LOST AND FOUND - PART IX
AFTER SHOCKS
Chapter 77
Hoss paused at the head of the backstairs when the smell of coffee brewing wafted up the stairwell. He sighed and slowly made his way down, feeling both physically and emotionally drained by the deeply disturbing events of the day.
John was standing at the stove when he stepped into the kitchen and the fresh-faced deputy turned to give him a welcoming smile.
"Hey Hoss," he said in hushed tones. "Is everybody all right up there?" he asked and his clear blue eyes brightened when Hoss nodded. He reached up to take down a large ironstone mug and filled it with coffee before setting it down on the table for him.
"Thanks," Hoss said quietly as he sat down and took a swallow of the hot, rich liquid.
John just gave him another smile and went back to poking around in the kitchen, gathering together what he could find to cook. Soon, he had skillets on the stove filled with ham and eggs and was slicing bread. He set jars of preserves and a crock of butter on the table then went back to the stove.
Hoss had been sitting there with his head down, thinking about the story Adam had told. "John," he said low and the young man looked at him over his shoulder.
"What?"
"Tell me about Joan."
The deputy's expression turned solemn and guarded before he turned his head away. He didn't speak for a few moments and the other man just waited, assuming John was gathering his thoughts.
"Well, there's not much to tell. I sort of knew her when we were all working out of Pinkerton's office in Chicago. But now that I think about it, nobody really knew anything about her. She was always quiet and had this ability to blend into the background so no one noticed her. That's a great advantage to have in our line of work."
Hoss nodded his agreement and then realized the deputy wasn't looking at him. "I bet," he said and waited for John to continue.
"She never talked about anything personal, so a lot of people speculated about her family and past life. No one seemed to have the nerve to ask her outright, if you know what I mean." The big man didn't bother responding this time.
"Probably the only person who does know anything about her is Pinkerton, and he's not the sort to pass on information like that. Although he would have had to check into her background before hiring her." He came to put a filled plate down in front of Hoss and went to get silverware for him.
Then he sat down across the table with a mug of coffee in his hands and looked Hoss in the eye. "That's pretty much it, but I think I can trust you not to tell anyone this - I've always felt that there was something not quite right about her." Shaking his head, his eyes met Hoss's honestly.
"I can't tell you why, I've just always felt that way."
Hoss nodded in agreement, his eyes narrowing as he carefully thought that over when they heard a whimper near the back stairs. Fred rushed into the room to grab Hoss's pant leg and tugged on it.
"What's the matter with him?" John asked and the other man shook his head.
"I don't know, but somethin's got him pretty upset."
Fred let go of his pant leg, jumped up into his lap, and stretched up with his paws on Hoss's chest to yap in his face. Then he jumped down and trotted off toward the back stairs.
"Guess we better go see," Hoss said and stood to follow the little dog. John was right behind him.
Fred streaked up the stairs and stopped at the head to look down at them and bark impatiently.
When the men reached the top he took off down the hall and around to the closed nursery door. He scratched at it and whined, his long thin tail whipping in the air.
Hoss opened the door and both men heard thumping and faint whimpering coming from the closet. The tiny dog scratched at that door too while Hoss hurried to light a lamp and John tried to open the door.
"Hmmm.it's locked," he said and gave Hoss a quick glance over his shoulder. "Don't tell anyone I did this," he said and pulled a long thin wallet out of an inner pocket of his suit coat and opened it to reveal a set of lock picks. "These things aren't exactly legal."
Chuckling, Hoss watched with interest as the smaller man took out two and carefully inserted them in the keyhole. In a few seconds the lock clicked. He put the picks away and was turning the knob when Hoss suddenly caught a whiff of a strange but vaguely familiar smell.
He quickly blew the lamp out and reached over John's head to keep him from pulling the door open.
"Don't! Can't you smell that?" he said when John looked up at him, puzzled.
The young deputy took a quick step back. "What is it?"
"Chloroform," Hoss answered shortly and went to the other side of the room to put the lamp back on the bureau. Then he went to open both windows.
