Heart of Lies (16 page)

B
reathless, Maddie tried to shake off the shock of seeing Penelope walk out on stage. As she ran through the hotel pantry, she caught sight of the girl’s bright-red wig and chased her through the kitchen. Penelope zigged. Maddie zagged and nearly knocked over one of the two cooks who stopped what they were doing as she barreled past.

If Penelope made it through the back door, Maddie feared she’d never catch her. Penelope banged through the door with Maddie on her heels. As she gained on the girl, she lunged … and was left holding nothing but a handful of wig. She tossed it aside, cleared the steps, and this time when she reached Penelope, she grabbed the girl’s upper arm.

Penelope started screaming at the top of her lungs. “Let go of me! She’s trying to kill me! Let me go!”

Hammond Cutter was the first to reach them, oblivious of the crowd behind him. Not only the cooks, but the rest of the staff, followed by the cast and half of the audience, streamed through the back door.

“Unhand her, woman! She’s the star of my show,” Hammond yelled at Maddie.

“She’s my niece. I’ve been looking all over for her.”

Penelope tried to twist out of her grip. “Let go of me! I am
not
your niece, you
kidnapper,
you.”

“Don’t be silly, Penelope, honey.” Maddie turned to Hammond. “She’s just scared. She’s in a heap of trouble for running away.”

Maddie leaned close until she was nose to nose with Penelope. “Just settle down and come with Auntie like a good girl. I’m going to take you home to your mama.”

Hammond grabbed hold of Penelope’s other arm and a tug-of-war commenced.

Penelope dug in her heels as Maddie tried to pull her away. “She’s not going to take me home. She’s going to kill me!” Penelope glared at Maddie. “You’re gonna skin me and hang me on a clothesline like you do those nasty rat-tailed varmints of yours.”

Hammond suddenly let go. Momentum propelled Penelope toward Maddie.

“So you
do
know this woman?”

“No!”

“Like I said, she’s my niece,” Maddie said, calmer now that she had a tight grip on the girl. She smiled up at Hammond Cutter, whose face was coated with an inch of grease paint. Kohl encircled his eyes. Seeing him up close made it hard to concentrate.

“She ran away and I’ve been searching for her,” she said.

“I am
not
her niece. She’s a liar, Mr. Cutter. She kidnapped me. Her and her
evil
twin brothers.”

Maddie’s hand tightened on Penelope’s arm, and she forced a high laughing trill. “Evil twin brothers. Such an imagination. She’s quite the actress, as you know, Mr. Cutter.” She looked down at Penelope and shook her head. “How many times have I told you not to lie, honey?”

“You’re
lying!” Penelope raised her foot, and Maddie moved her own in time to keep from being stomped on.

“Someone should get the sheriff.” Steven Williams stepped out from the crowd. “This woman is Maddie Grande. She’s been working here for the last three days.” He leaned closer. “You never mentioned a missing niece, Maddie.”

She whispered back, “I needed money to continue my search —”

Maddie could see Williams wanted to believe her; that much was crystal clear. She batted her eyes. He cleared his throat and tugged his collar away from his Adam’s apple.

Another man was pushing his way through the crowd. Maddie recognized his hat first, and then he parted the two cooks who had
been flanking Maddie like bookends. He stepped between them, tall, dark, and furious.

Maddie groaned. Tom Abbott had finally found her.
And
Penelope.

I
’m a Pinkerton from New Orleans.” Tom flashed his badge at Williams and Cutter. “I’m taking Miss Grande into custody and returning this child to her parents.”

“You are not!” Penelope kicked and twisted.

Maddie said, “He’s not a Pinkerton. He means to kidnap my niece.”

Tom watched in amazement as Maddie reached for the hem of her skirt and used it to dab at her eyes. She was as consummate an actress as the Perkins girl. When she looked up, tears actually sparkled on the tips of her lashes.

Hammond Cutter stepped forward. “Hold on, mister. How do I know you’re who you say you are? Anybody can sport a tin badge.”

Maddie looked so bereft, Tom almost believed her himself.

“Is there somewhere we can all go and straighten this out in private?” Tom asked Hammond.

“You
cannot
do this to me!” Penelope was at it again. With Maddie still clinging to one arm, the child grabbed Hammond’s pant leg.

