Love and Fury: The Coltrane Saga, Book 4 (11 page)

Briana’s heart was racing. Was there really a chance that she could earn the money?

Was there really a chance for Charles?

“You will be going to America with me.”

“America?” she gasped. “Whatever—”

He held up a hand for silence. “Listen to me. I don’t know if Dani ever told you, but her father is a very wealthy man.”

Briana shook her head. “She never talked to me about that.”

Gavin proceeded to tell her the whole story, finishing, “So Travis Coltrane is now in Paris. He’s written to Dani to tell her that she may claim her half of his estate any time. I offered to marry Dani, but she refused. She was determined to enter the convent.” He wrinkled his nose in distaste.

Briana smiled to herself. Dani would never have consented to marry Gavin in any case.

“Why do you need me?” she asked.

“Because,” he replied, smiling confidently, “all Dani has to do is go to America and claim her fortune.”

“Well, she’s not going to, is she?”

He sighed impatiently. “No. She’s not going to ask for her money. However”—he paused significantly—“Dani
is
going to America to lay claim to her share of the Coltrane fortune, because, you see…” He paused again, then continued:
“You
are going to be Dani.”

Briana shook her head without a second’s hesitation.

“No.”

“Yes,” said Gavin. “It is the only way you can hope to save your brother’s life. And,” he continued, “my plan will work. Coltrane won’t be in Nevada. The only member of the family who’ll be there is his son, who has not seen Dani in almost fourteen years. You resemble her closely enough. The coloring is right. And you speak English perfectly, with only a trace of a French accent. Dani would conceivably speak the same way, having lived in this country for so long.” He paused. “Thank God she taught you English. The bitch isn’t entirely useless.

“It’s all quite simple,” he went on fluidly before she could speak. “We’ll go to America. I will outline my plan for you later. Meanwhile, I’ll make the provisions for your brother’s care.” He sat back and watched her. What he had told her was all she needed to know for the time being. How he planned to use her to get control of
all
the Coltrane money was nothing she needed to know, at least not yet.

Briana’s mind raced. It was not right, but it wasn’t as wrong as what Marice was doing. Or letting her beloved Charles die. Wasn’t it her sacred duty to help that helpless boy? Dani had no need of the money anymore, so who would be hurt? And Charles would have a chance to live. That same thought kept coming back over and over:
Charles would have a chance to live.

She leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. The years rolled backward and she recalled all the close times with her mother. How she wished her mother was there to help her now! Was there no other way? Could Briana stoop so low? Was the fact that Charles’s life might be saved a pardoning grace in the guilt of this conspiracy?

Yes. Charles had to have a chance.

With a silent prayer, Briana lifted misty eyes to Gavin and said, “I will do it.”

His eyes sparkled. “I knew you would. You’re stubborn, but you’re not stupid.”

“One thing,” Briana said quickly, her expression grim. “You will not touch me. You will not try to get me into your bed. That is not part of our agreement. That must be understood from the beginning. I want your word of honor,” she said solemnly, wondering fleetingly if Gavin had any honor.

“Oh, you have my word,” he said airily. “There are plenty of other women around, Briana. I don’t lie awake at night thinking about you.”

He stood. “I’m going now to make arrangements for the money to provide care for your brother, and also to arrange our passage to America. We’ll leave as soon as I can get everything taken care of. Meanwhile, go to Dani’s room and begin packing her clothes. You will fit into them, I’m sure. Alter whatever needs altering.”

He went to the door, then paused to warn, “You will not say anything about this to anyone. I demand the utmost secrecy.”

Briana nodded agreement. She certainly didn’t want anyone knowing. “You have my word.”

Gavin left and hurried to the house, relief making him elated. But he knew the next part would be difficult.

He entered the house and went straight to Alaina’s room, where he found her seated at her mahogany desk, studying the family ledgers.

He stood behind her, lowering his hands to dip down inside the bodice of her dressing gown and caress her breasts.

A ripple of pleasure went through Alaina, but she refused to yield to desire. “Not now, Gavin. I’m going over the books. I’m in no mood for lovemaking.”

