After the Ashes

by Howe, Cheryl

  left somen for you in the picture. Luv Corey.

  Lorelei glanced around the room. The walls held signs of water damage, but nothing else. She quickly reread the note. Damn it! She should have known he would do something like this. Corey had never taken responsibility for his actions a day in his life.

  She resisted the urge to crumple the note in her fist and scanned it one more time, hoping she had read it wrong. When she glanced up, she noticed the porcelain pitcher next to the basin. He meant pitcher, not picture. She tossed the note on the washstand, not caring if it fluttered to the floor instead. She grabbed the pitcher’s handle, but when she tried to lift it, the pitcher stayed firmly planted. With both hands wrapped around the base, she heaved it off the table. A quick glance down the pitcher’s slim dark mouth didn’t give her a hint as to what lay inside. Whatever it was jangled against the porcelain. Once she reached the bed, she dumped the pitcher upside down.

  A shower of gold coins covered the off-white bedcover. She blinked. Never had she seen so much money. She couldn’t even guess how much it might be. She reached down and picked up a handful of the cool gold. Where had Corey gotten this kind of money?

  She dropped the coins on top of the others and backed away. First she covered her mouth to keep from crying out the most obvious and only answer. She covered her eyes. She couldn’t have been so stupid. There had to be another explanation. Maybe it wasn’t really as much gold as she thought. Maybe Corey had just sold the ranch. She slowly took her hands from her eyes, almost believing the gold would be gone. It wasn’t. Its dull sheen told her a truth she hadn’t wanted to see since Corey was first accused of cheating at cards back in Louisville.

  She darted her gaze to the door, half expecting Douglas and a group of armed men to burst through and lead her away in chains. She couldn’t say she didn’t deserve it. Being this big a fool seemed to call for such drastic measures. She glanced back to the gold on the bed without wanting to. Corey had had the gold the entire time. From the moment he’d sent her out to confront Christopher, her brother had forced her to be a party to his lie. He’d put them all at risk for his own selfish ends.

  She scooped the gold back into the pitcher as quickly as she could. Despite the guard downstairs, Corey’s escape would have been a simple matter. And he didn’t have to worry about coming back this time. She wasn’t sure what hurt the most—the fact that he could betray her so thoroughly or that he could leave without so much as a goodbye.

  She rearranged the pitcher next to the basin, then retrieved the note from the floor and crammed it into her drawstring bag. After a quick glance around the room, she went back and straightened the bedcovers, wiped off the dust that had been left by the coins, and refluffed the pillow for good measure. The room looked as dreary as when she’d found it.

  She returned to the pitcher and eased her small hand through its mouth to grab a handful of coins. She knew what she had to do.

  ***

  By the time she reached the stables on the edge of town, Ivar, the stables’ owner who sat in the shade outside, assured her that her search was over.

  Lorelei took a bracing breath. Maybe all her efforts would be futile and she could never have the life she longed for, but she would do the right thing. The thing she should have done when Corey asked her to face an armed man and lie to him.

  With renewed conviction, she trudged into the darkened stable and called Wade’s name.

  He stepped from a stall. “Over here. Is something wrong?”

  She crept forward, blinking until she could clearly identify Langston’s face. A quick glance around the darkened stable assured her that nickering horses were their only company. A sleek gray head peeked from the stall, then nosed Wade’s shoulder in a demand for attention. The brush Wade held in his right hand confirmed that Lorelei had interrupted a grooming.

  Lorelei didn’t speak until she was close enough for Wade to read her earnest expression. “Yes, Wade, something is very wrong.”

  He studied her face. “Is it Braddock?”

  “No.” She cleared her throat and forced herself to continue before she changed her mind. “I know where the gold is. I’ll trade you Christopher’s signed confession for the information.”

  “You told Douglas about this?”

  “No. I want you to find the gold.” To her surprise, her words were true. Of course, her reason for coming to him was to obtain the confession, but the idea of Wade finally receiving recognition, being accepted, made her feel that all this pain might be worth something. And it gave her hope for herself.

