B00CZBQ63C EBOK (17 page)

Chapter
28

D
aniel lowered his head into his hands as he sat in the tiny cell in
Clallam County Courthouse.

Sheriff Martinson stood outside, gripping the door. “Daniel. You know I’m good friends with your grandfather.” He ran his hands down the metal bars and sighed. “I don’t like being told what to do by these federal busy-bodies. That Brown fellow has it out for you. I’m not sure what I can do, but if you got anything to confess, you’d best do it to me rather than to that vulture.”

Daniel lifted his head and stared dully at the wall. “I’ve got nothing, Sheriff. This is a mystery to me.”

Martinson shook his balding head. “Been to Canada lately?”

“No.”

“You selling booze out of the back of your grandfather’s shop?”

“Only the legally prescribed stuff and it all goes out the front door.”

“I don’t know you, son, but I trust your grandfather like my own brother. I’d hate to see him get hurt.”

Daniel met the sheriff’s eyes. “You and me both.”

“Just so we understand each other.” The man ran his hands across his paunch. “When Brown gets back, he’s going to lead the interrogation. We’ll wait on any formal charges until he’s done.” He shook his head. “Though if he’s conducting a thorough search, that may take awhile.”

Daniel lowered his head back into his hands. His grandfather’s words haunted him.
Next time he comes by, go ahead and pay him. . . . He’ll find what he wants to find, and we’ll have a devil of a time proving our innocence.

Amelia walked Laurie to a bench away from the milling crowd. “How can you be to blame for Daniel getting arrested?”

Laurie sniffled, wiping her face with her handkerchief. “Samuel kept pushing me to help him with his investigation and he threatened my father and Johnny—”

Amelia’s eyes grew round. “He threatened them? What do you mean by that?”

“Somebody told him Johnny and my father were involved in the rumrunning. He made it sound like he was going after them unless I gave him some other names.” Laurie rubbed her palms against her skirt.

Amelia grew silent, her face drawn. “
Is
Johnny involved?”

Laurie sat on her hands and gazed at the grass. “Please, don’t ask me that.”

Amelia flopped back against the bench with a huff. “He’s been working late so often.” She closed her eyes. “I should have known.” Amelia ran a finger through her blonde curls, her eyes troubled.

Laurie touched her friend’s arm. “He did say he was almost finished. He told me he only had a few more runs.”

“And Daniel’s involved, too?” Amelia blew air out from between her lips as if she’d been holding it for a while. “We’d better go tell Johnny what’s happened. If they’ve arrested Daniel, he can’t be far behind.”

Johnny paced across Amelia’s porch. “You did what?” His eyes bulged.

“I told them Daniel was involved. I didn’t have a choice.” Laurie squeezed her fingers together in her lap, trying to keep her hands from shaking.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay away from him? Didn’t I tell you something like this would happen?” Johnny dragged a claw-shaped hand through his hair.

Amelia leaned against one of the tall white posts supporting the porch roof. “That’s not important now. Now we have to figure out how to keep you out of jail.”

“I ain’t going to jail.”

Amelia placed one hand on her hip. “Just like you ‘ain’t’ a rumrunner?”

He clamped his mouth shut, staring at his work boots.

“That’s what I thought.”

He turned to Laurie. “Why Daniel?”

Laurie shrugged. “Better him than you. I don’t know why I should protect any of you, really. But at least you are my family.”

Johnny’s face grew red. “But, how could you point a finger at an innocent man?”

Laurie rounded on him. “Innocent? You said he was the lookout at Crescent Beach.”

“Where did you get that fool idea?”

“On the beach, you said . . . ” She paused, trying to bring back the details of that awful night.

Johnny huffed. “The lookout was Lew Barnes—the same guy you saw me talking with at the boarding house. You must have seen him up on the bluff.”

Laurie sank back, feeling the world sway in time with the porch swing. “Lew Barnes? But—but, I thought . . . ” She covered her mouth. “Daniel was there on the bluff. I just assumed . . . ” Pain gripped her chest. “He was there.”

