The Raging Hearts: The Coltrane Saga, Book 2 (54 page)

He stopped his frantic pacing to stare down at Kitty seated in a chair by the fireplace, watching him.

“I still refuse to give up.”

“It’s been two weeks, Kitty! I’ve been trying for two weeks. I even went to the federal marshals here and asked for help, but they’re not going to get involved. Oh, no, you aren’t going to get them to take any men in there. ‘It’s your problem’, they said. ‘We’ve got enough to worry about in the city without getting into a family fight.’ That’s what they said. And I don’t blame them. I thought I could buy the necessary men to get the job done, but the word has spread. No one else will go in there.”

“I will go there,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m not afraid.”

He stared at her incredulously. Then he fell on his knees before her and clutched her hands desperately. “No, Kitty. You can’t. I won’t let you. He’d kill you. You must face reality. Travis has us beaten. There is nothing more we can do. Let’s go back home. We’ll be married. We’ll have other babies. We’ll make a new life and forget the misery and pain of the past.”

She jerked her hands from his grasp. “I don’t intend to leave New Orleans without my son. You can leave whenever you like.”

His pleading expression turned to cold anger. “It isn’t your baby you’re after, is it?”

For a moment she could only stare at him, bewildered. Then she murmured, “I don’t understand what you mean, Jerome.”

“Oh, the hell you don’t. It isn’t that baby at all. I should have figured it out before now, but I was so blinded by you that everything else was blotted out. It’s Coltrane you want. And you’ve been using me to get to him. You knew if we got the baby back here, Travis would come after him, and you’d be waiting with open arms to beg him to take you back.”

Kitty was fighting to remain composed. “That is not true, Jerome. I’m through with Travis for all time. As for me using you—if you will recall, you are the one who offered your help. I did not go to you. Now you make me think this was all a scheme for you to make me love you.”

“There’s a stage east leaving at noon today, and I plan to be on it. You’re going back with me.”

“I’m not leaving without my baby. You go ahead. And if you will figure out how much money all this has cost you, I will see that you are reimbursed.”

“Just like that?” He laughed bitterly. “You pay me off? Damn you, woman, I want more than that.”

He reached down and yanked her into his arms, his lips mashing down to bruise hers. Caught off guard, Kitty found herself pinned, but she quickly recovered and began to struggle. He had a tight hold, and one of his hands was mauling at her breast. His tongue was forcing its way into her mouth, and when she felt it enter, she bit down.

With a yelp, he leaped back. “You vixen! I’m going to take what I’ve got coming to me.” His face was purple with rage as he advanced toward her. “I’m going to show you I’m every bit the man Travis Coltrane is. I’ll make you beg for it. I’ll make you whimper and moan and call
my
name.”

Kitty’s fingers closed around a heavy figurine that sat on the table next to her. Raising it above her head, she cried, “Jerome, don’t make me do this.”

He looked from her face to the ominous figurine. Then his shoulders slumped. The anger left his face. “All right. I guess I’ve got sense enough to know when I’m beaten, even if you don’t. You can put that thing down. I won’t try again.”

She held on to it. “I don’t trust you, Jerome. I never did. Despite your offer of friendship, I never forgot the way you let your men burned my home and left me in the snow to die giving birth.”

“I didn’t know you were about to give birth,” he snapped.

“You didn’t care.”

“Hell, you had just tried to kill me. I was wounded, you know.”

“You had just helped murder a young boy in cold blood.”

“An outlaw!”

“You weren’t the law. It wasn’t your place to judge him.”

“He was a worthless, no-account nigger who deserved to die.”

“That was not for you to decide. You took the law into your own hands, just as you did the night you attacked Corey’s place and killed him and a lot of his men.”

“I’m not going to argue with you.” He snatched up his hat. “I’m going to my room and finish packing my things, and I intend to be on that stage. You do whatever you want to.”

She nodded curtly.