He nibbled her ear. “You will be in a very different mood when I tell you that our worries are over, my darling.”

She twisted around to stare up at him. “What are you talking about? We’re destitute.”

He fingered the diamond-and-emerald necklace she was wearing, one of the last of the deBonnett family jewels. It was her favorite. The Count had given it to her when they married. It had been in Count deBonnett’s family for six generations and was very valuable.

He took her hands and drew her to her feet, leading her to the bed.

Holding her close, tilting her face to look up into his, he talked. He told her of his plan. As he talked, her face began to look less haggard, less worn, and he was pleased with himself.

When he finished, she threw her arms around him, exulting, “Oh, Gavin, Gavin, my darling. You’re brilliant! Who will ever know? Travis’s son surely won’t know Briana isn’t Dani. And Travis won’t be there. Why, it won’t take any time at all. When you come back with all that money, we’ll live like royalty. We’ll send Briana away so that no one will ever find out.”

Gavin caught her arms and said gently, “It might take awhile, Alaina. Briana doesn’t know this—she has no need to—but we are going to come away from Nevada with more than Dani’s half of the fortune. We might very well come away with all of it. I’ll have to look over the situation when we get there. I can’t plan everything until I’ve seen what’s what.”

Alaina nodded. “There’s one thing more,” he went on, fingering her necklace. “I need money right away. For passage to America. And to take care of Briana’s brother. She’s not stupid. Unless she knows I’ve started carrying out my part of the bargain, she won’t cooperate.”

Alaina’s elation faded. “There is no money, Gavin. You know that.”

He gave the necklace a tug. “There’s this.”

Alaina clutched the jewels possessively as she shook her head wildly. “No. Gavin, this is almost all I have left, all that’s worth anything. And it has sentimental value. And—”

“And we can buy a dozen just like it once we have the Coltrane fortune,” he snapped. “Hand it over.”

Her eyes filled with tears, but he wasn’t moved. Tears never moved Gavin. With trembling hands, she unfastened the necklace and let it slip into his outstretched palm.

He gave it a playful toss, then put it on the bedside table.

“Now then,” he whispered huskily, pushing her down onto the bed. “I want your other jewels, my lovely bitch…the jewels that belong only to me.”

Chapter Seven

Flat valleys, ringed by buttes and mesas, framed by rugged mountains—this was the world the posse from Silver Butte and Colt became a part of as they tracked the bank robbers who had killed Charlene Bowden.

For five grueling days, the men rode, senses keenly alert for any sign. The Indian scout Marshal Booth procured fell by the wayside on the second day when it became clear that Colt was a better tracker. Like his father, Colt did not depend solely on signs like horse tracks and broken brush, but trusted his instincts, putting himself into the mind of his prey. He thought as the prey would think. It worked. They were on the trail of the gunmen, and not far behind them.

The trouble was, they were in rugged country, with many places men could hide in ambush. The posse moved slowly, lest they become an easy target for the outlaws.

Except for Colt, who took chances and refused to listen when Marshal Booth told him to be careful. Booth and his deputies were all eager to catch the men who’d murdered Charlene and robbed the townspeople of their hard-earned money. Yes, they were eager. But they were careful not to jeopardize their lives or the lives of the others.

They stopped on the fifth night to camp on the top of a jutting butte. It was a good place for keeping an eye out all around them. Marshal Booth helped himself to some rabbit stew, then walked over to where Colt was sitting next to a clump of mesquite. Colt wasn’t eating, wasn’t doing anything except what he’d been doing ever since they’d ridden out of Silver Butte—keeping to himself in frigid silence. He had thrown an impenetrable wall around himself.

Booth knew Coltrane and the Bowden girl had been seeing each other for a while, and he knew there’d been some trouble. Hell, old man Carleton Bowden had pitched a fit out in the street, saying it was Colt’s fault his daughter was dead, threatening to kill Colt.

The marshal sat down a few feet from Colt. Colt didn’t acknowledge him. He stared into the distance, eyes narrowed.

