by Anna Schmidt
“Too late for what?” Rusty snarled.
“To make a deal.”
“What kind of deal?” a man from two cells down demanded.
“Shut up, Snake,” Rusty yelled. “Who’s runnin’ this?”
More murmurs of discontent from the others, but no one openly challenged Rusty’s claim.
“I’m listenin’,” he said.
Cody propped one foot on a small wooden stool and counted out the details on his fingers. “One, you tell me what Jake Collier had to do with any of this. Two, you tell me everything you know about Victor Johnson’s part in this business. And three, you tell me where I’m likely to find Johnson.”
“In exchange for what?”
“Me sharing that information with Captain Troutman and persuading him to talk to the judge about sparing your sorry lives. No guarantees, but thankfully for your sakes, nobody died on this job—except Jake.”
“That was an accident,” Snake called out. “We was just supposed to scare him and rough him up some.”
“And yet he died of the injuries you and your friends inflicted,” Cody said, keeping the fury that filled his chest in check. “A good man died for no reason.”
“That was all Johnson,” Rusty muttered.
“Meaning?”
Rusty looked up. “If I tell you what you want to know, how do I know you won’t go back on your word?”
“It’s a fair question. Guard!”
One of the soldiers came running, gun drawn. The other prisoners moved to the backs of their cells.
“Would you ask Captain Troutman to come?” Cody instructed. “I believe these men are in a mood to talk.”
The kid took off at a run.
Troutman had obviously stayed close by, because it wasn’t a minute before he stepped inside the narrow corridor outside the cells. He was accompanied by his assistant, who held a notebook and pencil. “Okay, let’s hear what you have to say,” the captain demanded.
Cody laid out the terms he’d offered Rusty and his men.
Troutman moved closer to Rusty’s cell. “You give me the evidence necessary to arrest Victor Johnson, and I’ll do what I can with the judge. That’s the best I can offer.”
Rusty hesitated.
“Way I see this, Rusty,” Cody said, “if you refuse to talk, you hang for sure. If you give the captain what he needs, you and your men have a fighting chance.”
Snake wasn’t about to wait for Rusty to make a choice. “Johnson was threatening Collier. Told him either he got the combination to the hotel safe for us or that waitress Collier was sweet on wouldn’t be so pretty anymore.”
Cody’s gut clenched. “What happened the day Jake was beaten?”
“Tell them, Rusty. You was there,” Snake demanded.
“Johnson sent word for Jake to meet us at the smokehouse and bring the safe combination and a map showing where to find it. When he got there, he wanted some kind of guarantee the girl wouldn’t be harmed. Johnson had me and the other boys rough him up some, making the point he wasn’t in no position to name terms.”
The captain’s assistant was writing down every word, his pencil flying across the page.
“Jake was mad. After we punched him a few times, he pulled a paper from his pocket—looked like the map. Anyway, he just stood there, nose bleeding and all, and he was grinning. He tore the paper in little pieces and tossed it on the smokehouse fire. He sez, ‘There’s your map and your combination, Johnson. You touch Lily and I’ll kill you.’”
It felt like no one was breathing inside the jail. The only sound was the distant rhythm of the hammers.
“So that’s when you beat him so bad he died.”
“No!” Rusty clutched the bars of his cell. “Jake started to walk away, and that’s when Johnson picked up a shovel and came after him, cut him off at his knees, and then made us drag him back to the fire. Then he stood over him, demanding Jake pull out those pieces of paper, telling him he was going to kill that waitress and take his time doing it, and all the while he was holding Jake’s hands in the fire with that shovel.”
The threat made Cody’s blood run cold. “How did Jake get away?” Cody asked.
“He musta passed out. We all thought he was dead. Johnson gave him one more whack with the shovel, and we got outta there.”
Cody’s mind raced to make sense of the confession. Jake must have regained consciousness and somehow managed to stagger back to the hotel in an attempt to save Lily.
