Page 20 of The Promise of Jenny Jones
“Believe me, I’d love to do that. You can’t even guess how much I’d love to dump that snotty kid in your lap and forget about her.
But I gave my word. And I don’t give a fricking spit if you’re Graciela’s uncle.
It doesn’t matter, not even a little bit.
Because I promised Marguarita that I would take the kid to her father.
We made a deal, mister, and I mean to honor my half of it. ”
The cowboy’s gaze slid pointedly over the ropes binding her to the chair, and a faint smile touched his lips. “It doesn’t look like you’re in any position to keep that promise.”
Jenny decided that she hated his guts. “I’ll admit I’m experiencing some unforeseen difficulties… but I will keep my promise. The kid is my responsibility.”
“You’re wrong. Marguarita didn’t know it when she spoke to you, but circumstances have changed. She didn’t know I was on my way to fetch her and her daughter.”
“Yeah, well why didn’t she know? Couldn’t your lily-livered brother write a letter?” A sneer pulled at Jenny’s lips.
“He did write. He wrote a hundred letters to Marguarita, letters she never bothered to answer.”
“So you say. I happen to know Marguarita didn’t get any letters from good old Robert. She sure as hell didn’t know that Robert had sent for her. Do you think I’d be involved if she’d known you were on the way to fetch her?”
The cowboy stared at her with a thoughtful expression. “Dona Theodora,” he said finally. “That’s the only explanation. Dona Theodora intercepted the letters and kept them from Marguarita.”
“Untie me, damn it!”
The cowboy stood and glanced toward the bed, where Graciela slept in a fashionable little traveling outfit.
“I don’t know why I’m bothering to say this,” he stated, looking back at Jenny.
“But what you said was correct. If Marguarita had known I was coming for her, you’d be shot full of holes.
You would not be involved in a matter that doesn’t concern you.
The point I’m making is that you’re out of this now. Graciela has family.”
“Yeah, well Cousin Luis and Cousin Chulo are family, too, and if they get their hands on Graciela, she’s as good as dead,” Jenny snapped, scowling up at him. “That’s what family does for you.”
“I’ve been thinking about this. You’re right about Luis and Chulo being family. I don’t think the cousins would kill a member of their own family. I think they’ll go for ransom.”
Jenny made a snorting sound. “Don’t kid yourself, Uncle Ty. Graciela is the only thing standing between the cousins and the Barrancas fortune. You saw Luis and Chulo. Hell yes, they’d kill her. Why settle for ransom when they can inherit everything?”
“If they go for ransom, they can hit Barrancas and my brother. If they kill her, the only target is Don Antonio’s fortune. That’s too shortsighted.”
“The cousins don’t know your brother from a plate of beans,” Jenny snapped.
“I’ll bet my mules and my rig that—” No, her mules and her rig were long gone.
“But they do know about Don Antonio’s wealth, and they know they’re next in line once the kid dies.
Count on it. If the cousins get Graciela, she’s dead. ”
“You’re a surprising woman,” he said suddenly. “This conversation isn’t at all what I expected.”
“Untie me!” She jerked and yanked at the ropes.
Pulling her head back, he inserted the napkin into her mouth, then inspected his blackened fingers. “What the hell did you put on your hair?”
Shaking his head, he wiped his hands on his trousers, then walked to the bed and awkwardly lifted Graciela in his arms. At the door he looked back at Jenny.
“By the time someone finds you, we’ll be halfway to Verde Flores.
” Frowning, he hesitated, then spoke with reluctance.
“I deeply regret that it was necessary to hit you. And I’m obliged for what you’ve done for my niece,” he said stiffly.
Jenny glared bullets. “Oo on a a itch!”
Suddenly he grinned and winked at her. “You were better looking as a redhead. Wash that black stuff out of your hair.” He stepped into the hallway with Graciela in his arms and closed the door behind him. Jenny heard his boots receding down the narrow hallway.
Swearing and fighting to spit out the napkin, Jenny struggled furiously against the ropes. Twenty minutes later, she fell back in the chair, exhausted.
Letting her head fall backward, she stared up at the ceiling.
Marguarita, I heartily wish I’d never laid eyes on you.
You couldn’t help out a little, could you?
Oh no. You’ve got to make this as hard as it can be.
It wasn’t enough to have the stinking cousins.
You had to throw in an uncle. What the hell is this, a test?
After a while her thoughts settled and it occurred to her that she had an idea where Ty Sanders was going, and, more importantly, she knew where he was not going. He wasn’t going to Verde Flores. At least not immediately.
It irritated the bejesus out of her that he thought she was stupid enough to fall for a cheap trick. If you’re running from someone, you don’t tell her where you’re going. Hell, she’d learned that dodge before she was Graciela’s age.
Since there wasn’t much else to do, since she was bound and gagged, she devoted the rest of the night to figuring out how she would get the kid back.