Chapter Seven:
The Needle in the Haystack
When Vin Tanner awoke, the first thing that came to mind was the realization the stagecoach he was trying to catch would have reached Sweetwater by now.
Despite the pain assaulting him in waves upon regaining consciousness and the heaviness pressing his limbs against the bed, Vin knew he had to get up. Gritting his teeth, he bit down hard as he fought against the limitations of his body to get upright. However, while he managed to send the command to his brain, his body balked at the notion and refused to cooperate, exercising the good sense he was incapable of displaying at the moment. All Vin managed to do, was shift slightly against the mattress before surrendering to the inevitable with a groan of exasperation.
Lying back against the bed, the pain having properly humbled him to the reality of his situation, Vin took stock of where he was. He recognised Alex's clinic immediately. With that realisation came other memories as well, in particular the ugly scene that was most likely the reason he was in this place, wounded and helpless. Will Richmond. The ground awash with blood. Charlotte's scream. Vin knew without doubt he killed Charlotte's husband and knowing it, made him wince in anger and dismay. It had been for nothing. Richmond had gotten it so wrong and pushed things to a conclusion that was not justified by the misunderstanding.
Then out of nowhere, his anguish at Will Richmond's death was banished with two simple words.
"Hello cowboy."
Hearing her voice made his breath catch and for a second, Vin closed his eyes to thank all the deities who might have made this miracle possible, for bringing her back to him. Twisting his neck so he could see her, Vin ignored the pain at the attempt, only to feel Alex's palm against his cheek sparing him the effort. She was sitting at the side of his bed, smiling at him while still clad in the same dress she wore when boarding the stage. Despite his weakened state, seeing her beautiful face regarding him with that familiar smile of affection did more to aid his recovery than all the medicine in the world. Once again, he thanked God she was not in some hotel room in Sweetwater, trying to decide how to live her life without him.
"Alex." Vin managed to say. His voice was as weak as the rest of him.
"You know," Alex spoke, trying to hold the smile but the sheer relief at seeing him alive and well was making it almost impossible to hold back the tears of emotion threatening to overwhelm her. In the last few hours before this moment, Alex had real reason to believe they would never exchange another word with each other again. "You could have just said you were sorry. I would have forgiven you without you going out and getting yourself shot."
Vin managed a little smile before he whispered back. "That's what happens when you throw me out of your door."
"I shouldn't have done that." Alex blinked, the dam behind her eyes finally breaking and the deluge that followed was filled with regret at her foolishness. "I'm so sorry Vin."
Vin could never stand to see Alex cry and the redness in her eyes told him she had been doing quite a lot of it. Not to mention, the dark circles against her golden skin, told him she was exhausted. How badly had he been hit that she was reduced to this state? He wished he could touch her and feel the silk of her skin against his fingertips and assure her he was alright but it would be a lie he could not conceal. He felt as bad as she probably knew him to be. Instead, he chose to say the words he should have said the instant she slammed the door in his face.
"No, I'm sorry Alex." His voice was a soft croak. "I let her get to me."
"Don't talk," she stopped him from going any further because after the last few hours, their argument felt not only foolish and petty, it just didn't matter at all. "You need your rest."
"Was I hit bad?"
Was he hit bad? If only he knew what she and Nathan went through during the hours it took to repair the damage inflicted on him by Will Richmond's gun. Between Alex's attempts to make the fine sutures necessary for the transplant to hold and Nathan keeping Vin's vitals steady throughout the procedure, the hours that ticked by were painfully slow. There were moments during the surgery Alex thought he was going to die on the table and the only thing that kept both healers from giving up was their stubborn refusal to let a small piece of lead get the better of them.
"Bad enough." Alex responded, deciding there was no need for him to hear the details. Right now, she was just grateful he was conscious enough for them to exchange a few words.
When Alex operated on Ezra for the first time, she believed it was the hardest thing she had ever done. Ironically, it was also the same night, she realised she might have feelings for Vin. The terror she managed to keep at bay while operating on Vin, was nothing less than paralysing. Never had the stakes felt so high or failure so unacceptable. Fighting to keep him alive drove home to her just how much she loved him. It made the unpleasantness wrought by Charlotte and her words feel distant and far away. Alex could not imagine why she ever let it get in the way of how they felt about each other to begin with.
"Vin, I love you." Alex whispered softly as she leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips. "I shouldn't have over reacted the way I did. I should have listened when you tried to apologize."
"I was being a dang fool." He muttered weakly. "I let her get inside my head and make me crazy." Vin was unafraid to confess it was the plain truth of the matter. He was so grateful Alex was here right now, he was willing to say anything to keep them from being parted again. Until that moment, when she was ready to board the stage and leave Four Corners forever, Vin never realised how much of him she would be taking with her.
"She made us both a little crazy," Alex brushed her lips against his in a gentle kiss. "Let's just put it behind us okay?"
Alex did not want to spoil things by lingering too long on all the wrongs committed by Charlotte against them both. The arrival of Vin's past love clouded their judgement and now that they were given a stark reminder of what was really important, there was no reason to punish themselves over their mistakes. As for Charlotte, she had lost a great deal more than whatever affection Vin still had for her, she also lost a husband and retribution seemed pointless in the face of that.
"My clothes here?" He grunted painfully, trying to lift his head to look around the room.
"Lie back." Alex stopped him gently from continuing the attempt. He was extremely weak and while his consciousness was a good sign, he was nowhere out of danger and Alex would tolerate no stress on his body until he had a few more days to stabilise. What she and Nathan had done was risky and there was still no real guarantee Vin's condition wouldn't relapse.
"Your jacket's here." She said looking around the room and located his buckskins draped across a chair. Only his favourite coat and his pants had survived the procedure, everything else was too soiled with blood.
