Datiye flinched. “Yesterday.”
“When was the last time you saw her?”
Datiye thought. “Not today, maybe not yesterday. But definitely the night before.”
He stared at her, suddenly alert to some nuance in her tone. “What are you hiding from me? Did you know she was leaving me?”
She hesitated. “No.”
“You knew!” He was sure of it then, saw the lie in her eyes. He grabbed her, raising his hand, about to backhand her with all the pain and rage he was feeling. She didn’t flinch. He caught himself just in time and dropped his hand, clenching his fist tightly. “Tell me everything, Datiye, now. If you don’t—I will beat it out of you.”
“She wanted to go,” Datiye suddenly cried. “After she saved Shoshi, I could not refuse her help when she asked me for it—especially when she asked in the Apache way. How could I refuse?”
“Damn you,” Jack snarled. He paced rigidly. “When? When did she leave?”
“Before dawn, the morning after you left,” Datiye said.
“Four days,” he gritted. “She’s had four days headstart!” He wanted to kill her. “If anything’s happened to her …”
“It is her right to divorce you,” Datiye said defensively.
“Just like it’s my right to divorce you!” Jack said harshly. He was too angry to care. She had betrayed him, and helped Candice to leave, possibly jeopardizing her and Christina’s life. He would never forgive her; even now he could barely look at her.
“Please,” she said softly. “I could not refuse her.”
“You owed me more than you owed her,” Jack said coldly. “I am going to find her, Datiye, and when I do, Candice and I will be leaving—forever.”
“No,” she said.
“Be glad I leave our son with you. Because it’s almost in my heart to deny you even him.”
Datiye blinked back tears. “She is not worth your love.”
“Maybe not, and you’re probably right—but she has it anyway.” He went and resaddled the black. He had to leave that night. Had she really gone East? With what money? No! By now she would be at the High C. He hoped. And if she wasn’t at the High C, she was in trouble—maybe dead.
Don’t think of that!
He remembered with utter clarity how he had found her almost a year ago, lying more dead than alive in the desert. And then she hadn’t had an infant with her. He tried to shut out the horrible image. The fool! If he found her he’d beat the hell out of her!
You can’t give us what we need.
He inhaled sharply. God, she had left him. She had made a choice and left him. How could she have done it? Couldn’t she have trusted him? Loved him enough to trust him?She didn’t love him.
It didn’t matter. She was a fool to think he’d let her go, no matter what her feelings were. Not now. He was too selfish to live without her, even if she hated him. He would get her back. And this time he would win her heart if it took the rest of his life.
“Are you coming back?” Datiye asked fearfully.
“I will come back, to say good-bye to Shoshi,” Jack told her grimly.
“My brother leaves again so soon?” Cochise asked, stepping out of the shadows.
He stared harshly. “It is done. Morris is dead. Now I must go after my wife.” He almost spat out the last word.
“I know,” Cochise said seriously.
Jack stared. “You know she is gone?”
“I found out a short time ago that she is at Fort Buchanan.”
