US Grant Mysteries Boxed Set
Page 47
Madame Blanche nodded. “Major Mitchell.”
Grant nodded again. “Exactly. If she had a knitting needle in her door, it had to be to keep someone out who had the run of the house. No stranger could do that.”
Grant bent down and pushed his shoulder against the door. The wood protested, but gave way. He stood up as a thunderous roar rang out and the doorframe near his feet exploded into slivers.
Chapter 20
Grant took in the empty room and turned to face the gunman all in one motion. He’d been under fire before and didn’t have much fear of the situation. Hart and Madame Blanche, however, stood like statuary and nearly as pale.
“Good, I have your attention.” Major Mitchell stood about twenty yards from them, holding a Colt in his right hand. The army-issued six-shooter with the long barrel stared at them.
Grant gauged him to be too far for an attack, and yet close enough for him to be deadly. The man had spent the last four years at war; presumably, he knew how to use a revolver.
“Where’s the colonel?” Hart had recovered enough to start his usual line of inquiries.
Grant noticed that he was standing perfectly still as he asked his questions. Madame Blanche had taken refuge, as it were, behind Hart.
“Carriage ride around the city. I suggested a tour of Cincinnati by night. He was quite keen on the idea. By my estimations, he should be gone another hour or so. If all goes according to my plan, he’ll arrive safely back to the hotel just in time to hear of his son-in-law’s demise.”
“You’ll never get away with this.” Hart’s flair for the dramatic had taken over. Gads, he sounded like a penny dreadful.
Grant didn’t know if he was putting on a show for the fair maiden or if the reporter was more upset about the fact that someone else would be getting a boost from this story. The man’s ambition knew few bounds.
As for Grant, he knew that men with money and power got away with far worse every day. Men who profited from battle. Men who paid others to take their spot in the draft. Of course, Mitchell would have to make it look like an accident, but he had shown adeptness at that so far. Three more deaths wouldn’t be that difficult.
He’d thought about Julia and knew that he had to try his best to thwart this plan. She was on the verge of getting so much that she’d wanted, and he’d never deprive her of that if he could. She’d put up with the bad years, and it was that thought as well as the sense of duty he felt to the Union that would lead him to accept a nomination to be president. That meant extricating himself from this situation first.
Grant was still carrying his own revolver and had his side arm under his jacket. He was a good marksman, but he wasn’t a fast draw. Certainly nothing like those Kansas rebels who could have easily disarmed Mitchell before he could get off a shot. Besides, there were the two others to think about tonight.
As if he’d read Grant’s mind, Mitchell said, “Don’t think of using your side arm, General. Your two friends would be dead before you could get off a shot.”
Hart looked pale at the thought. At least Mitchell was torn between the two targets. He couldn’t keep one revolver on both parties. Having two sets of people to watch would prove distracting.
Mitchell took a step closer and waved the gun in Grant’s direction. “Move over towards your friends. I wouldn’t want you to get lonely by yourself.”
Grant took a few steps but left some room between them. He wanted any advantage he could get in this unfair fight.
“You’re all so quiet. I thought for sure that you’d have a plentitude of questions to ask, Mr. Hart.”
Hart shook his head. “We’ve already figured it all out. The authorities will hear about it presently.”
“I doubt that, but why not indulge me with your story? It’s the only time that you’ll see this particular by-line, so you might as well.” The major smiled and moved the barrel back and forth between the two men.
“It’s rather tawdry, and I’m not sure that it’s suitable for a woman,” Hart said with just a tremor in his voice. Grant could tell that he would be no help in battle with this foe. He’d seen that look too many times during the war.
The major smirked. “I’m sure that she’s heard worse. She’s a fraud. Her compatriots were more than willing to tell me all of her parlor tricks for a few dollars. If we had more time, I’d show you a few.”
Grant eyed the man, wondering what he was getting from ridiculing the woman. He didn’t complain though, using the moments to come up with a plan.
Hart’s face reddened, and Grant was sure that it wasn’t from the heat or the possibility of impending death. “So you killed Caroline because she might have been with child, your child.”
The major took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Not at all. Which of us has the prurient mind now? I killed her because she could read. That idiot, Trudell, taught her to read and she began to notice my foundry’s paperwork and understand what it meant.”
“So she told Jericho, who then told his father. And Izzy brought papers from here to back up what she saw.”
