Summer of the Midnight Sun

by Tracie Peterson

  “It would probably be good to explain that to her before she tags along.”

  “I will.”

  They climbed the steps to their room, and Adrik suppressed a yawn. “I don’t know why I’m following you. I need to be gettin’ back to my camp. I’ll come see you in morning, and we’ll discuss your plans.” He started to turn and head back down the stairs.

  “That’s strange,” Jacob said. “The door to my room is open.” He looked inside. The hall light revealed that Jayce was gone.

  “Maybe Jayce went out for something to eat and didn’t think to close the door,” Adrik offered.

  Leah felt her heart skip a beat. She glanced to the door of her own room. “Let me check my room.”

  She handed Adrik the plate and went to her door—it was locked. She used her key, and when she stepped into the room, a terrible feeling washed over her. There was no sign of Helaina, and her bag was missing.

  “Anything?” Jacob asked as he came to the door.

  “Helaina’s gone—her bag’s gone too. She left this,” Leah said, holding up Helaina’s sealskin pants and kuspuk.

  “Well, maybe they went to supper together.” Adrik balanced the plate in his left hand and pulled out his watch with his right. “It’s getting late. Why don’t we wait and see if they show up.”

  “She’s done something,” Jacob declared. “I know she has. She’s planned all along to get to Jayce, but for what reasons I can only guess.”

  Leah’s stomach churned in a most unpleasant way. “What are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that Helaina has had an agenda ever since meeting up with us in Nome. I don’t know what it’s all about or why she’s after Jayce, but there’s something she wants bad enough to risk everybody’s anger and a whole lot of danger.”

  “But what could that be?” Leah asked. “Do you suppose she’s in love with him?”

  “No. That honestly never crossed my mind,” Jacob said. Leah’s face must have shown the relief she felt, because he quickly added, “And it wouldn’t matter if she were in love. I know Jayce loves you. There’s no doubting that.”

  “Well, we may just be wrong on all accounts,” Adrik reminded them. “I say let’s wait and see what happens.”

  “But it’s nearly nine o’clock,” Leah said. “If we wait much longer we won’t be able to ask anyone about them.”

  “Who do you propose we ask?” Jacob said, shaking his head.

  Leah had no idea. She heard the sorrowful blast of a ship’s whistle, and she couldn’t help but think of Orion’s Belt and the accident that took the lives of so many people. She had thought she and Jayce had survived for a reason—a reason that clearly involved a future together. Now she wasn’t so sure. What if Jayce had deserted her? What if all of his words of love and devotion were just given because of the situation they were in? She bit her lip to keep from crying.

  “I need to clean up,” she told her brother. “Why don’t you two wait in Jacob’s room? I’ll come over when I’m done.”

  “Bath is at the end of the hall,” Jacob told her.

  His words barely registered. The exhaustion of her ordeal began to overpower her. All Leah wanted was to run and hide and have a good cry.

  As soon as Jacob and Adrik pulled the door closed, she let the tears come. A deep sob broke from her throat. “I can’t understand any of this, Lord. I suppose it’s silly to be worried already, but something’s wrong. I just know it. I felt it even when Helaina showed up earlier. I could see in her eyes that she was watching Jayce with new purpose. I should have warned him. I shouldn’t have left him alone.”

  She went to find her things, tears blinding her eyes. There had to be an answer—a reason for the things that were happening. Leah reached for her bundle of clothes Adrik had given her.

  On the floor she saw a piece of paper. It seemed unimportant, but at the same time it beckoned her attention. She bent over to pick it up and noticed there were two other pieces in the trash can. They were telegrams. Taking all three in hand, Leah read the words addressed to Mrs. Helaina Beecham.

  Leah read the words aloud. “‘JK is a killer. STOP. Do not worry about his innocence or guilt. STOP. We have all the proof we need. STOP. Get him to Seattle. . . .”’ She looked at the other cables and felt a wave of dizziness overcome her. What in the world was this all about? Who was JK?

  Jayce Kincaid.

  She hurried to Jacob’s room and pounded on the door until he opened it. “Look!” She thrust the telegrams into her brother’s hands.

