Wolver's Gold (The Wolvers) (29 page)

“Thank you,” she said, shifting her eyes to his injured leg, “But not today. Will I see you at supper?”

“You will indeed, Miss Kincaid, and I insist on helping you clear.”

“That, Mr. Washington, will be most appreciated.”

Chapter 28

As good as his word, John helped her clear the supper dishes with the aid, she was stunned to see, of the Misters McKinley and Doughman.

“It’s quite all right, my dear, quite all right,” Mr. McKinley told her when she offered her thanks, “Quite ungentlemanly for us to sit and let a lady like yourself do all the heavy lifting.”

What had been perfectly acceptable for six months was now, under the tutelage of John Washington, simply not done.

“We shouldn’t let you shoulder the whole burden of our care,” Mr. Doughman added. “Your rates are reasonable and where could we find a more amenable atmosphere with such distinguished company? We thought we might ask a few friends in for cards some evening. No gambling, mind you. Not those kinds of cards.”

“The Gentleman’s Parlor is always open for your use, Mr. Doughman, though should your party be mixed, the Ladies’ Parlor might be better. I’d be more than happy to set a table or two and provide refreshments should you wish it.”

“And I should expect a bill for the services,” Mr. McKinley offered, not to be outdone.

“You gentlemen are most kind.”

“How did you do it, John?” she laughed when the
two men were gone. “Poor Mr. Doughman barely says a word and Mr. McKinley is so full of himself, he won’t pass his own coffee cup to be refilled.”

“They’re lonely. Like you, they no lo
nger feel a part of something. Like you, they only needed a little push in the right direction. They need to be brought back into the pack.”

“And h
ow did you discover that?” she asked while arranging the dishes to be washed; glassware, silver, and china, saving the pots and pans for last. She pointed her chin at the table “You sit. I know you said you’d help, but you should give that leg a rest. Prop it up on that chair.”

“It wasn’t my discovery,” he told her as he took his seat. “Lenora put me on to it. I only had to give them a push. She’s been leading me right along toward the ones who might want change. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not. She’s the Mate. Isn’t that what she supposed to do, find the best means to help the members of her pack?”

“It is, but it’s something she only recently learned.”

“Doesn’t the knowledge come with the mating?” Rachel had never really thought about it before.

“No. The power comes with the mating. The wisdom to use it well is an entirely different thing. Lenora never learned to use it well.” John started to rise. “Look, I can’t sit here and watch you do all those dishes alone. Where do you keep your towels?”

Rachel started to protest, but he was already rearranging the chairs so he could reach the draining dishes and the table once they were dried. She handed him a dry towel.

Hands now busy, Washington went on. “She was too young and had no one to guide her
but Sterling. He told her it was the Mate’s job to keep the members of the pack content, so she did.”

“Like a drug.” Rachel turned to him, keeping her soapy hands over the sink. She was surprised by the anger she felt. “That’s not good enough. She was young, but only at first. She had to know what she was doing and she didn’t have to do it. She had a choice and took ours away.”

“Did she? Was she with you twenty-four hours a day? Yes, she brought you peace and contentment, but Lenora didn’t lock you in this hotel. She didn’t keep you from seeing the world right outside your door. She didn’t choose to put your wolf to sleep.”

“I was young,” Rachel protested.

“But only at first,” he said quietly, using her own words against her. “Complacency is easy. Change isn’t, and most of us don’t embrace it until something slaps us in the face.” He moved his injured leg from the chair and stood, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I’m not saying the Mate has no culpability here. You have every right to your anger. I’m only asking that you temper it with a little understanding. You had your rude awakening. Hers was much more painful.”

“Edmund,”
Rachel whispered and saying his name in light of what John revealed earlier, she was struck by a terrible thought. “Eustace never believed he committed suicide.”

“Lenora doesn’t think so either
, though I don’t think we’ll ever prove it. She encouraged both those boys to question everything and think for themselves.” He smiled. “No drugs, no complacency. She thought one of them might be the Alpha some day and they would need that strength of character. It was that strength of character that made Jeremy leave what he couldn’t change and made Edmund want to stay because he believed he could.”

