An Unlikely Place for Love

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  She rested as much as she could on the train. She had spent one night outdoors, but she hadn’t gotten much sleep. She spent the chilly night alone and wishing for the comfort of her bed in her home or for the safety of the loft back at Chad’s farm. She cried most of her time alone. She had found a river and took a quick bath, but until she got new clothes, she wasn’t going to feel clean.

  By the time the train reached her town, she was exhausted. She noticed that a group of reporters with their pencils and pads and cameras were anxiously waiting at the station. She turned to the person next to her and asked, “Do you know why those reporters are here?”

  “Oh, Senator Rich is due to come in this afternoon and wish the new senator luck in office,” the man replied.

  “There’s a new senator?”

  “Yes. Senator MacArthur. He was put in office last week.”

  She closed her eyes to force back the tears that threatened to emerge. Is life so easily expendable? She knew she shouldn’t be surprised to hear that her father’s position in Congress had been replaced. Virginia needed two Senators, just like the other states did. But it still stung.

  She cleared her throat and strengthened her resolve. Now was not the time to crumble. She could cry on her way back to the northern Dakota territory. She wasn’t planning on staying overnight in Virginia. She took a deep breath as she followed several people off the train. She hoped no one would recognize her in her Billy disguise.

  As she stepped off the train, her heart raced. Her eyes scanned the reporters while she walked past them. Part of her felt as if she was moving in slow motion. Stay focused. Clear your mind. You’re Billy Ingram. You come from Kentucky.

  She tried not to tremble but her nerves were wearing thin after spending two days and a full night in the acreage. She passed Chief Derek Robin. She stopped and watched as he joined several reporters to the train where Senator Ethan Rich got off and waved at the people surrounding them. Derek shook his hand. This only confirmed her suspicion that Ethan was behind her parents’ murders.

  She reached in her pocket for her wallet but gasped when she realized she didn’t have it. She turned back to the train but it pulled out of the station. She needed money. She groaned. She would need to go to the bank. Since it was late morning and a weekday, she could at least get money. After she entered the bank, she examined the three tellers. Which one could be trusted to keep her secret? Noah Edwards was twenty-six and a loud mouthed man who liked to boast about his accomplishments. She did not wish to be one of those accomplishments since he would enjoy being the one to discover that she was in town after all. Jesse Samson was thirty and showed no potential at getting anywhere. He was lazy for the most part and would most likely confuse her with someone else. Jake Mitchell was twenty-two and despite his young age, he showed great promise. She caught talk in the station about his recent decision not to marry his fiancée an hour before the wedding. No one knew why, which meant he could keep his own secrets, and if he could keep his secrets, then he could keep hers as well.

  He’s the one I can trust. She got in line.

  “Sir, I can help you over here,” Noah called out.

  “It’s alright. I’ll just stay in this line,” she replied.

  Noah shrugged and turned to counting the money in front of him on the counter.

  Conrad Leroy, who was one of her father’s acquaintances and the president of the bank walked up to Jesse, who was unsuccessfully trying to hide the fact that he was reading a book. Conrad tapped Jesse on the shoulder and motioned for him to follow him into his office. The man’s face turned red as he obeyed his employer.

  Chad would sympathize with Conrad, she thought as she watched Conrad shut his office door. She sighed. She did miss Chad. It almost seemed as if a part of her was missing.

  She took a deep breath as Jake thanked the person in front of her who turned around. Her first instinct was to greet Phillip Tobias who was the husband of her good friend, Lorraine, but she stopped herself in time.

  “May I help you?” Jake asked.

  She whispered so Noah wouldn’t overhear. “Yes. I need to withdraw some money from my account but in order to verify who I am, I need to speak with you in private.”

  He looked confused but shrugged and stood up from his stool. “Will you follow me?” He led her to a vacant room which had a desk. Two chairs were in front of the desk and one was behind it. “Mr. Hunter won’t be back for another fifteen minutes. Please, have a seat.”

  She did as instructed as he shut the door.

  By the time he sat across from her, she had her wig and beard off. It had been loose considering the length of time it had been on since she reapplied the glue to it. His eyes grew wide in surprise.

  “Do you recognize me?” she asked in her normal voice.

  “Of course, I do. You’re Senator Tanner’s missing daughter, Kate.”

  “So you can understand my need for privacy. Considering the fact that my parents’ killers are still loose, I can’t afford to be an easy target. They know I saw them. I need money.”

  Despite his shock, he nodded. “Your secret is safe with me.”

  “Thank you. Until the men who murdered my parents are safely behind bars, I will be disguised as Billy Ingram.” She put on her wig and beard, using the glue to stick it in place. “I’ll have to go to the police and confess what I saw but I need a quick escape plan so I can head out of town.”

  “How much do you need today?” Jake asked.

  She thought for a moment and then told him.

  He nodded and went to get the money for her.

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Would she ever feel safe again?

  When Jake returned with the money, he had her sign the slip as Billy Ingram. “I will also need you to fill out this paperwork opening an account in Billy Ingram’s name. If you need to withdraw more money, then this will avoid suspicion in case I’m not here.”

