The Visitor - New York 1871-1873

by Barbara Svetlick

  "Meeks I think you need to sit this one out."

  Garnett looked up at James. "James we have already accepted the assignment."

  "She shouldn’t be left alone. Even during the war we rarely went out together and now it seems we feel it is necessary."

  "James in the first place you are not married to her but there are a lot of times when it is vital for all of us to be involved."

  "Dominic, stop stating the obvious and stop telling me what I can or cannot do in life." He poured a shot and got up from the table. "We’re no longer in the Army, we’re no longer twenty-five and we no longer believe that we’ll always walk away without losing someone. Two of you have children to consider and the odds of not coming home are not something the children should pay for. We know what it means to be raised without one parent."

  Meeks headed upstairs to check on her returning to the ongoing fight. By this time James was fighting with both Dominic and Garnett. Meeks lit a cigar and sat back down kicking back to listen. Garnett turned to him.

  "I want your position."

  "On what? I believe I left the room before a position was put on the table."

  "On whether or not Mirisa can handle being alone."

  "Exactly where were the three of you when I had to leave the house for three hours with her?" Meeks picked up the bottle passing it to Dominic. "Mirisa and the children will do better by themselves then if one of us decides to stay with her."

  James looked at him. "Why do you think that?"

  "Because she’s afraid something will happen and if it does she will always blame herself because all four of us weren’t there to stop it. It’s the only reason she convinced me to go to Philadelphia. We either have to all quit or we’re all in." He blew smoke rings and picked up his cards. "You have to understand how superstitious she is and she keeps saying that Conrad is always with her when we’re not. I haven’t decided yet if I like him more or less than Dominic or whether or not I even believe he exists."

  "Trust me he exists, I just don’t understand why he won’t go away."

  "Probably because he doesn’t think we are capable of protecting her." James threw down his cards.

  "James you are getting way too cranky anymore."

  "Dominic I’m not in the mood for your attitude tonight."

  "That’s because you haven’t been enjoying what little time you spend with women and we all know that you don’t do well when you are deprived."

  James left the room. Meeks and Garnett both looked at Dominic.

  "Exactly what pleasure do you get out of pushing buttons?"

  "You all know that he can’t concentrate when he goes without sex any more than Meeks can work without whisky. He knows he can’t and he knows that his feelings are interfering with his normal routine."

  "Feelings for whom? Mirisa or Catherine?"

  Garnett thought about it. "Something is interfering because he’s walked out of the last couple of times we’ve gone. Just ups and walks out. In fact, he generally goes solo but is always gone by the time we come downstairs."

  Meeks thought about it for a while. "How serious is this job."

  "Pretty intense."

  "Alright." He got up and went upstairs. Mirisa woke up as he came into the room. She sat up as he bent over and kissed her. "I need you to go upstairs and talk to James. He doesn’t think you should be left alone and nothing I say seems to help."

  She climbed out of bed and went in and washed her face.

  "But I really want you back in my bed tonight."

  Mirisa knocked on his door. James opened it and stepped aside as though he was expecting her. He could tell she had just woken up because her hair was wild and her eyes were still sleepy. Mirisa sat on the end of the bed and pulled her knees up holding onto her toes as she rested her chin on her knees.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m just going through a dry spell which for me isn’t healthy because I can’t concentrate and I’m short tempered.”

  “What are you thinking right now?”

  “That I want to hold you.”

  She looked down and back at him. “Is it because I am right here or if you were lying in bed with another woman would you be thinking that?”

  James was sitting up against the headboard sipping on his whisky. His hair was getting darker since they weren’t outside a lot and he had started to grow a mustache. “Unfortunately, it is something I think no matter who I am with and it is the reason I have trouble trying to focus on Catherine.”

  “I am actually causing your problem.”

  “You are.”

  She leaned forward and ran her thumb along his top lip. “James, you always told me that sex was sex and had nothing to do with feelings.”

  “That has always been my belief and it always served my life well.” James smiled. “I made the stupid mistake of wanting to sleep with you and it has been downhill ever since. What is really bothering me is that I know that since Philadelphia Meeks has withdrawn and because of that I have taken a step back from you. I don’t like not being able to interact with you and if I had thought about it I would taken his side and scratched that assignment. You were right that no one really looked at how much he loves you and how important you have become to his ability to get through the day.”

  “What can I do?”

  “Understand that I care.”

  “You have always been the one to hold me together no matter what happened so I am having trouble knowing how to take away your doubts. I rely on you being strong.” Mirisa leaned up and kissed him as the tears formed over her irises. “I will always be whatever you need, I will always love you and if you don’t make a commitment I will give you a daughter to love you even when you are being fussy.”

  James started laughing. “Mirisa you can’t go around telling men you are going to have their babies.”

  “Until you come up with a sound reason why I can’t have what I want I will just assume that in the next few years I will make you a father.” She kissed him. “And you know I have no trouble luring you into my bed. So, stop over thinking and just know that no matter what happens in our life that when the end comes we will be together. I love you with all my heart but I think tonight you need to go wherever it is you go and release your troubles because I like my men happily satisfied.”