  He shook his head. “Pardon me for saying so, Lorelei, but I don’t believe a word of it. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to Smoky. Douglas should take a stick to his men for not taking better care of their mounts.” He turned back to the eager horse.

  “Wait. I can prove it.”

  When he swung his glance back to her, she didn’t bother with words. Instead she fished in her bag, then pushed her palmful of gold under his nose.

  He stared, his eyes wide.

  “May I?” he asked, nodding toward the gold.

  “That’s why I brought it.”

  He picked up one of the coins and examined it.

  “Do we have a deal?” she asked.

  “Did you have a hand in this, Lorelei?”

  “No. I just found out who did, though.”

  “Was it Braddock?”

  “No. It was Corey. My brother.”

  Wade’s calculating stare told her she had said too much. Wade had been to the ranch. He could find Corey as easily as anybody. She had given herself away prematurely.

  He dropped the coins in his trouser pocket, then reached inside his soft leather vest and retrieved a folded piece of dirty paper covered with printing. “I don’t think you’d make very good criminal, Lorelei,” he said as he handed her the paper.

  She quickly unfolded the square and briefly scanned the wanted poster before she found Christopher’s confession on the other side. Even if his full name had not been scrawled on the bottom, she would have known to whom the forceful script belonged.

  She pressed the paper to her chest. “Thank you, Wade.”

  “I’d better head out if I want to catch up with Corey. Do you know where he went?”

  “Not for sure, but I’d try the ranch. He’d gone there to fetch clothes and brought back part of the gold. I’m assuming he has the rest hidden near the ranch, though I’ve never seen any of it.”

  “He should be easy enough to find.”

  Wade strode to a stall near the rear of the barn. Lorelei waited as he saddled his horse. When he led the animal out a few moments later, a rifle strapped to the saddle captured her attention. The implications of what she’d done finally sank in. Her throat tightened, making it hard to swallow her sudden rush of fear.

  “Don’t hurt him. I know he’s done a lot of bad things, but truly, he never meant to hurt anyone. He’d never killed a man before Ricochet, and he only did that to save Christopher’s life. He had nightmares all week, though he made me swear I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

  Wade nodded. “I don’t like unnecessary violence. All I want is to return the gold and let your brother have his day in court. If he doesn’t give me any trouble, there won’t beany.”

  She clasped her hands together to keep them from shaking. Turning Corey in was the right thing to do, but she also knew she couldn’t live with herself if Corey was killed in his capture. She dropped her gaze to the hay strewn floor to keep from pleading with Wade.

  “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll tell you a secret. I’ve never killed anyone either, and I don’t plan to start with a boy still wet behind the ears.”

  She returned his smile. “Your secret’s safe with me.” Wade tipped his hat goodbye. “Once Braddock wakes up, I hope he realizes how lucky he is.” Lorelei watched Wade ride past the open stable door, no longer believing Christopher would ever consider himself lucky to have her in his life.

&nbs
p; CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  Braddock batted at the hand that pawed his face. The effort it took to shove the thick fingers aside strained his muscles until a fine sheen of sweat coated his body. He felt as if he had been wrapped tightly in an unbreakable spider web.

  “Lorelei.” He pushed the word through his heavy lips, unsure if he could be understood at all.

  Forceful hands pressed him down into the bed. “Calm yourself or you’ll tear my handiwork.”

  Braddock thrashed, trying to wake himself from the nightmare. The Scottish burr haunted him as he tried to place the last time he had heard the accent. A heady sense of danger had him swimming toward consciousness despite the pain in his body.

  “Lorelei,” he called again. If he could hear her voice, maybe he could go back to sleep.

  The silence that greeted him forced him to open his eyes. A gray-haired man with wild eyebrows stared down at him from a furrowed face. Braddock squinted. The light pierced his eyes like a thousand cactus needles.

  He gathered all his strength and pushed the man back. He had to get out of here and find Lorelei.

