Heart of Lies (21 page)

Maddie could feel the woman’s relief and joy and ached so intensely with it that she had to look away. She started to hurry toward the main road but the driver, a powerfully built black man, climbed down from the high-sprung driver’s seat and blocked her way.

“Mama, it’s all right. I’m home now. Please don’t cry anymore,” Penelope gently patted her mother on the back.

Mrs. Perkins cupped Penelope’s face between her hands and studied her closely.

“Are you truly here, darling?” the woman whispered.

“Yes, Mama.”

“Are you all right? Did they hurt you?”

“No, Mama.”

When the woman slowly turned to Maddie, Maddie’s heart nearly stopped. She waited in silence, watched the other woman lean on Penelope as she got to her feet.

Penelope led her mother over to Maddie and grabbed Maddie by the hand. “Mama, I got clean away from the bad men and this nice stranger offered to bring me home,” she said. “She found a ride for us too, and she was just going to leave when you drove in.” Penelope squeezed Maddie’s hand with all her might and winked. “Isn’t that right,
ma’am?”

Maddie couldn’t take her eyes off of the woman smiling through her tears with such unbridled gratitude.

“I’m Mary Perkins.” The woman’s lips trembled as she spoke the words. “I owe you everything I have.
Everything.
I thank you for your kindness from the bottom of my heart.”

This,
Maddie thought,
is the glorious joy I will never know. No matter what else I’ve done or what part I played in the kidnapping, I have given this woman her child back. I have given her something I will never have, the pleasure of holding my children close again.

At least I have done this.

“I … I’m happy to have helped,” Maddie finally managed to say. Penelope continued to cling to her hand.

“You must come up to the house with us,” Mary Perkins invited. “My husband is doing business at a neighboring plantation, but he’ll want to thank you properly. Besides …” She looked down into Penelope’s upturned face and smoothed her palm over her daughter’s cheek. “There’s the matter of a reward.”

Maddie took a deep breath. A few days ago she would have done anything for the money. This was her chance to tell Mary
Perkins the truth, to confess the part she’d played in the kidnapping, but her courage failed her.

She had brought Penelope home. It was all the goodness she could muster for one day.

“I have to go,” she whispered. “I have to get home.”

The other woman tried to protest. “But the reward—”

“I did nothing to deserve it,” she said softly.

“You escorted my daughter safely home.”

“I must go,” Maddie insisted. She gave Penelope’s hand a squeeze and the child finally let go.

“I don’t understand,” Mary Perkins said. “You brought our daughter back to us. You
deserve
the reward.”

Maddie shook her head. “No, Mrs. Perkins. I don’t. Please, consider this a gift. From one mother to another.”

T
om handed Terrance Grande’s confession over to Frank Morgan. The police contacted the
Times Picayune,
and the editor agreed to run a story about Penelope Perkins being sighted near the wharf. Messages were sent to the authorities near Clearwater to be on the lookout for Maddie Grande, the child, and Anita Russo.

Though he wanted to believe Maddie had been bullied into hiding the child, he was no fool. Terrance might have confessed just to keep Maddie out of jail. Since stealing children was routine for the Grandes, he wasn’t completely convinced of her innocence.

Terrance claimed she wasn’t an accomplice in the kidnapping, but even knowing Tom was a Pinkerton, she had abducted the child right out from under him. What he couldn’t figure out was why. It was insane of her to believe she could still collect the reward. Her only option was to hold Penelope for ransom.

Maddie Grande was digging her own grave.

He hadn’t slept in two days, but he had taken time to return to his apartment, clean up, and change into respectable clothing. It was with a heavy heart that he rode up the oak-lined lane to the Langetree mansion again.

Once again, a Langetree servant met him in front of the grand manor and took his horse. Tom noticed the black mourning draperies were still at the windows, but they’d been drawn open. As
before, he was ushered into the house, told to wait in the formal drawing room.

Penelope’s ornamental comb was in his pocket. Though only a sliver of silver, it weighed heavy as his heart when he saw the portrait of Penelope above the mantel. Now he knew that the image didn’t do her justice. It did not capture her intelligence nor her stubbornness, though there was the familiar pluck and confidence in her smile.

