In Dreams Forgotten

by Tracie Peterson

  Judge Winters stood. “This is good news to my old ears. However, I’m afraid I’m due in court and must leave your company.”

  “I’m afraid it’s time to end our meeting anyway,” Spreckels stated. “We must all be about our business and not give any of Ruef’s associates a chance to realize what we’re actually doing. I will expect you all on Saturday afternoon at my home. We are hosting a fund-raiser for one of my wife’s charities at two. Once things are under way, we will meet in my library. Feel free to use the French doors off the veranda if you’d rather not deal with the other guests.”

  “Until Saturday, then,” Judge Winters said, getting to his feet. “And remember, each of you, this is a dangerous business we are about. Keep your eyes open and take no chances.”

  Most of the men gathered their things and exited the room. Some stayed behind to speak to Older. Caleb’s heart was encouraged by the support of these good men, but he knew there was still so much to be done.

  “Would we be headin’ to yer office now?” Patrick asked.

  “Yes. I’d imagine Camri is there already, and I don’t want her to feel that she has to do the inventorying all by herself.”

  “She wouldn’t care,” Patrick said with a smile. “She likes bein’ in charge.”

  “Don’t I know it.” Caleb laughed and took up his hat. “You’ve got your hands full with trying to keep my sister in line.”

  “Aye, but I’m thinkin’ it won’t be too unpleasant a task.”

  Caleb couldn’t help but like the lighthearted Irishman. For all his woes and losses, Patrick seemed to always manage a positive spirit. It hadn’t been easy, however. The last couple years had been brutal. Patrick had lost his father and business, and then just before Christmas he’d lost his only sister Ophelia to tuberculosis—the same disease that had taken their mother.

  They made their way to where Caleb had parked his car. “You know, you really should learn to drive.”

  “Aye, I suppose it would be of use to me.”

  “I could teach you. I know you’d manage it in moments. The real problem is managing everyone else on the street.”

  “Most days it looks like a donnybrook between cable cars and automobiles,” Patrick mused.

  “And then you throw in the horse-drawn wagons and carriages and pedestrians, and it becomes a three-ringed circus.” Caleb shook his head. “The world seemed much less complicated when we were boys.”

  He drove them downtown to the offices he’d once shared with Henry Ambrewster. Caleb had been there a few times since Henry’s death and his own return to the city, but there had always been too much going on to perform more than a cursory search for his missing ledger. The ledger was crucial because it listed names and information relating to Ruef’s graft. It had been hidden in Caleb’s office desk drawer prior to his being shanghaied, but Patrick had said that Henry had it in hand the day he was killed. Caleb could only pray Henry had time to hide it before his assailant came to the office. If not, then their search was in vain.

  As if reading his thoughts, Patrick spoke up. “I’m thinkin’ this might be all for naught. The man who killed Ambrewster broke into the safe and took the money and would surely have taken the ledger as well. I doubt there was time for Ambrewster to be hidin’ it.”

  “Maybe not, but I have to hope. That ledger contains a great deal of information that would benefit the special prosecutor should he agree to help us.” Caleb pulled to the curb in front of the large six-story brick building that housed the office. “It would have been nice to have the money as well, since Ruef handled it himself and fingerprints could have been obtained, but the ledger would be enough to give the prosecutor plenty to go on.”

  They made their way to the third-floor office and found Camri already hard at work. She was standing near the top of a ladder, pulling dusty books from the top shelf in Henry’s office.

  “You shouldn’t be up there,” Caleb chided. “You’ll get your skirts twisted and fall.”

  “You certainly have a lot of faith in my abilities,” Camri called down.

  “I don’t question your abilities,” Caleb replied. “It’s the yardage of your skirt.”

  Patrick was already reaching up to help her. “Come down like a good lass, and I’ll take yer place.”

  She glared at them both, then started down with an armful of books. When she reached the bottom, she raised her chin defiantly. “As you see, I am quite unharmed.”

  “And I mean to see ye stay that way,” Patrick said, taking her place on the ladder.

  Caleb looked around the office. The man who had killed Henry had made a mess of things that had not yet been cleaned up. The offices had been closed to everyone but the police, who had given at least a pretense of gathering evidence. Caleb didn’t believe for a minute they would have turned over any evidence even if they’d found it. Most of them worked for Ruef, after all. Patrick had told him of warning Ambrewster to hide the ledger, but had Henry had the time? Patrick had been there, speaking to Ambrewster, probably no more than a few minutes before the killer came. There may not have been time to do much of anything. Of course, one benefit they had going for them—Ruef didn’t know how Caleb was keeping track of information. Ruef would have had his man mostly looking for the papers Patrick had taken from his home, and those had been safely hidden in Caleb’s house.

  “Tell me again what the ledger looks like,” Camri demanded as she started pulling books from the lower shelves.

  “Beige with red leather binding.”

  She laughed. “Most of these books are beige with red leather binding.”

  Caleb nodded. “Which is why I chose that particular ledger. It’s not at all noticeable. With it sitting on my desk, folks would just assume it to be another law book.”