"I need it." He said leaning back, painfully aware she was right about him not moving too much. Even that small effort drained him and he started to feel the pull of slumber tugging at him again. However, Vin was not going to surrender to it until he accomplished this one little task.
Confused at what could be so important, Alex retrieved the heavy skin coat and brought it to him. "What do you need?"
"Inside pocket." He strained to say and Alex fumbled through the insides of the coat, noting the stains of blood on the leather and reminding herself to have it cleaned for him later.
It took a few moments for her to feel what he intended her to find but Alex knew what it was the instant her fingers touched the soft velvet. Removing it slowly, she stared at the small box for a long while before she raised her eyes to meet his.
"I got that for you the day you were in Sweetwater." He responded, struggling to stay awake because he wanted to see her face when she saw it and he was unwilling to wait any longer before presenting it to her. "Open it."
She wanted to say he need not have wasted his money on such tokens because she knew how he felt about her, now more than ever. Still Alex remained silent and lifted the lid before she took in the sight of the delicate band of gold, with a single jewel perched on top. It glimmered under the dim light of the room and to Alex, it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.
"It's beautiful." She whispered, trying to hide how overcome she was by the thing and immediately removed it from the box to slip it on the appropriate finger.
"Ezra helped me pick it." Vin eased back into his pillow with a satisfied smile on his face at her reaction.
"You both have good taste." Alex replied leaning over to kiss him again on the lips when suddenly she heard the familiar voice of Chris Larabee behind her.
"I'm guessing he's feeling better." The gunslinger teased with a faint smile as he stood at the entrance to the room with the rest of the seven behind him.
Alex withdrew immediately and threw a smirk in his direction. "Very funny. He's doing better, but nowhere out of the woods."
"How you doing Pard?" Chris asked approaching the bed as Alex stood back to let Vin visit with his friends. Chris's greetings was soon joined by a chorus of similar salutations and well wishes from the rest of the seven giving Alex the opportunity to leave the room to get cleaned up.
"I've been better." Vin replied, glad to see his friends again. "I guess I ain't as good as Buck when it comes to avoiding pissed off husbands."
"Well that takes a special knack and a lifetime of know-how." Buck grinned, glad to see Vin was well enough to joke.
"And the ability to jump out of windows like a jackrabbit." Josiah smiled.
"I ain't ready to try that yet." Vin chuckled and regretted the exertion as soon as he did it. The pain registered in his face and quickly prompted Nathan into acting.
"Now let that be a lesson to you," Nathan declared. "You ain't gonna be moving out of that bed for a while and you're going to have to take it easy. Miss Julia says she'll lend a hand and look in on you while you're here."
Ezra gaped at Nathan in a mixture of shock and horror, unable to imagine even to the slightest degree Julia playing nursemaid to anyone. As it was, he was rather stunned how much Billy Travis had taken to her. "Mr Tanner, I weep for you."
"We're glad you're okay Vin," J.D. responded, not as jaded as the rest of his companions to hide how he really felt about knowing the tracker had survived the gun battle with Charlotte Richmond's husband.
"Thanks J.D.," Vin smiled weakly at the younger man before turning to Chris again. "Any word on Billy?"
"No," Chris replied tautly. "Nothing."
"It's like they've fallen off the face of the earth." Buck muttered unhappily. "No one has seen them and if they had, they ain't talking."
"And we've been mighty persuasive." Josiah added.
Vin looked at Chris and saw just how tormented his friend was about this and knew Chris was bitterly regretting not pulling the trigger when Ella was in his sights. At the time, Vin had voiced his opinion Chris should have killed her because women like that tended to come back.
Something in Ella's eyes told Vin she was not going to give up so easily and she was just crazy enough to come at Chris again. Chris had not been her first victim. There had been many and somehow, her past lovers became objects of her obsession. She pursued them relentlessly and did not let them go until they lost everything or she was forced to kill them. Vin knew she had yet to reach that stage with Chris but with Billy in her hands, she was getting closer.
"I wish I could be of some help instead of being stuck here."
"It's okay pard," Chris said quietly. "This ain't your fault. Its mine." The gunslinger stepped abruptly away from the tracker to avoid showing everyone how badly he felt about Billy even though he was certain they knew anyway.
"You weren't to know she'd come back Chris." Buck replied automatically, always quick to absolve Chris of his guilt because he was already feeling so much of it.
"It doesn't matter," he shrugged and continued walking out of the room, pausing long enough to cast a glance in Vin's direction. "Take it easy Vin, I'll drop by later."
A heavy pall remained in the room after Chris left. No one spoke of it but they were all aware the cloud hanging over them and would remain as long as Billy Travis remained missing. Vin ached for the gunslinger, aware as they all were, Mary and Chris had not spoken since the night Billy was taken but he understood the widow's rage and her terrible fear. Ella Gaines had no misgivings about burning alive a five-year-old in his bed when she sent Fowler to kill Sarah and Adam. She would have even less hesitation about harming Billy who by her reckoning, wasn't even Chris's child.
"We've got to find Billy." Buck exclaimed in frustration. "The longer things stay like this between Chris and Mary, the worse it's going to get."
"You cannot blame the woman for feeling the way she does Mr Wilmington," Ezra responded. "He is her only child and forgive me for saying this, Mr Larabee should have told her about the deranged Miss Gaines."
"Look," J.D. spoke up. "We can jaw about this til kingdom come but it ain't gonna change nothing. We got to find Billy to make it right. Before it's too late."
"Out of the mouth of babes." Josiah threw the young man a proud smile. "I think Vin needs his rest and I can sure use some food." The preacher replied, agreeing with J.D. that arguing about this would avail them nothing.
Nor would it bring them any closer to locating Billy Travis.
Mary saw Chris's return to town through her window without Billy.
