Texas Bride Page 17

  He ignored her sarcasm. Had to. He was too distracted by the tantalizing feel of her breasts pressed into his chest and her hips meshed suggestively against his. He cursed his unruly body and stepped back from her.

  “Did you overhear Avery making damning comments about the abduction or find incriminating evidence of extortion?” he asked in a raspy voice—the side effect of standing entirely too close to Maddie.

  She avoided his direct stare. “Not exactly.”

  He frowned when she shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. “Exactly what does ‘not exactly’ mean?”

  “It means that Avery and my disloyal cowhand, Clem Foster, weren’t talking.”

  When Maddie pivoted and reentered the house, Jonah was hot on her heels. He followed her into the office, then screeched to a halt.

  “Well, damn.” He scowled as he surveyed Avery, who was dressed in a red silk robe. His upper body was draped over his desk and he stared sightlessly at Jonah. Clem was sprawled faceup on the floor. His vacant stare told the gruesome tale. Both men were dead, but they hadn’t been that way very long. When Jonah noticed there was no indication that a fight had taken place, his accusing gaze landed squarely on Maddie.

  “Don’t look at me,” she snapped indignantly. “They were dead when I got here. I didn’t fire a single shot, either, and I’m not carrying a knife.” She waved a trembling hand toward Avery. “Stabbed in the back. I didn’t touch Clem, but I suspect he has an identical wound. Neither of them must have realized what was coming until it was too late.”

  Jonah squatted down to roll the bowlegged cowhand onto his belly. Sure enough, there was a telling stain between his shoulder blades. Muttering, he resituated Clem as he’d found him. “Do you think Chiang Ti might have done this?”

  Maddie shuddered repulsively. “I have no idea.”

  The gory scene was getting to her, Jonah noted. He surged to his feet to shepherd her out the back door. Here was yet another glaring reminder that the world he lived in was rife with violence and death, while Maddie was unaccustomed to dealing with such unsettling encounters.

  “If anyone shows up, head for the hills,” he instructed as he positioned her outside the back door and handed her the pistol. “I want to have a quick look around the house before we leave.”

  She nodded jerkily, but didn’t object. Impulsively, Jonah angled his head to kiss her quickly and soundly. He’d developed a bad habit of doing that during the past week. But damn it, she looked so rattled that he thought she needed a good kissing to bring her back to her senses.

  Jonah strode off to check the house. The front door showed no signs of forced entry. Neither did the office window. Jonah noticed that the bottom drawer of the desk was standing open. An empty leather pouch suggested Avery kept a stash of money there, and it had been stolen.

  Grabbing the lantern, Jonah ambled down the hall to survey the bedrooms. The first one was unoccupied, but a quick look in the second bedroom caused a muddled frown to gather on his brow. He stared at the unmade bed in what he presumed was Avery’s room. An incense burner on the nightstand gave off an exotic scent, as did the elaborately carved pipe that sat beside it. The likeness of a Chinese dragon carved from stone was perched on the commode. Jonah walked over to the wardrobe closet to confirm his worst suspicions. Scowling in disgust, he reversed direction to rejoin Maddie.

  “Did you find anything?” she asked expectantly.

  “Yup.” He propelled her toward their horses.

  “Well?”

  “Has Avery ever been married?”

  She gave him a strange look to match his strange question. “Not to my knowledge.”

  “Didn’t think so. If you had consented to marry Avery you wouldn’t have had to share his bed,” Jonah said in a hushed tone as he veered around the bunkhouse.

  “What does that have to do with this situation?” she asked, bewildered.

  “Avery already has a bed partner. Chiang Ti. And from all indication they are both opium addicts.”

  “What! You must be—” Her voice evaporated when Jonah clamped his hand over her mouth to prevent her from drawing unwanted attention from the bunkhouse.

  “I doubt Chiang Ti will want to hang around these parts after the truth comes out,” Jonah whispered.

  “Which only confirms what I’ve said all along.” Maddie stuffed her booted foot in the stirrup and swung onto her strawberry-roan gelding. “Avery wanted to marry me to acquire control of the ranch. He didn’t give a fig about me personally. But then, what man ever did, besides my father?”

