1800s. San Antonio, Texas: In room 207 at the Longhorn Saloon, in the long shadow of the Alamo itself, a woman renowned for her beauty was brutally murdered. Her killer was never found.
One year ago: In that same historic room, another woman vanished without a trace. Her blood was everywhere...but her body was never recovered.
Now: In the last month, San Antonio has become a dumping ground for battered bodies. All young women, many of them long missing, almost all forgotten. Until now.
Texas Ranger Logan Raintree cannot sit by and let his citys most vulnerable citizens be slain. So when he is approached to lead a brand-new group of elite paranormal investigators working the case, he has no choice but to accept the challenge. And with it, his powerful ability to commune with the dead.
Among Logans new team is Kelsey OBrien, a U.S. marshal known for her razor-sharp intuition and a toughness that belies her delicate exterior. Kelsey has been waiting all her life to work with someone who can understand her ability to see the past unfolding in the present. Now she has her chance.
Together, Kelsey and Logan follow their instincts to the Alamo and to the newly reopened Longhorn, which once tempted heroes with drink, cards and women. If the spirits of those long-dead Texans are really appearing to the victims before their deaths, only Kelsey and Logan have the skills to find out why.
And if something more earthly is menacing the citys oldest, darkest corners, only they can stop itbefore more innocent women join the company of San Antonios restless ghosts....
The Unseen
Heather Graham
www.mirabooks.co.uk
For Kathryn Falk, Ken Rubin, Jo Carol Jones, Sharon Murphy,
Lisa and Chris, Barney, and the Cumbess family in memory of Maw.
And to all the great friends Ive made
who live in and love the Great State of Texas!
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Epilogue
Texas Recipes
Prologue
Galveston Island, Texas
Spring, 1835
The moon that night was enchanting. Rose Langley walked barefoot on the beach, looking up at the splendor in the sky. She had no idea what had caused this beautiful spectacle; she just knew shed never seen anything like it. It was a large and shimmering half crescent, and behind it, like a silent and glowing echo, was a second half crescent. Once upon a time, she might have gone to her tutor, Mr. Morenoso old, soft-spoken and wiseand asked him where such an intriguing sky had come from. He would have studied it and perhaps told her that one of the other planets was aligned with the moon. Or, perhaps, he might have said it was an illusion created by cloud cover or by tiny dewdrops in the air that didnt quite become rain.
But, of course, she couldnt ask Mr. Moreno anything. Shed given him up, along with anything that resembled decency and a respectable life when shed become convinced that her father was cruel and unreasonable, incapable of seeing what a wonderful, illustrious man Taylor Grant would prove to be.
Shed run away from the gentility of her home in New Orleans, certain that Taylor loved her and that her world with him would be wonderful.
She tried to think only of the moon and feel its enchantment. But she could hear the men back at the saloon. Pirates Covean apt name for a saloon, since Galveston Island had first been settled by the pirate Lafitte. Lafitte was long gone. Older men, remnants of the pirates day, still sat in the bar, where they drank and cursed and spoke of the days of Spanish rule and French rule, Spanish rule again and the coming independence of Texas. It was all talk. Galveston was a rising port city, and there were plenty of ill-gotten gains to be found here. Maybe a few of the men would be leaving to take up arms for Texas, but for the most part, they were lecherous miscreants who seemed to sit around all day drinking, smelling worse and worse by the hour. And theyd get Taylor drinking, and hed have no money, and hed convince them to pay for her servicesand convince her that theyd pass out as soon as they were alone with her. They generally did, though not always quickly enough . She winced, staring up at the moon. She would feel sweaty and horrid, and the stench of them would stay with her long after theyd passed out, and even walking into the waters of the bay would not erase that stench.
She could hear the laughter and the curses and the bawdy remarks. And sometimes, she could hear the feigned laughter of one of the saloon whoreswomen who were mostly old and used up, who poured on the perfume and accepted small amounts of money and whiskey or rum for their quick services.
Taylor had turned her into one of them.
Tears stung her eyes. She tried to pretend shed never left home and she was just a young woman walking on a beach beneath a whimsical moon. But it didnt change a thing. And it couldnt ease the pain that suddenly filled her.
She still loved Taylor. After everything he had done to her. She was such a fool!
Rose!
