Chapter 11 – Final Hours
"We're beat, Kid. He's got us."
"What are you talkin' about? You'll figure a way outta this."
The two men were in their hotel room, Curry sitting by the window, cleaning his gun, and Heyes pacing slowly back and forth.
"Not this time. It's over."
Curry stood up and angrily stomped over to his partner. "You can't do that. You can't just quit."
Heyes looked wearily at his friend. "There's nothing else I can do. Ames is holding all the cards."
"No!" Curry said, so forcefully that Heyes took a step back. "I didn't quit when I had that hunk of metal in my shoulder." He paused for a moment and absently rubbed his arm as though the mere mention of it brought the pain back. "I didn't quit when I thought I couldn't sit on my horse one minute longer—but we had to ride." He took a step closer to Heyes. "I didn't quit when I thought I couldn't take another step, and you told me we were hoppin' a train." He leaned forward, his nose only an inch from the other man's. "I didn't quit when I hurt like hell but we had to keep runnin'—and I'm not gonna let you quit!" He finished by jabbing his finger into his partner's chest.
Heyes dropped his head. "I failed both of us, and Annabelle too," he muttered.
Curry's face darkened. "No, Heyes, it wasn't your fault, and it wasn't my fault. I spent some time feelin' guilty about gettin' shot, and I 'spose you've been feelin' guilty too, but the only person to blame for this is sittin' in that house on Nob Hill. If you're not gonna do somethin' about it—then I will!" He stood still, glaring at Heyes, letting the threat hang in the air.
"You can't just go and…"
"No? You just try and stop me."
"But everything we've been working for…"
"Will pretty much be over unless you figure out a way to get Annabelle out of Ames' clutches and put him out of business."
Heyes looked away and was silent for a few moments. Finally he looked back at Curry with some of his old confidence returning. "You're right, I'll figure it out." He glanced over at the stack of papers he had removed from Ames' safe and his face suddenly lit up. "Come on, Kid, we don't have any time to lose," he said, pulling on his coat and slipping the new derringer into his pocket.
"Where are we going?" Curry asked, skepticism showing on his face.
-oooOOOooo-
"So there you have it, Silky," Heyes said, with confidence. "That's the plan and all you have to do is tell them you have information about this item." He held out one of the papers he had brought with him.
The older man raised his eyebrows. "What if they ask me how I got this? I'm retired you know."
"They won't ask any questions. And remember, you will be helping the authorities. They'll probably thank you."
The former con artist's face showed surprise and incredulity. "Now, that's even worse. Ain't it?"
"Not really. Not when it's Thomas Ames you'll be hurting," Heyes answered.
Silky took the paper and studied it. When he was finished, the older man nodded. "I'll do it, but it's a long shot you know. It's gonna depend on a whole lot of things coming together all at the same time."
"I know," Heyes said, solemnly, "but it'll work. It has to."
"Where's Lee?" Curry cut in. "We expected him to be here too."
"Oh, he'll be along shortly. He went over to see that friend of his that does Ames' laundry. He said he might be able to get some more useful information."
Heyes smiled. "Silky, how did you ever find him?"
The older man laughed out loud. "You wouldn't believe it if I told you," he said, still laughing.
"Try us," Curry said.
"Well, I had just moved to San Francisco. I'd just retired you see, and the word sort of got out that I had a lot of money to spend. Well, he tried to con me. Me! It was one of my old ones—I spotted it right off. You remember the one where I would…"
The sound of a man clearing his throat loudly, stopped the conversation. "Excuse me, gentlemen," Lee said, as he entered the room.
Heyes and Curry turned and greeted Lee with broad smiles. "Well," Heyes said, barely containing his amusement. "I thought we had a lot in common."
"That was in my younger days," Lee said, looking uncomfortable.
"Younger? How old are you now, twenty-five?" Heyes laughed.
"Thirty," Lee responded, guardedly.
"Oh," Heyes looked surprised, but he continued to smile as he turned his attention back to Silky. "You had better get going, it might take some time for you to get in to see the right people."
"I'll take care of my part," Silky said, gruffly. "You just take care of yours."
"I will," Heyes replied. "What did you find out from Mr. Wu?" Heyes asked, returning to Lee.
Lee relaxed, and smiled. "You remembered my friend's name," he said, clearly impressed.
"Of course, I remember all important details," Heyes said. "Did he give you any helpful information?"
"I think so. He said Mr. Ames asked him to deliver a dress to a young woman staying at the," he paused for affect, "Regency Hotel. I think we can get her if we all go in together."
"No," Heyes said, quickly, "that's too risky, and Ames would still come after us—all of us, but I think we can use that. Can Wu handle taking Annabelle a message?"
Lee considered this. "No, it could be dangerous if anything goes wrong. I will take Wu's place. What do you want me to tell the woman?"
"Wait, a dress? Just what is he giving her a dress for?" Curry asked suddenly.