“Please, please,
please
don’t let them take me. Please! I was
born
to act. You said so!”

Behind Tom someone whispered, “This is a lot better than the two acts we saw inside.”

By that time Arabella the Magnificent, trailing a flotilla of perfume and male admirers, had made her way into the center of the crowd encircling the unfolding drama. “Let them have her, Hammond. We don’t need her.” Arabella looked down her nose at Penelope. The child started wailing in earnest.

Hammond gave Tom a look that spoke volumes. “Let’s go over to our encampment and we’ll talk this out in private, Abbott.”

“I’ll stay here and comfort Penelope,” Maddie volunteered.

Since Maddie had a death grip on Penelope, Tom reached for Maddie’s arm and held on tight. “Come on. You’re both going with me.”

T
he actors’ camp was comprised of four caravans drawn into a circle on open ground near the cemetery. A low fire burned in a central fire pit, casting light on gold-leafed advertisements painted on the wagon.

Hammond Cutter’s hand shook as the actor reached up to slick back his hair. “Would you like a drink, Abbott? I’m in dire need.”

“No, thanks.” What Tom wanted was to get Maddie and Penelope somewhere secure before they could give him the slip again. But he said he’d wait while Cutter went to get himself a drink.

Tom watched the man enter his caravan. He didn’t trust Cutter not to take it upon himself to steal his star actress back.

Across from him, the child pouted, glaring at Maddie, refusing to talk — a blessing to be sure. She looked none the worse for wear and had obviously been adequately treated or she wouldn’t be begging to stay on with the troupe.

Tom tried to keep his gaze from straying to Maddie, but it wandered of its own accord. Now that they’d found Penelope, it wouldn’t be long before they were back in New Orleans, and he’d have to turn Maddie over to the police. He tried to forget about his reaction to seeing her in the shadowed light of the hotel dining room but found it impossible.

Maddie hadn’t loosened her grip on the child and didn’t look like she was about to.

Hammond Cutter reappeared as promised, carrying a tumbler full of whiskey.

“So, Mr. Abbott, why should I believe you over Penny? It would be irresponsible of me to hand over a child to just anyone. Especially since she so vehemently protests. Have you proof to back up your claims?”

Tom looked the man over. He was tall himself but Hammond was a good two inches taller, a commanding figure on stage.

“You can wire Allan Pinkerton himself or you can telegraph Detective Frank Morgan of the New Orleans Metropolitan Police. But when you do, you should probably consider that it was highly irresponsible of you to put a child in your show without her family’s permission,” Tom warned. “I’d hazard a guess that you found her wandering around alone after she ran off near Clearwater?”

“It’s none of your business where I found her.”

“I found
him,”
Penelope hollered. “I asked him to help me get to Paducah and he said he would.”

“I’m sure her father will make it his business to find out exactly where you found her and how long she was in your care,” Tom said.

“I was planning an entire production around her.” Cutter nursed his drink.

Hovering behind them, listening to the exchange, Arabella fumed. “You
what?”

Hammond Cutter held up his hand to silence her.

“Sorry to ruin your plans,” Tom said. “I’ll be taking Penelope home where she belongs.”

“I
don’t belong
with them. Her brothers stole me from my real family.” Penelope reached out, appealing to Cutter. Huge crocodile tears ran down her face. “My mama doesn’t want me anymore because I’m too much of a bother. Please, Mr. Cutter,” she sobbed, falling to her knees. “They
stole
me.”

Cutter finished the whiskey before he turned back to Tom. “She’s really very convincing.”

“Your audience thought so too,” Tom said. “We’ve wasted enough time here. I can be fairly convincing myself.” He reached for his waistband and drew out a bag of gold coins. “How about I reimburse you for your trouble, Cutter? Would that make it easier to part with her?”

Cutter accepted twenty dollars to cover Penelope’s board and care. The child refused to go quietly until she was allowed to collect her clothes and shoes. Cutter let her keep her costume, and as Tom and Maddie led her away from the caravan campsite, there was much sniffling and foot dragging from the little milkmaid walking between them.

“Where are we going?” Maddie wanted to know.

Tom hadn’t thought past getting Penelope away from Cutter.

“We’re leaving Baton Rouge,” he said.

