Over the Edge (31 page)

She felt the hands slip and suddenly she fell a long ways. She had a split second to think of Seth and floors that broke like glass before she slammed into the ground.

“Is she all right? The rope—” A woman’s voice. One of these polecats was a woman.

“Quiet!” the man said, cutting her off.

Moaning behind the gag, Callie tried to figure out a way to get them to let her talk. She had no intention of dying rather than give up the secret as to where those diamonds were hidden. But neither did she trust these two to be kindhearted and let her go on her way once they had what they wanted.

Maybe they would, but she’d heard the cruelty in the man’s voice. And anyway, it wasn’t going to be possible to bargain with a gag in her mouth.

They hauled her to her feet. “Bring the lantern but don’t light it. For now, I think darkness is a good idea. No risk she’ll see my face.”

Which she already had. Which the man knew very well. Which meant the man didn’t want the woman to know that. Why? He marched her forward. Even with the blindfold in place, she could tell they’d stepped into complete darkness.

“We want those diamonds.” The man shoved her along in front of him. Callie thought of the hole Seth had fallen in and wondered where else there were deep holes in this place.

“We’ll keep you down here until your family brings them to us.”

“How . . . ?” She tried to talk, but it was so garbled it was impossible.

“You’ll get your chance to talk once we’re away from this entrance. And if you tell me where the diamonds are, all nice and polite, we’ll let you go. If you don’t, we’ll wait until someone in your family reads the note we left in the shack. They’ll miss you soon enough and get around to checking there. Then we wait for someone to bring the diamonds and trade them for you.”

Callie growled at the man to the best of her ability as he forced her ahead of him. She had no idea how far they’d come when finally they stopped.

“I’m going to take the gag off now.”

As soon as it jerked free, Callie yelled.

The man shoved her backward and she stumbled into a wall. “Yell all you want. No one’s gonna hear you, Mrs. Kincaid.”

She shouted again. He laughed.

Giving up on the futile effort, Callie opened her mouth to tell the idiot she’d be glad to lead him to the diamonds. But the words died unspoken. She had no idea where she was, so how could she guide them to the diamonds? She’d never come to this part of the cave with Seth and Julia.

Her shoulders slumped when she realized that unless she came up with a real good idea, she was going to have to do exactly what Jasper and his lady friend wanted. Wait for a Kincaid to come and rescue her.

“Ethan, Seth wants you to stop and rest the herd. Wait for him and Callie to catch up.” Heath’s shout turned Ethan around.

Ethan headed back toward Heath to see what the holdup was. Before he reached the youngster, three shots fired. He spun his horse in the direction of the sound. Three more shots.

“Steele!” The gunfire assured everyone was listening. “There’s trouble. I’m going back.”

“Seth’s hunting for Callie!” Heath shouted.

With a jerk of his chin Ethan saw more of the Kincaid hands coming after him. “Steele, send the men to tell Rafe something’s wrong. You and Heath come with me.”

Steele barked out orders, then he, Ethan, and Heath took off riding in the direction they’d just come.

Seth pushed his horse hard up the narrow trail leading to the line shack. Iron-shod hooves clattered along the stony path. He crested the hill in front of the cabin and saw no horses in the corral. “Callie!”

No spitfire of a wife could be seen anywhere.

“Callie!” He was just yelling now. Scared to death. She’d have already answered him if she could.

He swung down off his horse and tied him to the hitching post in front of the shack. Pushing the door open, he saw immediately that the fireplace had been used. In one day? Who’d had time to find the place and build a fire?

He went back outside and studied the ground. It was heavily trodden from their days of building. The only place he could think of around here was the cavern.

But if someone had taken his wife down there, then they’d picked the wrong hiding place. No one knew that cavern better than Seth. No one could hide from him for long, not down there. With a flash of sense he thought to leave a message for Rafe or Ethan or one of the hired hands. But no paper, no pencil. He prayed desperately for inspiration and thought of Julia marking the cavern wall. He dashed back into the cabin, and as he went to get a piece of charred wood he saw the paper lying on the mantel. A note demanding that the diamonds be handed over. Threatening Callie if he didn’t get them.

Jasper Henry.

Seth reread it, then grabbed charcoal out of the cold fireplace. He went back out, and on the clean-split wood of the front door he wrote
Callie Kidnapped Cavern
.

His brothers would know he needed help, but how long would it take for them to come?

He sure as certain wasn’t going to wait for them.

