Orchids in Moonlight (33 page)

But Morena had wanted more than money from Stanton. She wanted to be his wife. And now the only thing stopping her was Blake.

It was because of Blake that Stanton would not let her go to the party. They'd had a bitter fight, with Morena throwing her worst tantrum ever, but Stanton would not relent and told her to keep away. He was running things this time, he had said firmly. She was to stay out of it.

But determined to at least watch the festivities, she had sneaked into a room with a balcony affording a partial view of the ballroom and terrace. That was how she happened to see Cord and Jaime and heard them plan to meet on the terrace later.

She intended to be there when they did. Because of her vast knowledge of the mission, she knew about the gouged-out places in the wall leading downward to the ballroom terrace. The Franciscans had built it as an escape route. The way was slippery, but she knew it well, for she often prowled around, watching Stanton, when he had no idea she was anywhere near.

She stepped onto the terrace.

Cord whirled about, gun drawn, hammer cocked, then burst out in disgust. "Morena. What the hell are you doing here?"

"You don't come to me anymore," she whispered petulantly. "So I have to come to you."

He holstered his gun. "It's over. Now get out of here before somebody sees you."

She had timed her arrival perfectly, for she had waited to make her presence known till she saw Jaime finally weaving her way back toward the terrace after Blake had been persuaded to dance with one of the other ladies.

And just as Jaime appeared, pausing to allow her eyes to adjust to the dim light, Morena made her move.

She threw herself against Cord, crushing her mouth against his, arms twining about his neck as she clung to him.

Taken by surprise, he froze, only for an instant, but it was long enough for Jaime to arrive on the scene, and what she saw appeared to be a loving embrace between two very willing people.

At the precise instant Cord came alive to try and disentangle himself from Morena's frantic hold, he heard Jaime's soft cry of shock.

He whirled about, still trying to get Morena off him, but she was holding tight and babbling loudly about how he had to stop teasing her this way. He saw Jaime run back into the ballroom and caught a glimpse of her stricken face.

Finally, he managed to get a good grip on Morena's wrists and squeezed so painfully she had to let him go.

But Morena knew her scheme had worked. "You see?" she said gleefully. "If I can't have you, neither can any other woman."

Chapter 21

"I want you to know I'm upset by all this," Blake said tensely as the stagecoach bumped and rattled its way toward San Francisco. "At first, I was just worried about how mad my father would be if he found out I'd taken you on this trip. He said to keep you away from the mining towns, because they're no place for a lady, but that's the least of my concerns now, because I'm afraid you might actually believe what that old coot said."

Jaime, lost in her musings, stared out the window without really seeing the barren land.

She had persuaded Blake to take her by private stage to Drytown, an almost deserted place. At first, none of the prospectors hanging around the dilapidated saloon had wanted to talk. But she had wheedled and begged and was finally directed to an old man who was willing to speak his mind, saying he was too old to worry about the consequences. And besides, he had wanted to make clear, James Chandler had been his friend.

"And he won't no cheat like the men said who come looking for him. He told me that mine he'd invested in was salted. Gold chloride had been poured into drill holes to raise the assay value when the assessments went up, only he couldn't prove it."

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean."

Blake had spoken up then to explain grudgingly how even though a man bought stock in a mine, his investment sometimes did not stop there. He was still obligated to meet demands for assessments for machinery or deeper exploration if needed.

The old man's Adam's apple had bobbed up and down as he said excitedly, "That's what happened, for sure. James told me new capital was demanded, and he was told to come up with cash this time, instead of pledging his own mine. That's when he got mad and did some digging on his own and found out the drill holes had been plugged. He told me he was going to turn the man responsible in to the law, and that's the last time we ever talked. He just dropped out of sight."

"And men came looking for the mine later?" Jaime had asked.

"Yep. But they couldn't find it. James swore nobody ever would without the right map. He said he was going to make sure he saved it for his girl," the old man had added with a warm smile and a wink.

"This makes me sick," Blake cried suddenly, bringing Jaime back to the present. He was pointing out the window as they passed an excavation site. The hillside was gouged out, destroyed by high-pressure monitors blasting away into the earth to wash the gold-bearing gravel down into the waiting sluices. "There has to be a better way to search for gold besides tearing the earth apart," he grumbled.

Jaime made no comment, not wanting to engage in conversation just then. She was disappointed not to have found even one clue as to where her father might have gone. And hearing from someone else that Stanton Lavelle was suspected of being a swindler filled her with anger.

For the moment, however, she was tired and found herself wishing she could fall asleep to escape the misery, if only for a little while.

It had been several days since she had witnessed Cord and Morena locked in a torrid kiss. She had not said anything about it to Blake for fear he might suspect she had once been involved with Cord. That was her humiliating secret to try and forget.

Persuading Blake to leave the very next day, she'd not seen Cord since and hoped she never would again. Obviously, he had been trying to trick her into turning the map over to him so he could give it to Stanton. So now she wanted nothing to do with him ever again.

* * *

They stopped overnight at a way station, where Blake rented them each a private room. Early the next morning, they continued on their way, arriving at Pointe Grande just before dark.