  “What is it?”

  “These are telegrams addressed to Helaina. Jacob, she’s taken Jayce away. She thinks he’s a killer. Apparently someone else does too.”

  Jacob read the cables and handed them over to Adrik one by one. “I knew she had something going on. At least it explains her continued desire to get Jayce to Seattle.”

  “But what’s this about him being a killer and not worrying about his guilt or innocence?” Adrik asked.

  Jacob met Leah’s eyes. “I don’t know. I do know that Jayce Kincaid is no killer. I’d be willing to stake my life on that.”

  Adrik handed the paper back to Jacob. “It says the local law authorities are supposed to be helping her. My guess is that she has Jayce down at the jail. Why don’t we get on down there and see for ourselves what this ruckus is all about.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Leah said, already heading out the door.

  A million thoughts rushed through her head. Who was Jayce supposed to have killed, and why was Helaina involved in his capture? Had she really come to Alaska with the purpose of finding Jayce in order to take him back to Seattle?

  “Hold up, Leah. You don’t even know where you’re going,” Jacob called to her.

  She stopped just outside the hotel, the fog much thicker now. At least Adrik would know where they were going. “It doesn’t make sense,” she said as the men joined her. “None of it. Why would the authorities send a woman to capture a man they believed was a killer?”

  “That’s a good question,” Adrik replied, leading the way to the jail. “One that we’ll hopefully get to ask her in just a minute.”

  Leah felt a surge of energy as anger encased her mind. She would tell Helaina Beecham what an awful person she was to force an innocent man to jail—a man who had just been rescued from a horrible ordeal. The thought of that woman lying in wait at my home, just to capture Jayce, makes me want to throttle her.

  Adrik went into the jail first, with Jacob and Leah right behind him. Jacob put his arm out to keep Leah from rushing ahead. “Let Adrik handle it,” he whispered.

  “What can I do for you?” a large man asked. He leaned back in his chair and watched the three of them with a wary expression.

  “I’m Adrik Ivankov. I’m wondering if you can tell me if Jayce Kincaid is here.”

  The man got to his feet. He was nearly as big as Adrik and didn’t seem at all intimidated, as many people were when encountering the big man. “What do you want with him?”

  “He’s our friend!” Leah declared. “We just got back after nearly losing our lives on the Orion’s Belt.” Jacob held her tight. It was the only thing that kept Leah from charging the man.

  “Well, your friend is in a world of trouble, missy. He’s been arrested for murder.”

  Leah lunged forward, but Jacob held her securely. “He didn’t do anything of the kind. Jayce Kincaid is no killer.”

  “The authorities in Washington, D.C., say otherwise. They’ve charged him with the death of their people. We received a cable earlier in the day asking us to assist the Pinkertons in his arrest.”

  “Pinkertons? Here?” Adrik questioned. “Who?”

  “Mrs. Beecham,” the man replied. “Not that I approve of women in such lines of duty, but it came all official. We helped her apprehend Kincaid earlier tonight.”

  “I want to see him,” Leah said.

  The man shook his head. “He’s not here. He’s on his way to Seattle.”


  “How? When?” She was terrified.

  The man looked at them and crossed his arms. “Mrs. Beecham took him out of here on the Victoria. It just left the sound a few minutes ago. They’re bound for Seattle with the last of the summer tourists.”

  Leah turned to Jacob and Adrik. “We have to do something!”

  “I don’t know what we can do,” Jacob replied. “There isn’t another ship available—at least not another steamer.”

  “Please, Adrik, we have to figure a way. Couldn’t we get a message to the ship?”

  “You people don’t seem to understand. The Pinkertons were hired to take this man back for trial. You aren’t going to stop that, and you sure aren’t going to interfere with the Victoria’s schedule. I’ll arrest you myself on charges of obstructing justice.”

  “Justice,” Jacob muttered. “That’s what this is all about.”

  “What?” Leah turned to him. “What are you saying?”

  “Helaina has this idea of what justice is. She believes that criminals should be meted out their full due without thought or consideration of the circumstance. She’s without any compassion. She believes the law is the law, and there’s no room for further consideration.”

