A Longer Fall (Gunnie Rose #2)(10)

I was so angry I was shaking.

Eli said, “This was your new crew leader?”

I jerked my head in a nod.

“And two of your crewmates are hurt badly enough to be going to the hospital in Sally?”

“Yes. One’s already dead, in the crash.”

Then there was a lot of silence from Eli.

I wheeled around to face him. “You didn’t…?”

“I did not make your train derail,” Eli said.

Because I knew he could. I had seen grigoris do things that made even me feel queasy.

“All right.” I believed him. “But someone did.”

“I know. What were you here to guard? People? A thing?” When I didn’t answer—I was still too stunned about Jake—Eli said, “What will you do now?”

That was an important question. I fumbled through my thoughts. It felt like I had fog in my brain. I fixed my gaze on my feet, noticed my boots were bloodstained, and shoved that thought away while I pondered.

There weren’t going to be any trains leaving out of Sally for a while. How long would it take to clear and repair these tracks? How would I pay my fare?

I could go into Sally and consult with Rogelio and Maddy. Or maybe Harriet Ritter would help me find the chest. For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what part Ritter and her henchman had to play in this, whether she was a friend or foe. I thought about joining up with Sarah Byrne for about a second, but I was obliged to find whatever had been in the crate. I was the last crew member standing.

The third thing I might do was find the Sally sheriff to tell him my boss had been murdered.

Sure, I ought to do that.

The sheriff would be glad to hear some more bad news on top of what must be one of the worst days Sally ever had. It had probably escaped his notice that the train had been derailed on purpose.

And the stab wound in Jake’s neck would look an awful lot like the sharp glass wound that had pierced Charlie’s neck and killed him. Were doctors going to examine every single body real thoroughly after a massive loss of life? I didn’t think so. And whoever our employer was, surely that employer would want to know what had happened… that we’d failed.

What with the bop on the head, the arm wound, and the tossing around I’d gotten in the wreck, it took me a bit to think through all this. Eli’s feet shifted restlessly, but I did not look up.

Eli said, “Come with me, Lizbeth. Please.”

“Where to?” I had too many problems. I couldn’t organize them enough to make a plan to solve them. I gathered up my rifle and my bag.

“Come with me to Sally.”

“What are you going to do there?” I asked. I made myself look up at Eli. Who was also Prince Ilya Savarov. And so many other things.

Not like me. I was one thing.

Eli’s long, light hair was braided clumsily. He had beard stubble. He wasn’t spanky clean. When we’d been on the road a few months ago, he’d shaved every day. This made me worry even more.

“I have to find a man who hired some people to bring a chest to him.” Eli looked like he’d rather be anywhere on earth than standing in front of me telling me this.

“Did you know?” I said, suddenly angry.

“Did I know…?”

“That it was me? Did you know we were bringing it? That was our cargo.” Because what had been in the crate had looked exactly like a very old and carved chest with something important in it.

“No,” Eli said. “I swear, Lizbeth. Your neighbor told me you’d left on a job, but she didn’t know where you were going. I had no idea you were here until I spotted you across the field.”

We looked at each other for what seemed a long time.

“So… where is it?” Eli glanced around.

I pointed to the broken wood around Jake’s body.

“We got it this far. After the wreck, there was a gunfight. Jake got wounded. We all got wounded. I was least hurt, but I was unconscious for a time.” I should have known Eli was in the vicinity, just from that. I’d never spent so much time unconscious as I had while I was working with Eli. “When Rogelio asked me to bring Maddy to get on the wagon to the hospital, I left Jake guarding it,” I said.

“And this was Jake.” Eli glanced down at the body. Luckily we were far enough from the other survivors that no one had noticed Jake had been killed. Yet.

“Yeah. This was Jake.”

“Let us get away from here, Lizbeth. Unless you feel you have to tell someone, officially, that Jake is dead? Murdered?”

“I think that’s pretty clear without me pointing it out.” Though I’d been wondering the same thing myself, I sounded tart to my own ears. Like I resented his thinking for me.

“Lots of people saw you together?” Eli started walking in the direction of the tent, slowly, clearly hoping I would trail along behind him. For lack of a better idea, I did.

“Lots,” I agreed. “But most of them are injured or dead, or too… too shook up to think about what happened to us and the crate when the train left the track.”

“And why did the train leave the track, do you think?”

I almost said, To get to the other side. “The tracks were blown up. Wait, you weren’t on the train?” I was having a hard time getting this picture together.