"You go on out into the hall," he ordered and John quickly obeyed with Fred trotting out after him. He heard Hoss take a deep breath, and then open the closet door. He came out into the hall a few seconds later and pulled the door shut behind him.
"Gotta wait a little while for those fumes to clear," he said and the smaller man nodded.
"Should we get Adam?" he asked and Hoss shook his head.
"Nope, we can handle this," he answered firmly and both men looked down when Fred let out a sharp yap, as though agreeing. Laughing softly, Hoss bent down to pick him up and the little dog quickly settled himself on the man's wide shoulder.
They waited in silence for a while listening to the sounds coming from the closet increase. When he thought they had waited long enough, Hoss opened the door and took a cautious breath.
"All clear," he said and went to light the lamp again while John stayed out of the way by the door.
The big man moved toward the closet and John heard him let out an angry sigh. He hurried in and saw Balor and Minnie panting heavily and shaking as they tried to get to their feet.
Hoss quickly handed the lamp to him and went down on one knee to put a hand on each dog's head. "Take it easy now," he said soothingly and both dogs pulled themselves closer to him on their bellies. He stroked their heads and Minnie leaned into him while Balor turned his head to the side, trying to lick his hand.
John raised the lamp a little higher when a sparkle by the back wall caught his eye. He stepped a little closer as Hoss continued to speak softly to the dogs. Then he noticed a faint stain on the back wall and realized what must have happened.
"So that's how they did it," he said under his breath and Hoss glanced up at him.
"What?"
The deputy nodded toward the back of closet. "Looks like they got the dogs in here somehow and threw a bottle of chloroform at the back wall. See the stain and the broken glass?"
Hoss squinted at the blot and then nodded his head slowly. "Pretty smart, huh?" he said, his tone filled with disgust. "No doubt they figured it would kill them."
"No doubt," John agreed and stepped back when Balor tried to get to his feet again. Hoss helped and the huge dog made it this time, his legs shaking badly at first. Then he put his head down to nudge Minnie with his nose and she staggered to her feet.
John stepped back and Hoss rose to get out of the way as the two dogs carefully walked out of the closet, through the room, and into the hall.
They stood there for a few seconds, blinking in the brightly lit hallway then hurried as fast as they could toward the back stairs.
Hoss chuckled, glad now that he knew the animals would be all right. "Better get down there and let them out," he said and John laughed too as he blew out the lamp, put it back, and followed.
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In the small hours of the morning Adam jerked awake from a light doze when he heard Thomas whimper in his sleep. The boy had rolled away from Thea in his sleep and she instinctively reached out to pull him back into her arms. She patted his back gently, her eyes only opening part way as she hummed softly to him.
Adam stiffly got to his feet and carefully leaned over the bed to kiss them both and quietly slipped out. He was already on his way down the hall when he suddenly realized he had seen Minnie and Balor lying on either side of the door. Turning around he softly called their names and the two dogs came to him with their heads and tails down.
"What happened to you two?" he said quietly as he went down on one knee and reached to scratch them under the chin. Then he smelled faint traces of that pungent odor. Bending his head down, he took a deeper breath and recognized the smell.
Making a disgusted sound in the back of his throat he continued petting the dogs for a few moments and wondered how they had been knocked out with chloroform. "Don't feel too bad," he said quietly, "this one outsmarted everybody." The dogs seemed to understand what he was saying because their tails came up and began to wag as he got to his feet.
"OK, now back to your posts," he ordered and both dogs trotted off toward the bedroom door.
Shaking his head he made his way downstairs. Hearing voices in the kitchen he turned that way, intending to ask about Joan, but stopped abruptly when he heard Nate's voice saying, "Are you going to wait to show Adam in the morning?"
"I'm thinkin' I shouldn't wait that long," Ted answered.
"Why? Hasn't he been through enough today? Let him rest," Ben said firmly.
"I know, but the mornin' may be too late." the young doctor was arguing as Adam stepped into the room.
"Show me what?" he said and everyone seated at the table turned in his direction. Ted stood before answering.
"Albrecht's body."
"What about it?" Adam's tone was slightly impatient and his brother-in-law came to take his arm.