She watched him as he made his way down the street towards the saloon and knew he was forcing himself not to look in the direction of the Clarion as he walked by. She observed his progress down the boardwalk in the shadows of her darkened bedroom window and was able to tell as he moved in that sinewy way of his, he was hurting as much as she. It was a struggle for Mary not to want to throw herself in his arms and allow him to tell her things would be all right. Despite her longing for him, Mary was still furious he had not told her about Ella. They were meant to marry in three days and this was a secret he should not have kept from his future wife.
Mary followed Chris until he disappeared into the saloon before she turned away from the window and started moving through the house with almost wraithlike substance. The silence seemed even more overpowering as she was drawn to Billy's room. Mary knew she ought not to be going in there but her state of mind at the present moment was precarious to say the least. She wanted her son with her so badly, she could do nothing else but linger on the reality of his absence. Attempting to throw herself into her work had done little or no good because she could not stand the quiet that allowed her to do it.
She twisted the knob to the room at the other end of the hall from her own bedroom and pushed the door open. Stepping inside, she could see through the faint light emanating from the hallway, his toys in an ordered mess around the room. Apparently, Billy's idea of cleaning his room was to shove toys and anything he did not consider clothes under his bed. She saw an opened book on the nightstand and picked it up for examination. Peter and the Wolf. Flicking through the pages filled with illustrations of Russian landscapes and wolves bearing sharp teeth, she knew it was a book Chris had given him. It was the sort of thing a little boy would love she supposed as Mary sat on his bed.
She noticed a shirt lying on the polished wood floor and reached for it. Mary started to fold it, not knowing why she was doing this in the dark but requiring something to busy herself with. For reasons, she could not explain, she lifted the cotton shirt to her nose and took a deep breath of it. The material smelled like cookies and dirt. What her mother used to affectionately call 'little boy smells'. She breathed it in and for a moment could almost be forgiven for thinking Billy was in the room with her.
Something inside her snapped and the dam holding back her despair crumbled. Her anguish escaped her like the groaning of machinery or a gale taking a deep breath just before it became a tornado. Mary started to sob loud and unashamedly, terrified of finding her son the way Chris found Adam, knowing she was not as strong as he and would not be able to recover should she have to bury her son like she had to bury Stephen. Mary wept uncontrollably, unable to stand this helplessness gripping her. She wanted her son back and she wanted things to be the way they were with Chris too. She was angry with him but she also missed him and until Billy came back there would be no way to heal the rift that forced them apart.
Mary did not know how long she let her tears run as she buried her face against Billy's pillow, the scent of him doing more harm than good because it was a stark reminder of his absence. She was visited with so many memories of Billy, they seem to spin out of control in her mind, the closer she came to believing he would not be returning to her in one piece. Mary kept replaying things in her mind, his first steps, the way he would smile at her and how he would fall asleep to the sound of her voice. These were things she was not ready to give up and what made the whole situation unbearable was if this was the end of her son's life, then he would go to it alone and without his mother or his friends.
Suddenly, Mary came to a decision. She could no longer bear to wait here and let Chris find Billy because it was becoming painfully obvious the gunslinger had no idea where her son might have been taken. Mary also knew she was sure as hell not going to let Ella use Billy as bait to lure her into another trap. Mary Travis was not helpless and she had resources at her disposal. If Chris's efforts to find Billy were unsuccessful then perhaps a different approach was required. Drying her tears, she stood up from the bed and hurried out of the bedroom, determined this was still going to be Billy's room for a long time to come.
Descending the stairs, Mary started to let her journalistic instincts do the thinking for her. Too long had she been wallowing as the wounded mother when her son needed the resources and the intelligence of the investigator. Mary descended into the lower floor of the house and knew the answer to finding Ella Gaines was in her files. Vin had asked her to make some inquiries about the woman when she first appeared in Four Corners. The tracker had not trusted Ella from the very first and was dubious about the sincerity of her feelings for Chris.
Although Mary confessed to feeling some jealousy by Chris's interest in Ella Gaines, she could not begrudge him for wanting to move on after his wife's death and there had been nothing between them during that period. Mary reached her office and started searching for the folder with all the information she collected about Ella for Vin's perusal. Even though she had to explain most of it to the tracker whose reading skills were rudimentary at the time, what they learned was enough to convince them both they were dealing with someone quite formidable.
Mary pulled open the drawer and sought out the particular file, praying she was correct in assuming the clue to finding Ella's present whereabouts was in her colourful past. Rifling through the list of folders kept neatly in alphabetical order, Mary found it easily enough. The file was not exactly thick and Mary wondered if there was enough information within it to be useful. It didn't matter because she was sick and tired of leaving things to the seven. Easing into the chair behind her desk, Mary scanned through the documents and telegrams collecting dust since Ella's departure from Four Corners.
Of course none of it held the most important facts about the mysterious woman, that she was a fully fledged psychopath who became fixated on the men she knew throughout her life to the point she was forced to murder in order to ensure her access to them. Mary found herself shuddering at the insanity that would drive a woman to do this terrible thing to ten men, not just Chris.
She wondered how terrible it must have been when Chris realised Sarah and Adam were killed for such an unimaginable reason.
Mary glanced through the file, sifting through the documents revealing the ownership of Culpepper Mine, around which of the drama regarding Ella had unfolded during her stay in Four Corners. The woman did not just own that piece of property. There were several with her name on the deeds and it appeared Ella, however she made her money, was extremely good at it. Mary saw small textile stores, shares in a railway and several investments in eastern factories. It appeared should Ella choose to retire, she could do so and still live very comfortably for the rest of her life.
No doubt, it was how she paid an assassin to steal Billy, Mary thought bitterly.
A money trail like this had to leave traces Mary decided, and quickly jotted down the names of the various holdings on a note pad, the deeper she went into the file. There had to be some way of tracing this back to the woman. Ella lived in shadows but to live the way she did and afford the things she had, there must be someone out there she trusted to take care of all this for her.
