Chapter Twenty-Two

Catherine should have known something was wrong when Jennie was so quiet on the way to school Monday morning, and later when said she didn’t feel well and asked to go home. After taking attendance and noticing Ned absent, she might have been suspicious. But the fact they were both gone didn’t register until halfway through the day. Suddenly, like a gaslight sputtering to life, something clicked inside her head. Catherine looked at Jennie’s empty seat beside Sarah Jalkanen, Ned’s next to Ronald Wilcox, and she knew.

Maybe if she hadn’t spent the entire day replaying her encounter with Jim over and over in her mind, she would’ve noticed sooner. As a teacher, it was her job to be aware of her students, not only their academic lives, but other problems they might have. Knowing Jennie fancied herself in love with Ned and wanted to thwart her mother’s plan to send her away to school, Catherine should have guided the girl instead of being so wrapped up in her own romance.

She prayed she was wrong in guessing they’d eloped, but anxiously counted the seconds to the end of the school day. After releasing the children almost ten minutes early, she hurried to the Albrights. Jennie was not sick in bed or in the house at all. Luckily, her mother wasn’t either. Perhaps it wasn’t too late for Catherine to find the young couple and talk some sense into them.

When she tried to imagine where they might be or what they might be doing, all she could think of was she and Jim rolling in the hay like a pair of animals. What kind of role model had she been for a young girl? Even if she’d never showed her lust for Jim in front of Jennie, the girl might have caught some sense of it in her demeanor. Or maybe Jennie and Ned would’ve run off together no matter what.

Whether they’d eloped or merely gone some place to spend the day together, they would probably have rented a buggy. Catherine took a last look at Jennie’s smoothly made bed and hurried downstairs to head toward the livery.

Walking into the dusky interior of the stable, a perverse onslaught of arousal hit her. The scent of hay and horses immediately brought back every moment of yesterday morning. She shivered and hugged her arms across her tingling breasts. Jim must be working at the mill today, but she hoped he’d appear from the tack room at any moment.

Instead, Mr. Rasmussen came in from the side door leading to the paddock. His glasses glinted in the dim light as he came toward her. “Miss Johnson. How can I help you?”

“Jim’s not here?”

“No. Not today.”

It was what she’d expected, but disappointment shot through her. “I wondered if Ned Hildebrandt might have been here earlier.”

He pushed his glasses up his nose as if to see her more clearly. “As a matter of fact, he came by early this morning for King and rented a buggy too.”

“Was ... anyone with him?”

“No.” The old man frowned. “But it did seem odd to me, him taking a buggy out on a Monday morning. I asked where he was going and he said he had to run an errand to Hastings. Now, why take a buggy, I thought. If he was picking up supplies for the hardware, why wouldn’t he have used a wagon?”

Catherine’s lips tightened as she nodded. “Thank you, Mr. Rasmussen.”

“Is something wrong?”

“No. Probably not. Ned wasn’t at school today, and I wondered where he might be.”

“Seems Ned isn’t the only one playing hooky. I haven’t seen Jim since early Sunday morning. I don’t think he slept here last night. Guess now he’s working full time for Karak, he’s found someplace else to stay. Except, all his things are here.” He stared hard at Catherine as though she might have an explanation.

“Oh?” On top of her anxiety over Jennie and Ned this new information added to her sense of apprehension. What did Jim’s absence mean? It wasn’t like him to neglect the horses or move without telling Mr. Rasmussen. Something was wrong.

“Guess he’ll come back for his stuff when he gets a chance.”

Before Catherine could reply, Nathan Scott’s voice came from behind her. “Miss Johnson.”

She turned toward him. “Deputy Scott.”

His usually open expression was unreadable, his face an expressionless mask. “I saw you walking and wondered if I might talk to you about the attack the other night. Can you come with me to the sheriff’s office?”

“Yes, of course.” She thanked Rasmussen for the information about Ned, before following Nathan from the livery.

As she walked beside him, she wondered if she should tell him about the missing children, or keep this family business confidential and go to the Albrights right now. Hastings was the nearest large town and the place Ned would have taken Jennie if they planned to elope. If that was the case, she hoped they could be stopped in time.

“I have nothing to add to what I told you on Saturday,” she said, as she quick-stepped alongside the deputy. “I went outdoors for a breath of air and ran into that Sanborn fellow and his friends.”

Nathan shook his head and stopped walking. “It’s not that. Something’s happened, and I need your help.”

