Love in Disguise (37 page)

“Nice try, Tidwell, but I heard the whole thing.” Long waved his gun to the side. “Now both of you walk ahead of me. No, not to the office,” he added when Donald started toward the wooden building twenty yards to their left. “We’re going down into the mine.”

A lighted lantern hung from a hook inside the mine entrance. Marvin Long picked it up with his left hand, then nodded to Donald and Ellie. “Keep moving.”

Ellie stumbled along behind Donald as Long brought up the rear. Once again, the warmth of the air inside the mine came as a surprising contrast to the cooler temperature outside. She took a deep breath, trying to overcome the feeling the walls might close in around her at any moment. Bits of rubble lay scattered across the walkway, making it hard to find her footing.

How deep were they going? With every step she took, Ellie felt less certain she would ever see the surface again. A sense of panic threatened to close off her airway, and she struggled to breathe. She had to keep her wits about her if she hoped to survive this nightmare.

She had to do something, take some kind of action. But what?

She eyed Donald, trudging along in front of her with his head bowed. She couldn’t count on him. And the man behind her held a gun, one she felt sure he wouldn’t hesitate to use if given the slightest provocation.

The narrow path opened into a large stope. “Bear to the right,” Long ordered.

Ellie and her fellow prisoner complied. They rounded a corner, where light filtered through a small opening near the floor.

“Through there.”

Ellie’s knees locked. Surely he wasn’t serious. “How?”

“Get down on your knees and crawl. Tidwell, show her how it’s done.”

Donald dropped on all fours as if he possessed no will of his own and proceeded to squeeze through the narrow hole.

Long prodded Ellie in the back with the barrel of his gun. “Your turn.”

Ellie lowered herself to her hands and knees.
Dear God, what have I gotten myself into?
It was one thing to walk upright through the mine’s dark corridors, but this felt more like entering a grave—her own.

She gathered up her skirt so it wouldn’t tangle around her legs. Gravel bit into her tender palms as she planted one hand ahead of the other, crawling toward the light.

Emerging from the short tunnel, she blinked in the sudden brightness. She scrambled to her feet and started to brush the dust off the skirt of the blue-gray silk gown she had chosen for the evening. Her hand froze when a noise caught her attention, and she realized she and Donald weren’t alone. Half a dozen lanterns hung around a cavernous room, and four or five men stood staring at them.

Misery engulfed Donald’s face. “I’m sorry I got you into this, Miss Monroe. It’s poor payment for what you did for my wife.”

One of the men set down the crate he’d been carrying. The thump echoed throughout the cavern. “For the love of . . . What’s she doing here?” He straightened, bringing his face fully into the lantern’s glow.

Ellie’s head buzzed. “Jake Freeman?”

The muscular blacksmith avoided her glance as he dusted his hands against his pant legs and stalked over to stand nose to nose with Donald. “I asked you a question, Tidwell. What were you thinking of, bringing her in here?”

“It wasn’t me. It was Long’s idea.”

The rest of the men moved nearer, eyeing Ellie and Donald closely.

Jake shoved his hat back off his forehead and planted his hands on his hips. “Long? I don’t see him anywhere. What’s going on?”

The sound of cloth scraping against rock came from the passage Ellie had just come through. Donald gestured toward the hole. “I don’t know what took him so long. There he is now.”

A figure emerged from the tunnel, but the face she saw was not that of Marvin Long. She watched in horror as Steven crawled out of the opening and stood.

29

E
llie watched Steven close the distance between them, feeling as though she’d been caught up in a bad dream. When he put his arm around her shoulders, she stiffened and pulled away from the man she thought she knew.

Marvin Long clambered through the passageway and joined the group. Donald Tidwell and Jake Freeman were men she’d trusted. Men she now knew were part of the band of thieves. As much as she didn’t want to believe it of them, her mind accepted that truth.

But Steven?

Long’s face wore a grim expression. He looked around the group, then called out, “Hey, boss. We’ve got visitors.”

Footsteps crunched on gravel, drawing Ellie’s attention to a formation of rock near the other end of the massive room. A moment later, a man stepped into the light.

Ellie’s knees gave way, and she sagged against Steven.

