Snow Angel (20 page)

She gazed at him, unbelief in her eyes, for a long moment that seemed an eternity. A cool breeze blew in, drying their tears, bringing with it an unearthly calm. She breathed heavy and long breaths. “All right, Noah … but never say I didn't warn you.”

He laughed long and loud, with a kind of relief that sent his heart soaring—a victor's laugh. Stroking the top of her silky
head, he pulled her into his arms. “It's going to be OK.” He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tight. “I promise.”

* * *

The room was poorly lit and thick with the smells of tobacco, sweat, and whiskey. Noah stalked over to the bar of The Grand Dame Saloon, a man on a mission. Ross's parting taunt of some hidden knowledge of Elizabeth's real name still rang in his ears—he had to find out what Ross had alluded to. He was just about to question the bartender when he heard that unmistakable laugh. Turning, he saw Ross dressed in a black suit, white shirt, and thinly knotted black tie at a table in the back. He was facing away from the door and hadn't seen Noah come in. In spite of the fact that Noah had been looking for him most of the day, he was surprised to actually find him. Noah wasted no time striding over to the table.

Ross looked up as Noah's booted steps stopped across the table from his chair. Ross had a thin cigar clenched between his teeth, his manner conveying his usual impeccable appearance. His face darkened when he saw Noah, but he remained seated.

Noah looked around at the other occupants at the table. “Excuse me, fellas, but I need to borrow one of your players for a moment.” He looked at Ross. “I need to speak to you, Ross. Let's step outside.”

Ross smiled. “What kind of fool do you take me for, Wesley? I don't think so.”

Noah wasn't in the mood for this. Meaningfully patting the pistol dangling from his side, he ground out, “We have unsettled business to finish. Let's go.”

The other men at the table were held frozen, eyes wide and wondering. Ross just smirked at Noah. “If you shoot me, you will never get the answers to your questions.” Slowly, he rose to face Noah. “Tell you what, buddy. Elizabeth is a pretty piece of skirt, but she's not worth this much of my time. I'm sick of this town and sick of seeing you, so tell me what you want to know.”

“Not here. Let's take it outside.”

One of the other players started to guffaw, but when Noah turned his steely gaze on him, he stopped abruptly.

Ross shrugged as if he didn't care and rose. Noah turned toward the door. It shouldn't have come as a surprise when he felt the knifepoint in his back and heard Ross say breathlessly, “I'd rather not kill you in front of all these people, so I've decided I
will
go outside with you. Now walk.”

Noah took one step as if in acceptance and then, leaning forward away from the knifepoint, he kicked back, hitting Ross in the knee and causing him to fall back. He turned swiftly, as Ross recovered and came at him with the knife. The man might be smaller than Noah, but he was quick and wiry, and Noah had to keep his eyes on the blade darting close to his face.

A crowd spread out around them, jeering and cheering, picking sides and laying bets. A side argument broke out between two other men and soon they were brawling in another corner of the room. Noah had just reached for his gun, thinking to shoot in the air, when a big man bumped him and sent
the gun flying across the room. Great, now he would have to disarm Ross. Noah hated knives. Concentrating on the shiny metal, he lashed out and landed a hard blow to Ross's shoulder, knocking the knife from Ross's hand. Just when it looked like he had gained the upper hand, two other men jumped into the fight. Noah pushed one of them back onto a table, crashing it to pieces, while the other man was hurled into a cheap mirror on the wall, sending a shower of glass to the floor.

The crash was like a signal, and the fight became a free-forall. Every man in the place dove into the fray, sending bottles and furniture and glass flying around the room. In the midst of it all, Noah lost sight of Ross. He pushed and punched and shoved his way around the room, trying to find him, but Ross had disappeared. Finally, Noah was able to force his way to the door and out into the bright sunlight. He shook his head to clear the fuzziness, wondering if his face was cut up bad; he could feel blood running down from a busted eyebrow. His right eye was swelling fast and his bottom lip was cut, but aside from that, he seemed to be in one piece. Lumbering down the sidewalk, he scanned the street for Ross. As he passed an alley, he glanced down it, turned to walk away, then felt a muzzle of cold steel in his back.

