A Texas Promise

by Laura Conner Kestner

  Nathaniel nodded, and then stepped back and blended in to the lengthening shadows.

  With a sense of dread that was growing by the minute, Eli bounded up the wide oak staircase and searched every room—each larger and more lavishly decorated than the last.

  He stepped in to the biggest room so far and knew immediately it was Maggie’s. Perfume bottles, jewelry and a leather photo album on the vanity top, a huge oval mirror on a stand, little fans and hat boxes. Plush rugs, overstuffed pillows on the huge four-poster bed, a chaise lounge, and several elaborately carved wardrobes—filled to capacity with fancy dresses and shoes. Up on one of the wardrobes there was a china doll with a fancy dress that probably cost more than his clothes. No doubt Maggie would be handing that down to Lucinda someday—along with most of these other things. She must have missed all this.

  Eli shook that thought off, and searched the room, even checking for hidden panels that might lead elsewhere. The adjoining water closet was even more elaborate than the bedroom, featuring all the most modern amenities, including an enormous copper tub with hot and cold running water. Eli shook his head in amazement.

  By the time he’d finished searching the whole house, he had a more complete picture of Maggie’s life, but still no idea where she was.

  Downstairs, he tried again to convince Mr. Radford to tell him where Hollis Anderson might be. “If I’m wrong,” Eli said, “all I’ll face is a little embarrassment and the possible wrath of Hol—.”

  Nelson interrupted. “I will admit I made a mistake about him loving her, but I cannot believe that he would harm my daughter.”

  “For the sake of argument, let’s just say you’re right. If I wanted to talk to Hollis, to clear the air, where else might he be? An office? A friend’s house?”

  Grudgingly, the man answered. “Hollis has a business on Oak Street, not far from the depot. Anderson Investments. But I’m telling you, I saw the man a little while ago. There’s no way he has Maggie, and I can’t understand why you think he does.”

  Out of sheer frustration and aggravation, Eli told Nelson Radford about the note, and then about the asylum and the guard. Nelson’s face went ashen as he sagged forward.

  Rushing to the back door, Eli signaled again for Nathaniel. “I think I know where Hollis has taken Maggie, but her father’s in a bad way. Can you check on him?”

  “Sure.”

  “And after you see to him, will you make sure that everyone else gets home?”

  Nathaniel’s brows rose. “Don’t you want us to go with you?”

  “No, I’m getting more and more uneasy as this drags on. Just get everybody home safe. I’ll handle it.”

  The front door of Anderson Investments was locked, but through the window he could see light spilling from a room somewhere towards the back. Instead of knocking, or calling out to Hollis, Eli glanced around, making sure he was alone on the street. He then kicked in the door, stepped inside and hurried down the hall toward the light.

  He halted when he caught sight of Hollis Anderson.

  In contrast to his usual perfect posture and pristine attire, the man was slumped over his desk, clothing disheveled, and a nearly-empty whiskey bottle in his hands.

  Hollis glanced up at Eli, then leaned back and let his head drop against the padded leather desk chair. That move was followed by a groan. The bottle had probably been full when Hollis started drinking. The man’s usual smugness was gone, and in its place was a resigned look.

  “If it isn’t the conquering hero,” Hollis murmured. “You’ve already won the damsel in distress, Sheriff. Did you come to finish off the villain?”

  Eli glanced around the room. No sign of Maggie. Not that he’d expected this reprobate to have her sitting here beside him.

  “Where is she?” Eli growled.

  Hollis ignored that question, and continued whining. “If you’ve come to finish me off, I’ll save you the trouble, Sheriff Calhoun. I’m done. And if you had any sense, you’ll give up on her, too. She’s not the wealthy woman you think she is.”

  Holstering his gun, Eli studied him. “You figured out a way to get all her money, even without marrying her? Somehow, I’m not surprised.”

  “No, I didn’t get a cent.”

  “Then what are you talking about?”

  “How can I put this so that someone of your ilk would understand?” Hollis snapped his fingers. “I know. You might say I’ve counted my chickens before they hatched.”