  Jonah rolled his eyes, wondering if Maddie would ever realize how attractive and fascinating she truly was. He was certainly aware of it and he imagined he could speak for the rest of the male population. Maddie seemed to be the only one who was oblivious to her incredible allure.

  He shook off his wandering thoughts and said, “The question still remains, who killed Avery and his informant? My money is on your two friends, Gibbs and Newton. They must have been keeping watch when the hostage exchange went sour tonight. Gibbs and Newton might have returned with the bad news, then decided to rob Avery to ensure they made some profit on the scheme.”

  His gaze landed squarely on Maddie as they trotted southwest. “But thanks to your arrival at the house you will be a prime suspect because it was your sister who was kidnapped and your cattle penned up with Avery’s. You have motive galore. I wish the hell you’d stayed home.”

  Maddie’s shoulders slumped defeatedly. She had made a critical error in judgment tonight. But surely her friends and neighbors wouldn’t believe she was capable of this crime…would they?

  “I didn’t do it, Jonah. I swear!” she exclaimed. He hadn’t trusted her in the beginning and she doubted that he trusted her now. Not really.

  “I believe you, princess,” he murmured.

  “You do?” Maddie was so relieved that she leaned out to hook her arm around his neck, then gave him an off-balance hug.

  She found herself lifted from her horse and deposited on Jonah’s lap, facing him. Her legs were draped over his muscular thighs and her hips rocked rhythmically toward his as the horse moved beneath them. Heat suffused her body when he stared at her for a long moment. Maddie nearly melted on the spot, vividly reminded of how intimate they had been the previous night.

  Although she knew Jonah had no deep feelings for her, she was still helplessly attracted to him. Impulsively, she looped her arms around his shoulders and leaned forward to kiss him—and forgot for a few timeless moments that her life was in turmoil. All she needed to revive her flagging spirits was the taste and feel of him.

  Maddie gave herself up to the longing Jonah constantly inspired in her. She reveled in the fact that his lips devoured hers as thoroughly as she devoured his. She could feel the hard length of his arousal pressing against her thigh, and hungry need burned through her like a blazing torch, making her ache for the intimacy they had shared last night.

  Her mind reeling, her breath coming in ragged spurts, she leaned back in his encircling arms to peer up at him. He had a strange, indecipherable look on his shadowed face, quickly replaced by a disapproving frown.

  “Well,” she said challengingly, “you’re the one who dragged me over here. Even as dense as you can be sometimes, surely you know that I’ve developed a fond attachment for you, despite what you think of me.”

  The comment seemed to irritate him. Muttering, he promptly deposited her back on her own horse.

  “You and Boone can leave now,” she said, bombarded by rejection—again. “I can handle this situation.”

  Jonah looked at her as if she were insane. “You struck out on your own tonight and became a prime murder suspect. If I leave you to take care of yourself now, you might wind up arrested. I sure as hell can’t verify that you didn’t grab a knife and stab both men, then drop the weapon down the privy. And if Chiang Ti does decide to point an accusing finger at you, and claims he managed to escape before you killed him, too, your go
ose will be cooked. So don’t ask me to leave until you have your life in order!” he all but yelled at her. “Now, are we clear on that, princess?”

  Maddie winced at his razor-sharp tone. The man could go from wildly passionate to royally annoyed in the time it took to hiccup. She was never going to figure him out, she decided. Not that she would have the time. As he pointed out, she would be lucky to keep herself out of jail after she had been spotted at the scene of the crime.

  Maddie inwardly groaned when she recalled that she had sent Carlos to summon the sheriff. She could be under arrest by morning. Once again she’d proved that she’d made one bad choice after another the past few months. Tonight especially. She had no one to blame but herself for the mess her life had become.

  Jonah stood aside to watch the emotional reunion between the Garret sisters. The affection between Maddie and Christina was unmistakable. It had been half a lifetime since Jonah had felt that sort of close connection to anyone.

