The Treasure Read online

  “Ten minutes,” he warned.

  “Ten minutes.”

  Regina hunted for her shoes on the floor until she found them, then slipped out the bedroom door as quietly as possible. The house was as silent as a tomb. She slid down the hallway toward the kitchen, set her shoes on the table and went into the pantry. Raymond always kept a candle and matches in there. She quickly found them, reaffirming her notion that he was, and would always be, a creature of habit.

  After lighting the candle with shaking hands, she pressed hard into her yowling stomach with one fist. She held the flame up until she saw the old silver tin on the top shelf then stood on her toes so she could grab it. Setting the candle down on the shelf, she pried the top open and peered inside. The roll of bills made her body rush with anticipated pleasure.

  There was so much. A lot more than she expected. Raymond had obviously done quite well for himself, although she couldn’t tell that from his wife’s wardrobe. Regina took the money out, then carefully replaced the tin. Splitting it in half, she folded the bills in her right hand and shoved it down in her corset. The other half she put in the pocket of her dress.

  Regina carefully put everything back in its place then headed for the front door. The silence in the house was only broken by the ticking of a clock and her pounding heart. She was so close to getting away with what she came for. Close enough that she salivated at the prospects of all she could get with the money tucked by her breasts. With a smile, she helped herself to the heavy coat hanging by the door. Regina deserved a coat that nice, something a queen would wear.

  Cracking the door, she peered out and heard nothing. She headed into the blackness of the night toward the barn, cursing inwardly at the unrelenting cold of Wyoming. When she got to the barn, she stepped inside and waited until her eyes adjusted to the dimness. The smell of hay and horse shit made her stomach roil.

  “Billy?” she whispered.

  She heard a thunk and a grunt from the darkness.

  “Some bastard was out here, tried to stop me from taking the horse we rightfully stole.”

  Regina walked toward his voice and nearly tripped over something on the ground in front of her. She belatedly realized it was a body.

  “Did you kill him?”

  “No, but he won’t be moving for a while. Did you get it?”

  Regina reached into her pocket and held the money out toward him.

  “Yes, and it’s a small fortune.”

  The money was snatched out of her hands.

  “Get in the damn buggy. We’ve got to get out of here and on that first train out of town before your lover wakes up.”

  She grimaced. “He hasn’t been my lover since before we were married.”

  Billy laughed, the oily sound sliding around her. “Let’s go, Queenie.”

  “Smoke?” she asked, hating the whining tone in her voice.

  “No, but I’ve got something else. You’ll get it as soon as we’re on our way,” he promised.

  Within minutes, they were in the carriage, riding through the cold. Life was already better now that she knew Wyoming would be a bad memory by the end of the day. Tears from the bitterness of the air snuck out of her eyes. She ignored them after Billy handed her the small vial. She opened it with shaking hands. In one gulp, she emptied the contents. As the thick liquid made its way down her throat to her stomach, Regina finally began to relax.

  She ignored everything but the euphoria rushing through her. She even ignored the small bundle with dark hair in the back of the carriage.

  ———

  Lily woke with sunshine on her face and a heavy, warm arm across her waist. She smiled sleepily and turned to look at her new husband. He was awake and studying her with his bottomless eyes.

  “Good morning.” She felt suddenly shy.

  When Ray blessed her with one of his rare smiles, her whole heart gave a tremendous thump. She had completely fallen in love with this man even though he was hard, stubborn and impossible to read at times.

  Best of all, he was truly her husband now. She had a home and a family.

  “It’s late. The sun is pretty high in the sky,” she said.

  “Yup, that it is. Melody is probably already off in the barn with Trevor since it’s quiet in the house.” He waggled his eyebrows. “Think of anything we can have for breakfast?”

  Lily felt her cheeks redden even as her body softened at the naughty suggestion. Although they had sated themselves twice during the night, she was willing and able to make love again.

