Train from Marietta

by Dorothy Garlock

  “It sure looks like it. The big question is where she got off the train. There’s only one stop between Simon and Muddy Creek.”

  “No. There’s two,” Tate corrected the Texas Ranger. “The Texas and New Orleans’ scheduled stop is in Los Rios, but it also stops at the midway watering tank. Whoever kidnapped her wouldn’t have tried to take her off at Los Rios; too many people would be on the platform. That leaves the midway watering tank.”

  “You’re right.” Lyle lit the cigar he pulled out of his breast pocket and smoked in silence for a few moments. Finally he said, “I guess it’s time for me to ask you that favor, old friend. What I’d like is for you to go down to that watering tank and see if you can pick up anything. If that salesman was involved, I doubt if he’d be the kind of man that was much used to horses. That means they’d have had to take her out by car. Cars leave tracks.”

  Mulling over the request, Tate was silent for quite a while. Finally he gave his answer. “Well, I guess I can do that much for you, Lyle. I just don’t want to find myself tangled up with any more rustlers or outlaws. I have to think about Emily.”

  “Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Lyle said with his reassuring smile. Some folks might think that the smile wasn’t real, but Tate knew better. “You’re not that much different than John Tyler. He’s a fine man who’s worried sick about his own daughter.”

  “Sounds like Hayden,” Jorge said from the steps. He’d been silent up until now, but Tate knew that his foreman had a keen mind and had been listening to every word. “If he around, may be a part of it.”

  “You’re right, Jorge,” Lyle said gravely. “This is just the type of thing that would draw Hayden. Just like a fly to shit. If that salesman fella is the type of man I think he is, he’d need help finding his way out of a cardboard box, let alone Big Bend country. If he took Miss Tyler, he’d need help from someone who knows the land.”

  Tate nodded in agreement. “If there’s any easy money to be made, Hayden would know about it. Speaking of money, is your friend going to pay the ransom?”

  “He’ll pay. He’d do anything to get his daughter back.” Lyle stared at Tate for a moment to let the weight of his words sink in. “There was one strange thing about the ransom note, though.”

  “What?”

  “According to John, it was mailed from right there in New York City. That means that somebody back there is the ramrod. Probably the brains of it all, more than likely. How would Hayden get involved with someone in New York?”

  “Possibly through that lawyer over in Alpine, the one that represented him when I filed the charges against him last time for rustling.”

  “That’s a thought.”

  “Either way, if Hayden’s involved, that woman’s life is in danger.” Tate flicked his cigarette out into the yard. “Jorge and I need to get the horses ready that I sold to the army. The commander of the fort is sending a detail for them. But I can take a couple of days and see what I can find out.”

  “Thanks, Tate. If anyone can trace that girl, it’s you. You’re the best tracker in the area.”

  “I’ll send you a wire if I find anything.”

  “No need. As soon as I hear back from John, I plan on coming back this way. You can tell me then.”

  “If there’s anything there, it won’t take me long to find it.”

  “Fair enough.” Lyle puffed on his cigar and patted his stomach. “Well, I guess I’d better head on back to Alpine. I’ve got some business there before I can go back to Waco. If it isn’t one thing, it’s another. Hard times bring out the worst in some folks.”

  “You’re welcome to spend the night, Lyle,” Tate offered.

  “Thanks, but I better head on out. Good to see you, Jorge.” Lyle extended his hand as Jorge stood and took it.

  Tate walked with Lyle toward the man’s automobile. The night had become cooler and was made even more so by a light breeze from the northeast. Old Bob lay in the yard gnawing on a deer bone.

  “If this Tyler woman is the same woman I saw on the train, I’m not sure how safe she’ll be out in this country. She didn’t look the type that could blow her own nose, much less defend herself with someone like Hayden.” In his mind, Tate could still see her standing on the platform in her city clothes. Pretty and helpless.

  “Then I think we’d better find her as quick as we can,” Lyle said as he got into his automobile. “John Tyler’s a friend, and even if he wasn’t, I’d still want to find the woman. I hate to think of her out there in the wilds with Hayden.”