Mary had contacts in some of the places Ella did business and perhaps someone knew something they did not know was important.
In any case, it was worth a try because Mary was getting her son back, one way or another.
Billy Travis was afraid.
He tried not to be because he was not a baby anymore and boys were not supposed to be scared. Try as he might to keep this thought in his mind, he found it was easier said than done and no matter how hard he tried to be brave, he still wanted his ma. Billy wanted to feel her arms around him, the way she held him when he used to have those terrible nightmares about his pa's death. He remembered how she would hold him close and whisper in his ear everything was going to be all right.
Right now he really needed to hear those words.
When Billy was whisked away into the darkness from his bed to places unknown, he tried to remain very quiet so his captor might forget he was there and not hurt him. He recalled clearly what Chris had said once when they were in a similar situation, when the men who killed his pa had come for him and Chris at the old house. It was with shame Billy revealed to Chris the secret buried inside him for so long and he expected the tough gunslinger to tell him he was a coward for hiding away when the devil took his father. However, Chris did nothing of the sort and told him he had probably done the smartest thing he could by staying put and being quiet. Thus, Billy resolve to do just that because Chris was never wrong about anything.
No matter how frightened he got, Billy kept reminding himself Chris would come for him because Chris loved his ma and he was Billy's friend. He was Billy's best friend and maybe even his new pa. Billy wasn't so sure about the second part but he believed Chris when the gunslinger promised he would never let anything bad happened to Billy or his ma. Not just Chris though, he knew Vin, J.D., Ezra, Buck, Nathan and even Josiah felt the same way. They would come. He knew this with the unshakeable faith of a child.
All he had to do was sit tight until they did.
In the meantime, his kidnapper had not said much other than to ensure he remained silent throughout the journey with no ideas of escape. Billy did not know where he was and the stranger kept far away from towns so there was no way he could get help even if he daree to run away. The man seemed to know where he was going but felt no inclination to tell Billy or to get too familiar with him. He fed Billy a meal of beans during the breaks in their journey but beyond that did not speak to Billy other than to bark a few stern orders.
They travelled for two days and Billy did not see any sign of Chris or the others but he was sure they were looking for him. ALthough he was very afraid to be alone, he was glad the man did not capture his ma too. Billy had no idea where they were as they moved further and further across the flat plains of the Territory. He knew he had to be very far from Four Corners because they had not stopped in two days of travel.
When their journey finally ended, Billy was taken to a house on a hill overlooking a town he did not know but didn't seem very different from Four Corners. The man led him into the house and Billy noticed there were many women walking around the place. They regarded him with confusion as Billy was taken upstairs into a room that looked like his ma's parlour but was bigger and seemed to have more expensive things. More expensive but not any nicer.
"You were supposed to bring Mary Travis." The woman who sat at the divan looked at the man critically, her eyes looked hard and the way her chin set made Billy think of one of his meaner teachers at school.
"There were complications." The man answered. "I told you it would be difficult bringing them here alive. That is not what I do. Normally, its simpler to expedite things by eliminating them on the spot."
She shifted her eyes towards Billy and stood up from her chair. Her head tilted slightly as she observed him at length.
"He is a handsome child, isn't he?" She stopped in front of Billy and reached out for him.
Instinctively, Billy stepped back, knowing enough about this woman and her manner to know he did not want her hands anywhere on his person. There was something about her that was frightening, something he could not define but could feel in his bones. She did not seem offended by his reaction but since he backed into his kidnapper, she knew he had nowhere else to go. Billy cringed as she reached for him again and could do nothing as she lay her hand on him... and ruffled his hair.
"I see Chris in him." She said enigmatically.
"He's not Larabee's child." The man pointed out.
"Doesn't matter," she said in a sing song voice. "Chris was going to be his new father. Isn't that right Billy? Your mother was going to set up a nice little arrangement for Chris using you as her lure."
Billy did not understand what she meant with all this talk of lures and arrangements. He could only associate the word lure with fishing but could not comprehend what that might mean in relation to her conversation about Chris and his mother.
"How do you intend to bring his mother here?" She shifted her attention from him and turned her eyes to the man once again.
"That's easy enough," the man replied automatically. "If you had seen the way she pursued me to get her son back, there's no doubt all we have to do is tell her where and she'll come willingly just to get him back."
"Such strong maternal instinct," she snorted derisively. "Chris seems to like them that way. You should have heard Sarah before she died." The woman smiled in way that sent shivers down Billy's spine. "She begged Fowler to let Adam go, right until the last minute. She breathed her last begging for the life of her brat. Of course, it was too late by then, the fire was too thick and no one was getting out of that house, even if Fowler wanted to help her."
Billy saw the man stiffen as if he did not like hearing this and his eyes became darker than hers. At that moment, Billy realised the man was a little afraid of her too. For a brief instance, they shared a strange sort of empathy for each other.
"I have moved people into place who can approach Mary Travis without the lawmen becoming privy to it. If it is done properly, then she will come to us before Larabee and his group have any idea she is gone."
"Good," the woman seemed satisfied by that. "In the meantime, I'll keep this one locked up here." She turned her attention to him again. "Perhaps, we can even get acquainted."
Billy did not know what that meant but he did not like the sound of it at all. Neither did he like the idea of his ma being led her because of him. He had no idea how he was going to do it but he was going to escape this place somehow.
He was not going to let this woman hurt his ma.
Chris Larabee had a plan.
He was going to drink himself into a heavy stupor until it became easy to fall asleep when he finally chose to retire. It was not the best plan he ever devised to combat his insomnia but at the moment, it would suffice. As he steadily made his way through the bottle of whiskey on the counter before him, Chris decided he would keep filling up his glass until the ache inside him was beaten into submission by alcohol. It was the same plan he used on the numerous evenings following Sarah and Adam's death, when he had lain awake in bed, twisting with guilt at how different things would have been if he had just come home that night instead of staying behind with Buck in Mexico.
