A Moment in Time (45 page)

      
Blade.
 
Rock.

      
She jabbed her elbow into his ribs and he wheezed, but his grip never faltered a bit.
 

      
"That's it," he said, throwing her to the ground and straddling her.

      
Jackie gasped, preparing to scream, but he shoved a filthy rag into her mouth, then tied his bandanna over it.
 
It happened so fast.
 
Damn.
 
She screamed anyway, but the muffled sound couldn't have traveled more than a few feet.
 
A silent scream filled her brain, her heart, her soul.

      
Cole.
 

      
She gagged on the rag and scalding tears streamed down her face.
 
Breathing through her nose, she stopped gagging and vowed to find a way to escape.
 
Smith obviously planned to collect Goodfellow's gold for himself.

      
The joke would be on him, though, because she wasn't about to play the role of Lolita Belle again.
 
No matter what it took, she'd convince Goodfellow this time that she wasn't Lolita.
 
She didn't
want
to see the painting finished now.
 

      
Fate couldn't be this cruel.
 
Blade Smith had screwed up her life in the future, and his dropped-on-his-head-ancestor was trying to finish the job now.

      
Just when she'd found happiness at last and Cole promised to take care of her.

      
I need you.

Chapter 16

      
Cole spread a quilt out on the pile of straw where he and Jackie'd made love the first time and laid on his back to wait.
 
He grew hard so fast it made him dizzy.

      
Jackie might be crazy, but she was his.
 
That thought made him shake his head in bewilderment, even as it made his heart sing with joy.
 
He'd take care of her, give her plenty of loving, and eventually she'd get better.

      
She had to.

      
The fact that he wanted her, crazy or not, was pretty telling.
 
He couldn't deny any longer that he was in love with the woman.
 
Thinking back, he realized he hadn't told her yet.
 
At least, not with words.
 
Women were strange that way.
 
They liked to have everything spelled out.

      
Fine.
 
He'd tell her tonight.
 
And he'd tell her about his stories, too–another dream she didn't know about.
 
She'd find out sooner or later anyway.

      
He folded his hands behind his head, wondering what was taking her so long.
 
Women were curious creatures, and it always seemed to take them twice as long as he thought necessary to answer the call of nature.
 
He had a call of nature to take care of right here, but he didn't intend to rush it.

      
She'd be along shortly, and they'd make love, plan their wedding, then maybe they'd make love again.
 
And again.
 
He smiled to himself, his groin tightening with a longing ache–an itch he knew just how to scratch.

      
They were getting married.
 
Todd would be happy about that.
 
He'd wanted Jackie to go with them to Oregon, and now she would.

      
If
they went.

      
Gnashing his teeth, Cole released a ragged sigh.
 
He had to return Merriweather's gold and that was all there was to it.
 
Even Jackie agreed.

      
Cole thought back to their day by the waterfall, remembering how thoughtful and downright philosophical she'd been.
 
She understood that Elizabeth would always be in Cole's heart, but there was room there for Jackie, too.
 
It took a strong woman not to resent a man's past.

      
In fact, she was one of the strongest women he'd ever known, despite her strangeness.
 
She made a lot of sense much of the time, and he enjoyed talking to her about things most women didn't want to think about at all.

      
But if Jackie was so strong, how could she be so crazy?

      
"Damn."
 
While she'd told him her story about the blizzard, the ghost town, the fire, the portrait...Cole had actually caught himself
believing
her wild tale.
 
He swallowed hard, the gooseflesh he'd experienced while she spoke returning with a vengeance.

      
A sense of dread suddenly swept through him, powerful and all-encompassing.
 
He bolted upright, listening to the gentle breeze, the rustling of the aspen leaves, and...

      
Nothing.

      
Jackie should have returned by now.
 
Had she gone to the cabin to check on Todd?
 
No, he'd already done that and she knew it.
 
He rose and headed out into the stillness.

      
An eerie calm blanketed the clearing.
 
Even the breeze had suddenly vanished, leaving him listening to nothing but the wild thunder of his own heart.

