Secret of Deadman's Coulee by B.J. Daniels

Author:B.J. Daniels
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2007-09-24T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Carter heard a soft rustle deep in the attic. “Hello? Eve?”

She let out a groan that sounded both relieved and angry as her head appeared from behind a tall bureau.

“You scared me half to death,” she snapped.

“I scared you? Why didn’t you answer when I called from downstairs?”

“I didn’t hear you.”

“What are you doing up here?” he asked as he glanced past her to where she’d been hiding.

“Looking for a lamp for my house,” she said a little too quickly. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

He raised a brow. “Really? In the dark? And I would have thought you’d have driven your pickup over if you were planning to pick up a lamp instead of riding your horse.”

“Are you spying on me?” she demanded as he snapped on the light.

“As a matter of fact, I drove down to make sure you were all right. I was worried when I saw you ride off again so I followed you on foot. This lamp you’re after, it must be valuable. Otherwise, why wait for your mother to leave before you sneaked up here to get it?”

“I didn’t sneak.”

It was clear to him that she hadn’t wanted anyone to know she was here. Now why was that, he wondered as he noticed a large old wooden trunk, the lid up, the clothes inside it appearing recently rummaged through.

“What’s going on, Eve?” he asked seriously. “After everything you went through yesterday, why the urgency to get a lamp out of—” He stopped as he heard a vehicle engine followed shortly by the slamming of a car door.

Eve heard it, too. He saw the fear in her eyes. What the hell was going on?

Her attention darted to the old trunk with the lid standing open.

As he heard the front door open and close and footfalls cross the hardwood floor, he reached over and closed the trunk lid and saw relief in Eve’s expression.

She hurried to snap off the light an instant before he pulled her back behind the high bureau where she’d been hiding before and whispered, “Did I mention I saw your mother head for your house? I think she was looking for you.”

He felt rather than saw her reaction. She seemed to hold her breath and listen, just as he was doing as they hunkered behind the highboy.

The footsteps seemed to hesitate at the bottom of the attic stairs. Whoever it was had seen the open attic door, just as he had. A moment later, the attic steps groaned.

He waited. He could feel Eve doing the same.

The last stair creaked, then the light snapped on and footfalls moved across the floor.

Carter peered around the end of the highboy to see Lila Bailey drop to her knees in front of the old wooden trunk, the same one that he’d just closed.

He glanced over at Eve. She had leaned to the edge of the highboy and was now watching her mother. She didn’t seem surprised as the trunk lid groaned open.

Lila began to dig frantically through the trunk, then slammed the lid with a curse.

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