Johnny grabbed the chain on the porch swing and shook it hard. “Laurie, Daniel doesn’t even drink.”

“Johnny . . . ” Amelia walked to his side. She took his arm and ran fingers across his tensed shoulders. “She made a mistake, that’s all.”

“And look where it’s gotten us.”

“You’re still with us, aren’t you?” Amelia pointed out.

“What do we do about Daniel?” Johnny paced the length of the porch.

Laurie’s head swam.
Daniel’s not a rumrunner.
She walked back through her memories of their time together, viewing it in the light of this new reality. Her heart lifted in her chest like a fledgling bird learning to fly—just before it crashed to the ground. “I sent him to jail.”

“You’re just now figuring that out?” Johnny snapped. “Now I’m going to have to go turn myself in. I can’t let him take the fall for something he didn’t do.” He wrapped an arm around the pillar, leaning his head against the smooth white paint. “What a disaster.”

“No, you won’t.” Laurie stood. “I’ll fix this. I’ll tell Samuel I made a mistake.”

“Like he’s going to believe that?” Johnny paced to the far end of the porch and stared out over the yard.

Amelia frowned. “Laurie, you said that Samuel was already aware of Johnny’s involvement. What can you do to change his mind?”

A shiver ran through Laurie’s gut. She had to get Daniel out of jail and keep her brother from taking his place. “Anything I have to.”

Chapter
29

S
amuel’s voice echoed from the basement of the drugstore. “I
want you to box up all these records, Mack. We’re going to need copies of everything.”

Laurie edged down the steep stairs, digging her fingernails into the wooden railing. The dank smell of cool underground wafted upwards, giving her an overwhelming sensation of descending into a dungeon.

Halfway down, she paused. “Samuel?” The sound of boxes being dragged and drawers being opened and banged shut made her shiver.
He’s going to be furious that I’ve wasted his time.

The sounds quieted and footsteps approached. Samuel appeared out of the back room, a quizzical expression on his face. “Laurie? You do show up in the oddest of places.”

“I need to talk to you. It’s important.”

Samuel hesitated for a moment before turning and speaking over his shoulder. “Keep at it. I’ll be right back.” He followed her up the steep stairway and out the back door into the alley.

She took a deep breath of the fresh air, thankful for the slice of sun peeping through between the brick buildings.

“So, what’s this about? We’re in a bit of a hurry.” Samuel brushed a cobweb off his sleeve.

Laurie forced herself to speak the words that weighed on her heart. “I made a mistake. Daniel’s not a rumrunner. I jumped to that conclusion because of some faulty information.” She watched as Samuel’s face hardened. Her stomach tightened in response. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to cause so much trouble—but you need to let him go.”

“I can’t do that.”

Fingers of tension inched their way up her neck. “You must. You arrested him because of what I said and I’m telling you, I was wrong.”

A smile toyed at the corners of his lips. “I couldn’t have arrested him on just your word, Beautiful. You just put the nail in his coffin, so to speak.” He turned and faced away from her, staring at the backside of the drugstore. “So what changed your mind? Did someone threaten you?”

“I simply made a mistake.”

“You seemed pretty certain last night.” He took a step closer to her, reaching a hand out and touching her arm.

She locked her knees, preventing herself from stepping back. “I just realized I was wrong. It couldn’t be Daniel. He’s an honest man—he doesn’t even drink.”

“He doesn’t?” The corner of his mouth turned upward. “Who told you that? Him?”

“Does it matter?”

He narrowed his eyes. He slid his hand up her arm to her shoulder. “You’re going to have to give me more than that.”

A shudder passed through her body.
More what?

“Maybe we need to talk about some other names.”

“I’ll tell you what”—Laurie hugged her sweater to her chest—“I’ll make more of an effort at the switchboard. I think if I’m careful, I might be able to find you the information you want.”

A light appeared in Samuel’s eyes. “Even if you don’t like what you hear?”

