“You’re brilliant,” Noah said.
“I know, and so are you.”
“You don’t have to say that.”
“It’s true.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t very polite earlier.”
She couldn’t resist putting her hand through his arm again. “You weren’t, were you, but I’ll forgive you. Maybe we’ll get a reward from the bank which could help towards your ranch and buy me more gowns.”
“I wouldn’t depend on it.”
“You mean, I can’t go out and spend thousands of dollars in anticipation of my half?”
He squeezed her arm against him. “That’s what I mean.”
She gave an exaggerated sigh. “Pity.”
“But if we do get a reward I could buy you an expensive diamond ring. You didn’t get to keep the last two.”
“No. The only one that benefited was the insurance broker. We are getting a cut of the reward from them.”
“Yes, and Clark is doing very well out of it. What do you want to do with your cut? Just buy gowns?”
“I’ll wait to see if I get more from the bank. How about you?”
“I’ll need animals.”
“I could buy you one as a present. What would you like? A cow? A horse? A chicken?”
Noah laughed. “A cow or a chicken. There’s quite a difference in price there.”
“I don’t want lots of money,” she said.
Just you, she thought as they continued to chat. Just you but you’re obviously not interested. Really it’s good you aren’t because there are too many complications.
Chapter 23
“I think maybe you’re right.” Susannah looked at Noah where they stood in Benjamin’s office after telling him the story.
“Right?” He looked bemused.
“You won’t need me. Benjamin is very good at his work and he’ll apprehend the thieves. You wouldn’t have to be involved either except that you can identify the men. Do you promise not to put yourself in danger?”
“I’m not that keen on danger.”
“We’ll work it out very carefully,” Benjamin said. “You don’t have to worry, Susannah.”
“I know how good you are at your job,” Susannah said, making for the door. “Will you come and tell me how it went, Noah, when you get back to Lower Pine?”
“It will be late.”
“It doesn’t matter how late. Please come and tell me.”
“I’ll call in on the way home.”
“Thank you, and thank you, Benjamin.”
Susannah went for the wagon, thoughts whirling round her brain as they had been on the way home between conversing with Noah. Home, but she had a lot to plan and she must get it right. Franklin Gough, the manager, had been transferring the money he took from the bank but maybe he wasn’t as stupid as she was thinking. Maybe the amounts would be different by him adding or subtracting from them. It was the kind of thing she would do in a similar situation, she felt.
Which meant that those who would be robbing the bank would be caught but he would get away with it. Even if they told the authorities he was involved they would have no proof and he could work things out to his advantage. Someone who had reached his position in life didn’t do it by making the wrong decisions.
The children had eaten their meal, she found when she arrived at the ranch, which was how it had been since she started the job. They were quite happy to be with Hazel and had also been sleeping most nights in the house at Hazel’s suggestion. Susannah had telegraphed Albert Clark to ask that paying for it should come under expenses and he agreed, probably because Blair was stupid enough to adopt two children which wasn’t Susannah’s fault.
It meant that Hazel accepted the money she was given and Susannah wanted that. She and Bruce had decided to set up a law firm with offices at the ranch which they were going to build on the back and Susannah felt the money would come in useful for that. She also didn’t feel guilty at taking advantage of Hazel.
If the children’s mother couldn’t be found maybe she could start a detective agency in Lower Pine, she told Hazel. If that was the case, Hazel replied, they could have a block of offices, unless Susannah would want to be in the middle of Lower Pine to be more visible.
But Noah wouldn’t be working with her, she thought rather bleakly, or he might change his mind and want to return to New York. If he was interested in her as more than a co-worker surely he would have said something by now.
The children were flatteringly welcoming and all four went to the apartment for an hour before bedtime. They showed Susannah assignments they had been given at school which would involve obtaining information and practical work. The lives of various animals, Larry a horse, Tony a dog, Dan a cat and Becky chose to study snails. They had been doing a few drawings since they returned from school and tomorrow, they said, they would start observing their habits in more detail.
“It’s not just stroking them and being nice to them,” Becky told Susannah seriously. “It’s making a diary of what they do at different times of day, what they eat and how they behave in different situations.”
“And how they clean themselves and how they relate to people,” Dan added. He giggled. “I’m not sure if snails relate to people.”
“Also how they are with other animals of different species,” Larry said.
“And things,” Tony added. “We have to record everything.”
“It sounds fascinating,” Susannah said.
“We found some snails,” Becky said. “And I’ve got them in a box. Do you want to see them?”
“I’d love to see them. I’m sorry I’m not here when you come out of school. I will be soon, I promise.”
“That’s alright. I’ll get the snails.”
Quite a lot of them, it transpired, which were in a large box. There were holes in the top which were too small for snails to climb through and she would let them go in a week when the assignment was over, Becky said.
Susannah thought back to when she first met them, two rather frightened little people. Now they were confident, courtesy of the school and Larry and Tony. Courtesy of Bruce and Hazel because they paid them a lot of attention. When the children finally went to bed Susannah spoke to Hazel.
