Each Time We Love (13 page)

Jerking her to her feet, he half dragged, half carried her
back to where Jeremy was now anxiously waiting with three horses.
Roughly throwing her up onto one of the animals, Micajah tied her feet
to the stirrups. He grabbed the reins of her horse and, keeping a firm
grip on them, mounted his own animal.

Savanna remembered little of that terrible ride through the
junglelike growth of the swamps. Her shoulders ached incessantly from
the pain caused by her arms being tied behind her back, and she was
constantly buffeted by vines and low-growing branches as they galloped
madly through the wilderness.

They rode for hours, and with every passing mile Savanna's
spirits sank lower and lower. She'd never get out of this alive! The
knowledge that she was at Micajah's mercy made her flesh crawl, and she
was almost certain that death would be preferable to succumbing to his
advances.

But when they did finally stop, miles and hours away from
Campo de Verde, to her relief Micajah had other things on his mind than
taking his pleasure. He dumped her near a half-rotted bald cypress at
the edge of a sluggish bayou and proceeded to shackle one ankle to the
stump with some old slave irons he kept in his saddlebags. Ignoring her
after that, he and Jeremy swiftly made camp.

It was only after all the most immediate chores had been done
and a fire was flickering merrily in the darkness, a pot of cornmeal
bubbling in the center of the fire, that Micajah seemed to recall her
presence. A menacing knife blade in his hand, he walked over to her and
Savanna stared grimly at him, determined not to betray how furious—and
frightened—she felt.

Braced for the worst, she was stunned when Micajah grinned and
with one quick slash cut the gag and the ropes that bound her arms. He
did it quickly and danced out of her range just as soon as he had
finished.

The iron shackle around her slender ankle kept her effectively
chained to the cypress stump, but after spitting out the gag and
shrugging off the ropes, Savanna felt a tiny glimmer of hope—she could
at least fight to protect herself now, even if he won in the end. Her
hands stung as the blood rushed back to them and she almost groaned
with relief when she was finally able to let her arms hang naturally by
her sides.

Warily she eyed Micajah and her astonishment only increased
when he carefully handed her a tin plate of hot cornmeal and dried
beef. Suddenly too hungry to plumb his motives, she took the plate and
hastily devoured the food.

Her confidence stirring, Savanna finally set down her empty
plate and said tightly, "Don't you think it's time you told me what
this is all about?"

Jeremy and Micajah were sitting nearer the small fire, and
after stuffing some food into his mouth, Micajah stared thoughtfully at
her. "Like I told you earlier," he finally said, "it's about your
father."

Her puzzlement clear, she asked blankly, "What about my
father? He's dead! Dead for ten years or more—everybody knows that!"

"Yeah," Micajah drawled, "but what you and everybody else
don't know is that Jeremy here was at his side when he died. Had a very
interesting conversation with yore daddy just before he died, did
Jeremy."

Baffled, tired, scared and more than a little impatient,
Savanna retorted sharply, "So? Good for Jeremy! But what the hell does
it have to do with me?"

"Well, I know you'll have a hard time believing it, but yore
daddy was real worried about you just before he died. Seems he'd been
searching for an Aztec treasure all those years—wanted that treasure
mighty bad to set you and yore mama up real fine. Wanted you and yore
mama to have everything you could wish for—money, fancy clothes,
servants, a mansion—everything." Warming to his tale, Micajah went on
almost dreamily. "That's why he wasn't never around for you when you
was young—he was searching for this treasure for you and yore mama.
Told Jeremy he was gonna marry yore mama once he found that treasure.
Said he didn't feel worthy enough to marry her without it. Said Jason
Savage murdered him to keep him from finding the treasure and coming
back to you."

