Chapter Eighteen

Hannah wrapped her arms about herself in an attempt to still the tremors that rippled through her. His words fell around her like burning embers, singeing her soul. He loved her. He wasn’t a criminal, but an agent for the government. How could any of this be true? She wanted to run to him—to run from him, but she couldn’t summon the strength to do either.

Suddenly she found herself in the safety of his arms. He’d closed the gap between them in two easy strides.

“I love you, Hannah,” he whispered against her ear.

A sob rose in her throat, and she swayed against him, unable to bring herself to tell him the same thing. The shock caused by the events of this horrible night caught up with her, rendering her speechless.

“Let’s go back into the house.”

She allowed him to lead her to the stairs. She was grateful for his support, for as they rounded the corner of the porch, the sight of the crumpled barn almost brought her to her knees. The barn’s only remaining wall stood with its beams a skeleton against the night sky. Tendrils of smoke rose up from the rubble, creating a cloud of their own.

Gathering her in his arms, Chase soothed her. “It’s going to be all right. I promise you, Hannah, I will make everything all right.”

Together they turned from the sight and made their way into the house. She didn’t question him as he went with her into her bedroom. She was too drained of emotion and strength to ask him to leave. Once she was seated on the edge of the one chair in her room, she realized she didn’t want him to leave.

He knelt in front of her. She’d never seen a man look so anguished. He gathered her hands in his and bowed his head, his forehead resting on their joined hands. “My dear, sweet Hannah, what have I done to you and your family?”

“You’ve protected us.”

Slowly he brought his head up and met her gaze. His mouth turned down at the corners. “I don’t think I’ve done a very good job of it.”

She didn’t feel like arguing the point with him. “I wish you could have told me from the beginning who you were.”

He reached up and wiped a stray tear from under the corner of her eye. “There’s so much I have to tell you.”

Hannah wanted to gather him against her breast and tell him that everything was going to be all right, just as he’d said, but she couldn’t do it. She pulled her hands from his as fatigue swept over her. As she brushed a lock of hair from his forehead, their gazes locked and she found herself lost in the pools of his gray eyes. There, at last, she saw his regret, and his sorrow over what had happened. There, too, she saw his fatigue. “Tomorrow will be soon enough for us to talk.”

Together they rose and went to her bed. Hannah sat and pulled her boots off, too tired to care about her soot-stained clothing ruining the bed linens.

“I’ll sleep in the chair.” He brushed his lips across her forehead.

She reached for him. “Don’t leave me.” Hannah lay back against the soft pillow. Her fingers gripped his upper arms as she pulled Chase with her.

He resisted the motion. “Let me take my boots off first.”

Within minutes he joined her on the bed and turned so that she lay cradled in his arms, her head resting on his shoulder. Slowly he ran his hands along her spine, gently massaging her tired muscles.

Hannah knew that she should be angry with him and perhaps by morning’s light she would be, but for now she just wanted to feel him next to her. Laying her hand across his chest, she felt the steady beat of his heart. The heat from his body surrounded her in a comforting warmth. His breathing began to slow and became more even as he finally relaxed.

Hannah wasn’t certain after all that had happened that either one of them would find sleep this night. He continued to run his fingers up and down her spine. She moaned and turned her body to his, snuggling closer. The pressure exerted by his fingertips deepened. She sighed.

 

As soon as Hannah’s breathing deepened into that of slumber, Chase stopped rubbing her back. One hand rested lightly on her hip, while the other was buried in the silken strands of her hair. Considering all that had happened in the past eight hours, he knew what a fortunate man he was to be lying next to the woman he loved.

A floorboard overhead creaked. He looked up and knew that he should be down on his knees thanking God that no one in the Jackson family was seriously harmed. A breeze blew the acrid smell of the smoldering barn into the room. He turned and looked out the open window, tempted to shut it. Too bone weary to do much about it, he stayed where he was.

The fire had just about burned itself out. He could see the pile of glowing embers, almost all that remained of the destruction. Dawn would be soon enough to worry about the cleanup. The best thing to do now would be to let the fire just go on burning itself out. His head ached. Physically and emotionally drained, he closed his eyes.

