Heart of Thunder (21 page)

“Why can’t Lorenzo stay with me?” she demanded.

Hank came a few steps toward her. “You would like that, eh? Then you would have a whole week to work on him, to get him to help you?”

“Don’t you trust him?”

“It is you I do not trust, Sam,” he said quite seriously. “And do not look for Lorenzo to visit you while I am gone. He is coming with me.”

“Fine! Leave me with strangers. I don’t care,” she snapped. “When can I leave this place?”

“That depends on your father. I go now to see if he is following my instructions.”

Her heart stopped. She had known this was coming.

“Then you’re going near my home?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes.”

“Could you find out how Ramón is?”

“Ramón Baroja?”

“Do—do you know him?” She was surprised.

“I knew him when he was little. Through my cousin, of course,” Hank added in an offhanded manner. “Why the concern for Ramón?”

“He was with me that day. Diego shot him. Didn’t they tell you?”

“They said a man was wounded when he tried to draw on them. That was Ramón?”

“Yes. I must know if he is all right.”

“What is he to you?”

“If you know him, then you know he’s my neighbor. We grew up together. He is a very close friend.”

Hank’s eyes narrowed. “No man can be just a friend, not to you, Sam.”

Samantha gazed down at the floor, unwilling to meet his eyes. “Will you find out about Ramón?”

“It would be too much risk,” he replied tightly.

His callousness infuriated her. “I’m only asking you to do this one thing for me. It was your man who shot him. He could be dead. I must know.”

“Very well. But in return, I want your word that you will not try to escape while I am gone.”

“I…”

She couldn’t possibly make that promise. Hank added, “I can have you locked in your room at all times if you prefer.”

“All right!” she cried, her eyes glittering. “I give you my word.”

He nodded. “Then I bid you
adiós
, Samina.”

And without warning, he caught her in his arms and kissed her fervently. It was what Samantha had dreaded. She remembered so clearly the effect Hank’s kisses had on her, the way she lost herself to the power of the man. She had been afraid it might happen again, and it
was
happening. She didn’t even try to push him away. She just melted, letting him hold her.

After a long time, and with great effort, Hank released her. How pleased she would be to know the torture it was to let her go!

He said huskily in Spanish, “That was so you will know what to expect when I return.”

As he left the room, he was grinning. He had seen the comprehension in her eyes, and he was certain that she understood Spanish very well. Why not? She had lived in Mexico long enough to learn the language. He was on to her now, and there were ways he could use what he knew. Yes…there were ways.

Chapter 22

“M
R.…Chavez, isn’t it?” Hamilton Kingsley asked, shaking Hank’s hand and motioning him to a seat in the living room.

“You are correct,
señor
. I was not sure you would remember me.”

“It hasn’t been all that long since you came to see me before, though that meeting was brief and a lot has happened since we met.”

Hank took in the man’s haggard, almost defeated look. Hamilton Kingsley was not the confident, arrogant rancher he had met before. The ordeals of the last weeks, the worrying over his daughter, those things had taken their toll. Yet he was a strong man and would probably need only his daughter’s safe return to restore his vigor. Hank firmly buried the twinge of conscience that had surfaced.

“I certainly didn’t expect to see you again, Mr. Chavez,” Kingsley was saying, smiling drily. “You were rather, er, upset, when we met before.”

“Disappointed,” Hank corrected smoothly.

“Yes, well, I hope there are no hard feelings?” Hamilton asked. “You can’t blame a man for refusing to part with something of such value.”

Hank frowned. “You have a great love for this land?”

“Oh, no. I’ve always been a nomad. I’ve lived all over the States and in Europe. I can take a place or easily leave it, I’m just that way.”

Hank’s frown deepened. They had not gone into this before. Hank had made his offer and had been flatly
refused. Kingsley had given only the explanation that the land was priceless to him. But now he was saying that it didn’t really matter very much.

“Why, then, did you refuse to sell it to me at a substantial profit?” Hank demanded harshly. So the land didn’t matter to Kingsley? Well, it mattered to Hank.

