Just a quick note:
First of all: Thank you again for all your lovely reviews, they honestly mean the world to me, and I treasure every one of them.
Second: I'll be honest, this part of the story quickly took on a life of its own, and is nothing like what I had planned, but we've come this far, might as well ride it out. :D
Lastly: My knowledge of Mountie policies and procedures is very limited, so I used some literary license to keep the story going.
Andrew Hargraves took great pleasure in shoving Nathan Grant into the waiting jail cell and relished the sound of the door banging shut. "Finally, Grant," he said, "Finally you will pay for all the problems you have caused me over the years" He had wanted to say more, but knew Gabriel Kinslow had been behind them and would be entering the office soon. Putting the keys in his pocket, he turned and headed back to the desk, just as Gabriel had come inside.
"Kinslow, go to the saloon and get the Governor over here, now." he instructed, thinking how great it would be to get rid of both men who had caused him so much trouble lately. He smiled as he watched the door close behind the former Mountie. For once, his trip to Hope Valley was going to be successful.
Amos Dixon frowned as he felt the car he was riding in begin to slow down. He knew they couldn't have gotten to Hope Valley yet. Sadly, they were already behind schedule, and that was thanks to that oaf of a boy who had managed to drop every single piece of luggage as it was loaded into the car. "Why are we slowing down, James?" he asked, his eyes remaining closed.
The car came to a stop before his driver responded, "It looks like a group of Mounties further up the road, Mr. Dixon."
Amos's eyes shot open and began looking in the direction James was pointing in. Sure enough, what looked to be five or six men on horses were about a mile ahead of them, and there was no mistaking the bright red serge of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. "If that man screwed things up," he muttered, "he is going to pay."
"What would you like to do, sir?" James asked.
"How far away are we?" Dixon asked, knowing James would understand the question.
"About five miles, sir." was the answer.
"Keep going, but slowly, don't let them know we are behind them. Then about a mile before reaching the town, pull off into the trees, and we will walk the rest of the way. I remember it was much easier that way the last time I was here. A group of Mounties coming into town will be the perfect distraction." he told the driver
"Talk about déjà vu." Larry Collins thought to himself as he looked around at the familiar landscape. Only a few days ago he'd been on this very road, heading towards Hope Valley to help with another urgent situation, and here he was again. The only difference was this time he was on horseback, not in a car, and this time the offender was a Mountie, like himself, and not a hardened criminal. As he rode he recalled the phone conversation with his Uncle earlier in the day.
"Chief Superintendent Collins," he began, hearing his Uncle's voice on the other end of the phone, "This is Constable Lawrence Collins from Buxton, Sir, and I need to speak with you on an important matter." Larry hoped that by using full names and titles, his uncle would understand the importance of the call.
"Constable Collins," he heard through the earpiece, "How can I help you, son?"
"Sir, we have reason to believe Superintendent Andrew Hargraves is on his way to Hope Valley under the pretense of presenting a memorial plaque to the town in honor of the late Constable Jack Thornton, when in fact he is going there to cause harm to Constable Grant. Sir, I don't have the specifics, but Constable Kinslow of Brookfield was also here and believes the same thing. He is currently on his way to Hope Valley and requested that I call for assistance."
After a moment of silence, the voice on the phone became cold and calculated. "Larry, you are ordered to Hope Valley, and under my authority requested to take Superintendent Hargraves into custody, by any means necessary, and remain with him until I arrive. I will send backup, but you are authorized to take any other Mounties along with you. Be warned, Andrew Hargraves is to be considered very dangerous. Please take care Larry." and with that the phone went silent.
Larry sat at the desk for a moment, staring at the phone he was holding, unsure what to think about what he was just told. Taking a deep breath, he called the Mounties in the surrounding towns and asked for their assistance. Once they heard who was asking, none of them hesitated in agreeing to help. Thankfully, some of the Mounties who had assisted Hope Valley with Shaw had been visiting friends and family nearby and were called in to assist as well.
They had just passed the water tower when he noticed Gabe running out to meet them. Swinging down off his horse Larry walked the remaining distance, meeting Gabe with a quick salute, followed by, "More are coming, what's going on?"
"Hargraves arrested Nathan, and has him at the RCMP office now, he has written up disciplinary forms for both he and I, and seems to have forced Nathan to resign. Did you find anything out?"
Larry nodded, "Yes, the Chief Superintendent is aware and on his way. He was in Union City, so it shouldn't take him long to get here. He gave the order to apprehend Hargraves by any means necessary and to hold him until he arrives."
As his friend was speaking, Gabe noticed two men, as they came around a far turn and stopped, before quickly backtracking and disappearing into the trees. It didn't seem like they'd noticed him, and hoped to keep it that way. Once
Larry was finished repeating their orders, he looked at Gabe and said, "You're in command, my friend, tell us what to do."