  Eli frowned at him. “Maggie told you all along that she wouldn’t marry you.”

  “That’s not the counting I’m talking about.” Hollis Anderson’s laugh had a hollow sound to it. “I won’t bore you with the details, let’s just say that Nelson Radford wasn’t as naïve as I thought. But he was careless, for years, which resulted in his financial ruin.”

  Understanding dawned. “Are you saying that Maggie is…”

  “That’s right, Sheriff Calhoun. She’s broke. Busted. Destitute. And so is her father. Don’t you see? There wasn’t any money. Nelson Radford lost everything. By trying to arrange my marriage to Maggie, he and I were both after the same thing.”

  So she had been a pawn of two desperate men. “Does Maggie know?”

  Another bitter laugh escaped his lips. “No. Her father hasn’t told her. I found out today, by accident. I confronted Nelson, and he admitted that he wanted money he thought I had so he could regain his financial footing and see to Maggie’s future, while I was counting on getting my hands on his finances to begin building an empire and my social status. Fortunately, I know a couple of other rich women. Not as easy on the eye, but far easier to tame than the fiery-tempered Miss Radford.”

  Eli’s head was reeling, but he couldn’t worry about the implications now. “I don’t care about all that. Where’s Maggie?”

  Hollis shrugged. “I have no idea. And I no longer care.”

  Drawing his Colt, Eli stepped around the desk, cocked it, and aimed it at Hollis Anderson’s head. Anderson’s eyes widened and his face paled.

  “I’m going to ask you one more time,” Eli said, “where’s Maggie?”

  Hollis dropped the bottle and straightened in the chair. He seemed far more sober than he had a moment ago. “I…I’m serious. I really don’t know. Why do you think I would?”

  Fishing in his pocket with his free hand, Eli withdrew the note and tossed it on the desk. “Didn’t you leave this for me?”

  With shaking fingers Hollis Anderson unfolded the paper, read it and then glanced up at Eli. “I’ve never seen this before. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I had nothing to do with it.”

  Eli leaned in closer. “I promise you, if you’re lying to me, or if you hurt Maggie in any way, I will hunt you down again. Even if it takes the rest of my life.”

  Confusion flickered across Hollis’s face. “I wouldn’t hurt Maggie.”

  “Right,” Eli sneered. “You’d pay someone else to do it.”

  Hollis stared at him, brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

  “The bruises. The cracked ribs. Abuse that the asylum guard administered on your behalf.”

  Hollis’s mouth dropped open. “Are you saying that guard beat Maggie?”

  “Like you didn’t know.”

  The man shook his head and then groaned again. Running a hand across his forehead, he looked up. “I had no idea. I admit that I tried to force Maggie to go along with my plan, and may have lost my temper a time or two, but I would never condone physical violence.”

  Eli studied Hollis and the horror on his face. He was telling the truth. Now what? Where could Maggie be? And who had her? It wasn’t Hollis Anderson, and Tiny was in jail.

  Eli grabbed the note and read it again. This time, something clicked. “The asylum.”

  “The asylum? Who would do that?”

  Eli headed for the door. “I don’t have time to explain, but it’s someone even more despicable than you.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  Ma
ggie strained against the ropes binding her wrists, heart pounding as pin pricks of fear jabbed at her.

  A dapper silver-haired man leaned against the doorway, smiling as if they were facing each other across a dining table.

  Who was he? How had she gotten back to the asylum? Maggie remembered being struck in the face, but recalled nothing after that, including how she came to be tied up in a chair in this room littered with debris. She’d only been here once. This was Dr. Mitchell’s office. What was left of it anyway.

  Her head throbbed as she tried to think. Had she been drugged? How long had she been gone? Did anyone know she was missing?

  The man straightened. “Still trying to work it all out?”

  “Who are you?” she asked. “How much did Hollis Anderson pay you for this?”

  The man’s smile widened. “I’m not acquainted with Mr. Anderson, although I know who he is. I’ve gone to a great deal of effort to learn everything I can about Elijah Calhoun, and those around him.”

  Maggie tried to grasp what the man was telling her. “You know Eli?”

