Authors: Destiny's Surrender
“I hope Naomi’s okay,” Mariah said with concern.
Billie shared her hope.
“I’m going to take Maria home and put her to bed.”
“Time for Tonio, too. Hopefully everyone will be back soon.”
Mariah nodded, gave Billie a hug and set off walking for home.
D
rew, Logan, and Max pushed their mounts at breakneck speed to cover the hour-long ride to town, and as they neared the darkening sky ahead was red with flames. It wasn’t a good sign. Naomi’s diner, along with most of the other buildings on the main street, were made of wood. Due to the soaring temps of the past week, the wood would be dry as tinder. They’d not seen Eli but guessed he was somewhere up ahead. Unlike the larger cities in the valley, the town had no firefighting equipment, so a bucket brigade would have to be established. From the size of the blaze, such an endeavor might prove futile, but they had no choice but to try and put out the flames.
When they finally arrived, the town was fully engulfed and the air was hot and thick with smoke. Windblown cinders danced like fireflies. Every able-bodied male within miles was lined up passing buckets of water hand to hand from the pump behind the general store once owned by Logan’s former mistress, Valencia Stewart, and from the pump nearest Naomi’s diner. Drew dragged his kerchief from around his neck and tied it over his nose and mouth to keep from choking on the acrid smoke. He and his brother got in line to aid the efforts of the brigade, while Max headed for the second line formed on the other side of the street. From the looks of the raging inferno nothing would survive but the men kept the buckets coming.
B
illie’s mind was heavy with thoughts of the disaster in town. As she climbed the stairs to put Tonio to be bed, she heard the door pull. Wondering if Alanza or one of the men had ridden back because they’d forgotten something, she opened the door to find Mariah. “What—”
“Run Billie!” Mariah screamed.
But before Billie could make sense of the warning, she met the ghoulish eyes of Prince DuChance. Her heart pounded. He pushed Mariah inside with a hold on her arm. Two men entered behind him, one carrying Maria, who began wailing.
“Well, well, well, Billie. I told you it would be soon, didn’t I?”
She ignored him for the moment. Her main concern was Mariah. “Are you all right? Has he hurt you?”
“No,” Mariah snarled while trying to free her arm.
“She’s as feisty as you are. I like that. Had I the time, I’d see just how feisty she’d be on her back, but I’ll save that for another time.”
“Let her go.”
“I will in a moment, but only because I want your husband to know exactly who’s taken you and his son.”
She froze. “Leave my son here and I’ll do whatever you ask.”
“You’re going to do that anyway. Give him the baby.”
“No.”
The knife appeared at Mariah’s throat. “I start with her and your son will be next. Give him the child.”
She knew it wasn’t an empty threat. Screaming with inner rage, she handed Tonio over and his wails joined those of his cousin. He tried to reach for her and her heart broke but she had to ignore him or she was going to cry.
“Tie this one up.” He pushed Mariah towards one of the men, who produced a stout length of rope. He tied her hands and ankles and pushed her down to the floor. Billie turned to make sure she was okay when a hand slapped a cloying, sweet smelling rag over her face. She attempted to pull it away but the hand was too strong. A wooziness crept over her. Tonio’s crying and Mariah’s scream of “No!” were the last sounds she heard.
T
he bucket brigade managed to save the doctor’s office and two other buildings on the eastern side of the street, but every building on the western side including Naomi’s diner was now a smoldering pile of rubble. Making their way there, Drew and Logan passed their mother, Max, and the women helping the doctor with the injured. She gave them a terse nod of acknowledgment and they moved on. In front of where the diner once stood, Eli held his crying wife to be. Her parents founded the place during the height of the Gold Rush and when they retired she’d taken it over. It had been a place for the community to gather for good times and to savor her prize-winning pies. Now, it was gone.
“How did the fire start?”
She shook her head. “I’ve no idea. I was at home when Jenna rushed in and said the place was on fire.” She lived in a small house a short distance outside of town. Luckily the flames hadn’t spread that far.
Drew noted the heavy scent of kerosene in the air nearby. “Do you smell that?” he asked his brother.
Logan nodded. “Yes. Kerosene.”
Drew asked Naomi, “Was she using kerosene for some reason?”
