Paper Woman: A Mystery of the American Revolution by Suzanne Adair Page B

She liked seeing him off
balance.   "I don't owe you
anything."
    "I knew
it!   You're a flaming Tory with a
redcoat lover!"
    Of course a
flaming rebel would view a neutral as a flaming Tory.   "You're an ignorant, arrogant hog farmer who hasn't any
sense.   You fancy Lieutenant Fairfax
stupid.   You've no inkling of all he
knows, or what he'll do to confirm his suspicions."   She must have struck a nerve, for MacVie
sucked in a breath, and his swarthy face paled at the mention of his favorite
ghoul.   "Out with it!   Why did you kill my father and Jonah?"
    "I-I
didn't do it."   His shoulders
sagged, and he hung his head.   His hands
shook, though whether from rage or fear she wasn't sure.   "El Serpiente killed them.   I had nothing to do with it.   None of us did.   We weren't bought out, no matter what you think."
    "Liar.   Why would a Spaniard kill a rebel?"
    He jutted a
sullen lip at her.   "All I know is
that he has his own interests in this war."
    More
subterfuge.   It sure looked as though
they'd be chasing El Serpiente to St. Augustine.   "Have you any idea where El Serpiente was headed?"   MacVie shook his head in negation, but she
doubted he was ignorant of the meeting in St. Augustine.
    Jacques crossed
his arms high on his chest.   "You
claim he murdered Will and Jonah.   How
do you know it?   Did you see their
murders?"
    MacVie regarded
the ceiling again.   "I was coming
home from Donald's house and saw flames on my property.   I rode over fast, thinking a fire was
spreading.   That's when I saw Will tied
to the stake and the Spaniards watching him burn."
    David's jaw
hung slack.   "Didn't you try to
stop them?"
    "No.   Will was already dead."
    "What
about my nephew?   Was he dead,
too?"
    "Yes."   MacVie refused to look at them.   "Lying there on the ground.   I figure the Spaniards got both of
them."
    Sophie raised
her hands, elbows bent, in a gesture of exasperation.   "What were my father and Jonah doing on your property at
that time of night?"
    "How
should I know?"
    "Why
didn't you tell the soldiers you were a witness?"
    "Oh,
indeed.   They know I've no love for
their poxy king.   They'd have charged me
with the murders, just to lock me up."
    "A
pleasant thought.   What time did all
this happen?"
    MacVie glowered
at her.   "One-fifteen,
one-thirty."
    Her eyebrow
shot up.   Impossible.   The Spaniards had been to her home looking
for Will at one o'clock.   There wasn't
enough time for them to have him mostly burned at the stake by one-thirty.   "Who flayed El Serpiente's
partner?"
    He gulped and
blanched.   "I don't know.   Sneaked away to my home after that so as the
Spaniards didn't catch me."
    MacVie at least
suspected who'd killed the other Spaniard.   If any portion of his tale was true, he'd had good reason to sneak away
from the gruesome site so he didn't get caught, too.   Only one person in Alton made his face pale.   "I'm surprised you haven't leaped to
avenge the murder of your fellows."
    He pondered
several seconds.   "El Serpiente
ain't traveling alone."
    "His
accomplice was flayed alive."
    "Aye, but
— but he has two others."
    From how
quickly he blurted it, she knew he was lying yet again.   "Oh?   You saw them?   Where?"
    "No.   I overheard him at the murder site telling
the other Spaniard where they were all going to meet and camp last night.   North, he said, to discourage pursuit."
    "Ah, you
speak Spanish, then?"
    Puzzled, he
frowned at her while he worked out the logistics that the two Spaniards
wouldn't have spoken English to each other.   "Aye, a little.   So you see,
it ain't safe chasing him.   Besides
—"   MacVie grew moody.   "Glory ain't for everybody.   Some of us got to stay behind and pick up
the pieces when things go wrong."
    She
acknowledged the shrewd expressions of both David and Jacques, reading in them
the same suspicions she held.   They'd
have to bring MacVie along on the chase for El Serpiente because the