Ben screwed his mouth to one side and rubbed the back of his neck as he considered the presence of the reticule. “How do you think it got here?”
“Now there’s a mystery because she’s sure not around.”
“You’re sure? The Bancroft woman says she saw the bag just lying there on the lobby desk when she was walking in with everyone else. Didn’t hit her right away, then it did, and she went back for it. Now you know what I know.” His attention turned once more to the beaded reticule. “You think we should open it?”
“No. I thinkIshould open it. You can be my witness.”
“All right,” Ben said easily.
Jackson loosened the strings, inserted two fingers inside the bag’s throat, and spread the opening wide. “Feel’s likesome lady stuff inside.” He pulled out a red enameled etui and gave it to Ben. “Needles, thread, and such in that.”
“I know what it is.”
“Comb. Tortoiseshell. My wife has one like it.” He handed it over. “Spectacles.” He held them up to eyes. “Looks like they’re for reading.” He refolded the stems carefully and laid the spectacles on Ben’s open palm. “Pencil. He put the stub behind his ear. “Ah. Here’s a notepad. Could be she wrote something down.”
“Sure. Something like, ‘Here I am; come get me.’”
Jackson curled his lip. “Don’t let Thad hear you making light of this. He’ll cuff you so hard your ass will never find your head.” The tips of Ben’s ears reddened and the sheriff knew his point had been taken. He opened the slim notepad, wet the pad of his thumb, and used it to riffle the pages. The first six were blank. He stopped on the seventh. “Well, I’ll be damned.”
Ben leaned in and tried to see what Jackson was looking at. “What is it?”
“Not, ‘Here I am; come get me,’” he said. “But close enough.” He held up the pad so Ben could read what was scrawled on the paper.
“Two thousand dollars.” His blue eyes widened. “They want two thousand dollars?”
“Seems so. Looks like we’re seeing a ransom demand.” Jackson wet his thumb again and carefully lifted the page. As expected, there was more. “‘Cooper’s Rock,’” he read. “There’s a dollar sign. Guess that’s where we’re supposed to leave the money.”
“That’s where we’ll find her?”
“Youareyoung, Ben Madison. Always thought it was the carroty hair that made you seem so, but I’m thinking now that you just are.”
“I’m twenty-three, old man.”
“We’ll take it up later. I’m just saying, that she’s not going to be at Cooper’s Rock. That’s not the way these things are done. Go get Thaddeus and haul him over here. He needs to be part of this.” As soon as Ben began to push his way throughthe crowd, Jackson turned another page. He read what was written and nodded to himself. Yep, that’s how he would have set it up, too.
• • •
The Jones and Prescott bank manager was already among the volunteers gathered by Brewer’s deputy when he was summoned to open the bank. The two thousand dollars Thaddeus Frost required cleaned out two shelves of the safe, but to his credit, Mr. Pleasance never once hesitated. He bundled the cash, stuffed it into three cloth sacks, and handed it over. He did not ask for a receipt.
There were nine chosen from among twenty-five volunteers. Sheriff Brewer wanted a manageable number and nine was what he settled on. He divided them into three groups of three with instructions to fan out when they were closing in on a mile from Cooper’s Rock. The two flanking groups would act as scouting parties, while the head of the spear would ride straight ahead to the rock.
Thaddeus and Sheriff Brewer were at the head of the spear. Thad chose Ben as the third member of their group, which was fine with Jackson. They each carried a sack of money secured behind their saddles.
Jackson insisted that all parties stay quiet and alert, but he allowed himself, as leader, to bend his own rule. Sidling his mount closer to Thad, he asked, “Are you holding out much hope that Remington’s tracked her down?”
“I always hold out hope.”
“That’s some kind of luck that he was on the same train, in the same car, as she was.”
“That’s why I hold out hope, Jackson. Sometimes we get lucky.”
“Hmm.”
“You weren’t standing there when I introduced myself to Mrs. Bancroft. Her eyes went as wide as silver dollars when I told her my name. Her companion, that Mrs. Jacob C. Tyler, put a hand over her heart, she was that taken back. They told me all about Remington setting out after Phoebe.”
Ben moved in on the other side of Thaddeus. “You talking about Remington?”
“We are.”