Always go with something you know, Chris decided.
He intended to drink himself into a stupor until he could stand knowing it was he who placed Billy in this kind of danger and shattered the trust of the woman he loved. He could not berate Mary for her anger because he did let Ella get away. Not only had he let Ella escape after learning what she had done but he also kept that information from Mary. It had never occurred to him Ella might come back after staying away for so long but he should have guessed. Only one thing could draw Ella out after all this time.
The wedding.
Ella believed he belonged to her, just like she believed the same about all her previous victims. She eliminated Sarah and Adam as if they were some kind of malignancy to be removed from the perfect illusion of their so-called love. The idea sickened Chris to his stomach and made him curse at not killing her when he had the chance. To this day, he did not know why he hadn't done it. For what she had done to Sarah and Adam, she deserved nothing less than a bullet. Even Vin, had wondered why he hadn't. Foolishly, Chris realised the months with Mary had lulled him into complacency, made him believe the threat of Ella was gone for good.
Now he was in a situation where Billy could be the next victim of Ella's insane passion for him.
In some ways, he was unsurprised by her madness. Even during their love affair almost fifteen years ago, it had been a kind of fever for both of them. There was passion and fire, everything a torrid romance ought to be but underlying it all, Chris had to admit being somewhat wary of the ferocity of her love. Loving her was like doing a balancing act on a knife's edge and after a while Chris found it was simpler to give up and move on. Breaking it off had not been easy but never for a second did he believe, she would seek out his wife and son ten years later and murder them.
That's your problem right there, Larabee, you're always assuming things with Ella.
For a man who was known to always have all angles thought out before disaster could strike, it was hard realizing he had underestimated Ella so badly. He should have told Mary about her and the danger she represented. Chris was unashamed to admit he did not like discussing her with Mary, not just because Ella was responsible for Adam and Sarah's death but because he still couldn't believe he once cared for someone like her.
"Chris." He heard her voice and swung around immediately in his stool to find himself on the receiving end of a gaze from Mary's blue-grey eyes.
"Mary." Chris swallowed, surprised she sought him out.
"I think I know of a way to find Ella but I can't do it alone." She stared at him trying to be aloof but not quite managing it.
He could tell she was still angry with him but not to the extent she was the night Billy was taken. It surprised him she had come to the saloon at this time of night but then when it came to Billy, Mary was never concerned about convention. Until he saw her face to face, Chris did not realize how much he missed being with her and her eyes reflected the same thing as she regarded him. The past few days had been private nightmare where he fought the urge to do as Buck said, to go and apologize because he knew the gesture would have more weight if he could bring Billy home to her. Unfortunately, his efforts to find her son were laughable and Chris was starting to believe he would never recover Billy and his days with Mary were done.
"How?" Chris asked, breaking the pause of his ruminations.
Mary took up the stool next to him, oblivious to the looks she was getting from some of the patrons. Even Inez was wise enough to stay at the other end of the counter although the bartender did look up at them periodically to see if things were still remaining civilized. "When Ella first made her appearance in town, Vin came to me and asked if I could look into her background."
Chris was hardly surprised by that. From the first, Vin had never really trusted Ella.
Understandably, Chris's judgement had been somewhat clouded at the time but Vin had a scent for trouble almost as strong as his own. From the onset of Ella's reappearance in his life, the tracker had been cautious of her intentions and had made private inquiries of his own. He had not thought Vin would bring Mary into it but then considering Mary's connections out of town, it was only sensible that he would.
"What did you find?"
"I don't know what the situation is now but when she came to Four Corners she had a small fortune. She owns deeds to factories, mines, big city stock. Ella is quite the business woman." Mary said with a hint of bitterness because it was all this affluence that allowed her to hired assassins to kill Chris's family and possibly Billy as well.
"She always knew how to land on her feet," Chris muttered, wishing it were anything but so.
"Most cats do that." Mary said snidely.
Despite the grim situation, Chris could not help but let a smile steal across his features at the venom in her voice. There were women who became very shrewish when they were angry but not Mary Travis. In her rage, she was a sight to behold. Remembering she had come here for a reason, he kept his mind centered on her matter at hand.
"Anyway," Mary continued. "There's a lot of money being moved from place to place to buy these businesses. I am assuming she can't have done all this herself." She presented Chris with all the paperwork she had on the subject of Ella Gaines. "This is a wide area we're talking about, scattered throughout the Territory."
Chris was never one for paperwork since he relied on what he could see, not the hearsay to be found on scraps of paper. However, his time with Mary had made him a partial believer and as he scanned the documents before him, he came to the same conclusion she did. Ella had been doing brisk business across the Territory, buying up small shops and investing in businesses in boomtowns. She had to make herself quite wealthy to keep up with her extracurricular activities.
"I don't think she travelled to these individual places herself. She has to earn her money somewhere if what you told me about her was true. I think she has someone who deals with all this for her. Perhaps a lawyer or an accountant. In any case I think if we dig deep enough, we can find a name. Whoever this person is, she must trust him to place all her affairs in his hands and since she has to be in hiding now, it would make sense she would still be using him. After all, someone new is someone she'd have to trust and I don't think she's stupid enough to do that."
It was a long shot. Chris could tell even Mary knew this because they were just assuming there was someone in Ella Gaines's past who hid in the shadows and conducted her business affairs. Still it was a place to start since they had no other leads. Neither Mary nor Chris were willing to wait until Ella's assassin used Billy to coerce Mary into surrendering to him, Ella wanted Mary and Billy alive so she could be present when they died. It was the only consolation he could take from this whole miserable situation, that Ella would be patient and wait until Mary was brought to her before doing anything to Billy.