“This time, we'll finish this,” a voice hissed.

The gun, his gun he suspected, was shoved into his back, and, for a moment, Noah thought this was it.

“Turn around, slowly, and start walking toward that grove of trees outside of town. No tricks this time, Wesley. If I see one suspicious move, I'll blow you away in front of the whole town. Now walk.”

Noah walked. As Ross pushed them deeper into the brush and farther from Dawson City, Noah tried to come up with
a plan. This man, with his smooth exterior and handsome face, had the core of a serpent. Noah was not looking forward to what was coming. He had seen Ross's kind before, the type that enjoyed watching living beings suffer, whether animal or human, friend or foe. He knew Ross derived some kind of sick excitement from seeing fear and pain in others. With this in mind, he buried his apprehensions and took on the careless demeanor of his good friend Jacko. Jacko was a different kind of devil. The kind that had no sense at all, as far as Noah was concerned. He laughed in the face of danger and scoffed at mortality. He wouldn't have even recognized Ross's sinister soul and would, in turn, be outrageously cock-sure.

Noah smiled to himself as he trudged through the increasingly thick brush and thought to borrow a little of his friend's bravado. “Since you're going to put a bullet through me, Ross, you may as well tell me what you know about Elizabeth.”

Ross jabbed the gun in his back. “Keep moving. And don't worry about your precious Elizabeth. She'll be in good hands.”

Noah swallowed. “What are you going to do with her?”

Ross laughed. “I thought I already made that clear.” He paused. “But, if you want details to take to your grave, I'll be happy to oblige.” He laughed again and Noah felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise up.

Shrugging, Noah said, “Sure, if you want, but that wasn't what I was referring to. I know you're smart, Ross, and smart men don't track a woman thousands of miles just for sex. You're holding out on me. What else do you want with Elizabeth?”

Ross chuckled and pushed Noah toward a fallen tree, motioning for him to sit down. While holding the gun steady on Noah, Ross pulled a cigar out of his pocket and lit it. Puffing
several times to get it going, he contemplated the big man. “You poor sod. She's had you in knots since you first laid eyes on her, hasn't she?” He didn't wait for an answer. “I remember the first time I saw her. She was coming out of a little dress shop, looking very prim and proper. I remember being surprised she was such a pretty little thing.” He smirked. “If you could have seen those awful people who raised her, you would know why.” Sniffing, he took another puff on his cigar, his elegant fingers extended. “They were horrid, backward people. Anyway, I put on my best charming manner and set out to win her. I hadn't planned on seducing her when I first took the investigation, but after seeing her,” he raised his brows twice at Noah, “well I'm sure you, of all people, can see why I decided to change my plans. She
is
so delectable.” He paced a little, the gun growing slack in his hand as he warmed to the subject. “The really funny thing is that she made it so easy. Under that prim dress lay the reckless heart of a dreamer. She wanted to go to Alaska and,” he lifted his arms wide for a moment, “participate in the great gold rush going on here. She was barely scratching out a living, near starvation she was so thin. You should have seen how she dreamed of gold, how she positively glowed when she talked about it. She was feverish with it. So, the seduction took a business turn. She wasn't interested in flattery and fine manners like most girls. Not coy or shy either. She needed fare to Alaska and I offered it. Not for free, of course, but then I told you how she was to pay me.”

Noah ignored his feelings and said with deadly calm, “You were never going to give her the money though, were you? No matter how many times she …”

Ross bared his white even teeth, perfect like the rest of his appearance. “Eventually. I was hired by Margaret and
Henry Dunning, her parents. I would have wired them the moment I tired of her and collected my money, which I must say is amazingly substantial considering the looks of them.”

Noah scowled at him. “Elizabeth's parents are dead.”

