CHAPTER 27
Roderick stared at him in the dim light, wide-eyed in apparent astonishment. The young man struggled to speak for a moment before he managed to say, “Working for . . . for me! That’s insane, Albert! Why in heaven’s name would you think they’re working for me?”
“Because they know that our family fortune is gone,” Stahlmaske replied coldly. “We’ve concealed that from the servants, from our business and political associates, from everyone outside the family. That means either you or Uncle Gerhard had to tell them . . . and Gerhard would never work with Englishmen.”
Scorn dripped from the word when Stahlmaske spoke it.
“What makes you think I would?”
“You went to university in England. You know those people. It has to be you. Look me in the eye and tell me I’m wrong.” Stahlmaske scoffed. “You know you could never lie to me, Roderick. You wouldn’t dare.”
“I . . . I . . .” Roderick’s voice trailed off. He drew in a deep breath, and a cold expression settled over his face. He looked almost like a completely different person as he said, “You’re right, I could never lie to you, Albert. But I could hate you for all the things you’ve done to me. And I do.” He lifted his head and called to the guard, “Come over here and get these damned ropes off of me. Now!”
The man stared at him, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. He said, “But Herr Stahlmaske, we were told—”
“I don’t care what you were told. I’m doing the telling now. Unless you want me to report to Lord Rutherford how uncooperative you were.”
The man swallowed and nodded. He turned to the other Englishmen and called, “Boys, get up. The masquerade’s over. We’re takin’ Mr. Roderick’s orders now.”
Stahlmaske lay there filled with fury as the men climbed out of their blankets, rubbing their eyes and looking surprised by this turn of events. To be betrayed was bad enough, but to be betrayed by one’s own brother—
One of the men came over to Roderick and cut him loose. Roderick lifted a hand and said, “Help me up.” He seemed like a different person now, cool and assured as he issued commands, instead of the fumbling, diffident younger brother he had always been around the count.
Clearly, his brother was a consummate actor, Stahlmaske thought.
“Blasted feet and legs are numb,” Roderick complained as he leaned on the man who had freed him. “Did you have to make those bonds so tight?”
“Lord Rutherford said we were to make it look good, sir. He said you didn’t want anybody getting the idea you were working with us.”
“You work for me,” Roderick snapped. “This was my idea. I’m in charge of the plan.”
“All right,” the man with the rust-colored mustache said. “What is it you want us to do?”
“We’ll carry on just as planned. When the senator catches up to us, we’ll kill him, Albert, and the women. I’ll be the only survivor to tell the tale of how Senator Allingham plotted to have my brother kidnapped and murdered, only to have his efforts backfire and leave him and his family dead as well.”
Roderick could walk again, the feeling having returned to his lower limbs. He strode over to Stahlmaske and smiled smugly down at his brother.
“You don’t know how much I appreciate your weakness of the flesh, Albert. You made our story just that much stronger by dallying with the senator’s wife. Now he has even more motivation for wanting you dead. When our agents in Washington and Berlin are finished spreading rumors, everyone will believe exactly what we want them to believe, including the king.”
“Good Lord,” Stahlmaske breathed. “You really are a British secret agent. I dared to believe I was wrong.”
Roderick shook his head and said, “I’ve been working for the British government and the Hudson’s Bay Company for months now. I was acquainted with Lord Rutherford from my days at Oxford. His son and I were friends. When it was decided that you would come over here to negotiate with the Americans, His Lordship contacted me and proposed an allegiance. I knew the family’s finances were failing and that if the Stahlmaske legacy were to be preserved, I would have to do it.”
“So you sold out our honor to the damned British,” the count accused with a sneer.
“Oh, God, don’t get so high and mighty with me, Albert! You’ve always gotten everything you wanted. It was all just handed to you.” Roderick glanced over at Gretchen, who was asleep in the depths of exhaustion. “Everything . . . just handed to you.”
“Gretchen,” Stahlmaske said hollowly. “This treachery of yours is because of Gretchen?”
“She could never really see me, not while my dashing older brother was around,” Roderick snapped.
Stahlmaske stared at him for a couple of seconds, then began to laugh. He said, “Do you really believe that she would ever be interested in you that way, whether I’m alive or not? You poor, pathetic, deluded fool. But then, that’s what you’ve always been, isn’t it?”
Roderick stepped closer and kicked his brother in the side. Stahlmaske gasped, but he continued to give Roderick the same mocking grin.
“Roderick! What are you doing?”
The shocked cry came from Gretchen, who hadn’t been as sound asleep as he thought, Stahlmaske realized. She had roused enough to see that Roderick was not only free, but to witness that brutal kick, as well.
“What are you going to do now, brother?” Stahlmaske asked Roderick, and then he began to laugh again.