  “Yes, you might say that he and I are old friends. Met him when he was still a kid. He was a pain then, and he hasn’t changed at all.”

  This was J.L. Slidell! “Jasper,” she whispered.

  “I see Eli told you about me. How flattering.”

  “Eli won’t fall for this,” Maggie ground out as she resumed her struggle to free her hands. “He’s too smart for you to trap him.”

  The man stepped further into the room. “I believe you misunderstood me, my dear. There’s nothing to fall for. I’m not trying to lure him into a trap. I’ll be gone by the time he arrives to try and rescue you. And I don’t doubt that he will survive the fire, that kid has nine lives.”

  Maggie stilled, but her heart thudded faster than ever. “Fire?”

  “Yes, this place will be fully ablaze when he gets here.”

  Terror swept over her. “Why are you doing this?”

  “It’s simple. He can’t possibly rescue both of you in time.”

  Maggie’s heart lurched. “Both of us?”

  Jasper nodded. “His mother’s a guest here, too. I’ve got her safely tucked away in a room on the other side of the building. Sign on the door said solarium.” He looked around. “This was a fancy set-up at one time. Too bad it will be reduced to rubble in a matter of hours.”

  Maggie closed her eyes, blocking out the sight of Jasper’s smug grin, but she couldn’t block the feeling of helplessness and horror that swept over her. After everything that Cordelia Calhoun had been through. To be rescued and reunited with her sons, and then snatched away again. Then another terrifying thought hit her. Cordelia had been alone with Lucinda.

  “Where’s the baby?”

  He looked confused. “What baby?”

  Nausea hit Maggie in waves as she pulled against the ropes. She could move her fingers enough to determine that the bindings were thicker than twine, but not as large as regular rope. “If you’ve harmed her, I promise you—”

  “Oh, calm yourself,” he said. “I let Mama Calhoun drop the brat off with the squaw next door. I had planned on taking you and Mrs. Calhoun at the same time. But then you ran, and by the time I doubled back for Eli’s mother, he was there. Stomping and storming around the back yard. I have to admit, that was fun to watch.”

  She stared at him in disbelief. Reasoning with him wasn’t going to work. Could she keep him talking long enough to delay what he had in mind? Give someone time to rescue them. Someone had to know they were missing by now.

  Jasper straightened and sauntered into the room, stepping past the overturned furniture, through the broken bottles, abandoned medical devices and papers strewn about. He kicked at the debris, sending a bottle spinning into Maggie’s foot.

  He squatted down beside her chair.

  “Losing his fiancé will be a blow Eli won’t soon recover from, at least that’s what I’m hoping for. I even shot at you once.”

  Maggie shuddered when he smiled and shrugged. “Unfortunately, I’ve never been as good with a gun as that meddlesome kid grew up to be. So I tried to think of other ways to hurt him. While I was nosing around, I discovered that those boys found their mother again after all these years. Now, that tickled me to death.”

  Jasper’s voice dropped. “You see, Eli will have to choose. And no matter what choice he makes it will haunt him for the rest of his life. Because one of the women he loves will be dead. And maybe, if I’m lucky, he’ll die trying to rescue you both.”

  No! “He doesn’t really love me,” Maggie blurted. “It was all a show to keep me safe.”

  “Not buying it.”

  Maggie stifled a sob. “You won’t get away with this.”

  He chuckled. “But I will. There’s nothing to connect me to any of it. I’ve had helpers doing most of the leg work. And I have several witnesses who will swear I never left town today.”

  “Please, if you have any decency, let us go. You’re holding a grudge about something that happened years ago. He was only a kid. Stop before it’s too late.”

  “Sorry, I can’t oblige you on that.” He touched her hair. “I have to admit, it is a shame to destroy such beauty, but sometimes that’s the way it works.”

  Maggie jerked her head back. How could someone who looked so angelic be so evil?

  “When Elijah Calhoun comes rushing to the rescue I want him to struggle over what to do,” he said. “I want it to tear him apart.”

