Breath of the Feathered Serpent (8 page)

Elijah’s eyes widened at Adam’s tone. He smiled and shook his head. “They wouldn’t dare. They get a little too close, a little too cocky, but they seem to respect Uncle Mortimer.”

“I’d fire each and every last one of them,” Ellen said passionately. “Well, since Uncle’s not getting up today, you won’t know if he’s decided to offer you any work. Sorry, boys, but you’ll just have to come back.”

“We understand,” Adam said. His hand hovered close to Elijah, where he’d stopped beside him. He’d been about to touch Elijah’s arm, a reflex to comfort him, but he hesitated. The decision was taken from him as Elijah stepped forward, and Adam’s hand grasped the young man’s shoulder as if it had a mind of its own.

“I’ll see you again,” Elijah murmured and leaned forward slightly.

It would have been so easy to close that small distance to Elijah’s full, pink lips, but Adam didn’t dare. Not there. Not then, perhaps not ever. He was sure that once he’d tasted Elijah, he’d be lost. Never able to get his fill of the young man. Adam swallowed hard. “Yes. Yes, you will.” That was a given.

Adam led the way outside, followed by Madison, and then the twins. As he stepped off the veranda, a cowboy headed toward them. The newcomer was of similar height and build to Adam, and the stranger grinned as he looked past him.

Twin cries of a name Adam didn’t catch came from behind him, and then Elijah and Ellen both dashed ahead of Adam and into the arms of the attractive cowboy. Adam was blindsided by the sharp shards of jealousy that cut deep. A low, animalistic growl rumbled in his chest.

“Adam, calm down. Now!” Madison’s voice was soft but insistent in his ear.

Adam stalked forward, shaking off Madison’s restraining hand. “Let’s get out of here.” His voice was little more than guttural noise, and he didn’t as much as glance back. The last thing he needed to see was Elijah smiling joyously in the arms of another man.

He rode in silence, with Madison behind him, up a rocky outcrop that overlooked the ranch. Satisfied with his perch, Adam dismounted and pulled out his goggles from his saddlebag. He fixed them in place and adjusted the dials until he had a clear view of the Lazy E. The twins and the newcomer had disappeared, no doubt into the house.

Adam sat down and continued to watch the ranch, flitting back to the house every few seconds.

Madison sighed loudly. “What do you expect to see? Are you looking for some kind of irrefutable proof that Elijah and the new guy are more than just friends? Man, I’ve never seen you act this way.”

“I don’t know what I’m looking for,” Adam said. He didn’t take his gaze from the ranch. “Look, I have a gut feeling. You go on to Abe’s ranch. I want to stay here a while and just watch what happens.”

“Will you be joining me there?” Madison asked.

“Yeah. I’ll be along shortly.”

Madison snorted but didn’t argue. Adam listened to him ride away, but he never stopped staring at the ranch below.

The number of men working around the ranch slowly diminished as they rode out in small groups. He gritted his teeth, and his hands clenched into fists as he watched the twins and the newcomer come out of the house. They walked into the stables and rode out, heading away from town and into open country.

The ranch was quiet. Adam looked around but didn’t see anyone. Then movement caught his eye. A cowboy came around the side of the house and walked up the ramp. He glanced around and then entered the house via the veranda window.

Adam sat forward, watching intently. The man was very familiar. The cowboy came out and headed for the corral where a couple of horses remained. He mounted one and rode over to the house, leading the other behind him. Adam tried to focus, get a closer look, but the view he had was the best the goggles could provide. Unfortunately, it was just a little too far to identify the cowboy by his features.

The ranch door opened, and another stranger came out. Something glinted at the man’s thigh, but it wasn’t a gun. Tall, slim, and fast, he headed to the spare horse and mounted quickly. Then Adam remembered where he’d seen the men. They were the ones out at the Silver S ranch the previous day, hunting for the ring. Without any further preamble, they rode off in the direction of the mountains.

Chapter Thirteen

As Adam adjusted his goggles for a closer view, the men’s quick departure caught him by surprise. He shoved the goggles out of the way and jumped to his feet. He scowled as he hurried to his horse. There was something about the newcomer’s gait that rang a bell with him. Despite a round of vehement cussing, the elusive memory refused to come to mind.