  “I’ll do what I can.”

  “I know you will, Tate,” Lyle said as he put the vehicle into gear. “I know you will.”

  Tate watched the car go down the road until he could no longer see the taillights. He went back and sat on the porch beside Jorge. His foreman passed him a cigarette, and the two men smoked in silence for a couple of moments. Tate looked off into the Texas night.

  “What do you think of all this, Jorge?” he finally asked.

  “You do what you must do, señor.”

  “What about the horses?”

  “A couple of days not matter. The horses ready for delivery. Patrol not get here until next week.”

  “I want to be here when they come for them. This sale’s important. But before I go we’ll talk about it, just in case I don’t get back in time.”

  The two men parted for the evening. Tate went into the house, stopped in his daughter’s room, and placed a kiss on her forehead, then went into his own bedroom. He undressed quickly and slid between the cool fresh sheets.

  There’s nothing like sleeping in your own bed in your own house on your own land. The older I get, the more I appreciate it.

  Tate lay on his back with his hands under his head. Thoughts of the woman filled his mind. She had embarrassed the hell out of him. He hadn’t thought that he could possibly feel sorry for her, but he did. A woman like her in the hands of a man like Hayden was something he didn’t want to think about. Unless they got to her in time, Hayden would either kill her or ruin her for life.

  He couldn’t very well refuse to help. It would only take a few days out of his life, and it might mean hers.

  Tate drifted off to sleep still thinking about the woman’s clothes, her clear blue eyes, and the contents of her spilled bag. He could almost smell the fragrance that drifted up from the soft underwear.

  Chapter 8

  WILLIAM JACOBS TURNED IN HIS SWIVEL CHAIR and looked out the window. Rain streaked the glass as a peal of thunder rolled across the city. But the rotten weather did nothing to dampen his mood. He could hardly keep the smile off his face.

  Pulling a sheet of paper from his breast pocket, William felt a thrill at its words, even though he had already read it a dozen times. The telegram he had received from Edwin was the news he had been waiting for. They’d been able to take Kate without any trouble. What a stroke of luck!

  Thoughts that he had been suppressing for years now swam around in his head, intoxicating him with their promise.

  It won’t be long now until I’m in complete control of Tyler-Jacobs Steelworks. People in the highest social circles in the city will accept me! John Tyler will be back at the steel mill in Pittsburgh where he belongs! He doesn’t know how to play the game. He doesn’t know which politicians to butter up, which bankers to flatter. He’s in for the shock of his life; he’s going to lose everything to William Jacobs, his business partner!

  William’s thoughts began to wander toward how he was going to word the next ransom note when the telephone rang.

  He picked up the receiver from the cradle. “Jacobs,” he said gruffly.

  “Hello to you, my clever man.”

  “Oh. Hello, dear,” he said, pleased when he heard the soft, caressing sound of her voice. It surprised him that she would call at the office, because they had planned to meet later. He listened to her for several minutes, then said, “Now, dear, I promised I’d be there, so I will.” He cocked his ear toward the doo
r. He heard footsteps coming toward his office and became instantly alert. Cupping his hand over the mouthpiece, he talked into the receiver in low tones.

  “Everything’s going just the way I planned. Before you know it, it’ll all be over,” he said with a snort. “How would you like to have that mink coat we saw in Macy’s department store window? We’ll figure out how to explain your having it. Couldn’t you say that stingy old father of yours gave it to you? No?”

  More steps echoed from the hallway, closer than before.

  “Well, if that won’t work, how would you like a piece of jewelry from Tiffany’s instead?” William continued. “I’d really rather you have the mink coat. You’d be so beautiful in it. You’d be the envy of every woman you know. Hell, you’d be the envy of every woman in the city. I can hardly wait to show you off as mine.” The steps came to a halt at the closed office door. A light rapping sounded against the door frame.

  “Better go now. Meet you at the same time. Good-bye, dear. I love you.” As he hung up the phone, he said, “Yes?”

