Authors: Johanna Lindsey
T
wo days later, Casey arrived halfway through the dinner Damian was again sharing with her parents, to give them the news. She really hadn’t thought it would be this quick. When she had decided to come to Chicago, her reason hadn’t been just to find Jack Curruthers.
She still remembered her mother questioning her motives when she found her packing. “You’re going to help him, aren’t you?” she’d asked.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I like to finish something I start. And this isn’t finished.”
“That’s your only reason?”
“No,” Casey had admitted with a sigh.
Courtney had tapped her foot impatiently. “Well, don’t make me drag it out of you.”
Casey had sat down on her bed to explain. “I’m going to take your advice, Mama—to a degree. I’ll at least give Damian a chance to suggest marriage. But if he can’t do it on his own,
then I don’t want him. So don’t interfere, Mama, and I mean that.”
Courtney hadn’t been too happy about that, but had agreed. And Casey had thought there would be ample time for Damian to figure out that she could make him a fine wife. It had even seemed promising when she’d caught him staring at her a number of times in that way of his that could set her insides to fluttering. But in the end, he seemed only concerned with finding Jack.
And now she’d found him.
She didn’t make excuses for joining them late and not sending a message this time. She simply sat down at their table and announced without preamble, “I’ve located Jack.”
Chandos nodded at her, not the least bit surprised by her swift success. Courtney huffed, “Well, I haven’t even begun my shopping,” to which Chandos chuckled and said, “What shopping?”
Damian wasn’t listening to either of them; he was incredulous, demanding, “Already? Are you positive?”
Casey shook her head. “Positive, no. I haven’t seen him yet myself. But he fits the description, as well as the time frame of his arrival in the city.”
“But how did you find him so easily, when I’ve had detectives working—”
“Don’t be hard on your detectives,” she cut in. “It was luck more’n anything else, and maybe asking things they didn’t think to.”
“Such as?”
“Well, I discovered that Jack had stayed at a
hotel near the river. But he wasn’t there long, only a few days. Yet it was a definite path to follow, so I talked to anyone and everyone who would have had anything to do with him or his room while he was there.”
“My detectives had checked
every
hotel in the city,” Damian said. “If you had bothered to read the reports, you would have known that.”
“If I’d read the reports, I might not have been as thorough, might not even have bothered checking the hotels. But you aren’t listening, Damian. I said it was a matter of luck. Turns out Jack was taking all his meals in his hotel room, and the young man named Milton Lewis, whose chore it was to collect the trays afterward, was sick one day while Jack was there. Milton’s brother had filled in for him, with only one other hotel employee aware of it. Apparently Milton’d been sick quite a bit this last year and had been threatened that he’d lose his job if he failed to show up again, so he’d tried to keep his supervisor from knowing he wasn’t there that day.”
“And he’s the one who knew something about Jack?” Damian asked.
“He didn’t, no. And I only got the information about his not being there from a slip he made when I was questioning him. He certainly hadn’t been willing to admit his deception—his brother and him look a lot alike, which is the only reason he’d managed it.”
“So you got to talk to Milton’s brother, whereas any others questioning Milton never even heard about this brother?” Chandos guessed.
“Exactly,” Casey said. “Milton gave me his
brother’s name and address, and I went to see him this afternoon. Seems Jack had gotten suspicious of the fellow’s nervousness. Jack would be, with so many folks searching for him. But the young man’s nervousness had nothing to do with Jack, of course, and to keep Jack from complaining to the supervisor, he was forced to admit the ruse the brothers were playing. Jack must have realized the man could help him, since he wouldn’t be there again, wouldn’t be one of the hotel employees who might get questioned about Jack, and so wouldn’t lead anyone to him.”
“But help him how?” Courtney asked.
Casey grinned. “Just goes to show how smart Jack is. He told the young man he’d say nothing about his taking over his brother’s job if he could find him a nice place to rent that he wouldn’t have to go through an agency to get.”
“And the young man did?”
“Oh, yes, he came back with an address that same day, he was so worried about it. Actually, it was
his
place. The young man figured it would be no big inconvenience for him to give it up and move in with his brother until he could find another rental himself. He just wanted to get Jack satisfied so he wouldn’t report the brothers. Jack wasn’t all that thrilled with the place and told him so, probably because it’s not in a high-rent area. But he must have figured it was too good to pass up, since chances were very low that anyone would be able to trace him to it, considering how he found it.”
“And he’s still there?”
Casey nodded. “According to the landlady.
He’s going by the name of Marion Adams, probably hoping the ‘Marion’ would be misleading, in that it’s a name a woman could have as well—just in case anyone on his trail got lucky enough to check out the building he’s in.”
“Then what are we waiting for?” Damian said as he stood up to leave.
“Morning,” Casey replied.
“Why?”
“Because Jack isn’t there right now,” she answered offhandedly. “I checked.”
