Chapter Eighty
Jarrod swallowed hard as the rig drove back up to the bar, five minutes ahead of the meeting time. Pinkerton agents were in place fifteen minutes before. A sniper was in place on the hardware store's second floor.
Nick got out after Jarrod and looked around. He couldn't pinpoint any Pinkerton agents even knowing their whereabouts. He had a gun in one boot and a knife in the other.
They uneasily got out and tied the rented buggy to the newel post. They walked up to the bar. The doors were locked and a CLOSED sign was on the glass. Nick turned the handle. It was locked. The brothers exchanged a look.
A young boy walked by with a ring and a stick, "Round back." He was gone in a moment before the men could react.
Nick looked around; the windows were blacked out normally so no light entered.. No one else was around the bar. The boardwalk was eerily quiet.
Jarrod whistled a breath out, "Let's go."
They tentatively walked around the block and into the alley. They made their way to the trash bins and empty crates stacked high. Whiskey and vat barrels were lined up for eight feet around the back entrance. Large freight crates for shipping also lined the walls. No one would be able to view them once they entered the back.
"I hope Phil has eyes on us. I don't like this,"
"Neither do I but what choice do we have?"
They rapped on the back entrance and the door swung open. There were no lights on in the store room. They stood at the open door.
"Come on in, matey. Gotcha some boys in trouble. I am the man to help ya."
—-&—-
Nick and Jarrod sat in the smoky storeroom with a man in the shadows. He wore a loose hood of burlap, long sleeves and an overcoat, commonly worn on the wharves.
"Do we have a deal?"
"Ten thousand dollars is a lot of money. How do I know our sons are alive?"
"Here. Got these from a man near them. For a price."
He slid three envelopes across the table. Nick opened them.
Locks of raven-colored hair, an auburn curl with their school identification papers. Each envelope was smeared with blood.
"They's headed for the Pacific tomorrow. I will get them back—-at great cost to myself."
Jarrod cursed and Nick stood up, "This proves that you do have contact with them but are they still alive or in the galley of some ship?"
"Guess you will have to trust me. Show up at dawn. Warehouse number seven on the Fifth Street dock. Ten thousand dollars in cash. No coppers. No law. Wharf has a code of its own; they know a lawman by his smell. Crimps will slit their throats and dump them before you can say Jack Rabbit, Cowboy."
Nick stood up in anger. Two men appeared from the shadow with the silver glints of knives. Jarrod put his arm up to stop his brother from doing anything rash.
"Show yourselves out. Dawn." and the men disappeared into the shadows of the unlit bar.
Jarrod and Nick made their way out quickly.
"What do you think?"
"Can we trust a double-crosser of double-crossers? Hell no. A crimp's crimp? But what choice do we have?"
"Hope Phil got a man on them and some more information when we meet him at the Springer's."
Both men lost themselves in their fears all the way back to Nate's house.
—-&—-
Nate was relaying the success he had at Lila's hearing to Alice when Phil Davies appeared along with another gray-haired man. He introduced him as Macklin.
"Your reputation precedes you, sir." as Nate shook his hand.
Macklin heartily laughed, "Well depends on who did the telling. Jarrod or Nick?"
"Both," Nate laughed.
"Do you know if Jarrod and Nick found the boys? I have been at the courthouse all afternoon since I stopped by and relayed Jarrod's message."
Phil's face showed the gravity of the situation and Nate listened with horror that the boys had been kidnapped by crimps.
"And Jarrod and Nick walked in alone? What the hell?"
"Ever tried to tell them anything, sir?"
"I had my best men on them while I found Macklin. He knows the wharf back and front these days. Got a report that the men left empty-handed and headed back we assume here. Wanted to be here and get the first report for my team. Even my manager is stirred up and he rode out a typhoon once in the South Pacific just on a dare."
"That's quite a feat."
"Would you like a drink?" Alice asked.
"Yes ma'am."
"Coffee"
"Make that two."
"Nate, what happened with Lila today?"
"I got the judge and the prosecutor to agree to do this together. We both will accept the judge's opinion. She won't do prison time. We all felt strongly about that."
"Such a sad situation. That man destroyed so many lives with his pompous pride and greed."
"David seems to have become better for it. Timothy too. Finding a brother at any age is a gift. Timothy is accepting the position as Chairman of the Board of the newly restructured Autonberry Assets. Jarrod, Nick ,and I have all accepted positions on the Board. David is content to be a silent partner."
"Is Lila sane?" Phil asked.
"Yes but her heart and soul are broken. Her mind is healed and her thoughts come together better each day. She is just worried about her son. David and Ximena brought him to visit her before they went to Monterey. It was good medicine."
"Good to hear."
"When will there be a decision?"
"Hopefully within a few weeks. The baby is a millionaire already so the judge will have to protect his inheritance trust with a guardian. As we all know, the law doesn't favor mothers. There is some call in this year's legislative session for a bill—-but I will believe it when I see it. Too many men don't want to give up any power."
Macklin entered the conversation for the first time, "Lincoln said the hand that rules the cradle rules the world.—-Well let me rephrase that, he quoted William Ross Wallace's poem. Made it famous."
"I think that is what men are afraid of—-" Alice added from across the room.
Nate grinned, "To strong women!" he toasted. Phil and Macklin raised their coffee cups to Alice with grins.
They shared a laugh that quickly died down as the butler let Jarrod and Nick in the front door.
The men's haggard looks as they rounded the corner told the group all they needed to know.
"I need a drink," Nick announced as he made his own way to the drink cart.
"I got it Nick, whiskey" Alice poured.
"Scotch, Jarrod?"
"Yes please Alice."
Both brothers downed their drink and Nick ran his fingers through his salt and pepper hair.
Phil spoke up first, "Tell me how the meeting went."
Nick spat as he put his glass down, "Vermin from hell."
Jarrod nodded at his description and began to tell of their meeting in the shadows.
Both brothers eyed Macklin as he posed, "I have an idea."