Despite Blake's urging to rest awhile and calm down, Jaime found her way to Stanton's office.

Dreading the scene sure to come, Blake went with her.

Stanton met Jaime's fury with his own. "Where the hell have you two been? How dare you leave without telling me where you're going?"

Jaime did not wither beneath his threatening glare. Ignoring Morena, who lounged on the sofa wearing a revealing dressing gown, she recklessly unleashed all the anger that had been boiling since Drytown. "You are a swindler, Stanton Lavelle. Maybe I can't prove it, but my father could, and I think that had something to do with his disappearance."

"Now you wait a minute." He looked at Blake. "What the hell is she talking about?"

"I took her to Drytown," Blake admitted hesitantly. "A prospector told her Chandler was getting ready to prove you plugged drill holes with gold chloride when he just dropped out of sight."

"You took her there?" he roared. "You took her there to try and prove your own father might be guilty of swindling, maybe even murder?"

"No, no—"

Jaime interrupted. "I want the truth. I want to know what happened to my father."

"All I know is that he obviously ran away to keep from paying his debt, and frankly I'm outraged by your insinuations. But I realize you're upset, and I'll make an allowance for that." Actually he was thinking how if Blake hadn't fallen for her, he would already have the map by now, and she would be out of there, dammit.

Blake gingerly slid his arm about Jaime's waist and urged, "Come on. This isn't accomplishing anything."

Jaime shrugged off his embrace, gaze still riveted on Stanton. She knew he was lying, could feel it in her bones and see it in his face, but what real proof did she have? "I'm going to find out," she vowed, fists clenched at her sides. "Believe me, I'm not going to stop till I do, If you're innocent, I'll apologize. But if you're guilty, if you did harm my father, so help me you'll pay."

Stanton looked at Blake and spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "She's obviously distraught. Traveling all this way to face such disappointment is a tragedy. I'm glad you're befriending her, but I must ask you not to cater to her despair. You're only doing her harm and making the situation worse."

Blake nodded reluctantly, but as Jaime shot him a withering glare, he knew he had to take a stand for her sake. Clearing his throat, he proceeded cautiously. "Well, the truth is, I seem to recall a lot of people felt something wasn't quite right with that last mine. Some of them were really mad. You even got shot at. So maybe Jaime is right in thinking you might not have a claim on her father's mine, and—"

Stanton bolted to his feet. Jaime jumped, startled, and Blake clamped his hands on her shoulders protectively.

"Don't you ever insinuate I swindled anybody, you hear me, boy?" He towered above them, shaking both his fists. "You don't know what you're talking about. You've
never
known what you were talking about when it came to my business. So you keep your mouth shut and tend to your gardens. And for now, get her out of here before I really get mad."

Jaime knew there was no point in arguing further and turned to leave. Stanton called after her, "I'm going to forget all this, little lady, for your father's sake. He'd want me to look after you."

When they were gone, Morena began to slowly clap her hands together. "Bravo. You can be proud of that performance."

"Shut up." He sat down and reached for the decanter on his desk and poured himself a stiff drink.

She went to perch on the corner of his desk. "You know what has to be done with her."

"I can't. Not yet. First, I'm going to try to buy her out, offer a lot of money she won't be able to turn down."

At that, Morena laughed shrilly. "You don't
have
a lot of money. That's why you've been desperate for Chandler's gold, remember? And now that we've found out he has a daughter, we're wasting time."

"I've got to try to do it my way, because if anything happens to her, Blake will hold me responsible."

"Pah." She spat. "I am sick of him running your life. If not for him, I would be your wife now. Like you promised."

Stanton snorted. "If you hadn't been so stupid as to let Emily find out about us, he wouldn't hate you like he does."

"That doesn't matter. He'd never have accepted your marrying a mestiza, and you know it, especially one with Yahi blood."

He'd never accept me marrying a whore, Stanton thought, cursing himself for having made such a fool promise in the first place. But it been a weak moment, when she was torturing him with her lips, her tongue, and he'd have said anything right then. "We're going to wait," he declared testily. "I intend to make him see she'll never marry him as long as she's obsessed with her father. Once he does, he'll persuade her to take what I'm willing to give her and be done with it."

Morena met his defiant eyes. "There are other ways."

His hand snaked out to grab her about the throat. "Stay out of this," he warned. "You took over last time, and where has it got me two years later?"

"Two years?" she hooted. "You gripe about two years? What about me? Look how long I have been waiting for you to keep your word to me. Besides, there was no other way but my way, and you know it. But soon it will be over."

He let her go, flinging her away from him. "This time I make the decisions."

She flounced from the room. Stanton poured himself another drink and tossed it down. He was angry to think how he had to put up with the bitch, because she had the upper hand. She could expose him, ruin him. He had to do something about that. And soon.

* * *

Jaime had been so infuriated she had told Blake she would not be joining him for dinner. She was far too overwrought to have an appetite anyway. She had proceeded to her room, unlocked the door, then gasped in shock to realize the room had been ransacked.

She immediately went to the drapes, where she had hidden the map and letters in the hem. With a sigh of relief, she found they were still there.