That brought two immediate frowns from the men at the table. “You checked?” Chandos said first. “If you tell me you knocked on his door, I’m probably going to be locking yours, with you behind it.”
“Now, Daddy—”
“Didn’t you agree you wouldn’t try to apprehend Jack by yourself?” Damian said next. “I swear, Casey, that’s it, I’m not letting you out of my sight again.”
“Will you two stop?” Casey said in exasperation. “I have no desire to play the heroine here single-handedly. No, I didn’t knock. His room is on the third floor, right next to the stairs. The landlady had already told me he wasn’t in. She’s a nosy sort and keeps track of her tenants. But just to make sure, I threw an object up at his door, then waited out of sight on the second floor to hear if his door would open. It didn’t. I then retrieved the object so he wouldn’t wonder about it, and got out of there.”
“He could have returned while you were there and walked up behind you,” Damian
pointed out, still not convinced she hadn’t been at risk.
Casey merely smiled and pulled down the thick gauze on the upper edge of her bonnet. It covered most of her face, and was thick enough to conceal her features.
“He could have,” she said. “But he wouldn’t have recognized me.”
“All right,” Damian conceded. “But I still don’t want to wait until morning. He’ll return at some point tonight, and I want to be there…” His voice trailed off when Casey started shaking her head. “Why not?”
“It’s too dark in that building, with only a single window at the far end of the hall from his room, and that facing another building only a few feet away, so hardly any light gets in there in the day. None would get in after dark. And the hall lamp on his floor is broken. He’s probably been coming up to his room with a candle lately. Also, there are only two exits from any of those rooms—the door, and the fire escape behind the building. I checked out the back. Too many places for concealment if he managed to get down that way. The fire escape also goes up another two floors to the roof. That’s too many possible ways he can go in the dark, too easy for us to lose him again. At least in the morning, in full daylight, he won’t find concealment easy.”
Damian sighed, giving up. Chandos grinned and told him, “She doesn’t leave much to chance.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Damian mumbled.
T
hey all gathered just before sunrise the next morning, while the hotel was still quiet and the city reasonably so. The hope was that Jack would still be abed. Damian was good at breaking doors down, after all. Couldn’t manage a better surprise entrance than that.
Chandos decided to go along to cover the fire-escape exit. Casey had figured he would. It was all well and fine to allow that she and Damian could handle most any situation that arose, but as long as her father was already there and had no other plans…
Casey had brought her jeans along for the occasion, not wanting to be hampered by skirts. The poncho she’d left at home, though, the weather this far north requiring something a bit warmer than that mild-season garment. One of the thick, fleece-lined jackets she wore on the range in winter was more suitable.
They weren’t really expecting any trouble; at least Casey wasn’t. Jack didn’t have any hired guns here to protect him like he’d had in Texas.
If they did manage to catch him unawares, with no bullets fired, then they could conceivably be back at the hotel in time for breakfast.
The carriage that Casey had rented when she arrived in the city got them to Jack’s building just as the sun broke over the horizon. Chandos headed down the alley to position himself where he could still see the street out front as well as the fire escape in the back. Damian and Casey headed immediately upstairs.
Damian had his rifle with him. Casey had felt odd wearing her gun belt in the city, so she’d tucked her six-shooter in the pocket of her jacket, along with a slew of extra bullets just in case, but she drew it out now as they approached Jack’s door.
There was no sound inside the room, no light coming from under the door. Damian positioned himself, glanced back at Casey to see if she was ready, then threw his shoulder against the door.
It opened immediately. He was able to catch himself from falling into the room. But the room was empty. Jack’s belongings were still there, but he sure wasn’t.
Casey started checking around to be sure, while Damian growled, “Where the hell is he?”
She didn’t answer. She could feel his frustration; it was twice as bad as her own. And then she heard the bird call, faint but distinct, a bird not known to the cold climate of a northern city.
“That’s my father…”
“What?”
“He must have seen something. Get downstairs fast!” she said, running toward the door.
Damian didn’t argue. And he passed her on
the stairs, his longer legs sending him flying down. He was already climbing into the carriage when she burst out of the building. Chandos was waving at her to hurry. This wasn’t the time to ask what had happened.
Casey dived into the carriage just before her father set the single horse into a gallop. The animal wasn’t used to racing, but Chandos got some speed out of it. Damian helped Casey up onto the seat next to him, facing forward.
“Okay, what happened?” she asked the moment she caught her breath.
He pointed up the street in front of them. It wasn’t hard to notice the other vehicle driving just as recklessly as they were. But that didn’t tell her what had gone wrong with their plan—her plan. So she crawled up on the opposite seat from which she could better talk to her father in the driver’s perch, and tapped him on the shoulder.
He volunteered what she wanted to hear, shouting back at her, “Don’t know if he spotted you two or me, but I chanced to see him leap into a passing carriage before he was beyond my sight. He must have just come home, but got suspicious enough to want to leave in a big hurry. By the time I reached the street, he’d already pushed the driver out of the carriage and was halfway down the block. Left the poor man on the curb, screaming about a broken foot.”
