Mike wouldn’t be stopping her tonight. There’d been no light shining from the jail. No one seemed to be about. No one except Mike knew she could open almost any locked door. He hadn’t taken her tools the first time when he’d caught her, a fact that surprised her. He’d kissed her though. Twice. She closed her eyes for a moment remembering those kisses and the one today. Especially the one today. Her hand stilled on the door handle. Maybe he hadn’t been thinking about the tools after those kisses. What was he thinking about tonight?
She shook her head and tried to concentrate on the job she had to do. The lock released and KodyAnne pushed the back door of the bank open with a horrible squeal of the hinges.
Oh, Lord, help me!
She spun toward the general store next door. If Mary Sue was awake, she’d hear for sure even if the rest of the town didn’t. Half expecting the sheriff to come barging around the corner, KodyAnne slipped through the crack she’d opened and hoped the door didn’t creak as loud when she closed it.
Chapter 15
KodyAnne stood inside the pitch black bank and closed her eyes. Was she doing the right thing? Of course, it was wrong in the law’s eyes to enter a locked building without permission. But didn’t a person’s intention in doing so determine what was right and wrong in God’s sight? The Lord looks on the heart while men look on outward appearance. Papa entrusted the key to her. He wanted her to get what belonged to them.
Lord, I’m here to take back what rightfully belongs to me and my family. You know I’m not stealing anything. I wouldn’t do that. This is for Papa and Uncle Mark. It’s for Tyler and Charlotte and me, too. Uncle Mark wanted us to have whatever’s in this box that’s here. I don’t suppose it’ll be worth all the fuss it’s caused, but You know what I need to do. I’m asking for Your help in getting it back. And if I’m doing anything wrong, please forgive me. Thank You, Lord. Amen.
When she opened her eyes, she saw the square of the window in front and a smaller one on what appeared to be the front door. A glance at her surroundings told her she stood behind the counter where the teller worked. A giggle escaped. An outlaw might find a drawer full of money back here, or did they lock it up at night? She didn’t know, and she wasn’t going to look. She released her pent-up breath and moved through the waist-high swinging door into the lobby.
For a moment she stood outside the teller’s cage and listened to the silence offset by the drumbeat of her heart. She was in the bank. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Where would a banker keep his keys? Papa said his key had to be used with the banker’s master key to unlock the safety deposit box. If she were a banker, she’d keep something that important where no one else could get it without permission.
She closed her eyes again and brought to mind the morning she’d been here with Papa and Tyler. The large man who wouldn’t let Papa have his box had come from a door to her left. She’d been facing the back then. She pivoted and swung out her left arm then stuck her hand in her pocket and felt the candle and matches. No, she’d save them until she really needed them. She had just enough light now to keep from breaking something—maybe.
She walked with a shuffling gait, her hand out, until she bumped into something hard with her leg. “Ow.”
Her fingers felt a flat surface. A desk. She moved around it until she came to the wall then let her fingers trail along it until she found a door. That was it. The Banker’s office, and it was locked. KodyAnne smiled. It wouldn’t be locked long.
She fished her picks from her handbag and soon had the door open. It moved on well-oiled hinges. So he can sneak up on unsuspecting patrons, no doubt. She shook her head. No, she shouldn’t hold a grudge against the men who took part in her papa’s death. Jesus taught his disciples to forgive. She would, too. The sheriff and the banker. Lord, I forgive Sheriff Barnett and Mr. Grimes for their part in Papa’s death. Help me act like it now. She went around his desk and opened the top drawer with her pick. This room was as dark as the lobby. She struck a match against her fingernail as she’d seen Papa do then lit the candle.
With the meager, flickering glow casting shadows to dance across the walls, she found a ring of keys and snuffed out the light before someone saw it through the small window. The walls of the room seemed to close in on her in the darkness. She needed to get the box and get out of this place. If one of these keys worked, she shouldn’t have any problems. She left the office door open and again felt her way across the large lobby.
