Anyplace But Here (Oklahoma Lovers Series Book 5) (16 page)

He left and returned to the boardinghouse. He searched out Mrs. Pettiford to let her know he would be leaving the next day, and she should not hold his room. His landlady was sorry to see him go and assured him he was always welcome back.

A few hours later he looked around his room with satisfaction. He had everything packed, including Emily’s suitcase from their interrupted attempt to flee. Tomorrow he’d double check with the taxi driver to make sure he was ready to meet them behind Millie’s dress shop at eleven o’clock.

This time there would be no mistakes or trip-ups.

Chapter 16

After tossing and turning all night, Hunter rose and checked everything once more. He took a brisk walk to a coffee shop for breakfast. It was more to pass the time until he met Emily since he was unable to put anything into his stomach besides strong coffee. While he was there he must have checked his jacket pocket for the train tickets a dozen times.

As he arrived back at his boardinghouse, two men stood at the front door speaking with Mrs. Pettiford. His curiosity was piqued when he recognized Officer Mallory, along with an older man dressed in a plain business suit. His heart sped up when the thought crossed his mind that something had happened to Emily.

Then he calmed down when he realized no one except Millie and Jeremy knew of his connection to her. He walked up the steps to hear Mrs. Pettiford say, “Here he is now, officers.”

Both men turned and stared at him. He was startled when Mallory moved his hand to cover his gun. What the hell was that all about?

“Step inside, son.” The older man said.

Hunter moved into the house and followed Mrs. Pettiford and the men to the parlor. Since all the residents were at work, they had the house to themselves.

Officer Mallory moved behind Hunter and said, “Hands behind your back, Henderson.”

“What?” He turned, but Mallory had grabbed his arm to stop him from moving.

“I said hands behind your back.” The officer tugged on Hunter’s other arm.

“Not unless you tell me what the hell this is all about.”

“You know what it’s about. Now hands behind your back.”

Taking a deep breath, Hunter complied, his mind in a whirl as fear licked at him like flames from an out of control fire. Had Louis discovered his plan to take Emily away and had him arrested for attempted kidnapping? He looked at Mallory over his shoulder. “Can you at least tell me why I’m being arrested?”

The older man spoke. “Son, you can play dumb all you want, but you know as well as we do why you’re being arrested.”

He was starting to get angry. Their condescending attitudes, along with whatever game they were playing grated on his already overstretched nerves. “I hate to disappoint you, but your confidence in my knowledge of what the hell is going on here is misplaced. I am a former Texas Ranger, and I know you cannot arrest me without telling me what I’m charged with.”

The older man in a suit gave him a half smile and shook his head, switching a toothpick back and forth in his mouth. “All right, Mr. Henderson. We’ll do it your way.” He pulled a legal document from his inside jacket pocket. Bracing his feet apart, said, “Mr. Hunter Henderson, it is my duty as Chief of Police of the Galveston Police Department to inform you that you are under arrest for the murder of Mr. Louis Smith.”

Three Hours Earlier

Emily took one last glance in the mirror and left her bedroom. Tuesday morning. The day she visited Millie. Hopefully Hunter would have left a message for her at the shop. Every place she’d gone since Hunter’s thwarted rescue attempt, Martin had followed her right inside and planted himself where he could see her. Thank goodness Millie had a dressing screen, or she was afraid the driver would refuse to leave the room so she could change.

The one thing she was grateful for was Martin keeping his word. He hadn’t told Louis about her attempted escape. The only reason she could fathom for his discretion was how poorly it would have reflected on him with her getting so close to disappearing again. Self-preservation was a strong motivator.

The dining room was empty and from appearances, Louis had not yet arrived. Always more relaxed when she didn’t have to share a meal with him, she poured tea into her cup as the young maid, Cassie, entered the room.

“Good morning, Mrs. Smith. Are you ready for breakfast?”

“Yes, Cassie. Please ask Cook to prepare a soft boiled egg and toast.”

Emily picked up the newspaper alongside Louis’s place. For him to not already be down for breakfast was odd. But as long as she was free of his presence, she would read his newspaper and enjoy her food.

