A Longer Fall (Gunnie Rose #2)(39)



He and Jerry didn’t finish their talk about change in Sally.





CHAPTER FOURTEEN


Walking in the dark with Eli was nice. Since I was supposed to be his wife, I could hold on to his arm. But I never forgot I was guarding him, too, and since the Willa May episode got me worried, I kept my gun in my hand. I hid it in the folds of the skirt. It would be better for someone to say, “Oh my God, that woman’s carrying a gun!” than for me to be caught unawares.

And it was lucky I did that, because two men came out of the hedge lining the yard of a big house. They positioned themselves right in front of us. Eli’s hands were ready and I moved a little apart from him, ready to bring up the gun and shoot. Wasn’t pointing it at them yet, but they weren’t armed. Not with guns. One had a length of wood.

“I’m Nellie Mercer’s intended,” the taller man said. The streetlights were on, and I could tell he was thin and broad-shouldered and a damn idiot. His buddy was shorter, broader, but no smarter.

“Listen, Intended,” I said. “No one can see us. Eli and I can kill you quick as quick, and no one will know. Why are you doing this?”

“Nellie got hurt,” Intended snarled.

“You two are a good match, ’cause you’re both dumb,” I said. He stepped back to get a good swing, and Eli hit him with some magic. While he went down, I put the gun to his friend’s head. “You want this fight?” I said.

“You’d really shoot me,” Friend said.

“In a heartbeat,” I said, and smiled. Because that would be his last heartbeat.

It was the smile that did it, I figure, because Friend broke and ran. He left Intended lying there on the sidewalk.

Eli and I circled the man sprawled on the sidewalk and went on our way. We were at the hotel in less than ten minutes, and then in our room with the door locked.

And then we were together.

Eli went to sleep right away afterward, but I was awake long enough to reflect. There was so much I wasn’t clear about.

There was some kind of rebellion brewing in the Negro community, and Eli had come to ignite it… with a person Eli’d been supposed to bring with him, and that had some relationship with the Lucky Team’s lost cargo. So why hadn’t Eli brought the cargo? Who was the person, and where was he hidden?

The Negro community had been waiting for the arrival of that person. They didn’t think their plan would succeed otherwise. Also, there were white people in Sally who were on the side of this rebellion. The Fielders were among ’em. Millie and Jerry were doing what they thought was right, though they stood to lose everything by doing so. And they seemed like good people.

I was getting used to not knowing what was going to happen when I was around Eli. That wasn’t a good thing. I wondered if we could ever start out completely honest with each other. And then I fell asleep, because he was beside me snoring just a little. For now, that was good enough. But just for now.

I slept all night for the first time since I’d left Segundo Mexia, and that helped. A lot.

We went down to breakfast the next morning, each in our own silence. I had no idea what Eli had planned for the day. I hoped some of James Edward’s amigos would report they’d seen the chest.

When we walked into the dining room, I could see we wouldn’t get to talk to him anytime soon. The two Iron Hand people were waiting for us. When Seeley and Ritter saw us, they waved and smiled. Since they were sitting at a table for four, clearly they wanted our company. I said something unbecoming to my pretty rose blouse, and Eli’s hand tightened on my arm, but over we went.

“You look adorable today,” Harriet said, rising as if to kiss me on the cheek. I’d as soon be kissed by a rattlesnake, and I pulled back real definitely. Adorable, my ass.

“Thanks so much,” I said, with the broadest smile I could muster. I was pleased when she came close as dammit to flinching. “You look nice too.”

Which was a big fat lie. For once, Harriet Ritter looked tired and worried, and even Travis Seeley was not as smooth as usual. He’d missed a patch of whiskers on his chin.

A waiter, not James Edward, hurried over to see what we wanted to drink. Their coffee was so good, I was delighted to get a cup. I could hardly wait till it was drinking temperature.

When the waiter had gone to get our drinks, Harriet leaned forward to say, “There’s no trace of the chest. We have to find it, and if that means we have to team up with you two, so be it.”

“What will happen if you don’t trace it?” I asked. I was hoping it would be something bad.

“We might get fired,” Travis Seeley said. He was doing his best to look like that was something he didn’t care about. I didn’t buy that for a second.

“Why should we care?” Eli said, taking the words out of my mouth.

“Your gunnie was guarding it, and she has to find it too,” Harriet said. “And I suspect you are looking for the same thing. Else why would you be here?”

“I am here to be with my wife,” Eli said. “I’ll help her do anything she wants to do.”

“I hear you have a sister,” Harriet said to me.

The hair on my neck stood up, and all the fun seeped out of me right quick. I determined at that moment that I would enjoy shooting this woman. “I don’t know where you would hear anything like that,” I said. “I grew up without brother or sister, my mom’s only child.”

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