  The door opened slowly, and John Tyler stepped into the office. “Busy, William?”

  “No. No, of course not. I was just confirming an order. Come in.”

  The man who sat in front of William’s desk bore little resemblance to the man who had been his business partner for the past five years. John Tyler looked as if he had aged ten years since a few days earlier. His eyes were bloodshot, and heavy dark bags hung beneath them. His hair was disheveled, and his clothing looked just as unkempt. William would have sworn that the man hadn’t slept in a week. He looked as if he was at the end of his rope.

  After they had chatted for a moment about business, William asked, “Are you all right, John?”

  Silently, and with shaking hands, John pulled a scrap of paper from his coat pocket and passed it across the desk to his partner.

  “What’s this?” William glanced at it and jumped to his feet. His fists clenched and his voice bellowed. “What the hell is this?”

  “They’ve got my Kate,” John said hoarsely.

  “What do you mean they’ve got your Kate? Kidnapped her?” William asked with disbelief in his voice.

  John Tyler sat immobile in the office chair. It was obvious that he was physically and emotionally exhausted. William had to strain to hear him; his words were little more than whispers. “That’s what the note says, William. They want a hundred thousand dollars.”

  “A hundred thousand dollars?” William echoed as incredulously as he could manage. “Maybe this is a prank. Some sort of a joke.”

  “I’m afraid it’s all too real,” John answered, going on to explain how Kate’s messages from her trip had stopped.

  “Damn it all! What in the hell is the world coming to? It isn’t safe for decent people to travel anymore,” William said as he pounded his fist down onto the desktop.

  “Since the Lindbergh baby was taken, there’s been a rash of kidnappings. You read about this sort of thing all the time now.”

  William stepped from behind the desk and paced the floor in front of the window. The storm seemed to be growing in intensity. “The crooks have found a way to get easy money. Damn it all! I hate to think of our Kate in the hands of scoundrels.”

  John pinched the space between his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. He sighed. “I’ve been worried sick about this, William. I can’t eat and I haven’t slept a wink since I received the letter. I knew I had to do something, but I didn’t know what. Kate’s always been my special girl. The kidnappers must have known it.”

  “You know how I feel about Kate, John. I love her as if she were my own daughter.” William paused, trying to choose his words carefully. There were things he had to find out, things that only John himself could tell him, but he couldn’t rush it. He had to squeeze them out of him. “It’s no secret that I had high hopes for her and Edwin making a match of it, but it seems it will be Edwin and Susie instead. Speaking of which, have you told your family?”

  “I told Lila, but I decided not to tell Susie until this is all over. I don’t want her to worry.”

  “This is outrageous!” William exclaimed. He exhaled sharply and dropped heavily down into his chair. “If I could get my hands on the sons a bitches who did this, by God, I’d not have any trouble ending their miserable lives!”

  The men sat silently, the only noise the steady drum of the rain as it beat on the windowpanes. William looked at his business partner and wondered what he would think if he knew that the mastermind behind his daughter’s kidnapping was sitting not three feet away. He asked, “Do you have any idea who would do such a thing?”

  “Who knows who it could be?” John exclaimed. “The houses we live in make it obvious that we have money. Someone must have decided that they wanted some of mine.”

  “You’re right.”

  “I just want my daughter back,” John muttered, looking down at his hands.

  William knew that it was time to ask the most important question of all. Softly he asked it. “Are you going to pay the ransom?”

  “Of course, I’m going to pay. They can have every dime I have or can rake up if it means I can get Kate back.” John looked up with eyes that were red and moist, but coolly determined. “I’ve thought about it, William, and I’m not certain I’ll get her back even after I pay the money. Why would they let her go? So I have done the only thing I could think of to do. I contacted a friend in the Texas Rangers.”

  “What?” William blurted out before he could catch himself.

  “If there’s anyone who can find her, it would be Lyle Holmgaard. You remember, he helped us when we had that shipment derail in Texas a few years ago. I had a few clues that I could give him to work on. Kate had been sending me wires along the way, and when they stopped, I had some idea where she might have been kidnapped. Amazingly it was right in Lyle’s backyard. He said he’d do what he could. All we can do is wait and hope.”