Scrambling down and up the deep gully, Seth’s fears were confirmed when he saw the ladder dropped over the side of the pit. He could see clear enough to know the first room was empty.

He swung over the edge of the hole and slid more than climbed down the ladder. Every second of the descent he was conscious of how clearly visible he was. He could feel the heat of a rifle trained on his back. He hit the ledge and was down to the cavern floor in a flash. He went straight to the tunnel and stopped. Light or no light?

The floors had a thin layer of dust in most places, so he might be able to pick up some tracks. But a light was like an open invitation for him to be seen. He knew there was no other direction for a dozen yards, so he went down the tunnel until he felt the first turnoff. Listening with every ounce of concentration he could muster, he did his best not to make a sound as he moved. When he got to the turnoff, he pulled a match from his pocket and crouched down. A light scratch seemed to echo and call to every outlaw in the Colorado Territory that he was there. The match flared to life. Seth used it to study the ground, but it was near impossible to make out any tracks. The light was just too dim.

Knowing he had to risk it, he grabbed a torch stuck into the wall. He lit it with a
whoosh
as the fire jumped to life and blinded him for a second.

It flowed, like a river of fire, straight toward him. Seth felt the fire splatter on his back.

He could smell the burning. It was his own flesh. He heard the thin cry of terror. He slapped at his burning hair.

The gunshots had sounded right by the trail to the line shack. Slowing only to make the turn, Ethan charged up to the cabin with Heath right on his heels, and Steele coming hard behind them.

“Where’d they get to?” Ethan swung his horse around, looking in all directions.

“He rode back to find Callie. She disappeared.”

Steele’s gray brows lowered to an angry line. “Well, Seth’s almost loco enough to leave a cattle drive, but Callie’d never do it.”

“You don’t know her.” Heath scowled at Steele. “You’ve barely met her.”

“I heard about the stagecoach robbery and what she done. I know the type they breed in Texas. I’m from there myself. She’s solid. She’d’ve never left when there was work to be done. So that means there’s trouble.”

Then Ethan rode close enough to see the front door of the cabin. In large letters scrawled with charcoal were the words Callie Kidnapped Cavern
.

“Seth went down into that blasted cavern after her.” Steele’s eyes sharpened. Ethan knew his foreman was smart and savvy and could be dangerous if he needed to be.

Ethan wasn’t ever going to like that cavern, but he’d made his peace with it. He’d go down after his brother if he had to, and it looked like he did.

“Heath, ride back to the herd and tell—”

“No, I’m going with you.”

Ethan nodded. Better to send Steele to handle the cowpokes anyway. “Steele, get to Rafe. Leave the cattle; we can round them up later. Tell Rafe I went to the cave from here to find Seth and Callie. He should come a-runnin’ from the cave entrance at his place. We’ll cover more ground that way.” Ethan didn’t say more, knowing Rafe would give the orders the second the men were within the sound of his voice.

Steele jerked his chin in agreement.

“Hey, wait!”

Both men stopped and turned to Heath, who was taking Connor from off his back. “Steele, you take the baby.”

Steele arched a brow until it disappeared under his Stetson.

“Well, we can’t take him to a gunfight.” Heath gently but firmly hooked the carrier holding the baby onto Steele’s back.

“This is the strangest foreman job I’ve ever had for a fact.” Steele turned and galloped away.

Ethan looked at Heath. “Let’s go!”

Chapter
29

Callie’s head cleared as she walked. The blindfold had sagged down, and with the lantern she could see where she was going now. But none of it was familiar to her.

Then they stepped into a good-sized room. Just above eye level she almost yelped with pleasure when she saw a real big fish on the wall. She knew exactly where she was. She’d made a fairly accurate map to this place. She wouldn’t be a bit surprised if she could find her way back to Rafe’s valley from here—even in the pitch-dark. And she knew exactly where she’d hide until these outlaws quit hunting for her.

Seeing a handy boulder, she stumbled over it and toppled to the stony floor, crying out in pain.

She did her best to make it look and sound natural, not that hard considering how tightly her hands were bound.

If they wanted her to move another inch, they could just carry her. She was tired of making this easy for them. And if she was going to make a break, this is the place she needed to start from.

A toe prodded her stomach and she did her best to sob. It didn’t suit her to cry, waste of salt and water to her way of thinking. It came more natural to respond with her fist in this man’s belly.

But for the purpose of acting helpless and slowing these varmints down, and considering her hands were bound, she just cried like a little orphan calf.