The Visitor_The Bell Tower 1873_1875

by Barbara Svetlick

  “At a talk with Charisse.”

  “That woman’s thing down at the theater?”

  “That’s the one.”

  Dominic picked up the pamphlet and scanned it. “That’s the problem with women. Give them rope and they’ll want your horse.”

  They all laughed as James pulled the sash and told the staff that they were going out to eat. Meeks checked on the children before heading into his room to get his jacket.

  “Meeks?”

  Meeks turned to Jonathan. “Yes Jonathan.”

  “She’ll be under the bells.”

  “Who will be?”

  “My mother. Listen for the bell.”

  Meeks bent down and pulled his face up. Meeks shook off the cold chill and told Jonathan that his mother was fine. He headed out to the stable as everyone had already mounted their horse.

  “Wait.” Meeks went back into the house and strapped on his shoulder harness before returning to the stable.

  “Expecting trouble tonight?”

  “I’m not sure.” They rode toward the theater and dismounted at the restaurant across the street. Instead of sitting at their regular table, Meeks asked to be seated by the window.

  James sat down looking at him. “Meeks…”

  “Something’s wrong. I don’t know what but I can feel it.”

  Dominic turned from his conversation with Garnett as the doors opened to the theater and women started coming out in small groups. Meeks stood and walked toward the front of the restaurant when shots rang out and women started screaming, falling over each other trying to get out of the way of the panic. Meeks headed into the crowd as the crush of hysterical women tried to get around him. James caught up with him as they looked for Charisse and Mirisa. Garnett finally found Charisse who kept telling him that they took Mirisa.

  Meeks came up behind her and asked her if she was hurt. “Alex, they grabbed her before they started shooting. The panic drowned out everything and I lost sight of her.”

  Meeks spoke to her calmly. “Who grabbed her?”

  “These two men. I tried to follow them but couldn’t.”

  “Which way did they go?”

  “They went out the side door into the alley but as soon as they opened the door the women just ran out behind them and I lost sight…but they went down the alley behind the theater and turned toward the church. One of them was so big he had to duck to get through the door.”

  Dominic asked Charisse where her carriage was and she said she didn’t know. Garnett said he would see Charisse to the coach. Meeks and James ran through the alley and toward the church before stepping into the shadows.

  Mirisa and Charisse were sitting in the box with a half dozen friends when the program ended and everyone stood and applauded. They decided to take in a late night dinner across the street and when they descended the steps into the lobby there was a commotion across the room drawing all of their attention when a hand went over Mirisa’s mouth and she found herself lifted a foot off the floor as she tried to struggle but couldn’t break free. Charisse turned to say something when she lit out a scream and before you could blink the guns went off and the large man with Mirisa seemed to vanish into the dark alley.

  A second man put a burlap bag over her head as she tried to bite the man holding her. They quickly bound her hands and ankles throwing her over his shoulder as he ran down the alley. Mirisa tried to control her rising panic and began to count how long they were running before she heard a door open and close and it seemed like they were climbing stairs. The man threw her down and she landed on what felt like rope or rough burlap but she wasn’t sure. A door closed and the quiet settled in. She could still hear the panic and distant voices so she assumed she was near the theater. Mirisa started to work on pulling her wrist apart until she could wiggle out of the rope wrapped around her wrists. She pulled the bag off of her head and tried to adjust to the light in the small room. She reached out for her son and he told her that they were close and were waiting for the bells.

  “There’s no way to escape.”

  Mirisa looked across the room as a match was struck to light the small lantern turning it down as Catherine put the sooty glass back over it casting a dark orange glow. “Catherine. Did someone lock you in here too?” Mirisa went back to untying her ankles before she looked back up at Catherine.

  “I did truly enjoy your hospitality last summer but unfortunately you stand in my way.”

  Mirisa looked around as if Catherine were talking to someone else. “In the way of what?”

  “James.”

  Mirisa’s fingers stopped as she sat up straight and her heart fell into the pit of her stomach. “I don’t understand.” She finished untying the ropes and started to stand.

  “Sit back down.” Catherine pointed the gun at her as Mirisa sat back on the coiled rope. “I worked very hard to get him to marry me but it seemed you have too much of a hold on him.”

  “I don’t think I have any hold on him. I’ve encouraged him to settle down with you. You are the first woman that he hasn’t wanted to talk about.”

  “I’m sure you did but let’s be honest.” Catherine pulled out a cigarette and lit it before sitting back in the chair. The smell was so strange but Mirisa had no idea what she would be smoking or even why. “I could have overlooked his infatuation with you until I found out that his entire estate goes to you if he dies without children whether he is married or not.”

  Mirisa thought about the reports on Catherine but was surprised that if he had made those arrangements that this woman would know it and Mirisa wouldn’t. Of course, Catherine’s whole relationship with James seemed to be in bed but he wasn’t one who would entertain pillow talk unless of course he had fallen in love with her. Catherine watched her digest the information.

  “Well it makes sense since he has no other family and he is very close to my husband.”

