City of Lies

by Victoria Thompson

  Or did she have another reason to be angry?

  And why did these new questions make her even more fascinating to him?

  By the time he reached the parlor door, she was waiting for him with her coat and hat on. He put on his own coat and hat, then opened the front door and gave her a little bow.

  Did she really roll her eyes? Fortunately, he liked a challenge.

  She hesitated on the front stoop while she put on her gloves, although he thought she was also surveying the neighborhood. What was she looking for? Signs of wealth? She wouldn’t find many in this part of the city. Those with true wealth had moved uptown ages ago.

  When she was satisfied with her gloves, she started down the steps. He followed and fell into step beside her. He’d been debating how to start with her, and he decided to be reckless.

  “He’s not rich.”

  She looked up in surprise. “What?”

  “I said, he’s not rich.”

  “Who isn’t rich?” she asked, but he could see she knew full well.

  “David.”

  “Do you think I’m a gold digger?”

  He hoped not, because he wouldn’t be in the running, either. “I just thought you should know.”

  “I only expect him to be comfortably fixed,” she said with a sly grin that reminded him he’d used those very words to describe himself.

  He absorbed the sting of that barb and soldiered on. “I sense that you’re angry with me, Miss Miles.”

  “Why would I be angry?”

  “I was hoping you would tell me.”

  She pretended to consider that. “Perhaps I’m put out with you because you separated me from my fiancé.”

  “I hope not, because Mrs. Vanderslice would have realized the problem soon enough, and if she didn’t, her friends would have, and they would have descended like a flock of hens to make you notorious.”

  “And you saved me from that.”

  “I did indeed.”

  “Do you think I should be grateful?”

  “That is my sincere hope, although I suspect I will be disappointed. I also know my mother is very fond of you, so I thought she would invite you to stay with us, which would make her very happy.”

  “Then you were only being a thoughtful son.”

  “And a good friend to David for keeping you so close. His mother might have sent you back to South Dakota.”

  “I’m afraid I’m going to have to change my opinion of you, Mr. Bates.”

  “You are?”

  “Oh, yes. You are far more devious and conniving than I originally thought.”

  “You wound me to the quick.”

  “I doubt it.”

  They’d reached the corner and she stopped, waiting for him to indicate in which direction they should head. He pointed to the right, so she went in that direction.

  “How can you question my motives, Miss Miles?”

  “Easily.”

  “Then what do you think they are?”

  “I hesitate to guess.”

  Gideon couldn’t resist. “Do you think I hope to steal you away from David?”

  She looked up at him in surprise, then turned her face away again. “How could you hope to steal me away from the man I’ve fallen in love with and plan to marry?”

  “Because that’s impossible.”

  This time she frowned, apparently confused. “It’s not impossible. We’re engaged.”

  “It’s impossible that you’ve fallen in love with him.”

  She stopped dead in her tracks, nearly causing the people behind them to knock them over. “How dare you!”

  He took her arm and pulled her into the safety of the nearest shop doorway. “I’ve known David all my life. There’s nothing about him that would make any woman fall in love in a few days, much less a woman like you.”

  “And exactly what kind of woman am I?”

  “You’re smart and spirited and strong, and you deserve a man who’s your equal.”

  Every ounce of that spirit flared in her remarkable eyes for an instant, and then someone clapped a hand on his shoulder.

  “Is this gentleman bothering you, miss?”

  Gideon turned to shove the interloper out of the way, but he stopped when he realized it was Thornton’s man, Lester. “What are you doing here?”

  Lester stepped back and held both hands up in a sign of surrender. “Nothing much. Didn’t realize that was you, Mr. Bates. I just saw what looked like some man forcing his attentions on this lady here.”

  “I’m not forcing my attentions on her.” Well, maybe he was.

  “That right, miss?” Lester asked.

  “Of course it is. We were just having a serious discussion, but this is not the time or the place, is it, Mr. Bates?”

  “No, it’s not.”

  “Thank you for your concern, sir,” she said to Lester. “Now if you’ll excuse us, we’ll be on our way.”

  Lester moved back some more and Gideon gave him a hard stare as he allowed Elizabeth to step out into the flow of pedestrians in a hurry to get wherever they were going. Lester didn’t look the least bit contrite, though. What was he doing here at this time of day if he was working for Thornton? But Gideon didn’t have time to worry about Lester—or Thornton, either—just now.

  He hurried to catch up to Elizabeth. “We need to cross the street here,” he said when they reached the corner. “The telegraph office is on the next block.”

  She didn’t reply. She didn’t even glance at him. All the color had drained from her face, and regret stabbed at him. What had he been thinking? If he’d had any chance at all of winning her from David, that chance was gone now. The most he could hope for was preventing her from marrying David, and that would probably mean he’d never see her again.

  They’d reached the telegraph office, and he hurried to grab the door handle before she could. He held it, preventing her from entering and forcing her to look at him.

  “I’m sorry—”

  “Thank you for your assistance, Mr. Bates. You may now be on your way.” Her gaze chilled him.

  “Can you find your way back?”

  “Yes. I paid particular attention this time. May I go inside now?”

