Hiram cursed and pulled Esther with him. “Come on, Shep. Cut behind the machine house.”
Esther tried to wrench away from Hiram’s hold, but he managed to tighten his grip.
An officer stepped out from behind a large sign. “Stop where you are. You’re under arrest Hiram Bryant, Shepard Bryant.”
“I’ll kill you for this,” he whispered against Esther’s ear. He maneuvered her in front of him and put the knife to her throat. “Back off or I’ll kill her.”
He couldn’t be sure how many officers were involved in this attempt to capture him, but he figured they wouldn’t press their advance so long as he had Esther at the point of death.
“You’re surrounded, Bryant. You can’t escape. Let the lady go.” At that, several other policemen emerged from various hiding places. They formed a kind of horseshoe position around Hiram and Shep. The only way out was to the right.
“Fat chance of that.” Having cleaned these grounds, Hiram was well aware of places he could slip away. He lowered his voice. “Shep, remember that house that had the heavy growth of shrubs?”
“The one we said would make a great place to hide?”
“Exactly. That’s where we’ll head. Once we clear the police, you go to the left, and I’ll take right.”
Shep nodded. “I’ll see you there.”
“I won’t go with you,” Esther protested. “I won’t.”
Hiram pressed the knife into her neck. “You’ll do as I say. Now move.”
She stumbled as he pushed her forward. By now the officers were commanding people to move back. Making a clearing would not be to their advantage so Hiram gave Shep the order. “Go!”
Shep took off in a flash, and Hiram did likewise, dragging the unwilling Esther. After a few yards of trying to manage her, he finally let go, sending her onto her backside. He had no idea if the police would stop to see to her or just follow after him. It didn’t really matter. Hiram had to get away. He wasn’t going to prison for any reason, but especially not for beating his sister.
Isaac looked at the officer and shook his head. “What do you mean they got away? How could they? You said you had plenty of men to help.”
“He took the young lady hostage.”
“Esther?” Addie asked. “Is she all right?”
The man nodded. “She is. He made a small cut on her neck, but otherwise she’s fine.”
“I can’t believe you had them and then let them go.”
“They could hardly let Hiram kill Esther,” Addie said, patting Isaac’s arm as he stood beside her bed.
“I realize that, but now they know we’re looking for them.”
“They already knew that, Isaac.” Addie shook her head. “Hiram knows we won’t just let him get away without a fight.”
“So what do we do now?” Isaac asked the uniformed man.
“That’s where I come in.” A tall man in a three-piece suit strolled into the room as if he owned it. “I’m Joseph Carnegie. No relation to the man who builds the libraries. I’m a detective with the police department. I’ve been talking to your Pinkertons and think we’ve come up with an idea.”
“For what?” Isaac asked.
“For capturing Miss Bryant’s brothers.”
Isaac glanced at Addie and then returned his gaze to Carnegie. “Go on.”
“We’re going to arrange for a front-page story about Miss Bryant being hospitalized. We’re going to make it quite clear that although she had guards in the beginning, we no longer see her position as endangered.”
“In other words, you want to set Addie up as bait to catch her brothers.”
“Yes.” The man was matter-of-fact. “Do you have a better idea?”