He paused at the door to turn and ask if there was anything she wanted done when he got back to North Carolina. “I’ll still be a friend to you, if you’ll let me.”

“I have written to Corey’s attorney. He is handling all my affairs for me until I get back. Prepare a bill for your services and submit it to him, and he will see that you are paid. I do appreciate your trying to help, Jerome, even though I suspected all along you had an ulterior motive. I wish you a pleasant journey, and I will see you when I return. With my baby,” she added firmly.

After he had gone, Kitty paced the room nervously. First Sam, now Jerome. There was no one left but her. By God, she was going to get John or die trying.

Tying on a bonnet and taking a lace shawl from her wardrobe trunk, she left her room and went down the back stairs of the hotel. One of the maids saw her and looked astonished to see her in the service section. “Mrs. McRae, whatever are you doing back here? If you need anything, the desk will be glad to get it.”

“What I need, the desk can’t help me with.” Kitty reached into her bag and brought out a gold piece. It glimmered in the overhead lantern. “This is yours if you will direct me to a person who is for hire.”

The maid did not take her eyes off the gold piece. “For hire to do what?”

“Anything. There is always someone around who is for hire to do anything, if you have enough money. I have enough. Direct me to him and this is yours.”

“Of course. Wait right here while I tell someone I’m going to be away for a little while.”

She disappeared, and Kitty tapped her foot impatiently. A few moments later, the young girl reappeared, motioning Kitty to follow her.

They went out the back door, stepping into a cobble-stoned alley. Pools of slime and filth littered the way. Several stray cats gave them wary looks as they passed, hovering possessively over rotting fish carcasses.

They reached the crowded street. The girl extended her hand to Kitty, guiding her through the throng. Jostled and pushed, they made their way to another alley, this one as filthy and odious as the one they had just left. They had not gone far when the girl stopped in front of a thick wooden door. “This is the back door to Billy Jack’s place. It’s a very rough place, not fit for a lady. Don’t go inside. Just knock and ask to speak to Billy Jack himself. He’ll either do what you want or help you find someone who will.”

She held her palm open for the gold piece. Kitty gave it to her, and she quickly scampered away.

Turning to the door, Kitty knocked. A moment passed but there was no response. She knocked again, this time so hard that her fist stung. She heard the shuffling of feet, then there was a loud creak as the door rattled open. A heavyset man with a craggy face and yellowed teeth stared down at her. His shirt was covered with greasy stains, and he had a terrible odor.

Swaying slightly, Kitty held on to the doorway to support her weakening knees as she said, “I want to see Billy Jack.”

“I’m Billy Jack.”

She turned her head as his whiskey breath hit her face.

“Well, what do you want?” he snarled, noting her revulsion. “I ain’t got time to stand here all day.”

She took a deep breath, stiffened her spine and forced herself to face him. “I am told you are for hire.”

“For hire to do what?”

“Anything, if the price is right.”

“Well, what is it you want done? Don’t beat around the bush.”

“Are you familiar with the bayou?”

He nodded. “I was born and bred there. I know it inside out.”

“And you know of a man named Coltrane? Travis Coltrane?”

His eyes sparkled, but only momentarily. “Yeah, I know him. Why? What do you want him for?”

“That is my concern,” she said crisply. “All I’m asking you to do is take me to him. I have business with him. Personal business.”

He put his hands on his hips and leaned over to eye level, meeting her gaze. “You want me to take you into the bayou to where Coltrane lives? Lady, do you know how much that will cost you? A thousand in gold. And I ain’t gonna take you right there to his place. I’ve heard how somebody is out to get him, and how he’s already shot two of ’em. I ain’t aiming to get shot. I’ll take you to within spittin’ distance, and then you can go the rest of the way alone.”

“Just point me in the right direction, and that will be fine. I’ll have the money with me when we leave.”

He reached up and scratched at his nose, then dug into his buttocks anxiously as he said, “Okay. You got a deal. When you aim to leave?”