  “She seems a good, law-abiding citizen.”

  Jacob turned to the officer. “She’s angry and vengeful, and I intend to see her stopped.”

  ————

  Hours later the trio sat rather dumbfounded in Jacob’s room. They had worn themselves out trying to figure what their next step should be.

  “I think we can send a cable to Seattle,” Adrik said. “We can contact the authorities there and suggest Helaina has the wrong man.”

  Jacob shook his head; his shoulders slumped in defeat as much as exhaustion. “But they’ll want some sort of proof, and we don’t have anything to offer.”

  “I think the man Helaina really wants is Jayce’s twin brother, Chase,” Leah said without warning.

  Jacob looked at her. She was serious. “What are you talking about? Jayce has a twin?”

  “Yes!” She suddenly seemed to regain her strength. “He told us about him while we were trying to get to Sitka. Me and Mrs. Wilkerson. He told us that he had a brother named Chase—that he was born just a few minutes after Jayce and that they are identical in appearance. Jayce said that his brother was always getting into trouble. That has to be the answer!”

  “It could very well explain an awful lot,” Adrik said, nodding. “But would that offer enough proof to the police?”

  “I don’t know, but I believe we have to try. Jayce said that Chase has been causing him trouble for years. The man even blames Jayce for the death of their mother, although she died because she was heartbroken over the misdeeds of Chase and the loss of her home and husband.”

  Jacob listened to every word, but he still found Leah’s story difficult to believe. And if I don’t believe it—how can I expect the authorities to accept it as truth? He blew out a heavy breath. “Look, I don’t see how this is going to matter to the police. We can tell them whatever we want, but we can’t prove any of it. I can’t prove Jayce has an identical twin brother. I can’t prove he has any family at all.”

  “We have to try,” Leah said, tears forming in her eyes. “They mean to see him dead. They’ll hang him for murdering those two agents. We have to find a way to help him, Jacob. We need to go to Seattle.”

  Chapter Twenty-six

  J ayce couldn’t figure out what Helaina had planned next. She seemed quite nervous about the entire matter of docking in Seattle. Two burly sailors appeared at their cabin when the passengers were notified they could begin debarking. Jayce looked at the men, wondering if they were going to be the ones to escort him straight to jail.

  “Look, my plans have changed,” Helaina told Jayce. “There are a half-dozen Pinkertons waiting to take you from me when we set foot in Seattle. However, I would rather they not do that just yet.”

  Jayce sized up the men and then looked to Helaina again. “Why are you telling me this?”

  Helaina pinned her hat securely and looked at the two sailors. “I will leave with the other passengers, and then I’d like for you to bring him along when the crew leaves the ship. I’ll secure a carriage and meet you at the end of the docks. You said it would be about an hour—is that correct?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” the older of the two answered. “We’ll have him to you in an hour or less.”

  “Very well. I’ll go along now with the rest of the passengers.” She turned to Jayce and met his curious expression. “If you want a chance to prove your innocence, then cooperate with me in this. These men have been paid well to see you do not slip away from my charge.” With that she left, not even giving Jayce a chance to answer.

  He looked at the two men. “So she paid you well, eh?”

  “Very well.” It was the same man who’d answered earlier. “She said you might try to promise us the moon, but that you didn’t have a cent to your name.”

  “Well, she’s right—at least I don’t have a cent on me. I actually do have money in the bank. If you’re open to negotiations. . . ?”

  The men glanced at each other, then returned their gaze back to Jayce. “Sorry. We gave the lady our word. Besides, she has the law on her side. We don’t plan to get on the wrong side of the law. She told us that if you escaped she’d put us in jail.”

  Jayce nodded. “No doubt she would. Well, fear not. I intend to go along with this plan of hers for the time being.” And he spoke the truth. Just the fact that she was willing to consider him as innocent seemed worth the gamble.

  An hour later the men delivered Jayce to Helaina. Her nervousness was palpable; she kept scanning the docks and motioning for the men to hurry. Finally Jayce was seated opposite her in the cab.

