CHAPTER 6

At 7 in the morning, a new nurse arrived. She came over to Elizabeth and touched her shoulder. "Miss Thatcher?" Elizabeth looked up. "Is there anything I can get you?" The nurse looked at her with the kindness and compassion of an angel, but with great concern in her eyes.

"No, thank you," Elizabeth responded weakly.

"Well, if you do need anything, just let me know, okay? My name is Faith."

Elizabeth nodded. Wait. Faith. "Faith. Are you friends with Jack?"

"Yes, I am. I was his brother Tom's nurse after the auto accident." Faith gently replied. She touched Elizabeth's shoulder. "Again, let me know if you need anything, all right?"

Elizabeth turned her head up. She saw the concern in Faith's eyes. She smiled slightly and said, "Thank you, I will." She returned her attention back to Jack.

Faith looked at the two of them and quietly left the room. She said a little prayer as she exited.

William Thatcher had gone to work early the next morning. Charles came in an hour later, and entered the office. "Good morning, Sir! How are you doing?"

"Well, things could be better." He greeted Charles with a handshake. William also made a point to take ahold of Charles' left shoulder. He saw Charles grimace. This confirmed what Elizabeth had told him, not that he doubted her, but she WAS pretty emotional. "What's wrong?" William asked the younger man.

"Oh, just an old injury acting up."

"You should get that looked at."

"Yes, I suppose I should," Charles smiled.

"Charles, I've known you since you were a young boy. My family and I have always thought highly of you and considered you a worthy suitor for Elizabeth."

"Thank you, sir!" Charles flashed his charming smile. Was William going to arrange a marriage between him and Elizabeth? How could life get any better? He had found a way to make millions of dollars, had shot the man who was preventing him from marrying a rich beautiful woman, and had heard in the night that that man had died, Superintendent Houston had escaped, and now he was about to get a bride. He was in the clear. "I've always felt a part of the family, and would love nothing more than to marry Elizabeth if I have your blessing."

"You are someone I've always put my trust in." Charles smiled. "However," William's mouth turned into a frown. "I've been doing some checking into the company books. Things don't look right, and well, it all leads back to you."

Charles was stunned. How could William have caught on? Charles had been careful. He frowned. Just play innocent, he told himself…you can get through this. "What do you mean, sir?" he asked aloud.

William looked at him in anger. "I trusted you like a son, and you betrayed me. You betrayed my daughter. And I KNOW what happened last night! I don't take that lightly. Constables!" Patrick O'Reilly and another Mountie entered. "Please arrest this man now."

Charles stood and tried to protest. "William, you don't know what you're doing. It's not me!"

William turned away. "Get him out of my sight!"

Patrick took him into custody and added, "You're also under arrest for the attempted murder of Constable Jack Thornton."

"Attempted murder? What? Thornton's alive? But…they said he was dead!" With that, Charles Kensington realized he had just given himself away. He was promptly taken away in handcuffs.

Later at the hospital William Thatcher quietly shared with Elizabeth what he had discovered.

"It seems Charles began to love money too much. His family has slowly been struggling financially over recent years. My dear, it was mainly for that reason that Charles had recently begun to pursue you, although I do believe he truly cared for you as well. When Jack remained in your life, Charles began looking for other ways to make money if a marriage to you did not work out. It was Jack's persistence and investigation that brought to light the counterfeiting scheme, even though Jack didn't know of Charles' involvement.

"After you told me about Charles, I used my contacts to arrange to make sure word got back to him that Jack had died and the other man involved had escaped. All a ruse of course, so Charles would think he was in the clear. I also had my accountants, through the night, check further into some inaccuracies they had discovered recently. Charles has been stealing money from the company. Elizabeth, I am so sorry I did not trust you about Jack. I can tell how much you love each other. He's a good man, and deserving of you. I will no longer stand in the way."

Tears rolled down her cheeks as Elizabeth gave her father a big hug. "Thank you, Father. That means everything to me. He's just got to make it through this," she said. "I don't know what I'd do without him."

To be continued...