“What?” The panicky feeling grew worse when she realized Nathan actually seemed frightened. Her worries about Jennie and Ned were consumed by a greater fear. “What happened?”

“Those men we arrested were shot yesterday—in their cells. I wasn’t on duty yet, and Tate had gone out, leaving the office empty. Someone came in and killed them both. No one knows about this yet. I moved the bodies to the icehouse. I want to figure this thing out before rumors spread. Sheriff Tate agrees. And I picked up Jim Kinney for questioning.”

Catherine felt as is all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. “You don’t suspect Jim!”

“No. Not really. But he was the man with the strongest motive so I brought him to the jail to show him the bodies and see how he’d react.”

“Jim would never do something like that. Never!”

“A man will do most anything to protect the woman he loves.” Nathan’s level gaze said more than words. “But you’re right, I don’t see Jim shooting anyone in cold blood. Doubt he even owns a gun.” Removing his hat, he pushed a hand through his hair. “Still, he knows something. I can see it in his eyes.”

“You believe he knows who did it?”

“I think I know, but I need more proof. Think about it. Who else, other than Jim, would want those men dead? Whose business might they know too much about?” He raised his eyebrows.

Her heart slipped. She put a hand to her chest as if to hold it steady. “Grant Karak.”

“He couldn’t bail them out again after they assaulted you. The community would be in an uproar.” Nathan paused as Polly Flint passed by on the sidewalk, casting a curious glance at them. When she was gone, he continued. “I believe he’d kill them rather than take a chance on them talking. So the question is—what does Karak have to hide?”

Catherine recalled Mrs. McPherson’s accusations. “The fire?”

“That and maybe a lot more. I need you to find out what Jim knows.” Nathan resumed walking, and Catherine trotted alongside him.

“If he knew something about the fire, he would’ve told someone by now.”

“You’re the only one he communicates with, and maybe he only suspects something and isn’t sure enough to share it. Or maybe he’s just plain scared of Karak. All I know was that he looked shocked to see those men dead, but not too surprised, if you know what I mean.”

They were nearing the sheriff’s office. Catherine was out of breath from nervousness and from walking so fast.

“So you’ve had him locked up since yesterday?” She imagined Jim spending the night where men had just been murdered. How frightened he must have been, not knowing if he was accused of the killings and might stay locked up forever. “You knew he wasn’t guilty. How could you do that to him?”

Nathan paused with his hand on the doorknob of the office. “A suspect can be held for twenty-four hours before being charged with a crime. I wanted to put a little fear into Jim, give him the opportunity to realize it’s better for him to tell the truth.”

“You should have gotten me right away.” Her jaw tightened as Natahn held the door open for her to enter. She sensed smugness in his attitude. Perhaps what he said was true, but he’d also enjoyed making Jim suffer. She hadn’t imagined jealousy would make Nathan so mean-spirited.

The sheriff wasn’t in the office as they walked through it. “I waited until I knew Tate would be gone for a few hours to bring you here,” Nathan explained as he unlocked the back room. “Karak’s got him pretty well in his pocket. Jim’s only safe so long as Karak doesn’t know I’ve been questioning him.”

The stench of bleach in the holding cell area stung Catherine’s nose as she entered the room. There were two cells, barred on three sides, a brick wall at the back, and a cot and a bucket in each. Jim rose from one of the cots and walked toward the bars, grasping them and gazing at her as if he couldn’t believe she was real.

Pain lanced through her at the expression in his sad eyes. She felt his fear as if it was her own. She wrapped her fingers around his, clutching the bars. His knuckles were hard and his skin cold. The white bandage was now a dirty gray and frayed at the edges.

She looked into his eyes, offering all her love and support to strengthen him. “It’s all right. You’re all right.” She glanced at the deputy. “Let him out! I can’t talk to him like this.”

He unlocked the cell and beckoned Jim forward. Catherine noted the bleached patch in the corner and the rusty shadow which still stained the floor.

“Give us a few private moments, if you want me to convince him it’s safe to trust you.” She stared at Nathan. “You can keep watch for gunmen and your corrupt sheriff while you’re waiting.”

“All right, but I need to be a part of the questioning.” Nathan left the room, not quite closing the door behind him.

Jim stared after him for a second, then at Catherine. She put her arms around him and buried her face against his shoulder. His arms slid around her back and held her close. A quiet groan of satisfaction rumbled in his chest, sending a rush of desire through her. How could that soft, little sound stir her so?