“Here now, we’re not going to have another argument, are we? I must say, Mr. Chavez, you should learn to leave emotion out of your business transactions. I have invited you into my house for the second time when the first time proved distasteful. I hope you won’t make me regret my hospitality.”

Hank was duly contrite. “I am sorry,
señor
. I am not known for a quick temper. If anything, I roll with the punches, as you
americanos
say.”

Kingsley laughed. “You could have fooled me.”

Hank grimaced. “It is just that this matter is so important to me.”

“I gathered that.”

“And you say this land means nothing to you,” Hank pointed out. “I don’t—”

“Hold on now,” Kingsley interrupted. “I didn’t say that at all. This place is priceless to me because it represents permanency to my daughter. I never settled down until she came to me. But I brought her here to live, so this place is her home. She’s the one who loves it here.”

“I was not aware that you had a daughter.”

“She wasn’t here when you came before. She isn’t…”

There was an uncomfortable silence. Hank knew exactly what Samantha’s father couldn’t bring himself to say—that she wasn’t there, and why. The love he had counted on was there. The man would do anything for his daughter.

“You speak as if she did not always live with you,” Hank said, trying to keep the conversation light.

“Ellen, her mother, took her away from me when she was just a baby. I won’t go into that. I didn’t see my
daughter again until she was nine. I brought her here the year after I finally got her away from her grandparents.”

“Her mother?”

“Died soon after she left me.”

“I am sorry. I know what it is like to grow up without a mother. Mine died at my birth. My grandmother took her place, but it was not the same.”

“I hope she was a sight nicer than Samantha’s grandmother. That old woman was a bitch.”

Hank laughed. “My
abuela
was a kind woman, if a little forgetful and testy in her old age. She died here in this house.”

“Good Lord!” Kingsley gasped. “You didn’t tell me your family had lived here!”

“You did not give me a chance to,” Hank reminded him. “I am afraid we both lost our tempers before.”

Kingsley looked quite uncomfortable. “Yes, well, I can see now why you want this place so much. But I hope you understand now why I won’t sell it.”

Hank tensed. “You have not asked why I came to see you again,” he said.

Kingsley smiled. “I’m sure this is not just a social call.”

“I will be frank and admit I had hoped to take advantage of your misfortune,” Hank returned in a grave tone. “You see, I have heard of the trouble you are having with
bandidos
. You seem to be the only one in this area whom they are harassing.”

“Harassing no longer describes it, Mr. Chavez.” Kingsley’s voice rose. “The bastards have kidnapped my daughter!”

Hank managed to look shocked. “
Dios!
I was not aware of this,
señor
. You must be mad with worry.”

“Worried sick one minute, furious the next. I’ve never wanted to kill anyone so much in my life as I do this El Carnicero, the leader. And so help me, I will do more than that if he dares hurt my little girl!”

“But how did they manage to take her? Surely she was always with an escort?”

“Yes, she was heavily escorted, but a lot of good it did when she got it into her mind to race ahead of them,” Kingsley said angrily. “She’s just too damn hardheaded. She knew the danger, yet she still challenged Ramón to race.”

“Ramón?”

“Baroja, a neighbor. Possibly my future son-in-law,” Kingsley explained. “The two of them raced away from Samantha’s escort and were taken by surprise.”

“Was anyone hurt?” Hank asked tightly.

So! Ramón Baroja was a possibility for son-in-law? Samantha had lied to him, then, calling him a childhood friend. What else had she lied about?

“Ramón was shot, but he’s recovering. The poor boy is devastated though, blaming himself.”

“As well he should, if he was foolish enough to let your daughter leave her escort.” Hank remembered Ramón Baroja well. He had never been a child to take responsibility seriously.

Kingsley frowned. “Yes, well, you don’t know my daughter. I’ve never been able to control her, so I can’t blame Ramón for being unable to.”

“Forgive me, Señor Kingsley,” Hank said quickly. “I did not mean to judge. I sympathize with you. I cannot imagine what you must be going through. It must be agony. I pray these
bandidos
will not harm the girl. They probably want the ransom and nothing more.”

