The Temptress Read online

  “I have no reason to fight over Mr. Tynan. He is dead to me. He’s yours.”

  Chris ignored the way Pilar lifted one eyebrow and gazed at her archly. “I am a newspaper reporter and I write under the name of Nola Dallas. I went to—”

  “The Nola Dallas? The one that gets herself in trouble just so she can write about it?”

  “I’m afraid so,” Chris said.

  Pilar put out her hand to shake. “I’m glad to meet you. Are we in one of your escapades and someone’s going to show up to rescue us at any minute?”

  Chris gave her a weak smile. “I think I better tell you all of it.” She told Pilar everything, from finding Diana and Whitman Eskridge’s bodies to when Tynan said they were going to leave Hamilton’s house.

  Pilar sat up, hugging her knees to her chest. “I think Ty found out something. He kept leaving the house in the middle of the night and one night he came back with a big book under his arm. He sat up all night reading it, but in the morning it was gone and I never saw it again.”

  “What was it a book of?”

  “Numbers. You know, like Red has.”

  “Red?” Chris asked. “You mean the woman Tynan knows, in the…”

  “Yeah, in the whore house.” She narrowed her eyes at Chris. “The place where I worked.”

  “Oh,” was all Chris could say. Of course Tynan would want that kind of woman for his wife, or pretend wife, or whatever she was. She put her mind back on the current subject. “Maybe that’s why we were kidnapped, because Tynan stole a ledger from Hamilton or maybe…Have you ever heard of Del Mathison?”

  Pilar gave a little smile. “He’s a little before my time but I’ve heard stories about him. One house threw a wake on the day of his wedding.”

  Chris’s mouth became a narrow line. “He’s my father.”

  “Sorry,” Pilar said, but she didn’t look sorry. Her head came up sharply. “If you’re Mathison’s daughter, then you must be rich. Maybe you’re being held for ransom.”

  “That’s what I thought. My father always had a horror of my being kidnapped. One of the ranch hands said it was because he had so many enemies, but, whatever the reason, it’s something I’ve been prepared for.”

  “So why am I here? You think he brought me along to serve as your handmaiden?” Pilar said archly.

  “I don’t know, but I hope this kidnapper plans to feed us.”

  “And give us some hot water. I have three inches of dirt on me now.”

  As Pilar stopped talking, there was a sound at the door and the next moment, the heavy door was thrown open and the two men who’d taken the women were standing in the doorway. Behind them were two women, who looked to be scared to death, bearing trays of food. The men motioned for Chris and Pilar to stand back while the women set the trays on the floor. Next came big ewers of hot water and basins, then two dresses were tossed on the bed. A sewing box was placed by the bed.

  One of the women backed against the doorjamb. “You’re to wear the dresses tonight. If they don’t fit, you can alter them.” With that, they were out the door, the men behind them, and Chris could hear the lock being turned.

  “Food first or hot water?” Chris asked Pilar when they were alone.

  “Both at the same time,” Pilar answered and the women did indeed dive into both at the same time, washing with one hand, eating with the other.

  “It is possible that our captor has no idea who I am,” Chris said with her mouth full as she washed her left arm. “Maybe he thinks I’m Diana Eskridge and this all has something to do with Owen Hamilton trying to kill Lionel. Maybe Owen wants time alone to do his dirty work.”

  “That still doesn’t explain why I’m here,” Pilar said. “I didn’t know any of what was going on.”

  “But whoever took us doesn’t know that. If Tynan was stealing things from the house at night, it would look as if you knew everything since you two spent every night together.” Chris had a difficult time with the last part of that sentence. It wasn’t that she any longer had any feeling for Tynan, he’d killed that the night in the cabin, but she did hate losing.

  “If that’s true,” Pilar said thoughtfully, “then he probably took Tynan too. Do you think he’s here with that young man of yours?”

  “Asher? I can’t imagine what he’d want with Asher. He only came along because I needed a husband.”

  “Whatever has happened, I don’t understand it. I rather think that you’ve been kidnapped for ransom and the men brought me along because…. Truthfully, I don’t know why I’m here. I have nothing anyone would want.”

  Pilar was standing in the light, mostly unclothed, her long black hair down her back, her body firm and well rounded, and Chris thought that she had something that any man would want. “I’m here for money and you’re here because our captor probably fell in love with you,” Chris said under her breath, trying not to let her envy and hurt show.

  Pilar said nothing but continued to wash.

  When at last the women were clean and fed, they looked at the dresses on the bed.

  “Not exactly my style,” Chris said, holding a dress up. There wasn’t a whole lot of fabric above the waist.

  “Well, don’t look at me, I haven’t worn anything like this in years. Yours is too long and I think it might be too big in a few places.”

  Chris sighed because Pilar was right. “Maybe you were brought along because you fit the dress.”

  “Come on, let’s get started altering it.”

  “The bust alone will take hours,” Chris muttered.

  They sewed until the sun went down, then dressed in the moonlight coming in through the windows. They had no candle, no combs to free their hair of tangles, no jewelry, and no idea where they were being taken.

  When the oak door was thrown open, they were ready as best they could prepare themselves. Chris wasn’t aware that she was shaking until Pilar slipped her hand in hers, giving her fingers a tight squeeze of confidence.

  One of the men pushed Chris forward, Pilar after her, and the two women headed down the stairs.

  • • •

  “How do you even know which way to go?” Asher was shouting to Tynan as the men rode at full speed.

  Tynan didn’t bother to answer as he led them southeast, not stopping until they came to a dirty little patch of ground covered with tents. The place didn’t deserve the name of “town.” The streets were deep in half a foot of mud from the recent rain and, as they rode past a tent with a big sign outside that read simply “women,” there were two men fighting, wrestling about in the mud. Asher’s horse jumped sideways as the fighting men, locked together, lurched toward him. He had to struggle a moment to control the animal and when he could get away, he saw Tynan disappearing into one of the larger tents. Asher dismounted into the mud and followed.

  Tynan was at the bar, leaning against it as if he had all the time in the world. There were several tables set up with men gambling. Ty was watching a man who looked clean compared to the rest of the men in the tent, with his gold embroidered vest and two guns with pearl handles.

  Asher ordered a beer and had just taken a long drink when the game broke up. Immediately, the gambling man looked up at Tynan.

  “I thought you were in jail for some reason or other.”

  “I got out for the same reason,” Ty said. “And now I’m coming to you to collect a debt.”

  The man gave a curt nod, then walked to stand by Ty at the bar. “Two whiskeys,” he said, then lowered his voice. “What is it you want?”

  “Information.”

  “That comes high.”

  “I’ve already paid,” Tynan said. “Have you ever heard of a man named Beynard Dysan?”

  The gambling man choked on his whiskey. When he’d cleared his throat, he looked at Tynan. “Stay away from him. He’s bad, real bad.”

  “He has something that belongs to me and I mean to have it back. Where can I find him?”

  “Let him have it. Whatever it is, it isn’t