At last she pulled away to sign, “How are you?”

“Bad.”

“Nathan told me what happened to those men.” Gazing straight into Jim’s eyes, she said, “Did Karak kill them?”

Jim shrugged.

She cupped his cheek, forcing his attention back on her. “You know something. Please, tell me.” His gaze flicked from her mouth to her eyes and she could see him considering. “Trust me. You’re safer if the truth is out.”

He paused another moment, then nodded once.

Before she could call for Nathan, the deputy returned to the room so she knew he’d been listening in. Catherine fixed him with a hard look. “You have to promise to keep Jim safe. Don’t involve him in this any more than you must.”

“I’ll do everything I can,” Nathan promised, and she believed him.

The deputy led them into the office. He’d locked the door and drawn the blinds on both windows. Jim sat at the desk. Catherine stood beside him, and Nathan gave her the paper and pencil she’d requested.

Arms folded, Nathan leaned against the wall and watched.

“Fire.” Catherine scribbled a picture of a burning barn. “Karak?”

Jim’s hand wavered back and forth. “Yes and no.” He pointed toward the cells and held up two fingers.

“Those men did it?”

He nodded.

“But Karak ordered it.”

Jim shook his head. “Angry,” he signed.

“Karak was angry at them for starting the fire.” She guessed Jim must have seen them arguing.

“He probably told them to scare McPherson, but didn’t intend it to go so far,” Nathan said. “Then he was afraid his men would implicate him so he had them killed. But we’ve got no evidence and only a deaf man to testify.”

Jim picked up a pencil and drew on the paper a railroad track, a boxcar and a shed beside the tracks. He drew a box marked U.S. with a governmental chevron below, and connected the box to the train car and the shed with arrows. Lastly, he sketched a horse and a wagon with more U.S. marked boxes inside.

“Government supplies,” Catherine said.

“Stolen supplies,” Nathan added. “Where is this?” He tapped the paper, then shook Jim’s shoulder and when he looked up, asked, “Where?”

Jim sketched a cluster of buildings. A tall silo identified it as the mill.

“The tracks run right past so it’d be easy to uncouple a boxcar and leave it behind. All it takes is paying off the right people,” Nathan thought aloud.

Jim’s hand moved swiftly over the paper, drawing a rectangular box, marking it U.S. and sketching a rifle inside it.

“Damn!” Nathan’s florid face paled as the ramifications of the theft became clear.

Catherine’s anxiety ramped up to fear. It seemed Karak was more powerful than the law in Boughton. A man who stole government rifles and ordered men killed wouldn’t think twice about eliminating anyone who threatened him or stood in his way.

“This is bad.” Nathan stared at the drawing and shook his head. “Karak has more money, more power than any man in the county, maybe even the entire state of Nebraska. Unless I have ironclad proof, I don’t dare arrest him. I’m going to have to check out this warehouse and make sure this shipment exists before I wire the marshal.” He paced across the office to peer out the window through the slats of the blinds. “It still might not be enough to take Karak down. A man like that can bribe his way out of anything.”

Jim looked to Catherine to explain what the deputy had said. She shuddered with fear for him. He’d been carrying around this information like a loaded gun. If Karak even suspected him of betrayal, he’d be dead.

She signed the gist of Nathan’s words, that he planned to check out Jim’s story.

Jim rose from his chair, tapped a finger on his chest and pointed to the shed on the paper.

“It’s too dangerous,” Catherine protested. “You don’t need to go with him. Drawing a map is good enough.” She turned to Nathan. “Why don’t you send for outside help before you do this? Even Karak’s men wouldn’t dare fire on U.S. Marshals.”

“I’m not going to look like a fool calling them in only to find an empty shed. I won’t seek a warrant until I’m sure there’s something to this story.”

“You think Jim is lying?” Her frustration flared to anger. Why did Nathan have to be pigheaded and put both himself and Jim at risk?

“What if they’re not government goods? What if it’s a legitimate business venture? Or what if he’s already emptied the warehouse. I’m not wiring the marshal until I know exactly what kind of evidence I have.” Nathan crossed his arms signaling an end to the discussion. “Why don’t you hide Jim somewhere safe until this is over? The livery is the first place Karak would look for him.”

The deputy laid out a fresh piece of paper and handed the pencil to Jim. Looking into his eyes, he said, “Show me exactly where the shed is at.”