"For dinner at the Cliff House," Heyes said, simply.
"What kind of a job is he offering her?" Curry asked, his face darkening.
"Don't worry, Kid, it's not what you think. I read the telegram he sent. He told her that he's donating a lot of money to a new hospital for charity cases, and he wants her to be the spokeswoman—sort of a contact for fundraising and the like."
At the Kid's confused look, he continued. "Apparently she had been suggesting a sort of "free hospital" for poor folks back in Colorado and trying to get wealthy men interested in sponsoring it. Ames' man in Denver must have found out about it when he started asking around about her. The telegram said he had heard about her idea and wanted to start a hospital in San Francisco, so of course, she came without much questioning. I suppose she thinks she's meeting donors or something like that."
"She's in for quite a surprise," Curry said, finally understanding.
-oooOOOooo-
The knock at the door startled Annabelle Granger. She had been travelling for two days and was looking forward to a little time to relax and be alone to enjoy the comforts of the luxurious hotel room.
"Who's there?" she asked, reluctantly getting off of the bed and approaching the door.
"Just me, Miss Granger, I have something for you, from Mr. Thomas."
Recognizing the voice of the man who had met her at the train station and driven her to the hotel, she opened the door. "What is it, Mr. Lewis?" she began, and was surprised to see a small Chinese man standing next to the man who had been introduced her as James Thomas' assistant.
"I'm sorry to bother you, ma'am, but Mr. Thomas sent a dress for you to wear tonight at dinner. This man will make any necessary tailoring adjustments if it doesn't fit you properly," Lewis explained.
"Well, that really wasn't necessary. I do have a dress," Annabelle said uneasily.
Lewis merely shrugged and motioned for "Wu" to hand over the dress.
"You tie on, den I see," Lee said, feigning a thick Chinese accent and holding up what appeared to be a sewing kit.
"Alright," Annabelle said, quietly closing the door on the two men.
After a few minutes she opened the door, looking stunning in the fashionable emerald green dress.
"It's perfect," she said, and smiled, waiting for the men to leave.
"No, no," Lee said, quickly. "I make better. I fix." He pushed by Lewis, pulling out a tape measure, and closed the door behind him.
He put his to finger to his lips and quickly led her away from the door. "Don't be afraid," he whispered, "and don't say anything. I have a message for you from Mr. Heyes."
Annabelle's eyes flew open in alarm.
"It's okay. I'm a friend," Lee added quickly.
"You're in danger, and so are Hannibal Heyes and Kid Curry, but I'm going to tell you what you need to do."
"I don't understand," Annabelle whispered back.
"James Thomas is really Thomas Ames, and he's brought you here as a trick to kill Mr. Heyes and Mr. Curry."
"No, that isn't possible, I mean…" Annabelle's eyes filled with confusion and fear.
"Mr. Heyes has a plan," Lee told her, calmly. "Please listen, it's very important." He pulled a small box from his pocket and opened it, handing her the contents.
-oooOOOooo-
"Now, all we can do is wait," Heyes said, nervously, sipping from a crystal brandy snifter.
"That's always the hardest part," Silky observed, and nodded knowingly. He was seated across from Heyes in a large floral printed arm chair. "Would you sit down?" he scolded, addressing Curry who had been peering absently out of the window.
"I just hope nothing went wrong with Lee's piece of the plan," Curry muttered.
"Lee knows what he's doing, and if what you've told me about this girl is right, she'll play along."
All three men looked up suddenly as Lee entered the room. He smiled when he saw the question on all of their faces. "Everything went just like we planned," he said, not concealing his pride. "Even Ames didn't know I was not Wu."
"What?" Heyes exclaimed. "I thought you were going to switch places with Wu after he got the dress from Ames."
"Couldn't," Lee shrugged. "Lewis was there the whole time. There was no way to switch, so I just went in to get the dress."
"And Annabelle?" Curry asked.
"She's fine. A little confused, but she'll do what you said."
"Good," Heyes said, looking much more relaxed.
"And you had success?" Lee asked, looking at Heyes.
"Oh, sure, no problem at all."
Curry shot Heyes a look that said "You've got to be kidding me," but said nothing.
"Well, sure, it was a little harder to break in in broad daylight, but no problem." He turned to Curry. "You told me to get a plan," he said, with a shrug.
Curry looked back incredulously. "I didn't say break in to Ames' study while he was having lunch in the dining room, did I?"
"Well, you didn't have a better plan."
Curry sighed in defeat. "I know, Heyes, it's just that your plans are killin' me." He regretted the words as soon as they had left his mouth, realizing how Heyes would take it. "Hey, I didn't mean…"
"Yeah, Kid, I know," Heyes said, the weight of the situation showing in his face.
"Anybody for a game of Bridge? We have almost two hours before Ames is due at the Cliff House," Silky said brightly.