"Larry, you stay here with me. Two men just disappeared into the trees, and I'd like to find out what that's about, something tells me it's not a coincidence they are here. The rest of you head towards the RCMP office, but stay out of sight, we don't want Hargraves to know we are here. If you see any civilians, tell them to remain inside and for them to pass the information along. We don't want anyone in danger who doesn't need to be."
The other's nodded and continued into town, leaving Larry and Gabe to their task of tracking the men who had disappeared into the woods.
Using the knowledge he had gained the last time he had been there, Amos Dixon managed to find another way into town and made his way to the Mountie office. He crept between the buildings and stayed on the outside of the town. He had just reached the Library, which was right across from the meeting place, when he saw Mounties standing on either side of the building. Backing slowly into the shadows, he crouched down and waited to see what happened. The RCMP office door opened, revealing Andrew Hargraves with his head turned as though he was speaking to someone in the building. Closing the door, he made his way down the steps and found himself surrounded by Mounties, with their guns pointed at him, followed by a loud voice saying, "Andrew Hargraves, you are under arrest."
For maybe the second time in his life, Amos Dixon was shocked by what was happening in front of him. All his life, he'd been pretty good at anticipating how a situation would turn out, and had always been prepared when things didn't go to plan. The only other time this had happened was when he was Hope Valley last. It was the school teacher who had distracted him that time knowing Lucas had a girl back in New Orleans. She had managed to draw his attention to her, which led to Lucas tackling him giving the Mountie time to arrest him. Thankfully, his connection to Andrew Hargraves allowed him to disappear on his way to prison, that time. Since that time, the two men had been planning a way to take care of Constable Nathan Grant. The fact that Lucas Bouchard was now the governor, and seemed to prefer Hope Valley to Capital City, was just icing on the cake for them.
The plan had seemed pretty simple. The Hope Valley Constable would be ordered to Union City. That would allow Andrew time to spread fear and doubt around Hope Valley about the loyalty of their constable to them and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. After convincing the leaders that Grant wasn't fit to be their Mountie and, he'd encourage them to request his removal. While spreading the lies about Grant, Andrew would also convince that nosey teacher, Mrs. Elizabeth Thornton, of Nathan's involvement in her late husband's death. He would be able to convince her that she and her son weren't safe, especially with Grant there and to leave town with him. Dixon would meet Hargraves and the teacher at the RCMP office, and set fire to it, causing the needed distraction to allow them to leave town unnoticed. The end result would be Amos Dixon and Andrew Hargraves having two bargaining chips to use against the Governor, allowing them to use Hope Valley as a base, and her father, allowing them to transport their goods safely more efficiently. It would also ensure that Grant never interfered in their business again.
Except now, instead of meeting his friend, setting fire to the building and leaving town, he watched as his friend walked into a Mountie trap and got himself arrested. Suddenly, the idea that Andrew had set him up flashed through his mind and without thinking pulled his gun, aimed at his friend, and fired two shots. He then turned and began running back the way he came, ignoring the shots that were being fired at him and hoping to meet James on the outskirts as planned.
Constables Collins and Kinslow had been unable to find anything that would indicate where the men had disappeared to once they slipped into the trees and were heading back to town. Hearing the shots, they raced back into town, having both jumped onto the horse Constable Collins had been riding. Seeing a man running away from the town and heading towards the woods, they changed direction and soon caught up to him. Jumping off the horse, Constable Kinslow tackled the man to the ground and began wrestling with him. Constable Collins had noticed a second man running into the tree line and began pursuing him.
Gabe had been a little surprised at the agility and strength of the man he had tackled, considering his size, and found himself rolling on the ground, trying to avoid the massive punches being thrown at him. Soon, though, he had the man face down, with a knee in his back, snapping on the handcuff's he'd borrowed from Larry. Once the cuffs were on, and he knew the large man wasn't going anywhere, he stood up and walked a few steps away, attempting to catch his breath. Turning at the sound of a horse, he watched as Larry came out of the treeline, walking his horse, with the other man tied to the saddle.
After Faith's initial assessment of Hargraves assured them his prognosis appeared good, Bill had asked one of the Mounties who had come to assist, to stand guard and help Dr. Carter if necessary. Constable's Collins and Kinslow stayed at the jail, and the remaining Mounties went to the train station to wait for the Chief Superintendent to arrive. Nathan, Bill, and Elizabeth headed to the saloon. Bill had briefly started to tell Nathan what he and Elizabeth had learned earlier, but it quickly became apparent they would need everyone in the same room to get the full story. When the group arrived, Nathan was the first to enter and was shocked to see how many heads turned in his direction, hearing the door open. It looked as though all the citizens of Hope Valley had gathered there, waiting to hear the news. Elizabeth and Bill soon followed him and were surprised as well.
