Tynan released her hands but she still stayed in his lap. “I heard he has business around here.”
“There are rumors that he’s involved in whatever evil trick has been pulled lately, but no one’s been able to prove anything yet. The law’s terrified of him.”
Tynan was quiet for a moment. “You said this place of his was guarded. How well guarded?”
“An army post could learn from him. He has men patrolling his big house night and day—and they have dogs on leashes at night. Anybody even gets close and the dogs are let loose. They say those dogs can really take you apart.”
“Has anyone ever made it inside?” Asher asked.
“Why would anybody be stupid enough to want to try?” the woman asked, looking from one man to the other.
“Belle, you know anybody who’s been in the place? Somebody we could ask questions?”
Belle looked down at her hands. “To tell you the truth, I was in there last year. I went with some other girls and…. Tynan, I don’t like to think about what happened that night.”
Tynan pulled the woman to him, hiding her face in his shoulder. “Dysan has a young woman now and he’s holding her captive. Prescott and I plan to get her out so I need all the help I can get. If you could tell me anything that you remember about the place, a way in, the floor plan of the house, whatever you can remember, I’d sure appreciate it.”
Belle moved away from his shoulder. “You don’t deserve my help, not after the way you tore up my place, but I’ll do what I can.” She looked at him in a seductive way. “I’ll do it in memory of that time down in San Antonio. You remember that?”
“Every day of my life,” Ty said, smiling. “I use it to judge everything else by. Prescott, you got any paper? Belle’s going to draw us a plan.”
Ty pushed her off his lap while Asher managed to move his stiffening leg so he could get to his horse. Minutes later, the three of them were hunched over a map Belle was making, and an hour later, the two men were mounting their horses again.
Belle looked up at Tynan. “By the way, Ty, there was some guy through town yesterday lookin’ for you.”
“What’d he look like?”
“Tall, skinny, long red hair. His arm was in a sling and he walked with a limp. Seemed real anxious to see you.”
Tynan leaned down from the horse and kissed her lingeringly. “You tell him you saw me about forty miles south of here.”
She smiled at him. “Maybe. I might consider it if you come back through here and make it up to me about what you did to my saloon.”
“I might do that.” Ty smiled at her, then was off, heading north toward Dysan’s house.
Chapter Nineteen
Pilar was sitting on the floor, leaning against the foot of the bed, and, in spite of her good intentions, she was asleep and didn’t hear anyone in the room until a hand covered her mouth, startling her awake.
“Tynan?” she asked in disbelief. “Is that you?”
“Where’s Chris?” he asked at once.
Pilar sat up straighter. “I don’t know. She’s been gone for hours and I heard the dogs and men yelling but I didn’t hear anything from her. Ty, I’m worried about her.”
Tynan’s face showed what he thought of Chris leaving the room. “How did she get out?”
Pilar started to stand. “We tore the bed sheets into strips and she went down through the window. Ty! You’re injured. Here, sit down.”
“I don’t have time. I have to find her and soon. Leave that alone, it’s not bad, just a couple of dog bites. Why in the hell did you let her go? I don’t expect her to have any sense, but you, Pilar, I expected more from you. I told you to watch her.”
“How was I supposed to stop her? Dysan said that he’d sent out over a hundred men to stop anyone from finding us. You could have been dead for all we knew and then Chris said Dysan wasn’t going to release us since we could identify him.”
“Has he contacted Mathison yet?”
“That’s what’s strange, Ty, I’m not sure Dysan knows who Chris is. He talked about her father committing suicide and about her husband being an embezzler. If he doesn’t know that Chris is wealthy, then why has he taken us?”
“I’ll worry about what’s on the man’s mind later. Right now, I’m more concerned about his guns. Did you see what Chris did when she reached the ground? Did she try leaving the grounds or did she go back into the house? She just loves snooping in people’s private papers.”