  Even Boone had propped himself against the wall to observe the interaction between the two women who had a life and a past in common. Jonah had also noticed that Boone had been oddly attentive to their recovering patient since the moment Christina had opened her baby-blue eyes and stared up at him. Boone had hand-fed Christina, poured water, then more broth down her parched throat. He’d murmured constantly to keep her awake. In fact, when Jonah and Maddie arrived, Boone had Christina up on her feet, walking off the effects of the sedative.

  Jonah’s thoughts trailed off when Christina laughed at something Maddie whispered to her. Then the girl’s gaze landed on Maddie’s left hand. Uh-oh, thought Jonah. He could see the curious question forming in Christina’s eyes.

  “You’re married?” Christina croaked in astonishment. “How long have I been gone? When did this happen?”

  Maddie half turned from her position on the edge of the bed. Jonah came to attention when her gaze landed directly on him. It seemed as if Maddie was debating whether to continue the hoax or tell her sister the truth. The light in those mesmerizing amber eyes dimmed and her smile wobbled around the edges, but she held out a hand to Jonah, as if requesting his presence beside her.

  Fool that he was, he came to heel like a devoted pup.

  “Jonah and I were married this week,” Maddie reported.

  He didn’t know why she thought it necessary to continue the lie until she added, “And you need to know that if something should happen to me, you can depend on Jonah to be the big brother you never had. Boone, too. They rescued you tonight, not without great risk to their own lives.”

  Jonah shot Boone a stony glance. Obviously Boone had offered the details of the ambush to Maddie while Jonah had been tending the horses.

  “I’m eternally indebted to you both,” Christina rasped.

  When her gaze drifted from Jonah and landed on Boone, he could see the open adoration in her eyes. Oh hell, Jonah muttered under his breath. Boone seemed as bewitched as Christina looked bedeviled. This infatuation was as ill-fated as his attraction to Maddie. Doomed from the onset.

  Was Jonah the only one here who had at least one foot planted in reality? And what the devil was the matter with Boone? The girl was too young for him and decades too inexperienced. Just a few hours ago Boone had commented that men like them didn’t deserve women like Maddie. The same held true of young Christina. Apparently Boone had stared into Christina’s luminous blue eyes and lost the common sense he’d spent twenty-six years cultivating. And hell, Boone was half Kiowa. That should have given him the edge.

  Once again, Jonah was reminded how quickly a man could lose his perspective when a beautiful woman crossed his line of vision.

  “I think we should let Christina rest and recuperate,” Jonah said sensibly. “We also have a few matters to work out.” He stared pointedly at Maddie.

  She gulped uneasily, then forced a smile for her sister’s benefit. “You’re home safe and sound, Chrissy. Nothing is going to happen to you now or ever again.”

  Christina nodded tiredly, then her lashes fluttered against her pale cheeks. Jonah grabbed Boone’s arm and half dragged the besotted man from the room.

  “You’re drooling,” he chided sternly.

  Affronted, Boone jerked upright. “I am not.”

  “Yes, you are,” Jonah countered. “Now pay attention here. We have a major problem.” He gave Boone the condensed version of the situation at Avery’s ranch. Boone swore at the unexpected turn of events, but Jonah kept talking. “I need you to ride out to intercept Sheriff Kilgore and Carlos. Divert them to Hanson’s ranch so we can recover the stolen cattle and investigate the scene of the murder thoroughly. I’ll join you as soon as I stash Maddie away for safekeeping.”

  Boone nodded grimly. “Where are you going to hide her until we get this sorted out?”

  “I’ll find a suitable place,” Jonah assured him. “My instincts tell me that Gibbs and Newton are responsible for the murders, but they might be long gone by now.”

  Boone’s expression hardened. “If they had a hand in keeping that poor kid locked up, sedated and starved, then I’m going to make it my mission to track them down.”

  “Poor kid?” Jonah smirked. “You weren’t hovering over Christina as if she were a helpless child. It looked pretty damn personal to me. Better watch your step, Boone.”