"Assuming he exists, how do we find him?" Chris put forward, intrigued by Mary's deductions on this matter. He had to admit that her journalistic instincts were a treasure onto themselves sometimes.
"I have contacts in most of these towns," Mary said taking a deep breath. Franklin had not been too impressed with her when she dragged him from his dinner and made him send a series of telegrams across the Territory. However, the man had been quite understanding when he realized this was for the recovery of Billy and only required an extra piece of cake at the wedding as payment. "I've asked my contacts to talk to the people who owned these businesses previously. Perhaps we can find this man by learning how contracts for sale were exchanged. Was the transaction conducted through the post or hand delivered? That sort of thing. I am hoping I will get answers by the end of tomorrow."
Chris was impressed by her efforts and had to admit he would have never considered going down this route to find Ella. However, Mary's resourcefulness never ceased to amaze him and when she was properly motivated, like she was now, she could be a juggernaut of relentless determination. It made him all the sorrier he did not tell her about Ella because Mary would have been able to take precautions with Billy.
"What do you need me for? You seem to have things well in hand."
Mary shifted uncomfortably in her seat, trying not to notice the anguish in the ice blue depths of his eyes. She could tell how much pain he was in despite the indifferent mask he wore on his face. More than ever, Mary felt ashamed of how she had treated him that night, even though she felt justified in her anger.
Since she embarked upon this course of finding Ella herself, Mary allowed her anger to dissolve enough to remember she still loved this man even though he had wronged her greatly by not telling her about Ella. However, what witnessed in his eyes during the last few minutes told her that he was feeling more guilt than she could ever punish him with. Not just for Billy but for Sarah and Adam as well.
"If we find this man, I don't think he'll just tell us where Ella is." Mary said softly, hiding her softening heart from him for the moment. "If he's as loyal as I believe he is, he'll try to protect her."
"Not necessarily." Chris pointed out. "He may be handling her business but he may not know she's crazy or a murderer."
"Arguments I'm sure you can use on him when the time is right." She returned. "In any case, I don't think I'm going to make him talk. That's your job in this expedition."
Chris nodded slowly, ready to agree to anything if it meant bringing Billy back to her. "When you get a name, I'll be here." He said shortly and reached for the bottle before him.
She stopped his hand before he could reach it.
"Chris," Mary took a deep breath and met his surprised gaze. "Have you eaten?"
"Not hungry." He grunted.
Which actually translated into a 'no' but Mary knew when he was just being difficult. It was impossible not to love this man with the passion she did and not know anything about his habits. "I've got some dinner on the stove," she said gently, finding a hint of amusement in his brooding manner. Mary could tell he was sulking a little. "Why don't you come share it with me?"
"Are we friends again?" He asked trying to hide the hope in of his eyes.
"Yes we are," she nodded slowly and decided to be honest with him about how she felt at the moment. That was the only way either of them was going to get past this. Mary did know she loved him despite everything that happened and there was no question he loved Billy almost as much. Their love should be bringing them together at a time like this, not forcing them apart. If they could not endure this hurdle before they even reached the altar, how on Earth would they survive the next fifty years together?
"Chris I am still mad at you for not telling me about Ella but I know you love Billy too and you would never intentionally let any harm come to him."
She saw the emotion drain into his eyes even though a stranger would be hard pressed to think he was staring at her with anything but indifference.
"I don't know why I didn't tell you about Ella. Maybe I was a little afraid."
"Why?" She asked puzzled. "The woman is a psychopath. It's not your fault she fixated on you."
"Maybe if I walked away fifteen years ago, maybe Sarah and Adam would still be alive." He whispered, finally admitting what had been tumbling around in the darkness of his mind ever since he learnt the truth about Ella and her part in his family's murder.
Mary placed her hand on Chris's cheek and felt her heart ache for him because it was a terrible burden to carry around and suddenly, her anger at his not telling her diminished even more.
"Chris, there was no way you could know she was capable of this. She's done this to ten other men which she means she's very good at hiding her obsession. I said things the night Billy was taken I wish I hadn't because I was angry. He's my son and the only thing in the world I have left of Stephen. When I found out you knew what she had done and let her go, I just snapped. I love you Chris, I always will and right now, we need to be clear on that if we're going to find our son."
Chris looked up at her in surprise. He had never heard her say she considered them both Billy's parents. Not that he was complaining, he welcomed the description because it was true. Chris had felt it since that first afternoon Billy spied him carving that wooden horse on the boardwalk. They had regarded each other quietly, sensing an unspoken bond borne out of secret pain and filling a void in each other left empty for far too long. It was more than just the fact he was Mary's son that drew Chris to Billy, it was seeing the familiar shadow in the boy's eyes. Chris had seen it every time he looked in a mirror and it rocked the hardened gunslinger to the core that a child should know such pain.
"We will find him, Mary. I promise you." Chris said firmly because Adam was gone and Billy was still alive and before he let Ella take their child away from them, he'd kill her a dozen times over. This time there would be no pause or reprieve for Ella Gaines. When they met, it would be for the last because she was sure as hell not taking another family from Chris Larabee again.
Billy stared out the window and saw the town in the distance like some mecca he would never reach. He was kept in the attic of the house and shared the space within the huge room with dusty old things and the spiders who built their homes in the corners that allowed for web building. He rummaged through the collection of boxes, filled with an assortment of things, ranging from clothing to hats, books yellowed with age, the odd bits of furniture forgotten and growing dusty. Some of the objects were interesting and helped pass the time away but there was nothing to help him out of his present predicament.
He was still trying to be brave like Chris but the fear kept creeping in despite Billy's best efforts to ignore it. As the darkness loomed and the shadows crept their black tendrils around the candle and bedroll provided for him, Billy felt it clench his heart and paralysed his thoughts. In those moments, he wanted his ma so badly he was almost driven to tears. Only Chris's words to be brave held back the tide of tears.