  “Well, it makes finding it like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Camri said, straightening with several dusty volumes in her arms. “And given that it’s just as likely the murderer took it with him, I’m wondering if we’re wasting our time.”

  Caleb looked around the room and shook his head. “Anything we do to help put Ruef away won’t be a waste of time as far as I’m concerned.”

  CHAPTER

  3

  Caleb enjoyed listening to Judith play the piano. She had such a passion for music, and it came out in the way she managed the keys. Her playing eased his worries from the day. They hadn’t been able to locate the ledger, but they’d made great progress in the office and would probably know soon enough if it was there.

  Judith started in on a Schubert piece, and Caleb stretched his hands out before the fire. A light rain had brought a chill to the air, and the fire compensated nicely.

  “Ye look mighty content standin’ here,” Patrick said, joining him.

  “I am. Life is good, despite the complications of Ruef and the losses in our lives.” He glanced to where Camri and Kenzie were busy looking through some magazines. “While the ladies are otherwise occupied, I want to say something.”

  “Go on with yerself, then.” There was an edge to Patrick’s tone that suggested he knew what Caleb intended to say.

  “Look, I know we’ve discussed this before, but I want you to let me gift you with enough money to restart your family construction company.”

  Patrick raised a brow. “Aye, we’ve discussed it before, and my answer is the same. I can’t be takin’ the money. It wouldn’t be right.”

  “I had a feeling you’d say that, but hear me out. Ruef took away everything your family owned and nearly cost you your life. Then he arranged to take Henry’s life, and in turn, I inherited all of Henry’s money. So in a way, if you took some of Henry’s money and created your business, it would be like Henry was getting a small bit of revenge.”

  Patrick seemed to consider this a moment. “Aye, but with Ruef still in power, ’twould do no good. He’d simply see to my failure and perhaps my death. Then ye’d have to be answerin’ to yer sister.” He grinned. “It’ll come round in time. I’m not
worried about it. Right now the important thing is to see Ruef put behind bars.”

  “Yes, but Camri is planning a wedding as we speak. She wants our parents to journey out here from Chicago. I know you intend to wait to marry until you have your business restored and a house of your own, but you may need to swallow your pride and let me help. At least let me loan you the money.”

  Patrick shook his head. “Caleb, ye’ve come to be a good friend, but I won’t let this come between us. Money can cause even the best of friendships to sour. Ophelia helped me to see that there are so many more important things than money and possessions.”

  “I quite agree.” Caleb thought of the petite Ophelia and how she’d died so young. She had been sweet on him when he’d come to Patrick’s rescue. Even now, the thought made him smile. “Your sister was a wise old soul despite her youth.”

  “Aye. She was that. I miss her talks in the evening. From the time Da passed on, we’d have them every night. Sometimes we’d talk about old memories and things we loved about Ma and Da, and other times we discussed the problems around us. She always had brilliant insight.”

  “She loved you a great deal. There’s no denying that.”

  Patrick smiled. “She loved ye too. I would have been proud to have ye as family.”

  “You are family, Patrick. Whether you marry my sister or not, I’d still be proud to call you brother. I won’t forget how you devoted yourself to finding me.”

  “I didn’t have a choice. Your sister would have been down at the dance halls and docks herself if I hadn’t taken the job.”

  Caleb laughed, drawing the attention of Camri. She put aside her magazine and came to join them at the fire.

  “Why do I get the feeling that you’re laughing at me?” she asked.

  “Not at you, sister dear, but it is related to you. You bring joy to us. What can I say?” Caleb gave her his best innocent expression but knew she wasn’t buying it.

  “Don’t be corrupting my fiancé,” she said, moving to loop her arm through Patrick’s. “I won’t have you driving him off before I can get him down the aisle.”

  “Like anyone could drive me away from ye.”

  Patrick gazed down at her with such a look of love that it made Caleb even more certain the couple were meant to be together. It was all he had ever wanted for her—someone to love her and care for her. Their parents were so happy together, and their older sister Catherine was content in her match, but Camri had always been so headstrong and independent that Caleb worried she’d never allow herself to fall in love. He was glad to be wrong.

  “Are we going to continue looking for the ledger tomorrow?” Camri asked.

  “I suppose we should. We need the information to help put Ruef away. Do you mind coming down to help another day?” Caleb asked.

  “Not at all. Since I no longer work at the candy factory and haven’t yet found a project here to keep me busy, I find it boring just sitting around the house, planning a wedding that may never happen.”

  Patrick put his arm around her. “For sure it will be happenin’. You aren’t goin’ to get out of it that easy.”

  “I know you’re right. We haven’t even known each other but a few months, so there’s wisdom in taking it slow.” She shook her head. “But it doesn’t seem like it’s only been a few months. I feel like I’ve known you all of my life.”

  “I feel the same,” Patrick assured, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

  Camri straightened. “Well, I should probably just focus on a different project.”

  “What kind of project are you considering, sister?” Caleb knew Camri wasn’t one to sit idle for long.

  “I had thought about teaching at a college again, but with everything we’ve gone through the last few months, I’m really of a mind to work with the poor. I’ve talked to Pastor Fisher about it, and he believes we could create a place of safety and education, particularly for women. Given that you and your associates are working to clean up the town, there are going to be quite a few women and young girls displaced.”

