Rich didn’t feel at all comfortable in explaining Jordana’s appearance, and so he kept the matter to himself. “There are always suspicious things going on. Most have a logical explanation once a fellow checks it out in full, but I really have nothing solid to offer you. I can say this, however. I know Joe Baldwin. He’s a good man and his family has invested in the Union Pacific as well as the Central Pacific. I don’t think we have to worry about him being a problem.”
“You’re certain?”
Rich nodded. “I feel very confident that Mr. Baldwin will not present a problem for the UP. He isn’t the enemy.”
Dodge considered Rich’s words for a moment. “Very well, then. We still need to find out who is our enemy.”
Rich had already been considering this matter quite thoroughly. “What do you know about Montego’s involvement in land development around here?”
“Not a great deal. I know there was some previous scandal regarding land being sold for exorbitant prices. There was also some controversy about the construction of the line. Apparently some of the parties involved were thought to be estimating outrageous prices. I’m not sure what the outcome has been or if there has been any solution. Durant seemed unconcerned, and I’m uncertain as to what part Montego has played. Do you have some reason to believe Montego is a problem?”
“I’m not sure. It’s more a hunch than any certain knowledge. I’m uneasy when I’m around the man.”
“His daughter seems to have a definite interest in you,” Dodge said with a wry smile. “Perhaps as a confirmed bachelor you find her presence to be your undoing.”
Rich shook his head. “I don’t think so, sir, but Isabella Montego may well be a part of the problem. She seems quite interested in the business dealings of the Union Pacific.”
“Most unusual for a woman,” Dodge agreed.
“Perhaps not as unusual as it used to be,” Rich replied, thinking of Jordana.
“Well, either way,” Dodge continued, “we need to find the source of our trouble. In the wrong hands, those explosives will prove to be deadly.”
Rich nodded. The man was of course right, and it was his job to find out the truth on the matter.
12
Moving from Laramie to North Platte, the last person in the world Rich had expected to run into was Jordana Baldwin. But to his surprise this was exactly whom he encountered stepping from the train on that hot afternoon.
Dressed in a new tan suit and possessively carrying her bags, Jordana looked for all the world to be a young man of no more than eighteen or nineteen. Rich had come to the depot in order to speak to the station manager about the management and security of UP supplies when he spied Jordana bounding down the steps of the passenger car.
Without thought as to how it would appear, Rich quickly bid the station manager good day and went after Jordana. He felt his pulse quicken at the thought of being with her again. She had very nearly haunted his dreams at night, and he wondered for a moment if she were actually here or if he had somehow conjured her in his mind.
“What are you doing in North Platte?” he asked in a low voice as he caught up to her. Reaching out to touch her, Rich assured himself she was very real.
Jordana turned and offered him a heartening smile. Perhaps she had put their last encounter behind her. “Just the man I’d hoped to find,” she said.
He narrowed his eyes. “Why me? What’s going on? And why are you still in trousers?”
Jordana grinned and looked around her, then whispered, “ ’Cause I’d raise quite a scandal if I took them off.”
“You know what I mean,” he fairly growled, forgetting his joyful moments before upon seeing her. “I don’t know why you aren’t back home with your brother.”
“Because Reno’s not home,” Jordana replied.
It seemed to him her words had even surprised her. He thought she looked rather sad, too, or regretful, and he might have told her so had it not been suddenly imperative to get her out of the middle of the street.
“Comin’ through!” a voice called out from behind them, and Rich barely had time to pull Jordana to one side of the road before the teamster swung his wagon around the corner.
“Let’s go someplace where we can talk,” Rich said.
“I’m starving!” Jordana declared. “How about we go someplace to eat? I’m so empty my ribs are ticklin’ my backbone.”
Rich stopped dead in his tracks and gaped at her. “Listen to yourself. You sound like anything but a lady.”
She grinned at him in that manner that went straight to his heart. “I’m not supposed to be a lady,” she whispered. “Just in case you’ve forgotten.”
“No, but I think you have.” Rich grabbed her arm and nudged her in the direction of a building across the road. “We can eat over there. The food’s a bit greasy, but the coffee’s good and strong.”
“Sounds fine by me. After eating railroad food, I think I can stomach just about anything.”
Rich shook his head. “I can’t believe I’m hearing you talk like this. Here, give me your gear.”
Jordana looked up at him, her warm brown eyes melting his heart into a pool of liquid. “Don’t you think that would look a little odd? One man carrying another man’s baggage?”
Rich rolled his gaze heavenward. “Fine. Have it your way.”
After they ordered thick beefsteaks and bread, Jordana turned to Rich and smiled. She was enjoying herself, and for some reason, that irritated Rich all the more. “I read all your letters and figured I’d answer them in person. Besides, I needed more information for my stories. So that is why I’m here. How about you? Why are you still here? I was only hoping against the odds you might still be in town, since your last letter was postmarked from here over two weeks ago.”
“The Union Pacific sends me where they will. I’ve been back and forth from one place to another over the last two weeks. You just happened to catch me here. Actually, I’m waiting for some papers from Baxter Montego. You remember him, don’t you? He’s the man who was considering marrying you off to his daughter.”
