Erin's Rebel (22 page)

Because 1863 was drawing to an end, the fear he wouldn’t return gripped her every time he marched off. She tried to recall the exact date on his headstone. Fighting to survive day to day in this century had caused her to lose track of why she was here. Was she supposed to change history? She didn’t think that possible.

Jake had proved to be a real pain in the ass while his wound healed. He expected her to wait on him hand and foot. When she balked or tried to have another nurse care for him, he caused an embarrassing scene. Finally, Doc had intervened and set the bastard straight. She also warned Jenny to avoid the man.

And now that he was healed, Erin had to contend with him sneaking around her again. The man gave her the willies. The worst part was others had verified he
had
saved Will’s life. And Will had seen to it he made it back.

An unholy alliance if she ever saw one. But she knew Will would never leave one of his men behind, no matter what he thought of him. For that she respected him.

A woman with honey-colored hair approached and disrupted her thoughts. She wore a maroon calico dress covered with a blue-checkered shawl, and her head was topped with a brown bonnet. The woman carried a basket on her arm. Likely, she was one of the locals come to hawk her wares.

“Pardon me, ma’am,” the woman said. “I’m looking for Mrs. O’Connell.”

Erin looked her over, trying to decide how to answer. “And you are?”

“My name’s Miss Rachel. I was sent here to find Mrs. O’Connell.”

Her reporter’s instincts kicked in. “Who sent you?”

Rachel’s fine brows drew into a frown. “That would be Mrs. O’Connell’s business, ma’am.”

Erin sighed. If she wanted to learn anything from this woman, she had to reveal herself. “All right, you got me. I’m Erin O’Connell.”

The woman seemed puzzled. “You’re the Irish laundress?”

“That I am,” Erin replied.

Glancing around, Rachel licked her lips. “I’m to tell you to come to the barn over yonder. The one just outside camp.”

“And who am I to meet there?”

“I can’t tell you that. You’ll know. Go behind the barn just after sunset tomorrow.” She turned to leave.

“Wait,” Erin called. “That’s all you can tell me?”

Rachel turned back, her eyebrows raised. “There’s nothin’ more to tell. Just be at the barn, and all will be explained.”

As the woman strolled away, Erin bit her lip. What should she do? She thought it best to just ignore her and stay put. But she itched to sneak out to meet this contact to satisfy her curiosity.

She only had until sunset tomorrow to decide.

****

Jake held his breath as he crouched behind a wide oak a stone’s throw from Erin’s tent. Luckily, he’d seen and heard the blond-haired woman. He’d hightailed it to this spot, where he wouldn’t be seen but had a chance to overhear at least some of the conversation.

Knowing Erin wouldn’t confide in him, he’d meet the contact and convince the Yankee to pay him directly. Hell, he’d even defect to the North if the pay was good. But for now, since the woman hadn’t told Erin who her contact was, he’d have to find out for himself.

Discreetly, he followed her until she approached the pickets. She produced a pass and allowed them to inspect her basket, leaving them happily munching on a couple of blueberry muffins.

Once she was out of earshot, Jake sauntered up to the pickets. He didn’t have a pass to town, but one of the men standing guard owed him a favor, and he was about to collect on it.

Following the trail to town, he crept into the woods bordering the road. He trailed the woman without her being aware. After making sure no one else was around, he sprinted to the road and grabbed her from behind. When he clamped a hand over her mouth, her basket dropped to the ground.

“Come with me. I won’t hurt you,” he whispered.

She trembled in his grasp. He took a deep breath, inhaling her sweet perfume. She was a fine looking woman. Longing coursed through him. If he had the chance, maybe he could satisfy his lust with her, since Erin had denied him.

He dragged her into the woods deep enough so they couldn’t be seen. “If you promise not to scream, you won’t be hurt,” he purred against her ear. At her nod, he cautiously released the hand covering her mouth and kept his other arm clamped around her upper chest to prevent flight.

She turned her face toward him, beads of sweat covered her face, and her eyes were as wide as an owl’s. “What do you want with me?”

“Just need you to answer some questions. That’s all.”

“What questions?” Her heart thudded against his arm.

“Who’s your Yankee contact?”

She tensed in his grasp. “I don’t know no Yankees.”

“Now, I know for a fact that’s not true.”

“Please, sir, I’m telling you the truth.”

Spinning her around to face him, he grasped both her upper arms. “You’re lying. I saw you talking to Mrs. O’Connell.”

“I was sellin’ muffins.”

He squeezed, his fingers biting into her flesh. He’d wring her neck if that would get him the name.

She gasped.

“Tell me the name of the contact.”