And she was still in danger. It didn’t matter that keeping the payroll at the bank made the location and combination of the safe useless. It didn’t matter that Jake was dead now.
To a man like Johnson, his promise to kill Lily was a promise to be taken seriously.
“You got all this?” Cody asked Troutman’s assistant, who nodded. Cody moved to the cell where Rusty still clung to the bars. “Where did Johnson go when you hit the bank?”
Rusty gave him a snaggletoothed grin. “He was right there all the time,” he said. “Right under your nose. The old codger we was using for a shield when we left the bank and ran for our horses. That was him.”
Cody closed his eyes, reliving the scene. There had been gunfire, and then one of the masked outlaws had grabbed an old man passing by, prodding him along as the gang ran for their horses. As they mounted up, the gang leader—Rusty, no doubt—had shoved the man aside. Cody and Nick had ridden after them, figuring someone would attend to the old man.
“Where were you supposed to meet up?”
Rusty shrugged. “Don’t matter, ’cause he ain’t there. Way me and the boys figure it, he got away clean. Probably back to the miner’s cabin, packing up and heading back to that fancy place he lives out east.”
Knowing he was unlikely to get more, Cody turned to the captain. “I’ve got to go,” he said. “If anything changes, send me a wire.”
Troutman followed him into the compound. “Don’t go after Johnson on your own, Cody. A man like that…”
Cody just kept walking until he reached the hitching post where his horse waited. “I’ll keep in touch,” he said as he swung up and into the saddle and spurred his horse to a full gallop. Time to take out a warrant for the arrest of one Victor Johnson—wanted dead or alive.
* * *
Lily could not recall a time when she had been more unsettled. The morning after the party, Grace and Nick had returned to their cabin with the baby, so once her shift ended in the dining room, Lily’s evenings were free again. Two days after the party, Bonnie Kaufmann had boarded the afternoon train, and after seeing her off, Lily and the other girls had surprised Emma by moving her things into the head waitress’s old room. So now the room Lily had once shared with Grace and Emma was hers alone—at least until a new girl arrived.
At first, Lily had walked down the hall to Emma’s room in the evenings, where the two of them shared the latest gossip and their hopes and dreams for the future as they always had. But after a couple of days, some of the other girls complained to Aidan that Emma was showing favoritism, and he had put a stop to their nightly chats.
It wouldn’t matter for long. Once Cody had found the evidence he needed to clear Jake’s name and Victor was under arrest, she would be moving on as well. Her thoughts were full of her plans for the future—a wedding in Juniper, and then she and Cody would find a place in Santa Fe. In the fall, she had little doubt he would start his new job as territorial representative and she would… What would she do? Cody’s position would require him to travel to Washington, sometimes for long periods of time. She could go with him, but what would she do there? Of course eventually, they would have children, and her role would shift yet again.
In the meantime, she found herself spending much of her free time alone, especially in the evenings when she often sat on the hotel veranda, hoping perhaps she might see Cody come riding i
nto town. Victor was still out there somewhere, but she couldn’t bring herself to believe that he had any interest left in her. She told herself he’d be a fool not to have gone back east following the debacle on Independence Day. It made sense that he would want to put as much distance as possible between himself and the activities of that day. Besides, in her off times, she made sure to choose a place to sit that was close to the entrance to the hotel where guests were always coming and going and Aidan or his assistant were within hearing distance should she cry out.
Cody had been gone for nearly a week. Surely, he would return any day now. Her restlessness getting the better of her, she paced the length of the veranda and back again.
“Lily?” Aidan stood at the entrance to the brightly lit lobby. “Telegram for you,” he said. “It arrived earlier today.” He handed her the envelope and turned to go.
“It’s from Cody,” she said, and Aidan hesitated while she scanned the brief message, reading it aloud. “Been to Santa Fe. Good news about Jake. Back soon.” She clutched the paper to her chest. “He’s coming home,” she repeated and gave a whoop of joy and kissed Aidan’s cheek.
