Chapter 187 – Surprise For Wynn

"Jacobs, finish the needed paperwork and then come to the office." Wynn said. "The cadets can take the laundry to Laurel Miller or you can have them do it. Either way, please make sure that it is done."

"Yes, Sir." Jacobs said.

Jacobs turned and headed into the jail to work on the paperwork as well as talk to Bill. He was going to assign cadets to scrub the jail from top to bottom. He knew Jack had kept it clean, so he wondered when the last time it was done with Jack having been out for a few weeks. As Jacobs opened the door, Rip followed him in and laid down in front of the stove. Bill shook his head.

"I think that mutt misses Jack." Bill said.

"I am sure that he does." Jacobs said. "But I hear that Cody and Robert are doing a good job taking care of him."

"I won't argue that." Bill said. "One or the other is over here every day before and after school making sure that he is fed and has water. I am not a complete ogre. I have been making sure that he has water throughout the day."

Jacobs just smiled as he knew that Bill was actually a big softie inside. He had seen him with some of the boys and just knew. Jacobs also knew that something had hurt Bill and that was why he acted all grumpy and gruff. Jacobs knew a little of Bill's background, just from the Mounties, but he also was well aware of human behavior. One thing that Jacobs knew for sure was that Bill had been hurt badly and by people close to him and that was why he tried to hold people at length with his gruff exterior. However, Jacobs had seen that Bill cared for this town and specifically cared for Jack Thornton and his family. He knew that Bill was going to be staying in the area and hoped to break through the gruff exterior at some point and see that heart of gold that was underneath.

Wynn and Dee headed to the office. He figured that the auditors were there and if they weren't he would go across the way to the cafe. He also remembered that Williams had said that there was information that had been sent. Wynn and Dee hadn't gone far when McGinty had fallen in step with them.

"The information is all at Abigail's office." McGinty said.

"I was just thinking about that." Wynn said. "I have lots of questions."

"I will try to answer them, Sir." McGinty said. "Sorry I couldn't send more word. Everything happened so fast."

"I am anxious to hear." Wynn said. "Inspector Williams said something about five arrests."

"Seven actually." McGinty said. "Five in Buxton and two in Union City. I will tell you all about them, not that I did much in the actual arrests. All I was doing was following the evidence like I had been taught. But Sir, there is something that you need to know."

Wynn knew that McGinty was selling himself short, but like Jack and Doug, McGinty seemed to have trouble accepting praise. He also knew that McGinty had been considered a legacy, when he joined the academy, having recently lost his father who was a soldier who helped train Mounties at different forts. Wynn had been glad that McGinty had finally followed through with what he had planned when he lost his father. Maybe waiting the two years was meant to be, because when he did, he was with Jack. From what Wynn knew they had been best friends since the first day of the academy.

Before McGinty could say anything else. Dee stopped dead in his tracks and was staring at the boardwalk in front of the saloon. Hearing McGinty stop talking and seeing Dee stop walking, shook Wynn from his thoughts.

"Andrew!" Dee yelled.

Wynn turned and saw his son-in-law standing there.

"Sorry, Sir." McGinty said. "I was trying to warn you. He apparently came with Inspector Williams and the auditor. I remembered seeing him when he came down to Hamilton a couple times to meet with you."

"It is fine." Wynn said. "I have questions for you, but I need to talk to Andrew for a moment."

"I will be at the office." McGinty said.

McGinty headed to the office while Wynn headed to the saloon boardwalk with Dee. Andrew looked up and saw his father-in-law's face and knew that he wasn't happy. As Wynn approached, Andrew took a deep breath and let it out slowly. For a moment Dee felt bad for his brother-in-law as he knew that his father was not in a good mood at the moment and the last thing that he wanted was a surprise. Dee was also sure that his father was worried about Sophie, especially if Andrew was traveling and not there with her. Dee knew that both of his parents worried too much about Sophie, despite her showing that she was very capable of handling things. He also knew that it was because of what happened to Sophie at Niagara and it was likely to never change. It also gave Dee a bit of insight into how his parents must have felt when he was injured in Cape Fullerton.