The sound of his excited cry made her turn. Taylor had come out of the saloon, and he was running toward her. She saw, as he breathlessly reached her, that his eyes were glittering.
His excitement, however, was no longer contagious to her.
What is it, Taylor? she asked him.
Finally! Finally, Ive made the play that will get us out of here. Rose, my darling Rose, look at this!
He produced a ring.
She remembered jewelry. She remembered good jewelry, like the cross her father had bought on a business trip to Italy, and the beautiful little pearl-drop earrings her mother had given her on her fourteenth birthday. Shed never owned magnificent pieces, just the gold and semiprecious gems that were the cherished items of a young girl on a working plantation.
Still, she knew good jewelry.
And this piece was far more than simply good. It was probably worth her fathers entire plantation. The glowing illumination of the strange moon picked up on the brilliance of the diamond in the delicate gold setting. The diamond was multifaceted, shimmering with an assortment of colors; it had to be five carats, if not more.
And it seemed to have a life of its own. It was almost as if the fiery brilliance of the gem burned in her hand.
Rose stared at Taylor. Hed been drinking, but he was sober. His beautiful blue eyes were on her with tenderness, and his lipsweak lips, in a beautiful but weak jawwere curved into a loving and tremulous smile.
Yes, despite all that he had done to her, he loved her, really loved her.
Where did you get this? she asked.
I started playing poker, and the other fellows had taken their winnings and moved on, and I was still playing with old Marleyyou remember, the decrepit old man who says he sailed with Lafitte. He put this on the table, and he said Lafitte himself had called it the Galveston diamond. Once upon a time, it belonged to the Habsburg kings! It came off a Spanish ship Lafitte took in the days before the War of 1812. Rose! Marley swears Lafitte gave him the diamond, although he likely stole it. But that doesnt matter. He had itand we have it now. Its the key to our salvation. We can go anywhere. You never have to be with those old bastards again, and we dont have to sleep on a beach. We can get married, buy horses, join the Texans, make a land claim
Taylor, Texas is going to war! We have to get out of here. And weve got to do it tonightbefore someone realizes you have this. Rose felt his excitement, but despite its beauty, there was something about the gem she didnt like. She wanted to goright then. And she wanted them to sell the stoneat whatever price. Theyd have to be paid enough to get by, but after that The most important thing was that they escape now. Quickly. She was willing to leave what paltry items they had in the tiny room that was all they could afford and just run down the beach. Along with her own growing excitement, she felt a growing sense of danger.
Was it the diamond? Was it warning heror was it causing her fear?
Oh, the others dont know about it, and even if they did, the thing is supposed to be cursed, Taylor said. It seems the princesses or whoever had it died young. Ive got a bit more in winnings. Were going to buy horses and get out of here. Well leave at first light. And if we cant buy land, well go back east. Well go to Virginia or maybe all the way to New York!
For a moment, the curious moon appeared to be luminescent, shining down on them with the sweetest of blessings.
And then she heard a commotion, coming from the saloon.
Taylor, whats happening? she whispered.
There were men running toward them. She started to back away, but there was nowhere to run. This was an island. The beach stretched on for miles here and headed into bracken.
Nowhere to run.
There he is. Get the bastard! one of the men shouted.
She felt pressure on her hand. Taylor was thrusting the ring into her grasp. She took it. And she knew that if these men were after the diamond, they would strip her down and search her on the beach. She pretended to push back a stray lock of hair and stuck the diamond in her chignon.
Her heart thundered. Five men had come out; one was Matt Meyer, known for scalping Indians in Tennessee. He was surrounded by his henchmenrough frontiersmen whod seen better days, but who had never lost their talent for brutality.
She stepped forward. Gentlemen, what is the problem? she demanded. She moved past Taylor, praying theyd hesitate before actually offering physical violence.
She was forgetting herself. And them.
Meyer grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her on the sand. Cheater! he said to Taylor. Where the hell is my watch and fob?
What? Taylor shrieked. I didnt cheat, and I dont have your watch and fob! I swear, I swear on all thats holy, I
Men, Meyer said quietly.
They descended on Taylor. They beat him as they stripped him naked and left him half-dead in the sand. Rose cried out in horror, but her one attempt to stop them was quickly diverted as one of the men backhanded her in the face and sent her down again, her mind reeling.