  “I think I can.” Taking a deep breath, she pushed herself up and threw one leg across his. The surprise on his face almost made her chuckle.

  “You know more than I think you do. I keep forgetting that.”

  She smiled. “I’ve never been able or wanted to use that knowledge before. Until now.”

  As Lily leaned down and brushed her already hard nipples against his chest, the door to the bedroom burst open. Lily screeched and dove under the sheet. Ray cursed and tried to cover them with the quilt.

  “Trevor, what the hell are you doing?” Ray paused. “Jesus Christ, what happened to you?”

  Lily peeked out in time to see Ray jump out of bed, stark naked. She tore her gaze away from his finely crafted behind to look at Trevor. One side of his head and face were covered in blood. Her stomach fell to her feet as dread jumped into bed with her.

  “I don’t know. Some sidewinder was in the barn last night and bashed me upside the head with something. I think it was a shovel. Regina’s carriage and horse are gone.”

  Ray frowned. “Was it her that hit you?”

  “I don’t think so. It was too big to be her—had to be a man.” Trevor tried to shake his head and ended up weaving on his feet and clutching it instead. “Damn, that hurts.”

  Lily, unmindful of her modesty, dashed from the bed and threw on some clothes as quickly as she could. She turned, buttoning her dress, to the surprised eyes of her husband and Trevor, who had a small grin on his face.

  “There’s no time for this. We’ve got to check on Regina and Melody. Was anyone in the barn this morning or outside?”

  “Just Clyde. Nobody else around. Rafe spent the night in town.”

  Ray looked like Lily had hit him. “Check on Melody?”

  He took off running toward Melody’s bedroom. Lily went to the room Regina had slept in. She knocked before opening the door. She was unsurprised to find the bed and the room empty.

  A bellow of sheer rage and pain rocked the house. Lily turned and ran in the direction of the sound.

  Oh dear God, please.

  When she entered Melody’s room, she found Ray on his knees, clutching Melody’s pillow. To her dismay, the room was empty, the blanket and quilt missing. Trevor stood next to him with stricken eyes, pleading with her to do something.

  Lily knelt down with her hip screaming at her—which she ignored—and placed her hand on his big shoulder. He was shaking, but his muscles were rock hard.

  “Ray…”

  “That fucking bitch took my daughter,” he said against the pillow.

  “We’ll find her. We need to look for signs in and around the house. We’ll go into town and find out if they’ve been there.”

  A sob burst from him, muffled by the pillow.

  “That fucking bitch took my daughter,” he repeated a little more hoarsely.

  Lily lightly rubbed his shoulder. It was like caressing granite.

  “I know, but we’ll find her. Together. We need to start looking now.”

  She felt the absolute urgent need to find Melody, a clawing ache inside her. She loved that girl as if she were her own. The raven-haired pixie’s loss would nearly destroy her. She hated to think what it would do to Ray.

  If he lost his daughter, she knew whatever chance they had for a good marriage was lost as well. His world revolved around his daughter, without her, his world would collapse.

  He finally lifted his face and looked at her. The naked agony i
n his eyes hit her like a ton of bricks. Her own pain was nothing compared to his and she started crying for him. He was dry-eyed, apparently unable to shed tears, although she was sure he was crying on the inside. He reached out and caught a tear with his finger.

  “What do you mean together?”

  Lily was surprised. “I mean together. You and I. We will find her.”

  She saw the war in those pain-filled eyes. He wanted to accept her comfort and support, but it was a big chasm to cross. Lily leaned forward and kissed his forehead.

  “I love you, Ray. We will not give up until we find her.”

  He nodded then pressed his face into the pillow again. “It smells like her. Dammit, Lily, I…I can’t lose her.”

  “You won’t. We’ll find her, I promise. Now let’s get a bandage for Trevor, then we will search every nook and cranny to make sure she’s not here.”

  He took a deep breath and let it out on a shudder.

  Lily felt her heart kick when he nodded.

  “We will find her.” She believed every word she spoke.