“I need to go out,” she said.
“That’s alright. With Noah?”
“Yes.” Not true and was it wrong to lie? But she didn’t want Hazel to worry or feel she had to get Bruce to go after her. She made for the door and turned back. “If anything ever happened to me would you care for the children?”
“Yes. I’m very fond of them. In fact, Bruce and I were talking about it. I wasn’t going to say anything yet but we’ve agreed on it. If you want to go back to New York we will have them until their mother is found. If she isn’t we’ll adopt them.”
Susannah frowned. “That’s a lot for you to take on.”
“We’ve come to love them very much and all four of them get on well together. Our two are protective of Becky, which Dan is too. I suppose that was inevitable in view of their mother going.”
“Yes. I won’t be going back yet though I will need to at some point. Maybe Albert will find me another job here after this one is over.”
“How are you getting on so far with it?”
“I’m gathering evidence. It shouldn’t be long now.”
Hopefully tonight, Susannah thought as she made her way to Middle Pine, but first she had something else to do. She rode into the town at about eleven thirty and rather felt Benjamin and his men would soon arrive.
When Franklin Gough opened the door at her knock his expression was more than surprised. Unmarried, he lived on his own which for Susannah was a good thing. If he didn’t she would not have been able to carry out her plan.
“Miss Curtis? This is a late hour for a lady to be making calls.”
“I have a proposition to make,” Susannah said.
“A proposition? I’m afraid I haven’t had one of those from a lady for a while
.” He opened the door. “Come in.”
She followed him, disguised as an older lady but with a trendy gown which was something she never wore to work. She must be prim, proper and rather dull at all times, Albert had told her. She must be good at her job but appear gullible. She must make the bank staff feel she was the most unfeminine woman they had seen and the most boring.
Susannah walked into the house, rather feeling that to be ushered onto a hanging platform would feel better than she felt at this moment. “If you siphon more funds from the bank than you are now I will make sure you are covered. Maybe I can even help you with a bank heist.”
“Pardon?” He was obviously trying to look bemused.
“I’m not stupid.” She arched one eyebrow at him, something she was able to do young, much to her brother’s amusement.
“I have that covered myself,” Gough said. “There’s going to be a heist tonight. I won’t be involved, of course, and the men who are doing it don’t know who’s paying them so they cannot give my name if they’re caught. Siphoning funds is a rather slow process.”
That was quick. Now she needed to somehow get something in writing. “Good for you. All I’m asking for is a cut of the siphoned funds. I’ll make it worth your while, I promise.”
“And how will you do that?”
She moved close to him. “Work that one out yourself, darling.”
What would her friends in Lower Pine think of her, she thought. More importantly, what did God think? But surely He would understand in the circumstances. This man was going to get away with everything and she had to bring him to justice in some way or other. She moved towards him and put her arms over his shoulders.
He put his arms round her waist and she resisted shuddering. “Just one proviso,” she said.
“And what is that?”
“A written agreement between the two of us that you will give me half of what you siphon off the funds and five percent of what you’ll get tonight for the heist. I’d also like to watch the heist. Are you sure they won’t be caught?”
“I have organised everything very carefully.” His breath was hot as he moved his face close to hers.
She drew back a bit. “First a written agreement signed by us both.”
He reached back to where they stood near a desk and pulled out a pen and piece of paper. He dipped it in the ink and she took it, writing with one hand while she stroked his hair with her other. This would be nice if it was Noah but she mustn’t even think of that. Both what she was doing and what she was thinking was wrong. She pushed the paper near to him and he signed it before putting his face down to hers.
“Not here,” she said. “It’s not very romantic.”
“Through there.”
He lifted her, made for an adjoining room and she looked round. A cupboard. She needed a cupboard to push him in. But it had to have a key to lock him in and the cupboards they passed didn’t seem to have one. He went into his bedroom and lay her on the bed.
Leaping up she pushed him down. She lay on top of him and his expression frightened her. Not menacing but she didn’t like it. He moved his arms to put them round her and she whipped out one of the handcuffs from her pocket, which she had put in before she came and bought in New York, moved his arm against the iron headrest and clipped his hand to it. Taking his other hand before he almost realised what she was doing she handcuffed that as well before standing.
“I’ll just get us some food,” she said. “What have you in the larder?”
“Get what you like. Don’t be long.”
“I won’t.”
She tore downstairs, grabbed the paper and the sound of gunfire hit the air outside. Racing up an alley towards the sound she found she was virtually holding her breath. Noah. Was Noah alright? Were the others safe? She peered out of the end of the alley and Benjamin was escorting two men into the prison wagon down the road while Noah was standing looking round.
“Benjamin!” The men turned as one as she ran forward. “I need you. Hurry!”
Benjamin, another acting sheriff and Noah tore after her while some other acting sheriffs took the two men. While she ran she ripped off her wig and glasses. “Through there,” she said to Benjamin, pointing. “He’s handcuffed to the headboard. I’ve got proof that he’s involved.”