  “What did Pastor Fisher suggest?” Patrick asked.

  “If we could raise the funds to buy a large piece of property, then we could put up a building where the women could be housed and educated in order to be able to move on and support themselves. I thought perhaps I could put together a series of lectures or some such thing. I would appeal to those with the means to donate to the cause, then use the money from the ticket sales for the purchase of property.”

  “That would take a lot of time.” Caleb considered the matter for a moment. There was no reason he couldn’t hurry the process along, thanks to Henry’s gift. “Why don’t I purchase a piece of property? Perhaps something with a building already in place, even one in disrepair. I could hire Patrick to oversee fixing it up and making it safe.”

  Camri’s eyes lit up. “That would be marvelous! Do you really think we might find something?”

  Caleb smiled. “I don’t know why not. Patrick, I know you’ve got your heart set on putting your business back together, but while we’re working on that, why not work for me? You can save up some money and make your lovely wife-to-be happy.”

  “I’d like to be pleasin’ her, to be sure,” Patrick replied.

  “Please say you’ll help us,” Camri begged. “You and I have talked about this so many times. Imagine if the women in your neighborhood felt they could come and get an education in order to better themselves.”

  “I can imagine it, and I suppose it might well suit us all for me to agree to such an arrangement.”

  Caleb put his hand on Patrick’s shoulder. “I’ll expect only your best work.” He grinned.

  “And for sure ye’ll be havin’ it, boss.”

  Caleb laughed heartily. “No, I won’t have you calling me boss. We’re going to go on as we always have—as friends.”

  “This is so exciting. When can we start to look for properties?” Camri asked.

  “Well, I need your help at the office, but Patrick can start tomorrow.”

  “Start what?” Judith asked from the piano. She had stopped playing and was looking at the trio with great interest.

  “We’re going to find a piece of property with a building on it to fix up. We’ll use it for helping the poor,” Camri replied. “Just like we discussed with Pastor Fisher.”

  “How exciting!” Judith got to her feet. “How can I help?”

  “Well, for now I don’t imagine there’s much for you ladies to do,” Caleb interjected. “If Patrick is willing, he can start looking tomorrow, and hopefully it won’t take much time at all to locate a spot. Of course, it all depends on what you think would work best and where it should be.”

  “Well, it needs to be easy to get to. Transportation is already difficult for the poor,” Camri replied.

  Kenzie joined them. “Cousin George said there’s a warehouse for sale just south of downtown. I could get the address for you, if you like. It might suit our needs, as it’s near the bay. Cousin George had considered it for expanding his factory, but it required too much work to fix it up.”

  “That location sounds good,” Camri said, nodding. “I like that idea. Why don’t you call him right now?”

  Kenzie nodded and headed off to the phone. Caleb knew from experience that his sister, once motivated about a project, would take off running without further thought to consulting anyone.

  “It would probably be wise to speak with Pastor Fisher, as well,” he reminded Camri. “We’ll need the help of the church to make this work, and he should be consulted before we purchase any particular property. After all, this isn’t going to be just our project. We’ll need to form a board and solicit donations and funds for the everyday expenses. There’s a great deal of paperwork that will need to be set up in order to make this all aboveboard. I can certainly see to that.”

  “I’ll see if Pastor Fisher can go with me tomorrow,” Patrick said.

  Camri looked at him. “I do wish I could go.”
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  Caleb hurried to put her mind at ease. “We won’t purchase anything until you have a chance to see it, so don’t fret.”

  “I’m not fretting. I just want to be a part of everything.”

  “And so you shall be.” Caleb looked around the room. “What happened to Judith? I thought she would want to be in on this discussion.”

  “I don’t know.” Camri shook her head. “Perhaps she went with Kenzie.”

  But just then Kenzie returned with a piece of paper. “Here’s the address for the warehouse.” She handed it to Caleb.

  “That does seem like a good location.” Caleb handed the paper to Patrick. “I’ll leave it up to you.”

  Judith slipped away unseen and made her way upstairs. She wanted to be excited about Camri’s project to help the poor, but she couldn’t help feeling frustrated that no one seemed at all interested in helping her. She’d been willing to delay her search until Caleb could be found, knowing that she’d gone all these years without having any other family members. But Caleb had been home for some time now, and he had promised to help her find her aunt. So far, he hadn’t kept his promise.

  She closed her bedroom door and went to the dressing table. She plopped down on the chair and propped her elbows on the tabletop. She sighed and rested her chin in her hands. Her reflection in the mirror told the story. She couldn’t hide her disappointment. No one seemed to care about her feelings.

  A sigh escaped her lips. Somewhere in the city she had an aunt—perhaps cousins. At least she hoped that might be the case. She hoped there might be a great many relatives to whom she could lay claim. All of her life, she’d wanted to be part of a big family.

  “But right now I’d settle for knowing about just one aunt.”

  She straightened and began to pull pins from her hair. She had a mild headache and figured she would just spend the rest of the evening in her room. If anyone missed her—not that she expected they would—she would simply explain that she’d needed to rest.