As much as Dee wanted to jump in and defend his brother-in-law, he knew that it wasn't the best idea, given the mood that he knew that his father was in. He wasn't sure what had happened with Jacobs and Inspector Williams as they rode back to Hope Valley, but the moment that Dee saw his father, he knew that whatever he had been told, it wasn't good. Most people wouldn't have noticed anything wrong with Wynn as he looked the picture of calm during the prisoner transfer, but Dee had seen the storm brewing in his eyes.

"Hi." Andrew said. "I know that I am probably the last person that you are expecting, but please give me a chance to explain. I promise everything is fine back home, or was when I left. You would have heard otherwise. Now, before you bite my head off, please read this."

Andrew reached into his suit coat pocket and pulled out an envelope. When Wynn took the envelope, he looked at the outside and he saw 'pappa' written in Sophie's script writing. Wynn opened the envelope and pulled out two pieces of paper. He looked at the top one and saw the same script writing, so he knew it was from Sophie.

Pappa

Ikke vær sint på Andrew, dette var ideen min.

~Sophie

(Daddy, Please don't be mad at Andrew, this was my idea. Sophie.)

Wynn looked at the second piece of paper and it was a note wishing them a happy Easter and also a happy anniversary. She also said she couldn't wait until they were back in Hamilton.

"Okay." Wynn said. "You have one minute to explain."

As they were standing there, another man walked up. Wynn looked at him and he looked vaguely familiar, but Wynn couldn't place him at a moment.

"Can we help you?" Wynn asked.

"Actually it is me who can help you." The man said.

Wynn and Dee looked at each other confused.

"Dad." Andrew said. "You remember my brother, David."

Wynn stood there looking between the two men. The last time he had seen David was at Sophie's wedding and he had a scruffy beard and mustache then. The man standing before Wynn and Dee was clean shaven and looked years older.

"Sorry." David said. "Sr Deputy Commissioner Conner, personally called me and asked me to do a government audit. He knows that I don't normally do them, even though I am fully qualified for them. He explained a little about what was going on, asked me to choose a partner and head here to conduct a full audit of the last five years of both the town and bank books."

Wynn knew what David was saying was true. He knew that David had one of the most reputable accounting firms in Toronto and if the Thatcher money hadn't been with another firm for years, he would have moved his accounts over to David's in a heartbeat. He knew that David did local audits, but had for some reason refused to travel far from his wife and take some of the bigger paying contracts and do the audits further from the city.

"So where is your partner?" Wynn said. "I will introduce you to the Mayor and you can either get started or wait until morning."

"I am helping him, Dad." Andrew said. "Only one of the two needs an accounting license from the government, the other just needs to have graduated school, and be competent in reading, writing and math. I figured I could come help David, talk to you about all the other paperwork I brought. I have the preliminary adoption paperwork for Mrs Stanton. I also have documents for Jack and Elizabeth. You and I both know that I am more than qualified to help David. When Sophie made the suggestion, I saw it as an opportunity to kill a bunch of birds with one stone."

"Okay." Wynn said. "But …."

"When I called Sophie and asked her." David said. "She was the one that suggested that Melissa head up to stay with her while Andrew is gone. She is fully onboard with the plan and was looking forward to time with Melissa, especially since she is expecting. They are safe, they can talk about babies and everything else. Melissa is perfectly capable of taking care of things, but she also knows that Sophie has live-in help.

Like I said, it was Sophie's idea to have Andrew come along, I was just going to ask if there was anything that she wanted to send. She knows how much this town has come to mean to you and your wife, so she said if there was anything that Andrew and I could do to make things better for them, she was all for it. I remembered Melissa mentioning that Mrs Delaney was coming out here for Easter because you were working out here for a little bit."

Wynn let out a harsh breath, but accepted what he was being told.

"In that case." Wynn said. "Can I go deal with several other things and we can start fresh in the morning?"

"Perfect." Andrew said. "We can get settled, find some food and have a look around. Point us toward Jack and Elizabeth's and we can talk to them."

"I will take you to them tomorrow." Wynn said. "Jack is recovering from pneumonia and needs to rest, especially since he refused to listen and was in formation with the other Mounties."