“They don’t want money,” Kingsley said brusquely. “I wish they did! These scum demand I leave Mexico! Can you believe it?”

“I have heard of such things before,” Hank replied smoothly. “Perhaps you have angered this
bandido
in some way?”

“I’ve never met him!”

“Then why?”

“They say he hates
gringos
, but thousands of us have
settled in this land. It makes no sense that he should single me out, unless it’s my land he wants. We’re ideally located here, near the border.”

“That is possible,” Hank agreed. “What will you do?”

“Leave. This afternoon, I will go. Another day and you wouldn’t have found me here, Mr. Chavez.”

“Surely you have not found a buyer already?” Hank was alarmed.

“A buyer? No, I—”

“Then you will be willing to accept my offer?”

“You misunderstand. I’m not selling this land.”

“But you are leaving.”

“Yes, and I won’t be back until my daughter is returned to me. But, as I said, this is my daughter’s home. I won’t disappoint her by selling it.”

Hank was seething, and it was all he could do not to show it. How could he have made such a mistake? Kingsley intended to come back, despite all the harassment, despite the kidnapping.

“I do not understand you,
señor
. You profess to a great love for your daughter, yet you will bring her back here? Put her in the same danger? What if the
bandido
feels you have tricked him and kills her?”

“Once I have my daughter back. El Carnicero is a dead man. I have already hired the best manhunters in the country. He will never touch my daughter again.”

Hank asked stiffly, “Is your daughter so young that you expect her to go on living here with you for many years?”

“No, she’s grown up, but what—”

“That is the impression I got when you mentioned your neighbor as a possible son-in-law,” Hank continued quickly. “Why then do you insist on holding on to this land for her? She may marry soon and leave it.”

“That is neither here nor there,” Kingsley said with a touch of annoyance. “The property will belong to her completely when she does marry, deeded to her as a wedding present. That was arranged long ago. Whether
she lives here or with her husband somewhere else, she will always have this place to come home to.”

“And you will be here waiting for her?” Hank said drily.

“No. It will be hers alone, as I said. I have land across the border I plan to retire to. This is why I am hoping for an alliance between Samantha and the Baroja heir. That will combine the two properties here, and I will be less than a week’s ride from either one of them.” Kingsley brought himself back to the present.

“I am sorry, Mr. Chavez. I realize this land means a great deal to you. Tell me, how did it pass from your family?”

“That would not interest you now, not under the circumstances,” Hank replied in a level voice. “But your daughter, do you think she would consider selling, once the land is hers?”

“That would be up to her and her husband, Mr. Chavez. But I doubt it. Samantha loves this land.”

“Perhaps I should court your daughter and marry her then.”

Kingsley missed the sarcastic tone and laughed, relieved that Hank was accepting defeat gracefully. “I can’t say I’d want you courting my daughter, not with that ulterior motive. But then, you haven’t met her, Mr. Chavez. You could very easily lose your heart to her, and this land would be only a bonus—if she would accept you, that is.”

Hank left while he still had his emotions under control. To think that if Samantha had accepted him before, he would have come to Mexico to find that he had the woman he wanted and his land as well! And without spending a penny to get back his own land! If only he had won Samantha! If only she had not loved another man. If only she had understood about Adrien.

There were too many ifs. Now there was only hate between them, and a kind of twisted desire on his part.
Yes, he could admit now that he still wanted to possess her even though he hated her.

But he wouldn’t. He would fight temptation to the bitter end. He would frighten her with it. He would make her wonder. But he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction of knowing he cared.

And her father?
Perdición!
The man intended to leave, get his daughter back, and then return. Hank had not even considered that. He should have demanded that Kingsley
sell
and leave, not just leave. What the hell could he do about it now?

Chapter 23

T
HE sun was setting behind the mountains as Hank and Lorenzo neared their abandoned village, two and a half days later, in record time. Hank’s mood had not improved with the hard riding.

They began the climb up the narrow ledge of the canyon that led to the opening and the village. The light was dim, but they would make it home before it was completely dark, so there was no need for torches.