“Not that I’m aware of. She was supposed to be finishing up the prep for tomorrow.”
Drew didn’t remember seeing her anywhere during the firefight. “Do you know where she is now?”
Naomi wiped her eyes with a wadded handkerchief and shook her head. “She said she was going to the doc’s office to see if he needed any help, but I haven’t seen her.”
Drew got a terrible feeling inside. The arsonist who’d set the fire at Addy’s place used kerosene. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but the sudden urge to ride back and check on Billie was strong. “I need to go home.”
“Why?” Logan asked.
Drew explained and Logan’s eyes widened. “I’m coming with you. I’ll let Alanza and Max know we’re leaving and why. You go on. I’ll catch up.”
Drew took off at a run. The livery owner had managed to get his stock out ahead of the flames, so Drew left his tired stallion with the man, saddled a fresh one and rode like hell through the dark for Destiny.
And while he rode he prayed. He tried to convince himself there was no way Prince could be clever enough to pull off such a scheme, but five hours had passed since they’d left the ranch to help with the fire. Anything could be set in motion given such a long span of time.
Just let them be okay. Just let them be okay!
But the moment he arrived, he knew things weren’t. The front door was wide open, and there were no lights on inside. Dismounting, he drew his gun and kept his eyes and ears open as he carefully made his way to the door and inside. An eerie silence greeted him in the foyer. He peered around the darkness for a clue as to what might be going on. “Billie!”
He thought he heard a sound. Gun in hand, he listened and heard it again. It sounded like a muffled voice. “Billie!”
Hoping he wasn’t making a fatal mistake by lighting a match and exposing himself, he withdrew his match kit from his shirt and lit a match against the flint. The flare showed the gagged Mariah trussed up and lying on the floor. His heart pounded. “Oh, God!”
He hurried to her side, hugged her tightly for a moment while she sobbed through the rag between her teeth. “Hold on, sis. You’re safe now. I have you.” He undid the simple knot and hurried to light a nearby lamp. Seeing little Maria asleep behind her on the floor gave him added relief but where were Billie and Antonio?
“Where’s Billie?” he asked while untying her ankles and wrists.
“DuChance has taken her and Tonio. The only reason he left me alive he said was so you’d know he had them.”
Ice filled his blood the moment she spoke DuChance’s name, but it melted under the force of his burning rage. “How long ago?”
“Not very much after you and Logan left for the fire. When they knocked on my door I thought it was Logan returning for something.”
He listened as she told him of being forced to accompany him and his men and that they’d held a rag over Billie’s nose until she slumped to the floor. Wiping at her tears she reached behind her and gently picked up her daughter. Drew was happy they’d been spared but he was worried sick about his wife and son.
“Do you have any idea which way they rode after they left here?”
“No.”
“Okay. I’m going outside to take a look around. Logan’s right behind me and should be here shortly. Will you be okay alone for a moment or two?”
“Yes, but be careful. He may be still on the grounds.”
Drew doubted that, but having underestimated Prince’s cleverness once, he took her advice to heart. The moment he stepped outside, fat, heavy raindrops began falling like coins from the sky. The ranchers and farmers had been praying for rain and those prayers were being answered. Too bad it had come too late for Naomi and the town’s other shop owners. Too bad for him also because any tracks Prince may have left behind to be found once the sun came up were now being washed away.
Alanza and the others returned an hour or so later. Drew related the grim news. “I need to find them.”
Alanza shook her head. “You’re not going to find anything or anyone the way it’s pouring outside.”
Drew paced. He knew she was right. Leaving while it was still dark made no sense at all, but he was slowly going mad with worry over the fate of his wife and child.
Logan added. “And when you go, you’re not going alone.”
Drew didn’t argue. Having Logan by his side would help him hold on to what sanity he had remaining and possibly keep him from killing Prince in cold blood once he was found, and Drew vowed that the madman would be found.
“Mariah, do you know anything about this Jenna Lane?” Max asked.
“No more than that she’s been working for Naomi for about a year. Keeps to herself mostly. Has a boy of about four. Why?”
Logan explained, “She was working at the diner when the fire started. The air around the place was thick with the smell of kerosene.”
“Was she filling lamps?”
“Naomi said she was supposed to be getting the diner ready for tomorrow’s opening.”
