Say You Love Me (38 page)

"I'm sorry, Mother," Michael said curtly, meeting Verena's angry glare with one of his own, "but I'm fed up with her interference. I want her out of this house as soon as possible."

Verena screeched, "Interference, you say? It's not my fault that little whore ran away with another man, and it looks to me like she's done it again."

"Don't you dare call her a whore," he warned.

Elyse was on her feet. "Mother, stop it. You've no right to say such things to Michael."

Verena was beyond restraint. "You feel the same way. You've said the same things. You hate her too."

"That's not true. I don't hate her."

"She's marrying Michael when you're in love with him. That's reason to hate her and wish her dead. I hope she
is
dead. Maybe then Michael will come to his senses and marry you, and then I wouldn't have to wind up in the poorhouse, and—oh, dear God." Her hand flew to her mouth, and her eyes went wide.

Elyse turned away on a broken sob, not noticing her mother's panic-stricken face as she whispered, "Mother, how could you?"

"Yes, Verena, how
could
you?" Olivia angrily admonished her, the attack of vapors forgotten. For Verena to embarrass Elyse in front of Michael was unconscionable. And now it dawned on Olivia that Verena had only pretended to care and comfort in order to stay at Red Oakes indefinitely, because she was destitute.

Michael stood clenching and unclenching his fists, wishing Verena were a man so he could punch her in the mouth for saying such things about Jacie, as well as humiliating Elyse. And now it looked as though once again what was supposed to be one of the happiest times of his life was going to be ruined.

Suddenly, Verena pointed beyond them to the window and screamed in terror.

"Now what?” Michael growled. “I've no time for your foolishness, Verena.”

Verena was shaking, her face pale and stricken, eyes wide with horror. “Indian...” she managed to whisper as she sank to the floor in a faint. “Out there.
A savage Indian.”

Chapter 29

The window exploded.

Luke had grabbed the frame above for leverage, swiftly swinging back and propelling himself into the parlor to land feet first in a shower of glass.

Amidst Olivia and Elyse's hysteria, Michael froze in shock, but only for an instant. "
You!
What the hell are you doing here? I thought—"

"You thought you killed me," Luke finished. "It's good you're a lousy shot... when using the finger of a dead man," he added to goad.

"How did you find me?" Michael asked as he looked about wildly for anything that could be used as a weapon.

Luke also scanned the room. Two of the women were insane with their fear and no threat to him, and there was another on the floor who had apparently fainted. No other men. No guns. But he knew it would not be long before people came running in response to the noise.

He had left his horse hidden in the woods and crept to the house on foot to peer into windows until he spied Michael and the women. He would have liked for Jacie also to have been present but could not wait for her to make an appearance. A celebration of some sort was clearly about to take place, and Luke wanted to present his case and be on his way—with Jacie, if she would go with him.

A knife was tucked in his breechclout but he did not reach for it. Though he flamed with rage and had thought of nothing but beating Michael to a pulp, he knew it best to avoid violence, if possible.

"I want to speak to Jacie,” he said brusquely, “and then I'll leave if that's what she wants.”

Olivia and Elyse moaned as they stood with arms wrapped tightly around each other, staring at Luke in terror, sure that any second he would kill them.

Michael was likewise afraid but pretended not to be. "She's not here.”

“And I think you're lying. Now call her in here.”

"That's not possible, and how did you find us, anyway?"

"Jacie told her mother where she lived, and since Sunstar once lived in this part of the country, she was able to tell me how to get here."

Michael shot a glance at Olivia and Elyse, but they were too stricken to realize what the Indian was saying so there was still a chance he could keep things quiet—if he could get rid of the son of a bitch. But where was the butler, damn it? Surely someone had heard the glass breaking and all the screaming. "Listen, damn you," he said shakily, "I want you to get out of here before I have you really killed this time. Jacie doesn't want to talk to you. Now go."

Luke stood with fists on his hips, legs apart, his eyes locked on Michael's and every bit as fiery. "You left me for dead, and Jacie thinks I am, and I'm not leaving here till she knows different."

Michael forced a laugh. "Do you really think you can come in here and take her? I realize you're nothing but a savage, but this isn't the West. You try it, and I promise my men will gun you down before you reach the main road. I'll never let you have her, you fool."

Luke's nostrils flared as he fought to hold back his temper. Getting mad would not solve anything. He was determined to try to reason with the man. "I'm no savage, Blake, but I can turn into one real quick when I get riled, and I'm about to do just that if you don't quit jawing and send for Jacie. I didn't come here to force her to go back with me, but I intend to give her the chance to make up her own mind."

Michael all but snarled, "You aren't talking to her. You've no business with her. Get the hell out of here while you still can."

Luke went on as though Michael had not spoken. "You see, I want her to know she's got another life besides staying here with you. You can't understand how important that is to me, or to her, and it's not necessary that you do, but I do intend to give her a choice. Now, call her in here, and there won't be any trouble. She'll see I'm still alive, and then she can make up her mind what to do about it. I'll accept her decision."

Michael endeavored to stall. Surely someone would come soon, he thought nervously. "You mean you actually want her to choose between me and
you?"
he sneered with contempt.

"That's right. And if you are a man of honor, you will agree to that."

"That is absurd, and besides, her trip out west was nothing but a farce, anyway. She knows now she never should have gone. And the very idea of that stupid Indian squaw claiming to be her mother is absurd."

