After the Ashes(113)
She scooped the gold back into the pitcher as quickly as she could. Despite the guard downstairs, Corey’s escape would have been a simple matter. And he didn’t have to worry about coming back this time. She wasn’t sure what hurt the most—the fact that he could betray her so thoroughly or that he could leave without so much as a goodbye.
She rearranged the pitcher next to the basin, then retrieved the note from the floor and crammed it into her drawstring bag. After a quick glance around the room, she went back and straightened the bedcovers, wiped off the dust that had been left by the coins, and refluffed the pillow for good measure. The room looked as dreary as when she’d found it.
She returned to the pitcher and eased her small hand through its mouth to grab a handful of coins. She knew what she had to do.
***
By the time she reached the stables on the edge of town, Ivar, the stables’ owner who sat in the shade outside, assured her that her search was over.
Lorelei took a bracing breath. Maybe all her efforts would be futile and she could never have the life she longed for, but she would do the right thing. The thing she should have done when Corey asked her to face an armed man and lie to him.
With renewed conviction, she trudged into the darkened stable and called Wade’s name.
He stepped from a stall. “Over here. Is something wrong?”
She crept forward, blinking until she could clearly identify Langston’s face. A quick glance around the darkened stable assured her that nickering horses were their only company. A sleek gray head peeked from the stall, then nosed Wade’s shoulder in a demand for attention. The brush Wade held in his right hand confirmed that Lorelei had interrupted a grooming.
Lorelei didn’t speak until she was close enough for Wade to read her earnest expression. “Yes, Wade, something is very wrong.”
He studied her face. “Is it Braddock?”
“No.” She cleared her throat and forced herself to continue before she changed her mind. “I know where the gold is. I’ll trade you Christopher’s signed confession for the information.”
“You told Douglas about this?”
“No. I want you to find the gold.” To her surprise, her words were true. Of course, her reason for coming to him was to obtain the confession, but the idea of Wade finally receiving recognition, being accepted, made her feel that all this pain might be worth something. And it gave her hope for herself.
He shook his head. “Pardon me for saying so, Lorelei, but I don’t believe a word of it. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back to Smoky. Douglas should take a stick to his men for not taking better care of their mounts.” He turned back to the eager horse.
“Wait. I can prove it.”
When he swung his glance back to her, she didn’t bother with words. Instead she fished in her bag, then pushed her palmful of gold under his nose.
He stared, his eyes wide.
“May I?” he asked, nodding toward the gold.
“That’s why I brought it.”
He picked up one of the coins and examined it.
“Do we have a deal?” she asked.
“Did you have a hand in this, Lorelei?”
“No. I just found out who did, though.”
“Was it Braddock?”
“No. It was Corey. My brother.”
Wade’s calculating stare told her she had said too much. Wade had been to the ranch. He could find Corey as easily as anybody. She had given herself away prematurely.
He dropped the coins in his trouser pocket, then reached inside his soft leather vest and retrieved a folded piece of dirty paper covered with printing. “I don’t think you’d make very good criminal, Lorelei,” he said as he handed her the paper.
She quickly unfolded the square and briefly scanned the wanted poster before she found Christopher’s confession on the other side. Even if his full name had not been scrawled on the bottom, she would have known to whom the forceful script belonged.
She pressed the paper to her chest. “Thank you, Wade.”
“I’d better head out if I want to catch up with Corey. Do you know where he went?”
“Not for sure, but I’d try the ranch. He’d gone there to fetch clothes and brought back part of the gold. I’m assuming he has the rest hidden near the ranch, though I’ve never seen any of it.”
“He should be easy enough to find.”
Wade strode to a stall near the rear of the barn. Lorelei waited as he saddled his horse. When he led the animal out a few moments later, a rifle strapped to the saddle captured her attention. The implications of what she’d done finally sank in. Her throat tightened, making it hard to swallow her sudden rush of fear.