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Chapter Thirty-two

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Expected and Unexpected

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"Yes, Bill, I saw it on my rounds. It's parked in the woods near Elizabeth's row house. Nathan is taking up surveillance from the Coulter's home and I need to have these warrants signed so I can arrest Bouchard as soon as Elizabeth is back from school. Rosemary knows to take Jack if Elizabeth is not up to caring for him so I think we have all our bases covered."

Gabe continued, "Oh, Kevin assisted me to get Cal settled back in his apartment, so Cal will be present in the jail building overnight."

"Good." As Bill signed the documents, he inquired, "How is Cal feeling?"

"He's grateful to be upright and able to hobble around. Faith set his leg in a plaster cast and had him practice walking with crutches yesterday and today, so he is okay for short distances." Gabe reached for the warrants that Bill extended to him and waved them in the air voicing, "Thanks for these."

"You okay handling this alone? I can sit outside in the car or go in with you." Bill expressed another idea, "Actually, maybe I could sit on the back steps should he try to run for it."

"Not a bad idea, but are you up to it, Bill? This hasn't been the week of rest the doctor ordered."

"I am. Are you heading there now? Let me get my weapon and I can take my vehicle and leave it parked at Nathan's as well. I'll dress warmly. Can you fill my canteen with the coffee left on the stove while I get ready?"

"Sure. You have time, Bill. Last time I saw Bouchard visit Elizabeth it was following Laura's departure after school."


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Plastered against the side of Elizabeth's house, Constable Gabriel Kinslow listened attentively, his weapon in his hand hanging by his side. He heard Elizabeth and Laura exchange their goodbyes and shut the front door, so he awaited the arrival of Lucas Bouchard. Hearing heavy footsteps on the porch steps and a quiet knock, Gabe heard the door open and Elizabeth exclaim, "Lucas!"

Gabe signaled Nathan in the Coulters' window who then signaled Bill by closing the curtains. Gabe held his pistol ready and silently moved around the corner of the house and up to the front door. He knocked.

Opening the door slowly, Elizabeth was ready to speak until she saw Gabriel silence her as he pushed the door open and made a quick survey of the room not seeing the man he sought.

"Where is he? Where is Lucas?"

Following Little Jack's wide-eyed glance, Gabriel immediately knew Lucas was hiding behind an upholstered chair. With swift steps, Gabe stood beside the crouched figure. "Lucas Bouchard. Stand up with your hands in the air. You are under arrest for…"

Lucas rose and made a quick move towards the back door, but Gabe had his gun poised and had swiftly caught the man's arm as he reached behind his back. Escape foiled, Lucas protested loudly, "What do you think you are doing? All I've done is lost my business and you are arresting me for that? You are going to be sorry for…"

"Save it, Bouchard."

Within seconds, Gabe had snapped the handcuffs closed and called out, "Bill? Come in now."

Bill stepped through the back door even as Nathan opened the front door, both with guns drawn and aimed at Lucas.

His voice low and calm, Nathan instructed Elizabeth, "Take Jack outside to Rosemary. She is waiting. We need you to stay here though. Now, Elizabeth, please."

Having been frozen in place, Elizabeth finally moved, pushing her son towards the open door and grabbing his coat from the rack. Tears came immediately as Jack gripped his mother's skirt. "Mommy, are you okay?"

Nodding, Elizabeth whispered, "Go, Jack." She began to cry herself while trying to release her son's grip.

Knowing Gabe and Bill had the situation in hand, Nathan holstered his pistol and knelt beside Jack. "Your mother will be fine, Jack. We all need to talk to Mr. Bouchard because he has done some bad things. Please go with your Aunt Rosie for a while, okay? She'll keep you while we grownups talk in here. Can you do that for me?"

"You'll take care of Mommy, right?" Jack's pleading voice broke the hearts of all within earshot, save for one who growled, ready to make a snide comment about Nathan Grant until the hard weapon poked deeper into his ribs.

As Jack exited into Rosemary's open arms, Nathan stood, nodded and closed the door.