"Just come and look," Ted said and tugged him back into the hallway. He let go of Adam's arm when they reached the examining room door, opened it, and stepped back to let the other man go in first.
The sheet covering the body was badly bloodstained and Adam frowned at that as he slowly moved toward the table.
"Brace yourself," the doctor cautioned and threw the sheet back.
Adam winced and had to turn his head away when the eviscerated corpse was revealed.
"What the hell happened?" he breathed and forced himself to look again.
"I don't know...I mean I KNOW what happened, but not how or who if you get my meanin'" Ted answered quietly.
"I do get your meaning..." Adam was saying when his brain finally made the connection. He closed his eyes and groaned as his face turned white, "Dear God..."
Alarmed, Ted came to take him by the upper arms, led him to a chair, and pushed him down into it. "Do I need to get the smelling salts out again?" he asked and the other man shook his head.
"No...no, I'll be all right," Adam assured him faintly and opened his eyes. The doctor almost winced at the anguish he saw there.
"What is it?"
Adam stared at him bleakly for a few moments before answering. "Joan is Hunter," he choked out and Ted's eyes widened. "I don't understand," he said.
"Do you remember the story of how Albrecht got that scar on his cheek?"
Nodding, the other man crouched down and reached to take Adam's pulse, his brows furrowed in a worried frown.
"Hunter did that and warned him if anything else happened to me he would be 'gutted like a fresh kill'."
"How could she have done somethin' like that in her condition?"
"I can't believe I forgot to ask! How is she?"
"Alive," the doctor informed him while pulling down his bottom eyelid, trying to take a close look at his eyes. But Adam leaned back and pushed his hand away.
"I'm fine," he said a little impatiently. "Where is she?"
"In the recovery room," Ted said and straightened up when the other man stood.
"Is she awake?"
"Probably, she was a little while ago."
Adam walked around him and started for the connecting door. Ted watched him go, and then stepped up to the table again, grimacing with disgust. He stood there looking down into the dead man's face.
"You deserved worse than this," he said softly, his eyes glinting for a second with green fire, and then he turned away to gather the suture materials he would need to put the body back together enough for burial.
AFTER SHOCKS
Chapter 77
Hoss paused at the head of the backstairs when the smell of coffee brewing wafted up the stairwell. He sighed and slowly made his way down, feeling both physically and emotionally drained by the deeply disturbing events of the day.
John was standing at the stove when he stepped into the kitchen and the fresh-faced deputy turned to give him a welcoming smile.
"Hey Hoss," he said in hushed tones. "Is everybody all right up there?" he asked and his clear blue eyes brightened when Hoss nodded. He reached up to take down a large ironstone mug and filled it with coffee before setting it down on the table for him.
"Thanks," Hoss said quietly as he sat down and took a swallow of the hot, rich liquid.
John just gave him another smile and went back to poking around in the kitchen, gathering together what he could find to cook. Soon, he had skillets on the stove filled with ham and eggs and was slicing bread. He set jars of preserves and a crock of butter on the table then went back to the stove.
Hoss had been sitting there with his head down, thinking about the story Adam had told. "John," he said low and the young man looked at him over his shoulder.
"What?"
"Tell me about Joan."
The deputy's expression turned solemn and guarded before he turned his head away. He didn't speak for a few moments and the other man just waited, assuming John was gathering his thoughts.
"Well, there's not much to tell. I sort of knew her when we were all working out of Pinkerton's office in Chicago. But now that I think about it, nobody really knew anything about her. She was always quiet and had this ability to blend into the background so no one noticed her. That's a great advantage to have in our line of work."
Hoss nodded his agreement and then realized the deputy wasn't looking at him. "I bet," he said and waited for John to continue.
"She never talked about anything personal, so a lot of people speculated about her family and past life. No one seemed to have the nerve to ask her outright, if you know what I mean." The big man didn't bother responding this time.
"Probably the only person who does know anything about her is Pinkerton, and he's not the sort to pass on information like that. Although he would have had to check into her background before hiring her." He came to put a filled plate down in front of Hoss and went to get silverware for him.