  Braddock tried to sit up but found he couldn’t lift his head off the pillow. The force it took to send the old man stumbling left him panting. He swallowed, finding nothing but sand in his throat. His mouth tasted like he’d licked the underside of a saddle. But he was alive. He fumbled his way to the bandages stretched around his midsection. The tender wound underneath screamed in protest.

  “That’s a fine thank you,” said the man from a safe distance. He strode out of Braddock’s line of vision. “Send for Marshal Douglas. He’s awake,” he said to someone, and then Braddock heard the closing of a door.

  Marshal Douglas? Last time Braddock had heard, Douglas had reached the rank of lieutenant colonel.

  Once Braddock settled back against the bank of pillows, he noted that he was alone in an ordinary bedroom, not in a makeshift hospital surrounded by other wounded. It was as hot as hell.

  He stared at the plastered ceiling. A sudden chill swept through him, numbing his discomfort. He didn’t know Lorelei during the war.

  He rubbed his forehead, forcing himself to think, to remember. He reordered the pieces of his memory. She was safe. He recalled bits of the trip in the back of the wagon and her constant presence. She had been the sweet reassurance that had allowed him to sleep in peace.

  He dropped his hand and gazed over at the doctor suspiciously. “Where’s Lorelei?”

  The man took a backward step toward the door. “Marshal Douglas will explain everything to you. I’m just the doctor.”

  He glared at the physician while he placed a hand on his chest. The accelerated beat of his heart throbbed in his wound, but he had no choice but to get out of bed and find Lorelei. He took a deep breath and struggled to a sitting position. The room spun, then settled.

  When Douglas strode through the door, Braddock rested against the bedframe, relieved that he wouldn’t be forced to stand. A smile broke across Douglas’s face. “How you feeling, old friend?”

  Braddock scowled. “Like hell. Where’s Lorelei?”

  Douglas laughed. “She’s at the hotel. I’ve got a guard on her. She’s not going anywhere.”

  A nerve jumped in his Braddock’s jaw. “Douglas, you son of a bitch.”

  Through sheer force of will he yanked back the covers and swung his legs over the side of the bed. A wave of nausea battled with the pain that shot through every nerve ending. Braddock wasn’t sure if he was going to pass out or throw up.

  Despite his obvious weakness, Douglas stepped back as if he expected Braddock to leap off the bed and do him serious bodily harm. “I’ve treated her with nothing but respect, Chris.”

  “You’d better have. She’s going to be my wife.”

  The burly doctor trudged to Braddock’s side and eased him back onto the bed. “You lose any more blood, Mr. Braddock, and there will be nothing anyone can do for you.”

  Douglas ran his hands through his hair. He looked as dazed as if Braddock had given him the blow he so dearly deserved. “Is that really necessary? True, she nursed you back to health, but—”

  “But what?” Threat remained in Braddock’s voice, though with the help of the doctor, his head again rested firmly on a feather stuffed pillow.

  “But nothing.” Douglas seemed to search for something to say. “She just never mentioned you two had that kind of relationship.”

  “Would you have believed her if she did?”

  “The circumstances of your shooting were strange. You never miss. There was the chance you had a lover’s quarrel. Or Lorelei was in on it with her brother and needed to get rid of you.”

  Braddock swung his heated gaze to the doctor, who watched with open interest.

  “Get out. I need to talk to Douglas in private.”

  The doctor stiffened. “You, sir, are the most ungrateful patient I have ever had the misfortune to treat.” He left the room without a backward glance.

  Douglas watched the doctor’s exit, looking as if he longed to join him. He rested his hand on his pistol before he faced Braddock again. “I was just doing my job. Lorelei and her brother are in trouble. Trouble I didn’t create.”

  “I know you, Douglas. You’d interrogate your grandmother if you thought she had something to hide.”

  “And what does Lorelei have to hide?”

  “She’d do anything to protect her brother. Or me.” And for the first time, Braddock knew that to be true.