  Boone opened his mouth—to protest, no doubt—then shut his trap. He glared pitchforks at Jonah before he wheeled around and stalked off. Jonah sincerely hoped his Kiowa cousin got over being angry and offended, and took what Jonah had said to heart. Christina was a fifteen-year-old woman-child who was clearly suffering hero worship because Boone had come to her rescue like a white knight. He had been hovering around like a guardian angel since the moment she’d regained consciousness.

  If Boone didn’t get his head on straight he would be stumbling over the same impossible pitfalls that had tripped up Jonah. If Boone and Jonah didn’t remember their places in regard to the princesses of the Bar G Ranch, the rest of the world would be sure to remind them—repeatedly and emphatically.

  Jonah turned his full attention on Maddie when she exited her sister’s bedroom. He clutched her hand and led her down the hall. “Grab a few things,” he ordered. “You’re going into hiding for at least a day while I investigate those murders.”

  “But my sister—”

  “—will understand and be properly cared for,” Jonah interrupted as he snatched up the discarded satchel. “I want you and your money safely tucked away, and I want to be sure Newton and Gibbs have left the area. I’ll have the sheriff put out a warrant for their arrest.”

  Maddie grabbed a fresh set of clothes and stuffed them in her bag. “You promise that Chrissy will have constant care and attention?”

  “Yes,” Jonah said without hesitation. “Rosita will keep constant vigil.”

  Jonah shuffled Maddie out the front door and headed for the barn to retrieve the horses.

  “Where are we going?” she asked as he led the saddled mounts from the barn.

  “To the safest place I know,” he assured her as he trotted toward the towering walls of the canyon to the north.

  Jonah led Maddie deeper into the twisting ravines of Forbidden Canyon. Moonlight glinted off the stream that meandered through the valley as Jonah followed the spring to its source—a waterfall that tumbled from one overhanging ledge to a lower outcropping of rock, where a thin veil of water tumbled gently into the pool below.

  Maddie stared bemusedly at Jonah when he dismounted beside the gleaming pool. “This is one of my favorite places on the ranch,” she said, “but I don’t think…”

  Her voice trailed off as she watched Jonah scale the jagged rocks, then disappear behind the falls on the cliff. He expected her to spend the day with her back plastered against the stone wall, while cascades of water shielded her from view?

  Maddie huffed out an exasperated breath, then grabbed her satchel. She followed Jonah’s zigzagging path to the elevated falls, then side
stepped along the ledge—and blinked in astonishment. She hadn’t realized a spacious cavern was hidden behind the upper falls. Ordinarily she experienced uneasy sensations when she was enclosed in tight spaces, but this cave was larger than her own bedroom and provided indirect light from the trickling falls. Here she could breathe without feeling as if the walls were shrinking in on her.

  “I’ve lived here for years and never knew this place existed,” she marveled as Jonah lit the torch that he’d retrieved from the corner.

  As golden light blazed around her, Maddie’s jaw sagged on its hinges. There was no question that this had once been an Indian haunt. Beaded necklaces, leather leggings, buffalo hide quilts and outdated weapons were stacked against one wall.

  Eerie sensations trailed down her spine—and not because she was experiencing the usual fear of being buried alive in a narrow space. Instead, she felt as if she’d been transported back in time—and into an alien culture. Sketches of tipis, Indians, horses and buffalo had been carved in the stone, creating a historical account of those who once had the freedom to roam this area of Texas.

  Maddie suddenly remembered the Comanche and Kiowa vision quests that Jonah had mentioned. She had the unmistakable feeling that this private sanctuary behind the upper falls was a special site for meditation and reflection.

  Jonah made a pallet on the floor and motioned for her to sit down. Then he squatted on his haunches to confront her. “You’ve missed out on a night’s sleep, so take advantage of this refuge.” He trailed his forefinger over the dark circles she was certain ringed her eyes. “Promise me that you’ll stay put this time until I come back for you.”

  “You’re taking my horse with you, I presume, so I won’t be able to get very far very fast.”

  He nodded his raven head and smiled faintly. “I prefer that no one knows where you are until I’ve convinced the sheriff that you weren’t involved in the double murder,” he explained reasonably. “Extinguish the torch when I leave. There’s enough light spearing through that thin curtain of water so you won’t feel the darkness crowding in on you.”