Authors: Bobbi Smith
He nodded in relief and then slumped back as a great weariness washed over him.
“I owe you a lot.”
Danny rode quickly into town and managed to find the quartermaster’s office with no problem. Soldiers were swarming all over the place, and he was more than a little intimidated by them. Finally, though, he worked up enough courage and he entered the building. He stood at the front desk, and it was long minutes before anyone even noticed him.
“What is it?” a corporal finally asked, irritated by the interruption.
“I have a message for Captain Clayton, sir. Is he here?”
“No, he isn’t, and we don’t expect him back until late this afternoon.” He dismissed the boy curtly.
“But, sir…I was told to give this to him….” Danny held up the letter.
“He’s not here, kid. Come back later.”
Wade happened to be crossing the room, and he overheard the exchange. His interest was piqued by the mention of Mark’s name, and he casually approached Danny.
“Son? Can I help you? I’m a friend of Captain Clayton’s.”
“Yes, sir. I’m trying to find him to give him this letter. It’s important.”
“He is out just now. Would you like to leave it with me?”
“I don’t know…she didn’t say anything about leaving it with anybody else.”
“She?”
“My mama,” Danny explained.
“Well, I’ll be happy to give it to him for you,” Wade offered
silkily, anxious to know everything that Mark was involved with.
“I guess it will be all right,” Danny finally convinced himself, and he handed Wade Mark’s envelope.
“I’m just glad to be of ser vice.” He smiled as the youngster hurried from the office. When Danny was out of sight, Wade slipped the envelope safely into his breast pocket until he could find a moment to read it in private.
Delight, Clara, and Renee listened attentively to everything the men were saying. The news of Martin’s death left them with no solid leads to follow, and Mark, Marshall, and Jim were trying desperately to think of some other angle they could pursue in order to catch the culprits before they struck again. Again and again they came back to Sam and his unexplained disappearance. It just didn’t make sense, unless Wade was indeed part of the conspiracy. But they had no proof, only their suspicions.
“We can have him tailed again, but I don’t think we’ll find out anything now. The spies have accomplished what they wanted to do, and they’re just going to lie low until all the uproar dies down,” Jim said.
“I know,” Mark agreed, disheartened. All of his men had died, and there had been nothing he could do to help them. Not then and not now.
Marshall was about to speak when someone knocked at the front door. “I’ll get it,” he offered, and he went out into the hall. “Annabelle!” He was surprised to find her on his doorstep.
“Marsh. It’s so good to see you.” She swept into the hall, and Marshall was engulfed in the heady scent of her perfume. “I just heard that Jim had gotten back and I wanted to make sure that he was all right. Is he here?”
“Yes. In the dining room….” Marshall directed, a little overpowered by her assertiveness.
Annabelle gave him an endearing look and walked right
on into the room where everyone was gathered. “Hello, Renee. Why Clara, how nice…” Annabelle deliberately ignored Delight and went straight to Jim’s side. “Oh, Jim, darling.” She leaned down to embrace him. “When I heard what had happened, why I was just so upset. At first, they’d told me that you’d been killed. But Renee set me straight on that matter…so when I finally heard that you were back, I just had to come see with my own eyes that you were safe and sound.”
“Yes. I’m going to be just fine.” His voice was tight as he remembered her visit to Delight’s house.
“Going to be…? You mean, you were injured?”
“I was shot in the leg, but it’s healing nicely,” he assured her, trying to avoid her clinging presence.
But Annabelle wanted to continue her charade. They had to believe that she was seriously concerned about him. “You know, I’ll always care about you….” she told him.
“Thank you, Annabelle. Had you heard that Delight and I were married?” Jim offered the news politely.
“Married?” She was stunned. She had not heard any of this. Why, it made her look the fool! “When?”
“On the trip,” Delight told her gloatingly as she reached out to Jim and took his hand possessively.
“She went with you on this trip?” she directed her question to Jim.
“Yes, she did,” he affirmed as he lifted Delight’s hand to his lips and kissed it gently.
“Well, what a shame that you didn’t have time for a big wedding. But I’m most happy for you both,” Annabelle lied beautifully.
“I’m sure.” Delight couldn’t stop the remark, and she met Annabelle’s eyes with cold dignity.