  Meeks was sitting in front of the fire with a glass in his hands but his eyes were closed. Mirisa knelt down in front of him and he looked at her. She put her arms on his legs and reached up kissing him. They both knew she would do anything in the world to keep him safe and Mirisa knew as long as James was with him Meeks would always return or neither one would. She put her head on his stomach and he ran his fingers through her hair before putting his hands under her arms and bringing her up to him.

  “I have something for you.” Mirisa didn’t bite and just stayed buried into him. Meeks took his fingers and dug them into her side and she squirmed and told him he was very evil. “I really have something for you.”

  Meeks handed Mirisa a small box. She opened it and it contained a very delicate toe ring with the date of their Colorado wedding on it. She sat up and put her foot on his chest. He took out the ring and put it on her second toe before he ran his hand up her leg causing her to lean back.

  Mirisa fixed lunch and dinner leaving it on the counter for them to get if they were hungry but she stayed out of their way while they worked on the information that they had been provided. Meeks finally came out into the living room and found Mirisa curled up reading a book. He sat down taking her hand in his and she curled her fingers around his. Meeks kissed them lightly and told her he really loved her and Mirisa tried so hard not to cry but it was very difficult when her emotions were so high with the pregnancy. Meeks reached up and wiped the tears off of the tips of Mirisa’s eyelashes.

  “Your eyes are so beautiful when the tears are covering them before they fall down your cheeks.” Meeks took Mirisa in his arms and held her. “All I ever think about i
s us and nothing will ever happen that will ever stop us from being.” He put his hand on her stomach. “Thank you for my second daughter. I love all three of you.”

  Mirisa looked up at him and it broke his heart to see her so afraid. Meeks kissed her and told her he would be home before morning. She clung to him as though she would never hold him again. “I think I’m going to take you and the children back to New York so we can do a lot of shopping before we head home in April. This house is nice but way too small for me.”

  Meeks got up and started to walk away but turned around pulled her up off the couch and held her so tight. “I love you darling.” He grabbed his jacket and headed out the back door with everyone. James could tell by looking at him that she fell apart. She locked up the house and went upstairs and lay down on her bed and cried herself to sleep holding the charms tightly in her fist.

  They headed north out of the city into the Maryland countryside. The best information that had been given was that the woman was being held hostage somewhere in the upper hills about five miles northeast of the city. The ransom note had demanded ten thousand dollars or she would be killed and the details of the affair released to the press.

  The Congressman was more concerned about the woman then having his wife find out about it for it was not his first dalliance. This woman had been his mistress for about six months and he was anything but discreet about the affair so it was obvious that the only concern was the woman herself. A background check on the woman came up with nothing so she was either an unknown innocent woman or a professional who scrambled his good sense.

  The exchange of the money for the woman was supposed to happen just before sunrise at an old abandoned Tavern just east of Washington. Once the money was received and the courier had gotten away then the girlfriend would be released. The first attempt at the exchange had gone very badly with the courier being killed. The blackmailers were furious and promised that if the Congressman tried to bring in the authorities again that his girlfriend would die and they would disappear. They had upped the ransom from five thousand to the ten and the Congressman didn't seem to care how much it was as long as he got her back.

  They rode up through the hills and traveling off the roadways slowly looking for somewhere where they could be holding her. After a few hours they found a small house set down in a valley. There was smoke coming out of the chimney and even though the windows looked black you could see light along the edges which meant they had covered them. Dominic and Garnett dismounted and Garnett worked his way down toward the house. He stopped about a hundred yards from the back and listened. The door suddenly opened and two men quickly stepped out. One was carrying a rifle the other was wearing a hand gun.

  Garnett watched them as they lit up cigarettes and talked for a while before they went back inside the house. Garnett could see that the kitchen was right inside the back door but he couldn’t see the living area. He slid down and around the house until he heard voices. Garnett could make out four distinct male and one female voice. One man yelled at the woman telling her that if she didn’t shut up he’d do it for her. Garnett went back to the group and told them that he was going to stake out the back door for a few hours to see if there was any type of pattern. Dominic said he would continue to watch the front.

  Meeks and James moved further up the hill toward the road that led to the house. They watched as a rider came up to the house, went inside before leaving again. Meeks followed him to the drop off area where he hid out of sight. Meeks found their contact and gave him the location of the house then headed back. They regrouped around 4:00 a.m. when they knew that they would send someone for the money. They watched as three men came out of the front, talked for a moment before one mounted his horse and headed toward Washington. This meant there were at least three men in the house.