"To the settee please, Elizabeth?" His inflection sounded like a question, but his tone was firm and directive. He motioned to the sofa.

Attention refocused on Lucas as Gabe removed the pistol tucked into Lucas's waistband, pocketed it then patted him down in search of additional weapons. Satisfied, Gabe nudged Lucas towards the dining room chair. "Sit."

While Bill kept his gun drawn on the criminal, Gabe began the litany of offences.

"Your days of freedom are over, Bouchard. You are under arrest for theft, falsifying documents, forgery, tax evasion, fraud, operating an illegal business, selling alcohol without a valid license, selling alcohol during prohibition, operating an establishment open to the public without insurance, child abuse… The list goes on."

Hardly able to voice her words, Elizabeth gulped, "What is going on?"

"Nathan, will you explain the information we learned this morning?" Bill requested as he sat beside Lucas at the dining table.

Gabe kept his pistol poked into Lucas's back.

Nathan took a seat beside Elizabeth and, watching her closely, began, "Elizabeth? I regret to inform you, but Lucas has swindled you out of Jack's property. By producing a falsified marriage certificate in Union City he transferred the title to his own name, then sold it for a profit. That is why the government seized the land…"

Elizabeth cried out, "Nooo…" as she covered her face and sobbed. "That was Jack's…"

As the information began to take hold, Elizabeth's anger rose and she stood and marched to the dining room. "You stole the legacy Jack left to me. That land was precious to us and was intended for our son. You stole from my husband, Jack, from me and from my son. You hurt three people with your greed, Lucas. Three people!" As she pointed her finger in Lucas's face her eye caught her engagement diamond and she ripped it off and furiously tossed it on the table. "We are done. I am done with you. This is the end… the END…" As she dissolved into wracking sobs, Bill rose and wrapped his arms around her. She cried her grief, her sorrow and her anger into Bill's shoulder.

When Elizabeth quieted, Nathan stood so Bill could sit beside her on the sofa. He quietly spoke knowing that Elizabeth needed to know all they knew that included her.

"Elizabeth, the buyer who purchased the land from Lucas has also lost the land since this theft was uncovered during another investigation. The notice you received was one of two government seizure notifications sent out."

"In addition," Nathan continued, "your Father has received multiple reports from banks in Union City that inquiries have been made in the past few days searching for the location of your accounts. Elizabeth, your Father wisely set-up alerts when he established your trust funds so he would be warned of any interest and his connections are spread throughout the banking system of Canada."

Gabe picked up the explanation. "We cannot share with you all the other infractions, except to say what will become public soon enough. Lucas was operating the Saloon illegally, without a license and without insurance."

"Lucas! You did all this deliberately? You stole and you deceived me… and I guess you lied to many others as well. How could I have been so…." Elizabeth's tears fell again, only this time due to shame and she covered her face with her hands. She had been duped.

As Nathan slipped his handkerchief into Elizabeth's hand, attention returned to Lucas Bouchard.

The man sat looking down, his head buried in his chest, a mixture of anger and defiance playing on his face. His pride was wounded and he was annoyed with everyone in the room for their part in revealing his duplicity. Despite his careful subterfuge, Lucas Bouchard had been found out.

Addressing Lucas, Gabe added, "This arrest serves as notification that all of your personal property has been seized, including your vehicle and what is left of the Saloon and the property. We will inventory the contents of your pockets and belongings from your automobile when we return to the jail. I will add this diamond ring to the inventory unless you want to keep it and sell it, Elizabeth?"

Shaking her head, she stammered, "I don't… I don't want to see that ever again. Take it…"

"I will stay with Elizabeth until Rosemary or someone can come to be with her. You fellas okay without me?" Bill questioned quietly.

"Yes." Gabe responded firmly grasping the shoulder of the handcuffed man. "Lucas, it is time to go to jail."


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Once Lucas was shackled to the bed, Gabe removed the handcuffs and his coat, locked him in the cell and proceeded to empty his pockets into a lockbox that Nathan held. As Gabe removed two wedding bands, he held them up for Nathan to see before dropping them in the box, along with the engagement ring.