The first time she was here, she’d seen an opening that looked like sliding doors made of metal bars, like a walk-in cage. That had to be the vault that contained the safety-deposit boxes. Probably a safe, too, but she wasn’t interested in it.
She couldn’t see the cage in the dark, but surely she was headed the right way. A thump of something heavy hit the front door. KodyAnne jerked and swung toward it. The keys flew from her hand. She dropped to the floor. What was that? The sheriff? Scrabbling and scratching at the door filled her with terror. Maybe it was an animal. It couldn’t be the sheriff. Unless he was trying to scare her silly. She crawled toward the door. It was surely locked. Whatever it was couldn’t get in, but she could look out the window.
Maybe it’s the sheriff unlocking the door, and he’ll catch me in the bank. Then what?
She shook her head even as she hesitated. No, it wasn’t the sheriff. She continued toward the door and pulled herself up until she could barely see out the bottom edge of the window. Nothing. Total silence and nothing moving. Looked like the clouds were moving away, letting the moonlight brighten the streets again. She needed to hurry and pray for more clouds so she could get back to the boardinghouse without being seen. She started to turn away when another thump alerted her that she wasn’t alone. The door vibrated under her hands. A dark shape rose from the door outside. She swallowed her heart. A man. He pushed against the door and mumbled something, although she could barely hear his voice. One thing she knew, it wasn’t the sheriff.
The man shoved away and staggered. “Oh, my darlin’, oh, my darlin’, oh, my darlin’ Clementine.” His singing voice drifted as he stumbled down the boardwalk and practically fell into the street. Somehow he landed on his feet and kept going. KodyAnne turned away, disgusted by the drunk, but with her pulse still pounding in her throat.
“Yeowl!”
“E-e-e-e!” KodyAnna clamped her hands over her mouth to stop the scream and jumped away from whatever she’d stepped on. A cat streaked across the floor. She dropped back to the floor and gasped for breath. “Oh, kitty, I’m sorry. I didn’t see you.
All she saw of the cat was two bright slits reflecting a tiny ray of moonlight slanting through the window.
Where were those keys? She sighed and dug her candle back out of her pocket. There was no time for all this nonsense. Her heart pounded like a run-a-way horse’s hoofs and no wonder. Ever since she’d opened the door, she’d been scared out of her wits. She struck the match and lit her candle. At least if the sheriff showed up, she wouldn’t be alone and frightened by every sound. With her candle held ready, she knelt and glanced around the floor. The cat’s eyes blinked. It lifted a paw and licked it.
“I’m sorry, kitty. Truly, I am.” KodyAnne spotted the keys and crawled to them. She picked them up and wrapped her fingers through the ring this time then snuffed out the light. No need to invite trouble now she had the keys.
She listened a moment and heard nothing out of the ordinary. Her heart settled down to a hard thump as she stood, the keys clutched tight. If she still had Papa’s key, everything would be all right. Her fingers closed around the metal bar that was part of the vault cage. She was so close.
It was locked.
KodyAnne took a deep breath and ran her fingers over the door until she found the key hole. She’d been so afraid it would be a combination lock. Might as well try the banker’s keys. There were four on the ring. The second one opened the door to the vault. She let out her breath “Thank you, Lord!”
Inside
the vault, she found a wall of boxes, which were actually little drawers with locks on the ends with two places for keys. She ran her fingers over them and sighed. There were so many, and she didn’t know what order they were in. Papa’s was number 73, but where was it? For the third time that night, she struck a match and lit her candle, little more than half the size she’d started with. She scanned the boxes until she found the right one. Again, she put out her light. After she tried three keys along with Papa’s, the box slid open.
Something soft brushed against her leg. Her breath hissed out and she jumped. What was that?
The box under her hand moved back into place. Oh, no. she grabbed the little door before it closed all the way.
“Meow.”
The strength fled from her legs, and she stumbled into the wall of drawers. The cat had decided to forgive her. “Oh, my, kitty, we can’t keep doing this.” She bent to run her hand across the soft fur. “You’re a good cat, but I’ve got work to do. You come see me tomorrow across the street, and we’ll have us a nice visit. Okay?”