“Tonight? It’s too late. And what about my things?”

He sighed. She was stalling.

He nudged Penelope until she started walking again.

“I don’t recall you bringing much.” He was far more concerned about where they were all going to spend the night.

“The hotel gave me new clothes. And I’m owed money for the work I did over the past few days.”

It was Tom’s turn to stop walking. He pictured Williams. “Exactly
what
did you do?”

She squared her shoulders and kept walking. Penelope trudged along beside her. Tom caught up.

“Do you still have my shotgun?”

“I do,” he said.

“Well, don’t forget it’s mine.”

“Don’t worry. You’ll get what’s coming to you.”

“Where are we going?”

“Yes,” Penelope piped up. “Who are you? And where are you taking us?”

Tom sighed. It was going to be a long, long night. “Somewhere I can keep an eye on you both.”

“I’m
not
staying with you,” Maddie said.

He lowered his voice and leaned over Penelope. “Of course not. You’re only a kidnapper, not a loose woman.”

With no idea where to go, he headed for the hotel so Maddie could collect her things. The cooks had long since finished for the night. A lone maid was mopping the floor. Steven Williams was waiting for them in the kitchen, seated on a barstool drawn up to the cooking table with his head propped on his hand. When they came through the back door, he tugged down the shirt cuffs beneath his jacket.

“So you’ll be leaving, then?” Williams asked Tom.

“I’ll be taking them back to New Orleans.”

“You owe me my pay,” Maddie told the manager.

Williams glanced at Tom and then focused on Maddie again. “You lied about who you were.”

“I did no such thing. I told you my name.”

“You didn’t tell me you were a kidnapper.” He sounded more disappointed than angry.

Tom planted his hands on his hips and turned a hard gaze on Williams. “She did the work; now pay her what she’s owed. We’ve got to leave.”

Williams excused himself to go to the office and collect Maddie’s pay. Tom shifted his attention to the open back door. Across the street on the river, not only was there a ferry, but a riverboat that had just docked. The floating palace was lit up like a sky full of Chinese fireworks. Music and gambling would go on all night long.

Tom figured it was the only place he could ensure there was no escape until the boat docked in New Orleans. It was the safest place to keep Maddie and Penelope for the night.

Williams hurried in, started to hand Maddie her money. Tom held out his hand. “She’s in my custody. I’ll be holding that for her.”

Maddie started to protest, but Tom silenced her with a glance.

“How’d you like the show?” Penelope asked Steven Williams.

“The guests thought it was the best they’ve ever seen.”

“All because of me,” the girl sniffed. “But now my illustrious career as a thespian has come to a close.”

T
om waited outside Maddie’s door as she gathered her freshly laundered clothing, her saddlebag, and Penelope’s cape. Penelope had stopped arguing.
No doubt,
Maddie thought,
the child was busy hatching another plan.
Once they were settled, she would start thinking up one of her own. For now she’d have to content herself with irritating Tom Abbott as much as humanly possible.

Tom followed her and Penelope out the back door. As soon as they cleared the hotel, he reached without warning for her saddlebag.

“How dare you?”

He flipped it open, pulled out her skinning knife, and cocked an eyebrow.

“I guess I was lucky on the trail,” he said. “You could have filleted me in my sleep.”

“I guess you were. How did you know it was there?”

“Thank Miss Perkins here. She mentioned your affinity for muskrats, and I remembered the knife. Figured you’d have it with you.”

He held up the lethal piece. Light from the riverboat danced along the blade.

“I’m surprised you didn’t try to run when you had the chance,” he told her.

She returned his stare. “I think you know why I didn’t. I’ve as big a stake in Miss Perkins as you do.”

“Nanny says it’s rude to talk about people as if they aren’t around,” Penelope informed them.

“We’ve one more stop.” Tom laid his hand on the child’s shoulder and led them two doors down to the hotel stable for guests. Money exchanged hands as he arranged for their horses to be delivered by barge to New Orleans.

Then he headed for the river.

“Where are we going?” Maddie demanded.

“We’re not going to stay on the riverboat, are we?” Penelope slowed down, forcing them both to match her stride.

“We are,” Tom said. “The crew will be instructed not to let either of you anywhere near the gangplank.”