“Yes, it’s not quite as tawdry as your mind. Pure fiscal, not physical.” He chuckled at his own joke and then looked down at the revolver again. “So they all had to go. Any one of them who could read those papers had to be eliminated, as you will be tonight.”
“You can’t get away with this. Perhaps a reporter or a spiritualist, but not the General of the Union Army. They’ll search for him.”
“They can search all they like, but they won’t find you. At 800 degrees, very little is left of a person. We’re going to walk up to the charging hole now, and there you’ll disappear forever.” The major waved the gun. “Let’s go. I want the two men to walk in front of me, and I’ll escort the lady.”
They walked from the office to the staircase, leading upwards. Hart gave Grant an imploring glance, but Grant wasn’t sure what the man wanted him to do. He did know that he was not going down without a fight. He hadn’t survived Cold Harbor and the Wilderness to die in a foundry. He wanted more time with Julia, more time with his family. His brain wildly ran through possibilities, making him take each footstep methodically and slowly. He felt the Major’s gun in his back, urging him to go faster to his death.
They began the descent, walking slowly over the creaking stairs. As they came to within three steps from the top, Grant kicked his foot to the side, tripping Hart as he began to take the next step. The man went down, tumbling back down several steps. Grant began to turn, but before he could move his head around enough to see what was happening, a blast rang out.
Grant waited for the pain to begin, but nothing happened. There was no blood on his uniform, and from what he could tell, Hart had not been injured either.
He looked at Madame Blanche, who held a tiny derringer in her hand. “He might call me a charlatan, but I was prescient enough to foresee the need for protection, wasn’t I?”
Chapter 21
Julia poured tea into Madame Blanche’s cup in the hotel’s lobby. It was her concession to the woman’s role in saving her husband. Julia had made it a short appointment, knowing that the porters and bellmen were loading their carriage for the trip to Covington. Colonel Dent had already left, heading back to St. Louis and then White Haven by steamer. It would not do to have Julia’s father stay with his own father. Such was the way of disaster.
“It was so nice to make your acquaintance during this trip,” Julia demurred, while stealing glances at Grant. He’d coached her on what to say, and she’d agreed that his well-being was worth a few kind words in passing.
“The pleasure is all mine. I’m so glad that your father was all right. We had quite a scare.” She smiled first at Julia and then at Hart, who was standing behind her. He’d scraped a few limbs during his fall down the stairs, but nothing was broken, and he’d still managed somehow to get a headline in today’s paper. Grant marveled at his resilience when his own interests were being served. The Major had wounded badly, and Grant wasn�
��t sure if the man would make it or not. He faced the gallows if he did, more for his attempt on Grant than for the deaths of the freedmen in town.
Hart held out his hand and Grant shook it, wishing that it was truly good-bye, but Covington was merely a ferry ride from Cincinnati. “Let me know if anything comes up in Covington. I’d be happy to help you investigate again.”
Julia saved him from answering, standing, throwing her napkin on the table, and announcing that it was time to go. She slid her hand through his arm and smiled at him. “I’ll be glad to get away from the city for a bit. I’ve had enough excitement for now.”
Grant hoped she was right, but with his own father just south of the Ohio River, he knew that was unlikely.
More books by…
The Ambush of My Name – The first in the US Grant mystery series. When Grant returns to his boyhood home of Georgetown, Ohio, he gets more than he bargained for when he finds a very dead body in his hotel room. Now he and his wife, Julia, must solve the murder before he becomes the next victim. http://tinyurl.com/8f3l4oa
A Good Soldier – The second book in the US Grant mystery series takes place immediately following The Ambush of My Name. Grant comes to Bethel, Ohio in time for the funeral of a friend from his youth. While there, he discovers clues that his friend might have discovered the lost Confederate gold before his suspicious death. Who else knows about the gold and who could have wanted him dead? http://tinyurl.com/93d39zu
Some Hidden Thunder – The third book in the US Grant series takes place in Cincinnati. While Grant is being feted by the elite of this river city, he sees the ghost of a soaking wet freedman. Grant fears that others might think he’s drinking, and quietly begins to investigate his apparition, a task that takes him to the upper echelons and the lowest ghettos in search of answers. http://tinyurl.com/9aszn9k
The Scent of Murder – Marissa Scott, recent divorcee and mother of one, values her new job. However, the personal and professional mix when the body of her ex-husband’s fiancée is discovered at Marissa’s office desk. Even with an alibi, Marissa feels a need to clear her name and get her ex-husband out of her life. http://tinyurl.com/8taba89
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