“As soon as possible. I don’t want to have to make my way alone in the dark.”

“Then be back here in half an hour—with the money. Lady, you got yourself a guided tour into the bayou. And put on something besides that fancy gown. That won’t last five minutes there.”

He closed the door in her face, and she turned and ran all the way back to the hotel. Once in her room, she dug into her wardrobe trunk and brought out the old, faded Confederate uniform she had worn in the hospital. She had had a hunch it would come in handy.

Stripping off her green taffeta gown, she stepped into the gray pants and shirt. Tying her hair back, she jammed a cap down on her head. Her face void of any rouge, she looked like a young Rebel soldier. She’d seen some of the men on the streets wearing pants or shirts they’d had during the war. No one thought anything about it.

Wrapping the gold in her handkerchief, she stuffed it inside her shirt. Then she slipped out of the hotel once again, heart pounding.

Billy Jack was waiting in the alley with two horses. His eyes bulged when he saw her. “Now, that was a complete change.” She said nothing, and when he offered to help her mount her horse, she brushed him aside and climbed right on.

“I gotta respect a woman who knows how to take care of herself like you do,” he laughed. “What I can’t figure out, though, is how come you got to go to Coltrane. A pretty thing like you, why, he oughta come crawling outa that boggy land and find you, ’stead of the other way around.”

“May we be on our way, please?” Kitty urged him. “I do want to take advantage of the daylight.”

“Sure, sure.” He mounted his horse. “We won’t be riding long, lady. Once we get in the bayou country, we’re gonna have to go on foot. You understand this ain’t no picnic.

“I understand.” She nodded. “Just lead the way.”

As they rode through town, a few curious eyes looking their way, Kitty felt the cold steel of the small derringer against her bare skin. She had tucked it inside the waist of the uniform trousers. She prayed she would not need it, but if it came to Travis’s life or taking her son back, then she would have no choice. She just hoped he would listen to reason.

No, she corrected herself. There would be no begging and pleading. She would surprise him and catch him unawares. Then she would hold the gun on him and take the baby, and there would be nothing he could do about it. That was the way to handle it. Sam had tried reasoning and had even done some pleading on her behalf. Jerome had sent hired gunmen charging in to try and flush Travis out. Well, she would use cunning and catch him unawares. No conversation, no arguing. Just take the baby and go. It would be simple. It had to be.

Soon they were out of the city. The woods on each side of the road looked dense and ominous. Billy Jack reined his horse down a path, and Kitty followed. Snakelike vines hung all about them, and they swatted at the stinging deerflies and mosquitoes. The horses protested as their hooves began to sink into the muck.

“It’s almost as dark as night in here,” Kitty called out to Billy Jack. “I had no idea it was like this.”

“Few people do.” He was stopping his horse, dismounting. “It ain’t the kind of place people like to visit just for fun, missy. Now, we’re going to have to walk the rest of the way. You follow me and watch what I do and where I stop. There’s quicksand around here. You know what that is?”

She nodded, but he wasn’t looking and went on to explain the deadly substance to her. “You step in quicksand and it’s going to suck you under. It looks like solid ground, some of it, so you gotta be extra careful. Try to step close to the tree trunks. Walk on the roots of these cypresses sticking up like little knees, see? But you’ve got to watch out for snakes, too. Damned cottonmouths are everywhere, and if they bite you, you’re done for.”

Kitty shivered. She had been in swamps and dense woods from time to time during the war but never anything as quietly frightening as this place. They seemed lost in a world of gray and green foliage, vines wrapping clutching fingers around everything in sight. Now and then a strange sound would split the air. Billy Jack would identify its source. “An owl… That one’s a bull gator… Just a bird.” They all sounded terrifying to her ears, but she was determined to keep her composure. Somewhere in all this dismal isolation was her child, and she intended to get him out of here at any cost. Oh, what could Travis be thinking? How could he bring a baby here?