Verena had finally come out of her faint and managed to get to her feet. Realizing what was going on, she cried, “Stop your lying, Michael. We know the whole story. You can't hide the truth any longer. We know all about Violet Calhoun's deathbed confession, and how Jacie took off to try and find her real mother, and from what this Indian is saying, she found her, only you went and got her and made her come back, and that's why she's been acting so strangely since you did. Now for the love of God, tell him the truth, before he goes crazy and scalps all of us."

Luke decided it was best to let her keep thinking that was a possibility. "Listen to her, Blake. Don't cause me to do something you will later regret. Go get Jacie. If after she finds out I'm still alive she tells me it's you she wants, I will go in peace. But not before," he warned.

Luke's fingers inched toward his knife to show them that he meant what he said, and when Verena saw the movement she yelled, "No! Wait. He doesn't know where she is. She's gone. Nobody knows. We think she ran away with another man, like she did before. You'd best go on and do like he says and get out of here."

Luke regarded her coldly. "I think
you
are lying now. And you are also making me lose my patience. Now, where is she?"

"It's true, it's true!" Verena insisted. "She went away. She'll never be back, ever. Now you just go on and get out of here before anybody gets hurt. I swear it's the truth. She's not here."

Suddenly Luke reached out and caught her neck in the crook of his arm as he pulled her against him. Whipping out his knife, he held it against her cheek and told Michael, "I am going to search this house until I find Jacie. I will kill this woman if anyone tries to stop me."

"She isn't here. I swear," Michael said in panic. "My cousin is telling the truth. There's a search going on for Jacie right this minute. She has disappeared."

Luke stared at him uncertainly. Something told him he might be telling the truth. But if Jacie were not in the house, where was she?

Elyse had been watching in stricken silence as her mother's words sank in. Michael wasn't really listening, thinking her mother was too distraught to actually know what she was saying. But Elyse knew, all right, and her blood ran cold.

The Indian had his arm so tightly around her mother's throat she could not speak. Only faint whimpers of terror escaped her trembling lips. "Let her go," Elyse said, surprised to hear the firmness in her voice. "Let me talk to her. I think she knows where Jacie is."

"Elyse, stay out of this." Michael reached to pull her behind him, lest the Indian slash out at her with the knife.

She shook her head solemnly. "No. He has to let me talk to my mother, Michael. She knows where Jacie is—don't you, Mother?" she asked sharply, going to stand before her.

Luke loosened his hold enough to allow the woman to speak, but her words were not what he wanted to hear.

"No, I don't. I just think she went away, that's all."

Neither was it what Elyse wanted to hear. "You're lying Mother. You wrote that letter after I refused, didn't you? That's why you're so sure Jacie is gone—Zach Newton has her this very minute, doesn't he?"

"I—I don't know what you're talking about." Verena's denial was barely audible. She could see the glint of the knife's blade, mere inches from her face.

"What letter?" Michael demanded. "And what does Newton have to do with any of this? He's been gone for months. I know he's not working anywhere around here, because I've made inquiries, and nobody has seen him. And I know he didn't have anything to do with Jacie leaving before, despite the servants' gossiping."

Luke listened intently. He had no idea what they were talking about, nor who Zach Newton was, but evidently it had something to do with Jacie's whereabouts, and he was convinced now she was not in the house.

Misery and humiliation washing over her, Elyse attempted to explain. "It's my fault you ever thought she ran off with him in the first place, not the servants'. Forgive me, Michael, but I made it all up. I had no idea where she went. I just wanted to make sure that if she came back, you wouldn't want her." She turned away, unable to face him.

He yanked her back around, forgetting for the moment there was a Comanche standing in the middle of the parlor with a knife at the throat of his cousin. "Damn it, Elyse. You aren't making sense. What did you do?"

"I tore up the note she left you the night she went away. She didn't say where she was going, only that she would be back in the spring."

Verena yelped, "You'd better shut up, Elyse. You'd better shut up right now. You're going to ruin everything."

Michael shot her a glare of menace, then turned back to Elyse. "So Jacie left me a note, and you tore it up, then schemed to make me believe she ran away with Newton? How could you do such a thing, Elyse? How could you?"

"Because I love you. Can't you see that? I think I've loved you all my life, but you never looked at me, because you were mesmerized by Jacie. When she ran away, I didn't know she'd gone west to look for her mother. I didn't know any of that until a short while ago. All I knew or cared about was that I finally saw a chance to turn you against her by making you think she was involved with another man. But I forgot the necklace. I forgot you would be so mad over her taking it that you'd go after her."

Luke had been trying to keep up with the conversation and figure out where the hell it was all leading. "She didn't intentionally take the necklace," he said then. "She told me a child sneaked it into her satchel, and she didn't find it till later."

Michael paid him no mind, instead giving Elyse a shake, sensing she was on the verge of hysteria and knowing that if she lost control he wouldn't find out what the hell was going on till it was too late. "None of that matters now. Where is she, Elyse? Why did you say Newton has her?"

"Because he must have received Mother's letter and come for her," she whispered raggedly.

Verena twisted in Luke's grasp. "I told you to keep quiet. It doesn't matter about Jacie. She's gone. Now get this Indian out of here before he cuts my throat."

"What letter? You aren't making sense. Please. We're wasting time." Michael felt like screaming.

"When you came back with Jacie, I just gave up," Elyse continued. "But Mother was desperate. We're out of money, you see. We've nowhere to go. My marrying you meant she would be taken care of the rest of her life—but I swear to you money was never my motive... only my love.

"Then Mother came up with the idea of my writing to Mr, Newton and telling him he could get revenge on you for firing him by coming to take Jacie away. But I refused. Now it looks as though she went ahead and did it."