  William swiveled in his chair again to look out the window. “Do you think that was the wise thing to do?” he asked sharply. “Have you thought this through carefully? You could get her killed, you know.”

  “I had to do something. She’s very dear to me.”

  William was silent, trying to get a grip on his racing heart and thoughts. This changed things. He hadn’t thought that Tyler would straighten his back and actually contact the authorities. He thought he’d hand over the money and that would be that. By God, he’d have to be extra careful from now on.

  “I’m just as sorry about this as I can be, John. You know I’ll do anything I can to help you get her back,” he said as sincerely as he could. “Don’t worry about things here. You can depend on me. I can take care of things here in the office, if you would want to go out there.”

  “No, William. I appreciate the offer, but I’ve got to wait here for the next ransom note. Besides, I doubt that there’s much that I could do in Texas besides get in the way.” With that, John managed a weak smile. He went to the door and paused. “I think that I’m going to go home. Lila will be anxious to know if I’ve heard anything. William, I want you to know how much I appreciate you. I knew I could depend on you.”

  John left and softly closed the door.

  William sat back in his chair and made a steeple with his fingers in front of his face. He was alarmed by the news that Tyler had gone to the Texas Rangers. He despised complications in the business world, and this was no different. Still, if this were a complication that he himself could deal with, that would have been okay. But this would be in Edwin’s hands, and that might be cause for worry. He realized that he needed to get word to his nephew.

  After making sure John had left the building, William put on his hat and overcoat and walked out the door. A heavy rain continued to fall. Now the weather matched his mood. He stood on the sidewalk and scanned both sides of the street for any sight of Tyler; it wouldn’t do for him to run into him now. Seeing no sign of the man, he turned on his heel and walked toward t
he telegraph office.

  He walked with his head down, paying little attention to anyone he passed. Few others were out in the stormy weather; most people were content to stay in, where it was warm and dry. William ignored the wet, his mind busy composing the telegram. Finally, as he entered the telegraph office, he decided.

  REMEMBER THE OVERTURNED SHIPMENT? STOP. SAME HAS BEEN NOTIFIED. STOP.

  After he had sent the message and stepped back out into the deluge, William Jacobs felt pleased with himself. He had sent a message that only Edwin would understand.

  As William continued to walk up the street, he paused to look in a jewelry store window, glancing at the display of rings, necklaces, and bracelets. Unsatisfied with the selection, he moved on. Jewelry from just any store would not be good enough for his lady love. It would have to come from Tiffany’s.

  With every step, he became more confident that he would succeed. It had been a risky move to kidnap Kather-ine Tyler, but as a successful businessman in his own right, he knew that there was no reward without risk. He was going to buy out John Tyler with John’s own money. He would control the business and take his place among the social elite.

  The most important decision had already been made. It was how to deal with Edwin after he’d received the ransom money. William already had plans in the making to get rid of him. He had given strict orders to the man who had found Hayden, and was assured that Hayden would know what to do when the time came.

  William Jacobs walked on in the rain with a smile on his face.

  Chapter 9

  TATE SADDLED HIS HORSE AT DAYBREAK. As he tucked the last of his gear into his saddlebags, he looked up at the shimmering sun as it rose above a low rise of hills to the east. Today would be like most days. Hot and windy.

  While eating breakfast, he asked Yelena to tell Emily that he would be gone for a couple of days but that he might even be back tomorrow.

  “She is ’fraid, señor, you not come back.”

  “I’ll be back.”

  “I tell her.”

  Jorge got up to pour coffee from the blackened pot on the cookstove. When he set it back down, Tate said, “Jorge, I don’t want to leave, but I do owe Lyle a couple of days of my time. Be on the lookout for anyone you don’t know coming near the house. Lyle said Hayden is back, and he hates me worse than poison. I’d not put it past him to come here if he thought I was gone.”