She ran from the house at the cursing she heard from the bedroom. She didn’t want to see him again. She didn’t want to think of what she had done. All she wanted to do was dive in some water and rid herself of the dirt she felt she had acquired. She was evil. God must regard her as that. Was she still a Christian in view of what she’d done? She put her face in her hands and Noah strode towards her to put his arms round her.
“Susannah?”
“I don’t want to see him. I don’t want to see him.”
He lifted her and ran round the side of the house with her. “You don’t have to see him. What did he do to you?”
“It’s not what he did to me. It’s what I did to him. Put me down. You’re not going to want to have anything to do with me, anyway.”
He set her down but still held onto her. “What do you mean? What did you do to him?”
“I enticed him after getting him to sign a paper saying he would share any money he pilfered from the bank with me and would give me a cut of the proceeds from the bank robbery. I had to get him in the bedroom so I could handcuff him to the bed.”
“How ever did you manage that?” Noah’s eyes were dark with emotion.
“I lay on top of him and took his hand. Once I’d done the one hand I did the other, then I told him I’d get us something to eat and drink and came for you and Benjamin. I had to do something or he would have got away with it. I needed written proof of what he’s done and of the bank heist. God won’t want anything to do with me, will He?”
Noah stroked her hair. “God doesn’t work like that and you’ve done nothing wrong. All you did was put yourself in extreme danger.”
“I didn’t know what else to do.” She blew her nose on a huge handkerchief he handed her.
“And you used your ingenuity which is what a proper detective does. The only thing that will give me nightmares is if anything had gone wrong with your plan.”
“I have a gun in my deep pocket. This is one of the gowns I made for such eventualities. Are you sure God isn’t cross with me?”
“I’m sure. When we receive Jesus He doesn’t just discard us if we’ve done something wrong. But, like I said, you didn’t.”
“I’d like to ask Him to forgive me.”
“Do it then,” Noah said.
She shut her eyes. “Dear Heavenly Father. I’m sorry for what I did. I didn’t know what else to do but I’m sorry. Please forgive me and thank You for looking after me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”
Noah put his arms round her again. “I just can’t leave you for a minute, can I?”
She rubbed her nose on his shoulder and smiled weakly up at him as he pulled her closer. “Sorry. How did you get on?”
“We caught them in the act but they said they didn’t know who had paid them to do it. What you did was essential really because he would have got away with it. You’re very clever.”
“So are you because you found out about the bank robbery.”
“That was a case of being in the right place at the right time. Do you think God had a Hand in that?”
“I don’t know. I’m not very up on what God does though I want to be.”
“Yes. I think they’ve taken the manager away now. Tomorrow we’ll give in our notice to the bank.”
“Yes, and they can get the man back who was told to leave. That will be good for him. We’ll have to come to work tomorrow so we can sort things out.”
“We’ll do that.” Noah looked at his watch. “By the time we get to Lower Pine it will be time to come back.”
“We could sleep in the wagon.”
“We could. I’ll look after you.”
“You always look after me. I depend on
it.” Which she did, she knew, however much she kept claiming she was capable of looking after herself. What would she do when they separated?
“I’ll go and talk to Benjamin,” Noah said. “You skulk around in the shadows so Gough doesn’t see you.”
“Skulk?”
“Skulk, but where I can see you at all times.”
“I’ll probably have to see him in court.”
“Yes. I won’t be a minute.”
She watched him as he walked away and felt a bit better. She had been so afraid he would regard her badly for what she had done but what he said comforted her. Also praying because the most important thing was what God thought of her. Should she be doing this kind of work in view of what she had been obliged to do tonight?
Maybe she would speak to Linda about it because she was an authority on what God required of people. She also didn’t sit in judgement, though Susannah was sure Hazel wouldn’t either. Maybe she would also speak to her and she did really want to share what had happened with a woman, she knew.
“Benjamin says it’s more practical to stay,” Noah said when he returned. “He said they would pay for us to stay in an inn. We could do that though the agency would pay for it because it’s all in the line of duty.”
“I don’t want to go to an inn,” Susannah said. “The wagon will be alright and we have plenty of blankets and things in it. Would you mind being in the wagon?”
“No. I’m happy with it. It’s down a few roads so we’ll have to walk, Miss Curtis.”
She giggled and felt much better. “I won’t know what my name is in the end.”
“Susannah, Mirelle or Sally. They’re all nice names but I like Susannah best. She’s the lovely lady who makes a man feel he’s not a total failure because he’s claustrophobic.”
“And Noah is the lovely man who helps remove a fear of water and doesn’t criticise a lady who has to achieve her goal by doing something risqué.”
“Shall we go to our hotel then, ma’am? It’s the most luxurious I could book at short notice.”
“Yes. It’s a pity the stores are shut. I’m a bit hungry.”
The Detective Bride Page 23