The marshal ate his stew, keeping his eyes on Colt, who didn’t even glance his way.

“Okay,” Booth began, intent on having his say. “We need to talk, Coltrane.”

Colt regarded him coolly, then averted his gaze.

“You got me worried, boy. I don’t like the way you’re acting. You charge straight ahead, knowin’ any time you could be ridin’ into a hail of bullets. It’s like you’re wantin’ to get yourself killed. Well, that’s no good, especially if you take me and the other men with you. Now, I don’t know what went on back there in town between you and old man Bowden. But whatever it is, settle it when you get home. And, Coltrane, truth is, I’d as soon you headed on back to town now anyway, ’cause you’re makin’ us all jittery as mules in a lightnin’ storm. The way you’re actin’ is spooky.”

Colt murmured, “I know what I’m doing. You have no reason to worry, Marshal.”

The marshal’s eyebrows shot up. “No reason to worry when you charge ahead without lookin’ left or right?”

Colt smiled. He knew exactly what he was doing. But he wasn’t ready to explain. “You want me to leave the posse, I will,” he said.

The marshal’s head bobbed up and down. “I think that’d be best, Coltrane. I can send somebody to get that Indian scout back. We might go slower, but it’d be safer. I’d feel a lot better if you’d just head back to Silver Butte.”

“I’m not going back to Silver Butte.” Colt got to his feet. He reached for the saddle he’d taken off his horse, then started toward where the horses were tethered.

“Hey, wait!” The marshal got to his feet. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Colt stopped and turned, staring at him with eyes suddenly flashing. “Don’t worry about me, Marshal. You’ve got a job to do. I’ve got a job to do. It’s best we split up and each do things our own way.”

The marshal ran to block his path. “Now, you wait a minute,” he ordered, anger rising. “I ain’t havin’ you ridin’ outta here thinkin’ you’re the law. That ain’t the way I run things. If you ain’t goin’ back to town, you can just fall in with the rest of the posse and start takin’ orders and actin’ like you got some sense.”

He lowered his voice, suddenly aware that others were listening. Placing a gentle hand on Colt’s shoulder, he said, “Look, boy, I know you’re hurtin’, but you gotta get hold of yourself.”

Colt turned his head ever so slightly and eyed Booth’s hand with such hostility that the marshal withdrew it. “Marshal,” Colt said coldly, “just keep out of my way.”

He pushed by the older man and continued on toward the horses. Moments later he had his horse saddled and was riding out into the night. They could hear his horse as it moved down the hill.

Branch Pope was sitting near the campfire. He didn’t like having a fire. It was a dead giveaway to the outlaws. But many of the men were whiners, saying they were cold, needed hot food once a day.

Branch shook his head in disgust. He was only there because Coltrane was his boss, and he wanted to do whatever he could to help him. He knew about him and the Bowden girl, had also heard about the strange confrontation between Colt and Bowden in the street. There was big trouble. He didn’t know what it was, but the big boss, Travis, had asked him to keep an eye on things, and that’s just what Branch was doing.

Booth went to Branch and said, “Maybe you’d better go after him. Try to talk some sense into that hard head. He might listen to you.”

Branch snorted derisively. “I know when to stay out of his business. Colt is just as stubborn and feisty as his daddy, and he sure ain’t one to rattle when he’s mad about something. And he’s madder’n I’ve ever seen him. Gives me chills, it does.”

He paused and spat tobacco juice into the fire. There was a sudden sizzle of flames. “He’s gonna kill the men that killed Miss Charlene. There ain’t nothin’ you or me can do to stop him, Marshal.”

Booth stiffened, aware that all the men were watching him. “Well, he can’t take the law into his own hands,” he snapped. “I can’t allow that.” He squared his shoulders and glared at Branch as though Branch were causing all the trouble.

Branch leaned back against a rock, folding his arms across his chest. There was just nothing Branch liked better than seeing a pompous know-it-all make a jackass out of himself. “Well,” he drawled, keeping his face impassive, “since you’re the marshal, it’s your place to ride out and stop him, huh?”