      
He pivoted toward the outhouse and started walking, quickening his pace as he grew closer, running by the time he skidded to a stop before the small structure.
 
Clearing his throat, he lifted his hand, hesitated, then knocked.
 
She'd probably laugh at his foolishness.

      
Nothing.
 
He knocked louder, then softly called her name.
 
Still nothing.
 
Fear spiraled through him and he opened the door, finding the small space empty.

      
He stood staring at the cabin, then looked toward the stable.
 
Could she have fallen on her way to meet him?
 
Maybe she was lying silent in the darkness.
 
Frantic, he realized he needed light.

      
Cole ran to the cabin and slipped through the back door and checked on Todd.
 
The boy was sound asleep, curled on his side.
 
Cole's heart skipped a beat, then raced out of control.
 
He had to find Jackie for them both.

      
Quickly, Cole climbed the ladder to make certain Jackie wasn't in the loft. Finding no evidence that she'd been there, he took the lamp with him and went through the front door.
 
He searched the porch, the area directly in front of and all around the cabin, then covered the worn path between there and the stable.

      
Retracing his steps, he searched the outhouse again, then surveyed a wide area on both sides of the path between there and the paddock.
 
Fear settled in his gut as he slipped into the stable again.
 
Ruth nickered a greeting, but Cole found no indication that Jackie had been there.

      
She was gone.

      
Sick with worry and fear, Cole trudged back to the porch and sat there, placing the lamp at his side.
 
Had she agreed to marry him merely to humor him so she could slip away in the night like a thief?

      
He remembered the way she'd felt in his arms, so alive, so giving, so passionate.
 
That could not have been pretense.
 
No woman was that talented an actress.

      
Except...maybe the legendary Lolita Belle.

      
His throat burned and his gut roiled.
 
Clenching his fists, he rose, staring out at the mountains.
 
Jackie wouldn't have wandered off alone at night.
 
She wasn't
that
crazy.

      
Was she?

      
He held his breath.
 
Should he go after her?
 
She could be in trouble.
 
Lost.
 
Afraid.

      
But she left me.

      
She had told him to follow his dreams, and had even promised to share those dreams.
 
Then simply walked out of his life?

      
"Think, Morrison.
 
Think
."

      
Rubbing his temples, he thought back to that first day in Devil's Gulch, then to the day he'd kidnapped her from the artist's cabin.
 
What had she said about the painting?

      
"I thought then that I should go back with them and let the artist finish Lolita's painting."

      
Was she trying to find her way back to her imaginary time in the future?
 
Was she
that
crazy?

      
Or that devious?

      
A sudden suspicion slithered through him and his flesh turned icy cold.
 
The gold.
 
If she'd played him for a fool, then she would've taken Merriweather's gold.

      
No.
 
She wouldn't have.
 
She cared about him–had agreed to marry him.
 
He remembered the way she treated Todd.
 
Jackie couldn't have...

      
There's only one way to know for sure.

      
Carrying the lamp, he opened the cabin door and stepped inside.
 
The golden light bathed the tiny cabin and he went immediately to the loose stone in the hearth.
 
He set the lantern on the mantel and worked the stone free with his fingers, then reached into the opening.
 
His fingers touched the leather drawstring and he withdrew the pouch, testing its weight in his hand.

      
Relief coalesced into renewed worry.
 
She hadn't taken the gold, but she was definitely gone.
 
A woman out to deceive him would've found the gold first and taken it with her.
 
That meant one of two things.

 
      
Either Jackie had become confused and wandered into the wilderness...

      
Or someone had dragged her away against her will.

* * *

      
The jarring motion of the horse jerked Jackie awake.
 
Every muscle protested her slouched position and she straightened, grappling for her bearings.

      
Where the hell was she?

      
Then she remembered and tried to call out Cole's name.
 
Her captor had left the gag in place and she rearranged her tongue, but the effort was wasted.
 
Smith had her bound and gagged and totally at his mercy.