  “What are you doing?” Jayce demanded as Helaina leaned over to unlock his leg irons. “I thought I was under arrest.”

  “You are,” Helaina replied. “I just have some final paper work to get, and that may take a bit of time. Until then, we aren’t leav ing.” She tossed the irons into her bag, then leaned back against the seat.

  “So you’re going to leave me in handcuffs indefinitely? These aren’t exactly comfortable, you know. And I could use a bath and a shave.”

  Helaina stared out the window. It was obvious that she had a lot on her mind. And why not? Jayce had hounded her all the way from Sitka to Seattle. He told her about his brother, and while she had seemed notably surprised at this turn of events, she had refused to comment on the possibilities.

  “I have a right to a lawyer,” he now told her. “I want one now.”

  “No,” she replied in a curt manner.

  “You have no right to hold me against my will this way.”

  Helaina finally looked at him. “I have a warrant for your arrest. I can do as I please. I have legal authority by way of my association with the Pinkertons.”

  “Look, you have to believe me, Mrs. Beecham. I’m not guilty of these crimes. I have people in Vancouver who will testify to my being there during the times you’ve suggested I was elsewhere committing crimes. I’ve already told you that my brother Chase has been in constant trouble since the day he was born. He’s been in and out of jails. Get in touch with the New York City police. They can tell you all about my brother.”

  Jayce looked at her for a reply. She seemed lost in her thoughts. Perhaps at last she was finally beginning to consider his innocence. “I’d like to help you catch my brother. The truth is, I saw him in Last Chance in June, just before the dog attack sent me to Nome.”

  She frowned. “The captain of the Homestead said you were with them in the Arctic prior to the time they had to leave because of sickness and other problems.”

  “But you know that I wasn’t there,” Jayce replied. “I was with Leah in Ketchikan, where I also have witnesses. I also took a trip to Juneau and have witnesses there as well.”

  “There’s just no way to prove that you aren’t the one re
sponsible for killing those agents,” Helaina said, shaking her head.

  “If I can prove by the dates to have been somewhere else, then you would have to concede my innocence.”

  The cab stopped in front of the elegant Sorrento Hotel. Jayce could see it was a large, respectable place tailored in an Italian style. “How are you going to account for dragging me through the lobby in these?” He held up his manacled hands.

  “We will drape my cloak over your arms,” Helaina replied.

  “And if I refuse to cooperate?”

  She looked at him for a moment. “You don’t have to cooperate. I can call the authorities and have you escorted to Washington, D.C., tonight. My brother will take his information against you and see you hanged. Or you can do what I tell you to do, and I’ll continue checking out your story. It’s that simple.”

  “But if I leave for Washington tonight, the authorities will also have to check out my story.”

  “Not necessarily, Mr. Kincaid. You see, I’m the only one who has found evidence of discrepancies that might show you to be innocent. Stanley might not be as likely to look into them.”

  “So you believe me?” Jayce felt a wave of hope.

  Helaina shook her head. “I don’t know what to believe. I do know that it isn’t a simple matter any longer. I once thought it was very clear—thought I understood what I needed to do. But now it’s different.”

  “I appreciate whatever mercy you might extend.”

  She frowned. “This isn’t about mercy. It’s about justice.”

  “How do you figure that?”

  “Justice is seeing the right man punished for the crimes he’s committed. That’s all this is—nothing more.”

  The Sorrento stood as a remarkable tribute to the architect’s desire to blend the warmth and luxury of Italy with the growing desire for elegance in Seattle. Jayce noted the dark mahogany walls. It almost seemed as though they had stepped into a men’s club. Even the leather wing-backed chairs lent credence to this thought. Helaina seemed unimpressed. At least she made no comment.

  They checked into the hotel as Mr. and Mrs. Beecham. Helaina explained to Jayce in a hushed voice that she wanted no trouble from the appearance of her, a widowed woman, sharing a room with a single man. Jayce heard her request a suite with a separate bedroom. She also demanded the bedroom have no windows. The clerk seemed rather confused by her stipulation, but he found exactly what she needed and concluded by asking her to have her husband sign the register.