  “Maybe but I think his feelings go so much deeper than some friendship. So after watching you both closely, I determined if you met an untimely demise James would love me as much as he does you.”

  “I’m very confused.”

  “I doubt that. You are not by any means as naïve as you pretend to be.” Catherine put the gun on the little table next to the lamp. “I’m sure you are calculating right now whether or not your husband is aware of your abduction. I would say it would take Charisse at least twenty minutes to get her wits about her to notify her brother and another ten or fifteen minutes for them to reach the theater. But there is no trail to follow and they will have no idea who would want to take you.”

  “I thought you went to Jamaica?”

  “The ship leaves tomorrow morning. I thought maybe I should take you down there with me and force James to follow. Do you think he loves you enough that he would come to Jamaica to get you back?”

  “I don’t know. I know that Alexander would go to the end of the world and would turn over every stone until he found me and killed whoever hurt me.”

  Catherine laughed. “I believe you are right. I actually like him better then Dominic who has a very dark cruel streak but I also have weighed that all four of them would turn over the world to get revenge.”

  Mirisa looked at her because she couldn’t recall Catherine ever even engaging Dominic in a conversation. Catherine smiled. “I met Dominic in Washington while he was still married to you and we spent quite a few nights together while James worked on some project. Was he always blatantly unfaithful or was it that he had you so far up on that pedestal that he couldn’t abuse you like he does cheap women? He pays well if you are into his games but frankly he would make a very poor choice for a husband.”

  “Why are you doing this? Why James?”

  “Why are you avoiding answering my question?”

  “I try not to think about things that still hurt.”

  “And yet you land on your feet married to a man with more money than all of New York.”

  “Why James?”

  “Becaus
e he was single and very rich. I laughed when the first report came back indicating that he had very little. That’s when I realized he was a very smart man and would be an tremendous challenge.” Catherine stood and walked toward the small window. “Of course, handling feeble old men is easier than a man who was so intelligent but James was always so thoughtful, so protective and so wonderful. He was also looking for someone where the others don’t let anyone get that close. Mostly I think it was just being in the right place at the wrong time.”

  Mirisa knew better then to show any understanding as Catherine turned back to her. “One of them killed Russell to stop him from having you killed. Looking back, I believe the man Russell hired was probably in their employment. We should have considered that but we didn’t.” She became quiet before continuing. “Tell me Mirisa, did you ever sleep with James? I know the rumors and the denials but just between us…did you?”

  Mirisa knew if she kept Catherine talking it would give Meeks more time to find her. “No. James has always been a gentleman and often went out of his way to protect me from the truth when I was married to Dominic. It was probably a full time job now that I think about it.”

  “Life never gave me a good hand to play and the cards I did get were stacked against me. Tonight isn’t about coming out ahead. Tonight is about ending it my own way.”

  Catherine walked over and sat back down as Mirisa tried not to move even a hair. Catherine put the gun back down and lit another cigarette. “I don’t imagine you have ever had to rely on your wiles to get through life. I’m worn out from just surviving.” Catherine reached in her pocket and took out a thin gold chain with a tiny gold heart. “Have you ever made such a mistake that no amount of wishing makes it less damaging?”

  “Why don’t you just go home to Jamaica?”

  Catherine laughed. “I wish it were so easy. What would I go home to? James took the one man who never beat me and James did it without caring about what it would do to me. I could probably find another man but I’m tired of men, I’m tired of pretending to care and I’m tired of you.”

  Mirisa looked down and thought Catherine had really been dealt a bad hand and probably was not in her right mind. She looked up and Catherine was watching her.

  “Catherine, I have children who are still very young and need their mother. I am…”

  “That’s not my problem is it?”

  “So, what is your plan now?”

  “I’m waiting for James to come looking for you.” There was a knock on the door and Catherine rose and spoke to someone before closing the door again. “Well, I understand that my wait might not be as long as I thought. I will have to leave you for a while but Butch is outside the door so don’t think that you have a chance to get free. Mirisa?” Mirisa looked at Catherine. “Life is rarely what is seems when you just glance over it. A life of luxury and social standing is a hollow existence and New York is the den of the devil’s making. Be thankful that you at least had happiness for a while.”

  Mirisa nodded and pulled her knees up as Catherine blew out the lantern and left the room closing the door quietly. Mirisa could hear the hushed voices then it was quiet again. Mirisa rose and walked over to the small window and looked out over what appeared to be a cemetery realizing that she was somewhere in the large church just north of the theater.

  Catherine stepped out onto the landing and told Butch that when he heard the shot that he was to finish the job in whatever manner he chose. She handed him an envelope and told him to take it to the bank and they would give him the money she promised him. She picked up her coat and scarf and went down to the church.

  Mirisa picked up a wooden box and put it in front of the window so she could lean out of the little window. The window was set back over a roofline that seemed to be very steep. She went back to the door and quietly slid the heavy bar so that the door couldn’t be opened easily. Mirisa knelt next to the coiled rope and looked up. The room was actually the bell tower of the church and the rope was connected to the bell. Mirisa felt along the wood planks until she found the trap door.