“Meow.” The cat walked away from under her hand as if it understood.
KodyAnne gave a soft laugh. If she ever got back to bed tonight, she’d probably be such a nervous mess she wouldn’t be able to sleep. Charlotte would know something was wrong. Only she didn’t intend to tell her what she’d been doing. Not until Tyler could be with them so they could open the box together. Even if it were no more than a few trinkets, it was theirs. All three of them.
She lifted a small metal box out and held it to her chest. She scarcely saw its rectangular shape in the darkness, but she held Uncle Mark’s special box. In her possession at last. Her heart warmed toward the man who’d left it there for them. If only Papa could know she had it now. “Oh, Papa, I did it. Uncle Mark, we have it just like you wanted. Thank You, Lord.”
She tucked it under her arm and pushed the drawer closed. Using the keys, she locked the safety deposit box again so no one would ever be the wiser.
There was no time to lose. The moonlight that had shone in the window moments earlier was gone. She had to get outside and across the street before the clouds moved again. Sensing the urgency of getting to the safety of her room, she felt her way to the banker’s office. It was much easier putting the keys back than it had been finding them. She locked his door on her way out and went through the teller’s cage to the back door.
She stopped to listen, but heard nothing. She opened the door only enough to slip through, wincing at the screech of the hinges, although they didn’t sound as loud as before. Under cover of a cloudy sky, she ran alongside the general store and paused to look both ways down the street. The sheriff’s office was still dark. He probably thought there was no need to be about tonight. She hoped so, took a deep breath, and ran across the street to the boardinghouse.
~*~
KodyAnne yawned and walked through the door of the diner. The aroma of bacon met her nose, and she took a deep breath.
Melanie rushed toward her twisting her apron in her hands. “We’ve been robbed.”
“What?” KodyAnne felt the blood drain from her head, and she wobbled. She pushed the door closed, clinging to it as she searched Melanie’s face. Surely she didn’t mean it.
How could she possibly know about last night? No, that didn’t make sense. She hadn’t robbed the bank. She’d only taken what was hers. She rubbed her forehead. What was she thinking? Melanie didn’t mean Uncle Mark’s box. No one knew she was there. If they did, it’d be the sheriff confronting her instead of Melanie.
“You’d better sit down, hon. I didn’t mean to frighten you.” No smile relaxed the strain around Melanie’s mouth. She pulled a chair out from the closest table and sat down.
KodyAnne sank down across from her and leaned toward her friend. “Are you serious? Did you go for the sheriff?”
“No.” Melanie put both elbows on the table, covered her face with her hands, and shook her head. “I don’t know what to do.”
“If someone robbed you—you do mean the diner, don’t you? What did they take?” KodyAnne twisted to look around the room. It looked the same as it did every day. Clean, neat, and ready for business. “Are you sure anything’s missing? When did it happen?”
“Last night. The back door was off the hinges.” Melanie reached across the table and took KodyAnne’s hand between both of hers. Tears swam in her eyes. “He left a note, hon. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t understand. This is your diner. Why are you apologizing to me?” KodyAnne started to rise. “We need to get the sheriff. He needs to find who did this. What did they take?”
“Money.” Melanie held out a scrap of paper. “Here, before you go dragging the law into it, maybe you’d better read this.”
KodyAnne took the paper and spread it out. The note was short. Her breath caught as she skimmed it. She started back at the beginning and read aloud. “I took fifteen dollars. Just enough to get me by for a while. Thanks, sis.”
She looked up.
Melanie brushed at a tear rolling from one corner of her eye. “Oh, hon, I’m sorry. He cleaned out my drawer. My change for today.”
“Who did?” KodyAnne shook her head. Did Melanie have a brother she hadn’t mentioned? “I still don’t understand unless—are you saying your brother broke in and stole from you?”