  “Unfortunately, when your brother’s a criminal that’s against the law.” Douglas rubbed the back of his neck. “They’re turning up the heat in Washington. If the Rio Grande Railroad goes belly-up over this, important men will lose their fortunes. They want the gold, but if they can’t have it, they’ll take blood.”

  “Fine. But it’s not going to be Lorelei’s or her brother’s.”

  Douglas shook his head. “I have no other leads. Mulcahy and his gang are done, but the gold wasn’t at their camp.”

  Douglas studied him, and Braddock was too weak to put on a good poker face. “What do you know? You used to be able to tell me anything.”

  “I’ll find the gold. You know I’m a better tracker than you.”

  “Why did you leave in such a hurry, anyway?”

  “I had that feeling. When I didn’t find Ricochet at the camp, I knew Lorelei was in danger.”

  Douglas laughed. “Yeah. That feeling used to save your butt.”

  Braddock’s dried lips cracked, but it didn’t stop the smile that crept across his face. “It did this time, too. If something had happened to Lorelei, it would have done me in.”

  Douglas sank into the chair next to the bed. “I can’t believe this. That bullet did more damage than you realize. You’ve gone soft on me. You of all people.”

  In spite of the ache in every part of his body, Braddock laughed. “It’s really not that bad.”

  Douglas leaned back in the chair. “Is she pregnant? Is that what all this marriage talk is about?”

  “Nah, I’m just in love.”

  Douglas made a wounded sound. “Better you than me, pal. Better you than me. I’d rather take a shot to the chest.”

  Braddock pressed a hand against the bandages binding his wound. “A shot to the chest hurts worse. Believe me.”

  ***

  Lorelei flinched when a firm knock sounded at the door. She jumped from the chair she had dragged next to the washstand and paced a semicircle around the bed, looking for a better place to hide the rest of the gold. The hotel’s plastered walls collapsed to the stark perimeters of a jail cell.

  She glanced at the pitcher. The gold seemed to radiate through the porcelain like the guilt shining off her skin. She feared everyone would know by one simple glance.

  “Lorelei? Are you all right?” called Douglas. The slight panic in his voice forced her to forget that the marshal was the last person in the world she wanted to see.

  She rushed to the door and flung it open.
“Is Christopher all right?”

  “He’s fine. He’s up and talking.” Douglas paused. “And yelling.”

  Lorelei gripped the knob as Douglas studied her in a way he hadn’t before. She prayed she didn’t visibly tremble. No one would believe she wasn’t in cahoots with Corey, especially since she was hiding a king’s ransom in gold. She would be condemned by association, only this time she couldn’t say she didn’t deserve it. If not for her blind loyalty to her brother, Christopher wouldn’t have been hurt.

  She narrowed the gap between the door and frame to merely a sliver. “Thank you for word of Christopher.” She lowered her voice. “But Corey is sleeping.”

  He placed his hand on the door, stopping her from closing it completely.

  “Don’t you want to see him?” he asked, confusion, not suspicion, in his voice.

  She’d thought of little else since she’d been driven away from his bedside. After finding out about the gold and Corey, she couldn’t help but feel Douglas was justified in his treatment of her.

  “I don’t want to upset him.”

  Douglas increased his pressure on the other side of the door. “He’s already upset. If I don’t come back with you, he’ll take my head off.”

  She slipped out into the hall and managed to close the door behind her. She had to face Christopher sometime. She didn’t have any illusions that he would be able to forgive her for all this. Why should he? She could hardly forgive herself.

  “Let’s go.”

  They silently walked out of the hotel and onto the baked dirt street. Douglas’s sideways glances brought a film to her palms. He suspected. He’d probably be quick to officially arrest her once he learned the truth. And the truth was, she was acting as Corey’s accomplice. Though she’d turned him in to Wade, she didn’t want Douglas to know of her brother’s escape. Douglas would track down Corey and the gold, not caring whether he returned his prisoner dead or alive.

  “You don’t look very happy,” he finally said.

  She shrugged. “Can you blame me? You’ve treated me like a criminal, and I haven’t forgotten I might be facing serious charges.”