Brazos Bride (20 page)

“
Quicksand along that part of the river is very dangerous. Best to go upstream to your new land to cross or downstream to that of my family.”

Zach shook his head. “No, if you’re not involved, Eduardo, using your family’s land would put you in danger. And for the past couple of months, Micah, his two hands, our brother, and I have been keeping an eye on the land by the river. The land that is now Micah’s.”

“
So, there has to be somewhere on Hope’s ranch where there’s a safe crossing,” Micah insisted.

Eduardo shook his head. “I do not know where it would be. Hope, she might, because she knows this land better than anyone alive. Her foreman, he also might know a place.”

“
You trust Wooster?” Micah asked.

“
I know only that anyone who could please
Tío
Alfredo has to be good at his job.”

Zach said, “Perhaps Wooster has grown greedy.”

“
Perhaps, but I do not think this is true. Even Papa said Wooster is a good foreman. He wanted to go after the rustlers, but Papa thought it a waste of time and that searching would only leave the others unguarded.”

“
What about you?” Zach asked.

“
I think if you let a man steal from you a little, he soon will steal a lot.” Eduardo shrugged and made a face. “The way of mankind, no?”

“
My feelings exactly,” Micah gathered up his horse’s reins. “One of us has to go into town, check on that land’s ownership. Maybe whoever had it died and left it to a relative who’s not above a little midnight rustling. I’ll go.”

“
Wait, Micah. You’re asking to be shot if you ride off alone.” Zach rubbed at his chin, then asked Eduardo, “You mind going? Since the land also borders on your family’s, you can ask questions with no one getting curious.”

“
Sí
, I can do this.” He gestured toward the river. “If someone up to bad things lives there, we should all know of this.” He glared at Micah. “I am not sure I trust you, but you are the husband of my cousin so I warn you. Before you cross that river, you find out from Hope or her foreman where you may go. Entire wagons and teams of horses and mules have been lost in the quicksand. A man or a horse has no chance.”

Micah appraised his wife’s cousin. “We’d heard that, but didn’t know if it was true.” Still didn’t. Was this a lie or the truth? Did Eduardo want to keep Micah and his brothers from learning what lay across the river?

As if he read Micah’s mind, Eduardo raised his eyebrows and gestured toward the Brazos River. “When I was a boy of ten years, with my own eyes I saw a wagon pulled by four horses dragged under before the driver could cut the harness. Never will I forget the screaming of the horses before they drowned, No one could reach them in time, but
vaqueros
tossed the looped end of a rope that the man slipped around his chest. He lost his boots to the quicksand, but he lived.”

Micah scrubbed the image from his face. “Damn, that gives me the shivers. Worse story than swimming into a nest of water moccasins.”

With an indifferent shrug, Eduardo said, “
Mocasin de aqua
always wait for those who do not use caution. But the beach you now own is safe. That’s where we played and swam as children.”

Micah longed to think of his and Hope’s children playing there, but he couldn’t give in to his dreams. He sent his so-called ally a glare. “You send word if you find out anything. We’ll need to meet and discuss it.”

“
Sí
, I will come to your hacienda. The library there has thick walls and is a good place for such talk.”

“
Say, Eduardo,” Zach said. “While you’re in town, could you check the saloons and learn if there are any strangers around?”

Eduardo placed a hand on his heart and smiled, “If I must, I must.” He climbed on his horse and turned to wave. “
Adiós
.”

Micah stared after him. “I still don’t trust him.”

“
You don’t like him. That’s different than trust.” Zach clapped Micah on the shoulder. “All the same, you keep your friends close...”

“
And your enemies closer.” Micah finished for his brother.

Chapter Twenty-two

Late the following evening after the women were in bed, Eduardo rapped softly on the door. Micah ushered him into the library where Joel and Zach waited.

Micah looked at his wife’s cousin. “Quite a shiner you have there.”

Touching his cheek gently near a blackened eye, Eduardo said, “Some do not like my questions.” He settled on the sofa. “I waited outside tonight until I saw a lamp in my cousin’s room appear and then go out. She would be upset if she saw me like this. I do not wish her cause for worry.”

“
Good thinking,” Zach leaned back and crossed one ankle over his knee.

Micah saw no reason to waste time with pleasantries. “What have you found out?”

“
Bad news, I think. Diego Gonzales has inherited the land from his...how do you say,
mas tio
?”

Micah said, “Great uncle.”

Eduardo appeared as if he’d made a connection. “
Sí
, his great Tio. Ah, like great grandfather.” He waved away his new knowledge. “I know this Diego, and he is a bad
hombre
. Always he made trouble, but he was in prison. I learned he is now free.”

“
He ranching this uncle’s spread full time now?” Joel asked. “Wonder how many cattle he runs. Could be his beeves we see.”

“
No, this is not possible. His uncle had not lived there for many, many years. No cattle were there. We would have noticed if someone drove cattle through this area, for he would come from the east or south.”

Zach nodded. “Makes sense.”

“
Only a year ago, Papa and I rode there to see the hacienda. It was deserted and looked very sad. The only thing on four legs, it was a herd of deer. We rode for many hours and saw no cattle, no one. Papa thought perhaps taxes were owed and we could purchase the ranch.”

Micah massaged his forehead, hoping to ease his headache. “If this Gonzales was in prison, wonder who paid the taxes?”

Eduardo gave his characteristic shrug. “Papa asked, but all he learned is that a woman paid.”

“
Young, old, Mexican, anglo?” Micah asked.

Eduardo shrugged.

Micah said, “Your father is wealthy enough that he should have influence to learn her identity.”

