade as she scrambled to her feet. Uncertainly, he said, “I can’t leave you here with this lunatic—”

  “You have no choice!” Bryan waved him toward the door. “Out. Now.”

  Colt stood there, lips moving, but no sound came. He knew he had no chance to wrestle the gun away for fear that Jade might get shot in the process. For the moment, he had no choice but to retreat. Pointing an unwavering finger at Bryan, he raspingly warned, “I’ll go. But if you harm her, I swear—”

  Bryan fired. The bullet landed between Colt’s feet. “You’re not in a position to issue ultimatums. Now get out of here before I change my mind and kill you.”

  Colt walked out, sending Jade a silent message with his eyes that he’d somehow find a way to see her. She sensed his meaning, turned away, feeling wretched, not caring in that moment if Bryan did kill her, because she knew it was the last time she would ever see the only man she could ever love.

  Bryan stepped to the window to look down on the street and make sure Colt was really going. Then he put away his gun and grabbed Jade by the elbow to steer her from the studio. “Take one last look,” he said hatefully. “It’s the last time you’ll ever see this place.”

  Fearfully, Jade asked what he meant.

  He jerked her roughly along down the stairs. “I’m taking you to the one place where we had peace, happiness, where you loved me…where we should have stayed. Because it was only here, back in civilization, that we started having problems. We are going,” he said with absolute finality, “to the Isle of Jade!”

  They reached the street. He looked about, made sure Colt was not lurking, then led her toward his carriage…which he’d driven himself. Ungraciously, he shoved her up into the seat, then slid in beside her and popped the reins over the horses’ rumps.

  Fear had gradually been overshadowed by raw fury, and Jade turned on him in a frenzy. “You can’t do this, Bryan! You can’t just kidnap me, make me, a prisoner!”

  “Shut up!” he screamed at her. He raised his hand as if to slap her, and she shrank from him. He shook his head in self-loathing, his voice breaking as he whispered, “My God! My God…look what you almost made me do! I’ve never hit a woman in my life, never shot at a man, and you nearly caused me to commit murder.”

  “Don’t try to make me feel guilty, Bryan. It won’t work. None of this would’ve happened if you had told the truth. I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “You let that bastard make love to you!” he accused.

  She stared at him incredulously. “We had every right. He’s my husband, Bryan. Not you! You and I were never legally married!”

  “Does he remember being married to you?”

  “No, but—”

  “Then as far as he’s concerned, he’s having an illicit affair, cheating on the woman he thinks is his wife with the woman he believes is the wife of another man. I’d say that makes him a no-good scoundrel, and I should’ve ended his worthless life. But no matter. You’re never going to see him again, and I don’t have to live with his blood on my hands.”

  He sent the horses into a fast trot. Jade stared straight ahead, unseeing, as her brain whirled in a frenzy of plans. As soon as they reached the house, she planned to leap down and run inside, barricade herself within, and call the police. When they arrived, she’d tell them she was being kept against her will, and they’d make Bryan let her go. Then she would go to a hotel and hide there till she could book passage to Europe. God, it hurt so bad to think she’d never see Colt again, but what choice did she have? There was no way she could tell him the truth now, and no way she could risk seeing him after Bryan had proved he was capable of mayhem. It was sad, heartbreaking, but all she could do was run for her life!

  They reached the house, and Bryan directed the horses up the driveway, where he’d left the gate open. He took them to the carriage house in the rear where recently installed electric lights shone from within.

  Jade made ready to make her move.

  Bryan slowed the horses, entered the building, reined them to a halt.

  Now! her brain commanded. She leaped from the carriage, turned toward the doors, then gasped and stopped short as they quickly slammed shut. Bryan was still in the carriage, so who…?

  Lita leaned back against the closed doors and smiled.

  “You!”

  She nodded. “Did you really think I’d stand by and watch you betray a wonderful man like Mr. Stevens?” she asked smugly, beaming as Bryan alighted to walk over and pat her shoulder gratefully.

  He turned to grin at Jade. “Smartest thing I ever did was rehiring her when we left on our honeymoon. She’s been invaluable, keeping me informed as to your goings-on. She’s very loyal—to me!”

  Jade looked from one to the other, feeling
sick in her soul. Oh, she had realized Lita watched every move she made, but she’d chalked it up to just being nosy, had not really thought Lita had been ordered to spy for Bryan. “You sneaky little bitch!” she hissed.

