by Shelley Gray
Tears were now running down her cheeks. Again. And though she was blubbering like the child he no doubt thought she was, she forced herself to continue. “If I hadn’t forgotten . . . Eloisa would have stayed by Sean and she wouldn’t . . . wouldn’t have been hurt. I am sorry.”
They started walking again, but to her amazement, instead of picking up their already frenetic pace, he slowed. Pulled her to a quiet spot next to the red brick side of an older apartment building.
And then, very slowly, he released his firm grip on her arm and pressed both of his palms on her cheeks.
Forcing her to gaze at him.
Her stomach in knots, she raised her chin and met his gaze. This was her penance, she realized. She had to face him and take his anger. It was only right.
But to her amazement, the hard, cold, calculating look she’d spied mere moments ago was replaced with something far different. “Katie,” he rasped, his voice so filled with emotion it sounded painful. “Listen to me closely. What happened to Eloisa is not your fault.”
She appreciated his lie. She did! And another time—maybe when she was a little bit younger—she would have grasped that excuse and held onto it as tightly as she could.
But she’d learned recently that with maturity came responsibility. And with that responsibility came the knowledge that she’d made an error, and that error might very well have cost someone her life. “Oh, but it is, Detective Howard. If I hadn’t—”
With a shake of his head, he cut her off. “No. Katie, men and women ride the trains all the time without police protection. It wasn’t your fault for being human or Eloisa’s fault for stepping into the crowd without an escort on her arm. All the blame goes to the man who did this.”
“I know, but Sean told me—”
“Katie, the Slasher attacked Eloisa. For some reason, he sought her out and wanted to do harm. He is at fault. Not you.”
“But—”
He pressed his palms to her cheeks for a second before wiping off her tears with his thumbs. “Not you, Katherine. Sweetheart, no one is blaming you.”
For a split second, she wondered if he even realized that he had called her by her Christian name. That he called her sweetheart. She thought not. It was obvious he was too upset to even realize he was being so free with her.
But she realized it. And more importantly—at least to her—she cherished his familiarity. Welcomed it.
And with that in mind, she gazed up at him. And for the first time, didn’t even try to hide everything she was feeling. For the first time, she let everything in her heart, all her daydreams, all her wishes, shine through for him to see. “Not even you?” she whispered.
Something flickered in his eyes. “Especially not me.”
She had no words to respond to that. Instead, she allowed herself to smile. Even though they needed to hurry to Sean and Eloisa.
And even though, very, very soon, Owen would likely not want another thing to do with her because she’d already caused so much harm.
But then, to her surprise, he enfolded her into his arms and briefly hugged her tight.
She pressed her face into his shoulder, breathed in his clean scent, and felt better.
When he released her, he grabbed for her hand and started walking. When they reached the train station, he walked straight ahead, his gaze alert and focused. “Which direction?” he barked.
When they got to the platform area, Katie pointed to their left. “She’s over there.”
Immediately he dropped her hand and started forward. Three police officers standing off to the side saw him and nodded deferentially. “Sir,” one said.
“Watch over Miss Ryan,” he said, vaguely pointing behind him in her direction. Not even looking her way.
“Miss?” the first one asked. She immediately recognized Sergeant Fuller. “Stand over here for a moment, if you please. Out of the way.”
She stood. Stood in the shadows, trying not to cause any more trouble. Trying to do what they asked because she now knew it didn’t matter what she might want to do. The fact was, she was only someone everyone wished wasn’t there at the moment. She was a responsibility, a hindrance no one there wanted to have.
“Move a little closer to me, Miss Ryan,” Sergeant Fuller repeated as another train pulled into the station and another crowd departed.
Eager to obey, she stepped closer. Not saying a word as both she and the policemen watched Owen stride forward and then kneel down next to Sean and another man who looked to be a physician.
Then, suddenly, it was as if they were all in a wind tunnel and nothing mattered twenty feet beyond them. The other people in the area might have been rendered mute for as much as she heard them.
Every sense was completely focused on Sean, Owen, and Eloisa. To her, nothing else mattered but Eloisa’s survival. It was almost as if she knew deep in her heart that if Eloisa didn’t survive, she wouldn’t either. And that Sean and Detective Howard would always feel as if they’d failed her.
Heart in her throat, she watched the doctor lean back, allowing Owen to edge in. Katie was just close enough to see Owen move closer, hover over Eloisa’s beautiful face. To his right, her brother looked ten years older. Blood soaked his shirt, his coat jacket, and traces of it smudged his cheek.
But it was the expression on his face that she couldn’t look away from. Devastation, but also hope. And love shone in his eyes.
Katie gasped as she realized just how much Eloisa had come to mean to him.
“Careful, Howard,” Sean ordered as Owen leaned over Eloisa, cradling her head in his hands.
“Eloisa?” Owen called to her. “Eloisa? Dear?”
Sean reached out. Grasped his shoulder. “She’s lost a lot of blood. She will most likely always be scarred from this. But she is alive.”
Owen popped his chin up. Looked at Sean directly in the eyes.
“She is going to survive, sir,” the physician said.
“Thank God,” Owen said. “Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord.”