Laurie nodded, digging a fingernail into her palm under the cover of the sweater.
As long as I can find some way to keep my brother’s name out of it.

“Good. It’s a deal.” He pulled his hand from her shoulder and held it out to her. “And we have a date on Friday night.”

A flicker of surprise raced through her. “We do?”

“This Friday and every Friday, until I bust this case open.” His eyes gleamed.

She set her jaw. “Fine.” She shook his hand, holding her breath as he squeezed her fingers and raised them to his lips. “And you’ll release Daniel?”

“For now—if you’re sure that’s what you want.”

She let go of her breath. “I do.”

Daniel glanced up as the jail door opened. A grim-faced Sheriff Martinson stood outside. Daniel rose from his seat on the rickety bench, pushing away the sensation of being led to the gallows.

“Brown’s here. You ready?”

“Might as well get it over with.”

The sheriff escorted him to a small windowless office and gestured to an open chair on the far side of the wooden table. Martinson exited, pulling the door closed behind him.

As soon as Daniel sat, the door opened again. Brown resembled a cat preparing for the kill. “Mr. Shepherd. So good of you to join us.” He grasped the back of the chair opposite Daniel and spun it around, straddling the seat and crossing his arms across its high back.

“I had a choice?”

“Well, not really. But I’m trying to be polite, here.”

Daniel placed his hands on the table. “Why start now?”

Brown chuckled. “I took you as a smart man the first time I laid eyes on you. Being insolent with a federal agent is not what I’d call a smart move, however.”

“And not what I’d call a crime.”

Brown dropped his chin against the high back of the chair and gazed at Daniel. “Do you want to know what I found at your shop?”

The man’s arrogant stare set him on edge, but Daniel maintained eye contact. “Nothing?”

“Not exactly.” Brown gestured to a cardboard box on the floor, crammed with papers. “Long lists of customers, prescription reports, and delivery receipts.”

Daniel leaned back against his chair. “Most of that information is confidential.”

“Then it’s convenient that this badge gives me the right to see it.” Brown lifted the box from the floor and dropped it onto the table. “And do you know what else I found, Daniel?” He picked out one of the papers and gazed at him over the top. “May I call you Daniel?”

Can I call you a malevolent snake?

When Daniel didn’t answer, Brown shrugged and looked back at the paper. “There seems to a discrepancy between the amount of liquor arriving at your back door and the amount going out the front.”

Daniel drummed his fingers against the table.
Granddad was right—they’ll find what they want to find. Even when there’s nothing there.

Brown set the paper down on the table and offered a cruel smile. “Do you know why that is?”

“Enlighten me.”

The agent slid his hand into his shirt pocket and drew out a pair of reading glasses. “I’m no bookkeeper, but it appears that you’re bringing in a lot more money than you should be, according to your prescription logs.” He glanced up at Daniel, peering at him over the lenses. “I think you’re selling more alcohol than your records claim.”

Daniel felt a twinge in his neck. Brown was going to make the records say whatever he wanted. “We’re not. If you care to show me the papers, I could explain them to you since, as you say, you’re not a bookkeeper.”

Brown dropped the papers into the box and closed the lid. “No, I don’t think so. I can’t have you tampering with the evidence, after all.” He leaned his arm on the top and stared at Daniel once more. “I will have our own accountant go over your figures.”

He rose, turned the chair, and returned it to its original position. Brown lifted the crate into his arms with a slight grunt and stepped to the doorway. Turning back, he glanced at Daniel. “Oh, yes. You’re free to go. For now.” He patted the side of the box. “We’ll be in touch.”

Daniel sat back against the chair, his hands falling slack at his sides.
He’s letting me go?

Sheriff Martinson smiled as he entered the room, his face crinkling into a series of grooved wrinkles. “You heard the man, Shepherd. I’d say that must have gone well. Very well, indeed.”

Daniel stood, a lingering discomfort lurking in his chest. This game was far from over.