He reached out and wiped away a hot tear that had trickled out of the corner of his eye. He couldn’t remember ever crying before. Chase knew just how close he had come to losing the only person who mattered. He loved Hannah, with all his heart and soul. If he hadn’t realized that two weeks ago, before he’d left, he was certain of that love now.

An eerie silence filled the house. Breathing deeply, he let the last remnants of energy flow from him.

The next time he opened his eyes it was to the pink light of dawn. He rubbed a hand wearily over his two-day growth of beard, taking a moment to remember where he was. He was soon reminded when Hannah stirred, her soft body curled closer to him. It would be so easy to wrap himself in her warmth, but he knew that would be impossible.

“Chase?” She blinked in surprise, sleep still clouding her sapphire eyes.

“Good morning.” He brushed a kiss lightly across her forehead.

Placing her palm on the side on his cheek, she nudged his mouth to hers. Her lips were warm and tender against his, her caress welcoming. He didn’t deserve this from her and wondered that she could show him any affection at all.

“Last night wasn’t some horrible dream that I had, was it?”

“No.” He pushed himself away from her and sat on the edge of the bed.

She hugged her knees to her chest. “I can’t bring myself to go and look outside.”

“Hiding from this mess won’t make it go away.” He shifted so that he could look at her face.

“I know. I just need a minute to clean up and then I’ll go out and see what needs to be done.”

“That’s my girl, always facing life head-on.”

He found his boots poking out from under the foot of the bed, grabbed them and tugged them on. He felt her gaze upon his back and turned to look over his shoulder at her. “I have to continue with my investigation.”

“Why didn’t you tell me from the beginning who you really were?”

“It would have put you and your family in grave jeopardy.”

“You don’t consider having our barn torched by some madman putting us in jeopardy?” Her voice rose.

“I miscalculated my opponent.” Something that never happened before.

“Is that how you’re going to set about explaining yourself, Chase?”

“Hannah, I know that I owe you a lot of explanations, but right now it’s important that I look at all the evidence while it’s still fresh.”

“All right, if that’s the way you want it.”

He looked at her, wondering what was going on inside her mind to let him off so easy. “It’s the way it has to be—for now.”

He left her sitting on the bed looking like she’d just lost her best friend. He wandered out onto the porch to get a look at the destruction in the morning light. The screen door swished open and he turned to find Clara Jackson standing with one hand against the doorframe and the other resting on her hip.

“What a mess.”

Chase followed her gaze and stared at the smoldering remains of the barn. He said nothing.

Mrs. Jackson let go of the screen door and walked to the top porch step. “Thank God, no one was seriously hurt,” she said in quiet tones, the sound of her voice filling the stale, smoky air.

She leaned against one of the posts that supported the overhang. “We can rebuild it, hopefully before it gets to snowing. As soon as Matthew’s up and about we can get started. Tragedies such as this always bring out the best in our neighbors. By now I’m sure the news of our loss has traveled.”

As if on cue, two wagons came lumbering up the drive. “Look, here comes Joe McCleary.” Shielding her eyes with her hand, she peered out. “It looks like Sheriff Curtis is following him in.”

“I’ll go talk to Joe and the sheriff.” He started down the porch steps.

She sighed. “I’d best be getting on in the kitchen to make up a big pot of coffee. Looks like it’s going to be a long morning.”

He had to agree. The sheriff had already left his buckboard and walked over to meet him at the bottom of the wooden steps. He looked mean and mad.

“Mind telling me what happened here, Malone?” The sheriff turned to stare at the barn.

“I’m not sure. By the time I followed Hannah back here last night, the whole barn was engulfed in flames.”

Without taking his eyes from the barn, the sheriff asked, “Anybody get hurt?”

“Matthew swallowed some smoke. He should be up and around in a couple of days.”

“So you got back last night?”

“No. I’ve been back for three days.” Chase sucked in his breath.

Curtis turned and looked Chase level in the eye. “You didn’t see the need to check in with me?”

