Albert had never been so worried. Their plan had backfired and George was nowhere to be found. With him far away, the embezzler had free reign to take money directly from the bank's vault, totally unaccounted for. He hadn't even reached Miami on time to transfer the assets before they were taken. At this rate, the Ardleys were going to be bankrupt soon. He also didn't know where to reach Candy. His Lakewood driver was adamant that he didn't send her more letters because Elroy had sent spies to Lakewood and they were going to find out the next day that Candy was not in a hotel in Chicago. He felt he couldn't trust anyone and he felt lonelier than when he couldn't remember his name. He missed Candy, he missed working as a simple dishwasher, and he missed his animals. He had brought Popi with him and that was providing his only relief. The train was approaching Tallahassee and Albert needed to decide if to go forward or turn around. Popi woke up and jumped from his lap, and soon enough, left the train as soon as it stopped. Albert went after his skunk and the train left him behind.
George woke up, he was sitting down and tied to a chair. A man was standing guard.
-Hello, we need you to sign these documents and you'll be set free.
George looked in horror. His loyalty was set in stone and he'd never sign anything under duress, no matter what the documents said.
- Your boss will be captured as soon as he reaches Miami, and he won't be able to enter the bank, since we already have our people there. The sooner you sign, the sooner he gets released.
George remained silent. This henchman spilled very useful information. If he was speaking about the future, it meant that Albert had not been captured yet. There was hope, and with it, George simply closed his eyes and pretended to fall asleep again. He was not fooling anybody, he just needed to be left alone and indicated his lack of cooperation.
-Miss Candice, your breakfast is ready
-Thank you. When is the dressmaker coming?
-In about an hour
Hannah was getting desperate. It was fun at the beginning to sleep in such a luxury, but she wasn't allowed to go outside and the risk of being discovered was getting higher by the minute. She needed to escape before her constant dress complaints were discovered. But there was always someone at the door. The dressmaker was her only hope.
-May I come in?
Hannah turned around and found a young handsome man in front of her, his face turned furious.
-Where's Candy? Who are you?
-I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I tried to explain but nobody would listen!
Neal closed the door behind him and went to grab her by the arms, his veins bulging.
-All this time, it was you?
Hanna tried to get rid of him but his grab was too strong. Neal pushed her to the floor and called the bodyguards. They came and tied her down.
-She's just a commoner and she owes us a lot of money. Do as you please.
Hannah screamed but the bodyguards took her away. She was taken to the police station and arrested. Alone in a holding cell, she had no idea where to turn now. If they found out who she was, she'd never see the light of day again.
Eliza¿s cries were so loud, that she was transferred to a special room at St Joanna's.
-Don't worry, miss, you still have the family honor. That man was caught in time.
-I won't be able to get married! I'm dirty now! Mooommm!
-Don't worry Darling, we'll capture him. It's good that you always carried that lucky charm of yours, he got scared when he saw his blood and ran.
Do you know him from before?
-I'm trying Mother, but I can't place him. I know his face looked familiar.
-Doctors say you can go home now, all your wounds were tended to. There was no injury.
Elroy entered the room.
-I'm afraid we need to marry Eliza off with no time for delays. If anybody finds out she was in bed with a commoner, her value will drop.
-But aunt, she is not harmed. She wounded her attacker and he ran.
-I'm sorry but an Ardley girl shouldn't defend herself, what would a future husband think if he can't take his wife? that's even worse than her being dishonored! All the hospital knows that already, I don't know how we can contain it.
Eliza cried even louder
-Candy, you need to stay here, I don't want you to go away for another night
-But Tom, I still have 3 patient visits to make, and I already made dinner arrangements for tonight in South Bend.
-I can take you to your patients, then come back
-I need to keep moving,
-No, here I can protect you. They already think you left, so they won't come back
-But my dinner...
-Is it a man you are seeing?
-Just a friend I met at a bar last night
-And he followed you to Mary Jane's?
-Yes
-Then you are not safe there anymore. You can't know if he works for them
-Tom, you are very suspicious. He didn't know my name, he was just a random person that offered to pay for my food.
Tom was sweating hard, at that moment, Steve started coughing loudly and Candy went to attend to him.
Tom took advantage to go and speak to the driver. The minute he heard Candy had been out of the dorm and had met someone, he got alarmed. He promised to bring Candy back once her patients were done. He was worried that neither Albert nor George had communicated with him that day.