Both cubs were liked and as young me
n, admired. Not so, the youngest, Randall.

As if he knew what she was thinking, John continued. “She began the same way with Randall, but
after losing Edmund, she thought it safer to leave his care to his father.”

“Does the Mate know what you and McCall are planning?”

“She set the ball rolling, though I don’t think she’s ever said outright that she wants him overthrown and she’s never participated in any way except to continue to refuse to be the pack’s drug. I don’t think she can go any further than that. The bond between the Alpha and Mate is too strong.”

Outraged, Rachel slammed the last pot into the sink. Water cascaded o
ver the side and onto the floor, leaving a puddle at her feet.

“Damn it,” she muttered and bent to mop it up.

Washington chuckled. “McCall’s teaching you bad habits.”

“Yes, and some of them feel good,” she snapped. “How can the woman love a man who may have had a hand in his own son’s death?”

Washington snapped right back. “Love has nothing to do with it. It’s the bond, Rachel. It’s unbreakable except through death. She loved him once, or maybe she only thought she did. And maybe he loved her, or maybe he saw a young and beautiful woman who was also malleable to his purpose. I don’t know. I don’t think she does either. No one understands how the bond works, but I do know that when it breaks, something inside Lenora will break, too, and it’s going to kill me to watch her suffer that pain.”

Rachel saw the look pass over his face as he spoke of Lenora.
She recognized it as the same look she saw in her mirror when she thought of losing McCall.

“You love her,”
she said softly.

Startled, he blurted,
“Yes! No! I don’t know! How would I?” He ran his fingers through his hair, closed his eyes and then said in a much quieter voice, “She’s an Alpha’s Mate, damn it.”

They were two of a kind, she and John Washington, each loving someone they could never have. Of the two, Rachel felt she was the more fortunate. She, at least, had Challenger McCall for a little while.

“Where is he?” she asked and John understood who she meant.

Visibly relieved at the change in subject, he fetched his leather bag f
rom where he’d left it earlier.

“
He’s hunting.” John began pulling folders from the bag. “He won’t be happy with me for doing this. We argued about it earlier. He doesn’t want you involved.”

“I’m already involved.” Right up to her heart.

“No,” John told her and placed his hand over hers, the one that was already fingering the folders, itching to see what they held. “Right now you’re in a position to deny any knowledge. They couldn’t prove it one way or another without Lenora’s help. So, you need to think this through, Rachel, because if we lose, it could mean your life.”

“If you lose, I have
no life.” She told him about Coogan and Holt, about the trust set up by her mother’s family, and what she’d overheard. “Holt said my father would go the way of the others. It sent chills up my spine when he said it and after I saw what you brought back, I knew why.” Rachel closed her eyes. “I know what Papa is. I know what he’s done and I know it’s his fault we’re in this position, but he’s my father and I love him and I can’t think of his ending up in a pit.” She took a deep, steadying breath, and opened her eyes. “So I have nothing to lose. What do you need me to do?”

“McCall and I broke into the Bank and Land Office last night.
We need to get back in. Victor made sure there were enough loose shutters to distract the guards and with the noise and lightning, it wasn’t all that risky, but there’s no counting on another storm.”

“Victor?
Bertie’s Victor?” Lazy, like-to-play-dead Victor, was part of the conspiracy?

Washington laughed, too. “Yes, Victor is a part of it. There are others, too. Still more will join us when we present the evidence. If the majority of the pack
is with us, we may be able to pull off the first bloodless Challenge.”

“But a Challenge for Alpha ends in death,” Rachel argued. “You said so.”

“Only if the Alpha wishes to keep his position. The old Alpha of my birth pack grew old and stepped down. He voluntarily released the mantle to fall on another’s shoulders. He and his Mate lived another ten years in peaceful retirement. It doesn’t have to be by violence. Pack comes first and the pack should have a voice in how they are led.”