  Lita stiffened, and Bryan patted her shoulder once more. “Now, now, don’t let her get you riled. It’s time to take care of her.”

  They advanced toward Jade, and she retreated, but found herself backed up at the rear wall of the carriage house with nowhere to go. She screamed, and they laughed at her, said the servants had been given the weekend off. They were too far from the neighbors for them to hear, either.

  “You can come along quietly, or we’ll have to get rough,” Bryan said, walking stealthily toward her. He held a coil of rope. Lita carried a large rag.

  Jade tried to run, to make her way around them to get to the doors, but they leaped on her simultaneously, and she didn’t have a chance. Bryan quickly tied her hands behind her back as Lila furiously, roughly, stuffed the rag in her mouth.

  They did not take her to the house as Jade had hoped, where she might have some chance to escape. Instead, they carried her to the small tack room of the carriage house and locked her inside, in the dark.

  For a few moments, she screamed against the gag and struggled to free herself, then fell silent as she realized they were still outside the door, talking. She pressed forward to listen and heard them arguing.

  “But you said if you found out she was being unfaithful to you, you’d divorce her,” Lita was whining, and it sounded as though she was crying.

  “She’s my wife, Lita. You have to understand that,” Bryan explained.

  “But you said you wouldn’t want her anymore if she was cheating,” she sobbed. “And I spied on her to prove it to you, because I always knew she wasn’t good enough for you, didn’t appreciate you for the fine man you are, and now that I did, you tell me you still want her! I don’t understand!”

  He sighed wearily. “I can’t expect you to, my dear, because you don’t understand the whole story, and it’s too complicated, too personal. Just know that I appreciate all you’ve done for me, and I intend to see you’re well compensated.”

  Oh, it was so clear now, Jade thought. Lita had been jealous, had wanted Bryan for herself. Bryan had known that and used her anyway.

  “Now, stop this, Lita!” Bryan was brusque, annoyed. “You’re just making things worse.”

  “You could take me to Bermuda with you. I could work for you there, help you keep an eye on her. You know she won’t stop trying to escape.”

  “That wouldn’t work. Things will be tense between Jade and me until she understands how much I love her and learns to appreciate that love. You’d only complicate the situation, tempting me…”

  He was placating her, Jade realized with contempt. He’d used her and was now tossing her aside.

  “Now then,” he went on, sounding smug, satisfied that he’d got his way. “You just keep a watch, make sure Coltrane doesn’t come nosing around, while I go see that the yacht is ready. Then I’ll come back for her.”

  Petulantly, Lita said, “And leave me behind.”

  “With lots and lots of money,” he reminded her cheerily. “You’re going to live like a queen on what I intend to give you, and you’ll be so busy buying pretties you won’t even think about me. Now be a good girl and go up to the house and pack some of her things!”

  She continued to argue, and their voice faded as they left the carriage house.

  Jade leaned against the wall, slowly slid downward to a sitting position, struggling against her bonds…struggling to think of a way out of her predicament.

  Bryan had been gone perhaps ten minutes when she heard a noise that brought her abruptly out of her desperate meditation. She struggled to stand, every nerve alert, poised, ready should there be a chance for escape. With a soft grating sound, the door swung open, and the lights from the carriage house outlined Lita as she stood staring into the dark tack room.

  “Don’t you try anything,” she warned. “I’ve got a knife.”

  Jade saw the glint of steel.

  Lila commanded, “Step out here…where I can see you.”

  She did as she was told.

  The gag was jerked from her mouth, and Jade gulped in mouthfuls of fresh air. She icily met the glare of her enemy and with a toss of her long cardinal-red hair cursed, “Damn you, Lita, for the traitor you are!”

  Lita sneered and boldly touched the tip of the butcher knife to Jade’s chin. “Now I find that strange, Mrs. Stevens—you calling me a traitor! You’re the sinner here. Adultery is something no one can forgive, especially in a woman. A man, well, people might turn their noses up for a time, but everyone knows men are such animals. But a woman? A wife? Ah, you’re a whore now, and I hate you for the way you’ve hurt Mr. Stevens…” Her voice rose to near hysteria. “He’s been so good to you. He didn’t deserve this. He deserves the love and loyalty of a fine Christian woman—”

  “Like you,” Jade intoned brashly.

  Lita lifted her chin. “That’s right. I could make him happy, and I will make him happy, because I’m going to get rid of you, and then he’ll turn to me.”