He was let out of his prison twice a day to take care of his toilette and had sought desperately for escape during those times. Unfortunately, the sour faced young woman who was assigned to keep an eye on him was sharp as she was nasty and she made certain no such opportunity availed itself. He saw nothing of the woman responsible for his incarceration but he knew every one of the women in the large house was afraid of her. Billy did not understand why this was so since they all chose to live with her. Of the man who had stolen him out of his bed, Billy saw nothing. It frightened Billy to no end to think if the man was not here then he must be trying to find his ma and do those terrible things the woman said he had to do.
Effectively trapped until Chris and his ma found him, he did not know what to do and kept staring out that window longingly, knowing sometime soon, he would see Chris riding over the horizon with Vin, J.D. and all the others. His mother would hold him in her arms and tell him she loved him and Julia who smelled so good would let him eat ice cream with her again and talk to him like he was her beau, not Ezra.
Billy would work that complication out later.
He was still staring out the window when he heard the door open behind him. It was night and he did not expect anyone to come in until morning, when his minder would bring him breakfast. Billy cringed against the glass, fearing reason for this unexpected visit. Maybe they were not going to wait for his ma to get here; maybe they were going to kill him now! Billy had worked himself into a proper state of exhaustion when Ella stepped through the door and let her gaze sweep across the boy's prison to seek him out.
"Hello there." She said pleasantly, carrying a plate covered with a dishcloth.
Billy did not speak and his eyes stared at the plate, wondering if she intended to poison him with what she was hiding.
She stepped towards the bed roll where he slept and sat down before the candle. Billy watched her as she nestled herself on the floor and uncovered the plate that held a tasty selection of pastries with cream and sugar. Despite himself, Billy felt a twinge of interest at the assortment. She met his gaze once she became comfortable.
"I'm sorry the accommodations aren't better." She replied as she motioned for him to come forward. "Unfortunately, the situation requires your presence here to be kept anonymous for the time being."
Billy did not know whether or not he should answer her but since she was trying to make friends, it might help his escape if he responded to those advances. Slowly, he crept away from his position at the window sill and approached her cautiously, his eyes never moving from her before he finally neared close enough to sit down across her.
"You're not much of a talker, are you?" She smiled almost warmly. "Take one." She gestured towards the platter of food. When he did not take one, she picked up a piece herself and bit into it, proving to the boy that she did not intend to harm him with anything she would not partake of herself. Only after she had done that, did he reach for a piece of pastry and started nibbling at it in conservative bites.
"You're a cautious one." Ella commented. "Just like Chris."
The mention of Chris sparked Billy's interest and he wondered how she knew the gunslinger. "How do you know Chris?"
"Chris and I go way back," Ella smiled, pleased she had received some kind of reaction from him. He was such a beautiful child she thought. He looked so much like Chris with his golden hair and his blue green eyes. Even though Chris did not have any part in conceiving this child, Ella could see the gunslinger in him. "I knew Chris when he had just gotten out of the army. Do you know Chris fought in the war?"
Billy shook his head in response. He had not known but then Chris did not like talking about the past. Billy had come to know that much about the gunslinger during their time together. Still, he was not surprised Chris was once a soldier.
"He was so handsome," Ella mused. "Utterly beautiful to look at. Back then he was still the fastest man with a gun I knew. We were both so much prettier then." She smiled and offered Billy another look of remembrance. "Chris used to fight anyone who looked my way wrong. He would usually win."
Well that did not surprise Billy. Nobody could beat Chris at anything, Vin maybe but no one else Billy had seen or heard. "He still does."
"We could have gone anywhere," she sighed as she continued her reminiscing. "Seen the world and done anything. You like to see the world Billy?" She asked.
Billy nodded because he was eight years old and the world he knew was small. There must be more out there and Billy had to confess he did want to see it all someday. Vin always told him there were more than just towns and farms. There were hills that ran so far into the distance, they looked like oceans of green and mountains so tall that you could reach the ice in just a day. Buck told him there were places were the wine was cheap and the women were cheaper. He did not know what that meant but he was glad to hear it since most of the dollar his grandpa had given him for the journey to Four Corners was gone.
"I knew it." She smiled brightly and pushed the plate at him to take another pastry. "I think that if you helped me, we can convince Chris to come away and see the world like he was meant to."
"What about my ma?" Billy blurted out.
Her expression darkened then, just a fraction but enough for Billy to know he should not have made mention of his mother. He feared what would be the consequences of this error and held his breath until she spoke again.
"You ma doesn't count." Ella said neutrally. "Chris loved me first and he will love me last."
"But he's marrying my ma." Billy pointed out, wondering why she was so mistaken about that point.
Ella leaned closer to him as if she were about to divulge some great secret that only he could hear. "Chris is marrying your ma because of you. No other reason. He doesn't love her, not the way he loves me and the only reason he ever gets married is because of children. So, this time," she smiled as she said this. "He'll come to me for sure because I have what he wants."
"You have a child?" Billy asked, even though it was becoming terribly clear to him what she meant by that declaration.
Ella Gaines looked at him with a smile and confirmed. "Of course, I do, silly. It's you."
In light of Mary's plan, Chris sent the others out to continue the search for Billy while he remained in town. The waiting was driving Mary crazy and the only way she could cope with her anxiousness was to throw herself into work. When Chris left her, she was busily immersing herself in writing a letter of confirmation to the local school board a teacher had been found for the new semester. Chris was grateful for anything that would take her mind of this endless waiting game and found himself similarly distracted once she was occupied. With the others gone, Chris found himself visiting Vin at the clinic where the tracker was convalescing until he was well enough to be moved to alternate lodgings.
