After the Ashes(44)
Lorelei threw a heavy log on the fire with enough force to scatter the others. Of course he thought her capable of that kind of deception. Distracting him was exactly what she’d intended when she went to his hotel room on the first day they had met.
“Lori—”
“Go if you’re going to go.”
“Not without you.”
She whirled around, a dried branch in her hand. “Right, then who will do your dirty work?”
“It’s not like that.”
She dropped the gnarled length of pine before she hit him with it. “Then how is it?”
“It’s not like you didn’t do the same thing to Berkley.” He had the good grace to glance away.
The old pain in her chest flowered at the reminder of a time she’d rather forget. Her plan to meet with Berkley after his father had accused hers of cheating on a horse race had been the beginning of the end of her dreams. At the time, she’d believed Berkley’s love was strong enough to weather his father’s false allegations. She hadn’t known her father would show up with witnesses, hoping to catch them in a compromising position. Perhaps she’d suspected, but she didn’t know for sure.
Lorelei turned away, unable to face Corey. It hadn’t mattered anyway. Berkley had let her reputation be ruined rather than go against his family to marry her.
Corey gently gripped her shoulder, bringing her back to the situation at hand.
In avoiding his persistence on a subject she wished to never speak of again, she spotted Braddock standing across the clearing. Christopher, her lover, the man whose gentle caresses made her feel safe, had remained in the woods. Braddock, cold and hard, a rifle clutched in his hand, surveyed the scene like a hungry animal. The muzzle of his rifle pointed toward the ground, but the way his body tensed warned he could swing the weapon up and fire at a moment’s notice.
Their gazes met and held. Lorelei could tell by the black look in his eyes that he’d been there for a while. The tall trees that had embraced her earlier cast accusing shadows as the light drained from the sky.
“Who the hell’s Berkley?” he said with the coldness of a stranger.
Corey turned, seeing him for the first time. Lorelei couldn’t find the courage to fumble for an answer to his question. Braddock strode toward them. Lorelei darted her gaze away, unable to meet the censure in his eyes.
“Going somewhere, kid?”
Lorelei forced herself to confront Braddock. She had no reason to feel guilty. In fact, she had refused to betray him even though the deepened lines around his mouth said otherwise.
“Corey wants to leave. He says you’re holding him prisoner.”
Braddock ignored the question in her statement, eyeing the pistols Corey had stuffed in his pockets instead. “You going to use those, kid?”
Corey kept his hands by his sides, too close to the guns for Lorelei’s comfort. “I told you, I’m not a killer like you.”
Braddock swung the rifle up and pointed it at Corey. “That’s good to know, but since you’re a lying little bastard, I’d feel a whole lot better if you’d toss them to the ground. Nice and slow.”
Lorelei moved beside her brother but stopped when Braddock swung his rifle’s nose in her direction. She gazed at Braddock over the barrel, not knowing him at all.
“She’s unarmed. And these aren’t even loaded. You took all the ammunition.” Corey lifted his hands above his head. “Take them if you want.”
Braddock strode toward them, and Lorelei backed away. He grabbed the pistols from Corey’s pockets and tossed them to the ground.
“Turn around.” He shoved the rifle into Corey’s shoulder when he didn’t comply fast enough.
Lorelei rushed to her brother’s rescue, not sure what she intended to do. “Stop that. What are you doing to him?”
“Stay back, Lorelei. I have a tendency to shoot before I think when I’m irritable, and right now I’m pretty goddamned irritable.”
She stopped, not wanting to believe he meant it but too unsure to discount his words.
Braddock shoved Corey toward his ransacked saddlebag. With the rifle in one hand, he fished out metal handcuffs with the other. He shifted the rifle under his arm and swiftly handcuffed Corey’s hands behind his back.
“See, Lorelei? Do you see what I told you?” Corey cried. The sound of the cuffs clicking shut emphasized his point.
Lorelei tried to sound calm and in control no matter how laughable the idea was. Cold reason was all that worked with Braddock. “Are you turning him in?”
He didn’t even glance at her before he shuffled Corey off to the base of a tree. “I’m going to find Mulcahy. Nothing’s changed.”