  She didn’t wish for the other bank employees to question why Kate Tanner was taking out money when she wasn’t supposed to be in town, so she was relieved that he thought to do this for her.

  “Thank you, Jake,” she said when they were done and he handed her an account card.

  He nodded and led her out of the office. He shook her hand. “It’s good doing business with you, Mr. Ingram.”

  She understood what he was doing, and she appreciated it.

  Now it was time to get some clothes.

  ***

  Despite the strange looks she got from the salesperson, she bought a man’s outfit and a woman’s outfit. The man’s clothing was of a considerable lower income status than the woman’s dress was. She found a hotel room and bathed so she could clean the dirt and grime off of her body. Then she threw out her old Billy clothes. She cleaned her wig and the beard, and she also bought more glue for holding her beard in place so she could be ready to put the beard back on before she left town that evening. She had also bought a large purse so she could carry her new Billy clothes in it while she wore her Kate outfit.

  She wore a light purple dress and a nice hat to go with it. She pinned her long wavy blond hair back into a popular hairstyle. She grabbed the purse and examined her reflection in the mirror. She took a deep breath. She had to be quick if her plan was to work. She had purposely picked a hotel close to the police station. From the way things looked, no one was going to arrest Derek Robin and Dave Reinhart unless she did something. If Derek and Dave were allowed to get away with murder, then that meant Senator Rich would be free to keep doing his own nebulous business. She suspected that he had something to do with her parents’ murders, but she didn’t have the proof to back that claim up.

  She took a deep breath as she left the hotel. She tried to stay as inconspicuous as possible on her way to the police station. She kept her head low but a couple of people turned their eyes to her and nudged the person next to them. She quickly slipped into the police station. As soon as she rounded the corner to the front desk,
someone looked up and announced that Kate Tanner was there. Just as she feared, this led to a group of people surrounding her.

  She ignored them and walked to the front desk. “I must speak with a police officer about the murder of my parents,” she softly told the cop in front of her.

  “Is that why you disappeared?” the man loudly asked.

  She gritted her teeth. “Sir, please lower your voice. I don’t wish to catch undo attention.”

  “It’s too late for that.”

  She glanced at the silent group who hovered near her. She knew he was right. The people surrounding her were already whispering to themselves.

  The policeman took her back to a room with a table which had two chairs on one side of it and one chair on the other side of it. She hadn’t been questioned by a police officer before, so she tried to hide her apprehension.

  Officer Osmund and Detective Walter sat across from her and listened as she gave the account of her parents’ murders.

  “Why would Chief Robins and Judge Reinhart want to kill your parents?” Detective Walter asked.

  She sighed. “I suspect that it has something to do with the Tree Removal Bill my father was working on.”

  “Are you saying that Senator Rich is behind all of this?”

  “I think he is.” She took a ruby and diamond out of her purse. “He has been mining for gems in the ten acres my father was trying to obtain. The Tree Removal Bill will stop him from obtaining this wealth. I found these in a mine on that acreage.”

  “Were you alone?”

  “Yes. I can’t risk anyone else’s life by having them with me.”

  “Miss Tanner, you should let the police and detectives do their job,” the forty-two year old detective kindly admonished her. “You can’t be risking your life by playing detective.”

  “My life is already in danger. Chief Robin and Judge Reinhart know I saw them. I’ve had to hide from them.”

  “We’ll be sure to look into it.”

  “Aren’t you going to arrest them?”

  “Miss Tanner, we can’t just arrest someone,” Officer Osmund told her. “We have to question them first. As of this time, there is no evidence linking any of the three men you mentioned to the murders. We appreciate you coming in to tell us what you saw, and we’ll be sure to follow up on it.”

  She hid her disappointment as she left the room.

  A crowd of reporters and cameras filled the police lobby.

  “I’ll get rid of them for you,” the detective assured her when he saw her blanch.

  She quickly slipped into the men’s restroom while Officer Osmund had his back turned to her and Detective Walter went to talk to the reporters. She ran into a stall, grateful that no one else was in there, and quickly changed into her Billy disguise. She shoved her dress and hat and women’s shoes into the purse and threw them into the trash can. As she was leaving the restroom, a man walked in and almost bumped into her.

  “Excuse me, sir,” he said.

  She nodded and left the room. She touched her beard. It was a little loose. She hadn’t taken the time to secure it. She had shoved the glue in her pocket. She would have to take care of her beard soon.

  “We can’t be sure that Kate is telling the truth,” she overheard Officer Osmund tell the detective as they huddled in a corner to talk.

  “Why would she lie about seeing her parents get murdered?” Detective Walter asked him.

  “It’s hard to believe the Chief would commit murder. I’ve known him for fifteen years. He’s always been diligent about upholding the law and protecting the citizens of this city. Judge Reinhart is somewhat believable but we don’t have sufficient proof for either man.”

  “Senator Rich is in town today. I think I’ll question him.”