She skimmed most of the stories, her mind already on her visit to Millie’s shop. Hunter’s whispered words when she’d left him the other night had kept her hopes up. Her mind was certainly out of ideas, so for the time being she had to trust someone else to come up with a plan. As much as she cared for Hunter, and knew his determination to free her, trust was still not an easy thing for her. Her history of depending on men certainly hadn’t been stellar.

Cassie arrived with her breakfast and Emily enjoyed the perfectly cooked egg while she gazed out the window at the beautiful fall day. All the summer flowers had died and been pulled out by the gardener. In their place were lovely pansies, alyssum, and snapdragons, creating a colorful splash of beauty throughout the garden and along the pathway.

Today is going to be a wonderful day. I can feel it in my bones
.

After eating, she folded the newspaper as best she could so Louis wouldn’t suspect she’d read it before him, and headed to her sitting room.

Too restless to do embroidery and thinking perhaps a book might settle her nerves until it was time to leave, she left the sitting room and strolled to the library. A quick glance in the dining room on her way indicated Louis had still not come down. Maybe he hadn’t even come home all night. If he hadn’t, it wouldn’t have been the first time.

She opened the library door. Before she took one step, her eyes were immediately drawn to Louis slumped over in his chair behind his desk. Half his face was missing, replaced with shredded skin, bone, and blood. Massive amounts of blood . . . splattered on the wall behind him and over his shirt. Emily sucked in a large breath and screamed, covering her mouth with her hands. The screams continued as black dots gathered on the outside of her vision then swirled to meet in the center. She slid to the floor in a crumpled heap.

The next thing Emily knew, she was lying prone on the sofa in the parlor. Maria sat in a chair next to her, patting her hand. “Mrs. Smith. Oh, thank God you’re awake.”

Memories came rushing back to her. Before she could help herself she leaned over and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the floor. “I’m so sorry.” She began to weep.

Maria had jumped back. “That’s all right, I’ll get you and the floor cleaned up.”

“I’ve sent for the police, Mrs. Smith.” Martin stood across the room, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

Emily took the cloth and glass of water from Maria’s hands and sat up. The smell from her own vomit, along with the picture in her mind of how she found Louis was tightening her stomach muscles. She swung her legs over the side of the sofa and stood, reaching out to hold onto the edge of a table.

“Perhaps you should sit back down,” Martin said.

“No, I have to . . .” Do what? She had to get away, had to meet Hunter. She needed his arms around her, would need his strength in the coming days. But how in heaven’s name could she get a message to him? Her thoughts were interrupted by two police officers in uniform and another older man dressed in a suit entering the parlor behind Maria. When had she left the library? Her mind was in a jumble.

The older man approached her, a sympathetic expression on his face. “Mrs. Smith. May I offer my condolences on this horrific event? You can rest assured that we will have the perpetrator of this heinous crime behind bars quickly.” Apparently seeing the confusion on her face, he added, “I am Chief of Police, Edward Grafton.”

“Oh.” Her eyes flicked to the other two.

“These are Officer Mallory and Officer Davidson from the Galveston police force.”

Maria entered with a bucket of water and cloths, obviously to clean up the mess she’d made. Aware of the smell in the room, Emily nodded to the three men and said, “Gentlemen, will you please join me in my sitting room?”

All of them, with Martin tagging along behind, filed into the sitting room. The exceedingly feminine room looked crowded and wrong with several men standing in there. She waved them all to seats, but it was obvious from their expressions they didn’t feel comfortable on the delicate chairs.

Chief Grafton opened a notebook. “Before we observe the murder scene—sorry,” he hastily added when she gasped. “I’d like to ask you a few questions.”

He licked his thumb and flipped through pages with writing already scrawled on it until he came to a blank page. “Now. When was the last time you saw Mr. Smith?”

“At dinner last evening.”

“And did he seem normal? I mean was he upset, depressed, anxious?”

Did they think he killed himself? That was something she hadn’t considered. “Yes. He seemed normal. We discussed a party we were to attend this coming weekend.” Not that she’d wanted to go to a party. He’d already given her a list of guests she was to probe for information.

“Where did you and Mr. Smith go after you finished dinner?”

“I retired to my bedroom to read. As far as I know, Louis went to the library.”

“Is that your usual routine if you have no events to attend?”

