Born of Treasure (Treasure Chronicles Book 2) (9 page)

“This is ridiculous,” Amethyst sputtered. “Do you know who I know? I know
the
Amethyst Treasure. She will love telling the newspapers about how the deputy of Yahnke can’t find the right couple to arrest. Do we look like criminals?”

“They’ll know I’m doing my job.” The deputy puffed his chest.

Clark grasped her hand and lifted her knuckles to his lips. “Be calm, sweetheart. This is a misunderstanding. We will cooperate with the law and be done with this foolishness.”

The deputy snorted. “Good. We’ll wait here until we land.”

“What?” Amethyst’s eyes bugged. “Clark, we—”

He winked at her before kissing her forehead. “Trust me.” He held out his hand to the deputy. “It’s a pleasure meeting you, sir. It’s good to know the law is taking a firm stand in Hedlund.” If the deputy believed that, he had to be new. Most people turned their thumbs at the law.

The deputy paused before shaking his hand. “Thanks. I got my certificate in the east, but I wanted to see the open plains.”

He was new, then. “You understand my wife and I are enjoying our vacation. Do we need to stay in this office? Let’s move out by the wheel.” No one chose to stand by the wheel because of the deafening sound.

“I need to have you in custody.”

“We won’t move. I want my wife to enjoy the river.” Clark stroked her hair. No wonder people loved to touch pets. Feeling her silkiness against his hand made his heart thud.

The deputy glanced out the window before he nodded. “Long as we stay close by.”

Perfect. Clark led Amethyst to the turning wheel outside the door. The hum of the motors exploded around them. The crew stayed below, working in the kitchen and tending the steam engines. The passengers enjoyed the dining room and the front deck.

Did the deputy deserve to die? He wouldn’t listen to them. He would take them to Senator Horan, and once they landed it would be more difficult to dispose of him and make their way back to the ranch.

Clark pushed Amethyst behind him as he pulled his pistol free and fired. A hole appeared in the deputy’s forehead and he jerked. A droplet of blood welled in the dark space.

The hum of the wheel drowned out the gunshot and Amethyst’s scream.

Clark rushed the deputy and knocked him over the railing into the churning water. Blood soaked along the waves as the wheel caught the body, mangling it.

He slammed his pistol back into the holster. “Help! Man overboard!”

Amethyst gripped the railing, her face ashen.

“Someone help us.” Clark ran down the deck toward the passengers. “
Help
.”

A door opened and a crewman in a blue uniform darted out. “What is it?”

“I was walking my wife down the deck and a man fell off the railing.” Clark made himself pant. “He might’ve jumped. He fell into the wheel.”

“Bloody gears!” The crewman bolted down the deck.

Amethyst rubbed her mouth. “He fell overboard! We tried to scream at him.”

Clark pulled her against his chest and rubbed her back. It had to be done—nothing could be allowed to hurt them.

eremiah rapped his knuckles against the door of the hired steambuggy. “Halt.”

The driver nodded, steering the vehicle to the side of the road. “As you wish, sir.” Other steam contraptions rattled by, intermingled with horses, the riders hunched over the reins.

“What a pleasant town,” Alyssa said. Her scarlet curls hung loose around her face, bouncing against her cheeks, flushed by the sun despite her wide-brimmed hat.

“Morehouse is…” Jeremiah searched his vocabulary. Captain Greenwood lived in a more populated town than what Jeremiah was used to seeing, but it held an awkward air, as if everyone was too stiff. The horseback riders never looked at each other; no greetings were given. Back home, everyone knew each other by name and never missed a chance to ask how he or she was doing. The riders couldn’t all be strangers.

Children didn’t run along the wooden sidewalks and Tarnished Silvers didn’t lounge outside the buildings. Actually, no one strolled the streets. Other than the dry dirt, nothing appeared unclean. Even the windows sparkled.

The driver opened the door and Jeremiah hopped down, lifting his hand for Alyssa. She clasped his fingers, smiling, and stepped to the road. The driver unlatched their bags from the back compartment, accepted the payment, tipped his top hat, and departed.

Where was the normal chatter, asking about the visitor’s travels and stay? Jeremiah had heard newcomers questioned back home. “He was quiet.”

“Perhaps that’s how his boss prefers the drivers?” Alyssa lifted her bag. Amethyst would’ve insisted someone else do it for her.

Scowling, Jeremiah lifted his and hers, and led the way into the inn. At home, the inn was filled with local men and dating couples enjoying food or music. Here, a clerk stood behind the counter, but otherwise, the space appeared empty.