Ross cocked his head and smirked at him. “Are they? Have you believed everything she has told you? You poor, besotted fool.” He flicked an ash and continued with relish. “Elizabeth was raised an orphan until the aforementioned Dunnings adopted her.” He showed his teeth again. “She was better off in the orphanage than with them, I assure you.”

Noah tried to keep his boiling emotions at a simmer. He took a breath and then asked evenly, “What do her parents want with her now?”

Ross smiled and walked closer. “That's the best joke of all. Elizabeth is terrified of them, probably that claim-jumping business, but that's not the reason the Dunnings are looking for her. If Elizabeth only knew, she would have never come to this God-forsaken country.”

Ross leaned down, his elbows braced on his thighs, the gun dangling unheeded from the tips of his fingers between his knees. As much as Noah wanted to ask, as badly as he needed to know what the Dunnings wanted with his future wife, he knew that the time would never be better. Ross could move away at any moment, destroying this opportunity. With lightning quickness, he kicked the gun out of Ross's hands and rolled toward it. They both scrambled for the gun in the tangled weeds. Ross reached it first and, cocking it, turned it toward Noah who was right on top of him. They rolled, struggling for control of the gun. Noah was larger by far, but Ross possessed an evil strength. With a jerk, Ross wrenched the gun
away, slithered from under Noah, and stood. He quickly aimed at Noah, breathing hard, his face a mask of rage.

Noah was rising and jerked as the gun went off. He mentally searched for pain and found none. Ross was pointing the gun at him again.

“You missed,” Noah said simply as he dove for the arm holding the gun, wrestling Ross back to the ground. It went off again and then skidded away into the grass. Noah put his hands around Ross's neck, demanding, “Tell me. Tell me everything.”

Ross stared back at him with blank eyes. Noah watched in stunned stillness as the thin man stopped breathing. He scrambled off Ross, seeing for the first time a large red stain spreading across the white shirt. Somehow … someway … Ross had been shot. Noah had not pulled the trigger.

Now he might never know why her adoptive parents were looking for her. Now he would have to find
them
.

* * *

“NOAH WESLEY? ” A voice called out.

He had just left the Canadian Police Headquarters, having given full details of the accident to a grim-faced Mountie. He turned and shielded his eyes against the sun to see William Cleary and the twins walking up the main street.

“That is you, isn't it?”

Noah stopped and waited until they reached him. Nodding, he held out his hand and said, “Pastor Cleary, it's good to see you.” Turning to the twins, he regarded them. “This must be Ben and Josh. Elizabeth has told me about you. She'll be glad to see you.”

“Did she get a claim?” Ben asked excitedly.

“Has she struck gold?” Josh chimed in.

Noah couldn't resist a grin. They had gold fever as bad as Elizabeth. “Yes, she managed to get hold of a claim. If you boys want to come back with me, you can see her and take a look at it. As for the gold, she's no doubt panning right now, so who knows what we'll find when we get there.”

The twins enthusiastically agreed and went to find the Recorder's Office to check on any new openings. After they left, William Cleary fell in step beside Noah as they walked toward Noah's raft.

“We haven't seen a sign of that Ross fella since you two left us. Have you seen him?”

Noah nodded solemnly. “Yes, I've seen him.”

William looked grave. “If your face is any indication of the encounter, I'd guess it didn't go very well. Do you know what he wants with Elizabeth?

Noah shrugged and turned away from the man's direct gaze. “He came to our camp last night and nearly took Elizabeth at gunpoint. I … I just had a fight with him.” Noah looked into the preacher's eyes and sighed heavily. “He was going to kill me, and while I was trying to wrestle the gun away from him, he was shot. Ross is dead.”

The preacher inhaled sharply and looked up toward heaven. “Does Elizabeth know yet?”

“Not yet. I'll tell her when we get back to camp. Could you come too? I think she would like to see you.”

“Of course. The twins and I have been very concerned for her. It's terrible, but at least now she no longer has that threat
hanging over her.” He sighed, looking at Noah. “There are others, though, aren't there?”

Noah only nodded and guided the preacher over to the raft.

It was a good thing demon fighting was fast becoming his specialty.

* * *