Shaking his head, Gabe commented, "I guess we've interrupted your plans, Bouchard? Wedding rings, eh? Lucky for Elizabeth."

"Cal, can you handle the jail for a bit while we get the vehicle?" Nathan asked as Gabe double-checked the cell door and returned the keys to the desk drawer. "If you are up to it, you can begin the inventory paperwork. The sooner we get all this wrapped up, the sooner we can get him transported far, far away, for a very long time."

"Sure Nathan." Cal took his seat at the desk, inserted a form, carbon and paper into the typewriter and prepared to begin a detailed report.

Silently, Gabe drove Nathan to where he knew Lucas's car was located. Both Mounties were mentally reviewing everything they had learned in the past few days and especially past couple of hours." As the vehicle came into view, Nathan spoke softly, "Thank the Lord He led us to all of this before Elizabeth married him."

"Amen to that." Gabe agreed as the two men exited Nathan's car and began to inspect that of Lucas Bouchard.

Together they searched every nook and cranny, although there was little to collect. "We'll keep the vehicle here for now. No need for townspeople to be reminded of Bouchard more than necessary. I think there is a sign under my driver's seat." Nathan shrugged his shoulder, reminding himself that he needed pain medication and rest soon. "Owww…"

"Well prepared, eh?" Gabe grinned yet was concerned that he should get Nathan home soon. "Sorry, Brother."

Nathan extracted the 'No Trespassing' sign, added a line that read 'Seized property,' dated and signed it. Propp the sign on the front dashboard, he locked the auto and tossed the keys in the box they had brought, along with the nearly empty whiskey bottle, some meager items of clothing and a few personal items. The most interesting find in this search was a haphazard pile of papers and receipts that they would investigate over the coming hours.

"You mind dropping me off at home, Gabe? I'm beginning to ache." Nathan leaned his head back on the passenger seat and closed his eyes.

"Of course, Nathan. I'll call Faith for you too. You need her tonight."


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"I think I overdid it today." Nathan admitted as he adjusted the ice bag on his arm. "I'm sorry…"

"I can hardly be upset with you tonight, Nathan. Though I wish things for you had been different, you Mounties accomplished a wonderful feat today. You caught Lucas, prevented any additional crimes and you saved Elizabeth from a fate worse than death. I cannot fathom being married to a man only to learn it was all an illusion and he only wanted you for your money or prestige or to fund his gambling lifestyle. She was really blinded by his candles and over-the-top dates, wasn't she?"

His eyes closed, Nathan leaned back against the pillow Faith had tucked behind his neck. Quietly he admitted, "As grateful as I am to have rescued Elizabeth just in time, I am even more thankful that her son won't be hurt any more by the likes of Bouchard. I sure hope she has learned and will make wiser choices if she gets involved with anyone else. Jack Thornton should be the one she uses to gauge the measure of a man worthy to care for his son!"

"I am sorry for Elizabeth that you are already taken, Honey, but I am forever grateful to God that you have chosen me. We can pray that God brings another man into Little Jack's life for him to look up to and admire, someone who will model his father to him in addition to you. Jack was a really good man and I cannot imagine what he would have thought to have his son subjected to Lucas, just knowing him let alone having him as his stepfather. God has protected that little boy…"

Nathan opened tear-filled eyes and whispered, "I did all that I could, but it wasn't enough…"

Reaching over to soothe the crease in Nathan's brow and gently stroke his hair, Faith whispered her correction, "You just said it, Honey. You did all you could. Yet, God led you and He used how you sacrificed of yourself for that little boy. God loves and cares for Little Jack, more than anyone else can, and He will continue to provide for his needs. You gave young Jack a sort of 'Daddy' for a season and that little boy recognized that when he called you 'Daddy' and received your loving hugs and attention. He'll never forget his 'Mountie Nathan.'"

