One Heart to Win (41 page)

“
You
should be sheriff here,” she said to Degan.

“This town can’t afford me. Besides, once the miners leave, Nashart will return to the peaceful town it used to be.”

But they weren’t leaving, and when had Nashart ever been peaceful with the Warrens and the Callahans living there? She decided to head off another disaster and seek out Zachary. But she was too late. When she finally spotted him, he was leading Hunter over to meet her mother.

Tiffany groaned to herself and turned about abruptly—and
smacked right into someone. She started to apologize, but her arm was grasped and he started leading her away.

“There’s a man with a rifle aimed at your father,” he said in a chilling voice. “If you don’t come with me quietly, he’s going to pull the trigger.”

Chapter Fifty-Three

T
HEY DIDN
’
T EVEN GIVE
her a light, just shoved her in a storage room deep in the mine and left her there, taking the lantern with them. There was light beyond the heavy iron door, though. She could see it from the crack at the bottom of the door, and the shadow of someone’s feet, whoever had been left to guard her.

Many people were at the dance, her entire family, but no one seemed to have noticed her being led off to the long string of horses, it had happened so quickly. Hunter, who had been watching her all evening, would have noticed if his father hadn’t distracted him. He’d been waiting for her to leave the dance floor, and why the devil had he
just
been waiting? Why hadn’t he claimed her for a dance himself? If he had, she knew this would never have happened. Or would they have taken him, too, if they couldn’t get her alone?

She wasn’t gagged, wasn’t even tied, but she wasn’t surprised that they hadn’t taken that precaution. She’d seen all those buildings in the gulch—bunkhouses, offices, sheds. If anyone
came looking for her here, they would search those buildings first. No one would think to look for her deep in the mine tunnel. No one would hear her either, if she got around to screaming. She hadn’t yet. She’d been too afraid for her father as well as herself. That man who’d hied off with her had sounded so merciless. She’d actually been terrified of him, not knowing who he was or why he’d taken her—until they arrived at the mining camp. She prayed her father wasn’t still in danger of being shot by one of Harding’s miners because her mother had returned to him. Her family would be looking for her by now, and they’d have the law with them. Sheriff Ross had been at the dance tonight; she’d seen him swinging arm in arm with Mrs. Martin.

While she was still frightened, she was feeling angry now, too. That damn copper. What else could it be? She was beginning to wonder if these people were even real miners, or just criminals posing as such. More likely the latter, considering whose name was on the mine. Harding.

The door opened. She shielded her eyes from the sudden burst of light. “Just making sure they grabbed the right woman,” she heard a masculine voice say. “I would have been annoyed if your mother was here instead of you, Miss Warren, especially since my note is being delivered to her.”

He actually started to close the door again. “Wait! What has my mother to do with this?”

“She’s going to assure me that the law stays out of it. In exchange, I’ll give you back to her and abide by Mrs. Harding’s wishes to let your father live. Your mother will once again be free to do as she pleases.”

“She was already free to do that—”

“No, she only thought she was. All those years I worked for Harding, do you think I wasn’t loyal to him? That I wouldn’t
honor his final wishes? He made me rich. A lot of money can buy a lot of loyalty.”

“Honor? I don’t think you care about honoring anyone’s wishes or anything else, Mr. Harris. I think you just want this copper at any cost.”

He smiled. “Very astute of you, but then copper isn’t the poor substitute it used to be, and the vein here is worth millions.”

“The Callahans have already refused to deal with you. The sheriff and the county judge both know that. You won’t get away with this.”

He tsked. “Of course I will. People change their minds all the time—with the right incentive. The Callahans are cattlemen. They don’t give a damn about the copper.”

“They care about the damage you’ve caused to the range.”

“They’ll get over it.”

“That was you who tried to burn their house down, wasn’t it?” she guessed.

He laughed. “No, that wasn’t my idea. My foreman here was just trying to be helpful.”

“You call that help?”

“Yes, actually. Too bad it didn’t work.”

“Did you have one of your men shoot Cole Callahan?”

“I think you ask too many questions.”

“You did, didn’t you?”

He shrugged. “That was an idea that just didn’t pan out. Your family and the Callahans were supposed to be enemies; they just weren’t acting like it enough to suit me. Figured to give your menfolk a little nudge to get the killing started so you Warrens could get rid of the Callahans for me. Problem solved. Still not sure why that didn’t happen. But this is much more
simple. You’ll be released as soon as the mining rights are signed over, and Callahan should be here at any moment to do that. Your fiancé makes sure you come out of this unscathed, while your mother will have already convinced them not to retaliate. Everyone wins. I’ll even still give them my original offer, just to keep it all nice and legal.”

It was utterly galling, how pleased he sounded with himself. If he hadn’t been blocking the doorway so she couldn’t see beyond him, she might try pushing past him to get out of here before his plan succeeded. But she couldn’t tell how many guards were out there.

“There’s nothing legal about abduction and blackmail. For all your spit and polish, you’re just a fancy-dressed outlaw.”

He laughed. “I’m a businessman.”

“You’re no better than a common thug! Oh, and let’s not forget kidnapper, arsonist, blackmailer, and murderer!”

“Oh, come now, I only shot your father once,” he sneered. “The trick, Miss Warren, is not to get caught. I do pride myself—”

He stopped. Tiffany wasn’t sure why, but Harris suddenly looked a little sick to his stomach. She didn’t know he had a rifle barrel pressed to his back.