  ———

  Lily was unsurprised to find that Regina had stolen her beautiful navy wool coat the sisters had given her. She ended up wearing an old coat of Ray’s that hung down nearly to her knees. Ray discovered his money tin in the pantry had been completely emptied. He was fortunate she didn’t know about the second tin, or Regina would have taken two years worth of savings.

  Rafe showed up and Clyde came in. The five of them searched for an hour. As suspected, Melody was nowhere to be found on the ranch. Trevor found footprints in the snow by Melody’s window and the bedroom Regina was sleeping in. It confirmed that the same man was in both rooms.

  There were carriage tracks from the barn leading toward town. The theory was that the man was in cahoots with Regina and they had taken Melody for unknown reasons. Ray was controlling his rage, although it was a constant battle.

  Lily saw him clench his teeth hard enough his jaw kept popping. He kept his head and watched everything with his keen eyes.

  “We need to head to town. You stay here,” Ray said as he headed for the barn with Trevor, Clyde and Rafe.

  Lily’s anger rose and danced on her tongue. “You will not leave me here to wait, Raymond Malloy. I am coming with you whether you like it or not. She is my daughter now too and I love her. Besides that I have experience with people like Regina.”

  Ray’s head snapped around and he looked at her with narrowed eyes. “What do you mean, ‘people like Regina’?”

  “She’s an opium eater, Ray. She had the same symptoms as my mother did.”

  Ray’s mouth dropped open as did everyone else’s.

  “Opium? That Chinese stuff?”

  “It was brought here originally from China, but it’s become a horrible, awful drug that makes you change into a monster that only craves more of it.”

  Ray stalked back toward her. “Did you think you needed to tell me this earlier?”

  “I forgot. We were looking so hard to find Melody that it slipped my mind.”

  “Slipped your mind? This is my fucking daughter we’re talking about. Not a quilting bee!” he shouted.

  “Don’t you yell at me. This is for better or for worse. I will not be shouted at like a dog during the worse.”

  She ended by thumping her fist on his great chest. He snatched her up and slammed her against him, his lips on hers, hot and scorching. She wound her arms around his neck and hung on for dear life. Her body cleaved to his like she was a part of him. In the frigid morning air, he was a haven. He was home. He was hers.

  He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “It ain’t gonna be easy.”

  “I’m pretty tough, Ray.”

  “So I noticed.”

  She smiled tentatively at him and he gave her one last kiss then set her back on her feet.

  “Be ready to leave in fifteen minutes,” he ordered.

  Lily scurried into the house to pack. She had no idea how long it would take to find Melody, so she packed several changes of clothes and food for them.

  The Malloys were on the hunt for their missing cub.

  Chapter Fourteen

  When the Double R crew made it into Cheshire, everyone went off in different directions, intent on a purpose. Lily was assigned the task of checking at the general store, since Regina was the owner’s daughter she may have gone there.

  Ray looked at her with his shuttered eyes and Lily glimpsed a portion of the pain he was going through every minute that passed.

  “We’ll find her,” she repeated, then kissed him quickly and went to Goodson’s store.

  It seemed like a lifetime ago that she had been there with Melody. The day the boys had called them names. The day Lily’s life had changed. So much was different now. She strode purposefully to the counter to speak to the older woman who had waited on her previously.

  “Excuse me,” she said.

  The woman looked up and Lily could now clearly see the resemblance to Regina and her sister. They all had similar coloring and eyes. However, this woman’s face held a wealth of sadness and anger.

  “What do you want?” Mrs. Goodson snapped.

  “I’m sorry to bother you, but there is an emergency and I need your help.”

  The other woman regarded her skeptically. “What emergency?”

  “Melody Malloy was kidnapped during the night last night. We are searching around town to ask if anyone has seen her.”

  Mrs. Goodson snorted. “That little half-breed? Not likely.”

  Lily’s temper began to bubble again. “As far as I know, that little half-breed is your granddaughter. I should think you would be concerned that she was missing.”

