The Moon and the Stars (32 page)

The shadowy form of a man detached itself from the darkness to stand by the fountain. He crushed his hands into fists as he watched the light go out in the master bedroom.

“That bastard is touching her,” his raspy voice choked out. “He has soiled her purity, and for that they will all die!”

He paced back and forth, anger building inside him like lava in a volcano ready to erupt. “I will bring him down—I will bring them all down and her with them.”

He stalked toward the stairs that led to the gallery, reaching into his pocket to make sure the gun was still there. When his foot hit the first step, he heard loud voices and the sound of running footsteps.

“I saw someone,” Brace heard one man call to another. “You go around the front of the house, and I'll go this way!”

Brace melted back into the shadows, moved quickly into the garden, and attempted to climb the high brick wall. He was not a tall man, so he made several tries, falling back into a muddy flowerbed that had just been watered. After several more attempts, he finally made it over the top and dropped to the other side. His hand darted into his pocket, and he cursed aloud: He had dropped the gun in his scramble over the wall.

He moved along the wall until he came to the neighboring
house. He boldly cut through the yard and found his horse where he had left it tied to a tree branch.

There would be another time. He smiled to himself. He would not stop until Caroline had paid with her life for betraying him.

Frank and Elliot Webber met at the front of the house. Both of the brothers were dockworkers, but Wade had pulled them off their jobs to guard the house. Frank, the elder, had been employed by the Renault family for twenty years, and Elliot almost that long.

“When Mr. Renault asked us to watch the house, I didn't think we'd see anything. Until tonight it's been as quiet as can be.”

“No one could have got past me,” Frank said, raising the lantern so he could look behind a neatly trimmed hedge.

Elliot looked disgusted that he had let the man get away. “I tell you, I saw someone! He was sneaking toward the back stairs until I called out to you. Then he must have run off.”

“What if he went over the back wall?” Frank said, knowing his brother was not likely to exaggerate. If he said he'd seen someone, then he had.

“Let's check and see,” Elliot said, already walking in that direction.

When they got to the back wall, they saw muddy footprints. Elliot bent down and picked up the gun, holding it out for his brother to see.

“Just look what we have here. A double-shot derringer.
Looks like a toy, but deadly. Now, how do you suppose it got here?”

“Yeah, a derringer,” Frank said, taking it and flipping it open. “And it's loaded. Even if Mr. Renault is asleep, I think we'd better wake him up for this.”

Wade had just made love to Caroline, and he now held her close to him. She had been dealt another blow today. He smoothed her hair out of her face. “
Mon amour,
give me one more week, and then I will take you to Charleston, and we will settle all your affairs.”

She rose up on her elbow. “There is no need to go to South Carolina. Brace is here.”

Wade gave a half shake of his head. “I do not think so.”

“He is! I know it. And if he's here, it is for only one reason. He wants to see me dead.”

He pulled her to him. “You must not think that way. You are protected as long as you are in this house.”

“You don't know him like I do,” she said in frustration, wishing she could make him understand. “You have never understood his evil. I am not safe in this house, and neither is Jonathan—and neither are you. Brace was here in this yard.”

Wade gave her a skeptical glance. “He could not
possibly have gotten into the yard. I was not going to tell you this, but I have men on guard.”

She shook her head and sat up. “Jonathan said he talked to a stranger while we were away. I haven't questioned him too much for fear I would make him afraid.” She shook her head. “I should caution him about Brace. He must be careful.”

Wade had every reason to believe that Brace Duncan was a madman. But he also believed that Caroline was just overreacting to something that could easily be explained. She had been running and hiding for so long, she saw danger everywhere.

“You are allowing your fear of Brace to make you suspect everything that happens and to see trouble when there is none.”

“Why won't you believe me?”

Wade glanced toward the door when someone knocked. He frowned and pulled the cover over Caroline. “It must be important, for someone to disturb us at this time of night.