"You think it will work?" Vin asked after Chris had told him the details of Mary's plan.
"It's something." Chris replied as he stretched out on a chair next to the tracker's bed. "We ain't got any other leads so far."
"Ella knows how to go to ground." Vin had to admit, remembering how impossible it had been for him to track her down after she fled the last time.
"So how long do you plan on being lazy like this?" Chris asked with a hint of teasing, knowing how much Vin hated to be in bed, well alone any way, or indoors for that matter. According to Alex who was away at the moment running errands, Vin's condition was still precarious and would most likely be out of commission for weeks.
"Very funny," Vin scowled, his voice was just raspy enough to tell Chris he was still very weak from the surgery the day before. Even now, he seemed balanced on the edge of slumber and Chris would have left if not for Vin's request he remain at least for a while. "A couple of weeks, says Alex." Vin frowned unhappily at the idea that he would be immobile for so long but the nature of his injury was nothing to take lightly.
"You're gonna drive her crazy." Chris joked. "It's a good thing you two made up."
"Yeah," Vin agreed and then looked at Chris. "Things between you and Mary okay?"
Vin was pleased to know the duo had reached some sort of compromise. He hated to think they were at odds with each other at a time like this.
"They're better." Chris replied, unable to deny the pleasure in his voice knowing Mary did not feel him responsible for Billy even though she was still angered he had kept Ella's part in Sarah's death a secret. Chris could not begrudge her that even if she understood why he had done it. "Have you seen or heard from Charlotte?"
"No," Vin shook his head, not wishing to see her either. "Alex told me she called in to see if I was okay but that's it." In truth, Vin had no desire to see her at the moment. He was still angry at how she had tried to manipulate him and even angrier he had been placed in a position to take Will Richmond's life.
Chris would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during that encounter.
"I don't want to see her." He admitted to his best friend. "I ain't happy I had to shoot Richmond especially when there was no reason for it. There weren't anything going on between me and Charlotte and he died for no reason. No reason at all."
"It wasn't your choice Vin," Chris said sympathetically. "It was his. At least you and Alex got things sorted out. I saw her wearing the ring." He had noted the bauble on the doctor's finger on her way out and had to admit that Ezra certainly knew how to pick jewellery. It almost made him wonder if he should have dragged the gambler along when he was selecting Mary's wedding band.
"Yeah," Vin nodded, smiling for the first time. "It only took me getting shot to have the sense to give it to her."
Chris was about to respond when he heard the door burst open and frantic footsteps running through the length of the clinic, approaching them rapidly.
Chris and Vin exchanged glances briefly as the gunslinger let his hand drop instinctively to his peacemaker when suddenly, Mary Travis burst into the room breathing hard. She was clutching a number of telegrams in her hand as she hurried to Chris.
"I've got it!" She said breathlessly. "I've got the name."
"Who?" Chris asked as Vin attempted to sit up and winced when he could not.
"His name is Betts." Mary replied as she unfolded the telegrams crushed in her palm. "He was the middle man in at least three business transactions Ella conducted over the last two years. He apparently is a lawyer who deals mostly with business and commercial law."
"Where is he?" Vin asked, wishing he could be some part of this other than lying here uselessly. He hated being laid up like this.
"Eagle Bend." Mary looked at Chris with a smile of pure triumph at this first solid lead since Billy was abducted days ago. "If I start now, I could make it by early afternoon." Chris mused as he looked at the information provided about Mr Betts.
"You mean we." Mary stated firmly.
Chris looked at her. "No, I meant me." He repeated himself with equal resolve. "Mary, it's too dangerous."
"You're going to talk to a lawyer, not take on Ella and her hired goons! I'll be perfectly safe," she protested, hands on her hips which meant her mind was made up on this matter. Chris realized with a familiar knot in his stomach she would not be deterred from this point. "You are not leaving me behind Chris Larabee, not this time. Besides, you know me, I'll be out of sight and mind at the first sign of danger."
"I do know you Mary," Chris returned. "And I also know that you have never been able to stay out of trouble at all. Mary, Ella's crazy and this is not a good idea."
"Chris," Mary said wishing to do this privately and not in front of Vin but this could not wait. "I can't stay at home waiting to find out if either you or Billy are safe. Please, I need to go and I promise you, I'll stay out of the way. I only want to be there when you talk to Betts." Her eyes implored him in that irresistible way she knew he could not ignore.
Vin tried not to smile as he watched Chris succumb to the lure of those blue-grey eyes. He agreed with Chris Mary should stay here in Four Corners where it was safe but Chris had as much chance of that happening as Vin had convincing Alex he should accompany the gunslinger to Eagle Bend.
"All right," Chris groaned, conceding defeat because she had a right to be there and he could not imagine anything worse than waiting around to hear if the two most important people in his life were living or not. "But once we get what we need from Betts, you are to go home, understand me?" His eyes met hers with burning intensity, which Mary returned in kind.
"Chris," she said properly riled by his superior tone of her voice. "You are not my lord and master, not yet."
"Mary..." Chris repeated, his voice starting to become just a little menacing.
"Okay," she grumbled. "I'll come home as soon as you've spoke to Mr Betts."
"Thank you." He sighed, wishing she did not have to make things so difficult sometimes.
"Hey pard?" Vin called out softly as Mary and Chris said their goodbyes to him and started out of the room. "Good luck."
Chris tipped his hat at the tracker. "We'll find Billy." He said with confidence he did not feel but needed to believe at the moment.
"I meant travelling together to Eagle Bend." Vin teased because the mood needed some alleviation from its present atmosphere of tension.
"I hope you get bedsores." Chris retorted and continued out but did so with a faint smile on his features.
Vin watched them go and told himself if neither returned by nightfall, he was sending Buck and the others after them. Even confined to this room, Vin was sure as hell not going to let Chris face that deranged bitch alone.