“I remember his daughter was the one exposing an unnatural amount of her no doubt best attributes and clinging to you like you were a life ring and she was about to drown.”
“Why, Joe, you sound jealous,” Rich teased.
Jordana’s face flushed and she stiffened and looked away. Surprised by her reaction, Rich wondered if he hadn’t hit upon the truth. Was it possible that she was jealous of Isabella? And if so, what exactly was she jealous of?
“Well, anyway, my work is all along the line and then some,” Rich explained. “But I still don’t understand why you are here.”
“I’ve told you before,” Jordana countered. “I’m writing stories for the newspaper. The stories have been a tremendous success. I’ve even received a raise. They’re paying me top dollar for my work. You don’t understand, but people back east are hungry to know what’s going on out here in the West. They need to see it for themselves, and because it’s so difficult to put pictures out there for them, I create pictures for them in words.”
“But what about the dangers? You are constantly putting yourself in a place where someone can and will take advantage of you.”
Jordana merely shrugged, tired of defending this worn argument. Deliberately, she picked up her cup and tossed back nearly all of the thick black coffee as though it were milk.
Rich shook his head. “I suppose you can handle your liquor just as well.”
Jordana laughed. “You know I’m a teetotaler. The guys at the camps call me Preacher, on account I don’t drink or smoke or play cards or visit the ladies in town.”
Rich waited to respond until the waitress, a heavyset matronly woman, deposited their steaks and bread on the table.
“If you gents need anything else, just give me a holler. We’ve got some good pie today. Made fresh-like with new berries instead of preserves.”
“We’ll consider it,” Rich told her, then turned
his attention back to Jordana. “Look, the truth of the matter is, I don’t like thinking about you sleeping out there by yourself, traipsing all over the country without someone to protect you from harm. It just doesn’t make good sense.”
“Let’s say grace,” Jordana murmured, then bowed her head. She prayed quickly and quietly over the food, then began to dig in almost immediately after issuing the “amen.”
Rich watched her attack the meal with great gusto for several moments before continuing. “Did you hear what I said? It isn’t safe for you to be out there.”
“Does it make good sense for you to travel alone?” Jordana countered.
“No, in fact, it’s just as dangerous in some ways,” Rich admitted. He ran a hand through his dark hair in exasperation. “But this is different. You are, whether you dress and act the part, a lady, and sooner or later someone may very well take advantage of that fact. I haven’t been able to think of much else since I knew what you were up to. You just have to listen to me.”
“Rich, you worry too much,” Jordana said. Then grinning, she leaned forward. “I wonder why you worry so much.”
“That’s easy,” he replied, without concern as to how it might sound. “I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“Are you sure there isn’t something more?” She seemed to be pushing him for some inner truth.
“Because I don’t have many friends,” Rich answered, knowing that it was far more than that. “I’d like to see the ones I have remain alive. And unhurt.”
Jordana chuckled, then began hacking away again at the steak. “Admit it, Captain, you care about me because . . .” She stopped in midsentence. The expression on her face suggested a sudden epiphany. She put down her knife and, with the teasing very clearly absent from her voice, said, “Please tell me you don’t care about me for the reason I think you do.”
Rich grew uneasy and picked up his own knife and fork. “I’m not about to propose, if that’s what has you worried. I care because we’re friends and I enjoy what we have together. I’d hate to lose that. If nothing else, you amuse me.”
Jordana stared hard at him for a moment, then nodded. “I can live with that.”
They ate in silence for several minutes until Rich could regain control of his thoughts. Jordana was clearly sensing in him something that he was rapidly realizing he couldn’t deny. He hated to think of her out there among other men, because, frankly, he would just as soon keep her to himself. But how could he tell her that? He’d made a promise to be nothing more than friends. He’d assured her that men and women could be friends without becoming romantically linked. Finally Rich decided to put forth an idea. He’d thought about it for a long time, and given Dodge’s concern that Jordana might be inadvertently passing information back to the wrong people, he figured it was a plan that could benefit them both.
“What if you stuck close to me?” he asked suddenly.
“What are you talking about?”
He settled back in his chair and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I have an idea that just might help us both.”
“Well, I’m listening.”
“I am moving along the UP line on a daily basis. Sometimes I have to linger in one town or another while I await information to take on to the next town. You could travel with me, get the information for your stories, and talk to all the people you need to talk to. Then you could write your stories, and at the same time I would be at peace knowing that nothing bad was happening to you.”
“How in the world would you ever get your bosses to approve something like that?”
“Why would they care, so long as you weren’t dictating the stops? I mean, if you would agree to travel with me at my pace, I don’t see why they would concern themselves with the matter. After all, didn’t you tell me they’d given you a free pass on the UP?”
“Yes,” Jordana replied. “They did. They like the idea of their progress being reported back east. And the stories have in fact generated new investors.”
“So why do you suppose they would have a problem if you were traveling under my care? If nothing else, they would also see it as my keeping you from sticking your nose in where it didn’t belong.”
“And where might that be?”