“Just a moment,” he called out, getting out of bed and drawing on his trousers. He grabbed his shirt, pulled it on, and went to answer the door without buttoning it.

“Mary?” he asked, opening the door a crack. “Is something wrong?”

“I'm sorry to bother you. Frank and Elliot Webber are downstairs. They say it's important.”

“Let them know I will be down directly.”

He buttoned his shirt and tucked it in his trousers. Then he pulled his boots on and leaned over to place a lingering kiss on Caroline's lips.

He saw the fear in her eyes and realized just how upset she was. “This is just business. I should not be long.” He gave her another kiss and allowed his hand to drift across her breasts. “Wait for me.”

When Wade went downstairs, Frank and Elliot Webber were waiting for him in the entry. It was easy to see that they were brothers, because each had a shock of brown hair and deep-set gray eyes. Big and heavily muscled, they were a force to be reckoned with. Each of them looked as if his nose had been broken. It was reputed that the Webber brothers liked a good fight, especially after consuming too much whisky. But they were men Wade trusted, and that was why he had enlisted their help to protect Caroline.

“Sorry, sir,” Frank said, jerking his cap off and digging his elbow into his brother's ribs, reminding him to do the same. “I thought you might want to see what we found.”

Wade shook hands with both men. “What have you there?”

Elliot held the derringer out to his boss. “Someone was lurking about in the yard. He ran off when he realized I'd seen him. He's a sly one—we couldn't catch him. But he left footprints where he went over the back wall, and he dropped this.”

Wade took the gun and turned it over in his hand. “Did you get close enough to describe him?”

“No, sir. I'm sorry. It was too dark, and he was too far away. If I met him in daylight, I wouldn't even know him.”

Wade valued their opinions, so he asked, “What do either of you make of this?”

“I think someone was up to no good. I can't say who, and I can't say why, but maybe you know, since you have us looking out for Mrs. Renault.”

Wade had almost made another grave mistake with Brace Duncan. The man was in New Orleans just as Caroline had warned him. He should have trusted her instinct. Because he had been careless, evil had come close to her tonight. And unless Brace was apprehended, he would not stop until he got even closer to Caroline.

Frank watched his boss check the gun to see that it was loaded. “What do you want us to do, Mr. Renault?”

Wade's mind raced ahead to what must be done to keep Caroline safe. “I want the guard doubled—no, tripled. Choose whomever you trust so you men can work in round-the-clock shifts. I want the house protected at all times.”

“I agree, sir,” Frank said.

Elliot looked confused. “To cover such a big area, we'll have to use five or six men at all times.”

“Do whatever you have to. I want one man watching every door.”

“And when the missus is in the garden?”

Wade clapped Elliot on the back. “I'll leave it up to you. I owe both of you for tonight. You may have saved Mrs. Renault's life.”

“This man is trying to kill her?” Frank asked, attempting to sort it all out in his mind.

“He has killed before, and he will not hesitate to do so again.”

Wade didn't realize he was pacing as he described Brace with the perception of a bounty hunter.

“The man's name is Brace Duncan. He is of
medium height, has dark hair, and wears stylish clothes. He had a mustache, but he could have shaved it off. He wears a gold ring on the little finger of his left hand with the letter D inscribed on it.”

Wade stopped pacing and looked from one man to the other. “You must understand and make the others understand—this man is dangerous. Make sure you are all armed.”

“We won't let you down, sir. You can depend on us.”

“I do. You must not allow any strangers on the property, is that understood?”

Frank answered for them both. “Yes, sir.”

Wade walked toward the stairs. “Have Mary give you something to eat. I will want the two of you to stay here at all times. Tell her to find you a room in the house.”

Wade quietly entered the bedroom and placed the derringer on the dressing table. He knew that Caroline had fallen asleep, because he could hear her slow, even breathing. He quietly undressed and slipped into bed beside her and took her into his arms.

