“Hurry inside, Jace,” the redhead was telling him, “before someone sees you. Chad is out for the—”
Leigh couldn’t hear more because the door to Louisa’s new room closed and the lock clicked loudly. She fumed at this new discovery. Jace had said he would have nothing to do with that redhead, then sneaked into her room. After a cozy rendezvous with another beauty! Two curious episodes in one day were too much for her to accept as innocent. It was clear now why Louisa had found a way to have privacy. But who was the first woman and what did she mean to Jace Elliott?
Leigh concealed herself around the corner and waited to see how long Jace would remain inside Louisa’s room. If it was only a talk to set the woman straight about his lack of interest and about her wanton note, it wouldn’t take long. If Chad caught Jace fooling around with his ward and his mistress …
She hated the suspicions that thought inspired. She leaned against the wall. Time passed and her tension mounted, along with painful doubts. She tried to keep her mind alert. She had to give Jace the benefit of trust. The way the rooms and halls were arranged, only someone coming to her suite would pass her. If that happened, she could pretend she was taking a stroll. Louisa’s door didn’t open. Jace didn’t leave.
When over three hours passed, she returned to her suite, dejected and infuriated. No talk, she concluded, personal or business, could take that long, only “old times,” as Louisa had said in her sultry voice. Even if he was trying to romance clues about Chad from the redhead, this was a cruel betrayal.
“Damn you, Jace Elliott.”
Obviously Jace had lied to her. Worse, she had allowed him, encouraged him, to do so. He had seemed so sincere, so honest, so …
“So what, you stupid girl?” Leigh scoffed in anger. “In love with you? How easily and skillfully you tricked me, you sorry bastard. All those accusations about Chad were only a cunning ruse to turn me against him. You see, Mr. Traitorous Elliott, there are a few things you don’t know. Such as, Chad has nothing to gain by getting rid of me, but you do. In fact, because of that reckless wager I made with you, you stand to win a lot, either by snaring me in your clever trap or by slaying me. You know you can win with the wager, but do you know you can win without it if anything happened to me? No doubt you only want to use me to spite Grandfather and Chad. Curse you and your rivalry! If it’s revenge you’re after, two can play at your game,” Leigh vowed.
A horrible thought came to mind, and she voiced it in alarm. “Oh, God, what if you two are in collusion? What if Louisa was the reason you were in London? What if Louisa is working on Chad for you, trying to help you pin those crimes on him? What if you enticed her to lure Chad here? Merciful heavens, what if you and Louisa are after me because of the will? Louisa sent that note in London; you were at the waterfront. Louisa knew I was going to the fort; you were there. Coincidence? How else could those men have set a trap for me? Or did both attacks simply play into your greedy claws, you jungle beast? No, that can’t be true, not the way she greeted you!”
Leigh vigorously brushed her hair, checked her clothes, and left her room. She walked past Louisa’s door with her head held high. She was only half glad Jace didn’t bump into her leaving his wanton love nest. She went to Chad’s room and knocked persistently on the door. When it opened, she stalked past him and took a seat. Her mind was in a turmoil. She was tempted to tell her guardian that his lover was being unfaithful with his enemy. Her dislike and distrust of Louisa had increased with the redhead’s daring conduct. But exposing the tryst was none of her business. In time, Louisa and Jace would expose themselves; villains always got cocky and made mistakes.
“No more secrets, Chad,” she stated in response to his quizzical expression. “No more stalling, half-explanations, and none-of-your-business or it’s-private excuses. I don’t like what I’m feeling and thinking about you and Jace. I want to know what happened between you and Jace Elliott years ago, and I want to know right now. I don’t like feeling trapped between you two. Tell me, or I’m going home.”
“What in heaven’s name brought on this fit?”
“Hints from both of you without clear answers. In London, you acted like Jace was a near stranger. I come here and discover he isn’t. You two hate each other, but you offer him a job and he takes it. How can you make a truce without having waged a war? And a war makes bitter enemies. I can’t relax until I know the truth.”
“What did Jace tell you to upset you like this?”
“He’s as secretive and bitter as you are. Why?”
“Are you afraid of him?” the handsome man asked.
“Why should I be? You said he doesn’t know about the will, and I certainly haven’t told him anything. You implied he’s innocent of those charges in London. Why should he be a threat to me? Yet I get the impression you think he is. I find that odd and distressing. I keep recalling his accusations at Mr. Johnston’s party about being your bait and accomplice, about you using me to get at him, to spite him.”
“Jace and I talked things out that night. It was mostly a terrible misunderstanding between us long ago. We both thought it best if we didn’t mention it again, because we both acted like cads and we didn’t want you to think badly of us. If I tell you what he did, you’ll think he’s awful. If I tell you what I did, you’ll think I’m awful. It was a crazy and stupid situation.”