If it were possible for someone as naturally lovely as Savanna
to gape like a fish, she did so now. Her jaw hanging slack, her eyes
slightly glazed, she stared dumbfoundedly at Micajah. Her first
instinct was to reject the tale out of hand, but she suddenly
remembered that conversation with her mother the first evening she had
arrived at Campo de Verde. Elizabeth had stated quite clearly that
Davalos had believed a man named Jason Savage was his deadliest enemy
and that Davalos had been looking for a golden fortune. Elizabeth had
dismissed the idea, but could her mother have been horribly wrong?
Savanna shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. Was she going to
believe
Micajah
over Elizabeth? She wavered and
then her mouth thinned, and with a trifle less vehemence than she would
have expressed before she recalled her mother's words, she said,

"That's the craziest story I've ever had!
Dios!
Are you drunk, or just plain crazy?"

Micajah sent Jeremy a mitigating look and Jeremy gulped and
rushed into speech. "It's true! I swear it on my mother's breast! Every
word! I found him dying near the Palo Duro Canyon area, and he told me
about the treasure and about you and that Jason Savage had murdered
him."

"I
didn't believe him at first either,"
Micajah chimed in eagerly. "Thought ten years in a Spanish jail had
addled his wits, but he's convinced me. Told me yore daddy confessed to
killing someone named Nolan and hiding a golden armband—said you had
it."

Numbly Savanna stared at Micajah, her thoughts jumbled. The
terrible suspicion that her mother had been wrong took hold of her.
They were lying… and yet why would they persist in this wild story?
Surely not just to get her to go with them! They
believed
what they were saying. Could there really be a golden armband? But she
didn't have it. She'd never heard of it until this very moment! They
had to be lying! Fixing them with a look of scorn, she said acidly, "I
don't have any damn golden armband! I've never seen it or heard of it!"

Micajah nodded wisely. "Yore daddy told Jeremy that he'd hid
it. Told him he hid it so that if something happened to him, you'd find
it and you and yore mama would still be taken care of if he wasn't
around anymore. Jeremy said all he could talk about as he lay there
dying was how much he loved you and yore mama and how much he wanted to
set things right."

"It's all true! Nolan. The golden armband. Happened just the
way Micajah says," Jeremy averred piously.

With an effort Savanna focused her gaze on Jeremy. He still
looked like a weasel to her, but there was such an air of truthfulness
about him that she faltered.
Dios!
What if what
they said
was
true! She swallowed convulsively
and shook her head as if to clear it. "I don't believe you," she
muttered unhappily. "You're lying!"

"Now why would he lie?" Micajah asked reasonably. "Don't mean
nothing to him."

There was too much to take in, and almost desperately Savanna
replied, "All right! Say it's true—what does it have to do with me?"

Micajah took another bite of beef and swallowed it before
answering. "Well, since yore daddy was planning on coming back and
setting everything to rights for you and yore mama, it seems to me that
you'd want revenge on the man that stopped him—-the man that murdered
him before he could make everything right. Jason Savage."

Helplessly Savanna shook her head again, trying frantically to
make some sense of this whole bizarre situation. "Are you telling me,"
she finally asked, "that you kidnapped me because you want me to take
revenge on Jason Savage?"

"Not exactly." Micajah's eyes flickered over her and Savanna
was suddenly chilled. "You know the reason why I kidnapped you, so
don't play coy, darlin'," he said bluntly. "But since it was yore daddy
who was tracing the treasure, by rights it should be yores… and yore
mama's, too. And for a large share of it, me and Jeremy are willing to
help you find it—and help you take revenge on Jason Savage at the same
time."

"You're mad if you think I'm going to believe that you've
become so noble!" Savanna snarled angrily, her aquamarine eyes gleaming
in the dancing firelight, her red-gold hair flaming like a nimbus
around her head.

"Don't matter," Micajah said equitably. "All you have to
believe is that we're going to help you get the treasure and kill Jason
Savage."

"Suppose I don't want to find the treasure or have anything to
do with this Jason Savage? What then?"

"Well, then I guess we'll just have to do it without you—which
means yore daddy's treasure will be all mine and yore daddy's killer
will go free."

Despite not being convinced of the truth of what she'd been
told, Savanna didn't like the sound of that at all. If Davalos had
found a treasure, by rights she and her mother
should
have some of it, and if Jason Savage had murdered her father to keep
the treasure a secret or steal it for himself, then he should be
punished. But joining forces with Murdering Micajah!
Dios!
It was unthinkable!