His arm tightened around her, pulling her close. She heard him draw in a sharp breath. “So you’re a part of this? I have to admit I didn’t see that coming.”

Tom Sullivan smiled, his silver hair gleaming in the lamplight. “Not just a part. It’s been my operation all along. Sorry you had to find out this way.”

Ellie’s head swiveled from Steven to Tom and back again. She leaned close to Steven and whispered, “So you aren’t one of them?”

He drew back, and she saw a flash of sorrow in his eyes before he pulled her close to his side again.

“No,” he murmured. “The only reason I’m here is to protect you.”

Tom’s laughter bounced off the limestone walls. “You planned to play the hero, eh? Too bad it didn’t turn out that way.” He turned to the watching men. “Go ahead with what you were doing. We need to get this silver moved out.”

He took a stance a few feet in front of Steven and Ellie. “You have to admit, it’s been a good plan.”

Steven looked around at the stacks of crates waiting to be moved. “I understand that you had a plan.” His calm tone belied the tension Ellie felt quivering through him. “What I don’t understand is why. The Constitution is a good mine, and it’s doing well. Why resort to this?”

A paternal smile creased Tom’s face. “You think small, Steven. Great men think big, and I intend to be a great man in this territory. We’re moving toward statehood, and I plan to be governor someday, maybe even a U.S. senator.

“Who knows?” The gleam in Tom’s eyes turned Ellie’s veins to ice. “The White House may even be in my future.”

As he talked, the other men carried crates from the room, returning empty-handed to repeat the process in a way that reminded Ellie of a line of worker ants.

Steven watched the crates of silver disappear into the darkness. “But stealing from the other mine owners? From men you called your friends?”

Tom shook his head. “A political career takes capital. More than the Constitution is likely to produce in my lifetime.”

He leaned against an outcropping of rock. “Things are changing in the territory, and quickly. I needed a way to amass wealth in a hurry. Once a man’s position is established, nobody questions where it came from.”

Steven’s hands knotted. “You’ve put together quite a little enterprise.”

Three men appeared and lifted the last of the crates, disappearing once again into the cavernous depths. As they left, they carried the remaining lanterns with them, leaving only two sitting on the floor near Marvin Long’s feet.

Tom indicated the departing men with a nod. “I couldn’t do it on my own. As you can see, I have men from the other mines who provided information and helped stage the robberies. As for Donald, here . . .”

A frown crossed Tom’s face. “Donald, why are you just standing there instead of helping?”

Long’s lips curled in a sneer. “He’s a turncoat, boss. He was gettin’ ready to snitch on us.”

Tom’s brows lifted. “Oh? That’s a shame. Ah, well, that just means more for the rest of us to divide.”

Marvin Long snickered.

Ellie found her voice. “What about Mr. Freeman?” In spite of the evidence of her own eyes, she still hoped that somehow he hadn’t entered this den of thieves of his own free will.

“I can guess what Jake’s contribution was,” Steven said in a stone-cold voice. “You’ve had him melting the ingots down and recasting them to hide the silver’s origins. Am I right?”

Tom chuckled. “Good guess. Yes, our friend Jake has been quite busy during his evening hours.”

“Now what?” Steven looked mad enough to spit nails. “How can you expect to get away with this?”

Tom pushed away from the outcropping and shrugged. “The men are dividing up the shares right now. The others will take theirs and head out for parts unknown. I’ll stay here, ready to greet my political destiny . . . and no one will be the wiser.”

Steven scoffed. “You don’t think anyone is going to question so many people disappearing, all in the same night?”

Tom chuckled again. “I’ve dropped a few hints here and there about a new silver strike over in New Mexico. You know how mining towns are. Word of a new strike gets around, and people leave in droves.

“Speaking of disappearing”—Tom gestured to Marvin Long—“why don’t you bring our guests along to the other end?”

Picking up one of the lanterns, he walked over to the passageway and reached up to a two-by-six protruding from the supporting timbers.

“Are you familiar with mining operations, Miss Monroe? Boards like this are messengers of a sort. If one drops down, it indicates there has been a shift in the rock. Sort of a warning that a cave-in might be imminent.”

He gave the board a hard pull and stepped back as a shower of rocks and dirt cascaded to the floor, blocking the exit back to the mine. He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and used it to cover his mouth as clouds of dust billowed up.