Hearing that term made the tears overflow and trail down Nathan's face. His eyes closed again, he couldn't hold them in. "If only I hadn't been disciplined and Jack hadn't had to take my place…"

Faith held Nathan's face in her right hand, stroking her thumb gently across his lips and cheek, while tucking her left hand behind his back. "That phrase 'If only' is a scheme of the evil one, Nathan. God was in all those circumstances and you know it. Jack died at the exact time God took him home though we don't know why He took him so young. You came to Hope Valley at the exact time you needed to be here, for Allie, for Little Jack and for me. Actually, for Elizabeth too because she saw in you what a truly exemplary Mountie and man you are and now she knows Jack isn't the only man like that."

Pausing for a moment, Faith added, "The Lord is not finished with Elizabeth Thornton yet. She is still on her journey. For her sake I kind of wish she could start over somewhere else though as there are so many reminders here and there is so much damage. Still, only God knows…"

Faith leaned against his chest, lightly kissed Nathan's mouth then continued, "For me, for you, for Allie, we know God brought us together and our previous sorrows have made us who we are. I hope at the least I have learned how to truly love and appreciate a man after the many false starts I had in my past. I was rather impetuous and certainly distracted by daydreams back then. For you, your suffering with Elizabeth taught you some things too, didn't it?"

Opening his eyes again, Nathan gazed tenderly at Faith, reaching his right hand around her to caress her soft curls. "Everything has taught me something, especially to trust God and hold on to Him in faith that He has a plan for me, for Allie, and now for us, Faith. Thank you for the reminder that I shouldn't second guess the past. I love you, My Sweet Faie."

As they kissed each other softly, knowing this was their wordless expression of love, a sudden jiggling of the doorknob interrupted them.


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"Hi, Dad! Miss Faie! Mr. Henry brought me home with our dinner." Allie held open the door as Henry Gowen followed her into the house.

"I apologize for interrupting you, but I just picked up your meal at the Café and it is nice and hot. Where should I deposit it?" Henry asked shyly as he glanced around.

"Henry! How kind of you!" Faith jumped up and went to collect the basket, kissing Henry's cheek and offering, "Won't you join us? Gabe should be here shortly and we could share a lovely dinner together."

"Well, no, I, ah…."

"Please, Henry. Join us. This has been quite a day and it would be nice to discuss things that aren't Mountie-related. You are most welcome." Nathan adjusted his position so he could look at the older gentleman.

"You sure now?" Henry hesitated.

"We're sure, Mr. Henry." Allie patted his back, instructing, "Let me take your coat and I'll go set the table. You can sit and talk to Dad."

"Decision's made, Henry," Faith called, laughing from the kitchen as she unpacked the meal. "You brought enough to feed an army!" Faith happened to glance up at just that moment to see Allie raise her eyebrows as she entered the kitchen.

Faith laughed. "I learned that phrase in Chicago. It means an overabundance of food!"

Their conversation stopped as Gabe entered the house and immediately began to hang his coat, his back turned to the family. Since it was quiet at that moment, Gabe sighed, "Poor Cal. Bouchard is throwing out complaints like a cranky king to his servants. I think I will go back after we eat and give him a piece of my… Oh, Henry! Sorry, I didn't see you there. I apologize. It has been a hard day."

Looking quizzically at Nathan, Henry questioned, "Bouchard is in jail?"

"Yes. He was arrested on numerous counts this afternoon. It will be known soon enough so I'll at least tell you the Hope Valley portion of his crimes. He was operating the Saloon illegally and the building was uninsured, so he has lost both it and the property. Lucas also stole Jack Thornton's property and sold it under false pretenses. It'll soon be a matter of public record as it has been seized by the Government. There are other crimes, but we'll wait to announce those…"

Henry whistled under his breath, "I always knew he couldn't be trusted."

With a raised eyebrow, Nathan queried, "You knew?"

"Any man that hires another man's son to spy on his father is not a trustworthy fella." Henry looked at Nathan's and Gabe's surprised faces and added, "He did. He hired Christopher to spy on me because Lucas didn't trust me. My son confessed to me before he left!"

"Despicable." Nathan shook his head, "His reputation continues to sink to the lowest of the low… How much worse can it get?"


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