“
The man in charge does not like Mexicans, especially wealthy ones.” Eduardo touched his swollen eye, then caught himself and looked at Micah. “I am afraid there is more. At the Red Horse Saloon--not the Texas Star where I usually go--I saw three strangers. Very bad men, I think.”

Joel asked, “You talk to them?”

“
No, Señor, nor would you have. One was very large and looked like a bull. But I think the most dangerous was a small man with eyes like a snake. The men sat in the corner drinking and watching. Always watching. For what, I do not know.”

“
You overhear then talking?” Micah asked.

“
No. And they do not speak to anyone else. When one of the girls stopped at their table, they told her to keep away. The small one raised his arm as if to strike her, but the bartender yelled at him. He said he would not put up with any more trouble from them.”

“
More trouble? Hard cases. Diego Gonzales one of the men?” Micah asked. When Eduardo shook his head, Micah said, “That might mean they work for him, but they could have no connection.”

“
I don’t believe in coincidences.” Joel rose and prowled the room.

Micah asked, “If they do work for Gonzales, wonder where they cross the river?”

“
I spoke with one of the women in the saloon.” Eduardo pointed to his eye. “She also had been hit. I asked her if those men had done this. She was very afraid and would not look at me, but she nodded. She said the small man, she called him Pedro, was very mean. She refused to go with him ever again.”

“
Think she might spy for us?” Micah asked.

“
Sí.
Even though she has much fear, she hates this man for hurting her. I pay her money and go upstairs with her.”

“
Sounds like you got into your spying.” Zach chuckled.

Eduardo smiled and laid his hand on his heart. “The things I must endure to help my cousin. I asked this woman named Daisy, did she know which direction the men rode when they left. She did not, but she say to me she would find out.”

Micah slapped his knee, wishing he could knock out whoever hunted his wife. “I hope this Daisy is mighty careful.”

“
I promised to return tomorrow to see what she learned.”

“
How’d you get the shiner?” Micah asked.

“
Que?”

Micah pointed to his eye.

“
Ah, my eye. When I came down the stairs, the three men, they were waiting. The small one said I should stay away from Daisy, that she was his woman.”

“
Brawl, or everyone watch them pound you?” Zach asked.

“
No one came to my aid while they hit me. I am afraid I am no match for three bad
hombres
. When they were finished, into the street, that is where they tossed me.”

Zach walked to stand in front of the hearth. “Sorry, reckon that’s our fault since we asked your help.”

“
No, it is the mistake of those who try to scare me. They do not own me. Tomorrow I will return and speak to Daisy, but with me I will take my revolver.”

“
Doesn’t your father expect you to help with the ranch?” Joel asked.

His shrug dismissed the question. “I am the only son of a wealthy man, but Papa thinks I am good for nothing.
Tio
Alfredo expected Hope to do everything, but Papa expects me to do nothing. He is happiest when I do not bother him.”

Micah clapped Eduardo on the shoulder. “You help us catch this murderer, and your dad will change his mind about you pronto.”

“
Perhaps.” Eduardo exhaled, his face filled with sadness. “That would be
muy bueno
.”

After Eduardo left, the brothers talked for another hour, making plans, then climbed the steps toward their bedrooms. Each went his separate way at the head of the staircase.

Micah checked on Hope, who slept soundly. Even though she had regained some of her former vigor, nursing him had taken a toll. Moonlight filtered through the windows and sent an eerie light across her pale skin. No woman alive was more beautiful.

He longed to join her on the bed, even if he slept atop the cover. Exhaling his regrets, he turned and went into his own room. Would they ever share a bed as man and wife?

While Micah and Joel were saddling their horses the next morning, a cowboy galloped hell for leather from the direction of Jorge Montoya’s spread. He dropped his reins and leaped from the saddle.

“
Señores! Señores! You must help at once.”

“
What’s wrong?” Micah exchanged a wary look with Joel.

“
Señor Eduardo, he has been arrested for murder. He no is guilty, of this I am sure.”

Joel held up his hand. “Wait, who’s Eduardo supposed to have murdered.”

Dread spread through Micah. He figured he already knew the answer to Joel’s question.

“
A woman, she worked in the saloon. The Red Horse, but that no is where Señor Eduardo goes to drink and play cards.”

Wooster stepped forward. “Miss Hope will want to go see him. Shall I see the carriage is ready?”

“
I’ll try to talk her out of it because she’s still so weak.” Micah turned back to the vaquero. “You’d better come up to the house and tell my wife everything you know.” He looked back. “Wooster, maybe you’d better come to the house with us.”

Hope was too restless to read, and semi-reclined on the chaise while Zach read from his usual chair. For an intelligent man, he certainly read slowly. He’d hardly covered a fourth of Verne’s book.

She jumped when the door opened and Micah, Joel, Chip Wooster, and one of Tio Jorge’s
vaqueros
hurried in. She rose to her feet. “Why is Rico here? What on earth has happened?”

Micah went to her and urged her back to the chaise. “Sit down and this man will tell us everything. But first, my brothers and I must confess a plot in which we’re involved.”

Hope gazed from one man to the next and registered a serious situation. Her entire body trembled. She feared she’d lose her breakfast. Thank heavens Micah had made her sit on the chaise. “H-have you caught the killer?”

The
vaquero
waved both hands. In one he held his large-brimmed sombrero and flapped Zach in the face with it. “No, no, Señora Hope.”

Joel’s deep voice filled the room. “Everyone sit down.” He gazed at the frenzied rider and help his hand palm out. “Please, wait until we ask for your story. Micah, your turn to explain to your wife.”