When the dust settled he continued. “Your aunt almost met her end in a similar collapse, but she didn’t seem to get the message. It’s a pity you seem to have inherited her lack of caution.” He motioned them around to the other side of the rock formation.

Tom led the way, holding his lantern aloft to light their path. Steven and Ellie followed, with Donald behind them. Marvin Long brought up the rear, carrying the second lantern in one hand and his gun in the other.

“What is this?” Steven asked after a few yards. “It isn’t one of your mine shafts.”

“It’s a natural cave.” Tom sounded as nonchalant as if they were discussing the weather. “We discovered it by chance when we followed a vein this direction and broke through. I had a feeling it would come in handy someday. It opens up on the other side of the hill, well away from town. There’s nothing at all to connect it with me or my mine.”

Ellie took comfort from Steven’s presence as they walked on. To keep hysteria from overtaking her, she concentrated on the rock shapes that cast weird shadows in the light from the moving lanterns. They passed one oddly shaped column after another, their path winding around until she had no idea how far they had come, or from what direction.

An eerie formation rose on her right, reminding her of a troll from one of the Grimm brothers’ fairy tales.

Another appeared, this one in the shape of a large rabbit. Ellie felt her tension ease a fraction and kept her mind focused on her whimsy.

Ahead on their left, Tom’s lantern illuminated a massive pillar of rock. As they passed, Ellie decided it bore a marked resemblance to Althea Baldwin’s profile.

Their route twisted and turned until it finally opened up into a smaller version of the cavern they had been in before.

“Here is where we must part.” Tom turned and pulled a small revolver from his jacket pocket. “Marvin, I believe we have some rope a little farther down the tunnel. Would you be so kind?” He leveled the gun at his three captives while Long hurried off.

“You’re going to tie us up and leave us here?” Ellie’s voice sounded reedy and thin, even to her own ears. “How will we find our way out?”

Steven turned to her, his eyes filled with a grim sadness. “He doesn’t mean for us to leave. We know too much.”

Dread washed over Ellie in a wave. “But there are people in town who will miss us.”

Steven looked back at Tom. “She’s right. I already have a profitable mine. I’m not likely to go off chasing rainbows like the others.”

Marvin Long trotted back carrying several lengths of hemp rope. At a nod from Tom, he pulled Donald’s hands behind his back and wrapped the rope around his wrists.

Tom watched him bind the hotel clerk’s hands and feet with an expression of approval, then turned his attention back to Steven.

“No, your tale will be much more romantic than that. You’ll be going after something worth even more than gold. I’ll let it be known that you came to me and asked me to buy your mine while you and Miss Monroe eloped to San Francisco. I’ll make sure a note to that effect is found on your desk tomorrow morning.”

Long moved over to Steven. Ellie flinched at his grimace when his bonds were yanked tight.

She shrank away when Long’s rough hands reached for hers, but he pulled them behind her back with the same strength she remembered from the assault in the alley. She looked straight at Steven, trying to convey a silent question. Wasn’t there anything they could do?

His bleak expression was answer enough.

Tom checked to make sure all the ropes were tight, then he and Long picked up the lanterns and started toward the exit. They hadn’t gone more than a few steps when Tom stopped suddenly and turned back.

“Good-bye, Miss Monroe. It’s a shame your visit to Pickford had to end this way. And don’t expect your aunt to sound an alarm about your disappearance. Once I leave here, I’m going to pay her a visit and stop her snooping once and for all.”

With that, he walked away down the tunnel, taking Marvin Long and their only source of light with him.

Fear clutched at Ellie with a clammy hand when the darkness closed in around them. Rustling sounds emanated from the locations where the men lay bound, but she couldn’t see a thing in the inky blackness.

“Jessie?” Steven’s voice calmed her, even in their dire predicament. “I’m wedged between two rocks, and I can’t move very far. See if you can scoot over here. Maybe I can work your knots loose.”

She inched her way toward the sound of his voice. Before she had gone more than a foot or two, her skirt snagged on a protrusion of some kind, bringing her to an abrupt halt. “I can’t move any farther,” she cried. “What are we going to do?”