Mon amour,
he thought, pressing his mouth against hers. She barely stirred in her sleep.

At what point had she become his life, his reason for being? If anything happened to her, he would find no joy in existence. He pulled her tightly to him and spread kisses over her face. So this was what it felt like to love someone to the exclusion of everything else, to put another's life before one's own? He felt as if his heart had been ripped to shreds because of the hurt she had been forced to live through.

He touched his lips to her ear and whispered
softly, “I cannot go back to what I was before you came into my life. I was dead inside until you breathed life into me.”

She opened her eyes and blinked as if coming out of a deep sleep. Seeing the fire in Wade's eyes, she reached up and stroked his cheek.

“I tried to stay awake but I was sleepy.”

The emotions pouring out of him were so strong, he was staggered. He could not talk or think clearly. “Go back to sleep, sweetheart.”

“You will stay with me this time?” she asked sleepily, burrowing herself against him.

“I will be right beside you always.”

Brace entered his dark hotel room, not bothering to light a lamp. He fell back on the bed, thinking how near he had come to being caught tonight. It looked like Renault was keeping guards at his place, which would make it harder to draw Caroline out, but certainly not impossible.

He rubbed his hands together. He had scraped them on the brick wall, and he had torn his trousers when he climbed over it. Rage lingered in his heart. No brick wall would keep him away from Caroline.

He had to think of a plan, something the bounty hunter would never expect. He had to find someone who knew details about their daily life. There would be a hole somewhere in Wade Renault's defenses, and Brace was determined to find out what it was.

At first he had thought he would just shoot Renault, but that would be too easy. He wanted Renault to suffer—wanted him to cry out in agony knowing the woman he loved was dead!

He should have realized that Renault would fall in love with Caroline when he sent him after her. He'd thought he had selected well by choosing a dispassionate man with a reputation for being cruel and detached.

He had been wrong.

The blood ran cold in his veins when he thought of Caroline lying beside Wade Renault.

“You will be sorry, Caroline. You will learn that you belong to me, and no one else.”

Caroline opened her eyes, feeling calm and rested. She turned her head, and her face bumped against Wade's wide chest. She propped herself up on the pillow and watched him as he slept. With his intense spirit, she could only imagine the warmth he could pour into a woman if he loved her. She wanted badly to be that woman, but he had married her for a far different reason.

His dark lashes lay like silk against his tan cheeks. She loved the way his ebony hair fell across his forehead. His mouth, she could hardly resist kissing. She lightly touched a lock of his hair and jumped when he grabbed her hand, coming instantly awake.

For a moment, she saw the adversarial look of the hunter in his golden eyes until he realized who had touched him. His mouth moved into a smile, and he stretched slow and long, then pulled her toward him.

“So you want to play,” he taunted, rubbing his thumb over her lips.

“I was just watching you sleep. Did you know that you are a very handsome man?”

His smile was lazy and sensual. “I am glad you think
so, although I have not heard any woman say that to me before.”

“They were probably too frightened of you to tell you how they felt. Besides, I don't want to think of you with other women.”

He studied her face, looking for the truth in her eyes. “You have nothing to be concerned about, Caroline. You have erased them from my mind.”

She gave him her most seductive look. “Perhaps you need more reminding that I am your wife.”

He pulled her on top of him, yanking up her nightgown so her bare flesh touched his. She felt him swell against her, and caught her breath. Leaning slowly toward him, she touched her lips to his. “Mmm,” she breathed, flicking her tongue out and touching his mouth, bringing a groan from him.

He rolled her over, pinning her beneath him. “I hope you intend to wake me this way every morning.” He nudged her breast, then ran his teeth over the swollen nipple. “I can think of no better way to start my day.”

His mouth ground against hers, and she was lost to the flowing emotions that passed between them.

“I want to hold you forever,” he muttered, sliding into her.

“And I want you to,” she answered, trembling, sighing, biting her lip, and then surrendering.