He heard footsteps behind him and dreaded facing the Perkinses—until he saw Mary Perkins sweep toward him with a bright smile on her face.

“Mr. Abbott, I was wondering when we’d see you again. My husband is in his study; he’ll be right down.”

Tom marveled at the change in her. There were still telltale smudges of violet beneath her eyes, but her color was high and her face wreathed in a smile. Now he could see Penelope had inherited her beauty from her mother.

He wanted to wait to explain until Peter joined them. He didn’t relish repeating the story. Thankfully, Peter Perkins entered almost on his wife’s heels. He extended a hand in greeting, pumped Tom’s with a wide smile of welcome.

“It’s good to see you. I can tell by the confusion on your face that you haven’t received my letter yet,” Perkins said. “I had a servant take it to New Orleans just this morning.”

“Letter?” Tom feared he sounded as dumbfounded as he felt. No doubt Perkins had fired him, but that didn’t account for all the smiles.

“Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Whiskey?” Perkins indicated a nearby wing chair. “Have a seat, Abbott. Have a seat.”

“Sir, I want you to know that I am, along with the entire New Orleans Metropolitan Police, still doing my best to find your daughter.”

Peter quickly looked at his wife poised near the wide doorway
with her hands demurely folded. They were still pale against her black mourning gown, but her cheeks were bright, her smile undimmed.

“So you don’t know yet?” Perkins held out his arm. His wife crossed the room and slipped into his embrace.

“Know what, sir?”

“Our prayers have been answered. Our daughter is home. Returned to us filthy, but other than that, she seems to be just fine.”

“She’s … here?”

“She is indeed, and telling wild tales of traveling with a troupe of actors as she tried to make her way to Kentucky on her own. Under other circumstances I’d be in shock, but to tell you the truth, Abbott, we’re just so happy to have her home safe and unharmed that I wouldn’t care if she told me she’d ridden an elephant across Louisiana.”

“She’s here?” Tom repeated. He shook his head in disbelief. “I’m not a drinking man, Mr. Perkins, but if you don’t mind, I think I’ll take you up on the offer of whiskey. Just a shot.”

Peter walked over to a small butler’s table covered with crystal decanters and poured Tom a liberal dose. Tom took a drink, winced, and set it down.

“What did she tell you about the kidnapping?”

“She said two men abducted her and that she was frightened to death at first. Then she was able to escape them and met up with the acting troupe. She begged them to take her to her Aunt Gail’s in Kentucky — the poor little thing had taken it into her head that she was a burden to us.”

“Did she say who else was involved?”

Perkins nodded. “No. Just the two men. Twins, she said.”

Tom’s mind was spinning. Had Penelope implicated Maddie at all?

Just then Mary Perkins said, “Here she is now. Darling, say hello to Mr. Abbott. I’m afraid you gave him a merry chase.”

Tom turned and there was Penelope in the doorway. Dressed
in a navy gown with a starched white collar, fresh white stockings, and ankle-high shoes, she had a huge white bow pinned atop her head. She looked the picture of angelic innocence as she obediently stepped into the room.

She was smiling until she recognized him. Then she froze. “What’s
he
doing here?”

Her mother reached for her hand and drew her close. “Why, this is Mr. Abbott, dear. He’s the detective we hired to find you.”

Penelope shook her head. “He’s a bad man. Worse than those twins who kidnapped me.”

Peter Perkins’s smiled finally dimmed. He turned on Tom. “What’s she talking about?”

Penelope spoke up before Tom could answer.

“He said he was going to bring me home but he lied. He really wasn’t going to do anything of the sort.”

Mary led Penelope to the settee and sat down. The girl remained standing. Mary took both of the girl’s hands in hers and looked up into her daughter’s eyes.

“How do you know Mr. Abbott, dear?” Mary asked softly.

Penelope threw a dark glance at Tom.

“He found me in Baton Rouge and made us get on a steamboat.” She turned to her father. “You always say how dangerous steamboats are, Papa. He made us … I mean
me,
get on one.”

“You found her in Baton Rouge?” Perkins demanded. “Then how did she wind up asking a stranger to bring her home yesterday? How was it she ended up alone again?”

Tom explained as precisely as he could exactly how he found the Grande twins, which led him to the cabin on the bayou and Maddie Grande. He pulled the silver comb out of his pocket and handed it to Perkins.