“You know something, lawman? I’m getting real tired of you second-guessing my moves.”

“Is that so? Well, let me tell you a thing or two, city boy. This is still my town, and you and that government boss of yours don’t run it.” He stabbed a finger in Chase’s chest. “You understand that?”

Chase ground his back teeth together, keeping tight control of his anger. “I had other orders, to proceed out to the mine to continue the investigation there.”

The screen door tapped shut. Chase turned to look over his shoulder and found Hannah standing in front of the door. She was wearing a fresh pair of denim pants and a red checkered shirt. Her hair was pulled back, tied off in a bright red ribbon. Her face was still rosy from being scrubbed.

“It’s nice of you to stop by, Sheriff Curtis. And you too, Joe.” Hannah cast a shaky smile at the two men.

“I smelled the smoke in the air this morning when I got up.” Joe looked down at his feet. “I only wish I wasn’t such a heavy sleeper. I might have been able to help out last night.”

“Joe. Please, don’t worry about it.”

Chase watched Hannah closely as she brushed a tear from her eye.

She took a moment to compose herself before she continued, “You’re here now, and that’s what matters.”

“Joe rode into town to get me as soon as he realized.” The sheriff’s gaze cut from Chase to Hannah. “The missus and Julia will be out later this morning.”

“I suppose we might as well get started with the cleanup.” She came down the steps to stand next to Chase.

The sheriff laid a gloved hand on Hannah’s upper arm. “I’d like to have a look around before you do anything. Why don’t you go in and see if your grandmother has any coffee ready? I sure could use a cup.”

She looked at Chase. He knew that she wanted to be a part of the investigation, but he needed to settle some things with Curtis. He nodded in agreement with the sheriff’s suggestion. Her gaze didn’t leave Chase’s. “All right. If that’s what you want.”

“It’s what I want.” The sheriff’s tone was stern. “Joe, you go on in and help Hannah get the coffee. Chase and I will go take a look around.”

Matching his stride with the sheriff’s, Chase walked alongside him to the barn.

“Got any ideas about this fire, Malone?” Smoke wafted in front of them. The sheriff waved his hand in front of his face.

“Matthew mentioned that he went to the barn to find Hannah. He thought he saw her go in before the fire started.” He carefully skirted around a piece of charred beam.

“Was she in the barn before the fire?”

“No. Hannah said the barn was already burning when she arrived.”

“Well, perhaps Matthew imagined he saw her. Maybe he saw a shadow of a branch blowing in the wind.” The sheriff stopped to poke his toe around in the dirt.

“No, I don’t think a branch is what he saw. Matthew was sure he heard a horse enter the yard. That was why he came out to see what was taking Hannah so long.”

“Got any ideas?”

Chase thought it could’ve been Amos. It fit. The whole time he and Hannah had been sneaking around the cabin last night there was no sign of Amos. He’d ridden out earlier, with the rest of his crew.

Shrugging his shoulders, Chase replied, “Maybe.”

“Mind sharing them with me?”

“It could’ve been Amos’s doing. He was pretty mad at Hannah for running him off their property.”

“You think he’d be mean enough to burn down a barn?”

“He was mean enough to knock Hannah out that day.”

“Now, we’ve never been able to prove that.”

The two men walked around the perimeter of the fire. They checked the ground for any tracks that might have been left behind by the horses.

“I don’t know, lawman. It’s hard to tell if there are any extra sets of prints. I know my horse ran off last night.”

The sheriff pushed his hat back and wiped a thin sheen of perspiration from his brow. “You know something, city boy? This whole time we’ve been looking around, I’ve been thinking there’s something you’re not telling me. Why don’t you fill me in on some of those details concerning last night, the ones you’ve conveniently forgotten to tell me about?”

Chase knelt down and poked a twig around the rubble, buying some time. He felt the pressure of the sheriff’s hand squeezing his shoulder. It appeared his time was up. He stood and faced the ruddy-complexioned man.

“She saw me in Amos’s cabin. I’d found the box. I opened it up and found the sticks of dynamite that had been emptied of their powder and filled with garnets. That’s how he’s been moving the stones. Radley found the same thing in New York City.”