  Mrs. Goodson actually appeared shocked. “What are you talking about? She’s not my granddaughter. She’s the get of some Indian squaw and that excuse for a man, Raymond Malloy. Ruined my daughter right good, he did.”

  Lily squared her shoulders. “That little girl is Regina’s child, the ‘get’ of your daughter and an Indian man. Her father is Raymond Malloy—a better man you will never meet. He raised her as his own and now she’s missing. Regina was here yesterday and apparently involved and we were hoping you might have seen her.”

  Now Mrs. Goodson looked as if she’d been slapped. “You’re lying. That’s not Regina’s child. She would never abandon her own child. Her child died at birth. And she wasn’t here in town. What are you talking about?”

  “She was at the Double R yesterday. I myself spoke with her and helped her. This morning Melody is missing and so is Regina. We think there was a man involved as well.”

  “Why are you spouting such lies? Who are you?” Mrs. Goodson shrieked.

  “I am Lillian Malloy, Ray’s wife. I am also Melody’s new mother. I would appreciate any information you might have.”

  Mrs. Goodson came around the corner and started pushing her out of the store. “You get your fancy manners and your lies out of my store. Regina was not here yesterday. She lives in Paris. And that bastard half-breed is not her child.”

  The door slammed in Lily’s face. The glass nearly hit her in the nose. Well that didn’t work out like she planned. She hadn’t lost her temper though. The only good news was that Mrs. Goodson hadn’t seen Regina—no one was that good of an actress.

  Lily’s next stop was the restaurant. She wrapped the too big overcoat around her tightly and trudged through the snow toward Hannah’s Restaurant. Her hip was bothering her, but she ignored it. Her own personal discomfort was nothing compared to what Melody might be going through.

  That particular thought allowed a sob to jump from her throat. She swallowed it back down and concentrated on finding information, not permitting her heart to run wild.

  ———

  Ray left the stable in an even fouler mood then he’d gone in. The only thing Will Bentley could tell him was that a couple had rented the carriage two days ago and returned it sometime last night. It was here in the morning. The folks who
rented it had not paid for the two days they’d had it and Will complained loud and long about that.

  “Hey, Ray, hold on!” Will called.

  Ray turned around and waited impatiently. “What?”

  Will walked toward him with his uneasy bowlegged gait. With his frizzy gray hair, mud-brown eyes and nervous tics, he was not a man with many friends. However, he’d always been kind to the Malloys, a favor they returned.

  “There was a blanket in the back.”

  Ray’s heart began to pound again. “What blanket?”

  “It was a light blue color, wool. I put it in the basket inside.”

  Ray went tearing back into the stable, nearly tripping over the doorway in his haste. He grabbed the handle of the basket under the bench and yanked. Melody’s blue wool blanket tumbled out into his arms. Her scent surrounded him and he had the overpowering urge to weep.

  They had been here, and they had Melody. He snatched the blanket and threw the basket.

  “Where did they go from here?” he demanded.

  Will scratched his head. “I dunno. I weren’t here when they left the buggy. I told you that already.”

  Ray bit back his angry retort. “Were there footprints? Something that told you which direction they went?”

  “Oh, yeah, I guess they did. There were a fresh coat of snow this morning. The tracks went toward the station.”

  The train.

  Yes, they would have wanted to get out of town as quickly as possible.

  “Thanks, Will.”

  Ray started running toward the store, realizing halfway there that he was running to Lily.

  He found her exiting the restaurant. She looked so tiny in his old jacket, her silly blue hat shining like a beacon on her head. It was one of the things he loved about her. That silly hat.

  He loved her?

  When the hell had that happened? He stopped dead in his tracks, completely poleaxed by the thought. It was the hardest, most excruciating time of his life, and suddenly his heart decided to start working again?

  Lily spotted him and hurried over. Her brows furrowed and she worried her lip between her teeth.