  They slowly worked toward the house and when one of the men came out the back door for a smoke Garnett slit his throat and pulled him into the bushes. Dominic slowly opened the back door to get a feeling for the layout. The kitchen was right inside the door which lead into what must have been the living area but you couldn’t see it from the kitchen. The flooring was in such disrepair that Dominic had to move slowly to keep the floorboards from squeaking. They both slid through the door and stopped on either side of the hallway and listened. They could hear the voices from the front room. Garnett slipped up the stairs to check the rooms finding no one. He came back down and had no sooner made it back to the entrance of the kitchen when the other man who usually came out the back headed down the hallway. As the man stepped into the kitchen, Dominic put his hand over his mouth and snapped his neck pulling him over into the corner by the table.

  They listened and then slowly worked their way toward the living room with their guns drawn. The man was facing the woman who was sitting on the couch as he yelled at her. Dominic stepped into the room and her eyes immediately widened in panic. The man whirled around while reaching for his gun. Garnett shot him in the temple and he fell on top of her. She screamed as she tried to get out from under the body.

  Garnett reacted to her sudden movement without thinking and put a bullet in her shoulder disabling her ability to shoot but not before she shot Dominic. She crawled over to the man and was sobbing that they killed him. Dominic was on the floor holding his side with the blood flowing out through his fingers. Garnett took his shirt off and stuffed it over the wound and told Dominic to hold it as he walked over to the woman as she continued to scream at him, he bent over and looked at her shoulder before he knocked her out with the butt of his gun. Meeks and James came through the front door with their guns drawn. They had already secured the perimeter of the property and Garnett told them the house was clear.

  James immediately pulled the shirt away from Dominic’s side and checked the surrounding area. “He has at least two broken ribs but it looks like that deflected the bullet because it didn’t hit anything important.” He put his hand in back of him and found the bullet just below his shoulder blade. “I need the poker hot and some whisky.” He took out his knife and had Garnett hold him so he could push the end of the bullet to see where to cut to get it out. He made a small incision reaching in with his finger and pushed the bullet out the back before cauterizing the wound.

  “James do you think you could make it hurt any more than you are?”

  “Trust me if I could, it would be hurting more. How the hell did you get shot?”

  “Turns out she liked the hostages. Imagine that.”

  “The thoroughness of Washington is beyond amazing. Last time I take a job relying on their information.”

  Garnett immediately left for the drop off location. He reported to their contact who in turn sent men to meet them on the road with a carriage. They loaded Dominic in and headed back for Georgetown. It was an unacceptable stupid mistake that they all made and one that could have been deadly. Two other men at the drop off location were arrested and the Congressman’s girlfriend was taken under guard to the hospital. The matter would be referred to the U.S. Attorney General’s Office to determine any breach of the Congressman’s security level.

  Mirisa sat up in bed and tried to get her bearings. The room was dark except for the small glow from the fire. She closed her eyes and tried to shake the feeling of high emotions. She knew it was Dominic. Mirisa checked on the children before she headed downstairs. After lighting a lantern in the living room she put more logs on the fire before heading to the kitchen. It looked like the sun would be rising in an hour but it was still very dark out.

  She cleaned out the coffee pot and made a fresh pot of coffee. Mirisa took out the bowl to make blueberry muffins and stoked the fire in the oven. She couldn’t shake the feeling that Dominic was hurt but it kept coming and going. Mirisa sat at the table and pulled up her feet waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. The smell was so wonderful when you mingled it with the fresh muffins. She sat absently playing with her necklace trying not to think at all. Conrad put his hand over hers until it
was still then he was gone.

  Garnett came through the back door surprised to see her. “What are you doing up?”

  “Is it bad?” He blinked and struggled to regain his composure.

  “I don’t think so.”

  “I think you don’t lie very well at all.”

  “That’s because it’s hard to lie to you when you look right through me.”

  “What happened?”

  “He was shot.” Mirisa nodded and bit her lip.

  Mirisa went into the kitchen and took down two cups for coffee. Garnett wondered how she could not ask the question that was most important to her. She handed him a cup, took the muffins out and put them in a basket on the counter. He touched her hand and she looked up at him. “Everyone’s fine.”

  Garnett could see Mirisa’s chest rise and fall as she controlled her feelings. Mirisa took her coffee and went over to the table and curled up in the chair. Garnett watched her and told her he had to do a few things before they arrived with the doctor. She nodded and drank her coffee. The aroma swirled up in the heat trails from her cup and she thought there was nothing as soothing as holding a cup just below your nose and thinking of nothing of importance except the heat, the smell and the absolutely quiet of the night.

  James came through the door a few minutes later as several men helped Dominic in and laid him on the couch followed by a doctor. Meeks came in last and stopped and kissed her before going into the living room. Mirisa just sat quietly cupping her coffee. She had no desire to get up nor did they need the distraction when she could tell they were very concerned. James came back out into the kitchen and squatted down next to her chair.

  “Why are you up?”

  “Dominic woke me up when he was shot.” James nodded and got up to get a cup of coffee. James leaned up against the sink watching Mirisa. She was totally non-emotional and had made no attempt to seek out her husband. She just sat there as though she were completely alone in the room. Garnett came out and poured another cup and looked over at her before he went back into the living room.