“I think I can dent that pride some, Mr. Harris,” Sheriff Ross said in a lazy drawl, “for all the things the little gal just mentioned and then some. Funny thing about our judge. He gets mighty ticked off when his rulings are ignored. And for everything else I can now lay before him, they’ll be tossing you in jail and throwing away the key.”

“Tiffany?!”

Hunter shoved Harris aside to get to her, drawing her hard against him. “Tell me you’re all right? That he didn’t hurt you?”

“I’m fine—now,” she assured him, though she was holding on to him just as tightly. Even with the sheriff’s arrival, she hadn’t felt relief until now. “How long were you listening?”

“The sheriff held me back. You were getting such a nice confession out of Harris, he wanted you to give him enough rope to hang himself.”

“My parents must be frantic.”

“They’re outside tearing the place apart, along with our brothers, looking for you.”

The sheriff’s voice was fading as he prodded Harris and the guards out of there.

“Come on, I’ll take you to them,” Hunter added, but he didn’t move, didn’t unwrap his arms from her either.

“How did you know to find me back here?”

“Andrew’s father led us to this back section. It would have taken us much longer to find you if he hadn’t, they’ve got so many tunnels down here, including one around the cave-in that’s on our land. Ross saw it on the way in. That’s a direct defiance of the court order against them and is going to get them shut down for good.”

“Completely? Well, it’s nice that something good came out of this, aside from Harris going to jail. But Andrew’s father? Don’t tell me their last name really is Buffalo?”

“No, it was just obvious, they look so much alike. He was leaving, in fact, most of the miners were. Harris was overheard planning your abduction and the word spread through their camp tonight. They didn’t sign on for things like this.”

He
still
wouldn’t let go of her. “Hunter?”

“I
know
.” He started to release her, but suddenly squeezed her tighter, confessing, “I’ve never been so scared, Tiffany. I was the first one here. I didn’t know where to look. Ross caught
up to me just as Andrew’s father did, to point us this way. I almost drew on the sheriff for trying to stop me from charging in here. I don’t ever want to feel that kind of fear again. Marry me tomorrow—tonight. I don’t think I’ll ever sleep peacefully again if you aren’t where I can protect you. Don’t make me sleep on your porch tonight.”

She almost smiled. He hadn’t calmed down yet. It was making him unreasonable. “It’s such a small world. That mine owner, Mr. Harding, ruined our lives long before he tried to ruin yours. I’m glad this happened, that Harris is going to be held accountable, after all. It really bothered me when I thought he wouldn’t. But please, I
have
to let my parents know I’m safe. Get me out of here. We can discuss ‘us’ later.”

“Porch it is, then.”

She only half thought he was joking. He wasn’t.

Chapter Fifty-Four

R
OSE HAD BEEN FURIOUS
that William Harris had threatened another member of her family and had tried to manipulate her once again. She simply thrust the ransom note at Zachary and told him, “Get my daughter back.” But she’d calmed down after being assured that Harris was going to prison this time, along with a handful of his cohorts. Thanks to his arrogance in thinking he could get away with anything out West, they had so many charges to bring against him that he would be put away for good.

Zachary had been furious, too, but then he wasn’t used to anyone’s daring to manipulate him. He would have signed the papers, sent Tiffany on home, then shot Harris. But he felt better after Sheriff Ross assured him the mine would be shut down and gave him permission to close the mine entrance the easy way, with dynamite. Zachary lit the fuse himself.

The Callahans actually followed the Warrens home. Rose passed out the whiskey glasses, keeping one for herself. Tiffany didn’t object that she wasn’t included in that round of drinks.
She could have used one earlier, but with Hunter still in the room, she was enveloped in feeling safe. She’d always liked and appreciated his adamant desire to protect her no matter what, even before he knew who she was.

There was no mention of going back to the dance. Tiffany was the only one disappointed by that. Her brothers assured her there would be several more dances before the end of summer. They assumed she’d be there for them. They didn’t yet know that Rose was willing to take her back to New York now. But then Rose didn’t yet know that Tiffany no longer wanted to go back. However, her staying was dependent on Hunter. She still wasn’t sure she’d be doing the right thing by either of them if she let just her own wishes decide their future—or lack of one.

Rose found a moment to tell her privately, “I like Hunter, in case you were wondering. If I had to pick a Callahan again, now that they’re grown, I’d still pick him. He didn’t blush, even a little, when he told me how he felt about you.”

“Was that before you got that note?”

“Which he snatched out of his father’s hands. I’ve never seen a man that big move so fast. His horse was long gone before we even got to ours. He’s yours if you want him to be, you know.”

Rose told Zachary the tale of the night she first met William Harris and how he’d blackmailed her into leaving her husband. They shared another round of drinks to celebrate his downfall. Nothing could ever bring back the lost years, but at least one of the villains in that old tragedy had gotten what he deserved.

“It felt good, us being on the same side tonight,” Zachary admitted as the Warrens walked the Callahans to the door. “I’m willing to put the past to rest if you are, Frank.”

Franklin offered his hand. It was a momentous occasion, the first time those two men ever shook hands. “I would have moved to New York to make my wife happy, but she
is
partial to this place, and I’ll do anything to make her happy. Thank you.”