Then he sat down across the table with a mug of coffee in his hands and looked Hoss in the eye. "That's pretty much it, but I think I can trust you not to tell anyone this - I've always felt that there was something not quite right about her." Shaking his head, his eyes met Hoss's honestly.
"I can't tell you why, I've just always felt that way."
Hoss nodded in agreement, his eyes narrowing as he carefully thought that over when they heard a whimper near the back stairs. Fred rushed into the room to grab Hoss's pant leg and tugged on it.
"What's the matter with him?" John asked and the other man shook his head.
"I don't know, but somethin's got him pretty upset."
Fred let go of his pant leg, jumped up into his lap, and stretched up with his paws on Hoss's chest to yap in his face. Then he jumped down and trotted off toward the back stairs.
"Guess we better go see," Hoss said and stood to follow the little dog. John was right behind him.
Fred streaked up the stairs and stopped at the head to look down at them and bark impatiently.
When the men reached the top he took off down the hall and around to the closed nursery door. He scratched at it and whined, his long thin tail whipping in the air.
Hoss opened the door and both men heard thumping and faint whimpering coming from the closet. The tiny dog scratched at that door too while Hoss hurried to light a lamp and John tried to open the door.
"Hmmm.it's locked," he said and gave Hoss a quick glance over his shoulder. "Don't tell anyone I did this," he said and pulled a long thin wallet out of an inner pocket of his suit coat and opened it to reveal a set of lock picks. "These things aren't exactly legal."
Chuckling, Hoss watched with interest as the smaller man took out two and carefully inserted them in the keyhole. In a few seconds the lock clicked. He put the picks away and was turning the knob when Hoss suddenly caught a whiff of a strange but vaguely familiar smell.
He quickly blew the lamp out and reached over John's head to keep him from pulling the door open.
"Don't! Can't you smell that?" he said when John looked up at him, puzzled.
The young deputy took a quick step back. "What is it?"
"Chloroform," Hoss answered shortly and went to the other side of the room to put the lamp back on the bureau. Then he went to open both windows.
"You go on out into the hall," he ordered and John quickly obeyed with Fred trotting out after him. He heard Hoss take a deep breath, and then open the closet door. He came out into the hall a few seconds later and pulled the door shut behind him.
"Gotta wait a little while for those fumes to clear," he said and the smaller man nodded.
"Should we get Adam?" he asked and Hoss shook his head.
"Nope, we can handle this," he answered firmly and both men looked down when Fred let out a sharp yap, as though agreeing. Laughing softly, Hoss bent down to pick him up and the little dog quickly settled himself on the man's wide shoulder.
They waited in silence for a while listening to the sounds coming from the closet increase. When he thought they had waited long enough, Hoss opened the door and took a cautious breath.
"All clear," he said and went to light the lamp again while John stayed out of the way by the door.
The big man moved toward the closet and John heard him let out an angry sigh. He hurried in and saw Balor and Minnie panting heavily and shaking as they tried to get to their feet.
Hoss quickly handed the lamp to him and went down on one knee to put a hand on each dog's head. "Take it easy now," he said soothingly and both dogs pulled themselves closer to him on their bellies. He stroked their heads and Minnie leaned into him while Balor turned his head to the side, trying to lick his hand.
John raised the lamp a little higher when a sparkle by the back wall caught his eye. He stepped a little closer as Hoss continued to speak softly to the dogs. Then he noticed a faint stain on the back wall and realized what must have happened.
"So that's how they did it," he said under his breath and Hoss glanced up at him.
"What?"
The deputy nodded toward the back of closet. "Looks like they got the dogs in here somehow and threw a bottle of chloroform at the back wall. See the stain and the broken glass?"
Hoss squinted at the blot and then nodded his head slowly. "Pretty smart, huh?" he said, his tone filled with disgust. "No doubt they figured it would kill them."
"No doubt," John agreed and stepped back when Balor tried to get to his feet again. Hoss helped and the huge dog made it this time, his legs shaking badly at first. Then he put his head down to nudge Minnie with his nose and she staggered to her feet.
John stepped back and Hoss rose to get out of the way as the two dogs carefully walked out of the closet, through the room, and into the hall.