  “If you kill me, you’ll go to prison, and then you wouldn’t have a chance to make Bryan happy.” Jade spoke calmly, but she was trembling with fear.

  “No?” Lita’s mouth curved in an insolent smirk. “Who’s to say I murdered you? I can always tie lots of horseshoes to your ankles and throw you in the river, and your body would never be found. I’d just tell Mr. Stevens you escaped, and he’d believed me.”

  “And what if he didn’t?” Jade challenged. “What if my body were found, and you were charged with murder? You think you’d stand a chance with him then? Oh, no. You’d wind up in jail, and he’d hate you.”

  “Never!” Lita hissed.

  “If you want Bryan,” Jade went on, “you’re going about it the wrong way. And I want to help you any way I can, because I don’t want him anymore. I realize now I never did. All I want to do is go back to Europe.”

  Lita was suspicious. “What about Mr. Coltrane? Aren’t you in love with him?”

  Jade forced a laugh. “No, he was just a diversion, but then his wife’s mother heard about our affair, and now Bryan knows, so there’s nothing for me to do but leave sooner than I’d planned. All you have to do,” she said slowly, carefully, “if you want Bryan for yourself, is let me go. Tell him I escaped, and I promise you, he’ll never know you had a hand in it. He’ll look for me for a time, but he won’t be able to find me, and sooner or later he’ll give up and turn to you.”

  “I…I don’t know.” Lita shook her head worriedly. “It’s taking a big chance.”

  Jade cried, “What do you have to lose? Once his boat sails, then it’s over. He’ll be gone to you forever, because he’ll find a way to keep me prisoner on that island. You’ve come too far, Lita.” She paused, gave her a moment to contemplate what she’d just said. “You went to Mrs. Vordane, didn’t you? And told her about me and Colt? And you spied and found out we planned to meet at my studio tonight, didn’t you?”

  “Yes! I followed you to the park, saw you meet him, and heard most of what was said. Then I went to Mrs. Vordane, and…I sold her the information.”

  Jade was incredulous. “You sold her the information? Dear God, I would’ve paid you to keep silent.”

  Lita then admitted she had been hiding in the studio that morning when she came. “I told Mr. Stevens your plans to meet Mr. Coltrane there. It was right after you had a big fight. I didn’t hear what it was about, just knew you were terribly angry. So I went in and told him about your affair, because I thought if I did, he’d turn to me only he didn’t, as you already know,” she added shamefully.

  Jade tried to hate her but could not. She was only a poor servant who thought she had a chance to be the wife, or mistress, of a wealthy man, to have riches otherwise out of reach. She had not thought of the painful consequences to others.

&nbs
p; Suddenly Lita’s eyes shone strangely in the muted light of the electric lanterns. “Turn around,” she said hoarsely.

  Jade knew sheer panic, sure she meant to stab her in the back.

  “Turn around,” Lita repeated, “and…and let me untie you.”

  Jade quickly obeyed, and when her hands were free, she moved out of slashing range of the knife.

  Lita could see she was still frightened. “I’m not going to hurt you. I’ll tell Mr. Stevens that when I came out here to check on you, you’d worked the ropes loose and freed yourself. Now, please go, quickly—”

  Jade darted out of the carriage house and into the night…

  …and straight into the arms of Bryan.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Jade’s lips parted in a silent scream of terror as he looked down at her in the faint moonlight and coldly declared, “I expected something like this. That’s why I came back.”

  Just then, Lita ran out, saw Bryan, froze, and began to hysterically babble, “Oh, Mr. Stevens. Thank heavens! I—I came to check on her, and she was gone, and—”

  Jade was struggling, and all Bryan’s concentration was on holding on to her as he wrestled her back into the carriage house to bind her wrists once more. He was trying to be as gentle as possible because he did not want to hurt her.

  Lita followed after them, wringing her hands, not knowing what to do at that point. He would see that the rope had been cut.

  Bryan finished securing Jade, gagged her again lest someone hear her furious screams. Then he picked up the rope she’d been tied with earlier, examined it in the light, and turned to Lita in disappointment. “I thought I could trust you.”

  She began to cry. “I’m sorry. I just thought if I let her go, then you—” She could not finish, and there was no need, for he knew her motive.

  “Well, I’ll just have to take her with me now, though I didn’t want to until I was absolutely sure the yacht was ready. I have no choice because I can’t trust you with her.” He shoved Jade into the tack room and locked the door, then went to get the carriage.