An emotion KodyAnne didn’t understand flickered in Melanie’s eyes as she shook her head. “I don’t have a brother, but you do. I’ve heard the talk, and I didn’t believe it. Some say your brother took Widow Jenkins’s chickens. While you were gone yesterday, I heard about something else that happened. Seems someone cut the fence and stole a steer out at the Tate farm.”
“Only one?” KodyAnne rolled her eyes and plopped back into the chair. “Why not take the whole herd? I mean if you’re going to jail, you might as well make it good, don’t you think?”
She shook her head and narrowed her eyes as she glared at her friend. “Tyler didn’t do any of that. I know he didn’t. He didn’t take your money, either.” She shoved the paper at Melanie. “This isn’t his handwriting. It isn’t even close.”
Melanie sat up, her eyes widening. “Are you sure? Can you prove it? You’ll need a sample of his writing. Then we can show both to the sheriff.”
The air rushed from KodyAnne, and she slumped against the chair back. She shook her head. “No, I don’t. I’d have to go to the farm to look, but I doubt I’d find anything. He hasn’t been in school for years, and he never kept his papers. It’d be easier to get him to write something down, but I’d have to find him for that, and I don’t know where he is.”
She stood and held out her hand to Melanie. “Come on. Let’s leave the closed sign on while we go visit the sheriff. Might as well get this over with, not that he’ll believe anything I say. But you still need to tell him right away. If he brings Tyler in, he can have him write something and compare them. He’ll believe me then.”
~*~
It didn’t take long for the whispers to start.
“Here you go, sir.” KodyAnne set a bowl of steaming beef stew in front of William Tate at the table with another man.
He gave her a brisk nod, but didn’t meet her eyes.
The other man stared at her.
She stepped back and clasped her hands in front. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
“No, that’s all for me.” Mr. Tate still didn’t look at her. “Thank you, miss.”
“You’re welcome.” At least he was polite. The other man glared and turned away to stare into his bowl. Maybe he thought she’d tainted it somehow.
She walked away, but not so quick she couldn’t hear the second man’s comment. “Heard her brother even robbed this place.” He snorted. “You’d think he’d pick some place where his sister didn’t work.”
“I don’t know—”
The bell on the front door rang. The sheriff walked in with Mike behind him. KodyAnne imagined the warmth of Mike’s embrace
and took a step toward him, then stopped. Now, of all times, she couldn’t run to him with her problems. There’d been enough talk buzzing around the diner today to tell her she had to keep her distance. His reputation would suffer if she got too close.
She waited until they took a seat at a back table before approaching them. “Good afternoon. May I help you? Our special today is beef stew and we have fresh blackberry pie for dessert.”
Michael’s gaze caught hers, and she couldn’t turn away. Tears burned her eyes, but she blinked them into submission.
“Sure the special sounds good to me.” The sheriff grinned at her as if nothing was wrong. He turned toward Mike. “How about you?”
Michael nodded. “Yeah, that’ll be fine.” His gaze sought KodyAnne’s, the expression on his face tender and concerned. “I imagine I could stand a big slice of blackberry pie, too.”
“I’ll make sure it’s larger than usual.” KodyAnne twirled away before her tears fell. She filled their bowls in the kitchen and brought her emotions under control before returning with the stew.
The sheriff cleared his throat. “Miss Delmont, I need a word with you, if you have a moment.”
She glanced around the dining room before meeting his gaze. “I suppose I could spare the time now. There aren’t many here, and everyone’s taken care of for the moment.”
He nodded toward a chair. “Would you mind sitting down? I find it difficult to speak to a woman who is standing while I sit.”
Michael stood and pulled out a chair. He held it until she sat down.
She clasped her hands in her lap to stop their trembling. “Did you find Tyler?”
The sheriff’s eyes widened. “No, we haven’t, but we do need to. I was hoping you’d tell me where I could look for him. Maybe give me directions to wherever he’s staying.”
“I don’t know where he is.”
If she did, she’d tell him she had Uncle Mark’s box. There probably wasn’t much in it, maybe nothing of value, but she still wanted the three of them to open it together.
The Preacher's Outlaw Bride Page 16
