Chapter Twenty-Five

When Adam arrived in San Francisco, he hired a carriage to take him to the police station. Even though it was late in the evening, he still found a line of person after person reporting a theft, a beating, a drunken brawl…it went on and on.

He grabbed an officer who was hurrying by. "I'm Adam Cartwright. The sheriff in Folsom sent a telegram. My wife has been kidnapped."

The officer looked him up and down, eyeing him to see why this man thought he was special.

"She was taken by Chinese men."

This seemed to grab the young man's attention as he stood up straight, raising his eyebrows. "Come with me." Adam followed the policeman into an office. "Please take a seat. The chief will be with you in a moment." With that, the young man rushed out the door, leaving Adam standing with his hat in his hand, looking around the room. He didn't want to sit down. He'd been sitting or lying in his small berth the better part of the last day. He needed to do something or at least know something more than he already did.

It seemed like an eternity before the office door opened. The man that entered was an older man with a weathered, tired face. Adam could imagine that as the head of the San Francisco Police Department, this man's job had never been an easy one.

"Mr. Cartwright," he said, extending his hand. "I'm Chief James Curtis." Adam shook the man's hand. "Please, Mr. Cartwright, sit down." Adam did as he was requested, crossing his legs and placing his hat on his knee. "I was disturbed by the telegram we received from Folsom regarding your wife. I sent some officers into Chinatown, hoping they might hear something, but nothing firm has turned up yet. Can I offer you a drink, Mr. Cartwright, perhaps some coffee?"

Adam breathed deeply, struggling with the need to jump across the desk and take the man by his collar, asking why he didn't have officers searching every building in Chinatown. He already knew the answer…restraint was in order. "A cup of coffee would be fine, thank you."

Chief Curtis made his way across the room to the coffee pot on the stove. "Mr. Cartwright, I have to be honest. Scores of women are forced into prostitution in this city every day. Even the men aren't safe. I'm sure you've heard of Shanghai." Adam nodded. "But this one is no ordinary kidnapping. Most of the women who are taken are taken right here in the city. You're wife was taken from a good distance, and I understand there were two more women traveling with her that were taken from further away."

"I don't know anything about the other two women, Chief, other than they also had long, blonde hair."

"Your sheriff friend from Folsom seems to think there was more to your wife than just her blonde hair. He mentioned she seemed more valuable to the Chinamen. Why would that be, Mr. Cartwright?"

Adam bent his head into his hand and rubbed his forehead. Her eyes were certainly the first thing he noticed once she opened them. Everyone noticed them the first time they met her…they were always unable to stop staring. The fact remained, even though they were…different…they were beautiful. "My wife has unusual eyes."

"I've seen the bluest, the greenest, the most luminous eyes in my day, Mr. Cartwright. What is so unusual about her eyes?"

"One is green, like the trees in a forest. The other is amber, the color of a hay field in the sunshine. It matches her hair."

Chief Curtis sighed heavily. "Well, we certainly would have been able to identify her if we had found her."

Adam sat up in the chair, noticing the chief had spoken in past tense. "Do you know something you haven't told me?"

"I'm afraid I do, Mr. Cartwright. It would seem there has been a fast moving rumor traveling through Chinatown today. It would appear that a woman with yellow-green eyes has brought the highest price ever paid in Chinatown. And she's already left San Francisco."

Adam jumped to his feet, his heart racing. "Going where?"

"Parts unknown, I'm afraid."