“I hope we can be friends.”
“Of course, Annabelle,” Jim replied for them both, wanting to avoid any unpleasantness.
She was about to make a quick exit, for this encounter had
not turned out as she had hoped, but a knock at the door prevented her from making good her escape.
Danny had stood outside the big, fancy house for long minutes and had checked the address twice, before he bravely mounted the front steps and lifted the ornate brass knocker. He let it fall, and it rapped loudly against the heavy front door.
Renee was the one to answer it this time.
“Can I help you?” she asked politely when she saw the young boy standing on the porch.
“I’ve got a letter here for a Marshall Westlake, and I’m supposed to deliver it to him. It’s important that he gets it right away.”
“He’s right here. Let me get him for you.” Renee went to the dining room door and motioned to her husband. “There’s someone here to see you.”
He gave her a quizzical look as he started out of the room. “Who is it?”
“A boy. He says he has an important message for you.”
Danny looked up as the tall, dark-haired man came out into the hall. “Are you Marshall Westlake?”
“Yes. I am,” Marshall answered seriously, wondering who’d be sending him a message at home. Normally, he had all his correspondence directed to the office.
“I’m supposed to give this to you.” Danny thrust out the envelope at him.
“Thank you.” He glanced down at the handwriting but didn’t recognize it. Reaching into his pocket, he drew out a coin and tossed it to the boy.
“Thanks, sir.” The youngster was glowing as he left the house.
“Good-bye.” Renee watched him go down the steps and out the walk, before closing the door and following Marshall back into the dining room.
“I’ll be going now,” Annabelle was saying as they rejoined the group.
“It was kind of you to drop by,” Renee said. She started to escort her from the room as Marshall sat back down at the table and opened the letter.
“Yes. Thank you for your concern,” Jim told her graciously as he watched her go, glad that the tense visit had come to an end.
“Mark! Jim!” Marshall’s unexpected shout startled everyone.
“What is it?” Jim demanded.
“It’s from Sam…Sam Wallace!” He held out the slip of paper.
Jim grabbed the note from him and read it quickly. “He’s alive! And it says here that he’s got the information we need….”
Annabelle, who was just about to head out the door, heard his excitement and knew a true moment of panic. Wade had said he’d killed him…could Wade have failed? By sheer inner strength, she maintained her composure.
“Good-bye, Renee. I’ll see you soon.”
“Thanks for coming by.” Renee closed the door as soon as she was outside and rushed back in with the others. “What is it?”
“The note’s from Sam Wallace,” Mark told her quickly. “He’s been injured, but he’s recovering, and he’s staying at the Webb place, north of town.”
“What are we waiting for?” Jim asked. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll have the carriage brought around for you.” Marshall rushed out of the room.
“Do you think you should go?” Delight asked worriedly. “The doctor hasn’t been here yet….”
“There is no way I’m going to miss this. He’s our one hope of nailing the bastards who blew up the
Enterprise
and killed all those men. We’ve got to get there right away.”
Delight knew that he was determined to go, so she dropped her protest. “You’ll be careful?”
“Of course. No one else knows he’s there. We’ll be safe.” Jim stood up gingerly, kissing her quickly.
She smiled up at him. “Good.”
“We’ll plan on bringing him back here, though, so we can keep him under protection,” Marshall said as he returned.
“That’s a good idea,” Renee agreed. “Once the word gets out, there’s no telling what will happen.”
“The carriage is out front—” Mark saw it drive up.
“Then let’s go.”
Certain that they had the breakthrough they so desperately needed to help them with the investigation, the three determined men left the house; unaware that Mark’s message had already been intercepted and read by Wade, who was well on his way to the Webb house.
Wade slapped the reins viciously against the horse’s back as he headed the carriage out of town toward the Webb house. Gripped by the horror of what he’d just discovered, he wasted no time as he raced along the deserted dirt road.
Damn! How could it have happened? How could Sam Wallace have survived that night? Wade was furious with himself for not making sure Sam was dead before he had pushed him into the river, and he was determined to finish him off before he could reveal all he knew to the authorities.
Wade had not notified Nathan of the news, for he was too embarrassed to let him know that he’d failed in his first attempt. No, he would handle this himself, quickly and quietly, and no one would be the wiser. This time, Sam Wallace would die, and so would anyone else who got in his way.