John reached out his hand to touch her shoulder. “We are designed to live in packs because there is safety in numbers, but there is strength there, too.
Working together, we can ensure our survival. We can do more as a pack than we can as lone wolvers. That’s why pack comes first. Not Alpha, but pack.”

His words gave Rachel hope
. In his calm and reasonable way, John Washington made her believe that this plan would work and the power of numbers would prevail.

“Tell me what your plans are and how I can help, but first I want to know what Challenger McCall is up to.
”

“I told you. He’s hunting.”

Chapter 29

She listened. She learned. She looked at maps and read through papers. She watched the clock. Where was McCall?

She turned back to the paper
s spread across her kitchen table. It was all speculation, but the theories made sense. The Alpha and his second were buying up land, land the pack couldn’t afford, and all for the sake of a few bars of gold.

“Not a few, Rachel. Those bars would be worth millions.”

“Close to twenty-five million, if they even exist.”

She repeated her girlhood calculations and got the same amused look from Washington as she did McCall. They were
a pair. One would look to the other and telegraph some silent message. One would smile, the other would grin. Message sent and received. They looked so very different, one light, one dark, but both quite handsome. McCall was more physical, Washington more cerebral, and they fit together like hand and glove. Rachel loved spending time with each of them, but her bedroom thoughts always strayed to McCall.

Where was McCall?

She tapped the stack of papers to her left. “Millions of dollars will do them no good if the loans are called in before they find it. Look at the dates. They’ve been searching for years.”

Gold Gulch was set up as a corporation, which was why all monies were run through the bank. Banker Arnold Slocum was listed as the Chief Financial Officer. The Land Office, run by the Municipal Manager, Morris Fillmore, was listed
as corporate headquarters. Their offices kept the books, took care of paperwork, paid the wages and the taxes. They kept the government happy and out of Gold Gulch’s business. Next to the Alpha and his Second, these were the two most powerful wolvers in Gold Gulch and they had to know what was going on.

Jack Coogan worked in those offices.

“I know things about the wolvers in this town,” he’d said, “I have markers I can call in once they know what I know.”

How many others knew and where was McCall?

“My question would be what started it? You’d think after all these years Gold Fever would have run its course. This pack should be immune. Who brought the disease to Gold Gulch and when?”

Dates.
Rachel shuffled through the papers to find the first purchase and then stared at the map. She found the next purchase and did the same. John watched her closely, but she didn’t explain. Instead, she went to the drawer and came back with a pencil. She sat, looked at the paper in front of her and put pencil to map.

“No!” Washington stayed her hand. “We have to put them back until we’re ready. If someone should look...”

“Oh dear.” She frowned. “Do you have any paper?”

“I’m a schoolteacher,” he laughed, “It’s like asking a carpenter if he has a hammer.” John reached into his bag. “Here, use this.
It’s Billy Smith’s spelling test. That poor cub couldn’t spell if you gave him a dictionary.”

“You have to be able to spell to use a dictionary,” she said, sucking in her cheeks as she took the paper. She tore it in an odd shape, marked it with a date and laid it on the map.

He gave her a wry look. “Smart a...um.” He coughed into his hand.

“Go ahead and say it. My association with the sheriff has rendered me immune.” She checked the papers again and started to tear another piece.

“It’s a bad habit.” He leaned over the map. “What the hell are you doing?”

“I’m matching dates with land purchase. I can read them, but I need to see
, or see under them, so to speak. There’s something about the dates and...” she put another piece in place, “there it is.”

“There what is?”

“They bought as they searched.” Rachel pointed to the points marked on the map, all three marked with an X, though one had a penciled circle around the X. “These three are on Gold Gulch land, or our land before the purchases.”

“And you know this because?”

