Page 7 of Calder Country

Mason watched the plane do loops and barrel rolls. These were standard fare for most air shows, but he had to admire the skill and courage involved in the stunts. It took a special kind of bravery—or perhaps madness—to put on such a display. The pilot could have flown in the war, although he looked too old to have been in combat.

And too old to be married to that stunning woman. She was no young filly, but she couldn’t be much over thirty. Maybe she was his daughter—but the ring on her finger didn’t lie. The beauty was taken.

The plane circled and raised its nose, climbing until it was little more than a dot against the blue. Mason could guess what was coming next—a parachute jump. Was that why the woman had gone up in the plane? Was she going to be the jumper?

What was the old man thinking? Mason muttered a curse. So help him, if the Fates were to give him a woman like that one, he would never risk her anywhere near a plane. He would keep her in a mansion, dress her like a queen, and make love to her every night.

He savored the fantasy for a moment, letting it dissolve slowly, like the sweet taste of brandy on his tongue. Someday he would have the mansion, the wealth, and a woman made for treasuring—not the woman he’d just met, but one equally beautiful and meant only for him.

He would have it all—any way he could get it.

CHAPTER THREE

RUBY HAD TAKEN OVER THE CONTROLS. WITH THE STICK AND FOOT pedals, she kept the plane stable while her father, wearing parachute gear, climbed out of the cockpit and onto the lower wing. This was the most dangerous part of the stunt, when the wrong move on her part could throw him off before he was in position. She gripped the stick, balancing the pedal bar and holding steady.

Grasping a strut for support, he dropped to a crouch and hurled himself into space. When she knew he was clear, she banked the plane, turning it around for the long descent to the field. A downward glance confirmed that her father’s war surplus parachute had opened. It floated below like a billowing white blossom, growing smaller with distance. Now it would be up to her to land the plane.

Ruby flew with more confidence when her father wasn’t with her. The awareness that he was watching her every move and that his survival, along with her own, was in her hands, tended to make her nervous. Flying alone, with the wind sweeping past her face and the engine throbbing in her ears, she felt a rare sense of freedom, as if nothing mattered except the moment, not even her life.

She had married her childhood sweetheart, Brandon Weaver, trusting that their love would give them a lifetime of happiness together. Then the war had come. That great and noble cause had taken her beloved husband and returned a stranger, scarred and blistered by mustard gas, which had done as much damage to the inside of his body as to the outside. After many months in an army hospital, he’d been released to come home to her in Missoula. Ruby had done everything in her power to make him feel loved and valued. But she had fought a losing battle. Depression had eaten away his will to live. She’d come home from running errands one day to find his body hanging from a rafter in their barn.

Days later, Ruby had lost the baby she was carrying. For months afterward, she hadn’t cared whether she lived or died.

It had taken her widowed father to rouse her from her fog of pain, guilt, sleeping powders, and laudanum. He had nursed her back to health and brought her with him into the sky. Flying had probably saved her life. But the darkness was still there, deep inside, where she kept it hidden.

Maybe that was why she hadn’t said no last night when he’d told her about his latest “business opportunity.” A few days earlier, a prosperous-looking friend from his past had approached him after one of the air shows and taken him aside for a private talk. Only last night had Ruby learned what the man had in mind. He and a group of associates were looking for pilots to deliver their product by air. Ruby didn’t need to ask what that product would be.

“Think about it, Ruby.” Her father’s eyes had shone with an excitement Ruby hadn’t seen in years. “The pay for one delivery would be more than we’re making in a month of air shows. We could have a real home somewhere. No more living on the road. If the arrangement works out, they’ll even buy me a bigger plane to carry more weight.”

“But what about the revenuers? What if we get caught?” Ruby had demanded. “We could end up going to prison.”

“I’m aware of the risk. That’s why there’ll be no ‘we’ in this venture. I’ll be making the runs alone. I’m not getting any younger, girl. If anything happens to me, I don’t want to leave you with nothing.”

Ruby had stood firm. “You know I won’t go along with that, Dad. If you decide to get into this business, I’ll be right there with you. That’s the only arrangement I’ll accept. Think about that before you say yes to your friends.”

Ruby had hoped her stand would dissuade him. But something told her that Art Murchison had already made up his mind. It was time to prepare for whatever was to happen next.

Now, as the plane descended, she could see the field below. Her father had landed safely and was keeping the crowd back to clear the way for her landing.

Calm and in control, she aligned the plane’s path with the improvised landing strip and glided earthward. She felt the bump as the wheels touched down and rumbled over the uneven ground. Her thundering pulse eased as she taxied the plane across the field to where her father stood, with the crowd waiting behind him.

After switching off the engine, she climbed out of the cockpit, lifted away her goggles, and pulled off her helmet. Her sweat-dampened hair tumbled loose in the light breeze. She had finished piloting the plane for the day. Her father would fly the paid rides while she packed the parachute and kept an eye on the thinning crowd.

Most of the people who’d come for the show but lacked the desire or the cash for a plane ride were leaving. Only a handful stayed to watch the four brave souls—three younger men and a tall, plain-looking, blond woman—queue up for their fifteen-minute flight.

The man at the front of the line was talking to Ruby’s father. They seemed to be arguing about something. As Ruby left the plane and walked closer, she recognized him—tall and handsome with chestnut hair, mocking green eyes, and a broken nose that gave him a rakish look. She’d had to ask him twice to hold out his hand for the stamp. When their eyes had met, she’d felt a subtle tension, an unvoiced challenge.

Seeing him with her father, she felt it again. Something in the man’s looks and manner whispered trouble.

“Ruby, this gentleman has a special request,” her father said. “He has a coupon for a free plane ride. But he’s offering to pay double the regular price if you’ll be his pilot. I told him that would be up to you.”

Ruby hesitated. She’d never taken a passenger up before, and there was something unsettling about the man. “What if I say no?” she asked her father.

“Then I’ll accept his coupon and give him his free ride if he still wants it,” Art said.

Ruby sighed. Eight dollars was enough to pay for their meals and rooms in Miles City, where they’d be spending the night. Still, she hesitated.

“Why would you pay extra for me?” she demanded, speaking to the stranger for the first time. “My father’s a much more experienced pilot. I don’t have my license yet. It probably isn’t even legal for me to fly with a passenger.”

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