“I found it in the Grande’s cabin, but when I returned after you identified it for me, your daughter had somehow escaped. Maddie Grande was on her trail. I caught up with both of them in Baton Rouge — “

“Where
I
was the star of the Phoenix Rising Theater Troupe,” Penelope added proudly. “ ‘Out of the ashes of the South comes live theater!’”

“She was indeed performing with a troupe of traveling actors,” Tom said.

“They
were kind enough to take me along to Kentucky,” the child added.

“After I recovered her—”

“Stole
me from them, he means.”

“After I recovered her and had Maddie Grande in custody, I felt a steamboat was the fastest way back to New Orleans. Not only that, but I could keep them both confined aboard. I’m sure you’ve noticed your daughter is very resourceful for her age, Mr. Perkins.”

“You were
never
bringing me home,” Penelope argued. “Maddie said so.”

“Maddie Grande is a liar,” Tom said softly.

“She is not,” Penelope shouted.

Peter Perkins anchored his hands on his hips. “Just who is this Maddie Grande?”

“The kidnappers’ sister. They left the girl in her care, but Penelope gave her the slip. Which led to the chase. I was intent on delivering both of them directly to the precinct station in the French Quarter, but as soon as we disembarked, Miss Grande managed to escape and took your daughter with her. The police have been scouring the city for two days. I came out here this morning to tell you that I had found Penelope and that she was fine the last time I saw her, but that she was missing again.”

Tom stared at Penelope. “Do you know where Maddie is now?”

“No.” Penelope walked over to her father’s side. “Papa, I learned how to beg for money. I was quite good at it.”

“Oh, Peter,” Mary sighed, but she was fighting back a smile. “Can you imagine?”

Peter Perkins laughed. “Actually, I can. I wouldn’t put anything past our Penelope.”

“How did you get home? Did you run away from Maddie?” Tom asked.

“I didn’t have to run away. She brought me home,” Penelope said.

Mary Perkins gasped. Penelope glanced warily at her mother.

“Penelope, was Maddie Grande the woman with you yesterday?” Mary asked.

“Yes.”

Tom gaped at Mary Perkins. “You saw Miss Grande?”

“Why, I even spoke to her,” Mary admitted. “I tried to convince her to come to the house and wait for Peter to return. I told her she deserved the reward.”

“She didn’t take it?” Tom was stunned.

“She refused,” Mary confirmed.

Peter Perkins explained, “Penelope showed up yesterday afternoon with a woman and convinced Mary they had just met.”

Perkins paused to smile lovingly at his wife. “I’d finally talked Mary into getting out in the fresh air, and her carriage was on the way back up the drive when the driver saw Penelope and the woman standing there.”

He hunkered down in front of his daughter. “Do you know where this Maddie Grande is, dear? Do you know where she was going?”

Penelope tapped her toe impatiently and glanced over at Tom before she turned to her father again. “Why?

“Because Mr. Abbott needs to find her.”

“I’m not telling if he’s going to put her in jail.”

“Where did you stay in New Orleans?” Tom took a step closer.

“A smelly old place with bats and mice and rats.” She tried to turn the topic. “Do you know how easy it is to get money from perfect strangers, Papa?”

Her mother reached up and straightened Penelope’s bow. “Darling, please. Fooling people out of their money isn’t something to be proud of. You are a very lucky girl to have always had more than you need.”

“You say you hid in a big empty building?” Tom persisted.

Penelope turned on him, her face pinched into an angry frown. “You pretended to be sweet on Maddie when all the time you only wanted to turn her over to the police. You are
not
a nice man.”

“I never pretended to be sweet on her.” Tom’s collar suddenly felt too tight.

“Do you know what she’s talking about, Abbott?” Peter Perkins was watching him speculatively.

“I have no idea where they might have been holed up in the city, but we’ll find the place and I’ll find Maddie Grande,” Tom promised. “If it’s the last thing I do.”

Suddenly Penelope grabbed hold of her father’s coat. “Papa,
don’t
let him take Maddie to jail. She’s my friend. She took good care of me and brought me home. She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“She may have been coerced into hiding Penelope, but she failed to tell me where the girl was when she had the chance.”