Chapter Twenty One

The streets of Stockton were fairly full as Heath made his way from the telegraph office to his brother's law office. When he opened the main door and walked in, Heath was surprised to see Jarrod's personal office door was wide open and Thaddeus Lindsey storming out of it. The man was in such a hurry to get out, that he didn't really see Heath. He simply rushed by him and out the front door. Heath watched as the door slammed shut and then entered his brother's office.

Upon hearing his footsteps he recognized to be Heath's, Jarrod looked up from the paper notes he was looking at and gave his blonde haired brother a cautious smile. "Find anything?"

"Found somethin' all right," Heath, who had originally come into town for some supplies, pulled a chair away from Jarrod's desk and sat down. "Only question is what. I was over at the hardware store, and Mr. Marks came in. He didn't see me as I was in the back aisle and he never even came close to me."

Going into a hardware store wasn't suspicious. "What did you hear?" Jarrod asked.

"It's not what I heard, it's what's I saw." Heath went on to explain that he could see through a small hole in the shelf, and that he'd seen Mr. Marks slip an envelope behind an item that sat against the wall closest to the front door. "Not two minutes after he left, that fellow that's been sleepin' down by the docks walked in, tried to act inconspicuous, but within a few minutes, he had the envelope and was out of the store." Heath finished and looked at Jarrod, as if waiting for something. He was and he got it.

Jarrod, who knew his brother well enough to know the man wouldn't just watch the man walk away, raised his eyebrow and asked, "Well? Where did he take it?"

"To a red headed gentleman who appeared to stand at least six feet tall down by the riverbank, he was loud too. I could hear him without a problem, and I wasn't all that close, had a thick Missouri accent. He up and rode off after taking the money." Heath answered, and then asked a question of his own. "What did Mr. Lindsey want?"

Jarrod looked at the papers in front of him once more, and then answered, "He wanted to know why I was defending the man who attempted to kill his boss."

Heath could tell by the look in Jarrod's eyes and the smirk on his face that his older brother wasn't buying the fact that it was concern for Mr. Marks that drove Mr. Lindsey to his office. "You think he was here for something else?" Heath asked as he leaned forward.

Jarrod turned the palms of his hands up. "Maybe," Jarrod sat back in his chair, "It's like I told you before, Georgia can back up what Mr. Branson told me. That is what he told me on my first visit." He stood up and walked over to the window. He could see the new bank from where he was standing. The more he thought on what Heath had just told him, the more he knew there was something staring him at the face. Only question was…what was it? It wasn't until Heath, who had tired of waiting for Jarrod to tell him how Georgia could back anything up, spoke that Jarrod turned away from the window.

"So, what does Georgia know and why isn't she here if she can be of help?" The moment Heath asked the question he knew the answer.

"I'm not going to lose her; that is, if I can do anything about it." Jarrod went on to explain what Georgia had told him. Just as he finished another memory came and Jarrod's eyes widened. He flipped around and startled Heath when he asked him to describe the red headed man he'd see the best that he could. Naturally, Heath complied.

~oOo~

While Jarrod and Heath were talking in Jarrod's office, their mother was standing in the living room of the apartment that Jarrod had retained for her and her daughter in law. Georgia was sitting in her chair next to the window. Since the woman continued to shake her head slightly every now and then, Victoria finally had enough and asked what was wrong.

"It feels as if history is repeating itself only instead of hiding with my husband, I'm hiding with my mother-in-law." She then turned and smiled at Victoria as she took a hold of the wheels on her chair and moved it from the side of the window to the side of the couch. "Nothing against you," Georgia chuckled and said, "There's just something wrong with that picture."

Victoria, who easily agreed with her daughter in law, started chuckling also as she sat down upon the couch and looked at Georgia. "Yes, I guess there is only," her voice choked up slightly, "losing you once almost killed Jarrod. I don't think he would survive losing you a second time, not to someone who might very well kill anyone who knows the tiniest part of his horrid history." She then turned the subject to that of Dr. Robert Clarke. "If anyone can help you, it is him."

Georgia sighed as she lowered her head just a little and started rubbing her forehead. Due to the fact that she did appreciate the fact that her husband and his family only wanted what was best for her, she did not want to say anything that would send the wrong message. This being the case, she chose her words carefully, praying she would succeed in saying the right thing. "I am only seeing him for Jarrod's sake, mother. I've heard of many things, but never anything that could make a person walk again, especially when there's been damage to their muscles."

Victoria agreed with her daughter in law; however, like the rest of the family she did not want one stone left unturned that might help her daughter in law. "I haven't either, but we don't know everything." Then, seeing how stressed Georgia was starting to feel, and understanding the young woman might very well be getting the message it did matter whether or not she walked again, Victoria changed topics once more. Soon the two women were relaxing and sharing a few laughs, both praying like crazy they would be able to go back to Stockton soon.