As the tears she couldn’t seem to help continued to fall, Katie echoed the very same sentiments to herself.
If Eloisa was still alive, then everything was going to be okay. And she owed it all to God.
CHAPTER 25
The physician—Stone was his name—had ebbed the flow of blood enough to move Eloisa. “I’ll stitch her up properly when she’s off the ground,” he murmured. “Do you wish her to go to the hospital or my clinic?”
Sean had seen enough of the clinics in the area to have a healthy aversion to them. Many were dirty and filled with people he wanted Eloisa to avoid at all costs. “No.” Thinking quickly, he realized Maeve’s house was no more than five blocks away. “We’ll take her to my sister’s house. She can rest there for a few hours before we risk taking her home.”
Just as he signaled two uniforms, Owen got in his space. “Sean, she needs to go home. Her parents will be frantic when they hear what has happened.”
“Yes, but they don’t know anything yet.”
“Which is my point exactly.”
“And my point is that she needs to be moved and resituated quickly.” Seeing the two men standing at their side, waiting, he started barking orders. “One of you take charge of this area. Finish taking statements, clearing the space. You, go to my sister’s house and let her know that I’ll be arriving with Eloisa and a physician presently.” After scribbling Maeve’s address on a page in his notebook, he tore it off and handed it to another uniformed officer. “Quickly, now.”
Owen’s face hardened. “Sean, think about this.”
Sean ignored Owen as he knelt and carefully lifted Eloisa into his arms. Her limp body should have felt awkward. In fact, nothing could have been further from the truth. She felt light and supple in his arms. And even after lying on the platform for far too long, she still smelled as fresh and sweet as he’d always imagined she would in his dreams.
“Sean, we need to think about what is best for Eloisa.”
“I am. We need a hack.”
“I sent Fuller to summon one,” Owen said, his speech clipped.
“Very good. We’ll take that to my sister’s, if you don’t mind.” He started walking toward the exit, glaring at anyone who was either staring at Eloisa or too slow about getting out of his way.
By his side, Owen was glaring at him. “Sir, what would you like me to do?”
He paused. “Go inform Mr. and Mrs. Carstairs about what happened. And please, keep Katie with you.”
“Why?”
“I don’t have time to explain, but something was off about this. After you and Katie inform Eloisa’s parents, come to my sister’s house.” He raised an eyebrow. “You remember how to get to Maeve’s, I presume?”
“I do.”
“By that time, Stone will have finished his handiwork and hopefully Eloisa will have come around a bit. Then when she’s ready, you can escort her home.”
“Me?” he asked as they walked through the set of double doors.
When the doctor trotted ahead toward a rather fine-looking buggy and team of two horses, Sean followed, Owen right beside him. “It will be better if you escort her home,” Sean said. “We both know that.”
“Better for whom?”
“Eloisa,” he said as Dr. Stone opened his buggy’s door.
“Let me have her while you get in,” Owen said.
Sean was reluctant to give her up even for that small amount of time, but he knew his partner’s actions were in the right. After carefully easing Eloisa into Owen’s arms, he got into the buggy, then held out his arms again for Owen to place her in his lap.
It wasn’t easy, maneuvering a young lady around the way they were. And though they did their best to keep the manhandling to a minimum, he had no doubt that they were causing her discomfort. His suppositions were confirmed when she moaned softly.
Both he and Owen froze, but it was Stone who saved the day. “If she’s moaning, that means she’s coming out of it. That’s good.” Staring at her neck, he frowned. “Unfortunately, she’s bleeding again.”
Quickly, Sean rattled off Maeve’s address before glancing at Owen. “Take care of Katie. See you soon.”
Owen gave a mock salute and was turning away when the driver motioned the horses forward.
In the silence of the buggy, Sean thought about fights he’d been involved in when he was young. The hazing he’d endured being a new recruit. The things he’d seen on his beats, the things he’d done, all in the name of supposedly protecting the city’s fine citizens.
He’d gotten knifed, been hit, thrown himself on men attempting to flee, and had once even had the misfortune to be on the wrong side of an escaped pig from the stockyards.
But none of it, none of it had ever given him the feeling of terror he’d experienced today.
“This Slasher’s a bad one,” Stone said after silence had settled on them. “I hope you catch him soon.”
“No one hopes that more than me,” Sean said. Absolutely meaning every word.
“I’m sorry you are forced to babysit me,” Katie said to Detective Howard when they at last made their way from the train station.
“Babysitting is a bit harsh, Miss Ryan.”
“You are being forced to watch over me. I don’t know what else you would call it.”
He winked as they walked out into the broad sunlight. “An honor.”
Her cheeks heated at the flattery. And it was very kind, if rather too effusive. She decided to ignore it. “Do you understand why Sean is making me stay with you? I would have thought it would be better for everyone if I simply went on home.”
“He has his reasons,” he said evasively. “Now, please stop dwelling on it. We have more important things to do besides debate whether or not you should be by my side.”
“What do we need to do?”
“You and I need to go over to Sable Hill and inform Mr. and Mrs. Carstairs about Eloisa’s attack.”