  Jasper pushed to his feet again. “I’ll be setting fire to the sides of the building, but not the front. The door will be unlocked, and open. Waiting for him to rush in like the hero he envisions himself to be. By that time, flames should literally be licking at your feet. And when he hears you screaming, and then hears his mother screaming, he won’t know which way to go.”

  Please, God. Help us. “What makes you think he’ll even show up?”

  “Oh, he’ll show. That’s one thing you can count on; Eli always does the right thing. I left him a message with enough information to get him out here. To make things even more interesting, and to make sure he can’t come thundering in with a whole posse, I arranged for there not to be a single horse around and for that lawman brother of his to be gone.”

  “You’ve been planning this for awhile.”

  He seemed proud of himself. “Yes. When I found out that he planned on taking in that kid, I pushed the boy into the creek. I should’ve stuck around long enough to finish him off.”

  Maggie gasped. “Did you have anything to do with Ruthie wandering away?”

  “No, that was a happy coincidence. Again, it was fun to watch. Easy to blend in with the crowd of folks out by the river and watch all the hysteria. And Eli Calhoun trying to help.”

  He pulled out his pocket watch and frowned. “I thought he’d be here by now. Oh, well. If he doesn’t get here in time, I’ll go to the funerals. His grief should provide plenty of entertainment.”

  Cold chills raced across Maggie’s skin. This is what a true lunatic looked like.

  J.L. Slidell, well-known businessman and politician, was crazier than any of the women in the asylum.

  Laughing, he waved at her and left the room. Maggie listened to the sounds of his footsteps receding. Fighting for calm, she also struggled to breathe, drawing in deep gulps of air, remembering the last fire here. The smoke could render her unconscious before the fire ever reached her. She had to do something. She renewed her efforts to break free of the ropes.

  Maggie wasn’t sure how much time had passed before she smelled the smoke. Her wrists were raw, and the ropes were damp now. Blood.

  Footsteps sounded, someone racing up the stairs. Was he coming back?”

  “Maggie! Where are you? Holler if you can hear me so I’ll know which way to go.”

  Eli had found her!

  She opened her mouth, but before she could reply, she heard him say, “Mama?” in a disbelieving tone. Maggie couldn’t hear Mrs. Calhoun, but
apparently Eli could. She’d been hoping that it was all a bluff on Jasper’s part.

  Maggie remembered the agony in Eli’s voice when he’d told of finding their cabin in flames as a boy, of trying in vain to reach his mother. She couldn’t let that happen again. Couldn’t let him make a decision he’d regret. No matter what.

  He was shouting to both of them. Rescue was just a breath away. For one of them.

  “Maggie! Can you hear me?”

  “Eli, Jasper tied your mother up in the solarium,” she shouted. “It’s on the east side of the building. Go get her. I’ve worked myself free. I’ll be out of here in a matter of moments.”

  Please Lord, let him hear me…let him believe me.

  Her prayers were answered. “Get out now, Maggie,” he shouted. “Run. I’ll get Mama and meet you outside.”

  She sent up another prayer, asking for peace with whatever happened. When she opened her eyes, smoke was billowing in under the door. A moan escaped her. Hanging her head, a broken bottle near her foot caught her eye. One last hope, and no time for second thoughts.

  Tipping her chair over, she landed with a thud in the debris. Scooting around until her fingers grasped the glass, she maneuvered it into position.

  She sawed at the ropes, desperately, her fingers nearly numb and slippery with blood. Her hope soared when the rope gave way. Shaking the bindings loose, she fumbled with the rope at her ankles. Clearly, Jasper had not expected her to free her hands. The ones at her feet were loosely tied.

  Maggie stumbled when she stood, and fell when she took the first step. Crawling toward the door, she was aware of the glass and debris cutting into her hands and knees, but she didn’t truly feel it.

  She opened the door. Flames had engulfed the hall. The sound was deafening. She slammed the door shut, coughing and straining to breathe.

  The window. Sobs tore from her throat as flames appeared on the wall near the door. Maggie grabbed the chair she’d been tied to, and broke the glass. There were still tiny jagged shards protruding from the glazing. She snatched up several newspapers and old rags from the debris and pressed them over the frame. Then she climbed up, and perched there.