Sam was sleeping when Sarah heard the carriage drive up
in front. Looking out, she saw the Union officer climbing down from his vehicle, and she went out to meet him.
“Captain Clayton?” She approached him.
“No, ma’am. I’m Major Macintosh.” He introduced himself. “Are you Mrs. Webb?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Captain Clayton is out of town and won’t be back until late. Mr. Wallace’s note sounded important, so I thought I should come in his stead.”
“That’s kind of you, Major. I know Sam will be glad that you’re here. Come on in.”
Wade followed her inside the small house, his hand hovering over his sidearm as he glanced nervously around. “How is he? He mentioned in the message that he’d met with some kind of accident?”
“It was no accident, believe me. He was robbed,” she confided as they crossed the room. “He didn’t regain consciousness until just this morning.”
“His injuries were that serious?”
Sarah nodded, “He had a terrible head injury and then he came down with pneumonia.”
“He’s still very weak, then?” Wade asked conversationally.
“Very. And, according to the doctor, he’s not to get out of bed for at least two more days.”
“That presents a problem for me.” Wade frowned, playing his part effectively.
“Why?”
“I’d been instructed to bring him back to headquarters.”
“He’s hardly in condition to travel…” Sarah protested.
“Well, I’m sure we can arrange something. May I see him now?”
“Of course. He’s in the bedroom. Go on in.” She directed him. “I’ll wait out here.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Wade walked softly into the room where Sam lay sleeping on the bed. He was glad that Mrs. Webb
had chosen to give them privacy, for the next few minutes were going to be the most dangerous for him. If Sam yelled or made any violent protest…“Well, Sam Wallace, we meet again.”
Sam had not been sleeping very soundly, and he opened his eyes at the sound of that cold, deadly voice. Paralyzed with fear, he whispered, “MacIntosh.”
“Yes, it is me.” Wade grinned at him evilly. “I’ve come to finish the job I started.”
“No.” How had Macintosh found out? Where was Mark or Westlake? He glanced nervously toward the door, worrying about Sarah.
“Don’t worry about the woman. She’s fine. She was courteous enough to leave us alone for a few minutes.”
When Sam shifted on the bed to sit up, Wade rested his hand on his gun. “Don’t try anything stupid or I’ll shoot you right there. And the woman, too.”
Sam remained perfectly still, his eyes following Wade’s every move.
“I’m curious, Wallace. How did you ever survive?”
“Mrs. Webb pulled me out of the river.”
“Remind me to thank her as we leave.” Wade’s words were sarcastic. Walking to the dresser, he picked up Sam’s clothes and threw them at him. “Get dressed. We’re getting out of here.”
“But…”
“You wouldn’t want me to involve her in this, would you? I’m going to tell her that I’m taking you back to town to one of the hospitals.” His smile was wolfish. “But, of course, you’re going to meet with an unfortunate accident along the way.” When Sam didn’t move, Wade stalked to the bed and hissed, “You either get moving or I’ll call her in here. And you know what I’ll do then.”
Sam put on his shirt, buttoning it quickly, and then stood to pull on his pants. He felt dizzy and weak, but he knew he had to get out of there with Wade, before Sarah or the boys
got hurt. Wade handed him his boots and stood impatiently by while he pulled them on.
“All right. Now, let’s go.” Wade took his arm in what looked to be a sympathetic grip. “And just remember…any sudden moves and I’ll shoot the, woman first.
Sam nodded, as he walked with Wade from the bedroom. Sarah had been sitting at the kitchen table, and she looked up in surprise when they came into the room.
“Sam…you aren’t supposed to be up!” She stood and came to him.
“I know, but this is important. I have to get back as soon as possible.”
“It is urgent, Mrs. Webb,” Wade added.
“Thank you for everything. I’ll keep in touch,” Sam said, as he swayed on his feet, his expression grim.
“I’ve got to get him out to the carriage, ma’am. Thank you for taking such good care of him.” Wade supported more of Sam’s weight as they started quickly out the door. “Good-bye.”
Sarah watched them go with a heavy heart. She had thought she’d have more time with him, but it was not to be. As the major helped Sam into the carriage, she turned away and closed the door.