Wilder Than the Rest: MacLarens of Fire Mountain (26 page)

Georgiana Grayson was the lone participant in the assassination attempt in custody. She resisted interrogation attempts at first. It took a long while to obtain details of the murder plan to a point where Chief Curtis felt comfortable that she had told them all she knew.

According to Mrs. Grayson, many prominent citizens across the country disliked the president’s policies and were building a large fund to remove him from office at the next election. These individuals were content gathering money and waiting, not seeing the imminent threat to the nation Cleveland’s agenda posed.

Owen’s group believed the man was a supreme menace to the country and that change was required sooner than the next election. It was a small group who decided to take the matter of eliminating the president into their own hands.

Owen Kendall had known of the president’s plans to ride the rail across country to gain support for his policies. The trip was to culminate in San Francisco.

He pulled those he identified as the most radical into a circle of seven—Thomas and Virginia Traxton, Georgiana Grayson, William Hardy, Wang Tao, Owen, and Hardy’s brother, Harrison, who was the man Chaz heard with a deep, raspy voice at the small store in Chinatown.

Over months of preparation, working together to sort through each detail, Owen felt comfortable moving forward. He’d tried to locate others to handle the actual assassination, traveling from one city to the next, speaking with those he knew had no qualms about carrying out plans such as his. Unfortunately, no one was willing to kill such a high-profile client as Owen described without three times the money the group had available. Most believed he was targeting a senator or member of the president’s staff. No one, except those in his circle, knew the objective was the president himself.

Something Owen had not foreseen was the involvement of the Treasury Department’s Secret Service group. He believed he’d been too careful in the planning to alert those in the very department where he worked. Owen had been wrong. He got to work covering his tracks as much as possible, taking care of those he believed knew too much or were a threat to his plans. This included a banker in New York who’d overheard a damaging conversation. Georgiana believed the man’s name was Edward Franks.

She confessed that she and Thomas Traxton had begun an affair within months of the Traxtons arrival in San Francisco. Her husband, Walter Grayson, had learned of the affair weeks before he died. Georgiana professed she was innocent in setting up the shipboard accident that killed her husband. It had all been Thomas’s doing.

A week before the president’s visit, Virginia Traxton discovered Thomas and Georgiana’s involvement and threatened to expose the entire group as well as their plans. She’d disappeared the following day. Thomas told Georgiana he’d taken his wife’s threats seriously, hiring men he knew to be trustworthy, and the problem had been handled. She knew no other details.

Wang Tao backed out the day before the president’s arrival, saying he hadn’t fully understood the plan involved murder. Although Tao was adamantly opposed to the law against Chinese immigration, he had no desire to jeopardize his family by an attempt to eliminate Cleveland.

Harrison Hardy had been present at their last gathering the morning of Cleveland’s speech. He was to go into the building across the street with his brother, William, and provide backup to Owen, the same as she and Thomas. Georgiana was surprised to learn he wasn’t present with William when Chaz, Colin, and Quinn broke down the door.

Georgiana had no idea what had happened to either Wang Tao or Harrison Hardy, guessing each was in hiding.

She was surprised when Curtis asked if Jock Flannigan had any involvement in the murder attempt. Georgiana scoffed at the notion, saying the man was too honorable for his own good. She had gripped Curtis’s arm, however, imploring him not to tell Jock of what had transpired, saying she’d lose her ownership rights in the company if it were found she’d participated in anything illegal.

Curtis laughed, telling her it was doubtful Flannigan would hear the news from the police. The Chronicle, San Francisco’s main newspaper, would be more than happy to provide him with details.

******

It was late by the time all the formalities were behind them and the agents and MacLaren cousins were free to leave the police station.

Lee’s wound wasn’t serious, although it hurt like hell. He ordered carriages to take everyone to the hotel for a meal and liquid sustenance, as Chaz termed it.

A message from Noah awaited them at the front desk, congratulating the team on their success, and letting them know he’d expect a full report from each within the week. The agreed upon funds for the assignment would be in their accounts by the end of the month. New assignments would be made once he’d had a chance to review the current requests from Treasury, as well as some of the other departments who now seemed to count on his agents for most of their investigative work.

It was a quiet meal. Everyone was exhausted, glad it had ended well. All were looking forward to moving on to new assignments, or in the case of Colin, Quinn, and Brodie, getting back home. Drew had a few more days remaining to complete his work for Louis Dunnigan before his trip home to Fire Mountain and Tess.

Pierce had been unusually silent, not voicing any opinion about obtaining another case or his desire to continue as an agent. His mind was consumed with thoughts of Mollie. She hadn’t spoken much since they’d finished their meetings at the police station and had barely touched her meal. He had no idea if she still planned to return east to Boston or stay with Noah as an agent.

Colin stood, followed by Quinn and Brodie, and addressed the others.

“Thank you all for a very memorable trip to San Francisco. I can’t remember when we’ve been able to return home with such great stories.”

“Let us know if any of you ever get tired of ranching. I’m sure we can find something for you to keep the stories flowing,” Lee quipped before shaking their hands and watching them walk outside.

Drew and Pierce followed their cousins to a waiting carriage.

“Plan a trip to Fire Mountain as soon as you can. I know the family will want to meet everyone and learn of your experiences since arriving from Scotland.” Drew held out a hand, hoping they’d take him up on the offer to travel south.

Pierce said his goodbyes, telling them to expect him in Settlers Valley at some point. He had an urge to see more of California and what his cousins had built over the years.

Colin, Quinn, and Brodie boarded the carriage and nodded to Drew and Pierce. They’d be leaving for Settlers Valley in the morning.

Pierce turned at the sound of voices behind him. Mollie emerged from the hotel followed by Lee, Eva, and Chaz. He waved for another carriage, waited until Mollie had boarded, then said his goodbyes to the other agents, not sure when, or if, he’d ever see them again.