"I completely understand." David said. "We will get settled, have a look around and grab some food."

"Have supper at Abigail's." Wynn said. "My Elizabeth should be there, either helping or at least hanging out."

"Go, do what you need to." David said. "We will meet with you and the mayor tomorrow. We have open return tickets, so we have plenty of time."

David and Andrew turned and headed back into the saloon. They were going to change out of their traveling suits and into more comfortable clothing. They realized looking around that they stuck out with their fancy suits and were glad that Sophie had suggested much simpler clothing, including several casual outfits. Neither man minded as they spent plenty of time in suits while they were each working at their respective jobs back in the larger cities back East.

As David climbed the stairs of the saloon, he realized that he didn't mind the small town. He even wondered if he would be able to convince his wife that they should move out of Toronto and find a place in a smaller town. He knew that he could find a job anywhere with a dual degrees in mathematics and architecture. It wasn't that he wanted to be so far from his brother, but he was sick of some of the people in the cities back East. David craved a simpler way of life and less stress in everything.

Elizabeth and Jack got settled after their unexpected trip to town. Elizabeth made Jack do a steam treatment while she finished up the lunch dishes.

"That was quite the show this afternoon." Elizabeth said.

"Yeah." Jack said. "It is one of the things that we practice at the academy. We practice so we learn all the parts, so if we are in a situation, we can do it with any other Mounties."

"It was still cool to see." Elizabeth said. "I looked around when I was standing with the children and it looked like most of the town was out to see what was going on."

"Not surprised." Jack said. "It is not something you see everyday."

"Have you done it?" Elizabeth asked. "Other than practice?"

"Once in Fort Garry." Jack said. "There really are only two reasons that we do it like that."

"Oh." Elizabeth said.

"One, it is a highly dangerous criminal who needs extra precautions." Jack said. "Or there is an audience and there are enough Mounties to do something like that. You need at least six Mounties to do it. Bill as sheriff served as witness so it only involved five Mounties. I was honestly surprised to see that many Mounties came to move those two."

"Why?" Elizabeth asked.

"They aren't overly dangerous, as far as I know." Jack said. "I don't think either of them had an extensive criminal past. Maybe it was out of precaution given who they were related to. I guess that might be another reason to do that, because when it happened in Fort Garry, we were moving a bank robber that was wanted for several murders and known to run with a dangerous gang. We were afraid that his gang would try something. We had him moved and secured in the larger jail in town before his gang even realized it. They were too afraid to go into town, but might have tried to break him out of the fort, which was much more heavily armed then than the men in town."

"Thank you for sharing." Elizabeth said. "But I think you need to rest. I can hear it in your voice."

"Are you going to lay down as well?" Jack asked.

"I should for at least a bit." Elizabeth said. "With everything going on, no one will be back until later."

"Then get one of the guards to help me upstairs." Jack said.

Elizabeth got the guard from outside and he helped Jack upstairs. After coming down, Elizabeth locked the front door, checked the fires and then headed up to lay down with her husband. As much as she probably should have spent the afternoon grading papers, she really wanted a nap and time to relax with Jack.

Elizabeth changed out of her skirt and blouse into more comfortable clothes. She then slid into bed and up next to Jack. Jack immediately reached for her. His eyes were closed, but Elizabeth knew that he wasn't sleeping. Jack stroked Elizabeth's hair and she laid there next to him.

"I love you." Jack said.

"I love you." Elizabeth said.

Elizabeth sat up and moved closer to Jack. He immediately reached his hand across and placed it on her baby bump.

"You were so gorgeous standing there with your students today." Jack said. "I had a hard time staying focused on the other Mounties. I almost broke rank and went to you. I wanted to kiss you so bad. …. (Jack starts coughing) …."

"Shhh." Elizabeth said. "You need to save your strength. Besides I had trouble standing there with my students and not going to you as well, looking so handsome in your uniform. You know that is the first time I have seen you in uniform in almost a month."

Jack smiled. He knew how much Elizabeth liked his uniform.

"It felt good to put it on." Jack said. "After these last several months, I will never not remember the honor it is to wear it."