Her chin lifted arrogantly and she said coldly, "You can have
the treasure! Do what you want with Jason Savage. Let me go!"

Micajah grinned like a shark and shook his head. "Can't do
that, darlin'. I've wanted you for too long and now that I've got you I
ain't likely to just set you free, not without having first gotten
weary of that tender flesh of yores. Besides, you might know more about
the treasure than you're letting on—be stupid to let you go, to follow
after us and maybe steal the treasure yoreself."

Savanna's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'll fight you! I'll
make your life so miserable you'll rue the day you ever laid eyes on
me! You'll have to watch me every minute, and the moment your back is
turned…"

Unperturbed by her threats, Micajah slowly shook his shaggy
head. "Nope, that's not true. You're going to go along with just about
anything I say, because if you don't, I'm going to have to start
telling yore mama's neighbors the truth about her 'marriage' to
Davalos. Going to have to mention about Crow's Nest and that little
tavern she ran. Think all her friends and neighbors would find it
interesting?"

Savanna clenched her jaw and stared at him, her mind racing.
Would her mother's friends believe him? Wouldn't they just dismiss his
words as a malicious tale told by a vicious, disreputable blackguard?
Or would they? Some might. Others might not… did she dare risk it? if
her mother's respectable life was ruined, could she live with herself?
Her heart sank. For her mother's sake, she
had
to
go along with him! Her mouth set, hatred glittering in the clear
aquamarine depths of her eyes, she said coldly,
"If
I go with you, I'm not going unarmed or in chains! You're going to have
to free me and give me back my knife…
and
you
have to swear that you will not lay a finger on me."

Micajah studied her for several long minutes. He didn't like
any of her demands, especially the one about not touching her, but he
also knew that as long as he kept his distance, she wasn't likely to
try to escape, knowing that he would tell of her mother's scandalous
past. His gaze moved slowly over her voluptuous form and he sighed
regretfully. As much as he wanted her, he did realize that she would be
a dangerous liability if he forced himself on her any time
before
they found the treasure. But after the treasure was found… Hiding the
salacious grin that crossed his face, he looked away and considered her
other demands. The removal of the chains didn't bother him as much as
giving her back the knife-she was quite capable of killing him and
calmly returning to Campo de Verde!

"I swear not to touch you," he said eventually, his dislike of
the situation clear. "I'll even take off the irons, but I'm not fool
enough to put a weapon in your hand!"

She didn't believe him about not touching her, but she was in
no position to argue. She hadn't thought she'd get
any
concessions from him, and hoping to conceal the gleam of fierce
satisfaction that leaped to her eyes, she glanced down at the shackle
around her slender ankle and demanded gruffly, "Then release me now!"

As careful as if dealing with a savage wildcat, Micajah
approached and warily handed her the key to unlock the irons. Keeping
out of her reach, he muttered sourly, "Since we're sort of partners,
you can clean up the utensils, and yore bedroll is there, where the
horses are tethered—being as you're not chained anymore, you can damn
well fetch it yourself!"

Meek as a mouse, Savanna did as she was told, but she kept a
cautious outlook for any sudden moves from Micajah. She didn't fear
Jeremy; instinct told her that his interest lay solely in the gold and
that her body held no charms for him. When she walked over to get her
bedroll, the temptation to try to escape was almost overpowering—the
horses were so near—

"I wouldn't try it, if I was you," Micajah said softly from
not six feet away. "You make one attempt to get away and the deal is
off!"

The chances of succeeding were slim, and promising herself
that there would be better opportunities, she just shrugged. With the
bedroll clutched in her hand, she walked slightly beyond the light of
the fire and made her bed as far away from Micajah and Jeremy as she
could. After the events of the day and all the astonishing things she
had learned, Savanna had been certain she would not be able to sleep,
but exhaustion claimed her and she fell asleep almost as soon as she
lay down.

It was Micajah's hand on her arm that woke her when the first
misty light of dawn was gliding through the swampy forest. Like a
scalded cat, she was on her feet, her hands curled into claws as she
faced him. He smiled nastily and said testily, "We're breaking camp—get
your gear together!"