Preacher didn’t rush the other members of the rescue party as they neared the kidnappers’ camp. They couldn’t afford to do anything that might warn the men they were after. So they took their time, especially during the final approach.
The sky was gray enough for them to see a little, so Preacher was able to use hand signals as he directed the other men to crawl up the hill overlooking the camp. It would still be a while before the sun was up . . . but they could see well enough to shoot.
Before they reached the top of the slope, Preacher heard voices on the other side. Several men were talking, and fairly loudly, at that. Preacher breathed a curse. He had hoped that everyone would still be asleep except perhaps for a single drowsy guard. Now it was going to be much more difficult to take the kidnappers and their Pawnee allies by surprise.
He paused when he heard the voices, and so did the others. Preacher looked at Russell to his right and Allingham to his left and motioned with his head for them to proceed. All they could do at this point was carry on with the plan and see what the situation was when they reached the top of the hill.
What they found was something Preacher wouldn’t have guessed in a hundred years.
The prisoners were still in roughly the same positions they had been in when Preacher spied on the camp earlier, except that Count Stahlmaske had moved closer to where his brother had been lying.
Roderick wasn’t there anymore. He was on his feet, freed from his bonds, walking around and talking to Stahlmaske and to the four white men who had been with the Pawnee.
“What the hell?” Russell breathed from beside Preacher.
The mountain man lifted a hand and motioned for everyone to remain quiet.
“Let’s listen and see what’s goin’ on here,” he whispered.
Preacher felt Allingham stiffen beside him as Roderick talked. When Roderick got to the part about murdering the senator’s wife and daughter, Preacher thought Allingham might leap up and charge down there.
Preacher put a hand on Allingham’s shoulder to steady him. The mountain man wanted to find out as much as he could before he and his companions made their move.
When Gretchen Ritter woke up and wanted to know what was going on, Roderick went over and knelt next to her.
“Gretchen, please listen to me,” he said. “You must understand, Albert was just using you. He just wanted your father’s fortune. He never loved you. Otherwise he never would have dallied with that American trollop.”
Next to Preacher, Allingham growled in anger at hearing his wife described that way. There might be a little truth in what Roderick said, but that didn’t mean Allingham wanted to hear it. Preacher tightened his grip on the senator’s shoulder.
“It’s different with me,” Roderick went on to Gretchen. “I love you, darling. I always have, ever since I first laid eyes on you. I . . . I hoped you would see the way I feel about you. I dared to hope you might feel the same way.” His voice took on a sharp, bitter edge. “But Albert swooped in like a hawk, the way he always does. He sees something he wants, even if it’s just a passing fancy, and he has to have it, no matter who else he may hurt by taking it.” He turned his head to glare at his brother. “He doesn’t care about anyone else. But I do. I just want the best for you, my dear, the very best, and if you do as I say, you shall have it.”
Gretchen’s expression had been getting more and more horrified as she stared up at him during his plea. When he paused, she burst out, “You’re insane, Roderick! You’re totally mad!”
His face hardened with hurt and anger.
“Why?” he demanded. “Why am I mad? Because I dared to want a beautiful woman for myself? For thinking that I’m just as good as my brother?”
He got to his feet and began to pace around, waving his arms as his emotions boiled over.
“As good as my brother?” he repeated. “I’m better than my brother! Albert is a cold, arrogant, insufferable ass!”
The young fella had a point there, thought Preacher.
“He doesn’t deserve his success,” Roderick went on. “He doesn’t deserve you, Gretchen. And you deserve better than him.”
He took a step toward her and reached out with a hand. She flinched back, clearly repulsed by the idea of him touching her.
Roderick jerked like he had stuck his hand in fire. He stood there staring at her for a long moment, then said, “This is your last chance, Gretchen. You can be part of this with me. We’ll be married, after a suitable interval following Albert’s death, of course—”
“No!” the auburn-haired beauty cried. “No!”
Roderick’s expression hardened. He gave a curt nod and said, “Very well, then. You can die with the others when we get to the trading post.” He motioned to the Englishmen. “Get them all up. It’s light enough for us to push on. I want to reach our destination today.”
Up on the hill, Russell leaned close to Preacher and whispered, “If we’re gonna jump them—”
The mountain man shook his head and said, “We’re gonna wait.”
Allingham didn’t like that idea. He said, “You mean to wait while my wife and daughter are in danger?”
Preacher motioned for them to back away from the hilltop so that it would be easier to talk without running the risk of being overheard by their quarry.
When they had put some distance between them and the kidnappers’ camp, Preacher called a halt and said, “I know how you feel, Senator, but your ladies are safe for right now. You heard Roderick. Nothing’s gonna happen until they get where they’re going. That’s where they’re gonna lay a trap for you.”
“And what are we going to do about that?” Allingham wanted to know.
Preacher smiled and said, “Why, you’re gonna waltz right into it.”