“Do you have rooms?” Jeremiah set his valise on the counter.

“For you and your wife, sir?”

If only. “A cousin.” They’d agreed that sounded safe. “I would like two rooms. Please give Alyssa your best available.”

“They’re all the best, sir.” The clerk flipped to a clean page in his ledger and turned it toward Jeremiah.

“Do you get many guests?” Alyssa stroked the cameo pinned to the collar of her indigo blouse.

“This is an army town, ma’am. Wives and other members of family are the normal guests. Are you visiting someone?”

The first location made safe on the frontier and it had become an army haven. “This is all for the army?”

“Training grounds, barracks, and general quarters. Yes, sir.”

“We’re passing through,” Alyssa said. Right, the clerk had asked a question about visiting someone.

“Actually, I want to call on an old family friend. Captain Nathan Greenwood. Do you know where I can find him?”

The clerk closed the ledger. “He might not be in residence, but I can direct you to his home.”

Jeremiah lifted the brass knocker, shaped like a lion’s head, on the front door of Greenwood’s house. His mother would’ve hated it, with the plain black shutters and white siding. The yard lay smooth and green, without flowers, bushes, or trees. “This is very utilitarian.”

“He must not have time for pleasantries,” Alyssa said.

Jeremiah knocked again to make sure the butler heard. “He could hire a gardener.”

“He might be very frugal.”

The front door opened to a Bromi slave wearing a black suit. “Yes, sir?” Behind the elderly man showed a plain whitewashed wall.

“I’m seeking Captain Greenwood.” Obviously, the captain wasn’t home, but any information might help.

“I’ll need you to leave your calling card and the captain will be in touch.”

“I’m an old friend of his just in from the east.” He hoped the Bromi didn’t detect a lack of an Eastern accent. “He said he had a book for me. Said he’d leave it in his office.”

“I have my orders not to let anyone in.” The Bromi’s facial expression didn’t shift, his yellow eyes blank and mouth firm. “If it was something in his office, that’s down at the station. Good day, sir.”

The door shut. Jeremiah snorted, rocking back on his heels. He’d expected to be escorted into at least the foyer. There had to be something he could use.

“We had a nice trip.” Alyssa brushed his arm. “We can enjoy a pleasant meal and head back to the ranch. I’ve liked our time spent together.”

“There’s something wrong with Captain Greenwood,” Jeremiah growled. “Why’d he go on about Clark Treasure so much? We’re not that special.”

A window slammed shut above them in the two-story house and a steambuggy with a uniformed soldier rattled by.

“We’ll go to his office. Maybe his secretary will know something.”

“Jere,” Alyssa whispered. “I don’t want this to make you ill.”

“I can feel it. Something isn’t right.” She had to understand. Her sister had died—Alyssa knew life wasn’t perfect. Captain Greenwood might have something to do with their neighbor, Horan.

Greenwood’s door opened. The Bromi looked up and down the street, before waving. “Head to the back.” He shut the door.

Jeremiah blinked. That must’ve been imagined.

“How odd.” Alyssa frowned. At least she understood something was wrong. He grabbed her hand, pulling her around the building to a backdoor. The Bromi slave waved them inside, shutting the door behind.

Maybe they shouldn’t have obeyed. It could be a trap.

Captain Greenwood couldn’t suspect anything.

A girl with red hair a paler shade than Alyssa’s stood beside the kitchen table cracking her knuckles. He figured she had to be around sixteen, Amethyst’s age. “I heard ya from upstairs. You mentioned Clark Treasure.” Her green eyes widened and she stepped forward, stiletto heels on her white knee boots clicking the floor.

Jeremiah nudged Alyssa behind him. Whoever the girl was, she chose to dress as immodest as possible in a white chemise and matching corset, a lace skirt that only reached her thighs.

“He’s my brother,” Jeremiah said.

“You really know Clark Treasure?” The girl tugged on her black choker. “A boy from Tangled Wire? Blonde and blue-eyed, a real soulful chap?”

She might be a Tarnished Silver from his hometown. That might be why Captain Greenwood was curious. “Yeah. That’s our Clark.”

“Are you Captain Greenwood’s daughter?” Alyssa asked.

She shook her head.

“His wife?” Alyssa pressed. Jeremiah snorted. A prude like Captain Greenwood wouldn’t have a slut like that for his mate.

“I’m Clark’s wife,” the girl whispered. “Mable.”