“Whatwas?” she persisted. “Tell me!”
Chad inhaled deeply and took a seat near her. To satisfy and fool her, he would reveal part of the truth. “Jace and I have known each other since our early teens. We went to school together and after, we joined the Royal Navy together. We shared plenty of adventures around the world. Later, we hired on as sailors on private ships, choosing whichever one was heading where we wanted to go. We’ve saved each other’s lives and shared each other’s good and bad days. We wound up in South Africa in ’89. The diamond fields caught our attention. We gathered a fortune. Then I was captured by warring Matabeles. I was tortured and enslaved. When I escaped, I was told Jace hadn’t tried to find me, that he’d taken our diamonds and left Cape Colony. I was sent back to London to heal. That’s when I met William Webster. My father had been killed while settling a dock strike that was crippling William’s shipments. William felt compassion for me. He befriended me, hired me, and trained me. But that’s off the subject. When Jace came to London in ‘92, he was shocked to find me there. He had believed me dead. I accused him of treachery. We fought, did spiteful things to each other, and became enemies. Once a friendship is mistreated, it’s over forever.”
“How did Jace explain what happened here?”
“He claimed innocence. He said he searched for me for weeks and presumed I was dead. He came here to work and live. He purchased his plantation with the profit from part of my diamonds. To be honest, he offered to repay me for my losses, but I was too proud and bitter to accept. He visited again in ‘93 and ‘94, but we couldn’t forgive each other or make a truce. Both of us had done too many bad things to the other. After his father died, I figured Jace had suffered as much as I had. It seemed foolish to go on hating him. By then, I had myself and my life back together. Trouble was, Jace believed William and I were out to get him. I tried to tell him there was no way we could have framed him, but he wouldn’t believe me. We went from best friends to worst enemies. That was sad and stupid on both our parts. Now that William’s dead, part of Jace’s resentment is gone. The other night, I took the blame for our past trouble, so he agreed to drop the matter. It’s only a business deal, Leigh; he needs money and we need a guide.”
“What if you were right, Chad? What if he did leave you to die and stole your diamonds? What if he’s still dangerous and untrustworthy?”
“We were young and reckless in those days, Leigh. If he did betray me, it was on impulse. Jace and I had our share of them, and they got us into plenty of mischief.”
Leigh added up the time span. It was seven years since the two friends docked in Africa. Twenty-five was not “young” and “wild.” Nor were they children during ensuing years when they battled bitterly.
Chad continued. “Frankly, as much as I hate to admit it, I don’t believe he did leave me to die. At the time, I was too weak in mind and body to think clearly. By the time I saw Jace again, I had convinced myself those men at Kimberley had told the truth. Looking back now, they always were troublemakers. I think they lied because Jace had quarreled with them several times, verbally and physically.”
Chad took in a deep breath. “Don’t you see how terrible this makes me look, Leigh? I should have trusted him. I shouldn’t have spited him. He had good reason to retaliate. Just like he has good reason to be suspicious of me. He’ll find out differently while we’re on safari. Maybe that will soften him toward both of us. I have to make peace to protect you. Once he sees that I’m sorry, he won’t want to spite me again.”
Chad urged, “Please don’t think badly of me. I was very ill. I had been terrified and abused for months. I had lived under the threat of torture and death every moment of every day I was their prisoner. I came home broke and weak, to learn my father was dead and my home was lost. I hate to admit it to you or myself, but I was at the pit’s bottom, Leigh, ready to break. William saved me from myself and a dire fate. He gave me back my strength, my pride—my life. I loved him, and I miss him. You’re a lot like your grandfather. That’s why I know we’ll make a good team. I owe you, because I owe him. And I’m very fond of you.”
He stood and paced the room. “Jace should have been patient and understanding; he should have given me time to get ahold of myself; he knew what a terrible ordeal I had endured and what I had been told. He knew my father had been killed while I was enslaved, and that I’d lost everything. Once we got into a fistfight and I was hurt badly. He was arrested, and I let him sit in jail for a month where he had it rough with the guards and other prisoners. He never forgave me.”
Chad halted and met her gaze. “I told you he wasn’t the reason I came here. Maybe I was fooling myself. Maybe somewhere in the back of my mind I wanted to make peace with him. We had been a big part of each other’s lives. Maybe I thought it would prevent him from ever wanting to harm you. He is bitter over his family’s losses to William, so it is a good precaution for him to get to know you and like you. He has to get himself and his life back together, as I have, Leigh. Only then will the past be over.”