He removed his goggles, mounted his horse, and headed after them, unsure why it was suddenly important to him to know who they were and what they were doing. He was glad there were lots of rocky hills and trees that ensured he could follow at a distance and remain hidden from view. After a while, the two men stopped, and so did Adam.

He dismounted and scrambled onto a rock formation to get a better view. He put his goggles back on and watched. His view of the two men wasn’t good. They remained partially hidden by rocks, but he had a clear view of the third man who rode up and joined them.

“Carter! Just what in the hell is going on here?” Adam murmured under his breath. He wished he was able to read lips. He’d at least be able to see what Carter was saying. The expression on the rancher’s face suggested he was angry. He didn’t stay long, heading back the way he’d come, and the other men headed up into the mountains.

Adam pocketed his goggles and ran down to his horse. He leapt astride and headed after the two cowboys, even more eager to discover who they were and their ultimate destination. He kept a good distance back, not wanting his quarry to discover him. Whenever he caught a glimpse of the men, they seemed unconcerned whether anyone was following.

“Just what’s it all about, girl?” he murmured and patted his horse’s neck. “There was no one else around on the ranch to see them leave. One guy enters and leaves through the window, and another I didn’t see go into the house comes out the front door. I guess he could’ve arrived while Madison and me were heading up into the hills. When are the pieces going to start to fit together?”

He had to take a more tortuous trail up into the mountain so that he could look down into what opened up into a large canyon. By the time he got back into a position to see them, both men had vanished. Adam cursed his luck. He pulled on the reins and cursed softly. The volley of cuss words didn’t magically make the men reappear.

He edged his horse forward and downward, hoping to get back onto a wider trail and perhaps find some tracks showing where they may have gone. He remembered the mountains had a few tattered and tumbledown shacks where travelers could rest. Unless they were leaving the area altogether, he could only assume they were headed for one of these.

A flash of color caught his eye, and he stopped quickly. He yanked out his goggles and tried to focus. The newcomer wasn’t one of the cowboys. Neither of them had worn red. At first glance, hidden in the rocks down in the canyon, Adam couldn’t tell whether he was looking at a man or woman. The only thing of which he was sure was he hadn’t seen them before. Only part of a shoulder and long black hair with few feathers woven into it was visible.

That made Adam frown, and he peered harder. There weren’t any local tribes or reservations in this area, so what would an Indian be doing down there? A shot made him duck instinctively, even though it was down in the canyon, ricocheting close to the man or woman in red. Shifting his position enabled Adam to fleetingly get a better view. The stranger was a man, but Adam couldn’t see why he didn’t return fire.

Dismounting, he took off his goggles and pulled out his gun. He checked it briefly, and then he crept forward, keeping close to the rocks for cover, wanting to see who was shooting.

Adam inched forward. The shooter was well hidden. He couldn’t tell if it was one of the two cowboys. Another shot rang out, sending slivers of rock into the air, and the dark-haired man huddled even tighter behind the rocks. Adam realized the man’s problem. His gun laid a couple of feet away from where he was crouched. Doubtless he dropped it when he dove for cover. To attempt to retrieve it would leave him vulnerable to the sniper.

A third shot rang out, and Adam returned fire, aiming at the flash he’d seen. The stranger turned quickly, a look of shock on his face. Adam waited several moments, but no more bullets came their way.

The stranger moved slow, easing his cramped body, but not even the movement, which made him vulnerable, drew any fire. Adam felt certain the shooter had gone. He wished he knew for certain if it had been one of the men from the Lazy E.

“I think they’ve gone,” the stranger said. His voice was rich and silky, with just a hint of an accent.

“I’ll keep you covered if you want to come over here,” Adam said. “But leave your gun where it is for now.”

As the man scurried over and joined him, Adam kept his gun loose in his hand but was prepared to use it if he felt the need. Now that he was standing, the man’s height surprised Adam. He was close to Adam’s own six feet; however his build was far more slender. Adam wondered if the man had Apache blood given his aquiline nose. The man’s skin seemed too swarthy to be pure Indian.

“My name’s Mecatl, and I owe you my life.” He held out his hand.

“Adam McKenzie. What brings you out here?” Adam holstered his pistol shook Mecatl’s proffered hand.

“I was heading through toward Buzzard Hill. I know there are some ranches, thought there may be some work. Seems I found myself a whole heap of trouble instead.”