“Because our parents made those boundaries very clear when we were children. Bad things happened to cubs who crossed them. I, being of fanciful mind, thought in terms of giants and dragons and marched defiantly forward with my sharpened stick sword, ready to do battle, my faithful Sir Jeremy by my side,” she laughed. “I don’t know how old I was when I finally figured out the bad things meant punishment.”

“Not to mention pits and shafts.”

“That’s what our parents never understood,” she cried, throwing up her hands in mock indignation. “We were very careful. One must be when stalking giants and dragons. We walked on wolf’s paws, cautiously and silently.”

Getting back to business, she tapped the map with her finger.
“These marks aren’t all gold mines. They’re digs where someone found gold, but for one reason or another it didn’t pan out. Some run pretty deep, or so I’ve heard. Some are shallow. Others were the real thing. Only two were profitable. Legend has it the stolen gold was buried with the last lode, but no one knows which of those claims he was talking about.

“It would make sense to start looking on pack land and branch out from there. See?” Rachel lifted the paper with the earliest date to expose the marks beneath.
“When these proved worthless, they bought this.” She removed another piece. “And then this, and so on, expanding farther and farther out.” Rachel looked up from the map. “The search didn’t start with the first purchase. It started before.”

“
Which means it started with Barnabas Holt.”

Rachel was doubtful.
“I’d like to believe that too, John. He’s a mean and hateful beast and I don’t like him, but how did he convince the others? The only ones who really believe in the existence of that gold are cubs or tourists. You know the Second. His powers of persuasion are limited to brute force. I can’t picture an Alpha succumbing to it.”

There was little left to say, and much to think about. Rachel looked at the clock. Midnight was long past and her day started early.

“I should be getting to bed,” John echoed her thoughts, “The cubs will be eager-eyed and I’ll be asleep. Not a good combination.” He began to gather the papers.”

“Where is McCall?” Rachel asked one last time. Yes, it was late, but she was sure he’d stop by the back gate. He’d see her cloths were not hung and the light in her kitchen. He would stop by at least to say goodnight.

“Hunting,” John said again, but this time he tapped two of the circled Xs on the map. The third circled X was Parson’s claim.

The import of the circle’s finally struck her. “You think there are more?”

John nodded solemnly. “We think it likely. McCall’s gone to find out.”

“And you let him go alone?
” She knew she sounded a little frantic and didn’t care. “What if he’s followed? What if he’s hurt? He doesn’t know how dangerous those places can be.”

The schoolmaster laughed at that. “Thanks to me, I think he does. Arthur’s with him. They’ll be fine.”

“Arthur’s a dog!” The image of the animal being injured presented itself and brought no comfort. “Arthur doesn’t know the territory. Arthur can’t pull him out of a hole in the ground. Arthur can’t...”

“They’ll be fine. They’re both more experi
enced at this sort of thing than either one of us.”

What sort of thing, she almost asked.
Murders? Challenges? Rachel thought of his scars. Had he tried this before and failed? Did he want Gold Gulch or did he simply want to be an Alpha? Had she given her heart and support to an adventurer instead of an honorable wolver?

In answer, her wolf nipped her so hard, Rachel jumped.

As she hung her tablecloths and put the hotel to bed, her worry simmered and stewed into something else.
Picking up her skirts, Rachel marched across the street to the jail, unmindful of the clatter of her heels against the wooden walkway. She didn’t care if the sound echoed through the quiet night. To her, it was the sound of drums, marking the cadence of a soldier marching off to do battle. She let herself in with the key he kept in the knothole over the lintel and used the same key to open the door to the back, where she paced and fumed, building up steam for his eventual return, or the return of Arthur who would lead her to the mangled and bloodied body of the idiot McCall.

“He only wants to protect you,
keep you safe,” John had told her.

Protect her? Who was protecting him?

Challenger McCall was not calling on Rachel Kincaid, but by golly, she was calling on him. After her talk with John Washington, Sheriff McCall was going to get an earful.

By the time she heard the quiet snick of the outer door, Rachel was snarling like the wolf she was. Arthur, bounding in with wagging tail, as if he’d been out searching for rabbits instead of something far worse, didn’t improve her mood.