Aidan fussed with the cuffs of his coat as he said, “Really, Miss Travis!”
He was embarrassed, but Lily was pretty sure he was also smiling. “I have to tell Emma,” she said and then remembered that their stations had changed. “Of course, I can wait until I see her in the normal routine of our day.”
Aidan let out a long sigh. “Go,” he grumbled. “Just don’t make a habit of such late-night visits. The other girls—”
“—need to get over it,” Lily said as she ran through the lobby and kitchen and on up the back stairs. “Cody’s coming home.”
But two days passed with no further sign. Each day, Lily walked to the Western Union office. Every day, Ellie Swift regretfully shook her head. “Not a word,” she said on the third day. “I’m starting to worry.”
“You’re starting to worry? I can’t sleep or eat, and my Harvey Girl smile is painful. Where could he be?”
Ellie patted her shoulder. “Perhaps he stopped to investigate something related to the robbery.”
“And perhaps he’s out there somewhere, his horse crippled or him shot or…”
“You cannot think such things, Lily. Let’s talk to Frank Tucker. As mayor, he can organize a search party to cover the area between here and Santa Fe.” She turned the sign on the door to closed and then took hold of Lily’s arm as the two of them walked to the mercantile.
“Way ahead of you,” Frank said when Ellie explained why they were there. “Captain Troutman sent word Cody had left the jail, and he was worried he’d gone off to find Victor Johnson on his own.” He looked at Lily. “You need to watch yourself, young lady. If Johnson is still around, you might be in danger.”
“I have nothing he wants,” Lily said. “Can we send men to search for Cody?”
“Yes, of course. But in the meantime, I need you to stay put, understood?”
Lily wasn’t about to make promises she had no intention of keeping. She had promised Cody not to go after Victor on her own, true, but this was different. She wasn’t trying to find Victor. She was trying to find Cody.
“I have to work,” she said, giving the mayor her most innocent smile. “In fact, my shift starts in half an hour.” She clasped Ellie’s hands in hers. “Thank you,” she said, then shook Mr. Tucker’s hand before hurrying back to the hotel to change into her uniform and take her place in the dining room just as the first train pulled into the station.
Throughout her shift, her mind raced with ideas she considered and rejected for how she might join the search for Cody. If she were Grace or Emma, it would be a simple matter of securing a horse and taking off, but Lily was a city girl and had never learned to ride. The one time she’d been on a horse had been during a picnic Aidan had arranged for the staff, and she’d been terrified the entire time. She’d never realized how large and broad—and far from the ground—horses could be.
She kept a smile in place and went through the motions of serving the customers that came and went in a steady stream from noon until the dining room closed at six. Afterward, she joined the other girls in cleaning the dining room, resetting the tables, and finally gathering in the kitchen for their supper.
Fortunately, a church social planned for the weekend had all the others engrossed, and Emma was occupied planning the schedule for the new girls who would arrive the following week. As long as she smiled and nodded occasionally, no one paid much attention to Lily, as she continued to rack her brain for ways she could get away.
“Beef delivery!” George shouted out the words directed at the men who worked for him in the kitchen, reminding them their work was not finished. Grumbling, they downed the last of their meals and headed outside to unload the meat from the Lombard Ranch.
Lily perked up and moved closer to the door that led out to the yard. Nick and one of his men were standing at the back of the wagon. They unloaded sides of beef while the hotel staff wrestled them inside to be slammed onto large tables where they would be carved into roasts and steaks. It occurred to her that the Lombard Ranch was on the way to Santa Fe. It also occurred to her that she might not be capable of riding a horse, but she could stow away in a wagon.
Should she leave Emma a note? She wouldn’t want her friend to worry, but there really wasn’t time. This was her moment—now, when all the men were distracted as they carried the heavy sides of beef inside. Now, when no one seemed to be paying her any mind at all.