“Why’s that? What were you doing to get shot at?” Adam asked.

“Murder.” Mecatl voice dropped in pitch. “I found a dead man.”

“You sure it’s murder?’ Adam asked.

Mecatl nodded. “So will you when you see him.”

Adam followed Mecatl up the rocks to where a tumbledown shack was hidden. Scrub-brush helped disguise it. Adam was sure there was no way to simply stumble across it and wondered just how and why Mecatl would have been there.

He looked down at the body. Death was never pretty. He wrinkled his nose and sighed heavily. The dead cowboy had been bound hand and foot, a thick gag tied across his mouth. He’d also had his heart cut out.

“Hope the poor bastard was dead when that happened,” Adam said.

Mecatl snorted. “If he’d been alive, we’d have heard him through that gag, and unless they had tied him to something, he’d have jerked and thrashed so much there would be cuts all over his chest. His wrists would also be raw and bleeding. No, he was dead. This was done to implicate Aztecs, or at least Aztec involvement.”

“You seem quite knowledgeable,” Adam said.

Mecatl shrugged. “My father is Aztec, my mother Apache. I learned a lot from both cultures.” He gazed dispassionately at the cadaver. “Do we report this?”

“Nope. I’ve had enough personal contact with the local sheriff to know he’d be willing to hang us both for murder.” Adam rubbed at his chin. “Best thing is to see if we can bury him hereabouts. The proper authorities can be notified when the opportunity arises.”

“You may look like a drifter, but you don’t sound or act like one.” Mecatl cocked his head. “In fact you seem so confident in taking the law into your own hands, I think you may have experience with it.”

The guess was shrewd enough. Adam decided to take a risk. If his and Madison’s cover was blown, any hope of recovering the statue would be lost.

He sat down and removed his boot. “You thinking of hanging around a while?” he asked.

Mecatl jerked a shoulder. “I’m willing to do most things, nothing illegal though. You have work for me?”

“Maybe.” Adam peeled back the inner sole of his boot and pressed his thumbnail into a small depression over the heel. A cover slid back and revealed a shallow compartment. Adam reached in and produced a paper-thin copper star.

Mecatl gave a low whistle. “Never expected to meet a Federal Marshal.” He looked at Adam with new respect in his eyes. “I knew you were some kind of lawman.”

“If you breathe a word of it, I’ll have you locked up and throw away the key. But if you’re willing to help, I can make sure you’re paid for your time. Do we have a deal?” Adam held out his hand.

A smile spread over Mecatl’s face, transforming his naturally saturnine visage. “Never expected to be a kind of deputy either.” He grasped Adam’s hand firmly. “You have a deal, Adam. Now, what do you want me to do?”

“Good man,” Adam said. “Now listen carefully.”

Chapter Fourteen

While Mecatl rode off towards Abe’s ranch, Adam rode back to the Lazy E. He passed the Aztec guards with a nod and tethered his horse by the corral. He resisted the temptation to go to the house. Instead, he wandered around a little, glad that he’d been seen in the twin’s company.

There were only a few men around, and they nodded at him as he finally sat on the fence. A quick look in the stable confirmed Elijah and Ellen were still out. Their distinctive palominos weren’t back, but the big gray the stranger had ridden was in there.

“Adam. Over here!”

Adam glanced toward the house and saw Mortimer waving from the veranda. He leapt from the fence and went to join him. It seemed like the uncle had recovered from his earlier indisposition.

“I’ve been thinking,” Mortimer said. “I could probably offer one of you boys a job here. I’d like to make that offer to you, Adam.”

The offer took Adam by surprise. He hadn’t expected this. He tipped his hat at Mortimer. “Well, I’m mighty grateful to you, sir. We could sure do with some paid work, but what about my cousin? We normally work together.”

“I don’t think I can pay for two men,” Mortimer said, with a shake of his head.

“Well, how would it be if I thought about it and talked it over with Madison? I could give you my answer tomorrow or the day after. See if we can get him sorted here, too.” As fast as it flitted across Mortimer’s face, Adam didn’t miss the frown.

“I guess I can wait a day or two, but no longer. You seem to be a good man. One I’d like to keep my eye on and who could watch what’s happening around this ranch.”