“So we’re going to be as crazy as he is?” she shouted back. “This is dangerous!”
It was that. The street was teeming with traffic even at that early hour. Delivery wagons, people crossing the street, coaches and carriages of all
sizes. But Jack was plowing a path straight through it all, uncaring if he actually hit anything—and they were right behind him, their path already cleared by him. But curses and shouts followed both vehicles from angry folks who just managed to get out of the way in time.
“You’re right—and this old horse you rented isn’t going to last much longer,” Chandos told her. “Get ready to take him down. I’ll try to get a little closer.”
Hit him with a Colt from a bouncing carriage? Sure she would, Casey mumbled to herself as she dropped back into the seat next to Damian.
“You heard?” she asked him.
He nodded curtly. She stared at the rifle still gripped in his hand, then said, “You’re going to have to do it. There’s no way I can get off an accurate shot with all this motion, but you can brace that rifle of yours. Fire over his head first. Maybe he’ll have enough sense to stop before some innocent people get hurt.”
Damian didn’t answer, just moved into a better position on the other seat. With the rifle, they didn’t need to get any closer. It could span the distance between the two vehicles easily enough, whereas a handgun couldn’t.
Damian fired off the first shot. It didn’t stop Jack. But it might have been the deciding factor that caused him to turn into the next side street, hoping to get out of the line of fire. Jack’s horse was willing to follow his direction, even at that speed, but unfortunately, his carriage couldn’t manage such a sharp, abrupt turn. It flipped over onto its side, spilling Jack out of it, and
continued a few more yards before screeching to a halt.
A wagon had to veer up onto the sidewalk to avoid running over Jack, who’d been dumped right in front of it. That would have made no difference to Jack. The fall had killed him.
C
asey was already packing by the time Damian arrived at the hotel after dealing with the police. The hotel kept an updated train schedule on hand for its guests. The next train heading to Texas departed that afternoon.
She’d already told her parents that she meant to be on it, which hadn’t pleased them very much, all things considered. They’d been hoping for a different conclusion to this trip, after all—at least her mother had been.
Chandos was still of an “I’ll reserve judgment until after I see results” mind. In other words, he wasn’t going to like or accept Damian until he had witnessed him making Casey happy. There wasn’t much chance of that happening now.
Perhaps she was departing a bit quickly—again. She wasn’t really giving Damian an opportunity to think of other things, like marriage, now that his mind no longer had to dwell on Jack Curruthers’s capture. But the truth was, she was afraid to put it to the test, since he’d given
her no reason to think that marriage would ever enter his mind where she was concerned. And there had been enough occasions when he could have given her a hint or two, or at least have told her that he’d like to talk when they were finished with Jack.
But he hadn’t done that, so what difference would a few more days make? For all she knew, he could be planning on catching the train today as well.
He did show up at her room, though, to tell her the results of his meeting with the police—and that he had officially retired from his deputy marshal appointment. He said this standing outside her door, since she hadn’t opened it wide enough to invite him in. And it wasn’t until he had finished that he noticed the bed behind her and her clothes spread out on it, next to her traveling bag.
“You’re leaving—already?”
“Why not?”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Why not indeed?” he fairly growled. “I suppose you weren’t going to say good-bye this time either?”
“Did I miss something, or did you only ask for my help with Jack? That you got. But you sure do set a lot of store in good-byes, don’t you? Very well, consider it said.”
He burst out, “I swear, Casey, you can be the most exasperating—”
“What’d I do now?” she interrupted, frowning.
“Nothing. Not one damn thing,” he snarled and turned to leave.
She hated to see him go like that, annoyed
with her for—whatever reason. She would have liked to spend the rest of her life making him happy, but since that wasn’t going to be possible…there was one other thing she could do for him, or try to do, as a parting gesture.
“Damian…?”
He swung around so swiftly, he startled her into jumping back. She took a few seconds to calm her heartbeat. She didn’t notice he was trying to do the same.
“I didn’t want to mention it while your mind was so preoccupied with Jack,” she said, “and it doesn’t look like I’ll get another chance, so…that night your mother followed you to your room—”
He’d stiffened at the mention of his mother, and now cut in. “What about it?”
“There were tears in her eyes when she turned away from you, Damian.” He went deathly still. He paled as well. Casey quickly added, “I thought that was kind of—significant, kind of indicating she’s got powerful feelings where you’re concerned. You really ought to find out what those feelings are before you leave the city, don’t you think? I’ve got her address. A bit presumptuous of me, but—”
“Would you go with me?”
She wasn’t expecting that, had only wanted to get him to speak to his mother again, come what may. “Why?”
“Because I don’t want to go alone,” he said in a near whisper.
Her heart wrenched. How could she refuse? “All right. Now?”
He nodded curtly. “Now, or I’ll probably change my mind.”