The China Bride

that maybe you had a point. You're too damned persuasive.'

Limbs shaking from effort, Troth reached the top of the back wall and hauled herself up. Then she made the mistake of looking down at the sheer drop of the crag below. If she fell…

She closed her eyes against waves of dizziness, reminding herself faintly that there was a rim of land below that she'd probably hit if she fell. Possible death rather than the sure doom of falling down the crag. Besides, there was no reason to fall; the walls of this old fortress were all several handspans wide, easy to walk along.

Most of all, she had to do this, or she and Kyle would both die here.

Head steady, she climbed to her feet and began walking along the wall as fast as she dared in the stiff wind. Storm clouds were approaching rapidly and rain would make the stones far more treacherous.

'I have a deal for you, Maxwell,' Logan shouted. 'I'd rather your body was found without bullet holes in it. If you throw down your pistol and come out, you can die in a nice quick fall off the cliff rather than gut-shot and howling with agony.'

Kyle laughed as if they were discussing a minor wager rather than murder. 'Either way I'm dead. What's the advantage of surrendering to you tamely?'

Troth reached the end of the second building. The roofless shell ahead of her was higher but not by much. Wind tearing at her garments, she clawed her way to the top of the third building and paused for another survey.

She'd reached the northwest corner and had a clear view of most of the courtyard. The building where she perched was right next to the guardhouse, with both buildings built out from the battlements. By looking down and to her right, she had a clear view of Logan and Scouse, who were lounging in the entrance to the guardhouse with their rifles.

Almost directly opposite them was the door to the keep, with Kyle concealed just to the left. Since he had only a pistol, there was no need for Logan and Scouse to hide. Even if their quarry charged out of the keep, his hand weapon wouldn't be effective across the width of the courtyard.

She recognized Scouse from Canton. Burly and bullet headed, he was well known in the gin shops and brothels of the Settlement. He'd started as a common sailor before the mast and worked his way up to captain by brute strength and cunning. Even though she had wing chun, he would be a very dangerous opponent.

'The advantage of cooperation is that I swear on my mother's grave that I'll see your body is discovered so your family will know you're dead,' Logan replied. 'Otherwise you'll simply disappear, and they'll never know what happened.'

Troth sucked in her breath, knowing how much such a threat would affect Kyle. Too angry to delay his reply, Kyle shouted, 'You bastard!'

Logan heard the anger also, and roared with laughter. 'Now, now, you insult my mother, who was as sour and upright a woman as ever lived.' His amusement vanished. 'The longer you make me wait, the more likely I am to decide to hide your body in the hills where no one but the crows will ever find it. You're going to die, Maxwell, but if you surrender soon enough, at least you'll have some say about how it happens.'

She started along the top of the last wall. Once she reached the end, she'd be able to climb down to the wall-walk that ran inside the battlements, and from there she could enter the guardhouse and attack. But for now, she must tread warily. If Logan or Scouse turned they'd immediately see her silhouetted against the sky. Her skin crawled at the knowledge of what an easy target she'd make.

She was midwall when the storm hit in a blast of rain that almost knocked her from her precarious ridge of stone. She crouched immediately to regain her balance and was soaked to the skin in seconds. Chilled to the bone, she began creeping forward again.

Logan and Scouse cursed at the onslaught of rain. On instinct she flattened herself along the wall on her belly just before they turned to glare up at the clouds. The storm darkened the sky enough that they didn't notice her clinging, terrified, to the wall. In her soaked garments, she must blend in with the irregular stones.

As she lay there, heart pounding, Scouse said something to Logan, making a sweeping gesture toward the battlements and the south wall of the courtyard. They exchanged several sentences, and she got the impression they were arguing. Then Logan shrugged, conceding the point. Scouse crossed to the rear of the guardhouse and began to climb the steep stone staircase that led to the wall-walk.

Horrified, she realized that the sea captain must have told Logan that they could end this quickly if he followed the wall-walk to the south wall, which separated the courtyard from the lower castle. Crossing the south wall would bring him to the lowest window at the south end of the keep-and from there he'd be able to murder Kyle with a single shot. Easier to dispose of bodies for crows to eat than to stay out in the rain.

Knowing Kyle would have no chance if Scouse reached the keep window, Troth scrambled to her feet and raced recklessly toward the sea captain, praying that she could get down to the wall-walk and catch up with him before it was too late. The swift squall abated to a spattering of drops, which helped a little with the footing, but she guessed this was only a lull, with more rain coming.

Kyle yelled, 'Maybe I'll cooperate in my own murder, but with one condition.'

'Aye?'

'Spare Troth Montgomery's life. She's no part of this.'

Another chilling laugh from Logan. 'Ah, but she is. She'll be royally pissed to know I got her sent to Canton after her father's death rather than back to Scotland.'

After a startled moment, Kyle said, 'So you were behind that. Did you have something to do with Hugh Montgomery's death?'

'I didn't cause the typhoon that sank his ship, but when his comprador told me the girl had a bit of fever, the letter I sent to Hugh in Singapore implied that his precious daughter might be deathly ill.' Logan laughed. 'That maybe brought him back to Macao faster than was wise during the storm season.'

The shock was so intense that Troth skidded on the wet stones and started to fall. She managed to twist and come down belly-first onto the stone, knocking the breath from her body. She clung there, stunned at the knowledge that Logan had orchestrated her father's death. There had been no risk to Logan. If her father had reached Macao safely, his partner could have said innocently that he'd misunderstood the severity of Troth's illness, but God be praised, the lassie was all right now. He was a devil!

'Why did you do that?' Kyle called, his voice shaken.

'Hugh was pleasant enough, but a fool. Like you, he didn't believe in opium trading. With him dead, I took the money and bought five hundred chests of the best Indian opium. That day was the beginning of my fortune.'

So that was why her father had apparently died penniless. Logan must have also spread the rumors that had tarnished her father's name, since discrediting Hugh Montgomery had made his swinish partner look better.

Cold with rage, Troth rose and closed the dozen feet to the end of the building, then swung around and started to feel her way down toward the wall-walk. It was several feet wide, so when she finally reached it she'd be able to catch up with Scouse in seconds.

'You're a clever man, Logan,' Kyle said, a good imitation of reluctant admiration in his voice. 'You also know China. Montgomery's daughter is more Chinese than European now. If you spare her, she'll go with you willingly to Macao.'

'She wants to return to the East? '

'Can't wait to leave-she's badly disappointed in Scotland and has made me promise to send her back. Britain is too damned cold, and she's angry because her father apparently claimed his family was wealthy. You saw them- they're only a couple of steps up from crofters, and she wants better than that. If you take her as a concubine, I guarantee you'll not regret it. She was one of Chenqua's women, and she's the best in bed I've ever known-and believe me, I've had more than my share of women. It would be a pity to waste such talent by killing her.'

As Troth blinked at Kyle's lies, she saw Logan stiffen with interest, but his reply was wary. 'How can I be sure she won't slit my throat for revenge?'

'Logan, she's Chinese,'' Kyle said with elaborate patience. 'She's been trained to submit completely to her master. Once you kill me, it will be obvious to her that you're a superior master. She'll do anything you want in return for some jewelry now and then and maybe a slave girl to beat. Understand what I mean when I say she'll do anything?'

From Logan's posture, Troth guessed that Kyle's suggestive tone had released a flood of fevered imaginings. 'So she was one of Chenqua's whores,' the trader said hoarsely. 'No wonder he was so quick to take her back to