  “There’s one thing we need to consider, though I hate to.”

  “What is it?”

  Officer Osmund shrugged. “Perhaps she committed the crime. We did see a thread from the dress someone saw her wearing earlier that evening that got caught onto the ledge of the window in the den of her parents’ house. Why would she be breaking into their home?”

  “She was looking for a picture for their anniversary surprise party.”

  “And she couldn’t have done that during the day?”

  She groaned. She had hoped that coming to the police would make things better, but it seemed to only make things worse. She had to get out of town. But she wanted to stop by the library first.

  Just as she reached the crowded front entrance, a middle-aged male reporter stopped her. “Excuse me, sir.”

  She stopped. She recognized Calvin York. He was a fifty-seven year old shrewd reporter whose journalistic skills had won him many awards and prestige. He often hung out in her father’s circle of influential friends. She absentmindedly touched her beard.

  “May I help you?” She prayed that he wouldn’t see through her disguise.

  “Did you happen to see this woman?” He showed her a picture that was taken of her a year ago. “Her name is Kate Tanner. She has been missing for a couple of weeks but just showed up at this station. She is a key eyewitness in Senator Tanner’s murder.”

  And her mother. She was aggravated that he left her mother out of that sentence.

  “No, I haven’t seen her.” She handed the picture back to him.

  “If you do, will you come see me at my office?” He handed her his business card. “I do pay people for their assistance.”

  “ I’ll keep an eye out for her.”

  “Thank you. Good day, sir.” He tipped his hat to her and went over to another person in the lobby of the police station.

  She slowly exhaled as she walked out of the building. Her pulse pounded anxiously in her chest as she walked onto the sidewalk which was lined with businesses.

  That was a complete waste of my time. They can’t believe Derek or Dave would commit murder. They even think I did it. Why would I want them dead? Lord, what am I going to do?

  She forced back her tears as she entered the library. She walked over to the twenty year old blond who was putting books away. She knew she could trust Sue Lewis to do the job she needed her to do.

  “Sue,” she whispered to the blond who had two books left in her arms.

  “Yes? May I help you?” Sue asked, turning her attention to her.

  “I need to look at the newspapers.”

  Sue nodded and placed the books on the shelf so she could lead Kate to the backroom where the periodicals were kept.

  Kate closed the door so she could have some privacy.

  Sue gasped, so Kate quickly took off her wig.

  “Please, don’t scream,” Kate used her regular voice. “It’s me.”

  “Miss Tanner?” The young woman stared in disbelief at her employer.

  “Yes. I’m still hiding. What I have to tell you is very important. I saw who killed my parents, and I just went to the police to tell them what I saw. Unfortunately, there’s not enough proof to convict the people involved. I need you to help me. Can you do that for me?”

  Sue’s shock was quickly wearing off. “Yes. What do you want me to do?”

  Kate quickly put her wig back on and opened the door so no one would think Sue was compromising her virtue by being alone with a man. She kept her voice low enough so the people nearby wouldn’t hear her. “I need you to look through the papers for the past nine months. I suspect that Senator Rich is ultimately behind this, but the immediate people I am interested in are Derek Robin and Dave Reinhart.”

  “The cop and the judge?”

  She nodded. “Find any articles you can about the three men I just mentioned. If you can connect the three men somehow, then it will help. Also, I need you to find anything mentioning the Tree Removal Bill my father was working on. If you can find any connection, please take it to the police. I can’t stay in town. I have to get out of here.”

  As if to prove the need for her to leave, Calvin York entered the library. Kate worried that he had ca
ught onto her disguise.

  “Will you cover for me so I can leave without him seeing me?” she asked Sue.

  The young woman thought for a moment and then nodded. “Alright.” She walked out of the room and over to the man who had a pencil and paper out. “Good afternoon, Mr. York,” she greeted. “May I help you?”

  Since Calvin had his back turned to Kate, she was able to slip out of the library undetected. She tried to act casual as she walked down the street.

  A little girl saw her and giggled. “Mother, why is that man’s beard falling off?” she asked the tired woman who didn’t bother to answer her.

  Kate quickly reached up and realized half of her beard was off of her face. She found an alley and hid in it while she pulled out the glue from her pocket. I really should have taken more time to glue this thing on my face when I was in that restroom.

  “Miss Tanner?” a voice called out.

  She glanced over her shoulder and saw Calvin running to her. She forced herself not to utter a curse word she overheard Sam and Tim use on occasion as she broke into a run down the rest of the alley.

  He followed her. “I only want to ask you a couple of questions!”

  She didn’t stop. She ran onto the street and dodged several people. Some of them commented on her beard so she held it in place. She crossed the street and ran into the bank. She knew that Calvin was still behind her. She thanked the Lord when she saw most of the bank employees were at a meeting in Conrad Leroy’s office. She quickly ran behind and under the counter where the tellers took care of their customers. She crawled over to Jake’s side of the counter and forced her breathing back to normal before she glued the beard back onto her face. I should have taken two disguises with me. Who knew Calvin York could be so perceptive?