“I don’t know no Yankees.”

Enraged, he swung at her face, knocking her to the ground. She fell hard, and a sickening crack sounded. Her eyes gazed up into the trees while blood splattered over the rock where her head lay tilted at an odd angle.

Pulse thudding, Jake stared at the woman. That wouldn’t have been necessary if she’d just told him what he wanted to know. It served her right. But he wasn’t about to be brought up on murder charges. He had to get back to camp before anyone found her.

Chapter Twenty-four

“Captain?”

Will poked his head out of his tent. One of his men stood outside.

“Yes, Corporal. What is it?”

“Sir. We were on patrol this morning and found something you should see.”

Will eased from the tent. The portly, auburn-haired corporal scratched at his beard, and Will raised his brows in a silent question.

“Sir, we found a dead woman.”

“Where?” Will’s pulse raced.

“Just outside camp. In the woods.”

“One of the women from camp?” He feared the answer.

“No, sir. It was a local woman. There was one here yesterday selling muffins.”

Will relaxed a bit as he tried to remember if he’d seen the woman. “You’d best take me to her, Corporal.

****

Twenty minutes later, the corporal led Will and two privates, brought along as litter bearers, to a spot a few yards off the road. Hidden among the brush, a blond-haired woman lay spread-eagle. Splattered blood surrounded her head where it rested on a large rock. A brown bonnet lay a foot behind her.

“How did you find her?” Will asked.

“We noticed an empty basket laying in the road, then saw scavengers back in the woods. We investigated, shooing them off. Then we found her.”

Although Will bent to check for a pulse, he was certain he wouldn’t find one. Her skin had already grown cold. He closed her eyes, then pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to cover her face. Something about her seemed familiar. Maybe he’d seen her yesterday.

Will motioned to the litter bearers. “Let’s get her back to camp.”

They lifted her onto the stretcher. He asked the corporal, “How far away was the basket?”

“A few yards that way, sir.” The man motioned toward the road. “Do you reckon animals could have dragged her back here?”

Will stroked his beard, considering. “I suspect a two-legged animal.”

“Sir?”

“Never mind. Let’s take her back to Doc.”

****

Erin stood over the washtub rotating the dolly to push slivers of soap through the heated water. Although she’d gotten used to doing laundry this way, she still pined for her modern life.

“Oh, Miss Erin, wait’ll you hear.” Brigid raced up. She wrung her plump hands in her apron, her normally ruddy face deathly pale. She looked as if she’d seen a ghost.

“What’s wrong?” Erin asked.

“Found a woman dead, they did.”

Erin’s heart rate sped up. “Who found a woman? Where?”

“A woman from town. A patrol found her in the woods beside the road.”

Rachel?
It couldn’t be.
“What happened to her?”

“They say she fell and hit her head on a rock,” Brigid said. “But why would she be all alone in the woods?” Her eyes widened. “I’d say someone dragged her there.”

“Are you saying someone killed her?”

“Aye.”

Erin struggled to make sense of this. “Did they bring her back to camp?”

Brigid nodded. “She’s in Doc’s tent.”

“I’ve got to see her.” Erin abandoned the laundry, drying her hands on her apron as she sprinted to the medical tent, leaving the cook behind.

****

Erin burst into Doc’s tent, trying to control her erratic breathing. “Where is she?”

Doc spun toward her, his eyes wide. She’d apparently startled him.

“I need to see the woman they brought in. The one they found in the woods.”

Wordlessly, he motioned toward a cot up against the far wall of the tent beyond the bunks of the wounded men.

Following Doc, Erin moved through the tent to the back where a shrouded form lay.

Glancing at Doc’s face, she sucked nervously on her lower lip. “I have to see her.”

He nodded, stepped to the head of the cot, and pulled back the blanket covering her face.

She swallowed hard. The hazel eyes were closed, but it was Rachel. Blood matted in her hair, and her slender neck was bent at an odd angle. He let the blanket fall back into place.

“Rachel,” she stated.

“You knew her?”

“I spoke to her yesterday.” She met his gaze. “She was in camp selling muffins.”

He didn’t speak.

“How could this have happened?” she asked.

Doc folded his arms across his chest. “Either she wandered into the woods, slipped and hit her head...an animal frightened her, or...”

When he hesitated, Erin searched his eyes. “Or what?”

“Or someone dragged her into the woods and killed her.”

****

Jake kept his silence while the camp buzzed with speculation about the death of the local woman. Since the pickets had allowed him out of camp without a pass, he didn’t have to worry about them talking. They’d only get themselves into trouble, and nothing else would link him to her death.