She stepped aside to let them pass, nodded to Nick, and then eased her way out into the yard and around to the back of the wagon. She watched as the men unloaded the last of the cargo but did not follow them back to the kitchen.
Several burlap sacks had been tossed into a corner of the wagon bed. Looking around to be sure no one saw her, she removed her white apron and hair bow, wadded them into a ball, and stuffed them inside one of the burlap sacks. Her black dress, shoes, and stockings would be better camouflage. She climbed aboard and made herself as small as possible under the sacks, taking care to arrange them around and over her to conceal her head and the platinum-blond hair Cody had once told her caught the moonlight.
From inside the kitchen, she could hear Nick and George talking. The men would be enjoying a beer before Nick and the other cowboy made the trip back to the ranch. Every minute they delayed gave her a little more protection as the sun disappeared and darkness began to fall. She’d left herself enough of a peephole to be able to see the back entrance to the hotel. When she saw Nick and his ranch hand approach the wagon, she held her breath, but to her relief, they simply climbed aboard, calling out their farewells as they turned the team and headed out of town.
Now what? Lily hadn’t really planned beyond finding some way to follow Cody’s trail. As the team of horses plodded along, she realized how foolhardy the whole thing was. Once they reached the ranch, she decided she would reveal herself to Nick. By then, they’d be too far from town for him to send her back at least before morning. The ranch was halfway to Santa Fe, the last place she knew Cody had been. No doubt Nick would take her home to Grace, hoping his wife could talk some sense into her.
Lily smiled. Too bad Emma wasn’t along for this adventure. Between the three of them, they would come up with a plan. Satisfied she’d accomplished at least the first step in her determination to find Cody, Lily settled back and let the sway of the wagon and the low voices of the men up front soothe her. Her eyes drifted shut.
“What the—!”
Lily woke with a start.
Nick was standing in the bed of the wagon, a broom in one hand. The horses were unhitched, and the other man was nowhere to be seen. As she rubbed sleep from her eyes, Lily saw they were at Nick and Grace’s cabin. It was still night.
“Hello, Nick,” she said calmly as she shrugged off the burlap sacks, stood, and
picked straw from her hair.
“Grace!” His bellow had Grace running from the cabin to see what had happened. She was holding little Jimmy, named for her father. She stopped short, her mouth open.
“Lily?”
“Evenin’, Grace.” Lily climbed down from the wagon and shook out her uniform.
“What are you doing here?”
“She hid out in the wagon while we were delivering the beef,” Nick said. “You’re a little old to be running away from home, Lily.”
“It’s Cody. He was supposed to be on his way back to Juniper from Santa Fe, but he hasn’t arrived, and no one has heard from him. I think something may have happened. Mr. Tucker is organizing a search party, but by the time—”
“Come inside,” Grace said, casting a glance over her shoulder to include her husband in her request.
Inside, Grace laid Jimmy in his cradle and scurried around pouring coffee for them all. She set a plate of biscuits and jam on the table. While they ate, Lily told them about Cody’s telegram.
“Aidan was worried,” Nick said. “He says it’s not like Cody to say he’s going to do something and not follow through.”
“It’s been two days since he sent that wire,” Lily added.
The three of them fell silent, sipping their coffee. After a long moment, Nick stood. “I’ll head down to the ranch and round up some of the men. If Tucker and his party start from Juniper and we head toward Santa Fe…”
“You’ve had no sleep,” Grace said, stroking his cheek with the back of her hand.
He smiled and leaned into her touch. “I’ll be all right. Wouldn’t sleep anyway for worrying about Cody.”
Lily felt a rush of jealousy, seeing the two of them. It was as if they were alone in the room and no one else mattered. It was the way she felt when she was with Cody. She cleared her throat and stood. “I’ll go with you,” she said.
Nick chuckled. “And do what? As I recall, you don’t ride, and if we have to tend to you, we won’t be looking for Cody.”