They stood there for a few seconds, blinking in the brightly lit hallway then hurried as fast as they could toward the back stairs.
Hoss chuckled, glad now that he knew the animals would be all right. "Better get down there and let them out," he said and John laughed too as he blew out the lamp, put it back, and followed.
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In the small hours of the morning Adam jerked awake from a light doze when he heard Thomas whimper in his sleep. The boy had rolled away from Thea in his sleep and she instinctively reached out to pull him back into her arms. She patted his back gently, her eyes only opening part way as she hummed softly to him.
Adam stiffly got to his feet and carefully leaned over the bed to kiss them both and quietly slipped out. He was already on his way down the hall when he suddenly realized he had seen Minnie and Balor lying on either side of the door. Turning around he softly called their names and the two dogs came to him with their heads and tails down.
"What happened to you two?" he said quietly as he went down on one knee and reached to scratch them under the chin. Then he smelled faint traces of that pungent odor. Bending his head down, he took a deeper breath and recognized the smell.
Making a disgusted sound in the back of his throat he continued petting the dogs for a few moments and wondered how they had been knocked out with chloroform. "Don't feel too bad," he said quietly, "this one outsmarted everybody." The dogs seemed to understand what he was saying because their tails came up and began to wag as he got to his feet.
"OK, now back to your posts," he ordered and both dogs trotted off toward the bedroom door.
Shaking his head he made his way downstairs. Hearing voices in the kitchen he turned that way, intending to ask about Joan, but stopped abruptly when he heard Nate's voice saying, "Are you going to wait to show Adam in the morning?"
"I'm thinkin' I shouldn't wait that long," Ted answered.
"Why? Hasn't he been through enough today? Let him rest," Ben said firmly.
"I know, but the mornin' may be too late." the young doctor was arguing as Adam stepped into the room.
"Show me what?" he said and everyone seated at the table turned in his direction. Ted stood before answering.
"Albrecht's body."
"What about it?" Adam's tone was slightly impatient and his brother-in-law came to take his arm.
"Just come and look," Ted said and tugged him back into the hallway. He let go of Adam's arm when they reached the examining room door, opened it, and stepped back to let the other man go in first.
The sheet covering the body was badly bloodstained and Adam frowned at that as he slowly moved toward the table.
"Brace yourself," the doctor cautioned and threw the sheet back.
Adam winced and had to turn his head away when the eviscerated corpse was revealed.
"What the hell happened?" he breathed and forced himself to look again.
"I don't know...I mean I KNOW what happened, but not how or who if you get my meanin'" Ted answered quietly.
"I do get your meaning..." Adam was saying when his brain finally made the connection. He closed his eyes and groaned as his face turned white, "Dear God..."
Alarmed, Ted came to take him by the upper arms, led him to a chair, and pushed him down into it. "Do I need to get the smelling salts out again?" he asked and the other man shook his head.
"No...no, I'll be all right," Adam assured him faintly and opened his eyes. The doctor almost winced at the anguish he saw there.
"What is it?"
Adam stared at him bleakly for a few moments before answering. "Joan is Hunter," he choked out and Ted's eyes widened. "I don't understand," he said.
"Do you remember the story of how Albrecht got that scar on his cheek?"
Nodding, the other man crouched down and reached to take Adam's pulse, his brows furrowed in a worried frown.
"Hunter did that and warned him if anything else happened to me he would be 'gutted like a fresh kill'."
"How could she have done somethin' like that in her condition?"
"I can't believe I forgot to ask! How is she?"
"Alive," the doctor informed him while pulling down his bottom eyelid, trying to take a close look at his eyes. But Adam leaned back and pushed his hand away.
"I'm fine," he said a little impatiently. "Where is she?"
"In the recovery room," Ted said and straightened up when the other man stood.
"Is she awake?"
"Probably, she was a little while ago."
Adam walked around him and started for the connecting door. Ted watched him go, and then stepped up to the table again, grimacing with disgust. He stood there looking down into the dead man's face.
"You deserved worse than this," he said softly, his eyes glinting for a second with green fire, and then he turned away to gather the suture materials he would need to put the body back together enough for burial.