"What are you all doing here?" Bill asked, incredulously, looking around.
Florence stood up and explained that when the Mounties had come into town, they'd told as many people as they could to stay inside, and to pass the information along to others. Most people who had been in town had just gone straight to the saloon.
Despite being shocked at the fact the town's people had gathered on their own, Bill managed a gruff, "Oh, well, I guess that makes sense." Before heading towards the Governor's office. He wanted to get to the bottom of this fiasco, and soon.
"Bill," he heard Florence call out, and grudgingly turned back to her. "So, what happened?"
Looking around the room, he quickly found where Lucas, Jessie, Lee, and Rosemary were seated and said, "Shouldn't the town Mayor be the one to explain things?" looking directly at Lee.
Standing up, Lee cleared his throat and watched as all the heads in the room turned towards him. "Well, I… uh…" and cleared his throat again, and looked at Bill before continuing. "Seeings how you know more than I do, Bill, why don't you take this one."
He smiled as Bill just glared back at him.
Seeing the stalemate, Nathan decided to speak up. "Folks, I can't tell you everything, since this is an open investigation. What I can say is thanks to everyone, we were able to apprehend some very dangerous criminals today, who are currently behind bars or under guard. It's safe to go home now, and I'd advise you to do that." He paused and looked at Rosemary and grinned, before finishing with, "I am sure we can count on the Valley Voice to release the additional information as soon as possible."
"Yes, of course." Rosemary assured them, as thought it was the most obvious thing.
Elizabeth reached out and took his hand, "That might be the longest I have ever heard you speak, to a group of people at least." she said with a grin.
Squeezing her hand, he pulled her close to him and quickly kissed her forehead, quietly whispering, "Thank you" into her hair.
Surprised, she looked up at him, "What for?" she asked, unsure what she had done that warranted a "Thank You".
"For this," he said, raising their entwined hands, "And for everything you did today….."
He was cut off by Bill's abrupt, "Are we going to do this or not?" Causing those close enough and could hear it to laugh. Everyone knew Bill didn't like to waste time with niceties.
Lucas spoke up, "I am not sure if we will fit comfortably in my office, so how about we talk here. I can have some drinks brought out, or food, if anyone is hungry."
Soon the group was seated, having moved some tables around to give each other a little room, allowing them all to see each other and to talk freely. Nathan, Elizabeth, Lee, and Rosemary were at one table, Lucas, Jessie at the other.
"So who's going to start, Nathan, what's your part of the story?" Lucas asked.
"I was called to Union City to assist the Mounties there with some local problems. My orders were to report to Buxton, where I would meet the other Mounties that had the same orders, and we would all report to Union City from there. When I got there, Superintendent Hargraves was waiting to talk to me and as soon as we were done, he told me the other Mounties had left on the earlier train, but there was another one due shortly after. But as it turned out there wasn't a second train to Union City. The Mountie from Buxton, Constable Collins, was actually just retuning from Union City and hadn't heard of a need for additional Mounties in Union City. Knowing Hargraves was on his way to Hope Valley, I decided to follow him back and found him waiting here for me. As I had disobeyed orders, by not going to Union City, he arrested me and then gave me the option of resigning before the charge became official. You know the rest. Hargraves was shot and arrested under Constable Collin's authority, which he says came from Chief Superintendent Collins, who will be here shortly. Amos Dixon was also in town and has been arrested, although I do not know the details of that part."
Hearing the name, Jessie spoke up, "Chief Superintendent Collins, is coming? Does that mean it was Larry Collins who you spoke to in Buxton?"
"Yes," Nathan answered, "Do you know him?"
The relief she felt at his answer brought tears to her eyes, and she quickly looked down. Lucas, surprised at seeing them, took her hand and softly asked, "Are you okay?"
Slowly she raised her head and a small smile appeared on her face and a few tears fell from her eyes. "Larry is the one who helped me gather all the evidence I told you about."
"Evidence?" Nathan and Bill said at the same time, wonder where this had come from.
"You mean evidence against Hargraves" Bill exclaimed, a little louder than he meant too.
Jessie nodded. "I don't have it with me here in Hope Valley, but it's safely hidden away."
"What kind of evidence?"
"Written statements, reports, some photographs, and notes from another Mounties about what they knew." she explained, beginning to get anxious about having to go through the story again, with people she had only just met.
Seeing the hesitation in her eyes, Rosemary spoke up, "It seems we have what boils down to two issues here. The first is what this Superintendent Hargraves did to Nathan today. And second, what he has done in the past. I've heard some of her story, and know that it's very personal to Jessie. How about Jessie, you and I go to the Valley Voice and get everything you know down on paper. Then, Nathan and Bill, you can handle what happened today."
Feeling an overwhelming protectiveness come over him, Lucas said, "Only if Jessie is okay with it."