Their ride was short, perhaps fifteen minutes. Pierce escorted Mollie inside and up the stairs to her room before turning her to face him. He rested his hands on her shoulders, making no move to draw her closer. Pierce noted the sadness in her eyes. The sparkle he’d grown to count on, whether from anger or something else, had disappeared.

His jaw shifted as he struggled with all the things he wanted to say.

“Will you go back to Boston?”

“I’m not certain.” Her quiet response gave him hope. “You?”

“I’m going back to Fire Mountain. It’s home now. That’s where I want to build my life.”

She nodded before letting her head fall forward to rest on his broad chest.

“Come with me, Mollie,” he breathed in her ear. “I’ll make a good life for us.”

He could feel her chest expand and contract on a ragged breath. She lifted her head, eyes locking with his, and took a step back.

“Without love?”

“Do you love me, Mollie?” Pierce asked. He needed to hear her say it even though he wasn’t certain of his own emotions.

“I have feelings for you, Pierce,” she lied. Mollie knew she had more than mere feelings for him, she was in love with him. She needed Pierce to love her in return.

“Just feelings? Nothing more?” His eyes flickered, waiting for her response.

Mollie looked away, no longer able to lie, yet unable to voice what she felt. She couldn’t bear to love a man who didn’t feel the same for her. It wouldn’t be fair to either of them.

He grasped her chin between his thumb and forefinger, drawing her gaze back to him. The desolation he saw tore at his heart. She didn’t love him. The realization triggered an intense pain that squeezed his chest, causing his breath to hitch. He swallowed the lump in his throat as a finger traced a tentative, soft line down her cheek to her jaw.

Her eyes searched his. Mollie wanted with all her heart to say what she felt, but her stubborn pride held her back. She would not make her heart vulnerable, not to a man who had the power to crush it if he were never able to return her love. She reached up and let her warm, soft lips brush across his. Mollie couldn’t give him a lifetime, but she could give him one last night.

Pierce felt the flutter of her lips against his, creating a heat that flowed through him. His response was quick. His arms tightened around her, drawing her softness up against his hard chest. The blood in his veins turned to molten fire, pounding through his temples. He bent, lifted her into his arms, and walked with slow determined steps to his room, kicking the door closed behind them.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Pierce woke to the bright, warm rays of the sun beating onto his face. He pulled the covers up, trying to put off the morning, and then remembered the night before. Mollie. He reached over to find the bed empty and the sheets cold.

“What the hell?” he mumbled and rolled from the bed. He jammed his legs into his pants, stabbed his arms through the sleeves of a shirt, and stormed to her room.

Pierce grabbed the knob and threw the door open, knowing instantly that she was gone. The room was as clean as the first day they’d arrived, as if she’d never been there at all. He slammed the door and dashed down the stairs.

“Penelope!”

She came running from the kitchen, a towel gripped in her hand.

“Where is she?” he demanded, his voice fierce, his disposition worse.

“You mean, Mrs. MacLaren, sir?”

“Yes, who else?”

“She left, sir. About two hours ago. Took her bags and ordered the driver to take her to the train station.”

Two hours. How had he slept through it?

Pierce opened the entry door and looked out, hoping to find…. Well, he wasn’t certain what he thought he’d see. Mollie had made her choice. She was gone and out of his life.

“Shall I get you some breakfast, sir, or coffee?”

He looked at Penelope, reclaiming his calm and letting his eyes sweep the parlor, knowing he’d find it empty. “Coffee is all. Please bring it to my room. I’ll be leaving within the hour.”

His steps felt heavy on the stairs, but not as heavy as the dreadful thumping in his chest. He pushed open his bedroom door, grabbed his satchel, and began to cram clothes inside without thought to anything except the dull ache in his heart.

An hour later, he entered the San Franciscan Hotel and asked for Chaz, Lee, or Eva. Any one of them would do. He waited in the restaurant, the coffee in his cup getting cold from lack of attention. The sound of a cough brought his head up.

All three stood beside his table.

“She’s gone.”

Lee, Eva, and Chaz looked at each other then took their seats, waving for a server to bring coffee.

“Did she say where?” Eva asked as she laid a comforting hand on his. It had been obvious to all of them how much Pierce and Mollie cared about each other, even as they fought their feelings.

“No. She left before I got up. I suspect Boston, that’s where she’s from.”

“You could go after her,” Chaz put in as he waited for his coffee to cool.

“It’s a big city. I’d have no idea where to start.” Pierce shook his head then let it fall back against his chair.

“That’s a joke, right?” Lee asked, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

Pierce stared at him.

“We have access to some of the most incredible resources for finding people and you say you have no idea where to start? Not including the fact she still works for the Treasury Department,” Lee reminded him.

Pierce ran a hand through his dark brown hair. “Guess I’m not thinking too clearly.” His half-smile was the first sign of the Pierce each of them had worked with for the past couple of months.

“You want a suggestion?” Eva asked.

“Anything…” His voice trailed off.

“Give her some time. Go home to Arizona. Decide what you want, where your life stands, and if she is truly the woman who will make you happy. If she is, we’ll be available to find her. There’s no possibility she’d be able to hide from all of us.” Eva smiled at him while her heart ached for the young couple who was so obviously in love and unable to admit it.

She reached for Lee’s hand under the table and squeezed it lightly. After everyone had left the night before, he’d escorted her upstairs, to his room, and hadn’t left until they’d gotten the message from Pierce. They’d leave for New York in a few hours, together. Neither had made any promises, knowing they had a long journey ahead of them to reestablish the trust they’d lost years ago. Both were hopeful they’d be able to put the past behind them and build a future.