“And no one’s seen her since the fire began,” Drew added.
“She isn’t tied to DuChance, is she?” Mariah asked, looking around at the hard-set faces of the men.
Alanza replied, “No one knows. It would be nice if she could be questioned.”
But unless she was found, the mystery would continue.
Logan came over and hunkered down in front of his wife. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
“I am. Just worried to death about Billie and Tonio.”
As was everyone else in the room.
A
t first light, Drew and Logan took the train to San Francisco and upon arrival immediately began their search. With no idea where Prince might be, their first stop was Gertie’s.
After hearing the grim tale, she promised to keep her ears open and help to spread the word.
“I’m offering a one-thousand-dollar reward,” Drew added.
“So much?”
“My wife and son are priceless. The money means nothing.”
“If I hear anything I’ll let you know.”
“Thank you. Send whatever you hear that may be helpful to my office. If I’m not there leave the information with my landlord, Mr. Volga.”
“Will do. I’m sorry you’re having to endure this. Good luck, Drew.”
Their next stop was the police station. Drew’s having lived in San Francisco for many years and having cases that sometimes involved the police, some of the men on the force knew Drew on sight, but that didn’t seem to matter.
“Are you sure she didn’t just take off?” he was asked by the man on duty at the desk.
“I know she didn’t just take off. My sister-in-law was there when DuChance took her and my son away.”
“This is Billie Wells, right? Didn’t she work for him?”
Holding on to his temper, Drew nodded. “Yes, she did.”
The man studied him. “Didn’t I read something in the paper about you fathering her child?”
“Yes, and we’re married. She’s my wife.”
“You married her!” He laughed. “You’re pulling my leg.”
Drew crossed his arms. He was getting angrier by the second.
The policeman grinned and shook his head. “Tell you what. Woman like that—who knows what’s really happened, so if you haven’t found her in, say, a week, come on back.”
“A week!”
Logan grabbed him by the arm. “Let’s go, Drew. We’ll find her on our own. No sense in going to jail.”
Drew knew he was right but he wanted to pull the man across the desk and pound a fist in his face. Instead he said icily. “Thanks for nothing.”
The still chuckling officer nodded and went back to his newspaper.
For the next two days, Drew and Logan crisscrossed the city on foot and in a rented carriage. They checked brothels and cribs all over the Barbary and talked to whores, their madams, and pimps. They spoke with the bootblack Mr. Arroyo, then drove up and down the wharves questioning dockworkers, fishermen, and anyone else who’d listen. They greased palms with coin, tequila, and in one instance a man promised to spread the word in exchange for an on-the-spot legal consultation with Drew. Drew didn’t care. He just wanted to find his family. Driving by the businesses Prince reportedly owned were also dead ends. Throughout the search, Drew forced himself not to imagine their fates because the horror in that would dull his focus. So he looked for Billie in the face of every woman he passed and Tonio in every baby. One occasion during the afternoon of the second day, he spotted a woman on the walks carrying a little boy with curly black hair that was Antonio’s size and color, and he jumped from the carriage. Running through traffic and the crowds on the walk, he came up behind her and spun her around. The baby wasn’t his son. Apologizing profusely to the wide-eyed woman, he backed away feeling like a fool, but he didn’t care. He wanted to find his family.
As dusk fell that second night, and the brothers returned to his apartment, he was at his wits’ end.
“Keep your spirits up,” Logan offered encouragingly. “We’ll find them.”
Later while Logan slept, Drew stood in front of the windows looking out at the street. Over a year ago, he’d stood in the same spot asking then as he did now, “
Where are you, Mina?
”
B
illie came back to full consciousness seated on bare ground in a dark space. She was immediately sick. Once her stomach gave up all its contents, she wiped her hand across her mouth and sat back breathing heavily. She fought to remember how she’d come to be in the place, then the terrible turn of events rushed back and she began feeling beside her in the darkness. “Tonio!”
Terrified, her movements turned frantic. “Tonio!”
Lord, please let my baby be here
. “Tonio!” Her attempt to stand and move away was brought up short. Her arm was tethered. Her fingers ran over a length of stout rope knotted around her wrist. Still calling his name, she clawed at it but the knot was fashioned so tightly and so well, it wouldn’t come free. There’d been no response from her son. She was alone.