Daniel Perez lay on the bed, watching them approach through glassy eyes. This man was not faking. His bandaged hand lay on a pillow, swollen to twice its size, with angry red streaks leading all the way up his arm. Perspiration soaked the sheets as he lay weakly on the bed.
Sheriff Jackson wandered to the bedside. “These two men are from Washington,” he said gently. “They’d like to talk to you. It would probably be best to send Marta and her aunts out of the room for a spell.”
Perez’s eyes met Nathaniel’s. “Are you from Captain Holland?”
“Captain Holland is in jail,” Nathaniel said gently, watching Perez closely.
Understanding, but no fear, dawned on Perez’s face. He closed his eyes and spoke quietly in Spanish. A moment later Marta rose from her knees and gestured for the two olderwomen to follow her out of the room, closing the door behind her. The priest remained.
“I have already confessed everything to Father Thomas,” Daniel said. His eyes roamed across the shabby room, with its scuffed furniture and thin cotton drapes framing the windows. “I knew it was wrong, but how could I bring Marta to a house like this? I wanted a palace for her. I worked so hard. In three more months I would have had enough for a new house, with space for her boy, with everything she ever dreamed. Now I have nothing to give but thirty pieces of silver.”
Nathaniel sat in one of the chairs vacated by an aunt. “Do you have the strength to talk to us? It will help us understand.”
Daniel nodded and reported that he made runs to Cuba whenever a shipment of money came from Captain Holland. His mind kept wandering, jumping from topic to topic, jumbling names together, timeline confused. Over and over he spoke of Marta and her boy, Julian. He spoke of how he went out of his way to dive for conch since the boy loved them. Marta nagged him to come home, but how could he disappoint the boy?
“I thought we would have forever,” he said, staring out the window. “Forever is now only today. I don’t think I will live through the night.”
Forever is now only today. The phrase was a kick in Nathaniel’s teeth. How often had he told Caroline they could be together some vague day in the future? He had always put duty first. He’d always thought duty was a man’s highest calling, but what Daniel Perez had done to Marta was a shame. Had Nathaniel been any better with Caroline? He was on the verge of heading out to Milwaukee. He wouldn’t even take her down the street to the Smithsonian.
Wilkie grew impatient with the long pause and moved in closer to Daniel’s bedside. “Can you tell us who you stayed with in Cuba? I need the names and addresses.”
Nathaniel held up his hand. “You don’t need to answer that,” he said to Daniel. At Wilkie’s confused look, Nathaniel stood. “This man’s forever ends today. Let him spend it with Marta.”
Hundreds of thoughts battled for Nathaniel’s attention on the train ride back to Washington. He didn’t know why God had put him in a position to have his greatest fear in the world come to life, but it had happened, and there was no undoing it.
One thing was certain. God didn’t inflict this so Nathaniel could retreat into a shell and become a soulless workhorse for the rest of his life. Caroline’s words came back to his mind.“You are unconditionally loved. Unconditionally forgiven. You are a child of God, deserving ofmore credit than you’re giving yourself.”
The McKinley assignment hadn’t gone well, but it was time to accept that he had failed. Failure was a normal part of being human, not a permanent condition. He had been kicked in the teeth, knocked down, and failed.
But he had the strength to get back up and be the kind of man Caroline Delacroix deserved. In the past few weeks, he had taken her for granted. It was time to do better.
They were still on the train when he told Wilkie he wasn’t going to Milwaukee.
“But you’re the best man for the job!” Wilkie said, looking at him with disapproval.
“I’ll help you train someone else who would be better. If I go to Milwaukee, half my mind and all my heart will be left in Washington. I’ll be no good to you.”
Wilkie grumbled but accepted it.
His excitement mounted as the train drew closer to home. As soon as he arrived at the platform in Washington, a part of him wanted to dash across town, pound on Caroline’s door,and sweep her into his arms to begin showering her with affection and adoration.
The other part urged restraint. He would lavish as much care and planning into winning her back as he’d briefly devoted to a mission in Milwaukee. Her birthday was coming up, and Caroline liked presents. Big or small, it didn’t matter to her, and he had an idea for a perfect one.
But he couldn’t do it alone, and her brother Gray was the logical person to help.
He took a streetcar to the spice factory where Gray worked. He’d never had much contact with Caroline’s older brother, but he knew that she idolized him and Gray would probably be willing to help.
The Delacroix Global Spice factory was a cavernous warehouse containing dozens of stainless-steel spice mills that each stood ten feet tall. Workers fed seeds, leaves, and dried berries into grinders, filling the air with the pungent scent of spice. He asked to see Gray Delacroix and was led to a hallway where ordinary business offices were mercifully segregated from the noise of the factory.
Through the window in an office door, he spotted Gray where he sat at a desk, poring over paperwork. With his serious demeanor and threads of silver in his dark hair, Gray couldn’t be more different from Caroline’s bright radiance.
He looked up in surprise at Nathaniel’s knock. “Agent Trask, isn’t it?” he asked after opening the door.
Nathaniel nodded and offered his hand. “You should probably call me Nathaniel,” he said, hoping this was the beginning of a long friendship.
If all went well, they would soon be brothers.
Thirty-Nine