  Mirisa lifted it slowly and looked down barely making out the lower floor of the church where the bell ringer would stand while pulling on the rope. The tower was brick and looked to be about three feet across. Mirisa drug the rope over to the opening sitting on a part of it and let the rest fall down through the opening. She held her breath praying that the bell would not ring. The rope finally stopped swinging so she slowly crawled off the rope allowing it to hang straight down. She could hear the muted sounds of services as her fear of heights made her dizzy. This was the nightmare she was having.

  Garnett came up behind Meeks and James as they watched a large burly man step out from the rectory looking up and down the alley before going back in latching the door. He was so big he had to duck and turn his shoulders to make it back through the door. Dominic came walking down the alley toward them and stepped into the shadows.

  “I can’t find any sign of surveillance or lookouts.”

  “The big man that Charisse described just went into the side door of the rectory but we know there were two men who grabbed Mirisa.”

  James and Dominic went back through the alley and around the western side of the church until they reached the front doors. They slid in as the priest was giving mass to a sparse attendance of parishioners. They split and both went up into the balcony and mapped out everything in the church and looked for someone who was out of place.

  James nodded in the direction of a man sitting in a pew toward the back of the church. The man had his hands crossed but you could see that he had a handgun in his hand hidden by this coat. James moved down the hallway and into a small ante room finding the priest garb. He slipped one on and came back out as Dominic stood back so he couldn’t be seen but he had a full view of the church.

  James walked into the church with virtually no sound and as he got to the singular man, James knelt as was custom before he slid in behind the man and knelt on the knee pad and began mumbling under his breath while fingering the rosary. The man turned slightly to his left noting the priest then looked back at the door to the side of the alter. James reached across his vocal cords turning just slightly as the man slumped over as if sleeping.

  Dominic continued to watch the parishioners as James made his way along the wall until he was near the front of the church when he stopped suddenly. Dominic immediately followed his gaze noting the woman kneeling in the second pew near the wall. She had a heavy red scarf wrapped around her head and folded over her shoulder as her hands moved along the ivory rosary. He could tell by her movements that she was comfortable with the Catholic religion. The parishioners were going to the front for the sacrament. The smell of the incense from the thruible filled the church as the woman stood up and walked slowly up the aisle kneeling before the priest. The priest bent over talking to her with a quizzical look on his face. She finally stood and walked back turning and kneeling with her head bowed.

  Dominic watched as her fingers methodically moved from bead to bead then he looked back at James. James nodded sliding in the pew behind her.

  Catherine finished and sat back on the pew and without turning spoke to him. “I’m impressed with your talent and efficiency but then they say you are the best at what you do.”

  “You’re not as clever as you believe yourself to be.”

  “I don’t know. I kept you in the dark for a long time.”

  “Where is she?”

  “James, I have no idea what you are talking about.”

  “Catherine, I have a gun aimed at you and if you do not tell me where Mirisa is I will shoot you right here in front of God.”

  “I don’t think I am one of his favorite people so that would probably be alright with him.” Catherine stood and worked her way to the wall before heading to the back of the church. James stood and followed. She hesitated when she passed the man slumped over but it was the briefest of hesitations. Catherine stepped out onto the steps and pu
t on her gloves before she turned pointing her gun at James who had shed his disguise. She loved everything about him.

  James shifted his weight. “And now what?”

  “You killed my husband.”

  James lit his cigar and moved so the light from the church was in her eyes and the only thing she could see was James. “You should never assume anything Catherine but I thought Leonard died in his sleep.”

  “You know I am talking about Russell and not Leonard. Well, he was never really my husband but that’s not important.”

  James shifted his weight again but had not made any effort to reach for his gun. “Where is Mirisa?”

  “It doesn’t matter does it? You won’t get to her before she takes her last breath.”

  James controlled his emotions knowing they were on a tight rope and she was in control. “Catherine, where is she?”

  “James, you wear your love on your sleeve and that really is your Achilles heel for she would not be in danger if it were not for you. What made the four of you think that she would be better off in your world? It really was a very selfish thing you did.”

  “Then you plan on punishing me for everything falling apart?”

  “I do.”

  James expression had not changed. “And you are willing to die just to get revenge because frankly I don’t intend to die tonight?”

  “James, I have nothing to lose. The plantation in Jamaica is in disarray and will be sold at auction, the police are threatening to put me in prison for poisoning Leonard, something I doubt they will be able to prove, but why should I take the chance, you have spurned me except when I am in your bed and now you have taken away Russell.” Catherine’s eyes left his face briefly and when she looked back at him he could tell she was trying to find the backbone to shoot him and couldn’t.

  “What was your plan? I understand the whole scenario in San Antonio though I was surprised to learn that it was Russell who masterminded it and probably killed your brother and the other man. I guess we made his job easier. I understand the abuse you have suffered at the hands of one man after the other. Nothing surprised me and nothing was so egregious that it couldn’t be accepted except for the fact that it was unclear your intent. Was I nothing more than your next victim?”