“My brother isn’t going to talk to them when he takes her home?”
“Your brother is taking Miss Carstairs to your sister’s home.”
“To Maeve’s?”
“Her house is closer than Sable Hill, I believe.”
“Well, it is that.” They were walking down the street, walking on the makeshift sidewalk, really just a long strip of lumber that was just elevated enough so women’s hems would be saved from the worst of the dirt.
To her surprise, Owen was keeping their pace at an even, almost leisurely pace. She was grateful for that. She wondered if it was for her benefit or if he wasn’t in much of a hurry to talk to Miss Carstairs’s parents.
“Do you know them very well?” she asked after they crossed another block.
“Eloisa’s parents?”
“Yes.”
He shrugged, then at last nodded. “Well enough. Eloisa and I frequent the same circles.”
She wasn’t exactly sure what he meant. Oh, she understood the gist of it, but the way he phrased things made it sound as if there were more between them than she’d guessed.
Or maybe, perhaps, even less?
“Are we going to walk all the way to Sable Hill?”
He chuckled under his breath, just as he stepped a bit closer to her and took her arm. “No, Miss Ryan. Walking there would take most of the day and we don’t have time for that. I just, uh, wanted to give us both a few minutes of peace before we grabbed a grip car.”
His lengthy reply embarrassed her. It sounded as if he were taking care to explain things to her, as one would a child. “Sorry.”
There were more people around them now, which made sense since they were nearing the financial district. Detective Howard’s expression became harder, giving off a further hint of an aura that stated firmly to one and all that no one should mess with him.
“No, I’m the one who should be apologizing. I sounded short with you, didn’t I? That certainly wasn’t my intention.”
Katie knew she should point out that she was nothing to him, merely another obligation bearing down on him on top of an already difficult day.
And because every other topic of conversation she could think of seemed to be a minefield, she asked something that would hopefully give her more information about him but not create another crease of worry around his eyes. “Detective Howard, why would someone like you become a policeman?”
They crossed an intersection before he replied. “I’m surprised your brother didn’t already tell you my life story.”
“Sean’s not one for divulging private information.”
He glanced her way. “No, I suppose he is not. Well, the short of it is that I am not the oldest son in my family. Or even the second. I’m number three.” His lips thinned. “My father owns a manufacturing facility. It does rather well. There was plenty of expectation for my eldest brother to take after him. And he did.”
“What about your next brother?”
He shook his head. “Sam isn’t one for business, but he has a good head on his shoulders.” She gazed up at him in time to see him frown. “No, that isn’t fair. He’s bloody brilliant. Smartest man I know. He became a lawyer.”
“I see,” she said. Though she still really didn’t. Running a company and being a fancy lawyer were both respected professions. Being a policeman was definitely not. Even she knew his job was a far cry from where his father no doubt had expected him to go. To make matters worse, he wasn’t even in charge. He was a detective, which was a matter of honor for someone of her family, but it had to grate on a man like Owen to be paired with Sean Ryan.
And to make matters even worse, her brother was technically his superior.
He grinned. “If you see, then you are definitely ahead of the rest of my family. They don’t see what I’m doing at all. And as a matter of fact, I don’t blame them.”
“So what did happen?”
He glanced at her, his handsome face looking apprehensive. “The fact of the matter is that the Lord blessed me
with good looks—best in the family,” he added with a grin. “My mother said she used to tell everyone she met that the Lord had blessed her with her own angel.”
“I bet you did look angelic as a baby,” she murmured without thinking.
He grinned. “I did. But, uh, what I wasn’t all that blessed with was a brain.”
“What?”
“I’m smart enough, of course. It’s not like I was born with a defect of some sort.” He shook his head. “But schooling was hard for me. Especially hard. I had a difficult time learning to read. I still don’t read all that well, and sometimes when I write, the letters get turned around.” His voice lowered, deepened. “My dad used to say I got all the beauty and none of the smarts.”
“That’s horrible.”
“It was true.” He shrugged. “However, it turned out that I might not be able to write things all that well but I can figure things out with the best of them.”
“And so you decided to become a policeman?”
“And so I decided to work for a friend of my father’s in his store.”
“You were a shop worker?”
“Briefly. On the third evening I was working, a pair of hooligans came in and stole some of the merchandise. My boss summoned the police—which I thought was a waste of time.”
“Why?”
“Because even five years ago much of Chicago believed that the police weren’t all that capable of keeping order. Worse, they were considered to be mostly crooked. Anyway, what did happen was that your brother was one of the men who showed up at the shop.”
“I had no idea that was how you met!” Their conversation was certainly a revelation.
“We didn’t hit it off real well at the beginning, but your brother did recover the merchandise. And I suddenly realized that I didn’t want to have my day’s goal to be about selling lots of things to people who didn’t need them. About a month after the incident, I asked your brother to meet me for coffee.”
“I’m surprised he met you. Sean isn’t one to meet anyone for coffee. He’s usually all about work.”
“I was surprised too. Surprised but relieved. And to this day, no matter what happens, I’ll always be grateful to him for doing that. Otherwise I would have really made a fool of myself when I went into that precinct office and asked to be hired.”