Authors: Sarah McCarty
His “You will” lingered in her ears. With pressure on her elbow, he forced her back down the sidewalk. A woman in a black dress and a perky, feathered hat approached. Fei wanted to cry for help. Pain shot up from her elbow, crippling the impulse. The woman, oblivious to Fei’s distress, nodded as she drew even. “Good day to you.”
The colonel touched his fingers to his hat and nodded back with a slight smile, maintaining the illusion that they were a couple out for an afternoon stroll. “Good afternoon.”
Fei nodded and walked, her mind racing. She had to help Shadow. She had to help herself. She had to escape.
They came to an alley. Instead of crossing, the colonel pushed her into it. She stumbled a few steps before stopping and planting her feet. Again, he stepped in front of her, so close that his cologne stung her nostrils. Keeping her gaze down, she asked, “What do you think I can give you?”
“Shadow Ochoa.”
“He is in jail.” She waved in the direction of his pocket. “They are going to hang him tomorrow night. It says so on the paper you showed me.”
“It seems Mr. Ochoa did not like our accommodations.”
“He escaped?” Relief put a quaver in her voice. Hopefully, he would think it fear.
“For now. I’ll get him back.”
“I won’t help you.”
“Yes, you will. Mr. Ochoa is very fond of you.”
She dipped her head lower, not having to fake the shame. “He used me.”
He reached out. She stepped back. He was quicker than she had expected. His gloved fingers slid behind her neck, a parody of the caress that Shadow so often used, but it didn’t excite when this man did it. When this man touched her, a chill went down her spine.
“You didn’t spend that much time in your marriage getting to know your husband, did you?”
“It was a very short marriage. It ended when he threw me out.”
“I highly doubt that.”
Tipping her coin purse, she spilled the contents into her palm and held it up to his face. “This is all there is between me and starvation. If Shadow loved me, I would have more.”
Daniels shook his head. Clearly, he did not believe her. “Shadow Ochoa has a habit of disposing of those he loves. He tells himself it keeps them safe.”
“Well, if it is true, it is not working very well.”
“I want him back.”
She gave up feigning calm. “So do I, but I don’t think either one of us is going to get our wish.”
“You may be right.” His thumb stroked her neck. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to let you convince me you’re right, which means I’ll need a different form of compensation.”
Rape? He was going to rape her. Fei looked around. There was nothing in the alley except a couple of crates, tossed to one side. Nothing stood out as a weapon.
“No.”
She jerked away. He pulled her back. From the street end of the alley came men’s voices. The colonel pushed her up against the building. His forearm hit the wood above her head. His body pressed into hers while his hand came around her throat. His mouth lowered to her ear. From the corner of her eye, she could see the men passing, laughing. Just ten feet away. Ten impossible feet.
His fingers tightened on her neck. “If you cry out, I’ll cut your throat.”
She believed him. “What do you want?”
“Shadow or the gold. Either one.”
S
HE
WOULDN
’
T
GIVE
HIM
S
HADOW
.
Even if she could, she wouldn’t. He read the answer in her eyes.
“So I guess it will be the gold, then.”
“Why do you think I have gold?”
“I see a copy of every assayer’s report that comes out of this state.”
“But I only found the one nugget.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“You don’t lie well.”
Yes, she did, but that would be another thing she would work on. Lowering her eyes, she whispered, “We will need horses.”
He eased his hand off her throat and straightened. “That’s not a problem.”
“I will also need my things.”
“You’re not hoping that someone’s going to rescue you when you get to the hotel, are you?”
“No. That is not one of my hopes.” Being able to get what she needed out of her room without him noticing?
That
was one of her hopes.
He took her elbow. “Let’s go.”
The whole way to the hotel, she held on to a wish, almost a belief, that someone should notice she was being held captive. At least they should look at them twice, but nobody looked at the army officer and the Chinese woman. In reality, nobody looked at her at all, but they all looked at him and she had to admit, he did cut a striking figure in his uniform. Part of it had to do with how he carried himself. The rest had to do with how well his uniform fit and the utter cleanliness of it. She looked at his gloves. There wasn’t a smudge in sight. The colonel was a very precise man.
“How did you find me?”
“There aren’t many women who look for jobs as explosives experts. Word gets around.”
She cursed herself. She hadn’t even thought of hiding that.