Rich had begun working the steak over once again. “There’s always trouble for any business venture. You know there have been problems for the Union Pacific. We’ve had more than our share of Indian attacks and murders. We’ve had to endure sabotage and destruction of the line, whole sections of rails torn up, and telegraph wires destroyed. We can’t be lending ourselves over to someone who might either purposefully or inadvertently give the wrong information to the right person.”
“Are you accusing me of trying to cause harm to the Union Pacific?” Her tone was quite indignant. “Do you not realize the harm that has been done to the Central Pacific? Harm that clearly bears the markings of the Union Pacific’s desire to see the line halted in Nevada or at least slowed to a crawl so that the UP can gain better footing and mileage?”
Rich hadn’t expected this kind of answer. It did nothing to put his mind at ease and everything to set his nerves on edge. “Jord—Joe, talk like that around here can get you killed. And it’s exactly the reason I think you need protection. You’re already suspect to many folks.”
“I’m working for the newspaper. The proof is there for anyone who desires to see it,” she said, throwing down her napkin. “I don’t have to take this.”
She got up and stormed out of the room, leaving Rich no choice but to follow after her. Throwing down some coins, he took up the things she’d left behind in her hurry and caught up to her halfway down the block.
“I don’t know why you’re acting this way,” he said, tossing her things on the ground in front of her.
Nearly stumbling over the bag and rolled-up tent and bedding, Jordana stopped and looked at Rich with great solemnity. “I have family involved with both sides of this railroad. I would love nothing more than to see it completed and done so in a timely and beneficial manner for both sides. I despise the politics of it and wish men weren’t such ninnies.”
Rich saw the misery in her expression, and his heart went out to her. “Look, I’m not accusing you. I just want to keep you from harm. I don’t want your reputation damaged.”
“And my living on the trail with you would do less to damage my reputation?”
Rich felt a deep pang of emotion. How could he explain? He had lost his heart to her—just as he’d promised he wouldn’t. He wanted nothing more than to be with her, to express his love for her, to have her love him in return. Why did this have to be so hard?
“Look, Rich,” Jordana said, picking up her things, “I know you’ve made a valid offer. I like the idea of having the companionship of someone I trust, and perhaps if I remain in this costume, no one will be the wiser but us.” She straightened and smiled. “And since I know how you feel, I can trust that my reputation will remain completely safe. But if we’re to spend time together, you’ve got to stop worrying about whether I can take care of myself and whether or not my motives are pure. I’m not going to do anything to hurt either side of this venture.”
Rich wanted to shake her and tell her that it had nothing to do with the harm she might cause. He worried about her getting hurt. He couldn’t bear to see the woman he loved brought to harm. Perhaps he should speak honestly with her. Maybe he should just tell her how he felt. In fact, his heart demanded it, but his head told him to hold back. Jordana would run like a frightened rabbit if he declared that his feelings for her were more than friendship and brotherly concern. And, in truth, his feelings had him pretty frightened as well. Swallowing his emotions, he nodded.
“So we’re agreed? You’ll stay with me?” he prompted.
“For a time,” she replied. “But I won’t tolerate your treating me like a child, or worse, some fragile china doll.”
Rich shook his head. “I have no intention of treating you like a child, and I will allow y
ou free rein in your activities—within reason, of course.” However, he looked away as he spoke, for fear his eyes might betray him if he gazed into her face.
At least she would be safe. He could keep an eye on her whereabouts and know that if anything should go wrong, he’d be nearby to set things right. Now he’d just have to convince Dodge that his logic was sound. He’d have to explain that he wanted only to relieve Dodge’s suspicions. Jordana wasn’t the problem, of this he was sure. But someone else was responsible for the disappearance of the nitroglycerin and other materials, and Rich still needed to find out who that person was.
“Well, well. If it isn’t Rich O’Brian, the great and glorious cavalryman himself.”
Rich glanced up at the voice harshly intruding upon his thoughts. He easily recognized the face of a man he’d not seen in almost ten years. The man had been practically a boy then, but his features were nearly identical, except now they were hardened with age and anger. Staring at this newcomer as if seeing a ghost from his past, Rich found any words of acknowledgment sticking in his throat.
The scowl on the man’s face left no doubt that this wasn’t to be a joyful reunion. “So tell me, O’Brian. Kill any wives lately?”
Rich heard Jordana’s gasp, but that’s all he heard before he lunged at the intruder, balled fist smashing into the man’s smug face. An instant later, he knew he had done nothing but fan the flames of a painful memory. Rich found little satisfaction in the action. The fact that he’d avenged himself in front of Jordana did not wipe out the accusing words.
Kill any wives lately?
The echo of the horrible accusation was the last conscious thought Rich had as the man’s beefy fist plunged up against the side of his head.
13
For the rest of the day Jordana tried desperately to get someone to explain why Rich was now unconscious in a North Platte jail cell. The man who’d accosted Rich on the street turned out to be one of the deputies, and the sheriff seemed unconcerned with Jordana’s declaration that the fight had been prompted by him and not by Rich.
Judith Pella, Tracie Peterson - [Ribbons West 03] Page 10