Chapter 28

Daniel lowered his head into his hands as he sat in the tiny cell in Clallam County Courthouse.

Sheriff Martinson stood outside, gripping the door. “Daniel. You know I’m good friends with your grandfather.” He ran his hands down the metal bars and sighed. “I don’t like being told what to do by these federal busy-bodies. That Brown fellow has it out for you. I’m not sure what I can do, but if you got anything to confess, you’d best do it to me rather than to that vulture.”

Daniel lifted his head and stared dully at the wall. “I’ve got nothing, Sheriff. This is a mystery to me.”

Martinson shook his balding head. “Been to Canada lately?”

“No.”

“You selling booze out of the back of your grandfather’s shop?”

“Only the legally prescribed stuff and it all goes out the front door.”

“I don’t know you, son, but I trust your grandfather like my own brother. I’d hate to see him get hurt.”

Daniel met the sheriff’s eyes. “You and me both.”

“Just so we understand each other.” The man ran his hands across his paunch. “When Brown gets back, he’s going to lead the interrogation. We’ll wait on any formal charges until he’s done.” He shook his head. “Though if he’s conducting a thorough search, that may take awhile.”

Daniel lowered his head back into his hands. His grandfather’s words haunted him. Next time he comes by, go ahead and pay him. . . . He’ll find what he wants to find, and we’ll have a devil of a time proving our innocence.

Amelia walked Laurie to a bench away from the milling crowd. “How can you be to blame for Daniel getting arrested?”

Laurie sniffled, wiping her face with her handkerchief. “Samuel kept pushing me to help him with his investigation and he threatened my father and Johnny—”

Amelia’s eyes grew round. “He threatened them? What do you mean by that?”

“Somebody told him Johnny and my father were involved in the rumrunning. He made it sound like he was going after them unless I gave him some other names.” Laurie rubbed her palms against her skirt.

Amelia grew silent, her face drawn. “Is Johnny involved?”

Laurie sat on her hands and gazed at the grass. “Please, don’t ask me that.”

Amelia flopped back against the bench with a huff. “He’s been working late so often.” She closed her eyes. “I should have known.” Amelia ran a finger through her blonde curls, her eyes troubled.

Laurie touched her friend’s arm. “He did say he was almost finished. He told me he only had a few more runs.”

“And Daniel’s involved, too?” Amelia blew air out from between her lips as if she’d been holding it for a while. “We’d better go tell Johnny what’s happened. If they’ve arrested Daniel, he can’t be far behind.”

Johnny paced across Amelia’s porch. “You did what?” His eyes bulged.

“I told them Daniel was involved. I didn’t have a choice.” Laurie squeezed her fingers together in her lap, trying to keep her hands from shaking.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay away from him? Didn’t I tell you something like this would happen?” Johnny dragged a claw-shaped hand through his hair.

Amelia leaned against one of the tall white posts supporting the porch roof. “That’s not important now. Now we have to figure out how to keep you out of jail.”

“I ain’t going to jail.”

Amelia placed one hand on her hip. “Just like you ‘ain’t’ a rumrunner?”

He clamped his mouth shut, staring at his work boots.

“That’s what I thought.”

He turned to Laurie. “Why Daniel?”

Laurie shrugged. “Better him than you. I don’t know why I should protect any of you, really. But at least you are my family.”

Johnny’s face grew red. “But, how could you point a finger at an innocent man?”

Laurie rounded on him. “Innocent? You said he was the lookout at Crescent Beach.”

“Where did you get that fool idea?”

“On the beach, you said . . . ” She paused, trying to bring back the details of that awful night.

Johnny huffed. “The lookout was Lew Barnes—the same guy you saw me talking with at the boarding house. You must have seen him up on the bluff.”

Laurie sank back, feeling the world sway in time with the porch swing. “Lew Barnes? But—but, I thought . . . ” She covered her mouth. “Daniel was there on the bluff. I just assumed . . . ” Pain gripped her chest. “He was there.”

Johnny grabbed the chain on the porch swing and shook it hard. “Laurie, Daniel doesn’t even drink.”

“Johnny . . . ” Amelia walked to his side. She took his arm and ran fingers across his tensed shoulders. “She made a mistake, that’s all.”

“And look where it’s gotten us.”

“You’re still with us, aren’t you?” Amelia pointed out.

“What do we do about Daniel?” Johnny paced the length of the porch.

Laurie’s head swam. Daniel’s not a rumrunner. She walked back through her memories of their time together, viewing it in the light of this new reality. Her heart lifted in her chest like a fledgling bird learning to fly—just before it crashed to the ground. “I sent him to jail.”

“You’re just now figuring that out?” Johnny snapped. “Now I’m going to have to go turn myself in. I can’t let him take the fall for something he didn’t do.” He wrapped an arm around the pillar, leaning his head against the smooth white paint. “What a disaster.”

“No, you won’t.” Laurie stood. “I’ll fix this. I’ll tell Samuel I made a mistake.”

“Like he’s going to believe that?” Johnny paced to the far end of the porch and stared out over the yard.

Amelia frowned. “Laurie, you said that Samuel was already aware of Johnny’s involvement. What can you do to change his mind?”

A shiver ran through Laurie’s gut. She had to get Daniel out of jail and keep her brother from taking his place. “Anything I have to.”