  He turned the knob and opened it. She went in without a backward glance, and he closed the door behind her. Left with no other choice, he headed down the street to the offices of Devoss and Van Aken.

  • • •

  Elizabeth needed a moment to compose herself before approaching the counter. What was she going to do about Gideon Bates? She’d thought he would mind his manners if she treated him with disdain, but she’d underestimated him. Her disdain only made him more interested in her. And how dare he try to ruin her engagement to David when that was what would save her very life? Gideon Bates was infuriating.

  “Can I help you, miss?” the clerk asked, gazing at her from under his green eyeshade.

  “I want to send a telegram.” She stepped up to the counter and took a blank form and pulled a pencil from the can. She scratched out the address of Dan the Dude’s Saloon and the message: “Cannot leave town. New plan. Meet at Cybils today eleven.”

  “That’s exactly ten words,” the clerk said when he’d looked at her message.

  She paid him and waited while he sent it.

  By then she figured Gideon would be well away, and when she turned, she was not surprised to see Lester peering at her through the plate glass window.

  She stepped outside.

  “What do you think you’re trying to pull?” he demanded.

  She gave him her haughtiest look. “Would you please explain to Thornton that an engaged woman cannot live in the same house as her fiancé, so I have gone to live with Mrs. Hazel Bates. This will in no way affect our arrangement.” She started to walk away
, then stopped and turned back before he could recover his wits. “Also, do not be alarmed to see that I am going to visit Anna Vanderslice this morning. We are then going to visit friends in Greenwich Village, and I will return with her to have supper with her family.”

  “How is that going to convince Vanderslice to help sell those rifles?”

  “Is that your business?”

  “No, but Thornton will ask,” he said with a grin.

  “Vanderslice will be at his office all day, so I’ll be ingratiating myself with his family. Is that good enough?”

  “I guess it’ll have to be.”

  “Fine. Now if you give me a head start, I’ll try to make it easy for you to follow me back.”

  She didn’t like the hard glitter in his little pig’s eyes, but she didn’t let it show. She took her time walking back to the Bateses’ house, pausing to look in shop windows on the way, just to annoy Lester. She wasn’t going to forget he was the one who would beat her if she failed. That was one reason she’d asked Gideon to go with her this morning. She certainly could have found the telegraph office herself, but after she’d moved into a completely different house, she didn’t want to explain it to whichever one of Thornton’s goons was on duty this morning until she was in a very public place.

  Now she had to figure out how to deal with Anna and her inconvenient infatuation.

  • • •

  “I don’t think I’ve ever known anyone who lived in this neighborhood,” Anna said when the taxicab had dropped them off in front of Cybil’s house in Greenwich Village.

  It was a ramshackle place close to a hundred years old, and Elizabeth felt the sting of tears when she saw it. She couldn’t give in to emotion now, though. She took Anna’s arm. “Come on.”

  Anna needed a tug to get her started up the walk. “Are you sure this is the right place?”

  “I told you, these people are good friends of mine.” More than friends, if the truth were known, but Anna was going to get enough truth of her own today. She didn’t need Elizabeth’s.

  Ordinarily, Elizabeth would have just walked right in, but she didn’t want Anna to know exactly how familiar she was with this house. Cybil saved her the trouble of knocking, though. She threw open the door just as they reached the front stoop. The Old Man must have told her Elizabeth was coming.

  Cybil stood half a head taller than Elizabeth, but she had the same auburn hair and bright blue eyes. Today she wore a red silk kimono over a pair of baggy black trousers gathered at the ankles. On her feet were peacock blue satin slippers. Elizabeth thought Anna’s eyes might pop right out of her head.

  “Lizzie!” She threw her arms around Elizabeth, shocking Anna even more. Cybil started to say something else, but Elizabeth jerked her head toward Anna, silencing her. She took Anna in with one shrewd glance. “And who’s this now?”

  “Cybil, this is my dearest friend, Anna Vanderslice.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Miss Anna, but where would you be meeting somebody named Vanderslice, Lizzie?”

  Elizabeth smiled with delight. “We met in jail.”

  Cybil smiled back with delight. “Then you’d best come inside and tell me all about it.”

  They took off their coats, and Cybil led them into the cluttered parlor, which was furnished with a collection of mismatched furniture chosen primarily for its ability to provide comfort or function, preferably both.

  “Zelda, Lizzie’s here!” Cybil called, and in another moment, a tiny, blonde woman came bustling in. If Cybil was outrageously dressed, Zelda was as prim and proper as any lady Anna’s mother might have known. “And she’s brought a friend,” Cybil added in warning.

  Zelda greeted Elizabeth with a kiss on both her cheeks. “I’ve just made some tea. I’ll bring it in and we’ll have a chat.”

  When they’d been served, Anna seemed to have recovered from her initial shock. Zelda was the perfect hostess, asking the right questions so that Anna was able to tell the story of their arrest and the growth of their friendship in a perfectly natural way. When Zelda got up to refill the pot, Elizabeth went with her.

  “Who is this girl and why have you brought her here, sweetheart?” Zelda asked when they were in the kitchen.

  “Zelda, I need your help.”