“Yes.” No need to mention that other nights Louis would go to the library, but then slip out after a few hours to visit the brothels. If anything she considered that practice a reprieve for her.

“And when did you leave your bedroom?”

“This morning. When I came downstairs for breakfast.”

The Chief wrote furiously, sliding a toothpick back and forth in his mouth as he shot questions at her. Her brain had settled down a bit and she was beginning to think beyond her horrible discovery. She was free. Louis was dead. He could never hurt her again.

“Mrs. Smith. One last question before we examine the body.” The Chief’s question interrupted her thoughts.

“Yes.”

“Do you know of anyone who would want to kill your husband?”

“No. Absolutely not.”

Her head whipped around as Martin gave an exaggerated cough.

The sound had caught the Chief’s attention as well. He narrowed his eyes as if seeing the extra person in the room for the first time. “Who are you?”

“Martin Lopez. I am the driver for Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

“Is that right? And do you know of anyone who would want to kill your employer?”

Martin hesitated and then shrugged. “No.”

“Chief, why did you ask if Louis was depressed? Do you think he might have killed himself?” Emily wanted the attention off Martin before he said anything that would implicate Hunter.

He dragged his attention back to her. “We’ll soon know when we finish here and take a look in the library.” He turned to Officer Mallory. “Any questions from you?”

“No, sir. You know my theory already.”

The Chief shut the notebook and stood. “Please wait here, Mrs. Smith, while we take a look in the other room.”

She nodded, glad to have the interview over. Martin stayed in the room with her when the officers left. The way he stared at her made her uncomfortable. He’d been very devoted to Louis. Or at least devoted to the paycheck Louis gave him.

“You don’t have to wait here with me, Martin. I’m sure if the Chief needs any further information from you, we can find you.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Although respectful words, the way he said them made her skin crawl. She turned and looked out the window, wondering if Hunter would be waiting for her at Millie’s Shop. If not him, then maybe a note telling her what plans he’d made. She just wanted this awful day to be over.

After about twenty minutes the police officers returned to the room. They stood on either side of the doorway, their Chief between them. “Mrs. Smith, we’ve determined that your husband was killed by someone other than himself. We’ve notified the coroner and he will be here shortly to make his report and remove the body.”

“I see. Now what will happen?”

“Well ma’am, you’ll be relieved to know we have a suspect that we’ll pick up as soon as we leave here.”

“Already?”

The Chief nodded. “A man came into the station last week about an old murder.” He chuckled. “Accused Mr. Smith of the deed. Officer Mallory sent him on his way, but with a warning not to take the law into his own hands. It appeared he did anyway.”

As the Chief continued to speak, Emily’s heart started to pound and her breathing hitched. She licked her suddenly dry lips.

God, no. It couldn’t be.

Not wanting the answer, but compelled to ask anyway, she whispered, “Who was the man?”

The Chief checked his notepad. “A Hunter Henderson.”

Once again Emily crumbled to the floor in a heap.

“Sign here.” The desk clerk at the Galveston jailhouse shoved a book across the counter for Jeremy to sign.

He’d received a note from Hunter to come to the jailhouse where he was being held. Jeremy still shook his head at the terse note he’d received. What type of trouble had Hunter gotten himself into now?

“Sir, if you will wait here, a guard will escort you to the visitor room where Mr. Henderson will be brought out.”

Jeremy wiped the sweat from his forehead and paced. He needed morphine, and soon. The supply he’d brought with him was almost gone. He had maybe enough for another two or three days. He’d been so busy on the investigation, he hadn’t visited any of the pharmacies in the area. That was something he needed to do as soon as he left Hunter.

“Jeremy.”

He stopped and turned. “Hunter. What the hell is going on?”

“I can’t believe it myself, but it seems Louis Smith was murdered.”

“Smith? Murdered?”

Hunter waved at the two chairs across from each other with a narrow wooden table between them. “You might as well sit. This is a strange story.”

The man they were investigating for fraud, running a scam, and murder, was dead. A man so low, he beat his wife. Considering how difficult it would have been to actually make any of those charges stick, it should have been good news. But Hunter sitting behind bars for the murder was not good news. Still reeling from what Henderson had just said, Jeremy tried to focus on his friend’s words.