They arrived at the hotel without incident. It was a simple three-story structure with modest decor and a clean interior. They catered to families. An unmarried woman alone was suspicious, so she wasn’t surprised when, as soon as they entered the lobby, the clerk called her over. Daniels stayed with her, his hand on the middle of her back. As if she needed the warning.
Bowing, she greeted the clerk. “Hello, Mr. Brown.”
Keeping his voice low, the clerk informed her, “I’m sorry, Miss Fei, we don’t allow gentlemen up to our female guests’ rooms.”
She didn’t need the colonel’s painful grip on her elbow to know he didn’t like that.
“You do not rent rooms to men?” she asked.
The challenge was slapped down. “This is not a saloon. We do not allow fraternizing above stairs.”
The gentleman in the corner reading a newspaper folded the top to look at her. A woman coming down the stairs ushered her son out the door faster than was necessary. Fei’s blush was not feigned.
“Oh, my.”
She didn’t know what to say or to whom.
Daniels’s lopsided smile gave her the shivers. “I’m sorry, darling, it wasn’t my intention to ruin your reputation when I suggested we come get your trunk.”
“We didn’t mean any disrespect, sir, but this is a decent hotel for families,” Mr. Brown said.
“I understand.”
“If the lady needs help with her trunk, we have a bellboy who could assist, if that would be acceptable?”
Fei’s “That won’t be necessary” was overridden by the colonel’s “That would be appreciated.”
“Of course.” The clerk rang a bell on the desk. A middle-aged man came out of the back.
“Miss Fei will need help with her trunks.”
The man nodded and waited. Daniels reached out and stroked the back of his fingers down Fei’s cheek. “Don’t take too long, darling. We’ve got an appointment in ten minutes.”
She kept her expression demure and her eyes downcast through sheer force of will. “Of course.”
Her room was on the second floor. She took the stairs as quickly as she could. The bellhop lagged behind, likely not in a hurry as he knew he was going to have to wait on her anyway. Reaching her room, she quickly entered and closed the door behind her. She didn’t have much time.
Dumping out the trunk, she lifted the false bottom. Four sticks. She only had four sticks left. Tearing at a petticoat, she started ripping strips of material off the bottom. Grabbing two sticks of the dynamite, she tied them to the outside of her right thigh and then two to her left. Putting on the petticoats over her clothes, she tied them before pulling her blue cotton dress over her head. Buttoning it quickly, she stuffed the sulfurs in the pocket. In the other one, she stuffed her map. Smoothing her skirts, she checked her appearance. The dynamite wasn’t noticeable. On the floor, amidst the shirts and dresses, was her gold nugget. Her good-luck charm. She picked it up. For a moment she just stood there holding the nugget, inner panic flaring.
The colonel would kill her as soon as he had what he wanted. She had no doubt of that. She assumed he was telling the truth when he said Shadow had escaped. Maybe he was telling the truth about the other, too. Men tended to know more about their enemies than about their friends. And Shadow was an enigma to her. It had always felt like love when he touched her, but then he’d step back and the feeling would be gone. So the colonel could be telling the truth or he could just be spinning her a lie because he needed her to believe it so he could recapture Shadow. And quite frankly, she was tired of guessing.
A knock came at the door. With minimal fuss, she tossed a pair of pantaloons, a new shirt and skirt, stockings and a sweater into her pack. The rest she shoved back into the trunk. Then she hurried over to the door, vividly aware of the dynamite strapped to her thighs, the chances she was taking. Fingers on the doorknob, she stopped and took a breath. Catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror by the door, she smoothed her hair. Everything looked to be in place. It was time to go. She opened the door.
“Your trunk?” the bellhop asked.
“I have decided I only need a pack.”
After a second, he held out his hand. She gave him her bag. He motioned her out the door.
On the way down the stairs, she discovered that deciding it was time to do something was a long way from being comfortable with doing it. When she got to the landing, her knees were weak and her hands were shaking. There was no time to give in to panic. The colonel was waiting at the bottom, one foot on the first step, one hand on the railing.
“I was just coming to look for you,” he informed her as she descended the stairs.
“It took longer than expected,” she told him when she got to the bottom.
His pale blue eyes went from her to the porter.
“Where’s your trunk?”
She halted on the step in front of him. “I decided all I needed was the pack. We are coming back, aren’t we?”
“Of course.”
He was lying.
The porter handed him her bag. The colonel’s smile was a false stretch of his lips as he handed the man a coin. “Thank you.” Adding several more, he said, “And please see that the lady’s room is held for the next week.”