  Zelda smiled and shook her head at Elizabeth’s foolishness. “The Old Man told us what happened to you and Jake with that mark and how you ended up with the suffragettes.”

  “Suffragists.”

  “What?”

  “Never mind. I told him to meet me here.”

  “And he’s been here for an hour, but we didn’t think you’d want your friend to see him.”

  “No, I don’t. Thank you. But there’s a reason I brought Anna with me.” Quickly, she explained about Anna’s reaction to Elizabeth’s engagement to her brother.

  Zelda’s well-bred jaw dropped. “You’re engaged to a mark?”

  “David isn’t a mark. I’m just using him to . . . Oh, it doesn’t matter. However I explain it sounds horrible. Anyway, I’m not worried about that part of it. I’m worried about Anna and what’s going to become of her after I’m gone. I thought maybe you and Cybil could talk to her and . . . and explain things. She thinks she’s in love with me, and I can’t stand the thought of hurting her.”

  “Maybe you’re in love with her, too,” Zelda suggested gently.

  “I wish it was that easy. I do love her, but only as a friend.”

  “We’ve told you before, it’s so much easier if you love another woman.”

  “I know, men are so . . . complicated.”

  “And unreasonable and smelly and—”

  “Believe me, I understand! I wish I were like you and Cybil. Anna and I get along so well, too. But . . .” She thought of Gideon Bates and how deliciously complicated and unreasonable he was, although he did smell very good indeed. Her life would be much simpler if she really did hate him. “Anna needs to understand her feelings and what they mean, or at least what they could mean.”

  “Cybil and I will figure out if this is just a schoolgirl crush or if she really is one of us. Now why don’t you go see the Old Man? He’s probably pretty worried by now.”

  Nothing ever worried the Old Man, but she nodded and thanked Zelda and went upstairs to the room she used when she stayed here. Unlike the rest of the house, this room was in perfect order. He sat reading a newspaper in the overstuffed chair Elizabeth had bought with her first score. At the sound of the door opening, he’d crushed it and tossed it aside.

  “What happened? Are you all right?” he asked, jumping to his feet.

  “Didn’t you say that the last time I saw you?”

  “I thought you were leaving the city.”

  “Thornton’s thugs picked me up right outside of Dan’s.”

  He swore. “If they laid a hand on you . . .”

  “They were going to, but luckily, I knew enough about Thornton to figure out how to get away from him.” She sat down on the neatly made bed and explained what she had done.

  “You’re really engaged to this Vanderslice fellow? How did you manage that?” he asked with some amusement.

  “I told you he’s a lop-ear.”

  “But that was dangerous. What if he hadn’t proposed?”

  “He didn’t propose, and I’m still engaged to him. Sometimes I don’t think you appreciate my talents.”

  “You may be right. So now we need to figure out how to work the deal with the rifles. I have been thinking about it. We were going to approach Thornton directly when this Vanderslice wouldn’t help him. All we need to change is that we’ll approach Vanderslice instead and ask him to help us deal with Thornton. Can you convince Vanderslice to cooperate?”

  “Just tell me what you need, and I’ll make sure he does.”

  He smiled at her fondly. “You’re right. I have neve
r truly appreciated your talents.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Elizabeth could hear Anna sobbing before she was halfway down the stairs. She flew down the rest of the steps and raced into the parlor.

  “What have you done to her?” she demanded, hurrying to Anna’s side.

  “We didn’t make her cry. You did,” Cybil said.

  “How could I make her cry? I wasn’t even here,” Elizabeth said, sitting down beside Anna and taking her hand. “I’m so sorry I left you. I don’t know what they said, but they were supposed to make you feel better!”

  Anna dabbed at her tears and managed a reassuring smile. “They did make me feel better. Oh, Elizabeth, you have no idea. All these years, I knew I was different from other girls, and I thought I was the only girl alive who didn’t care if boys noticed me. Once I even told my mother that when I grew up, I was going to marry a girl because girls are prettier.”

  “Girls are prettier,” Zelda said.

  Anna smiled at that. “I think that was one reason I was attracted to the suffrage movement, too. So many of the ladies are unmarried and not interested in men. Cybil says some of them are probably like us, too.”

  “I’m sure they are, dear,” Zelda said.

  Anna turned back to Elizabeth. “You can’t imagine what a relief it is to know there are other women like me.”

  “Then why were you crying?” Elizabeth asked.

  “She was crying,” Cybil said, “because we told her you’re not like us.”

  “And you’ll never love me the way I love you,” Anna said, tearing up again. “And I’ll have to watch you marry David.”

  “But I’m not going to marry David,” Elizabeth said. Only when she saw Anna’s shock did she realize the mistake she had made. She clamped a hand over her mouth, but it was too late.

  “What do you mean, you aren’t going to marry him?”

  “Oh dear,” Cybil said, rising. “I think we need to leave these two alone, Zelda. They have some things to talk about.”

  Zelda stood, too, but she stopped to take Anna’s hand before she left. “You are always welcome here, my dear girl, at any time of the day or night. And we have a salon every Monday evening. I hope you will come by sometime and meet our friends.”