Chase took a deep breath. Boy he sure could use a smoke. “I had just poured the stones out into my hand to get a look at them when Hannah recognized me. I let her go. Then I got on my horse and came here. By the time I got to the clearing,” he nodded in the direction of the glade he’d ridden through the night before, “the whole sky was lit up. I found Hannah helping her grandfather out of the barn.”

“She knows who you work for?” The sheriff raised his eyebrows.

“I told her.”

“How’s she taking it?”

“We have a lot to settle.” Chase wanted to close this case as soon as possible. “I think it’s time we paid Amos a visit.”

“Let’s go.”

“I want to see Hannah first.”

“You talk to her and I’ll see to it that we have enough men to stay here and watch over things.”

Hannah was on the porch waiting for him. When she saw him coming, she rushed down the steps to meet him. Before she could say a word, he drew her close to him.

“The sheriff and I are going out to the camp.”

“Do you think you’ll be safe?”

“I’ll be safe. I just want to talk to Amos.”

She hugged him close. “Take care.”

“Hannah, I’ll be back and then we can talk.”

As painful as it was for him, he let her go.

 

By the time the two men rode into the mining camp, the sun had risen in the sky. They went right up to the front door of Amos’s cabin and dismounted. When Chase attempted to go up to the door first, the sheriff nudged him out of the way.

Chase stepped aside. “Didn’t know you were that anxious to talk to Smitty, lawman,” he drawled, amused by the sheriff’s need to take charge.

Curtis looked down his nose at Chase. “This is still my jurisdiction, city boy.”

He shrugged his shoulders and waited near the single plank step that served as the front stoop. He looked around the camp. It was quiet. Too quiet.

“Sheriff. I don’t think there’s anybody home.” Then he spotted the small contingent of men coming toward them. Chase stepped aside, tapped Curtis on the shoulder and pointed in the direction of the open pit. “Looks like we’ve got ourselves a welcoming committee.”

Hank led five men as they made their way toward the cabin. He carried a broken tree limb that could serve quite nicely as a club, thumping it against the open palm of his left hand.

“You looking for somebody?” Hank asked as he spit a stream of tobacco juice onto the ground at Chase’s feet.

“Sheriff, why don’t you answer him?” Chase didn’t take his eyes from the group. The men moved from behind Hank to stand alongside him. From the look in their eyes, none of them were prepared to fight with him or the sheriff. Maybe they’d come along with Hank because they’d been ordered to.

“We need to see your foreman. Is he around?” The sheriff eyed the crowd warily.

Hank looked from side to side at his cohorts. “Nope. We ain’t seen him all day.”

“Is that so?” The sheriff’s eyebrows shot up.

“Well, I ain’t seen him since late last night, after we got back from town,” one of the men said.

“Shut up, Toby!” Hank turned a menacing sneer toward the redheaded lad.

The sheriff looked at Chase and then nodded his head in the direction of the front door. “What do you say we take a look?”

“Sounds good to me.”

The crowd of men gathered behind them at the door, but none of them crossed the threshold, not even Hank. Chase entered the dank room on the sheriff’s heels.

“I found the box hidden in the floorboards under the bed.” He indicated the second room of the cabin.

In the light of day the place appeared just as shabby as Chase had imagined. There were no curtains on the windows, just thin tattered pieces of cloth tacked up to keep out some of the light, but providing little, if any, privacy. In the front room there was a table with two rickety chairs at either end, a wood stove with a small cooking area on the top and a worn rag rug thrown carelessly onto the middle of the floor.

The bedroom had been ransacked. Clothing and bedding lay strewn all over the room and the bed was overturned in a heap on the floor.

Turning, the sheriff looked at him. “You do this?”

“No. I didn’t touch a thing except for the bed and the box.” Chase was surprised at the mess.

The sheriff knelt down at the place where the box had been hidden and removed the plank flooring. He peered inside the hole. “It’s empty.” He stood and brushed the dust from his trousers. Curtis looked at him. “Maybe he’s on to you, Malone.”