“Traitor,” she muttered to the dog. With hands on hips, she faced McCall. “Where have you been? Do you know what time it is?”

“Gee whiz, Mom, did I miss curfew? Does this mean I can’t borrow the car on Saturday night?” He took a step toward her.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not your mother and don’t own a car.
” She raised her finger and shook it “And you may as well wipe that look off your face. It won’t work.”

Her efforts at sternness were wasted. His solemn face broke into a grin better suited to a mischievous cub than a man
. “What look?”

“You know perfectly well what look
. The devilish one that says you’re not paying the least bit of attention to what I’m saying because your mind is on something else. Save your boyish charm for someone who’ll fall for it. You need to listen to me.”

“I will, as soon as you tell me something intelligible.”

He took another step, which in light of her accusation, seemed a little predatory. Rachel took a step back, but didn’t retreat. “Intelligible! You’re the one who prattles of curfews and cars.”

“You’re spoiling for a fight,” he accused.

She wasn’t, but that little smirk of his changed her mind.

“Where were you? Why did you take Arthur and not me?”
It sounded as if she were jealous of the dog.

“Because taking you up to Daisy’s would have caused a stir, particularly since I spent the night with Lily.”

“Don’t lie to me, Challenger McCall. You did not spend the night with a Soiled Dove.”

“How do you know? Maybe she falls for my boyish charm.”

She didn’t like the feeling that welled up inside her at the thought of McCall with another woman. She liked it even less when she recognized it as jealousy.

“
Your charm along with a fifty dollar bill,” she said waspishly and pursed her lips.

“And there they are, puckering to be kissed.” His hand shot out and pulled her to him. Holding her about the waist, he leaned in and kissed her.

She kissed him back, but wouldn’t allow him to linger. Pulling her head and upper body away, she asked, “Why did you go out alone? I could have gone with you. I know this area.”

“I told you. I couldn’t very well take you to Daisy’s. You don’t fit in with the rest of the Bouquet.”

“Daisy said you don’t have anything to do with the girls,” she scoffed, and afraid she sounded a bit pouty she added, “Not that I care.”

McCall
laughed. “The hell you don’t.”

He held her firm
ly when she struggled to pull away and this time he used two hands to hold her waist. Her back was arched so deeply she would have fallen, had he not.

“It was Daisy’s idea to change my ways
to throw off suspicion. As long as they see me go up the stairs with Lily, they know where I am. We spend an hour playing cards or checkers and then I leave by the window. First time, I used the drainpipe. Scared hell out of me. Lily’s on the third floor and I wasn’t sure it would hold. Last night, Daisy supplied a rope.”

“I w
ould have met you,” Rachel argued. “I would have shown you the fastest way. I would have been there if something bad happened. I would have fought if you were attacked.”

“You would have and you would have been a hindrance.”

“I would not!” She was indignant. “Have I not fought beside you? Have I not held my own?”

He let her
go, giving her time to right herself, then turned and stepped away. With his back to her, McCall continued.

“Like you did with Holt
’s wolf? Primal Law, Rachel. Kill not for murder or revenge. Did you not think I understood what was going down?” He asked, mocking her speech. There was no teasing laughter in his voice. “One look at you, and I knew exactly what his plan was and I lost it. If John and Achilles hadn’t been there, I would have gone after him. I would have killed him. I was blinded by vengeance. He knew it. That’s why he ran.”

Rachel followed, and placed her hand in the center of his broad back between his shoulder blades.
“You wouldn’t have done it,” she said quietly and with an assuredness she wasn’t sure she felt.

“I would have. In a heartbeat
,” he said angrily. “I can’t have that, Red. I can’t be blinded like that. Someone other than that bastard could have gotten killed.” He turned back to her. “I don’t want you in this fight, but you and Washington are bound and determined that you will be. So here’s the deal. You find your own field of battle. Stick with books and lectures and don’t put yourself in harm’s way.”